Messages

EGO is a #define constant itself and  #define's are not evaluated recursively.

If I comment out the two StrFormat() lines the error goes away.  I guess I can try doing the same thing in an empty game to be sure.

[edit]
Ok, when I try it in a new game I get a different error message on the StrFormat() line:

Error (Line: 9) end of input reached in middle of erpression
[/edit]


 

This works just fine ...

StrFormat(output_path, "%s\\%s\\%s", repository, docname, output_type);

But when I try to append a trailing back-slash like this ...

StrFormat(output_path, "%s\\%s\\%s\\", repository, docname, output_type);

I get a compile error as follows:  Error (line: 514) undefined symbol 'filename'.  

Here is the function's script.  There are a number of string  variables defined elsewhere in other functions but not this one.

string output, repository, docname;

function apGetOutputPath(string output_type, string output_path) {
   
   // Determine if output is in document sub-directory or in output sub-directory
   if (StrComp(output,".")==0) {
      StrFormat(output_path,"%s\\%s\\%s\\",output, docname, output_type);  
   }
   else {
      StrFormat(output_path, "%s\\%s\\%s\\", repository, docname, output_type);
   }
}   

If this a bug or am I making a bone-headed error ??

Firefox - nav don't work  

The problem is that the mouse cursor is positioned at the upper left hand edge of the import rectangle.  So you must position it exactly on the upper left hand pixel of the image being imported.  

The problem is that if cursor moves one pixel more further left or up then it leaves the import window and becomes detached from the import rectangle.  The import rectangle detaches as soon as the cursor leaves the window, so the import rectangle may or may not be at this upper left hand pixel when this happens.    Moving the cursor back in the window to reconnect with the import rectangle is really awkward  and annoying.

I find that a really steady hand is required to avoid this.  A one pixel border at the top or left edge of the graphic would reduce the magnitude of the problem.  Using higher resolution monitor would tend to increase the magniude of the problem.

If the mouse cursor were offset a few pixels from the upper left hand corner, positioned at the bottom right hand corner, positioned at the center of the import rectangle then this wouldn't happen.    

You can duplicate this by exaggerating your cursor movements and thir speed.   Try quickly positioning the import rectangle to that upper left corner and you will see what happens.

Why not just scale everything by 100 or 1000?   A mod operator was added to the latest beta version to make wasy to obtain remainders.    

When importing sprites it's difficult to position the import/extent box at the upper right hand corner of the image without having the cursor move out of the import window.

Would it be possible to position the mouse cursor at the bottom right hand corner of the import/extent box?  In this  way the extent box would lock into the upper left hand corner while the cursor still has a number of pixels left to travel before leaving the import window.  

I think this would make it a lot easier to import sprites, especially tiled ones.  

Many years ago I asked a girl friend a similar question.  Her sincere answer was "Maybe you should try to be more like everyone else".

To which I said "Usually I succeed at whatever I put my mind to.   If I succeed the best I can ever hope for is to be average.  I think I'm better than average.  Don't you?"  

So Robert maybe you're better than average as well, don't you think?  

When a virus is attached to the entry point then the virus will be started first and the "ags virus check" will start too late. The virus is already active in the system.

This is true but  the goal is to avoid or minimize the possibility of publishing a game that is infected with a virus and  and to alert end users of the possibility of such an infection.      

Use of an anti-virus programs is generally required to cleanse one's computer as you correctly observe.  I was prompted to do this by the unexpected behavior of the AGS version Kairus used to create his game, that resulted from the virus infection.   It's not neccessarily guaranteed that this  will continue to be the case for future versions of AGS and/or virii.   My idea is to find a simple and clever way making this a permanent feature with a descriptive message.

Dragon Rose:  1

Thats the general idea but I don't understand how the check box helps.  Anything written to the file by the AGS editor/compiler would theoretically remain intact. The only difference would be that a virus program has attached itself to the file and is now the entry point of the program.

