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Unfortunately, this did not work for me. First I got the following error:



And then on subsequent tries, this one:



This is a short extract (it was much longer) of the error message that can't be seen in the screenshot (with my Windows username redacted):

symbol:   variable key_ctrlx
  location: class id
C:\Users\xxxxx\Documents\AGS Projects\ioawn4t - Android\Compiled\Android\library\runtime\src\main\java\uk\co\adventuregamestudio\runtime\AGSRuntimeActivity.java:238: error: cannot find symbol
        } else if(id == R.id.exitgame) {
                            ^
  symbol:   variable exitgame
  location: class id
C:\Users\xxxxx\Documents\AGS Projects\ioawn4t - Android\Compiled\Android\library\runtime\src\main\java\uk\co\adventuregamestudio\runtime\AGSRuntimeActivity.java:240: error: cannot find symbol
        } else if(id == R.id.toggle_keyboard) {
                            ^
  symbol:   variable toggle_keyboard
  location: class id
C:\Users\xxxxx\Documents\AGS Projects\ioawn4t - Android\Compiled\Android\library\runtime\src\main\java\uk\co\adventuregamestudio\runtime\AGSRuntimeActivity.java:251: error: cannot find symbol
        return R.menu.default_ingame;
                ^
  symbol:   variable menu
  location: class R
Note: Some input files use or override a deprecated API.
Note: Recompile with -Xlint:deprecation for details.

I'm not sure if this is because I was using a game with script compatibility level set to 3.4.1, but right now I don't have a game compiled with 3.6.0 to test.

Also, an interesting side effect was that in the compiled Windows version, frame-linked sounds were not playing at all. I don't know what this has to do with the changes introduced for the Android build, but I can confirm that when I compiled and ran my game with the "vanilla" AGS 3.6.0.17 Alpha 18 build, those sounds played correctly.

Also, if I do a Say at the same time as a SayBackground is being displayed, it disappears...is there any way to avoid that?

Code: ags

game.bgspeech_stay_on_display = 1

I'll try to test this today and report my findings. I remember however that back when I tried out the Android wrapper for AGS 3.5.0, right clicks didn't work and I wasn't able to bring up the phone keyboard either for a section of the game in which you have to type some numbers, but I assume these issues have been dealt with in the meantime?

Updated to Alpha 17
(use download links in the first post)

- Added Character.IdleAnimationDelay property to let setup idle view's animation speed.
- Added Cursor.AnimationDelay property to let setup cursor's animation speed.
- Rooms created from a Blank template will now have default background of a game's resolution.
- Editor no longer prevents exporting string arguments from Get/SetTextProperty calls to TRS file.
- Fixed Custom properties' default values were not exported to translation.

Yesss I already said this on Discord, but thanks again for these fixes/additions!

I have a very tiny additional suggestion to make. In the header of the .tra file, there are some lines with instructions as to how to use the various parameters:

Code: ags

// The normal font to use - DEFAULT or font number
//#NormalFont=DEFAULT
// The speech font to use - DEFAULT or font number
//#SpeechFont=DEFAULT
// Text direction - DEFAULT, LEFT or RIGHT
//#TextDirection=DEFAULT
// Text encoding hint
//#Encoding=UTF-8

However, "Text encoding hint" doesn't have any instructions, so new users won't know which options can be used here (I myself sometimes forget if I should write ASCII or ANSI there). In order to make it more user friendly, could it be amended to something like this?

Code: ags

// Text encoding hint - UTF-8 or ASCII
//#Encoding=UTF-8

[EDIT:]

Maybe something like:

Code: ags

Character* birdscarers[20]; //or whatever the number of characters that can interact with birds ends up being

birdscarers[0] = cHector;
birdscarers[1] = cPedro;
birdscarers[2] = cMaria;
//etc etc etc

And then you would iterate over this array in your function, something like:

Code: ags

for (int i = 0; i<20; i++) {
    if (birdscarers[i].x >= cBird.x - 20 && birdscarers[i].x <= cBird.x + 20) { //HERE GOES THE ANIMATION CODE AND WHATNOT } 
}

I guess there could be issues if several characters start interfering with one another, but this could be a start. (Maybe create a state bool like "arebirdsflying" and prevent the function from triggering if it's true.)


