BlitzPlus: The Complete Beginner’s Guide—
BlitzPlus is a dialect of the BASIC programming language designed to make game and multimedia development accessible to beginners while still powerful enough for hobbyists and indie developers. Originally derived from Blitz Basic and later evolved into BlitzPlus, it focuses on rapid development with a simple syntax, built-in commands for graphics, sound, input, and easy-to-use libraries. This guide will walk you through what BlitzPlus is, why you might choose it, how to set up your environment, core language concepts, creating your first project, common tasks (graphics, input, sound), debugging tips, and resources for learning more.
What is BlitzPlus?
BlitzPlus is an imperative BASIC-like language and environment tailored for Windows that simplifies 2D game and multimedia programming. It offers a straightforward syntax and includes built-in functions and commands for window management, drawing, sprites, sound playback, and event handling. BlitzPlus programs compile to native Windows executables, which makes distribution easy for small projects.
Key facts
- BlitzPlus is a BASIC-derived language focused on 2D game and multimedia development.
- It compiles to native Windows executables.
- It provides many built-in commands for graphics, sound, and input.
Why choose BlitzPlus?
BlitzPlus remains attractive for certain users because:
- Simplicity: Syntax is easy to learn for beginners.
- Rapid prototyping: High-level commands reduce boilerplate.
- Direct control: Fine-grained access to low-level operations if needed.
- Community code: Many example projects and libraries are available from the Blitz community.
- Low system requirements: Runs well on older hardware and Windows versions.
BlitzPlus is less suitable for modern cross-platform development, 3D graphics, or large-scale commercial projects, but it’s excellent for learning programming concepts and building 2D games quickly.
Setting up BlitzPlus
- Obtain BlitzPlus: Look for a trusted archive or community site that hosts the BlitzPlus installer and documentation. Because BlitzPlus was most active in the early 2000s, official links may be historical; reputable community mirrors are the usual source.
- Install on Windows: Run the installer; BlitzPlus targets Windows, so use a native or virtual Windows environment.
- Editor and tools: BlitzPlus includes its own IDE. Optionally you can use external editors (Notepad++, Sublime Text) and compile using BlitzPlus command-line tools.
- Sample projects: Install or extract example projects included with the distribution to learn by example.
Basic language concepts
BlitzPlus uses a BASIC-like syntax with line-oriented statements and procedures. Key elements:
- Variables: No need to declare types explicitly in many cases. Variable names ending with $ denote strings.
- Examples: myNum = 10, playerName$ = “Alex”
- Control flow: If…Then…Else, For…Next, While…Wend constructs available.
- Functions and procedures: Use Function…End Function and Procedure…End Procedure to encapsulate logic.
- Arrays: Support for one- and multi-dimensional arrays.
- Modules/Includes: External code can be included or linked to expand functionality.
Example: simple loop and print
For i = 1 To 5 Print "Count: " + i Next Creating your first BlitzPlus program
A minimal BlitzPlus program typically opens a window and runs a main loop. Here’s a basic example that opens a 640×480 window and clears it each frame:
Graphics 640, 480, 0, 2 ' width, height, fullscreen(0/1), framesync(2) SetBuffer BackBuffer() While Not KeyDown(1) ' Escape key to exit Cls DrawText 10, 10, "Hello, BlitzPlus!" Flip Wend End Explanation:
- Graphics initializes the display.
- SetBuffer selects the drawing target (back buffer) for double buffering.
- While loop runs until Escape is pressed (KeyDown(1)).
- Cls clears the screen; DrawText renders text; Flip swaps buffers.
Drawing and sprites
BlitzPlus simplifies 2D rendering with sprite and image commands.
- LoadImage: load bitmap into memory.
- CreateSprite / Sprite commands: position and display sprites.
- DrawImage / DrawRect / Line: basic drawing primitives.
Example: load and draw a sprite
Graphics 800, 600, 0, 2 SetBuffer BackBuffer() player = LoadImage("player.png") x = 100 : y = 100 While Not KeyDown(1) Cls DrawImage player, x, y Flip Wend End Sprite collisions can be managed with bounding boxes or pixel-perfect checks using surface data.
Input handling (keyboard & mouse)
BlitzPlus provides straightforward input routines:
- KeyDown(keycode) checks if a key is currently pressed.
- GetKey() or KeyHit functions can detect single presses.
- MouseX(), MouseY(), MouseDown(button) give mouse state.
Example: simple movement with arrow keys
If KeyDown(203) Then x = x - 4 ' left arrow If KeyDown(205) Then x = x + 4 ' right arrow If KeyDown(200) Then y = y - 4 ' up arrow If KeyDown(208) Then y = y + 4 ' down arrow Key codes vary; consult BlitzPlus documentation or example tables.
Sound and music
BlitzPlus supports playing WAV sounds and simple music playback:
- PlaySound(soundID) for effects.
- LoadSound to load WAV files.
- For MIDI/music you may use Windows APIs or external libraries.
Example:
sound = LoadSound("jump.wav") If KeyHit(57) Then PlaySound sound ' spacebar Simple game structure and example
A typical small game architecture:
- Initialization: load resources (images, sounds), set up variables.
- Main loop: input → update → render → flip.
- Cleanup: free resources and exit.
Minimal platformer outline
Graphics 640,480,0,2 SetBuffer BackBuffer() playerImg = LoadImage("player.png") x=50:y=50:vy=0 While Not KeyDown(1) ' Input If KeyDown(205) Then x=x+4 If KeyDown(203) Then x=x-4 ' Gravity and physics vy = vy + 0.5 y = y + vy If y > 400 Then y = 400 : vy = 0 ' Render Cls DrawImage playerImg, x, y Flip Wend End Debugging tips
- Use Print and DrawText to display variable values onscreen.
- Step through logic with temporary pauses (Delay) or keyboard-controlled breakpoints.
- Test assets paths carefully—BlitzPlus looks in working directory by default.
- Reuse small example programs when isolating bugs.
Performance considerations
- Use hardware-accelerated features sparingly; BlitzPlus is primarily CPU/Win32 GDI based.
- Batch draw calls and minimize expensive per-frame calculations.
- Use sprite sheets and precomputed values when possible.
- Free unused surfaces and sounds to avoid memory leaks.
Extending BlitzPlus
- Libraries: community libraries add GUI widgets, advanced audio, networking, or input extensions.
- DLLs: BlitzPlus can call external Windows DLLs for functionality beyond the core language.
- Code-sharing: examine example projects to learn patterns and reuse utilities.
Resources and community
- Community forums and archival sites host tutorials, sample code, and asset packs.
- Example code shipped with BlitzPlus remains a great way to learn by modification.
- Look for Blitz-related YouTube tutorials and archived documentation for deeper dives.
Limitations and modern alternatives
BlitzPlus is excellent for learning and small 2D projects but lacks modern cross-platform support, advanced graphics APIs (DirectX ⁄12, Vulkan), and active official development. If you need cross-platform, 3D, or a modern toolchain consider alternatives like Godot, Unity, Love2D (Lua), or PICO-8 for fantasy-console style development.
If you want, I can:
- Convert any of the example snippets into a complete downloadable project structure.
- Explain a specific part (collision, animation, tilemaps) in more detail.
- Provide a short tutorial on porting a small BlitzPlus project to Godot.
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