Messages

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Mega Tokyo AGI Archive / Re:AGI picture format specs

« on: December 30, 2003, 07:36:10 AM »

A friend of mine was totally disgusted with the lack of any useful functions in PICEDIT like running under Windows for starters, using clipboard, having a grid, masking, layers, patterns, marquee (selection) tool, zoom... so he decided to try and make an editor himself.

I'd recommend him to look at my editor (Visual AGI). It's still a beta version as I never have enough time to complete it, but in it's present state it is very useful and functional for creating pictures.

The next release will also contain View, Words.tok and Object editing, as well as building complete vol-files. Oh, it also features clipboard support. I won't make any promise about release date, but hopefully in Q1 2004.

/ Joakim

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Mega Tokyo AGI Archive / Re:Visual AGI Picture Editor - Final Build 1407

« on: November 25, 2003, 09:30:50 AM »

The perfect programmer's dream: a new agi studio with all the features it needs. Picture (background) editor and sound editor encluded with agi studio.

Nah, the perfect dream is to complete Visual AGI.  

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Mega Tokyo AGI Archive / Re:Visual AGI Picture Editor - Final Build 1407

« on: November 25, 2003, 09:26:00 AM »

I myself don't really see a need for an AGI lib. For one, there are more than enough random AGI tools out there, far more than enough--very few of which spark more game creation, or are even used, even really good ones like Noptec Vector. Most people who couldn't write an AGI resource loader wouldn't be able to do much with the loaded resources anyways, heh. Secondly, there really isn't much to AGI resources, I know their formats virtually all off the top of my head, and have whipped my own loaders/savers a number of times in mere hours.

There's one thing to just load and save the resources, they should be loaded in a format that is easy to manipulate. Right now the Picture class alone is rather advanced, and took about 20 hours to write and debug. Nevertheless, I already have all the AGI resource management separated from Visual AGI as a dll-file, and will release the library source when I release the final of Visual AGI. It's good as a .NET reference anyhow!

What I think was really needed were simply the Sound Editor, Picture Editor, and your other top notch tools. The compiler could be improved, but works very well as it is. The resource handling could be improved, but works fine as well. The picture and sound tools on the other hand had been lacking, and the work you've done to fix that is fantastic! I think the best thing is just to get those two tools to a 100% state.

Yes, I'm working on it.

Thanks for the feedback!

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Mega Tokyo AGI Archive / Re:Visual AGI Picture Editor - Final Build 1407

« on: November 21, 2003, 01:15:56 PM »

Hmm, you know, it's funny hearing you talking about .NET now, because I've been thinking about writing WinAGISE in C# a couple of months ago, but I thought C++(Win32) is more compatible with this community (and because I wanted to publish its code later on)...
But now, seeing your discussion, I'm giving C# (for WinAGISE) another chance...

WinAGISE? Please fill me in!

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Mega Tokyo AGI Archive / Re:Visual AGI Picture Editor - Final Build 1407

« on: November 21, 2003, 01:15:05 PM »

My advice, stick to C#, there's nothing the other languages can provide further.
Can you tell me shotly what functionallity the AGI Help Lib will provide?

Right now;

* Almost complete (no Pen yet) handling of AGI Picture resources.
* Complete handling of AGI View resources.

For both resources, encoding and decoding to Sierra's binary format, creation of GDI+ bitmaps and methods for manipulation.

It's all object oriented with abstract base classes and inheritation.

Later on, I will add the Sound resource using my code from Visual AGI Sound Editor, and the rest of the AGI resources will follow thereafter. In the end, I'd like it to be a general library for developers to use when creating new AGI tools. There's absolutely no idea in reinventing the wheel all the time...

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Mega Tokyo AGI Archive / Re:Visual AGI Picture Editor - Final Build 1407

« on: November 20, 2003, 12:37:37 PM »

Joakim, are you using C#, J#, C++, or BASIC in .NET for Visual AGI Picture Editor?

C# only at the moment. I will probably release the source for the AGI Helper Library later on, if there are other people interested in C# code for decoding, encoding and managing AGI resources. It would be very nice to have all AGI tools use the same library, because an update would benefit many applications at the same time. Also, many people could contribute to it, making it more complete.

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Mega Tokyo AGI Archive / Re:"Enclosure" - the trailer (by Femo Duo Entertainment)

« on: November 18, 2003, 05:00:38 AM »

Woha! Now we're talking. Let's hope the game is as nice to play as the trailer was to my eyes!

