Messages

No.

*Steve ducks*

It's certainly pretty. Fits the game perfectly!

I'm enjoying your articles.
Is there a rough timeline for the first episode?

Yikes!

Really though, using a function to initialize a struct is inefficient and confusing.
Take a look at these two pieces of code:

struct.Init(3.0, 4.5, 6.0);
You push a bunch of undefined data on the stack, then call a function that copies that data into the appropriate members.

struct.pos = 3.0;
struct.vel = 4.5;
struct.acc = 6.0;
The data is copied directly into the members, plus there's no chance of confusing the parameters.

Now imagine that with 16 parameters...
Of course you could break the data into logical groups and use functions to initialize them. That's not so much a workaround as a code organisation issue.

Hmm... 16 parameters... wouldn't happen to be a 4x4 matrix for some 3d would it? In which case, you can easily use a 3x4 matrix (forward vector, right vector, up vector, position vector) instead. Then initializing it works much better as:

matrix.setForward (1,   0,   0);
matrix.setRight      (0,   1,   0);
matrix.SetUp         (0,    0,   1);
matrix.SetPosition(10, 10, -30);

Just another pointless pointing out of a workaround for you.

However, if you're using Xcode to build it, this might help.

Yeah, I saw that, thanks. I'm more worried about building allegro to be honest. I need to use gcc 3.3 rather than 4.0. It'll probably work out fine, but it's a pain having to switch out frameworks. I fear change. Plus, I don't know anyone with Panther or Jaguar installed to test it on.

Steve, is one able to also run the game by including the runtime with the ac2game.dat file on a disk image?

Yup, that works, with windows exes renamed as ac2game.dat. I haven't tested pure game files saved from the editor.

As a workaround you could have two initialization functions with 8 parameters each

Bump to announce a new version.
Get it at
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/mac/AGS271beta2.dmg

See instructions in first post.

Not to mention that you can't save to a CD

I think it's a bit inaccurate in places - the "classic" Lucasarts GUI is almost identical to the Sierra when it comes to entering commands, except with a couple more verbs. I don't think it could really be called a word tree. They both break down to verb-noun or verb-noun-with-noun.

Also, I don't think making the icons flashier counts as a more sophisticated interface. No doubt Apple would disagree...

Still, interesting to see you ended up with the default interface. Are you at least going to have mouse over text on hotspots? Or is this game going to be a return to the pixel hunt too?

You just wanted to type "protected import static void"
You forgot const though.

You can add char[200] to a struct instead of a string, I believe.

I guess the problem with static variables in structs is that they'd require initialization when the script loaded. You could always have a global variable external to the struct that was accessed through static functions inside the struct. For example, instead of

struct Jimmy
{
  static int Bob;
};
int Jimmy::Bob = 0;

you'd write

struct Jimmy
{
  static void SetBob(int bob) { gJimmyBob = bob; }
  static int GetBob() { return gJimmyBob; }
};
int gJimmyBob = 0;

Damn it.
They'll be passing a law banning me from driving around and around the city center next.
And then my precious ring tones...

Looks great.
I'm not sure what it's got to do with "Video Game Americana" though. [EDIT - Is that a Streetfighter?]

I don't see anything wrong with the grill, or the rust for that matter.
For a derelict, the tires are well inflated.
The angle of the guy's face and nose looks like the corner of the newspaper at first glance.

Aieee! Not again!
This ate every second of my waking life last time. Great fun though.
Good luck to the competitors...

Well, I haven't set up a fat binary yet, but it should work when that happens.

The latest news on the port... I have a version that works with Tiger (tested on a fresh machine). I'll upload it tonight.

Thanks to Jake for his ongoing help.

Is it just me or does that look like a very ugly woman or just a very gay guy.

It's just you. I think it's terrific. Really matches "cut-scene Mika" from I Spy 1.

My apologies...
This is my first ever mac application, and it seems I forgot a step or two when distributing the app.
Good way to test it, eh?

Does someone (preferably in the US that is going to be at home tonight) want to work with me on testing the uploaded versions? PM me if you can help.

