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
1) Run Winamp and press CTRL+K. Highlight G-Force and then press the Close button.
2) 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 © 2000 Andrew O'Meara