Which Blitz2?

[rcman]

Hi

I'm looking to use blitz2 on my A1200. I am getting confused on which Blitz I should be using. I see updated to Blitz2 like 2.43 but then there is AmiBlitz. Which one should I be using? I wanted to compile some of earoks code but either I don't get the right version or it Guru's when I load the code.

I download the 3 adf from the FTP but for some reason that didn't actually come with blitz but everything else. Isn't there one default installer?

Thanks
RC

[Daedalus]

There are 3 main versions of blitz that are relevant these days:

- The 3-disk release of Blitz Basic 2.1, probably what was on the FTP, and a very popular release with a ring-bound manual. This needs to be installed properly by hand, instructions are in the manual, an online version of which is here. Only really useful if you're trying to run Blitz on a very low-end Amiga.

- The Ultimate Blitz Basic CD, an updated version of the floppy release of 2.1, with lots of added and updated libraries, editor, debugger, source and so on. This is a very comprehensive setup of Blitz 2.1, and is the one I'd recommend for classic development. It has a broken installer though, so download the working one from Aminet and use that instead.

- AmiBlitz 3, a massively reworked and updated version, based on the sources of Blitz 2.1 when they were released some time ago. This has some wonderful new additions, but is best suited to more powerful Amigas since the produced executables often require an 020 and an FPU. Recommended if you only intend your programs to be used on expanded Amigas with graphics cards and FPUs, and NG Amigas.

There are other releases too but they're less likely to be useful unless you have a very specific reason for them. Earok frequents these boards so he'll likely come along and confirm the details, but I would suspect he uses the Ultimate CD version above. Personally I use AmiBlitz 3, and if I need low-end compatibility, transfer the code to the Ultimate CD edition for the final stages of development.

Complicating things are the fact that there are different versions of libraries floating around, and some people modify their installation to support extra commands, both situations that can cause code incompatibilities. Do you have the debugger turned on in the Compiler settings? It's usually quite good at grabbing and highlighting problems before they cause a crash, though some crashes are simply beyond its reach.

[rcman]

Thank you for that awesome reply! I downloaded all the items you listed above and will work through it. I don't think I enabled the debugger but I will do that. In the 3 ADF's I downloaded I needed to assign blitz2, blitzlibs, FD, Autodocs and a couple more which I did. When I went to open the folder it didn't contain blitz2 it just installed a whole bunch of other stuff. I want to make sure I am running the best version of Blitz2 with any updates or patches. I want to port my games from the PC to the Amiga really bad.

Thanks
RC

[Daedalus]

The installation from floppy involves copying Blitz 2 in by hand (along with all the other components). You also need to unpack the archives containing the updated debugger, libraries and editor if you want to use them. This page of the manual gives the full directory structure you should end up with.

But to be honest, I wouldn't even bother with the floppy versions. It would be easier to use the CD version as that already has the updated parts set up as standard, and they're even newer than the updated versions on the floppies.

[rcman]

Again thank you!



RC

[rcman]

Where do I copy the new Install files? On top of the ones on the CD?

RC

[Daedalus]

You should just be able to unpack the UBB installer and run it from anywhere. It will ask for the CD, so you insert the CD (or mount the CD image) and it should "just work".