EDIT:

Another way to do this could be with custom properties: simply create a custom boolean property for characters called "scaresbirds" for example, give it a default value of false, and set it to true only for the characters that you want to be able to interact with birds. Then the code would look like this:

Code: ags

for (int i = 0; i < Game.CharacterCount; i++) {
    if (character[i].x >= cBird.x - 20 && character[i].x <= cBird.x + 20 && character[i].GetProperty("scaresbirds") == true) { //HERE GOES THE ANIMATION CODE AND WHATNOT } 
}

[at all]

It also might be that the new "import ttf" dialog is also wrong, and should be designed differently. As an option it may be reversed to its old looks if it was more correct.

It could be an option, yes. So far, the "Import at font's point size" option hasn't done anything for me in most cases. How does AGS calculate the font's point size anyway, given that, as you said above, a true vector font doesn't really have a specific/default point size?

I think there may be a misunderstanding too. "Import at font's point size" also uses the number field, it tries to import the font at the typed size. But it uses "point" term incorrectly, as it seems. So the correct title would be "Import at this font's size".
The difference between two these options is that the first option imports at the size given by user, and the second searches for the font size that results in particular full font height (ascender + descender).
I may either remove the second option if it's not useful, or reorganize fields to make it more clear that both options use the number field.

Oh. Oh! Yeah, that wasn't clear to me at all, I thought only the second option used the number field.

But at least this confirms that AGS is calculating the total font height correctly as 14 (when the "resize ascender" option is active).

Erm, this particular option is a backward compatibility feature, and is meant mostly for fonts which made specifically for AGS in the past. Because ascender is resized to match the demanded font size, this option may result in font glyphs being drawn lower, adding vertical space above the letters.

The problem with 3.6.0 is that it still uses unmodified templates from 3.5.*, and therefore when you create your games all the properties are adjusted for importing these older projects.
We need to update the templates to have the recommended settings for 3.6.0, with "resize ascender" off, and other changes.

Yes, I had the impression that "resize ascender" was the new option and "do nothing" was the backwards-compatible one. All clear now.

[designed]

I'm not certain if I understand this. AFAIK the TTF is not supposed to have a fixed pixel size itself, its pixel size depends on the point size it's used at, as well as some characteristics.
In the description it sais "font is designed to be displayed at 11px and multiples thereof", but afaik that does not mean that "the font is 11px".

Right, but pixel fonts like this one are not "real" true type fonts; rather they are more like bitmap fonts saved as ttf for convenience and for wider compatibilty than a strict bitmap font format. But they are only meant to be rendered at very specific sizes (i.e., the "native" size the characters/glyphs were designed at, and integer multipliers of that, just like any pixel art in general).

Where may I see the information about point size 8 corresponding to 11px?

Here, for example: https://simplecss.eu/pxtoems.html

It also might be that the new "import ttf" dialog is also wrong, and should be designed differently. As an option it may be reversed to its old looks if it was more correct.

It could be an option, yes. So far, the "Import at font's point size" option hasn't done anything for me in most cases. How does AGS calculate the font's point size anyway, given that, as you said above, a true vector font doesn't really have a specific/default point size?

UPDATE 2: Running under debugger, i can see that when the font is imported with the size "11", its data sais "size 11x11". However the font rendering library calculates final size by summing "ascender + descender", which results in a higher height (13). AGS uses this reported number to show as "Font Height".
What puzzles me further is that under the same circumstances the actual size of letters on screen (tested by screenshot) could be 14px (capital letters).
Perhaps, 11x11 is some kind of a control size, not directly related to particular letter(s).

Yes, I found that confusing too. I'm assuming that 11x11 is simply saying that every character by itself fits in a 11x11 cell, but of course, this is not the same as the total font height when we take the tallest characters + descenders into account. But at least this confirms that AGS is calculating the total font height correctly as 14 (when the "resize ascender" option is active). This is making me think that maybe AGS is indeed doing things correctly, and it's the font designers who are failing to account for the real total height of their fonts by reporting only the "cell size".

Please check the value of "TTF font adjustment" property?

In my example above, it's set to "Resize ascender to the nominal font height". If I switch it to "Do nothing", the Font Height field changes to 13.

That's the only thing that changes; the point size field still displays "11 pt".

[pixels]

I'm not sure if this is an issue with 3.6.0 or with all versions of the engine, so I'll mention it here.

When importing ttf fonts, it seems that the engine is mixing up px (pixels) and pt (points).

