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I'm making an updated LEC Type interface for AGS 2.7/2.8 Alpha 4 however my buttons include a pushed image rather than just a mouse off and mouse over state. So three states al up. The problem arisies when trying to code such a function. For example:

Code: ags

function DefineButton(int mode, int button, int normalbuttonpic, int overbuttonpic int pushedbuttonpic){
  //Define the buttons for a template mode. Call it in game_start for each mode to
  //set them all up.
  Tmode[mode].button=button;
  Tmode[mode].pushedbutton=pushedbuttonpic;
  Tmode[mode].highlightedbutton=overbuttonpic;
  Tmode[mode].normalbutton=normalbuttonpic;
}

...returns the error:
PE02: Parse error at 'int'.

I can't figure out the right way to code it. Any ideas?

Protecting peoples artwork through withholding potentially important information is futile. It is ultimately and soley up to the developers who take themselves seriously to copyright and legaly protect their assets.

This can be done by a simple statement on the bottom of their website. For example "All artwork, music and sound is copyright 2007 BlaBlah games."

Thanks to the digital rights act, game developers amongst many other internet users have had their work protected since the late 90s.

Unless your game includes some secret recipe of code that you dont wish to share, then decompilers are a developers best friend. I don't need to remind anybody that example code is the fastest route to learning how to write it yourself.

Can we leave the responsibility to the developers, please? Or at least induce an optional lock on game content before compile.

Make sense?

Cheers,
Paul W.

One request I have is the ability to resize boxes and text windows from every corner. Not just from the bottom right.

Also, when positioning for example an inventory box in the GUI editor, on the left hand side, the borders of the item jump a pixel when trying to stretch it evenly on both sides to the edge of the window space.

EDIT: To reiterate with more clarity, I noticed this phenominon presents itself when dragging 'anything' around. Items seems to jump a pixel no matter where you drag them. I beleive a 2 pixel drag grid is unecissary.

Cheers,
Paul W.

PS: Don't worry, not only programmers get RSI. Artists too. Your not alone in the world of computer entertainment.

Which is highly likely for my game.

Could you possibly update your AreaScaling Module, tiagocorreia, to include this functionality? It's a fantastic tool and deserves every bit of attention. This way we can all benefit from a Generic Scaling Module that does practically everything we have ever needed.

Thats a minimal solution at best but what about button rollovers and glows? They would have to be disgarded for a static interface!?

Has someone already come up with a generic Vector Module for all known classes and types?
I'm rather excited about this.

IceMan, I and the other graphics gurus of this forum would really appreciate your demo of Steves Lake module also. Or possibly a thorough tutorial of how you acheived your results.

Good work to the both of you.

Cheers.

Sure why not. I guess my idealistic world of visual scripting is in vein.

I'll get to it via the script.

Cheers.

If there is already an entry in the bug tracker, my good InCreator, then CJ may not need to respond. With the bug tracker we don't have to remember every suggestion. It's recorded.

I imagine this is why CJ neglects to reply.

Cheers.

Ahh roger that.
I was under the impression that the transparency of any GUI including display messages (text windows) could be inherrently fractioned. I guess not.

I don't know but I can see myself desiring a 40% transparent text display window in the near future.

Therefore I must agree.
Shall we add it to the tracker?


Thanks Gilbot.

Glad I spawned some thought. It had to be done. We are bound in nature by curiosity if nothing else.

Crashed the game huh. Hehe. Yeah I figured there would be checks and balances all over the place that would prevent such an intervention from being carried out with succession.

You know what, I would love to see if AGS really does check the file header. There are a few of you in doubt?

Cheers.

My apologies. While not being a programmer as such I thought I was being as specific as humanly possible. There must be more to this story than I realised.

I am speaking of none other than the Interaction Editor. While finding it rather odd that the interaction editor is the only way to bring up the Global/Room Variables dialog box I can see there must be other methods for setting up global vars such as directly scripting them in.

My problem is, when I create a global variable from the Interaction Editor, I cannot edit the variable's names. This is a problem if I wish to recycle unused variables because, naturally, their names no longer bare relevance to the environment. I hope this is not what you were suggesting, Gilbot, as this can get even more messy than not using irrelevant named vars.

What I would expect is that when you fire up the Global/Room Vars dialog box and click edit, you would actually be able to edit the variable itself and not just it's value.

I hope this is clear enough.

Cheers.

What happens if you rename your AVI's extension to FLC. Will the AVI's compile then and if so will they still work? I doubt AGS will load a quasi FLC file and play it as an AVI, but, still worth a try. 

Beers,
Paul W.

Sorry but I'm not sure what Besh is suggesting.

What do you mean text window? Script editor or your own GUI text area?
If you mean to suggest that AGS gain the ability for a GUI's transparency be controlled via a slider I must concur.

