Example: Primitives
Every basic shape BLIT386 can draw: pixels, lines, rectangles, and the filled and outlined variants.
Written for blit386 1.8.0. The rest of blit386.dev documents the newest engine, so an API you find there may be missing from a game pinned to 1.8.0.
Live version: https://demos.blit386.dev/primitives. This is the demo-site source, not a standalone file: it imports and calls helpers from ./shared/ (themed panels, on-screen D-pad, post-process fallbacks), which are not part of blit386 and are not on npm. To run it as is, keep those files from https://github.com/blit386/blit386/tree/main/packages/demos/src/shared at the same relative path. To adapt it, remove or replace the helper imports and every call to them.
/*
Primitives: every basic shape BLIT386 can draw, each with a small animation.
@description Every basic shape BLIT386 can draw: pixels, lines, rectangles, and the filled and outlined variants.
Part of the BLIT386 demo series.
Prerequisites:
- Basics: https://demos.blit386.dev/basics
Live version: https://demos.blit386.dev/primitives
Guides:
- Palette: https://blit386.dev/docs/guides/palette#draw-using-absolute-palette-indices
- Overlay: https://blit386.dev/docs/guides/overlay#optional-bands
Reference:
- Rendering: https://blit386.dev/docs/api/rendering#primitives
- Core types: https://blit386.dev/docs/api/core-types#color32
---
WHAT YOU WILL SEE
-----------------
Six captioned sections on a dark blue-gray screen, each showing one drawing call:
- Pixels: fifty scattered dots whose colors cycle through the rainbow.
- Lines: a red horizontal, a green vertical, and a blue diagonal line, plus a white line
spinning around a center point.
- Rect Outlines: red, green, and blue hollow rectangles, plus a yellow square that
grows and shrinks.
- Rect Fills: the same three rectangles filled in, plus a yellow square sliding
left and right.
- Clear Rect: a grid of steel-blue squares with a moving window erased out of it.
- Combined: a dark graph box with a gray border and a scrolling cyan sine wave inside.
The engine overlay is open from the start, with the palette grid showing 24 slots per row
and 3 rows at a time.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
-------------------
- "Primitives" are the simplest building blocks of drawing: single dots,
lines, and rectangles.
- BT.drawPixel(pos, slot), BT.drawLine(p0, p1, slot), BT.drawRect(rect, slot),
BT.drawRectFill(rect, slot), and BT.clearRect(rect, slot). Every call takes a palette
slot number, never a Color32.
- Rect2i(x, y, width, height) describes a rectangle; Vector2i(x, y) a point.
- Animating in update() with a tick counter, then reading it in render() to spin, pulse,
and slide shapes. Math.sin() and Math.cos() turn the counter into smooth motion.
- "Palette animation": update() computes fifty rainbow colors with Color32.fromHSL() and
writes them into palette slots 20-69, so render() only passes slot numbers.
- Section captions with the shared UI kit's ui.caption(x, y, text).
TRY THIS
--------
- The overlay is already open. Watch slots 20-69 in its palette grid at the bottom: they
cycle through the rainbow in step with the dots in the Pixels section.
- Press the backquote key (`) or click/tap the symbol in the bottom-left corner to hide
the overlay and see the whole screen.
*/
import { bootstrap, BT, Color32, Rect2i, Vector2i } from 'blit386';
// The shared demo UI kit: applyTheme() installs the series' standard UI colors into the
// palette, and ui.caption() prints the section captions with them. We met the kit in the
// Basics demo: https://demos.blit386.dev/basics
import { applyTheme, ui } from './shared/ui.js';
/** @typedef {import('blit386').Palette} Palette */
// Every color we draw with is registered first in a numbered palette slot. Think of each
// slot as a labeled jar of paint on a shelf. Slot 0 is always transparent (invisible), so
// our colors start at 1. Slot 3 is left unused.
const C_WHITE = 1; // pure white: the spinning line and the overlay bar
const C_BG = 2; // dark blue-gray: background and the clearRect erase color
const C_RED = 4; // red: first rectangle in each row
const C_GREEN = 5; // green: second rectangle in each row
const C_BLUE = 6; // blue: third rectangle in each row
const C_YELLOW = 7; // yellow: the pulsing and sliding squares
const C_CYAN = 8; // cyan (bright blue-green): the sine wave line
const C_GRAY_BORDER = 9; // gray: the graph outline
const C_DARK = 10; // very dark blue: graph background and overlay text
const C_STEEL = 11; // steel blue: the squares in the clearRect grid
// Animated palette slots for the rainbow pixels. Each pixel needs its own slot so they
// can all be different colors. update() stores each pixel's current color in slots
// 20-69 every tick, and render() just passes the slot number to BT.drawPixel() - no
// Color32 needed there.
