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PC Paint and CGA palettes

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First post, by Jo22

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Hi everyone ,

I did some testing with PC Paint and noticed the following.:

- PC Paint by Mouse Systems is a nice test utility for "scrolling through" different CGA palettes and their intensity versions and the background colours (default: black)
- The first version (v1?) does use direct CGA register writes
- The latest version (v3?) does use PC BIOS (or VGA BIOS, after taking over) calls when choosing CGA video mode

I just thought I should mention this.

Th old version of the paint program can be used for testing CGA emulation mode of VGA cards, for example.
You know, the kind of emulation mode that can be set via mode utility (emulates 6845 CRTC).

The latest version, by contrast, can display CGA paintings on modern graphics hardware which doesn't care about MC6845 registers.

This might be more straightforward for testing than playing some games or using picture viewers. 🙂

Best wishes,
Jo22

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 1 of 2, by Grzyb

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CGA_COMP is the right tool for such tests.

Kiełbasa smakuje najlepiej, gdy przysmażysz ją laserem!

Reply 2 of 2, by Jo22

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Grzyb wrote on 2025-03-31, 17:41:

CGA_COMP is the right tool for such tests.

I know the compatibility tester, it's a hardcore demoscene tool that does everything that's forbidden. Just like some games, do LOL! 🤣
The PC Paint program is much gentler, I think. 🙂

I thought it might be useful to those who want to write a text-adventure game with CGA graphics or something. Not a CGA demo in particular.
Something that also works with MS-DOS compatibles that are 90% PC compatible,
such as Sanyo MBC-550 with CGA board or an BBC Master 512..

Edit: The Lantern adventure game interpreter supports graphics for ZX Spectrum and CGA,
albeit I think merely in monochrome at the moment (320x200 mono?).

https://textadventure.net/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa2_BJiiW6E

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

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