
G-Force
1.1.6



	G-Force is a Macast, SoundJam, and Winamp visual plugin and 
standalone sound-screensaver.  This file has key info, and if you skip over 
it, you'll miss out on some nice features of G-Force.  I dedicate G-Force to 
God and His uncanny patience:  "`If you hold to my teaching, you are really 
my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free' 
" (Jesus, John 8:31-32).


Instructions
Run Winamp and press CTRL+K.  Highlight G-Force and then press the Close 
button.  
Tell Winamp to run the current visual plugin by double-clicking in the 
spectrum-part of the Winamp console.  


Notes
-	Press the ? key in G-Force to see the key commands
-	"Configs" are just text files that contain commands for G-Force, and 
they need to be in one of the G-Force folders (there are 4) in order for 
G-Force to see them. Use Microsoft Word to open and edit them (it properly 
handles LF/CRs). 


FAQ
Q:		How can I learn about G-Force config files so I can make my 
own?
A:		The config files "ColorWheel", "Linear Spread", "Rotating 
Corridor", and "Spinners" are documented (try them out in that order).  
First, be sure you're familiar with the documentation found inside Extras 
folder.  This information is essential to learning about G-Force and how to 
make configs for it.  When WhiteCap (my other plugin) was first released, it 
came with about 20 configs. Today, thanks to users who sent in configs they 
made, 130 configs now come with WhiteCap.  G-Force is the same way:  if you 
send in new configs, you'll make G-Force that much better for everyone else.  

Q: 	What's in the Extras folder?
A:  	Two things: Information about fullscreen mode, screensaver mode, 
'letterbox' modes, and text options and you find a zip archive of the source 
code of G-Force. 

Q:  	What will change in future G-Force versions?
A:  	G-Force is far from being complete.  The best thing about future 
versions will be user-contributed configs, so try to make one and send it in 
(and everyone will know of your config!).  The first release of G-Force only 
had about 15 configs total--most of other configs added since then were made 
by fellow users of G-Force just like you.

Q:  	Why should a person send in feedback and bug reports?
A:  	G-Force can't improve unless you send me ideas, feedback, and bug 
reports!  Most of the features added to WhiteCap and G-Force in the last year 
started out as user comments.

Q:  	What the story behind G-Force?
A: 		Geiss for Winamp really impressed me, and I wanted to provide 
something similar to the Mac community.  Hoping I could make a port of Geiss 
for the Mac, I emailed the author, Ryan Geiss.  He's shifted gears and isn't 
in a position where he can to offer collaborate now.  As a result, G-Force 
was made from scratch and has some really neat capabilities over Geiss due to 
its virtual machine internals (a virtual machine is how user-supplied text 
files can be "run").   

Q: 	Why the name "G-Force"?
A: 		I'll give ya a hint:  the "G" has something to do with who 
G-Force is dedicated to.  ;^)

Q: 	How do I get rid of the blank horizontal bands once when the G-Force 
window gets large (called 'letterbox mode')?
A: 		The MaxX and MaxY prefs (covered in the Extras documentation) 
control the letterbox dimensions.

Q: 	Could G-Force benefit from MMX?
A: 		After much analysis and with the help of a couple others, the 
critical section of G-Force doesn't take the form MMX is designed to compute. 
 I wish I could become experienced with these technologies to rewrite parts 
of G-Force but there's no time anymore.

Q: 	Can G-Force get 3D accelerated?
A: 		No: 0% percent of G-Force lends itself to 3D hardware. 



Final Notes
-  If you write in with a problem or question, please  be sure you've already 
read through all the documentation (including what's in the Extras folder) 
and be sure you include lots of details.  Getting an email that only says "it 
doesn't work" isn't helpful.
-  This plugin is open source.  Don't steal the source code (feel free to use 
it, just give credit to where you got it from).  It's open source because I 
want to expose upcoming software authors to source code other than snippets 
and freeware hacks for UNIX that nobody cares about.  I ask other software 
authors to consider this and to do the same.  The source code is located in 
the "Extras" folder.
-  Don't blame G-Force for messing up your PC when you happened to be 
formatting a HD, while installing Photoshop, while plotting the space 
shuttle's electrical system from AutoCAD, while you were playing Quake VI 
beta.
-  Use of G-Force is intended only for non-profit and hobbyist use and 
explicit permission to use it otherwise is required.  




Andy O'Meara
(aco5@cornell.edu)



Version History
1.1.1 - 2 Feb 00
- Winamp:  First public release
1.1.2 - 8 Feb 00
- Improved track text drawing for better readability
- Added some command keys
- Added abiliy to store and recall config combos (see onscreen help)
1.1.5 - 7 Mar 00
- Added prefs: KMap, CDur, CLin, TDur, P_On
- Keys commands  now remappable
- New implementation of DeltaFields: better blur quality & more flexibility
- Track text didn't always display when it should have
- Track text appeared after each window resize
- Track text can now be centered in the screen
- Signal now flattened to zero at ends to look nicer (mag(s) approaches  0 as 
s approaches 0 or 1)
- Prefs WInt, DInt, and CInt can now be expressions
- ColorMaps now allow "A" variables
- Fixed diagonal/banding problem
- Fixed case where fullscreen wasn't working
1.1.6 - 15 Mar 00
- About 5% frame rate  (Thanks Hen!)
1.2 - ?? Mar 00
- "G-Force Images" folder allowing  BMPs to be arbitrarily drawn
- Access to frequency spectrum and bass level
- Winamp: Standalone screen saver version
















Copyright (c) 2000           Andrew O'Meara