const C_PIXEL_BASE = 20; // pixel 0 uses slot 20, pixel 1 slot 21, ... pixel 49 slot 69
// How many rainbow pixels there are. init(), update(), and renderPixel() all loop over
// this same count, so it lives in one place instead of three repeated 50s.
const PIXEL_COUNT = 50;
// Shows every primitive drawing call, each in its own captioned section with
// a small animation.
class Demo {
// How many update ticks have passed since the demo started. Everything that moves
// reads this number.
animTicks = 0;
// The palette holding every color this demo uses.
/** @type {Palette | null} */
palette = null;
// Palette slot map for the shared UI kit theme, filled in init() by applyTheme(): a
// map like { bg, text, dim, header, ... } of slot numbers.
theme = null;
// Optional engine settings. We keep the default 320x240 screen, open the overlay from
// the start, and show its palette grid with 24 chips per row and 3 visible rows.
configure() {
return {
isOverlayPaletteEnabled: true,
overlayPaletteColumns: 24,
overlayPaletteRowsVisible: 3,
isOverlayVisibleAtStart: true,
// The overlay bars draw in white with very dark text, and the gaps between
// bars in the background color.
overlayStyle: {
barPaletteIndex: C_WHITE,
textPaletteIndex: C_DARK,
gapPaletteIndex: C_BG,
},
};
}
// Runs once when the demo starts and sets up the palette.
async init() {
// We pick all the colors we need BEFORE drawing anything - like an artist
// squeezing paint onto a palette before picking up the brush.
this.palette = BT.paletteCreate(256);
// Static colors (these never change from frame to frame).
this.palette.set(C_WHITE, new Color32(255, 255, 255)); // pure white
this.palette.set(C_BG, new Color32(40, 50, 80)); // dark blue-gray background
this.palette.set(C_RED, new Color32(255, 100, 100)); // red shapes
this.palette.set(C_GREEN, new Color32(100, 255, 100)); // green shapes
this.palette.set(C_BLUE, new Color32(100, 100, 255)); // blue shapes
this.palette.set(C_YELLOW, new Color32(255, 255, 100)); // yellow moving squares
this.palette.set(C_CYAN, new Color32(100, 255, 255)); // cyan sine wave line
this.palette.set(C_GRAY_BORDER, new Color32(100, 100, 100)); // graph border gray
this.palette.set(C_DARK, new Color32(10, 15, 25)); // very dark graph background
this.palette.set(C_STEEL, new Color32(100, 150, 200)); // steel blue grid squares
// Pre-fill the rainbow pixel slots with gray so no slot is empty on the very
// first frame, before update() has run.
for (let i = 0; i < PIXEL_COUNT; i++) {
this.palette.set(C_PIXEL_BASE + i, new Color32(128, 128, 128)); // start gray
}
// Install the shared UI theme. It writes the series' twelve standard UI
// colors into high palette slots (240-251), far from our scene slots (1-11)
// and the animated rainbow slots (20-69). The section captions draw with
// these colors. This must happen BEFORE BT.paletteSet() below so the colors
// go live with the palette.
this.theme = applyTheme(this.palette);
// Tell the engine "use this palette from now on."
BT.paletteSet(this.palette);
return true;
}
// Runs at a fixed rate, 60 times per second (the engine default). See the Basics demo
// for the full explanation: https://demos.blit386.dev/basics
// We count ticks AND pre-compute the rainbow pixel colors here so
// render() stays fast.
update() {
// Add 1 each time update() runs. animTicks counts update ticks, not screen
// refreshes, so after one second it is 60.
this.animTicks++;
// Pre-compute the rainbow pixel colors. Each pixel gets a different hue, and the
// whole rainbow shifts forward by animTicks so it cycles over time. We do the
// color math here and store the result in the palette, so render() can just say
// "use slot 20", "use slot 21", and so on. This keeps ALL color math out of
// render() - the "palette animation" technique.
for (let i = 0; i < PIXEL_COUNT; i++) {
// hue is a position on the color wheel: 0 is red, 120 green, 240 blue, 360
// back to red. Multiplying i by 17 steps 17 degrees per pixel, so the
// sequence wraps around the wheel a few times across the fifty pixels - a
// denser rainbow than one even sweep. Adding animTicks rotates the whole
// rainbow each tick, and % 360 (the remainder after dividing by 360) keeps
// the value inside 0-359, like a clock wrapping past 12.
const hue = (i * 17 + this.animTicks) % 360;
// Color32.fromHSL(hue, saturation, lightness) turns the hue into an RGB
// color. Saturation 100 is fully vivid, lightness 50 is a medium brightness.
const color = Color32.fromHSL(hue, 100, 50);
// Store this pixel's current color in its reserved palette slot.
this.palette.set(C_PIXEL_BASE + i, color);
}
}
// Runs once per screen refresh to draw everything. Each helper method draws one type
// of primitive in its own section.
render() {
// Fill the whole screen with the dark background to start fresh each frame.
