Classic Blades of Exile version 1.0 released.

[Niemand]

Originally Posted By: Ishad Nha

Scenario Editor code won't compile after I updated it. There are three obvious lines of stray characters in TFileio.cpp for starters.
TFILEIO.CPP:1395: error: expected unqualified-id before '<<' token
TFILEIO.CPP:1466: error: expected unqualified-id before '==' token
TFILEIO.CPP:1538: error: expected unqualified-id before '>>' token

These are conflict markers, placed into the code by svn. You need to resolve the conflict before you can compile the code sensibly or commit it to the repository.

[Ishad Nha]

I prefer a straight A,B,C,D... because it is easy to remember. Many lines start with the same letter anyway. I could ampersand letters at random but it is just a question of personal taste.

If Chokboyz was quoting me about a scenario shopping script producing gibberish results, that was my own personal attempt at one, not his. So there should be no problem with his version.

All of these new query files, town and outdoor reports, seem to be created in the main BoE directory not the folder for the specific scenario.

How would you give a query file a name that includes the scenario name?

[Celtic Minstrel]

It's better to follow standard conventions, because then you will catch less people off-guard.

[Chokboyz]

Originally Posted By: Ishad Nha

If Chokboyz was quoting me about a scenario shopping script producing gibberish results, that was my own personal attempt at one, not his. So there should be no problem with his version.

Ok, ...
So, nevermind

Originally Posted By: Ishad Nha

All of these new query files, town and outdoor reports, seem to be created in the main BoE directory not the folder for the specific scenario.

Yup, that's the intended behavior, but it can be changed if you feels to.
In current state, the editor creates the report in the current working directory (which is the Blades of Exile folder and that shouldn't be changed).

Originally Posted By: Ishad Nha

How would you give a query file a name that includes the scenario name?

At the beginning of each dump function (after variables declaration), replace the data_dump_file_id=CreateFile(...) line by those two lines :

Click to reveal..

sprintf(get_text,"Scendata - %s.txt",scen_strs[0]);

data_dump_file_id = CreateFile(get_text, GENERIC_WRITE, FILE_SHARE_READ, NULL, CREATE_ALWAYS, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, NULL);

Result : Scen_data_dump - Scenario Name.txt

Hope it helps,
Chokboyz

[Ishad Nha]

Here and now a given type of query file always overwrites its predecessor thus there is only such file at any given time. If you have query files being given individual names, their number will rapidly increase and they could clutter up the main BoE directory. Using the BoA practice of creating them in the scenario directory might be a good idea.

[Celtic Minstrel]

But the scenario directory does not exist in BoE, not in the same way as in BoA.

[Ishad Nha]

It seems like most BoE scenarios have their own folder. If a BoE scenario does not have such a folder it can be created.

Edit:

The including of the scenario name in the query file name is working, can be extended to towns.

[Celtic Minstrel]

BoE scenarios do not, in fact, have their own folder. In the original BoE, at least, having each scenario in its own folder would prevent the game from finding them.

[Ishad Nha]

My version of open BoE has a folder for every scenario. If the folders don't exist they can be created.

[Celtic Minstrel]

That's because Chokboyz added the ability for the game to search subfolders. But the default configuration is all scenarios in one folder. And the Mac version at this point does not search subfolders.

[Ishad Nha]

Needed is an up to date collection of the source code in zip form. Currently I can download one file at a time.

https://openexile.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/ openexile is still generating a 404 error. Ditto all other addresses I try.

Edit:

I have had success rearranging and resizing the dialog boxes in the Scenario Editor. Apparently the trick is to remove the double slash in front of the first item:

DEFPUSHBUTTON "" 1, 279, 250, 31, 10//, WS_GROUP | WS_TABSTOP

Then choose an appropriate value for the y coordinate of the top left corner, the third number.

If that is not enough alter the same figure in the first line:

830 DIALOG 10, 10, 367, 300

Edit:

If the dialog does not have a DEFPUSHBUTTON "", one can be added at the end. This will work in altering the size of the dialog. Altering the 8## DIALOG line seems to make no difference by itself.

