Suggestion: mp3 string length

[jetxl]

To save bits and webspace I have seperated the music files from the game.
Instead of making a music pack I have choosen to let the player download some mp3 files from a free music server. This way my website isn't overloaded and dial-up users can choose if they want to download music.

The problem is that one of the mp3 file strings is to big (25 char) and AGS crashes. I tried ~ but that doesn't work I think.
I can't rename the mp3 file because every player has to rename it, and that's not user friendly. I also can't rename the mp3 file on the server because it isn't mine.

xerxes-the_day_we_met.mp3Ã,  Ã,  Ã, <- filename
xerxes-the_day~.mp3Ã,  <- am I doing this wrong?

all the mp3 files begin with xerxes-

[strazer]

The 8+3 filenames are xerxes~1.mp3, xerxes~2.mp3 and so on.
You can display these filenames if you open a dos prompt and type
dir /x

[Fuzzpilz]

Unfortunately, the numbers in those will depend on the order in which players download the files, and will probably not always be the same. I'm afraid your best choices are using shorter names or bothering CJ about extending this apparent limit. (or just using a music.vox, for that matter, though I understand why you might want not to)

[jetxl]

Still doesn't seems to work.
AGS cant find xerxes~5.mp3.

The other files are also bigger then 8 char but CAN be played. Weird.

[strazer]

Right, I've created some copies and file 5 is named XE859B~1.MP3, file 6 XE8597~1.MP3. Weird.
The best solution seems to be to have PlayMP3File support long(er) filenames...

[Gilbert]

My suggestion is:
Please don't use filenames for external datafiles/sound/etc. for the game to load that don't comply with the 8.3 DOS format. Even if the functions support LFN, the game just can't be guaranteed to work in all systems.

So, if you really need players to download mp3 files from some otehr souces, provide information for how to rename the files after downloading in the game's documentations.

[Pumaman]

Hmm, there's no real reason for that 25 character limit, I'll scrap it.