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Feature Suggestions, Bug Reports, and so on


Celtic Minstrel

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A couple of bugs I've found (I'm using Windows XP):

 

* The action log outputs certain lines in the incorrect order:

 

combat_typo.png

 

* Some dialog boxes have incorrect sizes (notice the button being cut off):

 

editor_dialog.png

 

* The splash screen doesn't redraw properly. If you switch to another window while the sound is playing and then switch back, it will be blank.

 

* The "About this menu" option under the Monsters menu stops working after some point during a scenario.

 

* The default window size for "Small Window" doesn't have the correct size; part of the edge gets cropped.

 

On the subject of which, it seems rather wasteful to have an "unsused" option on the main menu. One suggestion would be to make that a link to the Google Code page, while the bottom-right button could take the user to Spiderweb Software's home page.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Originally Posted By: Karoka
Oh dear, it's dead again. But anyway, I was wondering exactly how the level of a monster was determined. Is it some kind of formula? An estimation based on existing monsters? Or does the designer just pick some random ol' number and say, "Hey, I like that number!"
There is a "monster level" field in the scenario editor.
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Originally Posted By: The Mystic
I found some BoE-related articles archived here; they're a bit old, but helpful. This article in particular may be of interest to you.
Sorry, but I couldn't find the answer. But it has a whole lot of good advice on other things, though!

I apologize for such a late response.
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  • 1 month later...

I've got a few more ideas for the editor, although some of them may have already been mentioned by others:

 

1. The ability to undo the most recent change, particularly for terrain editing.

 

2. An option to import or export monsters and items.

 

3. It would probably be better if we switch to a standard versioning scheme as the date format could be confusing. For example, version 09.01.2011 refers to January 9, 2011, but others may see it as September 1. As the original binaries use 1.x, I think it would be a good idea for the open source versions to start at 2.x.

 

4. A more convenient way to pick towns and dungeons, rather than entering numbers.

 

5. The ability to delete any town, not just the last one.

 

6. Raise the limit on the number of different items, as well as the number of signs and NPCs in towns. I'm aware that this may break compatibility.

 

7. The ability to change the size of the outdoor area after scenario creation.

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All excellent ideas.

 

1) Undo is tricky, but yes worthwhile.

2) Import monsters and items should be easily done.

3) Amen to versioning. Date format is confusing. Often I use yy/mm/dd format. It sorts better that way.

4)Actually my VB version uses list boxes to select both outdoors and towns by number and name together.

5) If a town is not used, it has no impact on the game. However, it would be useful to redefine a non-used town, including the ability to change it's size. That should be easy to do with my version, because I read the entire scenario file into memory, and VB allows for re-defining arrays.

6) I have a file layout that does just that. In fact, the number of items, monsters, fields, special nodes... is dynamic, allocating only those that are needed, but not having a top limit either. Unfortunately, that breaks the model the BoE engine uses; a completely new game engine would be required to use the new model.

7) Almost as tricky as undo, but I think I could do that.

 

The biggest problem I have with my editor is that I wrote it using Visual Basic, which does not port to Macs or linux. I just don't have the time to recode it to C, but I could put the source code of my alternate editor on my website for anyone ambitious enough to rewrite it. Open source of course.

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The last CBoE stable release here used a 1.1 version number somewhere, iirc. The current development channel would therefore be 1.2.x. If/when the wxWidgets port gets completed, that would probably warrant a major version number, but as it is, I think it would be best to stay at 1.x.

 

That being said, the date versioning thing in the titlebars is rather peculiar, but nothing a find/replace can't do real quick.

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Sorry if I stepped on anyone's hooves here, but I went and got rid of the date versioning and declared everything to be v1.2.0a (r168 and r169). I also ran a nightly build cycle in case anyone is hankering to see a slightly different titlebar.

 

Version numbering is now just in the *.RC files, one for each executable. I also took the liberty of updating the Char Ed and Scen Ed links to the forum.

 

Also, is there any way in the current dialog system to have a clickable link to the forums? Right now it's just in glorious un-copy-pastable plaintext.