[Celtic Minstrel]

Zipped source code releases will be added at some point, probably once the game is stable for both platforms. I'd prefer also if it were cross-platform by then, but that's not strictly necessary.

[Ishad Nha]

You could add a zip now, then update it regularly as the files are changed by new revisions.

[Ishad Nha]

I am starting to work my way through the dialog boxes, one at a time. I am adding 7 pixels to the space below the OK box. This seems to work out. I won't commit the code for this until it is finished. I have done the first dozen dialogs, the revised Editor can be found at:

http://www.freewebs.com/ishadnha/2009ClassicBoEScenarioEditor.zip

[Celtic Minstrel]

What are you doing to these dialog boxes?

[Ishad Nha]

Fixing up any glitches in style, but above all else, making sure that the buttons at the bottom of the page are not cut short. I could post a graphic.

Edit, here it is:

http://www.freewebs.com/ishadnha/BoEDialogboxes.PNG

The original version of the dialog box is at top, note the truncated Cancel and OK boxes. My altered version is below, it has been widened to show all of the scenario name at once.

[Celtic Minstrel]

It also seems to be using the wrong background pattern...

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

It's always used that pattern, at least on Windows.

[Ishad Nha]

Comparison with the original 1998 Model BoE Scenario Editor shows that the current version of the Windows Editor uses the same dialog background graphic that it always has. The title bar at the top used to be different, before it used to change from gray to blue as it went from left to right. Now it is straight blue.

[Celtic Minstrel]

The titlebar is irrelevant, since it's just Windows standard.

 

The background, however, is odd – Mac uses a different background. (Mac also lacks a titlebar.)

[Ishad Nha]

BoA Editors lack the titlebar too. You can't move the dialog boxes around the way you can in the Windows BoE Editor. I would keep the titlebars only if they were necessary to enable repositioning of dialog boxes.

[Ishad Nha]

The Dev file for the main BoE game project has a lot of the Unit entries in the wrong order. After straightening that out, I found that it lists Consts.h several times, along with Globvar.h:

12 CONSTS.H

56 CONSTS.H

57 CONSTS.H

59 CONSTS.H

 

36 GLOBVAR.H

55 GLOBVAR.H

58 GLOBVAR.H

 

It also lists Soundtool.cpp as "Sountool.cpp".

 

The tools and classes folder have their files listed in the Dev file as occurring in the main Blades of Exile folder, by contrast the Header files list these same files as occurring in their actual locations.

[Chokboyz]

Originally Posted By: Ishad Nha

[...]
The tools and classes folder have their files listed in the Dev file as occurring in the main Blades of Exile folder, by contrast the Header files list these same files as occurring in their actual locations.

As far as i can tell it's a consequence of the code "alignement" to the Mac standard (for example CONSTS.h doesn't exists anymore and has been replaced by a consts.h file that use only enumerators).
Another consequence is that, even after correcting the paths to consts.h and such, the game won't compile because some constants in the code must be "updated" to use the new enumerator structure. That and the fact that others constants (NUM_OF_PC for example) has just been deleted.

I'll try to find some time to sort all of that out, but i don't have much time to spend on it ...

Chokboyz

Edit : is there any reason why all the different modes (COMBAT, TOWN, etc) have been deleted ? (i'm putting it back using enumerator)
Idem for traps types.
Also what happened to force_play_sound ? (using plain play_sound instead)

Edit 2 : Okay, things are a bit cleaned up (includes are in such a mess though ...) but the linker throws multiples definitions errors (snds and sound_handle) ...

Edit 3: Finally, it compiles and run fine. After further testing (read probably this week-end), i'll commit the changes.
Technically, I had to externalize several variables, correct double definitions (now using those soundtool, mathutil, etc files), write two more enumerations (eTrapType and eMode) and correct the code (e.g STATUS_BLESS => STATUS_BLESS_CURSE) in many places.

[Celtic Minstrel]

I don't believe force_play_sound is needed - didn't it just forward to play_sound? Possibly after doing one extra thing.

