AGS 3.0 Final - it's been a long road

[Pumaman]

Hotspots and objects in rooms. I'm assuming that limitation still exists from the last time I used AGS?

As Gilbot says, it won't be possible to completely remove the limit on hotspots, but I can certainly look into increasing it.

I think there's a bug in the 'Continue a recently edited game' list when I edit games in 2.72 and then open 2.8 the list is completely mixxed. (The names of the games aren't in the same order as their names)

Yes, this will happen if you use 2.72 after 2.8, because 2.72 doesn't understand the game names and will re-order things.

I think we had some discussions about that earlier on, one main problem was with the editor displaying all these areas in different colours, which would be VERY hard to distinguish if there're so many areas. I think I had suggested to only display the currently area in a colour, and all the other areas in one single gray colour. Since the editor is being re-written, maybe it's time to reconsider this?

2.72 currently does it with all of the areas gray except the currently selected one; 2.8 reverts to the old behaviour of showing them all. Which do people prefer?

I'd definitely like limits removed on the max number of sprite/view/etc folders for reasons I've mentioned before (organization, categorization).   

There is no limit on the number of sprites per folder, or number of sprite folders, in 2.8.

Using the editor in 800x600 resolution doesn't seem to allow scrolling on large GUIs.

Is this a big issue? As it seems like there are more people using 800x600 than I thought, I'll look into it.

Also I keep getting an error whenever I try to run games.  If I use the Test Game option in the editor I get a message that reads: "The engine does not appear to have shut down properly.  If the problem persists, post the problem on the tech forum."

Um oops, looks like I made a bit of a teeny weeny mistake with the compiler in beta 3. For some reason, I don't get this problem with my test game, but I created a new one and it happened to me too. I'll get it fixed.

Item #3: Has support for .PCX files been dropped?  I couldn't access them when loading background images for the afore mentioned "quick game".

Yes, the editor now supports the file formats supported by Windows GDI+, which means we lose PCX and TGA, and gain JPG and TIF. I appreciate that this isn't very convenient if you were storing your images in PCX files, I'm not sure how much effort it would take to re-implement manually.

And quick question: In the palette editor, the range of brightness on the RGB slots seems to have changed from 64 to 256.  Will this actually allow a broader range of color in 256 color games?  Also, I assume scripts using palette[SLOT].r etc. will need to be updated accordingly?

As Gilbot has said, this is just to make it more user-friendly since people are more used to dealing with colour components in a 0-255 range. When it compiles the game, the editor divides by 4 because the VGA hardware only supports 6 bits for each colour component.

[Pumaman]

Ok, because of the game crashing bug in beta 3, I'm releasing beta 4 now to correct it.

This also means that I'm releasing a new feature -- the Script Debugger -- slightly earlier than planned.

What is Script Debugging?

It allows you to stop the game from running at a certain point, and then step through your lines of script one by one, in order to track down problems.

If you've used any sort of Visual Studio program before, it's the same sort of thing -- but AGS doesn't currently allow you to inspect the values of variables. You can only step through lines of code.

What's the point of it?

If you have a complex script that's going wrong, sometimes it can be hard to work out why. With the debugger, you can step through each line of script one by one, and see how the game reacts to each line.

How do I use it?

There are two ways to use it:
1) Place a breakpoint in your script. You do this by clicking on a line of code in the script editor, then pressing F9. Then, when the game arrives at this line of code, it will stop running.
(NOTE: The editor will allow you to place a breakpoint on any line of script. However, in order for it to work, it must be placed on a line that has some code on it).
2) Press SCROLL LOCK while playing the game. This will break out when the next line of script is run.

Once the script has stopped, you can use the "Step Into" button (F11) to step through the lines of code, one by one. To allow the game to continue running normally, use the Run (F5) button.

Are there any known issues with it?

It will allow you to place a breakpoint on any line, even lines with no code. If you do this, the breakpoint will never be hit.


Feedback is welcome -- this is an experimental version, so I expect there'll be problems. Let me know how you get on.

[khnum]

just tried the script debugging, it works great! 
Anyway, is there any way to get rid of that yellow line in the script (without having to close it), when you finish testing? i find it quite annoying 
Anyway, a really nice feature  8)

[Ishmael]

EDIT2: Stuff below doesn't happen with beta 4.

