Hi guys, I'm trying to break the inertia and start in the realm of MSX 2 development, so I think of something very simple to start.
It's a 9 to 1 countdown on a big 7 segment display made using screen 5. Even though being in BASIC it runs pretty fast.
The core of the trick is that changing the RGB components of a color (palette index) is very fast, even in BASIC. Instantly all pixels of that color will change like magic. So I created a 7 segment display in which each of the segments are painted on a different color index (1 to 7), initially all black (same color as background).
By changing all the components of a color index in rapid fashion I can make that smooth transition from black (0, 0, 0) to white (7, 7, 7) giving that cool "glowing" effect.
It can be used for events such as New Year... (I'm a little late for this one)
https://msxpen.com/codes/-MQ5D0zYRPJuHjqsOCIu
The code is pretty well commented, and not a total mess like most of my BASIC programs.
Hope you enjoy.