 

It's possible that these errors are a result of my messing around with the Windows code, attempting to merge the two codes, but I can't actually remember if I committed that, so... *shrugs*

[Chokboyz]

Originally Posted By: Celtic Minstrel

I don't believe force_play_sound is needed - didn't it just forward to play_sound? Possibly after doing one extra thing.

Ok, i've replaced it with play_sound().

Originally Posted By: Celtic Minstrel

It's possible that these errors are a result of my messing around with the Windows code, attempting to merge the two codes, but I can't actually remember if I committed that, so... *shrugs*

Are you speaking of that commit : http://code.google.com/p/openexile/source/detail?r=121 ?
If so, don't worry, i've finished the cleaning of the code which now compiles (and uses the tools/classes folders and the files/changes you introduced).

Chokboyz

[Celtic Minstrel]

Apparently I did commit it, then. Yes, that's the one I meant. I didn't finish (or even start) the merging, but at least I did something towards making merging a little easier once it finally happens.

[Ishad Nha]

I had to make two attempts at compiling the code, the first reported two errors, while the second worked properly. This may be a glitch in my compiler, Bloodshed Dev-C++.

[Ishad Nha]

I have added a save file report file that lists all the SDFs, boat locations, horse locations and Capture Soul storage slots. It is activated only in Debug mode, by Shift + X.

I have added Alt + (Char) shortcuts too. I added a few Ctrl + (Char) shortcuts to the File menu. Date of compilation is added to the About Blades of Exile dialog screen. Game is found at:

http://ishadnha.webs.com/BoE2009.zip

Source code:

http://ishadnha.webs.com/2009BoESource.zip

I can't commit to the repository still, the link above is updated regularly. Also I am not ready to commit a final version anyway.

[Ishad Nha]

I restored Get an Item and Get a Special Item functions to Debug mode. I added hot keys for dialog boxes to cover Bash Door, Pick Lock, Save, Quit, Just Quit&.

I hope to increase the size of the automap to show the entire town or outdoor zone all at once.

[Tonweya]

I, for one, have always wished there were a better option to set the size and location of the three windows used by the Game.

My preference would be to put the playing screen on the top left with the text screen under it, leaving the entire right side for the automap.

(else, the automap utilizing the bottom half with the other two on the top)

I prefer to search caves in the dark to minimize contact with the 'bad guys', but feel that seeing more area lets you better know which direction you should go.

The major reason is though, I make pictures of areas by taking screen shots of the automap, (alt + print screen). A larger automap would make putting the shots together much easier.

tx,

me

[Ishad Nha]

My forte is not graphics, Celtic Minstrel is better than me at that. He is hoping for a new build next year. In the meantime I am working at increasing the size of the automap. It is primitive by comparison with what is possible.

[Celtic Minstrel]

Ahbleza, such rearrangement of the basic components is extremely unlikely to occur anytime in the near future. That said, it's a pretty good idea, so some day it may be considered.

[Tonweya]

It was just a passing comment. The idea has come up before and I guess I was just re-stating it in case anyone who is working on the programming might have thought about it.

If I were able to program, I'd probably give the three screens variable size and border colors that each player could set to their preference; something similar to what I think are called, "skins".

I can only imagine how all of you are trying to update a program of this size while trying to live your normal lives.

The work you all are doing is much appreciated.

tx,

me

[Cryolemon]

Originally Posted By: Ahbleza

I can only imagine how all of you are trying to update a program of this size while trying to live your normal lives.
The work you all are doing is much appreciated.
tx,
me

+1 on this. I've looked at the code a bit and frankly I wouldn't know where to start lol. Personally, I'd rather try to rewrite the whole damn thing in C#, but that would kind of defeat in the object lol.

[Chokboyz]

Thanks for the support !