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It would be great if there was a tool (or built-in feature) for inserting custom graphics (monsters, items and tiles) into the graphics sheets. This could save the hassle of matching the images to the grid, as well as avoid possible mistakes.

 

Similarly, the native ability to convert between .bmp and .meg would also be quite heplful.

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CBoE uses .bmp as its image format for all OSes now, so I doubt a .meg converter is necessary. I believe it's planned to replace this with PNG so we can have cool stuff like alpha-channel transparency instead of the current horror of white==transparent.

 

+1 on the custom image importer. That'd prolly be best to do when (if) new scenario formats are introduced.

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  • 2 months later...

Alright, hopefully I have not missed this somewhere, but I did read through this entire thread to see. Last time I did any major playing was like 2006, so I have not been around for a while. Wish I had seen this project when it started.(I was trying to find a description for something I saw and ended up coming back and playing and looking around)

 

If this is still active heres more ideas:

 

An active effects list for a PC. This would list everything currently acting as the name suggests. This would be everything from temp effects like poison, to effects that come from equipped items, like protection; listed would also be where the effect is coming from. Further, clicking on the effect would tell you exactly what it does. After a couple hours of looking around, I am still utterly suprised I could not find any documentation on what a given effect does exactly. I mean, I see an effect from armor I have that says Full Protection, or a ring that says Willpower. Nowhere can I actually find exactly what this does! I can only see the name and assume approximatly.

 

Second, I am glad I saw the flow chart idea for the editor, that has been terribly apparent to me from when I first tried using the editor.

 

Third, yea, I saw someone mentioned the idea of building the whole world. Guess you havent heard of modding teams like those for Morrowind which are quite busy currently making the entire continent?(I happen to make models for one of them)(alright, its only 3-4 provinces, not the entire continent, so more like half the continent)

 

Lastly, maybe a way to expand the vieiwing window? With the size of monitors today, that little windows just seems way too cramped.

 

Edit: I find it funny that it says new arrival under my name but I have been a member longer than some other people here.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hmmm. Has there been any thoughts about moving the scenarios folder to ~/.boe/scenarios or %APPDATA%\Blades of Exile\Scenarios or whatever? It seems like it would be a good idea, what with the recent trend of Windows locking down the Program Files directory. Also I'm not sure if I am recalling correctly, but doesn't the default save path for savegames go to the same as the executable?

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I was having trouble syncing my outdoors terrain with adjacent areas. I toyed with the idea of building my editor so that I could see the entire outdoors in one shot, but instead I settled for displaying the one row/column from that area. You can't change it from the area you're in, but at least you can see it to match up mountains, cave walls, etc.

 

Wonderbolt, I really like your idea about directory structure.

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If you're using CBoE on Windows Vista/7 with a software restriction policy, and so want to run CBoE from C:\Program Files as limited user... I'm not entirely sure, but I *think* setting the "UAC virtualization" option on the EXEs might work. That should redirect everything to a folder somewhere in your user's home.

 

But yes, it would be very good to have out-of-the-box multiuser support (especially for people running as limited on WinXP).

 

Edit: and when it comes to computer security, a little OCD is not necessarily a bad thing. tongue

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Originally Posted By: Tarius
Alright, hopefully I have not missed this somewhere, but I did read through this entire thread to see. Last time I did any major playing was like 2006, so I have not been around for a while. Wish I had seen this project when it started.(I was trying to find a description for something I saw and ended up coming back and playing and looking around)

 

If this is still active heres more ideas:

 

An active effects list for a PC. This would list everything currently acting as the name suggests. This would be everything from temp effects like poison, to effects that come from equipped items, like protection; listed would also be where the effect is coming from. Further, clicking on the effect would tell you exactly what it does. After a couple hours of looking around, I am still utterly suprised I could not find any documentation on what a given effect does exactly. I mean, I see an effect from armor I have that says Full Protection, or a ring that says Willpower. Nowhere can I actually find exactly what this does! I can only see the name and assume approximatly.

