Jake's Very Last Journey: Polished MAGS version

Started by fernewelten, Tue 31/12/2019 00:02:36

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fernewelten

Hello, fellow adventurers!

I'd like to present the polished version of my recent MAGS game.
See below under "Release notes" for the changes.

Jake's Very Last Journey.

Jake has an unfortunate mishap on his way home, a mishap that lands him right in the clouds. He needs to find his way to the Pearly Gates and into heaven. But to make that happen, he needs your help.

Encounter, and counter, a preachy neighbour and an ill-tempered ghost in a wild and wonderful journey!

   

Download the game via the AGS Game directory
and play the game! Jake's eternal bliss depends on you!

Standard BASS interface. (If you think that Jake is acting overly obtuse, remember that your mouse has a right-click (examine) button!)

Hints & Tips thread




Release notes

Version 01.01:
Initial MAGS version.

Version 01.02:
Core gameplay hasn't changed as compared to the MAGS version, but I fixed bugs and improved animations.

  • Clearer BASS system explanation screen
  • Higher-res Jake sprites.
  • Improved Jake animations.
  • Removed bugs when clicking on components of the opening screens.
  • Fixed bug, Jake could sometimes walk through the crashed car.
  • Improved screw handling in first cloud screen.
  • Cloud potholes easier to discern in first cloud screen.
  • Fixed glitches in Mr. Reckman's song.
  • Probably fixed bug in ghost room: clicking on ghost when gui is up could cause strange effects.
  • (Windows version:) Thicker outlines for superior readibility
  • (Windows version:) Better visual for "ball lightning" gui and "cloud ghost" gui.

cat

The game crashed for me in the room
Spoiler
with the sleeping giant, I think when interacting with the hand or finger. It's a pity, because I didn't save after the annoying dialog with the neighbour.
[close]

Debug Assertion Failed!
Expression: vector subscript out of range


Edit:
Spoiler
Now I've saved after the neighbour, but this keeps happening, even during the quiz when I clicked the hand.
[close]

fernewelten

#2
Argh! I'd tried very hard to reproduce that bug but didn't manage to for all my efforts.

This is something that shouldn't be possible no matter how the adventure is coded: The engine itself that runs the adventure hits on a bug and dumps. If you've got any tips on how to reproduce this, I'd be very obliged, and Crimson Wizard for the AGS GIT project, too.

But it doesn't need to stop the adventure at all. Hint:
Spoiler
You needn't interact with the hand at all, it's the head you need to wake and talk to.
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Crimson Wizard

How to reproduce the crash:
- get to the room with the sleeping giant;
- use the "Headlight casing" on "Giant hand", which is a lower part of the hand (notice the small letter 'h');
- crash occurs.


This game still uses AGS 3.4.2.1 (according to winsetup and ctrl+V info at least), which was the early alpha build of 3.5.0, and may contain numerous bugs, including mistakes with std::vectors (because I was replacing number of fixed arrays with vectors).

I tested running same event with the final 3.5.0, and the crash does not happen, so probably this mistake was fixed somewhere in between these versions.

fernewelten

#4
Ah at last! Thanks a lot, I've been able to call up the error.

The code right there is harmless IMO:
Spoiler

Use inventory on object event: oHandFingers_UseInv.

Code: ags
function DontUseThisDave()
{
    player.Say("I'm not sure that I want to throw this away.");
    player.Say("After all, I might need it later on.");
}

function oHandFingers_UseInv()
{
    DontUseThisDave();
}

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Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Tue 18/02/2020 23:15:18
This game still uses AGS 3.4.2.1 (according to winsetup and ctrl+V info at least), which was the early alpha build of 3.5.0, and may contain numerous bugs, including mistakes with std::vectors (because I was replacing number of fixed arrays with vectors).

This might well be the case.  When I run the game in AGS 3.4.1, the error does not show up yet, no matter how often I bang the headlight onto the cloud hand.

The game is currently evolving, so I'll try to go back in time and find fthe source code state that corresponds to the (published) extended MAGS version. If that dumps with the most current compiler, editor, and engine, I'll assemble a bug report. Unfortunately, the whole source package is nearly a gig large because of the assets.


fernewelten

Well, this turns out to have an unexpected resolution.

Crimson Wizard said that the version he checked was compiled in 3.4.2.1, but I _distinctly_ remembered having compiled the polished version under 3.5. So I checked just _what_ file was on the server, and … it turned out to be outdated. Something must have glitched when I uploaded the extended MAGS version so it never arrived on the server.

So now I've re-uploaded the correct version. The Engine identifies as 3.5.22, and now I can't make the game crash any more by banging the headlight onto the fingers.

@cat, I'm afraid you haven't been playing the polished MAGS version after all, but it's online now. The core gameplay hasn't changed, but the polished version features a Jake that can stoop.

Let's hope this resolves the issue!




cat

Now it worked. I noticed a few other improvements compared to the old version as well.

fernewelten

#7
Quote from: cat on Wed 19/02/2020 20:37:02
Now it worked. I noticed a few other improvements compared to the old version as well.

Yes, most noteworthy: I mitigated a pixelhunt.
Spoiler

There used to be just one screw that Jake can interact with. The others were visible on the screen but simply part of the surrounding fence. So if the player happened to move the wrench over those screws first, they got the feedback, "Oh, I see, the screws aren't really there, I must look for something else to use the wrench on." And that was a false herring that led the player to a wild goose chase.

Now there still is just one "right" screw to apply the wrench on. But Jake can now apply the wrench on every screw, too. If it's a "wrong" screw, then Jake remarks that "that one" is too tight to unscrew - so the player gets a big hint that other screws may not be too tight and they must continue trying the wrench on screws. There's less than a handful of screws so this isn't too onerous.
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