Messages

1

SCI Development Tools / Re: A question about .rol files

« on: April 05, 2017, 04:54:10 PM »

Convert the ROL file to MIDI, import that and assign its channels to AdLib? The actual timbres I understand would be in a separate BNK file, and I suppose that'd parallel the contents of a particular patch resource. #3 if I read this right, but I've no idea what would go in there.

Hmm. I had hoped I would be able to use AdLib's Visual Composer to compose my music to ensure all the tracks sound exactly the way I want before putting them in the game. MIDI doesn't really give you a good "preview" of what it's actually gonna sound like in-game :/ I've had plenty of luck with importing MIDI directly to SCICompanion, so it's not a real inconvenience for me to trial-and-error it until I decide it sounds good. I'm more experienced with MIDI anyway
Thank you for your help!

I have three ROL files created with the Adlib Visual Composer of tunes I composed 25 years ago that I would be happy to donate to a SCI game if someone wanted to use them. I thought they weren't too bad back when I composed them. At the moment they're just sitting there doing nothing, and they've been doing that for 25 years!

Now you've made me curious...lol

2

SCI Development Tools / A question about .rol files

« on: April 05, 2017, 02:52:37 PM »

I like to pretend I know about coding, but I'll admit I know sweet F.A. when it comes to Adlib sound...

I have a few .rol files I made. I have some utilities I used while making AGI games that could convert .rol to a resource file usable in AGI.
I was wondering if a similar tool exists for SCI? I've searched around and haven't been able to find anything.

I realize SCI deals with sound much, much differently than AGI, so I'll explain a bit more what I'm trying to do
Basically, the task I want to achieve is playing the .rol file when the ADL driver is used to play my audio resource in SCI, specifically 1.1 if it's possible.

If it's not possible, I have other ways to make my music. I'm just wondering if this is a possible route.

3

SCI Syntax Help / (SCI1.1) File Operation Cluelessness

« on: March 25, 2017, 06:26:02 PM »

I've been doing some experimenting with the file operation commands in SCI1.1, and can successfully read and write strings to/from a file. (E.g. Write "hello", then read it into the variable myString so printing myString prints "hello")
My question is, is there any methods or procedures I can use to read/write on a line-by-line basis?

Here's an example. Say I have a string "myString", and an integer "myNumber". Is there a way to write myString to line 1 of a file, write myNumber to line 2, and then later on seek to and fetch myNumber again by specifying that I want the second line?

Also, I've so far only gotten file operations to work with strings, and can work with that, but if there's a way to retrieve variables (e.g. Integers) I can do arithmetic to, it would be wonderfully helpful.

I've been asking a lot of dumb questions lately, so thank you all for being so patient with me 

4

SCI Syntax Help / Very basic question about strings, I'm sorry in advance

« on: February 08, 2017, 03:31:49 PM »

Time for what is possibly my dumbest question yet.

I'm using SCI1.1 Sierra script.

Let's say I have three strings set up, string 1 is "B", string 2 is "E", and string 3 is "N".
How do I make string 4 "BEN", referring to the other strings?
I thought it was obvious, but all my original attempts to get this syntax right (various types of addition etc) were incorrect.

5

The Games and other Sierra Adventure stuff / Re: MIDI and AdLib: Rhythm tracks?

« on: January 31, 2017, 01:19:27 PM »

Personally, I use SCI Companion's MIDI import feature. And Anvil Studio, but that's a given.

Woah. How did I miss that feature? This is great and gives exactly the results I want. Thanks!!!
And yeah, the specifications you gave seem about right. It's working for me so far, anyway.

6

The Games and other Sierra Adventure stuff / MIDI and AdLib: Rhythm tracks?

« on: January 31, 2017, 10:22:49 AM »

I love the sound of AdLib/SoundBlaster music, and try to support it in all my games.

I use Anvil Studio to make the music, and then use SoundBox to convert it to a resource I can put in the game.

MT-32 and Gen. MIDI drums are easy enough to understand.

What is the best way to make a rhythm track for AdLib? I can do instrument tracks easy-peasy, but rhythm tracks have always mystified me. They either don't play at all, or play with a default instrument in what I refer to as "piano drums" (playing a rhythm track as if it were an instrument track). Is there a specific patch I need, am I missing something, or is it a consequence of how I make the resources?

