AGS 3.0 Final - it's been a long road

[Pumaman]

Yep, it only happens with the DX5 driver on 320x200 full-screen, maybe it's a hardware-specific thing. I'm running Windows Vista with a Radeon X1650 Pro. I put my game here if it helps.

I downloaded this and tried it out, and it seemed to work fine. Are you using beta 13? Can you try uploading the compiled EXE, in case something has been compiled differently?

GUI border color control says "set to 0 for no border" but this only works if the background colour is transparent (0) too. Otherwise it makes the border colour 0 (black)

I'll take a look at this. The problem with fixing things like this is that some people might be relying on the "broken" behaviour.

Module descriptions are like that, but module names are usualy just single words or camelcase and make good filenames, in my experience. What's long with long filenames anyway?

Well, the project tree isn't very wide, so if you can't easily tell which module is which, it's not very helpful. Anyway, my to-do list is rather long at the moment so this one is probably not something that I'll address.

Definetaly NOT the case

Which command are you using? File.Open? Are you running with or without the debugger (F5 or Ctrl+F5)? I think there might be a bug where it doesn't map the directly correctly if you use Ctrl+F5.

Here are two example pics:
Especially the word "Entwurf" doesn't make sense there.

Interesting, looks like .NET tries to be clever by automatically translating certain words. "Entwurf" should be "Design", by the way. I'm not sure if there's anything I can do to stop it doing this.

I'm definitely for a shift to the 0-255 range.  It means a more accurate (and wider) color selection.

Well, it wouldn't be any more accurate because the AGS Colour Number is still 16-bit, but it would at least be more user-friendly.

Just the Welcome dialog. It's 100% reproducible on two very different machines.

I'm at a loss as to what might be causing this. I've tried it several times and haven't been able to reproduce the problem.
Do you have any plugins installed? If so can you try removing them and see if the problem goes away?

The plugin is copied fine I think - just not extra files that Ags3d needs (obj model files). Sounds like the problem SSH has with the Walkcycle generator.

Ah ok -- I'm not sure if this can be resolved from a plugin perspective...

Would it be possible for scripts to have sub-branches made for each script which could then be listed by the "descriptive name"?

Potentially -- but I don't see the need. You can rename the script from "Module0" to something descriptive in two clicks, I don't think it's worth making big workarounds for.

Until then it's possible to work around this as such:
DynamicSprite* sprite = DynamicSprite.CreateFromScreenshot(width, height);

Aye, though I'd recommend CreateFromBackground instead. CreateFromScreenshot can be quite slow when using the D3D driver.

[monkey0506]

Would it be possible for scripts to have sub-branches made for each script which could then be listed by the "descriptive name"?

Potentially -- but I don't see the need. You can rename the script from "Module0" to something descriptive in two clicks, I don't think it's worth making big workarounds for.

Okay, that's fine. Just a thought I had.

Until then it's possible to work around this as such:
DynamicSprite* sprite = DynamicSprite.CreateFromScreenshot(width, height);

Aye, though I'd recommend CreateFromBackground instead. CreateFromScreenshot can be quite slow when using the D3D driver.

I usually end up having my backgrounds at the wrong color depth...whereas CreateFromScreenshot is always created at the Game's color depth. My own fault probably... :

[Kweepa]

Just the Welcome dialog. It's 100% reproducible on two very different machines.

I'm at a loss as to what might be causing this. I've tried it several times and haven't been able to reproduce the problem.
Do you have any plugins installed? If so can you try removing them and see if the problem goes away?

No plugins. Here's the contents of the ags directory:

Code: ags

C:\Documents and Settings\Steve>dir C:\dev\ags30b13
 Volume in drive C has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is AC2E-2783

 Directory of C:\dev\ags30b13

10/14/2007  08:43p      <DIR>          .
10/14/2007  08:43p      <DIR>          ..
11/06/2005  05:36p                 792 acsprset.spr
10/07/2007  05:33p           1,421,312 acwin.exe
10/07/2007  05:31p           2,504,496 ags-help.chm
09/30/2007  06:20p              90,112 AGS.Controls.dll
10/07/2007  05:36p           1,355,776 AGS.Native.dll
10/07/2007  05:35p             159,744 AGS.Types.dll
10/07/2007  05:36p           1,699,840 AGSEditor.exe
10/08/2007  12:44p                  90 connectionmap.xml
10/08/2007  12:44p                  90 connections.xml
08/21/2007  07:36p             165,677 Default Game.agt
08/21/2007  07:37p              83,223 Empty Game.agt
06/05/2006  02:14p             479,232 msvcm80.dll
06/05/2006  02:14p             626,688 msvcr80.dll
10/08/2007  12:44p                 342 settings.xml
              14 File(s)      8,587,414 bytes
               2 Dir(s)   9,843,900,416 bytes free

It happens if I click on "Exit" or if I close it with the [X] button.

[movti]

Hi
I was very happy to read that in beta 13 theres this new feature:

Added COLOR_TRANSPARENT option to DrawingSurface.DrawingColor property to allow you to draw transparent areas onto the image

But this has nothing to do with drawing transparent walkbehind areas etc. onto my backgrounds, does it? Cause i can`t find that option.