If you mean that AGS should gain the ability to control the transparency of the script editor and other text windows parallel to your actual game then I am inclined to dissagree.

Can we clear this up?

Cheers,
Paul W.

My game is constantly in need of new variables. But every once in a while a global variable is no longer needed and becomes obsolete to the function of the game. The clutter just keeps building up and it's particuarly distressing when trying to track every possible option avaliable to the player and remove bugs or conflicts. I can't make head or tails of it anymore.

I believe the deletion of global and room variables is just as important as creating them.

Cheers,
Paul W.

Sure its not really a problem. But a tidy working directory would be a preference for the majority of AGS users.

After a long ponder I have realised I was wrong to be so overly critical and jugemental of those who cannot see how this technique can be applied to AGS. And for the most part you all are right. It is unproven ground. While it may work inside AfterEffects which is a highly specialised graphics application, the same success may not be possible with AGS. They are afterall two completely different software genres. Compositing Software and Games Engines are graphics engines but different in architecture nonetheless.

I'll see what I can do to create a proper tutorial of how the technique works in after effects. Maybe someone will notice what AGS lacks that the method requires.

This is all purely for the spirit of creating faster ways to go about things and further its about having fun along the way. Any assurance that it's going to work lies in pure speculation at this stage.

Snarky and I have come to common terms. I aplogised for being bitter and he has kindly accepted my apology. I cannot ask more from the comunity than the care and enthusiasm he and many of you show on a daily basis.

Cheers.

Paul W.

Sure, I agree mate. But theres more than one way to do anything in practice. This should prove an interesting challenge for us. I'll get Andre to post a walkthru on how we acheived it in the forseeable future.

Thanks for your support.

Thats your 15th image based on the post before your last.

Forgive m,e if I am wrong but was that an insult?

On the contrary.

On the contrary WHAT. I'd say your avatar message says it all.

As much as you have offered to explain the problem here I don't beleive there is any problem with my technique. I had a programmer look over it and he thinks it's quite mountable. When the tool is finished, I'll get him to explain how it is done.
My dear Snarky, if you feel that you have exhausted yourself and are giving up trying to explain flaws in my design that arent really there then thats fine with me. Saves me the headache of going back over my design and explaining it lamens terms. However I don't beleive there is a simple way to explain this. So I will use what knowledge I have gathered during many years of compositing and put it to good use in the realisation of a plugin. With a programmer this shouldn't be a problem.

Now could somebody lock this goddamn thread. It's original intention has been extinguished apparently and serves no more puspose than to boil everyones blood. I regret I posted it in the first place.
Beers.

once you get that Eureka! moment, you'll turn into a perfectly reasonable human being

Forgive m,e if I am wrong but was that an insult?

Okay. I know where your at. I know where your at at it's what your trying to explain that is detering you from other possibilities.

The difference is with the way you describe my technique in AGS is, the item the mask affects. In After Effects you create a mask and use it to make a selected object transparent.
The result is like drawing the character around the object in the background essentially making it appear occluded by a particular object. Theres no particuarly beneficial reason why AGS should use the mask to affect the background and bring it forward in front of the character like you described in your 15th image. This is unessicary complication and limited in a number of crucial ways.

Chris could better offer his advice seeing he wrote the program; There may be more than one approach of making objects transparent in the engine.
If theres one thing I may have overlooked which seems to be the basis of your argument Snarky it is that AGS draws transparently 'backwards'. Instead of using a mask to cut the character or object like a cookie cutter with AA, it brings the background forward removing the ability to treat the background and objects as seperate layers. Am I correct in my understanding that all objects and characters are drawn on the screen and collapsed at runtime? If so I must admit that the way alpha's and masks work in AGS is contrary to any other instance of masking I have come across in my history of Computer Graphics. After Effects asside, if I did what I described in say combustion, or Nuke, the result would be the same. Is there any reason why AGS draws its transparency from the background?

Perhaps Chris could bring meaning and reason to this post. It seems to have walked astray and into some frustrated entanglement of conflicting ideas. We really don't know at this point whether AGS is capable of drawing transparency the way I have assumed.

Yes Snarky you are right to question my approach based on this factor but I do not beleive your frustration is justified. Patience and tollerance is something I hope every grown adult is adhere to on these forums.

My sincere apologies for sounding like I was ignoring your feedback however you must understand that in the history of computer graphics, AGS is the first tool I have come across that draws its transparency like it does. I don't know why it does it like that, I dont think any of us besides CJ really knows why. We don't even know if it can draw transparency using the golden standard method every imaging software has since adopted.

So if what you say is correct, Snarky, you'll excuse my ignorance. Such a hitch in my design was unexpected and understandable overlooked.
But we will see if this 'hitch' is really the gobstopper we all think it is. AGS has a track record of offering multiple techniques as a means of getting around some older and obsolete limitations inherent with its design.

A re-write is long overdue. All in good time I guess.

Cheers.