[justification]

Pau - They [terrorists] may have what they consider justification/i] for these cowardly acts of terrorism, but that certainly doesn't make killing innocents right and/or justified. But I do see the point you're making.

I think rationalization[/i] is perhaps a more correct word in this context.

They kill because they HATE their enemy.

Nope, they kill to gain gain political power and huge amounts of cash.   Now that this is big news of a successful attack the money will come rolling in.   HATE of the enemy is used to persuade others to aid and join them, hate is just a tool of their politics.   Those who organize these kinds of things love their enemies because without enemies they are out of business.  That's why they will never satisfied, there is no concession you can make that will satisfy them.  That's why a death peanlty is the only answer for people who   subscribe to this kind of philosphy.

 

I think the terrorist should be solved fixing the base problem.

The base problem is that there are people who desire power and money and will resort to any form violence to obtain it.  So how do you deal with that?  

I don't know the details of how windows starts programs but maybe check to see if the file's entry point contains the AGS engine's startup code and not some foriegn program.   If this were possible you wouldn't need to check the entire file maybe just the first 1 or 2k of it.

I realize this isn't a huge priority; actually it's one of those things if you do it, and do it well, nobody will ever realize you have doine it.     Well just keep it in mind, maybe you'll see am easy to implement such a thing sometimes.

But Farlander, where do you draw the line?

I suppose, when there are no longer terrorists.  

Isn't every murder, robbery, and action wich causes terror wrong?

Absolutely not.  Terrorism is about money, power, and fanaticism.  Your question seems to imply there is justification for terrorist acts such as this one, I couldn't disagree more.  In  my opinion groups who resort to terrorist acts give up any claim to anything.  

What does it matter, weither someone kills 20, or 200 people?

I suppose it would be important to at least 180 folks and their families, friend, coworkers, etc.

Every human-being is important, and if you only punish the people from WTC, Oklahoma, Madrid etc... then that's pretty unfair, against a serial killer that killed 14 people,

Unfair to whom??  The terrorists or the seial killer?  

One, it's definitely not going to deter anybody who's serious about the whole terrorism thing.

I disagree.  There are a finite number of terrorists, so if you find out who they are and kill them all, including their leadership and supporters you will put a serious dent in their desire to continue.   Perhaps if  death is not a deterent to such people that penalty is not harsh enough?  

Two, it will add to the group's ability to pretend it's fighting against oppression.

Such groups and individuals have already prersuaded themselves of this anyway.  In the case of radical islam they have been brain washing their children for half a century o motre to blame everything on the Jew and the West.   They can only possible benefit can be achieved if the rest of us buy into that proposition.  

Three, it contributes to turning the judicial branch into institutionalized vengeance, which in my opinion is very much the wrong way to go.

One could say the same for any form of goverment imposed sanction.  

Four, you're killing somebody. In my view, that's wrong under any imaginable set of circumstances and excusable only if you really, really can't avoid it.

Do you not believe that defending the lives of yourself, your family, and fellow citizens is such a case?  So how do you propose to eliminate terrorism?  

In such cases as this, it brings no added security to the remaining population, and it doesn't bring the dead back to life.  There's no point other than spite.

Let's suppose your family's entire life savings are stolen by a criminal.    
Further, let's suppose this criminal spends the money in a non-recoverable manner.   Should we not bring this guy to justice because we can't recover the damages.    Suppose the penalty for such a crime is only 6 months in jail and others are not deterred by this penalty.  What would you suggest?  By your above logic you would reduce or just elimiate the penalties all together.

Hmm, so now after looking at some more detailed coverage of the attacks I'd say it looks more like the ETA now, but of course it's still all speculation.

Actually the last news report I heard disagrees with this notion.  Apparently a suspicious van was found abandoned nearby containing Arabic stuff, and also authorities noted that the ETA has yet to claim responsibility, which I understand is the normal case.  Not conclusive obviously, but it seems that the ETA are not the only suspects.

IMHO, I think one needs to think about how terrorism can be eliminated before rejecting other proposed solutions.  Suggest something better that get's the job done.        