[subspark]

AGS now shifts the bottom row of pixels of a Dialog GUI background image 1 line above the top.

This has been happening ever since you enabled support for regular GUIs for dialogs. So the current version (13) introduces this problem.

Thanks for being so patient with all these requests, Chris. I am inclined to agree with a proper AGS installer rather than a zip archive too.

Many cheers,
Paul.

[SSH]

GUI border color control says "set to 0 for no border" but this only works if the background colour is transparent (0) too. Otherwise it makes the border colour 0 (black)

I'll take a look at this. The problem with fixing things like this is that some people might be relying on the "broken" behaviour.

Well, the problem needs perhaps fixing in the documentation rather than the engine?

Definetaly NOT the case

Which command are you using? File.Open? Are you running with or without the debugger (F5 or Ctrl+F5)? I think there might be a bug where it doesn't map the directly correctly if you use Ctrl+F5.

I think it's actually FillDirList that is the problem, as someone else mentioned. I'm using F5


Also, I just noticed this problem: I'm pretty sure eModeTalk<SPACE>to is not a valid script identifier:


and you can't import extenders:

Code: ags

import function SetMenuText(this *GUI,  String desc);

gives an error

[SupSuper]

Yep, it only happens with the DX5 driver on 320x200 full-screen, maybe it's a hardware-specific thing. I'm running Windows Vista with a Radeon X1650 Pro. I put my game here if it helps.

I downloaded this and tried it out, and it seemed to work fine. Are you using beta 13? Can you try uploading the compiled EXE, in case something has been compiled differently?

http://supsuper.wurmz.net/stuff/Compiled.zip

[monkey0506]

and you can't import extenders:

Code: ags

import function SetMenuText(this *GUI,  String desc);

gives an error

You're using it wrong Andrew. It's:

Code: ags

import function SetMenuText(this GUI*, String desc);

It's not a pointer-to-this called GUI...

[Pumaman]

No plugins. Here's the contents of the ags directory:
10/08/2007  12:44p                  90 connectionmap.xml
10/08/2007  12:44p                  90 connections.xml

What are these XML files? Probably nothing important, but do you have some sort of background program fiddling with running applications?

But this has nothing to do with drawing transparent walkbehind areas etc. onto my backgrounds, does it?  Cause i can`t find that option.

You can't draw onto room area masks at runtime. What you can do is change the walk-behind baseline using the SetWalkBehindBase command to enable/disable the area.

AGS now shifts the bottom row of pixels of a Dialog GUI background image 1 line above the top.

I just tried this out and couldn't replicate it. However, I noticed in your game you'd set game.dialog_options_y to -8 which means you see one row of pixels of the first option's text at the top of the GUI.

Can you explain exactly what the problem is or provide a screenshot?

Well, the problem needs perhaps fixing in the documentation rather than the engine?

I've investigated this further and it was a deliberate act to make color 0 non-transparent if you have a background color -- presumably in response to some sort of "bug" report a while back. So I'll change the help text for that property.

I think it's actually FillDirList that is the problem, as someone else mentioned. I'm using F5

Ah ok, yes FillDirList doesn't use the Compiled folder as reported (and I'll also fix those two DynamicSprite file functions).

Also, I just noticed this problem: I'm pretty sure eModeTalk<SPACE>to is not a valid script identifier:

Hehe fair point, well spotted.

Yep, it only happens with the DX5 driver on 320x200 full-screen, maybe it's a hardware-specific thing. I'm running Windows Vista with a Radeon X1650 Pro. I put my game here if it helps.

http://supsuper.wurmz.net/stuff/Compiled.zip

Thanks ... tried this out and didn't see any problems. All I did was start it up and press the top button on the GUI, it faded out and back in and looked fine. Or is there something specific I have to do to reproduce the problem?

[subspark]

I noticed in your game you'd set game.dialog_options_y to -8 which means you see one row of pixels of the first option's text at the top of the GUI.

I just set it to zero after actually having it on -1 since I posted the game and the problem still persists. Here is a screenshot. Pay close attention to the 1 'entire' line of black pixels that are above the gui bounds. Also note that in my gui background image, there is a 1 pixel line of black pixels at the very bottom of the bitmap. I did this to make the dialog option bars even and equal. I also expect the command game.dialog_options_y to -8 to only shift the text up or down and not wrap it around.

You can clearly see the black line appearing above the set bounds of the dialog GUI.


Here is the actual background image for the dialogs GUI. I brightened it for a clearer view. Note the black line is correctly at the very bottom along with 1 transparency pixel on the left.


This is really freaking me out man.
Cheers,
Paul.

[Pumaman]

Ahh, I've now replicated it. It only happens with the D3D driver and I'd previously been trying with DX5. I'll get it fixed.

[naltimari]

Have you ever thought about adding command-line options to the editor?
I would find very useful to have a 'compile' option in the editor. I even though about doing a plugin to implement this, but i guess it is not possible as of AGS 2.72.

