Topic: AGS 3.0 Final - it's been a long road

[OneDollar]

Then again, the Demo Game is unfinished, and that's not very good form either. I feel tempted to suggest replacing the DemoGame with OpenQuest.

I suspect this is best discussed elsewhere, but I'd also be wary of distributing Demo Quest in its current state with AGS. I'd still offer it for download though, as a lot of the more advanced code is very useful.

I can't believe 3.0 is (almost) here! Seriously, I've got a stupid grin on my face. Wonderful work CJ!

[RickJ]

I'd just like to point out that this is noticeable in the demo game - not very good form to present a demo game where you have an animation of a closed door opening it's hatch and upon previewing find you can't see the hatch, which is what is animating.

Can you be more specific?  Which room and which door?   

Then again, the Demo Game is unfinished, and that's not very good form either. I feel tempted to suggest replacing the DemoGame with OpenQuest.

The main thing that is unfinished is the story which isn't really necessary for it's purpose.  The story was invented in an attempt to generate some developer interest and encourage artistic contributions.   Other than that I think the script is pretty clean and serves it's purpose (at least in my opinion).   The GUI Example mini-games are outdated and should be redone so that they are based on usable templates, otherwise there is not much sense in changing them.  Also I've not gotten any comments or feedback in a long time so I have been just going on my own.

Maintaining DemoQuest is pretty much one of those thankless jobs that has to be done.  I don't mind doing it and happy to continue but I am kind of burnt out and if someone else would like to take over I have no objection  .

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Can you be more specific?  Which room and which door?

Not in-game - when previeweing the animation for Dar's door in the editor, you can't see the door hatch at all. Since it's a "opening door hatch animation", it's not good. Sorry for not being more specific, thought the quote provided the context.

The main thing that is unfinished is the story which isn't really necessary for it's purpose. 

That and the fact there are references, in-script, to, say, a Gendr-O-Matic behind the alley of Dar's - but there's no such alley or object. And a door that is supposed to lead to the basics, an essential feature, but which doesn't go anywhere.

A demo game is supposed to be an example of what the engine can do and how to do it, it's an introduction. Not very good if the introduction has gaping holes like that.

That said, I'm sorry if it came out the wrong way - Demo Quest is looking fabulous, especially compared with it's predecessor, the new title screen along is fantastic, and no one can' look at it without saying "That guy made a great job". I'm just thinking of showing it to an outsider for the first time. It's like releasing a beta version of a game to a public who believes they're getting a full version.

[Gribbler]

So the final version of AGS 3.0 won't get classic SCUMM template (MI and FOA style)? Damn. I was so much looking forward to that... I'm working on a game for some time now and I can handle everything: backgrounds, animations, cutscenes etc. but I cant't figure out coding enogh to built my own SCUMM gui. The one that monkey_05_06 did for 2.72 was great. I was hoping that in 3.0 there will be one buit especially for that version. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bitching about 3.0 and all, it's a fantastic editor. And verbcoin is great too but to add that real Lucas-Arts feel to it you really need to have SCUMM...

[VK Dan]

Where can I get it?

Here, but BE CAREFUL. It's not yet a final official release, so keep a backup copy of your game before trying it out.

You might want to remove this from the first post.

[subspark]

So the final version of AGS 3.0 won't get classic SCUMM template (MI and FOA style)?

No but AGS 3.01 will hopefully feature our MI2 style SCUMM template officially that Ashen and I have been working hard on over the past two months. It will be released as a separate download before that time and will include two versions, one with the framework (GUI, minimal graphics, main character, example puzzle) and a demo with full speech, complete dialog and a range of interesting and intriguing puzzles.

Keep your eyes peeled as we are we are actively working towards a release and soon.

Cheers,
Paul.

[DazJ]

I'm loving 3.0, it feels more creative to be using 3.0 than the older version. Yet at the same time, I feel like an era has passed.

[Ghost]

I agree with Rui here: A great job, Mr. Jones. You have taken a load of work on your shoulders, and still give it to us for free. The new version is bound to find new users taking it home, much like I once did- and having it as a permanent guest on their hard drive, keeping a genre alive and adding to it.

I tip my hat in all respect!

(Also, last version runs totally stable, so I think you've really done it!)