 

Concerning the recent Scenario Editor commit, i've tweaked/fixed several things :

 

• Fixed the Ctrl-P report reprint command was blackening the text screen.
• Tweaked some menu hiding (Town concise report and Town Dialogue should be accessible now)
• Fixed the delete button wasn't working for the town rectangles (and the Bottom Right part is correctly changed to "Not placed yet" now).
• Get rid of the "black void" bar that may appears in the left of the screen in higher resolution (did something similar with the game some times ago, but forget the Editor )

I've not been able to experience those crash you mentioned when doing a Scenario Object report on a Mac scenario or fiddling with the 40 last outdoor strings ... That doesn't means they aren't there, though

 

Chokboyz

[Ishad Nha]

That is the Mac version surely, none of those problems have been seen on my Windows version of the Editor.

I can hardly program for Windows let alone Mac. I know nothing about Mac programming so I make no effort to make my work portable, cross-platform.

Edit:

I am altering the dialog boxes to improve their appearance. To this end I am using a Debug function that displays any dialog box at will:

case 'V': // Display a Dialog

if (in_scen_debug) {

char response[256]="";

// sprintf(response,"Enter Dialog Number (between 867 and 1100)");

// display_strings(response,"",0,0,0,0,"Which Dialog ?",-1,130,0);

get_text_response(873,response,0);

i = atoi(response);

if(i > 866 && i < 1101)

FCD(i,0);

}

break;

Certain dialogs can be easily made to appear, while others only occur under rare circumstances, deep in the middle of a game.

[Celtic Minstrel]

Keep in mind that I was in the middle of a rehaul of the dialogs, so your changes probably won't be in the final release.

[Chokboyz]

Originally Posted By: Ishad Nha

That is the Mac version surely, none of those problems have been seen on my Windows version of the Editor.

No, it's indeed the Windows version, especially this commit : http://code.google.com/p/openexile/source/detail?r=133 . (get it and try it, those bugs are real)
It may have been commited not up-to-date though.

Chokboyz

[Ishad Nha]

133 was my work presumably, committed by W Dueck on my behalf. Yet my original code seems to have had none of these errors, file corruption in transit? Anyway there is a revision 134 which hopefully fixed the errors.

[Chokboyz]

Originally Posted By: Ishad Nha

133 was my work presumably, committed by W Dueck on my behalf. Yet my original code seems to have had none of these errors, file corruption in transit?

More likely an old/different version of the code was comitted. All the features advertised on the commit page are in though. (note that no crashes with Mac scenarios or last outdoor strings was experienced though)

Originally Posted By: Ishad Nha

Anyway there is a revision 134 which hopefully fixed the errors.

Yes, it does.

Chokboyz

[Ishad Nha]

As for the dialogs, it seems that button 66, Step In, is always 100 pixels wide regardless of what width is decreed in Gamedlog.rc

[Celtic Minstrel]

I think all the buttons are like that. Each one has a specific width, and the specified width is ignored (though, it might affect the active area of the button, so it's probably best for it to match).

[Ishad Nha]

I just drew some red lines on two buttons in my copy of Dlogbtns.bmp, and the dialog buttons now have red lines on them. So the buttons are taken from this graphic and given the appropriate labels. It seems that the information you write into Gamedlog.rc is just there for appearances's sake.

 

Three dialogs are leftovers from Exile 3(?): 1089, 1092 and 1095. Currently they do nothing at all. They can be commented out or given OK buttons and used in BoE.

 

Edit:

I just solved a minor problem, the item information screen displays the Weight label too far to the right, so I increased its label_flag from 1022 to 1026. Problem went away. On line 389 of boe.infodlg.cpp I altered it to read:

cd_add_label(998,20 ,"Weight:",1026);

Not too sure what the label flag is, it's found on line 1060 of Dlogtool.cpp.

[Ishad Nha]

Dialog 962 seems not to be used in actual practice.

I have tidied up the dialogs a bit, revisions are now in the latest versions of my source code. I altered the item info so that encumbrance now appears on the same line as weight. In PC info dialog, the Alchemy now appears on the same line as spells and advantages.

