BEEHIVE demonstrates the power of compiled sprites by comparing the performance of a typical sprite algorithm against a compiled sprite.

When the application first starts, it will display a single sprite moving in a random path around the application window. You can add sprites by holding down the H key. As the sprite count increases, the effects on the frame rate will become evident. The actual frame rate will be displayed on the title bar.

You will be able to switch the application from compiled sprites to normal sprites using a menu. As the number of sprites increases, the difference in performance from compiled to normal sprites becomes more dramatic.

While DIVE offers a high-performance API for blitting images to the screen, it was not designed for implementing sprites. BEEHIVE demonstrates a technique for implementing high-performance sprites in an OS/2 Warp/DIVE environment. The source code provided offers a good starting point for building a high-performance sprite engine.

Hardware Requirements:

• Computer capable of running OS/2 Warp
  
• SVGA (a screen mode of 640x480x256 constitutes a minimum SVGA system)

Software Requirements:

• OS/2 Warp Version 3 or later 
  Multimedia support

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