Farlander,

My heart goes out to you and your countrymen.  I deeply deplore this horrible act and feel that there is no punishment harsh enough for the people and groups responsible for this.  

Rick

Kairus,

I don't know if it has anythiong to do with the game's problems but I had virus on my PC.  I had to reinstall after the game got infected.   Maybe some of the people who are having trouble  may want to reinstall the game and note any difference in file sizes.

Also I am stuck (in a puzzle sense) ao maybe you can help ...

Spoiler

I have the hat, shirt, and trousers, but how do I get something to get taller?  

[close]

I have sent another mail to PAWS asking for permission on sunday, I haven't received any reply yet. I hope I can fix this bug some day, but it won't be possible if I am not able to re-upload the game.

Here are a couple of ideas that may be helpful.  Probably you have thought of them already but in case you haven't ...

• Make clear to them that your only motivation was your admiration of Garfield & characters created by Mr. Davis and your desire to see same in a classic adventure game.  
  
  
• Ask Paws if they would like to offer your game  for download from their website instead of yours.  
  
  
• Offer to add Paws promotional material in startup and credits screen; including link to Paws website, etc...  
  
  
• Offer to modify copyright and credits information to meet their requirements, asking minimal credit for yourself as the game creator.
  
  
• Offer to assign game rights to Paws in return for free downloads.  Or alternatively offer to help them comercialize it and of course reap the financial rewards.  
  
  
• Ask them if they have a suggestion of what can be done that would be mutually acceptable.   After all the only thing you want is to share your  emjoyment of Mr. Davis' creations with your fellow fans.  Perhaps then can figure out a way to benefit from this enough to justify giving you  the permission you desire.  
  
  Anyway, I don't mean to be telling you what to do, just sharing some ideas that you may find helpful.  If you find any of them helpful please feel free to use them, if not then just ignore them.  
  
  I wish you good luck in dealing with Paws... Thanks for such a nice game.  It is very beautiful.
  
  Rick
  
  
  

While playing Kairus' new Garfield game I discovered my PC was infected with a virus.  I got a weird message saying something about needing to "run the AGS editor and save a file or something" whenI tried running the game.exe.   It had worked previously so I tried reinstalling the game (unzipping it basically).  When I did so, I noticed that several of the files were now a bit bigger than they were in initial installation.  Viloa!! No! I mean #$#@$@, I have  virus...

Ok, so my idea is to include a purposeful test in the runtime engine to see if the exe has been modified and then displaying a relevant message.   In this way games created with AGS and distributed on the net would remain virus free.   The test could be some kind of a CRC check or even something as simple as a "file size" check, or other alternatives, I suppose.  

Well, I just wonder what everyone else thinks.  

lease note, we're only voting on the overall design of the websites featured - details such as what the links are called, rewording of buttons, etc can be dealt with afterwards.

It seems to me that th only submission that oferes any improvement in the "overall design"  over the current website is Klaus'.  IMHO, the main problem with the current site is navigation.  There are a number of pages that I have no idea how to get to from the main page.  The only reason I know about them is that someone posted a link to them at one time or another in the forum.  

With all due respect I don't see how Darth's or Loomis' designs address this issue.   Although I like their graphical themes better than Klaus' they really haven't addressed the current website's weaknesses.      

I think the optimal  solution is to  incorporate Darth's and/orLoomis' graphics in to Klaus' navigational system.  Maybe scrap the iframes in favor of a "more.." link at the bottom of the box.  

In any case it makes little sense to not use some kind of portal or content management system to render the site.   Static websites are just that "static"; they are  burdensome to change and keep updated.   Using this methododolgy Klaus was able to deliver a working model in the same time frame the others were able to deliver only screenies.  

Why don't you guys, Darth, Klaus, and Loomis,  get together and come up with a solution that incorporates the best features of each of your submissions?   Let this discussion be your guide.   8)

Would it be reasonable to include room.crm files in this as well?