Messages

They are building all the time and have no known issues:
https://cirrus-ci.com/task/5955130990264320

But these aren't included with the editor since:

• these are not signed or notarized
• this is just the engine binary and not a .app bundle (although perhaps building an empty bundle is feasible)
• the editor cannot build release archives to maintain the correct file permissions (so a .app bundle copied from Windows is likely to no longer run on macOS)

You can just give someone an apk, but I imagine installation will be blocked by default, and the release version would still need to be signed.

It will refuse to run it by default, so the user must either modify security settings on their computer or launch the program in a particular way. At the moment this is manageable and probably a lot of programs on places like itch.io will have the same problem, so people are likely used to having to deal with the issue. But in the future it is possible that only signed software will run on macOS, or at the least the process to run unsigned software may become even more convoluted. Being signed is a requirement to be in the store, being in the store is not a requirement for the signing process.

can I make the life of my MacOS audience easier if I let them run the Linux version of my game on their Mac, rather than the Windows version?

The reverse is true, you stand a better chance of letting someone run the Windows version, although when I've tried I had enough issues with the mouse cursor that I didn't think the result was usable: https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=56577

It is easier to just build the engine yourself, the challenges are more about who signs it. how the signing is performed, and whether it is 'notarized' by Apple.

You would have to define what 'shipping' means, but to go via a store it would likely have to be signed anyway.

eri0o is the last person who worked through the process of releasing something on Android and published the instructions:
https://github.com/ericoporto/vacaroxa_hellspuppy
...so this is probably the best reference for how it would work right now.

Having an integrated IDE is not in conflict with the compiler being a separate executable, or require that the project files are these big binary blobs or in a closed/custom format.

The most straight-forward solution is likely to create the underlying tools to operate independently of anything else but then to take an existing editor that has a plug-in ecosystem and supply plug-ins that allow the editor to function as a complete IDE. I think the 'studio' part is pretty critical, just not how it is architected now.

If you are happy to supply patches them I'll apply them. Or if you have a GitHub account you could submit the changes directly.
https://github.com/adventuregamestudio/ags-template-source

It was/is on the todo list to separate the parts from  the 'sierra' template and re-use them in the other templates.

Tried defining a readonly int in global.h, but it says I need to enter a literal value like 2 rather than a function like Random(2); (I think)

Why not just use a macro? They are just text so you can do whatever you want with them.
https://adventuregamestudio.github.io/ags-manual/Preprocessor.html

Code: ags

#define THE_NUMBER_TWO 2
#define DAYS_IN_A_WEEK 7
#define RANDOM2 Random(2)

[executables of the engine]

a) Does ags_3.5.0.24_linux.tar.gz contain the executables of the engine, and, if yes, are these the same as in the "Linux" subfolder of the AGS engine, and if yes, do I just need to copy that alongside the .ags file to make it work? (no need to detail the procedure, I just need a theoretical "yes"). Do I need to provide the compiled libraries too (allegro, etc.)

Yes, these are the same engine executables supplied with the Editor, with all libraries required to run, plus a launch script to switch between the 32 and 64 bit engines. You just need to put your .ags file into the data folder. If the user has SDL2 libraries available then SDL2 is used for audio, but SDL2 is not supplied.

b) Similarly, does AGS-3.5.0.24-android-libs.zip contain the executables of the engine? If not, do I also need AGS-3.5.0.24-debug.apk? (which would surprise me as it sounds like a debug package). Talk to me like a 5-years-old, as my understanding of phones goes as far as APK GOOD, APK BE LIKE EXE or YOU SCREWED ANYWAYS BECAUSE YOU NO HAVE CERTIFICATE.

I've not played with these too much, but I believe that AGS-3.5.0.24-android-libs.zip contains AGS libaries built for different Android architectures, one of these libaries contains the actual engine. You can use these if you want to build your own APK but don't have any way to build the libraries. AGS-3.5.0.24-debug.apk is a launcher built from the libraries, only the debug version is uploaded because a release version doesn't run (due to being unsigned).

• macOS Catalina only (a macOS Mojave build would be nice, I'll see if I can get that working)
• Some of the colors in the game were inverted.  Not sure if it is the game, the engine, or some combo.  I'll need to do some research.

Could you try it with the CMake build instead, the colour issues were already meant to be fixed.