BT.clear(C_BG);
// Draw each type of primitive in its own area of the screen.
this.renderPixel();
this.renderLine();
this.renderRectOutline();
this.renderRectFill();
this.renderClearRect();
this.renderCombined();
}
// Shows BT.drawPixel(): one colored dot. We scatter fifty dots, each in a different
// rainbow color. The colors shift over time because update() rotates them each tick.
renderPixel() {
const anchor = new Vector2i(10, 7);
// Print the section caption with ui.caption() from the shared UI kit. Every demo
// in the series uses this same widget, so all captions look identical everywhere.
ui.caption(anchor.x, anchor.y, 'Pixels');
// Draw the dots scattered across a small area. Their colors were already
// computed in update() and stored in palette slots 20-69, so here we only
// pass slot numbers.
for (let i = 0; i < PIXEL_COUNT; i++) {
// A formula spreads the dots out so they do not all overlap. Multiplying by
// 13 and 7 scatters them without an obvious pattern; % 60 and % 20 keep them
// inside a 60x20 box.
const x = anchor.x + ((i * 13) % 60);
const y = anchor.y + ((i * 7) % 20) + 15;
const pos = new Vector2i(x, y);
// C_PIXEL_BASE + i is the palette slot for pixel i (slot 20, 21, ..., 69).
BT.drawPixel(pos, C_PIXEL_BASE + i);
}
}
// Shows BT.drawLine(): a straight line between two points. Three static lines
// (horizontal, vertical, diagonal) plus one that spins.
renderLine() {
const anchor = new Vector2i(10, 75);
ui.caption(anchor.x, anchor.y, 'Lines');
// A horizontal line goes straight left to right. Color: red.
BT.drawLine(new Vector2i(anchor.x, anchor.y + 15), new Vector2i(anchor.x + 60, anchor.y + 15), C_RED);
// A vertical line goes straight up and down. Color: green.
BT.drawLine(new Vector2i(anchor.x + 10, anchor.y + 20), new Vector2i(anchor.x + 10, anchor.y + 40), C_GREEN);
// A diagonal line goes from top-left to bottom-right. Color: blue.
BT.drawLine(new Vector2i(anchor.x + 20, anchor.y + 20), new Vector2i(anchor.x + 50, anchor.y + 40), C_BLUE);
// A spinning line that turns 2 degrees per tick. Math.sin and Math.cos want the
// angle in radians, not degrees: a full circle is 2 * Math.PI radians, or 360
// degrees, so multiplying degrees by Math.PI / 180 converts them.
const angle = (this.animTicks * 2 * Math.PI) / 180;
// The center of the spinning line and how long it is.
const centerX = anchor.x + 40;
const centerY = anchor.y + 30;
const radius = 15;
// Math.cos and Math.sin turn the angle into horizontal and vertical distances.
// Adding them to the center gives the far end of the line.
const endX = centerX + Math.cos(angle) * radius;
const endY = centerY + Math.sin(angle) * radius;
// Draw the white line from the center to the far end. Math.floor rounds the
// decimal result down to a whole pixel.
BT.drawLine(new Vector2i(centerX, centerY), new Vector2i(Math.floor(endX), Math.floor(endY)), C_WHITE);
}
// Shows BT.drawRect(): just the border of a rectangle, hollow inside. Three static
// rectangles in different colors plus a square that pulses in size.
renderRectOutline() {
const anchor = new Vector2i(90, 30);
ui.caption(anchor.x, anchor.y, 'Rect Outlines');
// Three rectangles in different colors. Rect2i takes (x, y, width, height).