Cheers,
Steve

[EDIT: It seems that Allegro will only work with Mac OS X 10.2 and above, and programs compiled with 10.4 will currently only work with 10.4. So at the moment AGS is limited to 10.4. Sheesh.
I also didn't realise I hadn't included Allegro in the application I posted earlier. I'm trying to find out how to bundle it now.]

Was there an "agserror.txt" file left in the App directory or the game directory?
If so, what does it say?
(I really wanted to pop up a dialog box but I couldn't get it to play nice with allegro.)

I don't have a mac handy so I can't test it, but I did download GSO to check it doesn't use any dlls. Imagine my disappointment when I saw it didn't.

I shall have to check it out further tonight.

Cheers,
Steve

The 'zines have the advantage - over the forums - of being able to unconditionally present personal opinions

You can say pretty much anything on these forums too, as long as you don't mind some discussion afterward.
There's nothing in the interview that requires relegating it to a zine, if you ask me.

I don't see the point of publishing a zine that only the people on these forums are going to read anyway. Might as well cut out the awkward step of downloading and messing around with a pdf. If you must "print", consider a web page. There's much less resistance to opening up a new browser window, so your audience will be larger.

downloaded it twice

i'm a noob with macs, so yeah..

Ummm... is there still a problem? If so, what version of OS X are you on?

Just out of curiosity, if you set up the game to run "320x200 fullscreen", will it be like the original 640x400 option (that scaling, etc. are done in higher res.) or just simple pixel doubling? In my opinion simple pixel doubling seems to be more reasonable, as it captures the original display better.

The first one, unfortunately.
I would love to do the pixel doubling stuff but I don't know the display code well enough.

Cheers,
Steve

[drag AGSRunTime.app from the AGS271beta3 folder in Applications to the dock]

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/mac/AGS271beta3b.dmg

Changes since beta3a:
- now detects cursor keys and PgUp/Dn etc keys (but not keypad cursors)
- can play Boogie Boogie in AitGoFW
Changes since beta2f:
- beta3 functionality and bug fixes
- reduced cpu usage and fan noise
- fix to some save game crashes
- now runs Adventures in the Galaxy of Fantabulous Wonderment
Changes since beta2e:
- can choose to ignore missing plugins (eg the creditz plugin)
- another fix to conversation bug introduced last time
- now runs, eg, Apprentice Deluxe and Da New Guys (until the credits anyway)
- simplified running of games (see below)
Changes since beta2d:
- embedded FLI/FLCs work (tested with Barn Runner)
Changes since beta2c:
- changed global "os" variable to 4
- fixed conversation bug which crashed Aazor
- temporary fix for KQ2VGA intro corruption
Changes since beta2b:
- fixed lockups when playing mpg/avi movies (thanks to simulacra for the test case!)
Changes since beta2:
- added required Allegro framework to the bundle
- fixed script access to global script variables

This is a mac OS X port of the AGS run time engine.

To download and install:
1) click on the link above
2) open the downloaded AGS271beta3.dmg
3) open the AGS271beta3 disk image
4) drag the AGS271beta3 folder inside to your Applications directory
5) drag AGSRunTime.app from the AGS271beta3 folder in Applications to the dock

To run AGS games:
1) download and unzip a game
2) drag the game executable to the app in the dock
3) enjoy!

To change game options you have to edit the .cfg file.
If the game crashes, a dialog box appears and errors are written to agserror.txt.
If the game locks up in full screen, press Cmd-Option-Esc to return to OS X.

Supported:
The fire plugin (more plugins coming)
AVI, MPG and FLC movies
OS X 10.4 (and above?)

Not supported:
320x200 natively - it runs 640x480 instead.
Games made with AGS versions before 2.50.
OS X 10.3 or below

Please report any problems in this thread. I compiled this with Tiger and it apparently doesn't work with anything else. I will investigate a compile for 10.2 and above.

Enjoy!
Steve

Wow!
Why were you looking for a background artist again?
Those are incredible!