Mr. Twinkle 0.1 Beta

There were some funcs for this in the bc showcase, but links are down... :(

Only found this one:

; =========
; VRAM Saver
; =========
; By turtle1776

;Video memory limitations can prevent you from using
;as many images as you would like in your Blitz project.
;This demo shows how to get around that limit so you can
;get more graphics in your game.

;Specifically, this demo shows how to:

;(1) using the imageToRAM function, load a
;    graphic from your hard drive into system
;    RAM, rather than video memory (VRAM), 
;    which is more limited  

;(2) using the RAMtoVRAM function, load the 
;     graphic from system RAM to VRAM when needed.
;     This is usually 2-3 times faster than loading directly from the
;     hard drive during run time.

;Instructions:

;(1) put a graphic of your choosing in the same folder as this program
;(2) change the name of the graphic at the top of the program where
;    it says usedGraphic$ = "yourGraphic.bmp"

;------------


     usedGraphic$ = "yourGraphic.bmp"     
     numberGraphicsLoadedtoRAM = 1
     
;1.     Launch the program
     Graphics 800,600
     SetBuffer BackBuffer()
     
;2.     Dimension two arrays for the RAM and VRAM versions of the graphics
     Dim RAMgraphic(numberGraphicsLoadedtoRAM+1)
     Dim graphic(numberGraphicsLoadedtoRAM+1) ;this is the array that stores our graphics     

;3.     Load the image from the hard drive to the bank (in RAM)
     imageToRAM(1,usedGraphic$)      
     
;4.  Load the graphic from RAM to VRAM when you need it (do this during runtime).
;     This will be 2-3 times faster than loading from the hard drive.
     RAMtoVRAM(1)

;5.     Print to screen
     While Not KeyDown(1) ;while escape key isn't pressed
          Cls
          DrawImage graphic(1),30,30                              
          Flip
     Wend
     End


;=================================
;FUNCTIONS START HERE

     
;This function loads an image file directly into RAM.
;No VRAM is used (other than temporarily). It is saved in a bank.
Function imageToRAM(imageNumber,fileName$,maskR=255,maskG=255,maskB=255) 

     ;Load the graphic
     image = LoadImage(fileName$)
     pixelWidth = ImageWidth(image)
     pixelHeight = ImageHeight(image)
     
     ;Create the bank to store the graphic and save some stats
     RAMgraphic(imageNumber) = CreateBank(pixelWidth*pixelHeight*8+50)     
     PokeInt RAMgraphic(imageNumber),0,pixelWidth ;save image width
     PokeInt RAMgraphic(imageNumber),8,pixelHeight     ;save image height
     PokeInt RAMgraphic(imageNumber),16,maskR ;save mask R value
     PokeInt RAMgraphic(imageNumber),24,maskG ;save mask G value
     PokeInt RAMgraphic(imageNumber),32,maskB ;save mask B value          
     
     ;Store the graphic pixel-by-pixel in the bank
     newImage = CreateImage(pixelWidth,pixelHeight) ;create a new map image.
     SetBuffer ImageBuffer(newImage)     
     DrawImage image,0,0          
     LockBuffer ImageBuffer(newImage)
     storeLocation = 40     
     For a = 0 To pixelWidth-1
     For b = 0 To pixelHeight-1          
          PokeInt RAMgraphic(imageNumber),storeLocation,ReadPixelFast(a,b)
          storeLocation = storeLocation + 8
     Next
     Next
     UnlockBuffer ImageBuffer(newImage)
     SetBuffer BackBuffer()

     ;Free up the video memory created in this process     
     FreeImage image
     FreeImage newImage 
     
End Function


;This function loads the digitized image from RAM to VRAM
;where it can actually be used.
Function RAMtoVRAM(imageNumber)

     ;Look up the size and stats of the graphic     
     pixelWidth = PeekInt (RAMgraphic(imageNumber),0)
     pixelHeight = PeekInt (RAMgraphic(imageNumber),8)
     maskR = PeekInt (RAMgraphic(imageNumber),16)
     maskG = PeekInt (RAMgraphic(imageNumber),24)
     maskB = PeekInt (RAMgraphic(imageNumber),32)
     maskRGB = getRGB (maskR,maskG,maskB)     
     
     ;Generate the image from the data stored in the bank
     graphic(imageNumber) = CreateImage(pixelWidth,pixelHeight) ;create a new image.
     SetBuffer ImageBuffer(graphic(imageNumber))
     Color maskR,maskG,maskB
     Rect 0,0,pixelWidth,pixelHeight,1 ;cover the background of the image with the mask color
     LockBuffer ImageBuffer(graphic(imageNumber))
     storeLocation = 40
     For a = 0 To pixelWidth-1
     For b = 0 To pixelHeight-1
          rgb = PeekInt (RAMgraphic(imageNumber),storeLocation)
          If rgb <> maskRGB Then WritePixelFast a,b,rgb ;write pixel if not the mask color (fewer WritePixelFast that way)
          storeLocation = storeLocation + 8                                                  
     Next
     Next
     UnlockBuffer ImageBuffer(graphic(imageNumber))          
     SetBuffer BackBuffer()
     MaskImage graphic(imageNumber),maskR,maskG,maskB

End Function

;Thanks to Cyberseth and his collection of "Really Useful Functions" for this one.
Function GetRGB(r,g,b)
     Return b Or (g Shl 8) Or (r Shl 16)
End Function

The idea is: while the gfx mode starts you load all tmp images into system ram. When needed switch them to vram.