7

SCI Community How To's & Tutorials / Re: Trying to understand picture resources in sci1.1

« on: January 31, 2017, 08:43:42 AM »

So. Update: turns out I'm just a fool. But I'll explain what I was doing wrong in case someone else has the same foolishness.

Problem 1: No movement on ego
Solution: I forgot to add (gGame handsOn:) to my init. The previous room ended on handsOff. Forehead to desk ensued. The polygons were fine; I just forgot to actually let the player walk on them.

Problem 2: Picture only drawing halfway
Solution: I guess it was the vectors messing up. I took a screenshot of the picture I drew, saved it as a bitmap, imported it, and it worked fine. Honestly you can't even tell the difference, stylistically speaking.

Problem 3: onMeCheck not triggering
Solution: I'm still not sure what was wrong with the control colors (unless they are COMPLETELY different from SCI0 and nobody told me ), but I redid the code with total access polygons and that works fine, so I'll use that from now on. I like it more anyway; it looks somehow cleaner to me. And I can use control colors for other things without worrying about running out . The white lines on the control layer were pure force of habit and I'll remove them here in a bit. edit: I didn't even show my control layer so this was pointless to mention...I'm tired.



Short version: Almost everything I was complaining about is fixed now. My room is working correctly. Thank you to everyone for being patient with me. I'll start using the documentation instead of blindly trusting the (possibly outdated and in Studio syntax) tutorials and the new room button Lazy programming gets you lazy results.

Even shorter version: Almost all my problems were from coding, not the picture itself. Also, Polygons are great and SCI Companion makes them really easy to use and understand. Where have you been all my life, polygons?



I'm really excited that my code is working now. This is my first time successfully using SCI1.1 after trying to learn it for weeks now. Somehow it's managed to completely baffle me, but I'm starting to understand!! (I'm coming from a background of self-taught Python and LUA...and I only really got started programming a few years ago at age 16 or 17)

8

SCI Community How To's & Tutorials / Re: Trying to understand picture resources in sci1.1

« on: January 30, 2017, 05:05:03 PM »

I tried replacing the background with a version I did in ms paint; this one worked. However, despite the control color existing on the door area, it no longer triggers the message anywhere, and I'm still having troubles with the ego not moving properly.

The "OnMeCheck" (with capital O) was a typo from writing it on my phone, sorry about that

And the incorrect code was me misunderstanding a probably outdated tutorial...whoops.

Later today I'll see if I can get on an Internet-connected computer and attach my pic resource. I'll also try to drop in my room script in case something is messing up there.

9

SCI Community How To's & Tutorials / Trying to understand picture resources in sci1.1

« on: January 29, 2017, 02:26:48 PM »

It's been a while since I asked another dumb question.
For one of my newer projects, I'm making the switch to SCI1.1. My progress came to a hault rather quick, however.
I drew a picture using the given tools in SCI companion, saved it, made a room out of it, and started the game. When the game switches to the picture I drew, only a small portion of the picture is drawn. The ego cannot move except when clicking directly next to him (moving him a small amount), and the OnMeCheck feature I coded triggers on the entire picture instead of just ctlTEAL like I coded it to.

The attached pictures are (blurry cell phone photos of) the picture as I drew it, and how it appears in-game.

Is this a common problem? Did I mess up somewhere in the drawing process?

Here's my feature code if that helps.

Code: [Select]

(instance theDoor of Feature
   (properties
      x 80
      y 30
      noun N_DOOR
      OnMeCheck ctlTEAL
   )
)
And in the room init

Code: [Select]

(theDoor init: setOnMeCheck: ctlTEAL)
I'm using Sierra syntax.

I literally just started SCI1.1 this week, so my apologies if this seems like a dumb thing to ask. I couldn't find anything on it in the forums or tutorial pages
I tried rebuilding the resources, thinking it was maybe loading an unfinished version of the picture, but it still only draws a small number of the instructions.

Also, this was typed on my phone as my work computer doesn't have Internet, so please forgive me for any weird formatting in this post.

If you need any more information to help, let me know and I'll do my best to provide it. As I mentioned I'm on my phone and this is all I can provide as of now.

10

SCI Syntax Help / Re: SCI1.1 - Hiding the menu bar and more interface trickery

« on: November 23, 2016, 09:26:23 PM »

I'll give it a try tomorrow and see if it's what I'm looking for. SCI1.1 has always baffled and confused me for reasons I don't think I could explain, so this probably seemed like a dumb question in retrospect.

