Dintiradan

... Figures, I didn't mention once what the bloody program does in the above posts. Sorry. Supposedly, someone (Khoth, I think) made a program for Macs that would extract all the strings out of your scripts and place them into a file. You could then run that file through a word processor to check for spelling mistakes, etc. Then, you can use the program to re-insert the strings back into the original scripts. My program does that, but for Windows instead of Macs (although it could be ported with ease by changing one line of the source code). -------------------- Wow, that is such a stupid idea, I feel dumber just hearing it. - Roy (OotS #26)

... Yep, it's working now. Nevermind about the need for hosting. Yes, I know the code's ugly and sub-optimal. Once I'm over finals, I'll rewrite it so that file I/O is done character by character instead of line by line. Probably quicker, and then I'll be able to do things like convert between underscores and quotes. The only reason I did it line by line was because I had a similar project for school. Heh. Odd, I finish astring for Windows on a day that Khoth's active on the boards. EDIT: I don't know if it's AOL, SpidWeb, UBB, or Freewebs, but when I just click on the link I a second SpidWeb window. Right-clicking and saving the target seems to work. EDIT: A 'bug', of sorts. Only use astring on files that were created on a Windows machine. It only works on files that mark newlines as carriage returns and line feeds. When I tried astring on VoDT yesterday, I got a bunch of errors, since the lines in any file created on a Mac end only with a carriage return. There's absolutely nothing I can do about this until I rewrite the program to take in input character by character. -------------------- Ta da!

So I finally get around to rewritting my astring Perl script into C. It still needs a little work, so consider this a public beta. However, Freewebs refuses to let me upload the .zip. Says I can't upload .exe files until I've validated my e-mail, which I've done at least twice. It'd be great if someone could host it for me while I figure out how to get Freewebs to work (or more likely, study for finals, do finals, then find another free web-hosting service). If someone could give me an e-mail address to send to, that'll be great. EDIT: Nevermind on the need for hosting. See below. -------------------- Evan's Spiked Tentacles of Forced Intrusion!!! - Vaarsuvius (OotS #20)

By Kel: Quote: The issue of a specification did come up once before (in a very unfortunate way), when people more knowledgeable about these subjects than I talked about it. Looks at page (November 1st, 2004): Quote: Djur happens to be quite close to completing Pygmalion, -------------------- Any inaccuracies in this index may be explained by the fact that it has been sorted with the help of a computer. - Sorting and Searching (Donald Knuth)

By Kel: Quote: After that, I'd like to spend some time re-writing the docs. Why, what's wrong with the docs? All LoD1 needs is around a week of hard work before I can fully alpha test it. However, I want to complete astring for Windows first (give me a few more days), and I've committed to Project Diki. Right now, Solaria! is nothing more than a notebook full of map sketches and plot outlines. Expect it to be released a week after Drakey announces the beta for RiB. -------------------- The most important thing in the programming language is the name. A language will not succeed without a good name. I have recently invented a very good name and now I am looking for a suitable language. - Attributed to Donald Knuth

So... basically what everyone wants is a BoA IDE. -------------------- I love the smell of bat guano in the morning. Smells like... victory. - Vaarsuvius (OotS #20)

Actually, I'm quite surprised that JV even considered releasing the source for BoA. BoE I can see, but the scripting engine of BoA is still being used in Geneforge and Avernum 4. If he were to release the source, he could stand to lose a lot more than what he could have netted from BoA sales. For instance, some opportunist could pick out the scripting, dialog, and AI aspects of BoA, and spend their excess time on making a game with better graphics, cutscenes, and music. Bam! JV just marginalized himself. Just making BoA free would be a better publicity stunt, though not as popular with the designers. As for releasing BoE's code... hopefully by then I'll have a few more years under my belt so I can actually be of some use in playing with the code. On the difficulty of BoA's scripting: would it be of any use if I made some type of script preprocessor? For instance, you give a SDF a name at the top of a script, and the program would replace all instances of that name with a get_flag or set_flag call depending on the situation. That would be the extend of how far we could alter the scripting without changing the code. -------------------- You call that skinny thing a weapon? I could Sunder that by speaking too loudly! - Belkar (OotS #17)

By E.T. Quote: Say it isn't so! Did he mean no Rentar as a main villain, or no Rentar at all? Is she dead? At this point, Avernum without Rentar would be like Starwars without Darth Vader (meaning it's possible but somehow incomplete). By J.V. : Quote: No more Erika. No more Rentar. No more Garzahd. - Jeff Vogel No means no. -------------------- He's not useless, he's... use-impaired. - Haley (OotS #17)