I like this idea, though I'm not sure how much work it would be. Note that you can usually figure out the effect of an item (at least roughly) by clicking its info button. There are exceptions to this, in theory due to the ??? hidden abilities (but that doesn't actually work) and also due to some of the ability descriptions not being very descriptive about what the actual exact effect is.

 

Originally Posted By: Future Wonderbolt
Hmmm. Has there been any thoughts about moving the scenarios folder to ~/.boe/scenarios or %APPDATA%\Blades of Exile\Scenarios or whatever?
This does seem like a reasonable idea ("~/Application Support/Blades of Exile/Scenarios" for mac users, by the way), but I think it would require putting the default scenarios inside the application package. Not that I think that'd be a bad thing. I'm not sure how that would extend to Windows/Linux though since they don't (as far as I'm aware) have a concept of application packages.
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Originally Posted By: Celtic Minstrel
I'm not sure how that would extend to Windows/Linux though since they don't (as far as I'm aware) have a concept of application packages.
The installer could automatically place them in the %appdata% folder for windows, and linux would have the defaults in /usr/share somewhere, and then also pull on the ~/.boe directory.

Actually, that might be a good idea on Windows as well. Put the builtins into %PROGRAMFILES%\Blades of Exile\Scenarios (dont think that's the right envvar) and then the %APPDATA% directory. How hard would it be to program it to pull from the programfiles or /usr/share, and then from the user profile (if it exists), choosing the user directory as priority for conflicting filenames?
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  • 2 weeks later...
Originally Posted By: Future Wonderbolt
How hard would it be to program it to pull from the programfiles or /usr/share, and then from the user profile (if it exists), choosing the user directory as priority for conflicting filenames?
Since the main three scenarios are hardcoded into a separate dialogue, I think it'd be even easier than you think. tongue In fact, it would probably simplify the code.
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  • 4 months later...
  • 4 weeks later...

I've updated the forum URL again on the windows Help->About dialogs. I also took the liberty of replacing the "< Unused >" button with a "Support and Downloads" button, that when clicked, opens the BoE forum in your browser of choice. Probably rather useless, but I figure it's better than having a placeholder button that does nothing.

 

Also, I've lately been thinking a switch from SVN to git might be a good idea. What do y'all think? Google Code is starting to feel rather aged, and github is purdy and seems to allow a lot better workflow.

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Yes because we definitely need to have an even harder time telling which version is the most up to date and actually has the most bugs fixed.

 

(Not that my opion counts for much, since I hardly contribute anything to BoE, but I personally detest git, and have been repeatedly annoyed by open source projects which I use moving to github and then metastasizing.)

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I appear to have encountered an error.

 

Vanilla Wine install (literally just installed it from apt), Debian Squeeze with backports enabled. CBoE trunk.

 

This is because of the .desktop file that Squeeze uses for Wine. It just invokes the executable with 'wine', and you need to invoke it with 'wine start /unix' or you'll get spectacular graphics glitches.

 

BTW, I wouldn't recommend using Squeeze's Wine with CBoE, due to sound bugs. If you want to play with sound on, you need Wine 1.3.39 or 1.4.1 - not sure about the latter but the former is available through PlayOnLinux.

 

Re git - I happen to love git, but then again it's the only VCS I know anything about at all. OTOH git is terrible to deal with on Windows.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Also, I've lately been thinking a switch from SVN to git might be a good idea. What do y'all think? Google Code is starting to feel rather aged, and github is purdy and seems to allow a lot better workflow.

While I like git and github, I'm resistant to a move off of Google code. If there's support though, I would not be opposed to switching the Google Code repository to use git. (Mercurial is also an available option, but git is the one I'm familiar with; I've never used Mercurial.)
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Wholly unrelated quick note.

This follows the order of the outdoor zones as found in the Exs file. Hence it follows the order they are displayed in the Scenario Editor:

for (out_sec.y = 0; out_sec.y < scenario.out_height ; (out_sec.y)++)

for (out_sec.x = 0; out_sec.x < scenario.out_width ; (out_sec.x)++) {

Printouts, reports should best follow the first arrangement.

