SyntaxBomb - Indie Coders

Was just looking at STOS on google which I had In I think 1992 or 93 . Made one game in it but never got around to getting the compiler for it so was a tad slow . Anyway did anybody have the compiler and if so was it any good . I had a compiler on chip for my BBC micro which cost me a fair bit of money and was a waste of space . I never got it to compile anything always came up with errors even when trying to compile to intermediate code called G code it wouldn't compile . I suppose these days we've got it all . I had a sprite utility package for my BBC too which was good for that time . Still slow though .

I thought STOS was fantastic, not because of the language (even back then it was dated).  But because you received plenty of sprites with animation frames.  So with STOS being so easy to use, plus you had ready made media you could very quickly get animated sprites moving about.  The compiler didn't really add that much extra speed, a nice boost, but not a massive difference.

Yes I though STOS was fantastic too . When I was using it I decided to try my BBC basic on it and it pretty much worked . Only wrote one game in it but used to do my step daughters school home work on it . Made it interesting for her . The story of the pyramids with pictures of the spynx and valley of the kings etc which I would draw no internet or digital cameras back then . Never got to try AMOS but I presume it was pretty much the same . I didn't think the compiler would make that much difference I think I read a 30% increase or something . For many years I yearned for something like STOS to come out on the PC and then I discovered AGK2 a couple of years ago which was great. Wish I had found it earlier by 10 years but there you go .

I had Amos - originally from a magazine coverdisk. I used that for a couple of years and eventually went up to Amos Pro which came out a little while before the compiler did. I can't remember the speed improvement percentage but it definitely made a difference. I remember the days spent coding with Amos, pushing it through the compiler to speed it all up, and juggling numerous floppy disks to get it all going as I didn't have a hard disc for a long time.

I lost track of where the new Amos is going when the author moved to a Facebook group, as I dumped that pile of crap over a year ago. Be interesting to see how well it's doing though. Anyone ever checked on that?

The new AMOS 2 has been renamed AOZ and it's got it's own site . Not sure there is much room for it though in the present market but then again it is another choice . Another dialect of basic .

I had AMOS Pro + compiler which came with a super fat manual. Although I loved it and spent a few years making games and apps with it the big downside of it was it was stupidly slow for multiple sprites / bobs. BlitzBasic at the time stomped all over it for speed.

Yes I felt the same way about STOS great piece of software but just not fast enough to start making commercial releases .
I realized this after my first and only game written in it .