Draw in a different format: IGS for Atari ST
category: general [glöplog]
I'm looking for anyone willing to try drawing in a different format: IGS for the Atari ST.
What's IGS? Glad you asked. "Instant Graphics and Sound" was a text protocol for drawing vector graphics on Atari ST BBSes. It's similar to RIPscrip on the PC -- except that IGS predates RIP by 4 years, and it supports animation, music, and sound effects.
However, unlike RIP, IGS was never embraced by the artscene and is almost entirely forgotten today. Thousands of RIP pieces were produced in the 1990s and live on in archives like 16colors. In contrast, fewer than 100 IGS pieces have survived.
I've been trying to raise awareness of this format, and I recently published a six-part history, with screenshots and videos of old art, on my website, Break Into Chat.
Spurred by my interest, the creator of IGS, Larry Mears, unexpectedly resumed development of IGS three decades later. His latest versions include a new editor ("IGDEV") and many new features, such as more robust support for the ST's 16-color low-resolution mode.
My hope is to get four or five IGS pieces from other folks. I'll add those to six or seven that I already created and release them as the world's first all-IGS artpack.
There are two ways to draw in this format:
Most contemporary IGS art from the early 1990s was drawn in the ST's 4-color medium resolution, since it supported 80 colums of text and was commonly for calling BBSes. But IGS also supports the ST's 16-color low resolution (320x200), and that's the mode I'm really hoping to see.
I'm happy to help you get started, answer questions, etc. Contact me at josh (at) joshrenaud (dot) com if you want to participate!
What's IGS? Glad you asked. "Instant Graphics and Sound" was a text protocol for drawing vector graphics on Atari ST BBSes. It's similar to RIPscrip on the PC -- except that IGS predates RIP by 4 years, and it supports animation, music, and sound effects.
However, unlike RIP, IGS was never embraced by the artscene and is almost entirely forgotten today. Thousands of RIP pieces were produced in the 1990s and live on in archives like 16colors. In contrast, fewer than 100 IGS pieces have survived.
I've been trying to raise awareness of this format, and I recently published a six-part history, with screenshots and videos of old art, on my website, Break Into Chat.
Spurred by my interest, the creator of IGS, Larry Mears, unexpectedly resumed development of IGS three decades later. His latest versions include a new editor ("IGDEV") and many new features, such as more robust support for the ST's 16-color low-resolution mode.
My hope is to get four or five IGS pieces from other folks. I'll add those to six or seven that I already created and release them as the world's first all-IGS artpack.
There are two ways to draw in this format:
- Run the "IGDEV" drawing program on a real Atari ST or in an emulator. You can get the latest version on AtariAge.
- Use my experimental browser-based too. It supports only a subset of IGS commands, the most common ones for drawing. I can't post links on Pouet yet, but I'd be happy to email you the link.
Most contemporary IGS art from the early 1990s was drawn in the ST's 4-color medium resolution, since it supported 80 colums of text and was commonly for calling BBSes. But IGS also supports the ST's 16-color low resolution (320x200), and that's the mode I'm really hoping to see.
I'm happy to help you get started, answer questions, etc. Contact me at josh (at) joshrenaud (dot) com if you want to participate!
i'm guessing you are refering to this tool on 2)?
https://breakintochat.com/atari/igs.js/
and this article about it's history?
https://breakintochat.com/wiki/Instant_Graphics_and_Sound_(IGS)
just posting the link for people who are lazy to google.
seems interesting, i suck at drawing though. But i'll mention your "call" on next demoscene report.
https://breakintochat.com/atari/igs.js/
and this article about it's history?
https://breakintochat.com/wiki/Instant_Graphics_and_Sound_(IGS)
just posting the link for people who are lazy to google.
seems interesting, i suck at drawing though. But i'll mention your "call" on next demoscene report.
Yes, those are both correct. Thanks so much for including them!
It's probably tricky to track down the IGDEV download on AtariAge, so I just added it to the bottom of the wiki article in case anyone feels especially brave. Look for "IGS v2.20 and IGDEV 1.3".
It's probably tricky to track down the IGDEV download on AtariAge, so I just added it to the bottom of the wiki article in case anyone feels especially brave. Look for "IGS v2.20 and IGDEV 1.3".
googling "igdev atari st download" led me to an atariage thread where i could grab that tool
it looks rather complicated though, to be honest
it looks rather complicated though, to be honest
Yes, it is fairly complicated — IGS has a lot of options. I found it frustrating at times to use in an emulator. But I did use it to create my first couple of IGS animations.
Anyway, that’s why I made my browser-based tool. Wanted something a little simpler and easier to use, limited to just the most common drawing commands. I also hoped it might lower to the barrier to entry for people who want to give IGS a try.
Anyway, that’s why I made my browser-based tool. Wanted something a little simpler and easier to use, limited to just the most common drawing commands. I also hoped it might lower to the barrier to entry for people who want to give IGS a try.
yeah i tried the browser tool and that's certainly easier/more accessible. i'm getting the sense i'm not completely understanding it right though. case in point, most functions are like in pixel painting programs but you say it's a vector format, how does that work?
@Kirkman nice tool
Would it be possible to add some example IGS files?
Would it be possible to add some example IGS files?
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most functions are like in pixel painting programs but you say it's a vector format, how does that work?
In practice IGS and RIPscrip feel and look like pixel art, definitely. But in both, the graphical data is encoded as a series of commands for drawing shapes with their coordinates. The image is _not_ stored as a raster/bitmap.
Because I deliberately omitted flood fill from my web-based tool, it would be pretty easy for me to write an export command to save the data as an SVG, for example. A better coder than me could probably write a drawing program that would let you manipulate the polygons as polygons -- click a vertex and resize it, etc. Because internally a rectangle is a rectangle with 4 coordinates, and a polygon is a polygon, etc.
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Would it be possible to add some example IGS files?
That's a good idea. May take me a bit to put that together. In the meantime, I'd be happy to email you one of my own JSON files with a Fuji logo I made from polygons with different fill patterns. Drop me a line: josh (at) joshrenaud (dot) com
Just sent in an entry! Main gripe with the tool is that hitting undo sets the current tool to the previous one used, making it a bit tedious to redo things that used a tool I just switched to do. Other than that, pretty cool thing!
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Main gripe with the tool is that hitting undo sets the current tool to the previous one used, making it a bit tedious to redo things that used a tool I just switched to do.
FWIW, that is also my own main pet peeve, and I'm the guy who made it. Fixing it will require a major revision of how I implemented command history, etc, but I'm going to do it eventually.
Thanks so much for giving it a try! I got your email, and can't wait to see what else you might come up with.