 

By contrast,

for (out_sec.x = 0; out_sec.x < scenario.out_width ; (out_sec.x)++)

for (out_sec.y = 0; out_sec.y < scenario.out_height ; (out_sec.y)++) {

is in the reverse order to the above.

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  • 4 months later...

Bug found when playing "The Foolish Giant" in Wine 1.4, copied from my post in the scenario's review thread (soon to be erased and replaced with a regular review):

 

EDIT: Come to think of it, it's possible that it's something in CBoE that broke it rather than something in the scenario itself. What happens is

 

 

 

I visit Morris, he tells me to go say hi to Ralph. I go to the town meeting and say hi to Ralph. The walkthrough says I then go back and talk to Morris again. I get to his cottage, and the map is blank. I guess Morris's cottage has a Town Version SDF flag. But when I search, he's simply not there. There's no messages or anything. There's just the dog and a few items.

 

 

EDIT: Indeed, this is a CBoE bug, as when I play this in the original BoE, the giant is exactly where he should be. If I were to take a guess, I'd say it's probably because he's sitting on a (Blocked, Obstructed) Boulder terrain, but I really can't say not being a programmer and not having seen the code. I'll have to copy this post into the bug reporting thread.

 

EDIT: It seems it's not the boulder. First of all, there's a talk node ("balt") set to use a personality in another town, and the scenario editor gives me an error when I ty to click any button except cancel, not letting me out unless I change it, but somehow, in the original BoE, Desert Plah managed to do that successfully. Secondly, Morris is set so when a certain Event occurs (it doesn't), Morris will not appear. I know Major Events have always been buggy, so this may be the source of the problem.

Edited by The Almighty Doer of Stuff
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  • 5 weeks later...

The Lightning item ability no longer has a useful functionality it used to have. It used to be that you could set an item to a missile type and give it the Lightning ability, then set it back to a melee weapon type. Then, when you struck an enemy with it in combat, it would do the same lightning effect as though it were a missile, upon the target. It no longer does that.

 

Also, the item ability Slow Wearer does not slow wearer. If it's set to item strength 4 or below, it does nothing, and above that it prevents all combat movement, saying the wielder must clean webs.

This was tested with an encumbrance 20 weapon so normally the wielder only got 1 AP, but regardless it's not functioning as it should. It should slow the wearer, not cover them with webs, and in either case there's no status symbol.

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  • 9 months later...
  • 6 months later...

Hello all,

 

Been a while but this is 'SkeleTony' but I lost my password and my original account had an email I have not used in a decade (and no longer exists I am sure since it was from when I was an 'Earthlink' subscriber).

 

Anyway I am reporting what looks like a bug with the CBoE 1.20a_Win32 version of the Character editor (or rather the character editor version that comes with the CBoE 1.20a package): Namely that I do not seem able to open or even find any BoE saved games from the Char. Editor. When I run the Char. Editor and try to open a saved game NO saves show up in the "My Documents" folder (and yes, I checked every version of this folder..."all users", "owner" etc.). I can of course load my saved games normally from BoE itself but it appears that the newest Character Editor does not recognize the '.SAV' extension or some such.

 

Any help or advice is much appreciated.

 

Am running Windows XP if that matters and have to run CBoE in compatibility mode for Win 98 or I get graphical problems.

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Adding some more information here: NO BoE (or any other Spiderweb game) saved games ('.sav') show up at all in the character editor but since the character editor searches for "blades.sav" by default in the text/file opening area, if I name a saved game "blades.sav", even though it does not show up in the CE, I can still edit the saved game (to pull a party out of a scenario I don't like or whatever). I have not tried to simply type in the name of a saved game in that field to see if it will work but that is an enormously problematic way to do things anyway.

 

Anyone have any ideas on what I can do about this?

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Is there a file types dropdown from which you can select "All files (*.*)"? Failing that, someone would probably need to tweak the code.