Youpi! Elevation will add the aesthetic kick the new engine needs, and a new setting is great. Not that Avernum Proper is a bad setting, just that after wandering around the same turf for three games, ennui sets in. --------------------

Quote: It's the noncommital sound "err" with some H adding, of course. That, or opon mars is respectfully addressing some German named 'never mind'. -------------------- Roy: Dad?? But... you and Mom are both dead... Roy's Father: Yeah, funny thing about being a ghost, it has some harsh prerequisites. (OotS #15)

By Nioca: Quote: I didn't open the .JAR file with Java like I'm supposed to, I extracted it with winRAR. Told you, Niemand. -------------------- Career opportunity for a fire-fighter position: 'We offer a smoke-free work environment.' - Calgary Herald

Pfft. Compared to gender-changing dragons, this is nothing. -------------------- My daddy was a First Edition thief. It runs in the family. - Haley (OotS #8)

Think that's bad? You should hear some of the things the Xian Skull begins to say late in the game. You have to be well past the date that the ToM gets attacked, though. -------------------- How about instead of adventuring, you find me a nice lady skull? - The Xian Skull

Yeah, that joke kinda blew up. You can't bribe the guards to enter the Blackcrag courtyard. What you have to do is tickle them. Under their chins. With the Xian feather. -------------------- Wait! I think I just failed a Listen check! - Belkar (OotS #3)

By Nija: Quote: I offer a thought. Einstein would turn in his grave, not only does god play dice, the dice are loaded. (A Chinese scientist, quotation on the quantum theory) Bah. University FTW! As for multiple Demonslayers, I seem to recall hearing about a bug that lets you duplicate items. Something like picking up an item, saving, reloading, then dropping it. -------------------- I think I just failed a Spot check. - Belkar (OotS #3)

EDIT: Gah. Once again, I post thinking that the topic hasn't grown past one page. -------------------- You know what the best thing about being a skull is? I don't either. - The Xian Skull

Spoilsport. Oh well, I'll just go back to my Xian Skull quotes. -------------------- Do you think my teeth need brushing? - The Xian Skull

It's kind of ironic; the first person to fall for one of my non-existent Easter Egg posts chooses one where I say it's a non-existent Easter Egg. By Nioca: Quote: It's fun to wander in the courtyard of Blackcrag, though. Yeah, it's nice, but it's not really worth it, with the amount you have to bribe those guards. -------------------- I had a gold filling once, but someone stole it. Jerk. - The Xian Skull

... It's a game, people. Not a way of life. In other words... you fill in the rest. -------------------- I just ate your salami sandwich. What? I was hungry. - The Xian Skull

Awww, Lenar, you spoiled my fun. So much for explaining how to unlock the 'Easter Egg' to get behind Blackcrag... -------------------- Don't worry about people stealing an idea. If it's original, you'll have to ram it down their throats. - Howard Aiken

Wow. On the one hand, I have a fair bit of homework due for next week, not to mention beta testing the Windows Dialog Editor. On the other hand, I do have Monday and Tuesday off. So if you can't find anyone else to test for you (or don't mind sending out betas that might not get done), send it to 'dintiradan(at)yahoo(dot)ca'. Also, see this on chess AI. There's a huge list of engines, and it's possible that one of the engines is simple enough to translate into AvernumScript. EDIT: Clarification. -------------------- I have problems opening myself up to the unconditional love of others. - The Xian Skull

That would be a great 'bot idea... anytime someone responds negatively to one of my posts, I could get a 'bot to flame 'em. -------------------- Don't put me in your pack. It's stuffy in there. And it smells funny. - The Xian Skull

By Ephesos: Quote: Embers of Rebellion is almost complete. Expect a beta before Friday, as I need to do an alpha test and convert my graphics. You realize that by saying that, you have drastically increased the odds of your computer crashing causing release delays. Again. -------------------- Aaaaah!!! Aaaaahhh!!! There's a spider inside me! Get it out! Get it out! It tickles! - The Xian Skull

No idea, but the messages remind me of an infinite loop I got the game into when I tried to modify a .sav file. What OS are you using? Troubleshooting for graphics depends on that. -------------------- Randal said it would be tough to do in sed. He didn't say he didn't understand sed. Randal understands sed quite well. Which is why he uses Perl. - Larry Wall

Not going to happen for me, unfortunately. Oh well, there's always the next contest. -------------------- It's a little known fact that the tan became popular in what is now known as the Bronze Age. - Cliff Clavin (Cheers)