I have a font that is 11x11 pixels (this one), however, when I import it, AGS says it has a point size of 11 and thus a pixel height of 14:



However, this is incorrect because as mentioned above, the pixel size is 11, which corresponds to a point size of 8. This happens with other fonts too, e.g., if I have a font with a nominal size of 9px, AGS will say it's 9pt, etc.

It happens with any music track, and has been happening since at least version 2.72.

Does it happen only with mp3 files, or also with ogg and wav? If it's only a problem with mp3, it might be an issue of the format itself, not AGS, since mp3 encoding always creates a tiny "gap" at the end of the file.

(For more info: https://sound.stackexchange.com/questions/8916/mp3-gapless-looping-help)

I personally loved the idea of the narrator. Giving players info that characters don't have and viceversa (something I did in Act II of IOAWN4T) and playing with different POVs is a very interesting narrative technique with a lot of potential for subverting expectations. In this case, I feel like the narrator definitely helps players feel part of that world by making them identify with Alan rather than breaking immersion. It's a great artistic choice!

Yes, what I meant was that the narrator usually talks to Alan: "You have already leafed through that fanzine", but these background detail explanations talk to the player, over Alan's head.

But those remarks actually help establish that the player *is* Alan."You" is not "you, the person in front of your computer playing this", but rather "you, Alan, the script writer", so I don't see them as breaking the fourth wall. Of course, as with any experimental narrative form, there's a risk that what one person considers "interesting" might be "jarring" for someone else, but those risks are well worth taking in my opinion

Hill Street Blues?

Of course! Over to you.

I was living in the US when TGAH aired, so unfortunately it's etched in my brain forever together with stuff like The Dukes of Hazzard (ugh). But hey, not everything was awful. This was also from the same period and it still holds up pretty well today:



Again, pretty easy if you've watched it, I guess!

Since nobody else has made a guess yet: The Greatest American Hero.

Well, I don't know what others will think, but this looks good to me! Very elegant and not intrusive at all.

Too easy But I have nothing to follow it up with right now, so I'll wait and see if somebody else guesses it.

Set your playable Character MovementLinkedToAnimation (anti-glide) to off and see how well it works. If the room has lots of scrolling the gliding is not very perceptible.

It does look better! The only issue is that unlinking movement and animation means I don't quite have the same fine degree of control over the character's movement speed, but for now it's a good solution

So I managed to find a workaround by commenting out these lines in order to set the still ticks to a fixed value of 30:

Code: ags

void doSmoothCameraTracking(){
  //if(_prev_c_x == _TargetCharacter.x && _prev_c_y == _TargetCharacter.y)
    //_count_still_ticks++;
  //else
    _count_still_ticks = 30;

By doing this, now the camera follows the character as soon as it moves, instead of waiting until it stands still, so yay I guess (disclaimer: as mentioned above, the game runs at 60 fps but the gif was captured at 33 fps, so it doesn't look as smooth here as it does in-game).



I've tried with different values below 30 and also with 31 (as from what I can see, all values greater than 30 yield the same result) and 30 seems to be the smoothest. However, although the camera scroll in itself is smooth, the character's movement still looks a little bit jerky. Is there any other parameter I could tweak further in order to improve this?

I see, thanks for replying!

Could I alter these values manually in the module code, or will I break something? From what I gather, I might need to change the 0.04 value in line 272, as well as the 40x40 box in lines 307 and 308:

Code: ags

  _cam_window_w = 40;
  _cam_window_h = 40;

Is this correct? Anything else I might want to tweak?

Ah it can also be the still ticks. Can you make your game 60fps instead of 40fps? It should take half a second on a 60fps game, I can also expose the still ticks, these were made for when a character falls it falls downwards, it only matters if the movement is done without leaving the box borders.

The game is already set to 60 (it might look like it has a lower fps because the gif is captured at 33 fps).

[stops]

Hi eri0o,

I'm trying out your module only for the smooth camera tracking functionality (I don't need parallax for now, so I switched it off), but the behaviour is kind of weird. As you can see, the camera is not tracking the character as it walks, but only when it stops walking, resulting in a very jittery movement, rather than the smooth continuous scroll I was hoping for:



Any idea what could be happening here? I have tried adding some camera lookahead on the Y axis (since the room only scrolls vertically), but it makes no difference. I'm using AGS 3.5.1 (patch 4).