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Mega Tokyo AGI Archive / Re:Visual AGI Picture Editor - Final Build 1407

« on: November 18, 2003, 04:47:09 AM »

I installed .NET today, and it's FANTASTIC! I still have BCB on my PC for SCI Studio and other apps I wrote in it that I still work on, but all my future projects, and non-BCB specific (ie. console) programs are being done in VS.NET. I lost fondness for BCB before, but now that I'm using VS, I realize it's ten times worse

VS rocks!

Cool, that's great to hear! Perhaps we'll have both AGI and SCI tools in fully object oriented, component based, .NET code in a couple of years..

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Mega Tokyo AGI Archive / Re:Visual AGI Picture Editor - Final Build 1407

« on: November 11, 2003, 07:33:27 PM »

Well I think it's great you are moving to the .NET framework. I will in the next few months, and everyone else will in the next few years. It's the future of Windows development! It's like DirectX. At first it was a hassle to install the "add-on" just to use some games/apps, but now it's built in, and so standard, most people don't even realize it's there.

Exactly. I'd guess it'll be in SP2 for WinXP, as well as integrated into Longhorn (due 2005/2006). By then, Visual AGI should be complete and no-one should need to struggle with installing .NET framework...

Nevertheless, nice to hear that you are moving to .NET as well! I think it's awesome, a programmer's dream.

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Mega Tokyo AGI Archive / Re:Visual AGI Picture Editor - Final Build 1407

« on: November 11, 2003, 10:51:14 AM »

Vot? .NET-Framework required for an AGI-Editor? That's tough.

There are plenty of tools for DOS/Win32, you are free to use them. But I will not code in DOS/Win32 anymore, I have moved to .NET. It just makes me much more productive, more done in less code.

Unless I would get paid of course, then I'd be happy to get less done with more code.

/ Joakim

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Mega Tokyo AGI Archive / Re:About PIC Editors

« on: November 10, 2003, 08:49:08 AM »

Thanks for answering. Frankly, I'm just looking for something fast and easy (Aren't we all, eh?), preferably with the Windows interface. I even considered using Paint, but Joakim's project looks just ideal. I really want to thank everyone who have contributed to AGI development.

Oh, I want it to be ideal, not just look.

What features are you missing?

I have the following additions in my Todo-list;

* grouping of commands (with naming, for example "palm", consisting of the commands that make up the palm)
* circle and rectangle
* moving a whole command, moving a group (not just one point)
* selecting a previous command just by double clicking a pixel from the command, not by browsing the stack

Please post other stuff you want, so that I can add them to the todo.

/ Joakim

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Mega Tokyo AGI Archive / Visual AGI Picture Editor - Final Build 1407

« on: November 08, 2003, 10:30:57 AM »

I have released version 1.0.1407 of the Visual AGI Picture Editor. It just ROCKS.

Find it here;

http://beta.visualagi.cjb.net

Happy picture creating!

/ Joakim (currently coding Visual AGI View Editor)

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Mega Tokyo AGI Archive / Re:Visual AGI Picture Editor - Beta

« on: November 05, 2003, 09:05:24 PM »

I have put up a (slightly ) polished version of the picture editor now.

Other than cleaning up bugs, I have spent some time optimizing the drawing routines. Try it out!

Please report any bugs found so that I can kill them and release a final version of the editor. I need to move on and work on the View editor instead.

/ Joakim

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Mega Tokyo AGI Archive / Re:Visual AGI Picture Editor - Beta

« on: November 04, 2003, 05:12:48 AM »

Actually I hadn't filled when it started bugging out on me. I was drawing some lines in the visual screen, then I went to play around with the priority screen, when I tried to turn on the priority color it took forever and slowed my system down quite a bit. Most likely because the visual color was still on?

That sounds very strange. Can you reproduce it and send the exact steps you make to cause the slowdown? I tried to reproduce it myself, but can not see any slowdown. It should be no problem at all that both Visual and Priority color is enabled!

/ Joakim

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Mega Tokyo AGI Archive / Re:Visual AGI Picture Editor - Beta

« on: November 04, 2003, 05:08:42 AM »

I suggest the array/look up fill algorithm as used in SCI Studio 3 and Lance Ewing's Tools. I wrote a function callback fill routine once, but it was far too resource hungry as well.

I'm using the push/pop method (similar to Lance's) right now, so that is not the cause for slowdowns. It's the SetPixel command of GDI+, it's very, very, very slow. At the same time, it's very, very, very easy to use. I choose that tradeoff in this version..

/ Joakim