[Pumaman]

Then again, the Demo Game is unfinished, and that's not very good form either. I feel tempted to suggest replacing the DemoGame with OpenQuest

I think that's a bit harsh. It's all very well to complain that the demo game isn't finished, but it's a community project and I know RickJ has put a lot of effort into it (for which I'm very grateful -- thanks Rick! ). If it's unfinished then it needs people to help out and finish it off.

I suspect this is best discussed elsewhere, but I'd also be wary of distributing Demo Quest in its current state with AGS. I'd still offer it for download though, as a lot of the more advanced code is very useful.

Well, I've had so many e-mails and messages over the months saying "where is the demo game?" and "why can't i download the demo game" that I thought it was better to distribute it with AGS 3 than not to. I've been holding off for a long time waiting for a "finsihed" version, but sooner or later you have to just take the plunge and go with it.

Of course there's room for improvement, but that would obviously need volunteers to make it happen. Hopefully having it included with AGS will provide some extra motivation for people to help out.

I suppose overall my main concern with the demo game is the fact that it's a 256-colour game in what is a hi-colour world these days. Hopefully that shouldn't confuse too many newbies though.

So the final version of AGS 3.0 won't get classic SCUMM template (MI and FOA style)?

I'd love to include one, but I don't think we had a completed one that was compatible with AGS 3.0 last time I checked?

Keep your eyes peeled as we are we are actively working towards a release and soon.

Looking forward to it

I'm loving 3.0, it feels more creative to be using 3.0 than the older version. Yet at the same time, I feel like an era has passed.

I agree with Rui here: A great job, Mr. Jones.

Thanks, I'm glad you guys are finding it an improvement.
I'm just looking forward to getting it released and out of the way now so that we can continue onto the next version

[monkey_05_06]

If it's unfinished then it needs people to help out and finish it off.

I think I've mentioned once or twice in passing that I've been working with this. I'm far from having any "official demo updates", but I'm trying to do my part to contribute here.

I suppose overall my main concern with the demo game is the fact that it's a 256-colour game in what is a hi-colour world these days. Hopefully that shouldn't confuse too many newbies though.

I wonder how many people would object to upgrading to 16-bit. I have encountered some issues trying to port graphics between versions of the 'quest because it seems AGS doesn't save 8-bit images? I have to re-encode them to 8-bit before I can import exported graphics (both games at 8-bit).

It would also allow the possibility of showing the graphical capabilities of the engine. It's been discussed several times that one of the apparent "flaws" with AGS is that it apparently doesn't support "superior graphics", and only does "old-school pixel games". Perhaps if we included a high-res example in the demo we could show that AGS can be used for more advanced graphics as well. But this discussion probably does belong elsewhere. In fact, I think I'll go start a thread.

So the final version of AGS 3.0 won't get classic SCUMM template (MI and FOA style)?

I'd love to include one, but I don't think we had a completed one that was compatible with AGS 3.0 last time I checked?

Regarding my template, I'm still working on a "AGS 3.0 version". I haven't actually tested importing the 2.72 template into 3.0 to see if it works and I'm not sure how soon I'll have the new version of the template ready. Of course subspark and Ashen are actively working on their MI2 template. I don't mean to seem competitive, but mine is clearly different in that it's an MI1 template so I will continue developing it. My goal is to get as near to the official SoMI™ (enhanced CD version) GUI as is possible using AGS. I believe we can all remember some of my moments of extreme anality about this.

No hard feelings if you choose a different SCUMM Verb-box template though. I'm still developing mine for my own personal reasons (who knows, maybe one day I'll actually make a game with it (which of course has always been my plan) :o). But it would definitely be good to include a template for this type of interface.

I'm loving 3.0, it feels more creative to be using 3.0 than the older version. Yet at the same time, I feel like an era has passed.

I agree with Rui here: A great job, Mr. Jones.

Thanks, I'm glad you guys are finding it an improvement.
I'm just looking forward to getting it released and out of the way now so that we can continue onto the next version

Chris you're a machine. A sexy love machine. But we'll save that discussion for later.

I too would like to say that I find 3.0 to be a huge improvement. At the first 2.8 alpha release I wasn't sure I liked it. It was new. It was terrifying. And so much didn't work at the first alpha release! It seemed like all was lost. But as you've worked on this, it has truly grown on me. Any time I have to open AGS 2.72 I now find myself feeling lost. "What is this?" I find myself asking, "Where has everything gone? Why can't I have two scripts open at once? And why the hell is the game pane hiding over there on the left side where I can't see it?!?"