The build instructions are one page back on this same topic:
https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=47264.msg636611972#msg636611972
Or you can download a binary from here:
https://cirrus-ci.com/task/5955130990264320

You can just do:

Code: ags

cZombie.StopMoving();
cZombie.FollowCharacter(cPlayer);

Stasis

There is a sequel (or prologue?) to this which is free to download:
https://www.thebrotherhoodgames.com/studio/cayne/

I added the property sheets to solve this problem.

Code: dos

set | findstr /b AGS_
AGS_ALFONT_LIB=D:\Build\ags-prebuilt-libs\vs2015\alfont-1.9.1
AGS_ALLEGRO_INCLUDE=D:\Build\lib-allegro\include;D:\Build\lib-allegro\build\VS2015\include
AGS_ALLEGRO_LIB=D:\Build\ags-prebuilt-libs\vs2015\allegro-4.4.2
AGS_DIRECTX_LIB=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft DirectX SDK (August 2007)\Lib\x86\
AGS_LIBOGG_LIB=D:\Build\ags-prebuilt-libs\vs2015\libogg-1.3.2
AGS_LIBTHEORA_LIB=D:\Build\ags-prebuilt-libs\vs2015\libtheora-1.1.1
AGS_LIBVORBIS_LIB=D:\Build\ags-prebuilt-libs\vs2015\libvorbis-1.3.4

Just set these environment variables globally and they will work for all recent Solutions. The Alfont one is no longer required, unless you are building slightly older versions. As a side note: the DirectX installer is very old so I would recommend just extracting the files from the installer, rather than actually installing it.

Development of a single game can span multiple years, or people want to do fixes and improvements for old games. There has to be an option to upgrade old games to the newest version. However, this does not necessarily have to be done in the latest editor only. For example, when you have a very old game, you already have to upgrade it to AGS 2.72 before upgrading to 3.x. This could be a viable solution: Just call a new version 4.x and require the game to be upgraded to the latest 3.x before importing it to 4.x. Migration between different 4.x versions could be done via scripts that are run during import.

To clarify, 'backwards compatibility' is only talking about the engine that runs games, and this doesn't necessarily have any impact on being able to upgrade your game's source project to the next AGS version within the Editor. What we are talking about removing is the ability to take an older compiled game and have it run on future AGS engines, and hopefully this gives the opportunity to make upgrading the AGS version less of a problem for game developers.

Is there actually anyone playing games with different engines? Since AGS games come as precompiled exe (and now also for other platforms), just run the game. Maybe it would be nice to provide downloads of older engines so people can have them in parallel on their PCs and choose the one they need, if really necessary.

It is being used in this capacity, which is why this poll is here.

Another topic is the Android build. Is it possible to have multiple installations of the AGS engine installed on one device? If not, I suggest making a different package for 4.x so it is possible to have them run next to each other.

How the Android port is used at the moment (take game.exe and try to play it on your phone) is a good example the of backwards compatibility being used. If the goal is to build games, we build games for specific platforms and would not build generic launchers, so multiple installations are not an issue. Removing backwards compatibility would mean there is no longer the concept of having AGS on your phone, in the same way that you don't install Unity onto your phone to play a Unity game, you build an installable package for the game itself.

Thanks for confirming that it worked out. I did test some things out today and it seems that audio can only get out of sync if you distribute the Linux or standalone data file build, after you have changed some 'InGameExe' audio by updating the file at the source path, and you didn't choose to do a full rebuild. I did (eventually) find the timestamp check. So to summarise, as long as your clock is OK and timestamps don't do anything strange, and you always do a full rebuild at some point before distributing the game, everything should stay in sync.

Free copy of Manual Samuel if you subscribe to the Humble Bundle newsletter:
https://www.humblebundle.com/store/manualsamuel-free-game

Please create an AGS games page entry for this game, and provide a download link in this thread.  Nobody wants to have to go to the YouTube link to download the game!

Apologies for intervening, but according to the posting rules neither of these actions is listed as a requirement.
https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=45904.0

I appreciate that, but in this case the way it was posted looked more like spam than a genuine AGS game.  The post was even reported by an experienced communiy member asking whether it was actually an AGS game, and it took me a while to check it myself.

Maybe just some friendly marketing advice then...
Anyway, feel free to remove these messages, I just didn't know where to clarify the issue as the rules topic is locked.

Please create an AGS games page entry for this game, and provide a download link in this thread.  Nobody wants to have to go to the YouTube link to download the game!

Apologies for intervening, but according to the posting rules neither of these actions is listed as a requirement.
https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=45904.0

Is it possible to enable the display of a post's date/time on the WAP view?