[mutterschiff]

I want to try the beta but got this error

---------------------------
AGSEditor.exe - Fehler in Anwendung
---------------------------
Die Anwendung konnte nicht richtig initialisiert werden (0xc0000135). Klicken Sie auf "OK", um die Anwendung zu beenden.
---------------------------
OK   
---------------------------

[Cluey]

The scripting only thing frightens and confuses me, and it seems like an odd choice removing the easy to use interactions editor if you want to make AGS more user friendly.

I'm prepared to learn but most people, especially artist types, are put off by being limited only to scripting to get things flying. I'm aware of the drop down autocomplete list, but it does little to explain the function of each thing.



If you're going to ensure people use scripting than at least make it a little less daunting for n00bs like me. Maybe a drop down menu with heads for different types of function, like "Message functions", "Game functions", "Character functions"

Also what happened to the preview view options?

[movti]

But this has nothing to do with drawing transparent walkbehind areas etc. onto my backgrounds, does it?  Cause i can`t find that option.

You can't draw onto room area masks at runtime. What you can do is change the walk-behind baseline using the SetWalkBehindBase command to enable/disable the area.

No no, sorry. What i thought this feature was is that while editting a room you now could draw your walkbehind areas with semi-transparent colour.
Hope that clears the missunderstanding

[VK Dan]

I want to try the beta but got this error

---------------------------
AGSEditor.exe - Fehler in Anwendung
---------------------------
Die Anwendung konnte nicht richtig initialisiert werden (0xc0000135). Klicken Sie auf "OK", um die Anwendung zu beenden.
---------------------------
OK  
---------------------------

Make sure that you have the .NET Framework 2.0 installed.

Also what happened to the preview view options?

It's no longer there as far as I can tell. However you can preview your character's views by checking the Animate box on the Character's page.

[SSH]

When the autocomplete list is open, if you type a "+" then your identifier must be complete, but this doesn't trigger the closing of the autocompletion. e.g.

Code: ags

int someval = gMygui.X+

Also, my project is now in a state where it won't compile with F5 or F7



and the error file is at http://ssh.me.uk/dev/AGSEditor.exe.mdmp

and the game dir is in http://ssh.me.uk/dev/walkcyclist.zip

[mutterschiff]

when i want to test my game with the beta i got this message
---------------------------
Adventure Game Studio
---------------------------
The error was within an automatically generated script file, so you cannot edit the script. The most likely cause of errors here is that two things in your game have the same name. For example, two characters or two fonts with the same script name could cause this error. Please consult the error message for more clues.
---------------------------
OK   
---------------------------
and in the window _AutoGenerated.ash(17): Error (line 17): unexpected 'eModePickup'

whis 2.72 works it without errors

[Pumaman]

Have you ever thought about adding command-line options to the editor?
I would find very useful to have a 'compile' option in the editor. I even though about doing a plugin to implement this, but i guess it is not possible as of AGS 2.72.

For what reason would you just want to compile the game without using the editor? I guess now that you can externally edit the script files this could be useful, would anyone else think so?

I want to try the beta but got this error

---------------------------
AGSEditor.exe - Fehler in Anwendung
---------------------------
Die Anwendung konnte nicht richtig initialisiert werden (0xc0000135). Klicken Sie auf "OK", um die Anwendung zu beenden.

As VK Dan says, make sure you have .NET 2.0 installed. This is the main reason the final release of 3.0 will probably come in an installer rather than a zip file.

If you're going to ensure people use scripting than at least make it a little less daunting for n00bs like me. Maybe a drop down menu with heads for different types of function, like "Message functions", "Game functions", "Character functions"

This has already been discussed and I agree that something like that is a good idea. However, in order to make sure that AGS 3.0 actually gets released at some time within the next 12 months, we have to stop somewhere!

Also what happened to the preview view options?

You can preview the view in the characters pane and in the View Selection dialog when you're selecting a view in the property grid.
However, you're certainly not the first person to ask about this so I'm planning to add it back as part of the Views pane.

When the autocomplete list is open, if you type a "+" then your identifier must be complete, but this doesn't trigger the closing of the autocompletion. e.g.

Well, natually I'd suggest you put a space before the operator, but it's a fair point so I'll add plus and minus to select the item in autocomplete.

Also, my project is now in a state where it won't compile  with F5 or F7

Thanks for posting this. The error is that you have a missing closing bracket on line 140 of ReadBMP.asc:

Code: ags

this.rds.ChangeCanvasSize(FloatToInt(IntToFloat(this.Width)/2.0, eRoundNearest), FloatToInt(IntToFloat(this.Height)/2.0, 0, 0);

I'll fix the compiler so that it doesn't crash in this scenario.

and in the window _AutoGenerated.ash(17): Error (line 17): unexpected 'eModePickup'

Do you have two mouse cursors both called "Pick up"?

[naltimari]

For what reason would you just want to compile the game without using the editor? I guess now that you can externally edit the script files this could be useful, would anyone else think so?

Well, you said it very well yourself, it can be useful from now on. The separation of room scripts from the content is very welcome, in my opinion. If the dialogs also were on a separate (human-readable) file, then, it would be heaven on earth for me...