It will definitely take some adjusting for any user wishing to upgrade, but you got it straight from the monkey's mouth: AGS 3.0 is far better than any prior release of the editor to date!

[NiksterG]

why the hell is the game pane hiding over there on the left side where I can't see it?!?"

I actually prefer having the tree on my left side. When I first tried out the beta of AGS 3.0, I couldn't stand the pane being on the right side. So the first thing I did was go into the prefences and change it back to the left side.  :

The strongest force in the universe is the human resistance to change. 

Nice job Chris. Excellent work.

[DazJ]

Any reason why the download link for 3.0 hasn't been added to the main homepage yet?

[OneDollar]

Please try this out guys and make sure it's stable.

Assuming there are no major problems, in a few days I'll make it official and publish it to a new thread, to the website and make a ZIP version available.

[DazJ]

Gotcha. Just with it being called the FINAL that usually means all checking and bug reports have been fixed doesn't it? Anyhow, no worries

[thebaddie]

just a suggestion: a message that inform the user that he's using special chars in messages... by now the error message appears only if the message is displayed during the game and not during the editing

i think this could be usefull

[Pumaman]

just a suggestion: a message that inform the user that he's using special chars in messages... by now the error message appears only if the message is displayed during the game and not during the editing

Well, it's not a problem if you use a TTF font. In the editor, it's impossible for it to predict which font you might use to show the message with.

However, one change I'll probably make in a future version is to simply replace the special chars with ? or something, rather than have it abort the game.

Just with it being called the FINAL that usually means all checking and bug reports have been fixed doesn't it?

Hehe, I made the mistake of assuming that in the past

Actually the main reason for this is simply to get more people to test it, since some people won't want a "beta" version but will try a "Final" version. This allows more chance of spotting any obscure bugs before unleashing it on the general public.

[Cinfa]

I have a problem using {this icon} when compiling.
AGS says it contains too much icons, but I just added all formats Vista supports (http://www.axialis.com/tutorials/tutorial-vistaicons.html#t2), plus:
48*48 24bit
32*32 24bit
16*16 24bit
32*32 8bit
24*24 8bit
16*16 8bit
16*16 4bit

Which one of these should I remove?

[Pumaman]

Hmm, try removing a couple to take it down to 10 formats within the icon file, and see if that works...

[Cinfa]

Hmm, try removing a couple to take it down to 10 formats within the icon file, and see if that works...

Yes, I removed all the 24bit images and now it compiles, but I have no idea how it's seen now on a 98.
Whatever.

[Cinfa]

Boom:

---------------------------
Adventure Game Studio
---------------------------
An unexpected error occurred. Please post the following information on the AGS Technical Forum.

System.Runtime.InteropServices.External Exception: GDI+ is not properly initialized (internal GDI+ error).

   at System.Drawing.Graphics.FromHdcInternal(IntPtr hdc)
   at System.Windows.Forms.PaintEventArgs.get _Graphics()
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.PaintBackC olor(PaintEventArgs e, Rectangle rectangle, Color backColor)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.PaintBackg round(PaintEventArgs e, Rectangle rectangle, Color backColor, Point scrollOffset)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.PaintBackg round(PaintEventArgs e, Rectangle rectangle)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnPaintBac kground(PaintEventArgs pevent)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ScrollableControl. OnPaintBackground(PaintEventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.PaintWithE rrorHandling(PaintEventArgs e, Int16 layer, Boolean disposeEventArgs)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmEraseBkg nd(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ScrollableControl. WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ContainerControl.W ndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.UserControl.WndPro c(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNat iveWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNat iveWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callb ack(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)
---------------------------
OK   
---------------------------

And this:

---------------------------
Adventure Game Studio
---------------------------
An unexpected error occurred. Please post the following information on the AGS Technical Forum.


System.AccessViolationException: Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.

   at System.Drawing.SafeNativeMethods.Gdip.I ntGdipDeleteMatrix(HandleRef matrix)
   at System.Drawing.SafeNativeMethods.Gdip.G dipDeleteMatrix(HandleRef matrix)
   at System.Drawing.Drawing2D.Matrix.Dispose(Boolean disposing)
   at System.Drawing.Drawing2D.Matrix.Finaliz e()
---------------------------
OK   
---------------------------

I just tried to change the main background of a room with this 24bit png:


edit: I have just recovered the installation of Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0, and now it works.
Sorry for bothering.