Also please don't call the icon bar the menu bar.

Sorry. Force of habit from a previous engine. Like I mentioned, I'm very tired...

11

SCI Syntax Help / SCI1.1 - Hiding the menu bar and more interface trickery

« on: November 23, 2016, 05:36:56 PM »

Can I remove the menu bar (icons, cursor selection etc) from a room completely?

I can explain.

Well, not QUITE completely. I know you can disable use of the menu bar in circumstances where you wouldn't want the player using it (such as the ego's death or a cutscene), but let's say I have a room where I want the player to be able to move the cursor to the top of the screen and have the menu bar still be invisible and unusable. (Hot keys and other alt methods of menu usage still available, I just want the bar to be visibly gone)

Ideally I'd like to tie this to a Boolean so I can control it with, for example's sake,

Code: [Select]

(= menuInvisible True)Or even a function like

Code: [Select]

(menuInvisible)
;blah
(menuVisible)Or a similar line. Though if that bit can't be done, I'm still cool (this is only for one room so script size isn't my concern).

Maybe this is already a thing. I almost feel like it is. I don't know. I'm very tired.

Maybe there's something I can put in the room initialization that would be automatically loaded and unloaded?

12

SCI Community How To's & Tutorials / Re: How to determine the location of the mouse cursor

« on: November 23, 2016, 04:52:22 PM »

Is there a way to check if the cursor is on a certain control color?
I could probably do it by having an invisible object follow the cursor and check if that's on the color, but I feel like that would be a cumbersome and memory-eating way to do it...

On the subject of cursors...is it possible to simulate mouse movement? Can the cursor be moved without the player's input (via script etc)?

EDIT: I want to clarify I'm talking about SCI1.1, but being able to do it in SCI0 would be neat and open up some new possibilities for my future projects.

13

SCI Syntax Help / Re: IF/ELSE Issues

« on: October 28, 2016, 12:13:40 PM »

Hey hey! Thanks 
I feel like deep down I already knew this...but I had rewritten that particular method from a tutorial/sample that was written in Studio syntax, so I'm guessing I just overlooked it while rewriting it.
I'll make the fix when I'm back on my work computer and see if the script will behave itself now 

EDIT: I managed to get on my computer and try this out. It fixed the issue, but I discovered numerous other instances where studio>sierra conversion didn't work out quite right, or I missed some weird parenthesis placement, etc.
I fixed all of these and the entire script now works fully as intended
Goodness, that was confusing, though. I guess I'm letting myself get out of practice since art is my main focus for games right now, and I haven't used studio syntax at all ever since I was advised to switch to sierra. I don't regret the transition though; sierra syntax is a lot easier for me to parse when skimming code. Keeps the headaches at bay.

14

SCI Syntax Help / IF/ELSE Issues

« on: October 28, 2016, 09:27:51 AM »

(Or as I like to call them, IFFues.... Okay, okay, that was lame.)

I'm flat-out stumped by why this is detected as a problem.
When writing code for a class I want to define, I wanted a method containing an IF/ELSE statement.

I'm not on the correct computer to provide the actual code, so I'll do my best to recreate it as helpfully as possible in a quick pseudocode fashion...

Code: [Select]

(class MyClass of DCIcon ;for example's sake
(properties)
(method (init)
(var myVariable) ;included in case this was messing it up, but I don't know why it would
(if (condition) ;yadda yadda expression goes there
;thing happens...
)(else
;other thing happens...
) ;end else
) ;end method
) ;end class
(Let me know if this is too vague and I'll try to post my actual code when I get the chance)

The issue with this code is that when compiling, I'm told the line containing "else" should be an expression. Apparently, I can't use "else" there.

....Why not? I may just be missing something obvious, but isn't this the correct usage of "else"?

I'm using Sierra syntax, if that helps.

15

SCI Development Tools / Re: Sierra's Internal SCI Tools

« on: October 27, 2016, 08:37:05 PM »

Man, sorry to reply to an old topic, but this somehow managed to slip past my radar and I am pretty darn excited to see it.

Maybe we can re-construct the complete original development environment, for those who not only want to play retro games, but also program in a retro IDE, lol...

Call me weird, but that sounds EXACTLY like my kind of jam. I'm all for this. Go big or go home.