"Could not load sprite set file ACSPRSET.SPR
This means that the file is missing or there is not enough free
system memory to load the file."

I created a new game, imported three sprites, assigned them to views, created two new characters and assiged each view to one of them, then made a new room, drew a hasty walkable area and two walk behinds, hit save, then test. And this is beta 3. And I have about 1.5GB of memory free, so I doubt it's that... Unless something leaks.

EDIT:

Also, am I just imagining things or is the Setup Game option gone? And wasn't the key shortcut for Test game ctrl-T before?

EDIT3: And I miss the pop-ups telling about compile errors. Took me a good while to figure out what's wrong while nothing happens when I click Run. ¬¬

[Gilbert]

2.72 currently does it with all of the areas gray except the currently selected one; 2.8 reverts to the old behaviour of showing them all. Which do people prefer?

IMO, better use the V2.72 method, since hotspot numbers had already been increased to 29, it's currently VERY difficult to differentiate between the areas, especially for the gray ones after #16(I think this i s exactly why the display method had finally changed previously?), furthermore, you don't know which colour correspond to which area until you try to paint something on the screen. Also, doing that would make increasing the numbers of other areas (when needed) more easily and straightfoward.

[SSH]

2.72 currently does it with all of the areas gray except the currently selected one; 2.8 reverts to the old behaviour of showing them all. Which do people prefer?

IMO, better use the V2.72 method, since hotspot numbers had already been increased to 29, it's currently VERY difficult to differentiate between the areas, especially for the gray ones after #16(I think this i s exactly why the display method had finally changed previously?), furthermore, you don't know which colour correspond to which area until you try to paint something on the screen. Also, doing that would make increasing the numbers of other areas (when needed) more easily and straightfoward.

Can't we have an option to use whichever one we prefer. I have very few rooms with lots of hotspots, so it would be better to have the multicolour for those rooms and switch to the grey-all-but-active mode for when I've got lots...

[Lt. Smash]

why don't make the bitmap areas to vector-based polygons which are numbered 1....∞?
You could make as many as you want and you could make them overlapping and we wouldn't need to color them. But that would also be much to code for CJ but would be much better.
----------------------
I think in the file menu should be an item added to open the 'Start Game Dialog' and a 'New Game' item.
----------------------
The script debugging works fine and is very useable.


Keep on that good work CJ!

[Gilbert]

It will be a huge change then, and also, overlapping is probably one BIG problem.

[Ishmael]

I find the 2.72 style much better. And overlapping can be already done very easily with a bit of planning forehand, some scripting and the use of properties.

That reminds me, would it be possible to make properties either class-independent or universal, perhaps with a checkbox in the property edit box? I mean, I could have a property called Value, which I could use just for inventory items, but then have a property called Health, which would be universal for characters, inventory items, hotspots, and things.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

What do you mean "next" Brittens?

You sly dog!

Also:

There is no limit on the number of sprites per folder, or number of sprite folders, in 2.8.

Yay!  Does this extend to the view folders as well?  Also, if I may, adding folder creation to dialogs would be a great way to help categorize multiple dialogs by character.  Really, the more folder creation extensibility the better!



Edit:  Did a quick import of Boyd Quest and noticed that music module playback doesn't seem to work in this build.  None of the xms, s3ms or mods in my music folder play but the oggs do.

[Ghost]

Had a go at Beta 4, and it seems System.Gamma doesn't work.
Here's my code (worked in 2.72)

function GammaSlider_Change(GUIControl *control) {
System.Gamma = GammaSlider.Value; 
}

It compiles all right in Beta 4, but moving the slider doesn't change the gamma.

[Khris]

I tried it myself, worked flawlessly. Are you running the game in fullscreen mode?

[Ghost]

*smacks forehead* yes, that was it. I really shouldn't work after 3 in the morning. Sorry.

[Mehrdad]

i do donload framework 2.0.but for install it want MICROSOFt WINDOWS INSTALLER 3.0 please.help me for link for download.

