Messages

1

SCI Syntax Help / Re: Script patch files

« on: September 23, 2021, 02:20:49 PM »

Honestly I'd doubt they'd know you exist. This kind of stuff is just not on their radar.

I know Al Lowe knew I exist... though I think I might've still gone by my old handle back then.

2

SCI Syntax Help / Re: Script patch files

« on: September 23, 2021, 06:38:56 AM »

This ties into a larger question about distributing mod files for the original games. I believe even modified VIEW patches would technically be a copyright violation as derivative work are prohibited under copyright. I'm trying to decide if, on larger mods with many changes, I'll need to distribute all the VIEW patches and the SCR folder or if it's best to just rebuild resource.001 and distribute that (which seems to work fairly well)?

I am not a lawyer... nor am I someone who gives a frick, considering I have patches to turn LSL2's Polyester Patty in Passionate Patti, and play DOS PQ2 with the Japanese sprites and have no qualms putting them in a publicly accessible place.

3

SCI Syntax Help / Re: ShakeScreen problems

« on: September 21, 2021, 05:57:30 PM »

Oh that's on me, I completely forgot that ShakeScreen is implemented by the driver.

Still, if Eric's recent comments are any indication updating the interpreter might be a good idea regardless for other reasons.

4

SCI Syntax Help / Re: ShakeScreen problems

« on: September 21, 2021, 05:46:53 PM »

If it's a difference like from 0.0.502 to 0.0.685 I image you could get lucky and just replace the EXE file, or you need to also replace the kernel vocab. That's where you use SCI Companion to extract vocab.999 from the 0.0.685 game and import it into the 0.0.502 game you're updating to 0.0.685. You might also want to replace the upgraded game's system scripts.

Now, going from a 0.000 interpreter (SCI0) to S.old (SCI01), that's where the real differences start appearing. And let's forget about just drop-in upgrading to 1.000 (SCI10).

5

SCI Syntax Help / Re: SCI0 - Text window vanishing cutouts of Views

« on: September 20, 2021, 07:53:06 PM »

Why bother downloading the whole game?

Code: [Select]

(Print "Stand at the edge of this message." #font 0 #dispose #time 5)
If it's Ego or other another view shouldn't matter. The point is that they aren't stopUpd:-ed, and thus are redrawn every frame even if "nothing" has changed¹. They stop being redrawn every frame while a blocking window is on screen despite being in their startUpd state, because the cast isn't being redrawn during the inner loop driving the print dialog. The window being drawn knocks off part of any sprites within so many pixels from its sides, and since the cast isn't redrawn until the print's loop ends, the gaps stay on screen². Then we're back in the game's loop, which does redraw the cast.

If you #dispose a Print, that inner loop is skipped entirely. It's not Print that handles closing the window again when those five seconds in my example are over, that's handled elsewhere through a pointer and time limit left behind by Print.

But note that even making the window non-blocking like that does not properly solve the issue this thread started with, since there's a single frame wherein the views underneath do have the gap.

Does calling (ego startUpd:) just before the printing the message or adding it to the room's ego init make any difference? I realize you mentioned the ego's update bit should already be set, so probably not.

Blocking:
Frame 1: draw the cast, run room scripts, catch a said or whatever. (ego startUpd:), no change since it's already in that state. (Print "testing!"), open a window, cut Ego in two, enter dialog processing loop waiting for a key, exit loop, close window, restore underbits.
Frame ...whenever you pressed enter: draw the cast, run room scripts...

With #dispose:
Frame 1: draw the cast, run room scripts, catch a said or whatever. (ego startUpd:), no change since it's already in that state. (Print "testing!" #dispose #timer 5), open a window, cut Ego in two, immediately exit the Print function we done here.
Frame 2: draw the cast, which fixes Ego's back problems. The window's shape is cut into the priority screen so it all works out.
Frame whenever: notice there's a modeless dialog timer that just ran out, close that window, restore its underbits.

¹: On a low detail setting one might stopUpd a waterfall, save some effort.
²: A talker portrait or DCIcon is not part of the cast, they are animated by the talker class and print routine respectively.

6

SCI Syntax Help / Re: SCI0 - Text window vanishing cutouts of Views

« on: September 20, 2021, 06:15:40 PM »

If it works.

Not all windows are alike -- some are blocking, others are not. We know Ego has their "start update" bit set even when standing still, and they still get cut off by non-blocking windows like "Enter command" and talkers, as I've shown before.

So just to put my money where my mouth is, I took my SCI0 test game, which has a timed, non-blocking response, and stood right at the edge where the window would appear. For one frame, I could catch a gap between Ego and the window, and then Ego updated again, filling the gap. The other test response, an attempt at QFG2-ish talkers, was blocking, as is the prompt, and caused the gap to appear.

I don't know where exactly that startUpd call doomlazer speaks of would go, but I don't see how it could work for regular Print calls that don't #dispose.

7

The Games and other Sierra Adventure stuff / Re: What are we working on?

« on: September 17, 2021, 07:11:31 PM »

I was thinking more along the lines of all of the original strings and all of the original parser commands.

That's what "walkthroughs for the originals should still work" implies, does it not?

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The Games and other Sierra Adventure stuff / Re: What are we working on?

« on: September 17, 2021, 06:16:41 AM »

There's a few QoL things and about 90% fewer !!!!!! and ... but otherwise walkthroughs for the originals should still work.

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The Games and other Sierra Adventure stuff / Re: What are we working on?

« on: September 16, 2021, 07:49:26 AM »

I put my Softporn rewrite on my github, with a release for beta 2 if anyone wants to give it a whirl.

https://github.com/Kawa-oneechan/softporn

10

SCI Syntax Help / Re: SCI0 - Text window vanishing cutouts of Views

« on: September 11, 2021, 02:14:18 PM »

Would it work with a crumbling animation? Or would addToPic keep the first cel of the view static on the background?

If you redraw the pic first and then play the crumble animation, you should be fine. And yes, addToPic-ing involves the View's current view loop and cel.

I have a hard time deciphering a lot of the base template code, so I just wonder if there were some errors in the window printing that was causing this.

As you can see from my little montage, windows cutting off views is a common issue even in SCI11 and with custom frames. It's not you.

11

SCI Syntax Help / Re: SCI0 - Text window vanishing cutouts of Views

« on: September 11, 2021, 01:43:56 PM »

One possible workaround might be to addToPic the wall view over the hole on init (only if it should be covered of course), and redraw the room picture (which has no wall there) when it's revealed.

Edit: it's actually quite surprising how often this happens!

12

The Games and other Sierra Adventure stuff / Re: What are we working on?

« on: September 03, 2021, 06:53:27 PM »

It's pretty much done, and before the weekend no less.

https://helmet.kafuka.org/softporn-c-port-public-beta-1.zip

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The Games and other Sierra Adventure stuff / Re: What are we working on?

« on: September 02, 2021, 03:37:10 AM »

Kicking this thread up a bit just to say that I'm my usual predictable self and have spent the last three days porting Softporn Adventure from Pascal to C. It's going pretty well.

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The Games and other Sierra Adventure stuff / Re: Betrayed Alliance 2 Development Journal

« on: August 31, 2021, 07:10:53 AM »

Looking great there.

15

SCI Development Tools / Re: Rebuilding resource.000 with external patches

« on: August 08, 2021, 08:50:11 PM »

Ah yes. I actually had code similar to that in Barak Manos' answer at first but removed it since it seemed to Work Fine™ as-is. Might put it back, but it's almost three AM and I should've been in a more horizontal orientation since at least two hours ago.