Messages

I did install it (not through PlayOnLinux) but I can see the same problem, the deduplicated warnings are:

Code: ags

0009:fixme:shell:ShellItem_QueryInterface not implemented for {00000144-0000-0000-c000-000000000046} (unknown)
0009:warn:ntdll:NtQueryFullAttributesFile L"\\??\\C:\\users\\mwillcock\\My Documents\\wine_export4.bmp" not found (c0000034)
0009:warn:palette:GDISelectPalette invalid selected palette (nil)
0031:fixme:ole:Context_CC_ContextCallback (0x144ce8/0x144cec)->(0xa47011, 0x35afa44, {d7174f82-36b8-4aa8-800a-e963ab2dfab9}, 2, (nil))
0009:warn:wincodecs:BmpFrameEncode_Initialize ignoring encoder options.
0009:warn:palette:GDISelectPalette invalid selected palette (nil)
0009:fixme:gdiplus:GdipGetNearestColor (0x1bae90, 0x33ebac): Passing color unmodified
0009:warn:palette:GDISelectPalette invalid selected palette (nil)

The "invalid selected palette" message is being reported all the time, sometimes just by moving the mouse, so I imagine the problem is likely:

Code: ags

0009:warn:wincodecs:BmpFrameEncode_Initialize ignoring encoder options.

From a very quick look (maybe in the wrong place), it doesn't look like there is any support for 8 bit color:
https://github.com/wine-mirror/wine/blob/ba9f3dc198dfc81bb40159077b73b797006bb73c/dlls/windowscodecs/bmpencode.c

It's Wine 4.0 running in the 32-bit i386 (Intel/AMD) version of Debian 10. I'm running it in a qemu virtual machine, but I doubt that would be a factor in the problem.

Wine is at its default configuration of Windows 7 compatibility mode. I'm running it through PlayOnLinux (a Wine front end app), which I used to install Visual C++ for Visual Studio 2015 and Microsoft .Net Framework 4.5 as recommended on the AGS download page.

As it happens, this is the same as I'm currently using (minus qemu) so I can give it a try. Did you install the Visual C++ and .NET runtime using PlayOnLinux's 'install other app' button, installing each separately?

I was testing with the same AGS version. Which version of WINE is it?

I would imagine this is a bug in WINE or a related component and not directly an AGS issue. I compared the mask that was uploaded to one which I exported myself:

Code: ags

$ file DefaultSierraGame_AGS3.5.0.24_WalkableAreaMask.bmp 
DefaultSierraGame_AGS3.5.0.24_WalkableAreaMask.bmp: PC bitmap, Windows 3.x format, 320 x 200 x 24

$ file export_test.bmp 
export_test.bmp: PC bitmap, Windows 3.x format, 320 x 200 x 8

My export is 8 bit and imported without error, so unfortunately I'm not sure what to suggest for a simple solution.

Free game with "Non-obvious sci-fi plot": https://www.gog.com/game/symmetry

I thought that there was a global build option to turn the VOX files on and off, but I cannot find one and it does seem  to be set per AudioClip, with the default setting coming from the audio folder that you first import into. So potentially you have a mix because one of your audio folders has the bundle type set to InSeparateVOX. But unfortunately, yes I think you are correct, in order to switch the build type of all AudioClips you would have to set them all manually as the folder setting looks to be just a default value rather than providing inheritance.

If you take a backup of your Game.agf file, you can probably just do find and replace to switch between the two types, by replacing all instances of '<BundlingType>InGameEXE</BundlingType>' with '<BundlingType>InSeparateVOX</BundlingType>', or vice versa.

So the bug should not be an issue in this case because I'm always forcing the update/re-import manually, right?

This is part of what still needs to be checked. When I was searching for the timestamp checks of the source files I could only find them in one place which was specifically related to building the VOX files, so I'm not sure that choosing to rebuild everything would actually pickup the source changes if not using VOX files. There is also the added complication that running the games from  the editor can shortcut the building of VOX/EXE files for audio changes and use the audio cache directly, which was done to allow faster testing, but this likely introduces its own sync problems.

So based on what I've seen (and what I don't know), I think I would recommend sticking with building the VOX file for the moment and then, if you don't want it, change the build preference to not use it as the last thing that you do before releasing the game (with a full rebuild).

The answer should be that there isn't any difference if you don't plan on making the audio an optional component. But... if you are modifying the source audio files and relying on the editor to pickup changes and re-import them into the game on your behalf (which is an advertised feature of the audio import mechanism), I believe there is a bug where the source file timestamps are only checked when building the VOX file. I've not had a chance to test this fully yet, but there is an open ticket.

https://github.com/adventuregamestudio/ags/issues/778

I think Dreamweb works like this and because there was a large amount of stuff to click on and not much floor, I think some people probably wouldn't notice that you cannot click the floor. Maybe the largest difference is how you handle scrolling areas and the camera/viewport. It might restrict you to just using screen sized rooms unless you have a mechanic that allows you to handle screen edges but also integrates with the layout (i.e. something that isn't a door but acts like a door).

I've opened a ticket here: https://github.com/adventuregamestudio/ags/issues/1054

Will someone please tell me how on earth 1536x864 is fourth place?

It is 1920x1080 with scaling set to 125% for a high DPI screen. Game engines generally don't use the OS level display scaling, it is more a compatibility shim for applications that aren't DPI aware. So given that wherever this data is coming from is likely giving inconsistent results (at very the least not giving the actual screen resolution in some cases, and "other" is apparently a very significant resolution too) you are probably better to look at sales figures for screen sizes, rather than what is detected by passive means.

If you are using AGS 3.5 part of the changes to implement the camera system introduced replacements for these values:

Code: ags

Screen.Width
Screen.Height

https://adventuregamestudio.github.io/ags-manual/Screen.html

You could also change the compatibility levels of the project to get the old commands back, but you are likely better to use the newest version of everything.

To have a default value for a parameter, as far as I know, it can only be specified in an import declaration. So you would need to be using the export/import mechanism rather than using the function in the same file that you declare it. Also, for historical reasons, default values can only be integers. Enums might be OK though, as they are effectively integer values when evaluated.

https://adventuregamestudio.github.io/ags-manual/ScriptKeywords.html#function

The most likely cause is a logical problem in the scripting, I don't think there is any built-in behaviour that will fade the cursor in and out like that. You would likely have to post the source files for the scripts for anyone to try to work out what was going on.

The excessive slowdown when multi-selecting was fixed in AGS 3.5, but there are no copy and paste options at the moment.

The empty space in the preferences is because the controls are hidden, and the anonymous upload is forced off due to unresolved technical issues.

Here's an example:

...and then the mouse revealed its true form.

It is just a regular AGS script function. You could also write it as:

Code: ags

function abs(int a)
{
    if (a < 0) return -a;
    return a;
}

(default return type for function is int, but you can specify the type instead of using the keyword 'function')

I liked them. I think the only one where I found the reverb a little heavy/distracting was the second track, maybe because there wasn't really a contrasting part that wasn't using so much reverb and it got quite busy. I'm not sure how it would be used, whether it would be for background music or for something more prominent, but considering the style it all sounded pretty good to me...

Could you show it anyway? If only to check that a cat didn't walk across the keyboard when your back was turned.