[Celtic Minstrel]

Originally Posted By: Ishad Nha

I just drew some red lines on two buttons in my copy of Dlogbtns.bmp, and the dialog buttons now have red lines on them. So the buttons are taken from this graphic and given the appropriate labels. It seems that the information you write into Gamedlog.rc is just there for appearances's sake.

I could have told you that. The information in Gamedlog.rc is read in by the game, but then I think it overrides it somewhat with its own info.

Originally Posted By: Ishad Nha

Three dialogs are leftovers from Exile 3(?): 1089, 1092 and 1095. Currently they do nothing at all. They can be commented out or given OK buttons and used in BoE.

Perhaps you could explain what they are?

Originally Posted By: Ishad Nha

Not too sure what the label flag is, it's found on line 1060 of Dlogtool.cpp.

I think it's the pixel distance between the left edge of the control and the left edge of the label's first letter. Not sure though.

Originally Posted By: Ishad Nha

Dialog 962 seems not to be used in actual practice.

What is this dialog?

[Chokboyz]

Originally Posted By: Ishad Nha

The information in Gamedlog.rc is read in by the game, but then I think it overrides it somewhat with its own info.

Oh right, the dialog creation procedure is quite a mess

Originally Posted By: Celtic Minstrel

Perhaps you could explain what they are?

1089 is EXILE HELP: TALKING AND SHOPS
1092 is EXILE HELP: COMBAT
1095 is EXILE HELP: VALUABLE INFO

They are, currently, not accessed in the game.

Originally Posted By: Ishad Nha

Dialog 962 seems not to be used in actual practice.

Originally Posted By: Celtic Minstrel

What is this dialog?

Good finding Ishad Nha, those are the remains of the old Adventure Journal from Exile 3 (the one that automatically keep notes of how far you are in fighting the plagues). Not used at all in BoE.

Originally Posted By: Ishad Nha

Not too sure what the label flag is

It is a parameter passed to the cd_add_label() function that is used to specify the label properties (if > 1000 text is in bold and it sets the draw position).

Hope it helps,
Chokboyz

[Celtic Minstrel]

Originally Posted By: Chokboyz

1089 is EXILE HELP: TALKING AND SHOPS
1092 is EXILE HELP: COMBAT
1095 is EXILE HELP: VALUABLE INFO

Hmm... that's interesting. I would have expected the first to be accessible from the help button in shop/talking mode, but that's not the case. I also would have expected the second to be accessible from the Help -> Combat menuitem. I've no idea about the third. Are these remnants of an earlier Exile game that have duplicates for BoE?

Originally Posted By: Chokboyz

Originally Posted By: Ishad Nha

Dialog 962 seems not to be used in actual practice.

Originally Posted By: Celtic Minstrel

What is this dialog?

Good finding Ishad Nha, those are the remains of the old Adventure Journal from Exile 3 (the one that automatically keep notes of how far you are in fighting the plagues). Not used at all in BoE.

It should be retained, then, for future use.

[Chokboyz]

Originally Posted By: Celtic Minstrel

Are these remnants of an earlier Exile game that have duplicates for BoE?

Just found those under More Help/Talk help, Item help and Combat help in ... Exile I (at last version 2.0 with redone graphics, didn't bother to look for my old shareware cd ) and Exile II.
These sub-help dialogs disappeared with Exile III (at least in Windows version).

Chokboyz

[Celtic Minstrel]

There are four or five such help dialogs in BoE, all found in the Help menu.

[Chokboyz]

Originally Posted By: Celtic Minstrel

There are four or five such help dialogs in BoE, all found in the Help menu.

True, but the previously mentioned dialogs were extra help (in a separated section under the More Help menu (the old Help menu) which some have been deleted in Exile III and BoE : Status Window Help, Magic Help, Talk Help, Item help, Combat Help (is not Combat Commands), Valuable Tips, Magic Barrier Help (this one has been kept and put under the Exile 3/BoE Help menu).
The three dialogs Ishad Nha founds are, indeed, not used in BoE and remnants of those extra help section (in Windows version at least; i'm unable to check any Mac version ...).

Chokboyz