[Scorpiorus]

Here it is:

Windows Installer 3.0 Redistributable
Windows Installer 3.1 Redistributable

[Lt. Smash]

When using the Script debugging feature and pressing F11 the game window is only visible for a few moments when it then jumps in the background.
Maybe make it possible that it stays in front when i press F11 or the button for it?

[Pumaman]

just tried the script debugging, it works great! 

Glad to hear it!

Anyway, is there any way to get rid of that yellow line in the script (without having to close it), when you finish testing? i find it quite annoying 

Ah hehe, yes this will happen if you close the game by using the X button on the game window while it is paused. I'll fix it, but in the meantime either use the Stop button in the editor, or allow the game to run and then quit it normally -- either of those will clear the yellow line.

Also, am I just imagining things or is the Setup Game option gone? And wasn't the key shortcut for Test game ctrl-T before?

EDIT3: And I miss the pop-ups telling about compile errors. Took me a good while to figure out what's wrong while nothing happens when I click Run. ¬¬

Yes, the Setup Game option is gone. The fact that you've noticed seems to indicate that it's useful though, so I'll see about bringing it back.
As for the compile errors, perhaps the prompt should return if there are errors compiling. I'll look into it.

Can't we have an option to use whichever one we prefer.

I think this would be ideal, I'll look into it.

why don't make the bitmap areas to vector-based polygons which are numbered 1....∞?

Considering the huge change involved in doing this, I don't really see any benefits.

I think in the file menu should be an item added to open the 'Start Game Dialog' and a 'New Game' item.

This is a possibility, I'll see how feasible it looks.

That reminds me, would it be possible to make properties either class-independent or universal, perhaps with a checkbox in the property edit box? I mean, I could have a property called Value, which I could use just for inventory items, but then have a property called Health, which would be universal for characters, inventory items, hotspots, and things.

This is something I'd like to do, but I can't promise it for 2.8.

Yay!  Does this extend to the view folders as well?  Also, if I may, adding folder creation to dialogs would be a great way to help categorize multiple dialogs by character.  Really, the more folder creation extensibility the better!

Yes, it extends to view folders. All of these organisational folders are not compiled into the game (they are just an editor concept) therefore with the new editor they are unlimited.

Edit:  Did a quick import of Boyd Quest and noticed that music module playback doesn't seem to work in this build.  None of the xms, s3ms or mods in my music folder play but the oggs do.

Interesting, I'll look into it.

When using the Script debugging feature and pressing F11 the game window is only visible for a few moments when it then jumps in the background.
Maybe make it possible that it stays in front when i press F11 or the button for it?

It deliberately works this way. If you're stepping through several lines of script, it would be very annoying if the focus kept being lost from the editor, and you'd have to keep clicking back in the editor window to bring it back into focus in order to go to the next line.
I think it makes more sense to keep the focus on the editor, and allow you to manually alt+tab to the game window if you want to see what's on the screen.

[Pumaman]

Ok, beta 5 is now up. The list of changes is in the first post.

What are dynamic arrays?

With the move towards removing system limits, it will no longer possible for module authors to declare things like:
int characterStatus[AGS_MAX_CHARACTERS];

The alternative of declaring a huge array just in case, like   int characterStatus[100000] would be wasteful.

Dynamic arrays allow you to specify at run-time how large the array needs to be.

How do they work?

You declare a dynamic array like this:

int characterStatus[];
GUI *guisToUpdate[];

and then, in your script code, you can do:

characterStatus = new int[Game.CharacterCount];
guisToUpdate = new GUI[Game.GUICount];
etc

Note that if you just declare a dynamic array, and don't do the "new" thing, you'll get a Null Reference error if you try to use it.

Currently dynamic array are supported as global and local variables, but you can't currently put one inside a struct.
Also, at present you can create arrays of basic types (int, char, etc) and of built-in types (String, Character, etc) but not of custom structs.

Do I need one?

Probably not. This feature is most useful for advanced scripters.

[Gilbert]

Congrats!

Just because of curiosity, can the size of a dynamic array be defined only once or can it be changed multiple times in-game?

[strazer]

With the move towards removing system limits, it will no longer possible for module authors to declare things like:
int characterStatus[AGS_MAX_CHARACTERS];

No longer possible? Do you mean this won't compile anymore?