 

There is but it does not work right. If I pull the drop down menu it lists only three options: One being "All Blades of Exile Saved Games ('.SAV' files), which does nmothing as I previopusly reported here and the other two options are just gibberish...like a series of random characters strung together or something.

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Could you elaborate on these problems? What sort of graphical issues are present without compatibility, and do they occur on the most recent builds (available here)?

 

Uh...crap. Can't help you here as the issue is fixed now with that new binary you provided and I would have to go back to the old build to get the old problems and all that. Let me see if I can figure something out and get back to you.

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  • 1 month later...

Just noticed something playing around with a twink solo char. At level 39 I was in Dying THings scenario when a bunch of Brigands attacked me. Obviously 5th or whatever level Brigands represented no threat to the char so I was wondering what their thinking was. :) Was it I'm just one guy and they're 10 or something, or is it a levels vs levels calclation? Like 10 6th levels equals 60 levels vs 39th level so they'll attack?

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Just noticed something playing around with a twink solo char. At level 39 I was in Dying THings scenario when a bunch of Brigands attacked me. Obviously 5th or whatever level Brigands represented no threat to the char so I was wondering what their thinking was. :) Was it I'm just one guy and they're 10 or something, or is it a levels vs levels calclation? Like 10 6th levels equals 60 levels vs 39th level so they'll attack?

 

I don't know off the top of my head how exactly the level calculation for monsters fleeing from the party works, but I know it's possible for a scenario designer to configure an encounter to never flee. This can be useful for plot-related encounters, or for monsters that drop important items when killed.

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I don't know off the top of my head how exactly the level calculation for monsters fleeing from the party works, but I know it's possible for a scenario designer to configure an encounter to never flee. This can be useful for plot-related encounters, or for monsters that drop important items when killed.

 

Thanks for at least a non-answer answer. :) Should say I'm stoked people are still into such an old game.

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Here's the relevant calculation:

party_total_level() > (out_enc_lev_tot(i) * 5) / 3 && out_enc_lev_tot(i) < 200

The party_total_level() and out_enc_lev_tot() functions do pretty much what they look like - add up the levels of each PC/monster in the party/encounter.

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So to put it in plain language:

 

1) If the total levels of all party members add up to more than 5/3 of the total levels of all monsters, the encounter will flee.

2) Regardless of whether condition 1 applies, if the total levels of all monsters in the encounter add to 200 or more, the encounter will never flee.

 

This means the number of PCs and the number of monsters are both relevant, as are their levels.

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  • 2 weeks later...

i dunno if anyone's suggested this, but an editor feature i've longed for is importing monsters and items from scenario to scenario, both individually and as a group.

 

in the same vein, i'd be happiest if there were a couple of settings/features for items that don't exist now - "destroyed on leaving scenario" (previously implied by custom graphics but only by custom graphics) "loses ability on leaving scenario" (previously implied by certain plot-related options), "traders pay/charge X% of normal".

 

oh, and copy items graphics to a folder so they can be transferred from scenario to scenario; custom graphics causing items not to transfer sort of acted as a disincentive for making custom items certain ways

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oh, and copy items graphics to a folder so they can be transferred from scenario to scenario; custom graphics causing items not to transfer sort of acted as a disincentive for making custom items certain ways

Already did this, except instead of putting them in a folder they're stored right inside the saved game.

 

in the same vein, i'd be happiest if there were a couple of settings/features for items that don't exist now - "destroyed on leaving scenario" (previously implied by custom graphics but only by custom graphics) "loses ability on leaving scenario" (previously implied by certain plot-related options), "traders pay/charge X% of normal".

The first two are easy, though can you give me an example of why you'd want the second? For the third, how is that different from just reducing the item's value?
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For the third, how is that different from just reducing the item's value?

 

I suppose one possible application for it would be to have an item that you can buy but can't sell -- the purchase value would be normal but the sale value would be set to 0. This could, for example, be used to prevent you from selling an important purchasable item by accident.

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