BT.drawRect(new Rect2i(anchor.x, anchor.y + 15, 40, 25), C_RED);
BT.drawRect(new Rect2i(anchor.x + 50, anchor.y + 15, 30, 30), C_GREEN);
BT.drawRect(new Rect2i(anchor.x + 90, anchor.y + 15, 25, 35), C_BLUE);
// A yellow square that grows and shrinks. Math.sin swings smoothly between -1 and
// +1, so 10 + 5 * sin swings between 5 and 15. Math.floor rounds to whole pixels.
const pulse = Math.floor(10 + Math.sin(this.animTicks * 0.1) * 5);
// Use pulse as both width and height, doubled so the pulsing is easier to see:
// the square swings between 10x10 and 30x30.
BT.drawRect(new Rect2i(anchor.x + 130, anchor.y + 15, pulse * 2, pulse * 2), C_YELLOW);
}
// Shows BT.drawRectFill(): a rectangle filled with solid color. Same layout as the
// outlines above, but filled in.
renderRectFill() {
const anchor = new Vector2i(90, 90);
ui.caption(anchor.x, anchor.y, 'Rect Fills');
// Three filled rectangles in different colors.
BT.drawRectFill(new Rect2i(anchor.x, anchor.y + 15, 40, 25), C_RED);
BT.drawRectFill(new Rect2i(anchor.x + 50, anchor.y + 15, 30, 30), C_GREEN);
BT.drawRectFill(new Rect2i(anchor.x + 90, anchor.y + 15, 25, 35), C_BLUE);
// A yellow square that slides back and forth. Math.sin swings between -1 and 1;
// multiplying by 20 slides the square 20 pixels left and right of anchor.x + 130.
const slideX = anchor.x + 130 + Math.floor(Math.sin(this.animTicks * 0.05) * 20);
BT.drawRectFill(new Rect2i(slideX, anchor.y + 15, 20, 20), C_YELLOW);
}
// Shows BT.clearRect(): erases a rectangle back to one color. We draw a grid of
// steel-blue squares, then erase a moving rectangular chunk, which shows the
// background color underneath. Like drawRect(), it takes the rectangle first and the
// slot second - it just paints over instead of drawing an outline or fill.
renderClearRect() {
const anchor = new Vector2i(10, 135);
ui.caption(anchor.x, anchor.y, 'Clear Rect');
// Draw a grid of steel-blue squares: the outer loop goes across (i = 0 to 9), the
// inner loop goes down (j = 0 to 4).
for (let i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
for (let j = 0; j < 5; j++) {
// Each square is 8x8 pixels with a 2-pixel gap (one square
// every 10 pixels).
BT.drawRectFill(new Rect2i(anchor.x + i * 10, anchor.y + 15 + j * 10, 8, 8), C_STEEL);
}
}
// A moving X position for the erased area. It swings between anchor.x + 5 and
// anchor.x + 35, centered on anchor.x + 20.
const clearX = anchor.x + 20 + Math.floor(Math.sin(this.animTicks * 0.03) * 15);
// Erase a 40x30 rectangle back to the background color, like a window sliding
// across the grid.
BT.clearRect(new Rect2i(clearX, anchor.y + 25, 40, 30), C_BG);
}
// Shows several primitives working together as a sine wave graph: a filled rectangle
// for the background, an outline for the border, and short lines tracing the wave.
renderCombined() {
const anchor = new Vector2i(130, 165);
ui.caption(anchor.x, anchor.y, 'Combined');
// The graph's position and size on screen, offset from the section anchor.
const graphX = anchor.x;
const graphY = anchor.y + 15;
const graphW = 180;
const graphH = 50;
// Fill the graph area with a very dark color so the wave stands out.
BT.drawRectFill(new Rect2i(graphX, graphY, graphW, graphH), C_DARK);
// Draw a gray border around the graph.
BT.drawRect(new Rect2i(graphX, graphY, graphW, graphH), C_GRAY_BORDER);
// Draw the scrolling wave by connecting short line segments: walk across
// the graph one pixel at a time and work out the wave height at this column
// and the next.
for (let x = 0; x < graphW - 1; x++) {
// Math.sin produces the wave. Adding animTicks makes it scroll; multiplying
// by 0.1 sets how tightly it wiggles; multiplying by graphH / 3 sets how
// tall it is.
const y1 = Math.floor(graphH / 2 + Math.sin((x + this.animTicks) * 0.1) * (graphH / 3));
const y2 = Math.floor(graphH / 2 + Math.sin((x + 1 + this.animTicks) * 0.1) * (graphH / 3));
// Connect this column's point to the next one with a cyan line.
BT.drawLine(new Vector2i(graphX + x, graphY + y1), new Vector2i(graphX + x + 1, graphY + y2), C_CYAN);
}
}
}
// Hand the Demo class to the BLIT386 engine to start running it.
bootstrap(Demo);