Messages

241

AGI Development Tools / Re: WinAGI Version 1.2.3 Is Available!!!

« on: July 19, 2019, 10:46:26 PM »

I'm glad that worked for you. Now I know that Linux users at least have an option to run WinAGI.

Regarding MSFLXGRD.OCX, no it's not included in Windows (at least in Windows 10; I'm not 100% sure about earlier versions). But since I have VB6 loaded on all my machines, it was always there. At work we recently upgraded to Windows 10; when I installed WinAGI to test it, that's when I figured out what happened.

Now that you have WinAGI up and running, I'd love to hear any feedback you might have. I'm currently working on a minor update, fixing a few more bugs that I've found. So if you find anything that needs fixing, or anything you'd like added that's not too much work, I can work that in to the next release.

242

AGI Development Tools / Re: WinAGI Version 1.2.3 Is Available!!!

« on: July 19, 2019, 03:59:11 PM »

First off, when you run it you'll get an error about missing MSFLXGRD.OCX.

I figured out what happened with this missing OCX. My install package doesn't include it. But it does include a different grid control OCX that is actually not needed. I don't know how I missed that- it appears to be the case for the last several versions I've released. I never noticed it before because the correct file is already present on all systems that I've ever tested the app on. I wonder how many other people have had this error? Ugh.

I'm going to update the installer for v1.2.3 that's on the Wiki, and the next release will also have the correct file.

243

AGI Development Tools / Re: WinAGI Version 1.2.3 Is Available!!!

« on: July 17, 2019, 08:33:19 PM »

I isolated the relevant console output in Wine, though it's probably incomprehensible to you anyway. (I didn't see a way to insert it into the post without making it annoying, so I'll try as an attachment.)

According to your error log, it appears the problem lies in the WINE implementation of the riched20.dll library; on an assertion in the source code:

Code: [Select]

Assertion `~para->member.para.nFlags & MEPF_REWRAPSo it's not the OCX, it's the underlying WINE implementation of the dll.

I found a discussion thread on sourceforge.net in which another app using riched20.dll has this same error in WINE. The thread suggests using a thing called 'Winetricks' as a way to use the actual Windows dll file instead of WINE's file. According to that post it solves the problem. Unfortunately, I don't have any idea how to make Winetricks work. I'm hoping you can figure that out!

I hope that helps. And I'm sorry that I don't know enough about Linux to be able to port my source so that WinAGI could run natively in it. It's a vastly superior IDE in any OS environment, but that means nothing if you can't run it.

244

AGI Development Tools / Re: WinAGI Version 1.2.3 Is Available!!!

« on: July 15, 2019, 10:33:30 PM »

Good to see this is still going! It's been a while for me.

These days I'm primarily using Linux (Ubuntu, might change in the future) and I've been trying to make as much work this way as possible. So, I decided to try getting WinAGI to work in Wine. (Well, again I guess, but more seriously this time.)

First off, when you run it you'll get an error about missing MSFLXGRD.OCX. To fix it, you'll need to install msflxgrd with winetricks. The VB6 runtime might be needed too, I had it installed prior because I thought it was the culprit.
Picture, View, and Sound editors all appear to work from a cursory look, I was able to compile and build the template game, and it ran fine in ScummVM. However,
Minor problem: the splash screen displayed black.
Much more major: trying to open the code editor crashes WinAGI. I guess something about it disagrees with Wine. Of course, trying to make an AGI game without being able to edit the logic would be rather difficult!
(I also couldn't get MIDI playback of Sounds to work, but I think there might be a way to make MIDI playback work in Wine.)

(I know, this probably isn't even worth figuring out WHY it doesn't work, let alone fixing.)

Hi!

I wish there was an easy way to port this to another platform so it could run natively. I don't know much about Wine, so I probably can't offer too much in the way of help.

But with regards to the code editor, it's most likely caused by the RichEdAGI.ocx not loading. You can check that by trying to preview logics; preview uses the same OCX, but without highlighting. If the preview also doesn't work, try manually installing the RichEdiAGI.OCX file like you did with MSFLEXGRID. If they preview OK but it still crashes, it might be that syntax highlighting is causing the problem. In that case, try turning off syntax highlighting; on the Logic Settings tab, uncheck the box for "Enable Logic Editor Syntax Highlighting". That should allow you to edit logics (but no highlighting).

I have no idea why the splash screen is all black; it might be a timing thing with regard to fully opening the main window. But you can disable the splash screen on the General Settings tab so you don't have to see it again.

Let me know if you are able to get it running!

245

AGI Development Tools / Re: No Key is Needed to Decrypt AGI.EXE

« on: March 26, 2019, 09:58:30 PM »

His program stores a copy of the entire key track from the original Sierra disks. The key track was the same on all disks; the offset was the only thing different. His program uses the offset found in the loader (SIERRA.COM) and then gets the key from the stored key data. If you don't have the loader, his program won't work.

But you don't need the loader; everything you need is in the encrypted file itself, as I described above. The tool I wrote will decrypt the AGI file whether you have the loader or not.

246

AGI Development Tools / No Key is Needed to Decrypt AGI.EXE

« on: March 26, 2019, 06:34:27 PM »

I was poking around the AGI Wiki, and came across an entry talking about different tools used to decrypt the AGI file in Sierra games. And I'm surprised to see that there a pervasive, mistaken belief that in order to decrypt the file you need a copy of the key from the notorious hidden track of original Sierra disks (either from an original disk, or made available from some other source).

That is NOT TRUE.

The key is already in the encrypted file. The MSDOS executable for AGI includes a large chunk of bytes near the beginning that are all zeros, specifically including from bytes 257 to 384. Since the encryption is a simple XOR function, the corresponding bytes in the encrypted file are exactly the entire key for the third iteration of decryption. To determine the original key, just rotate the the value of those bytes to the left twice. You don't need anything other than the encrypted file.

I created a small app that did this years ago. I think I shared it on MegaTokyo, but of course that's long since gone. The app is still available though, and is also bundled with the latest version of WinAGI. It will quickly and easily decrypt any AGI file without needing any original disk or key string.

247

AGI Development Tools / Re: Save game specification

« on: March 23, 2019, 07:06:24 PM »

Hello everyone, it's been a very long time since I have played around with AGI/SCI. I used to run agigames.com many many years ago.

I am working on some tools and libraries for AGI and in the save game specification, I noticed something in the general state section that does not make much sense to me. The "Text Attribute value" which is 2 bytes "1489-1490" would be 16 bits, however it only mentions:

background color in top 4-bits, foreground in bottom 4-bits

So it only talks about 8 of the 16 bits. Is there something I am not understanding or am missing? Hopefully somebody here with more experience might be able to shed some light.

The game state section of the save file is actually a literal dump of memory; it varies from version to version, so I'd be careful about treating it as a 'format'. The size of the game state memory dump goes from 987 bytes in v2.089 to 1508 bytes in v3.002.102/3.002.107.

That being said, regarding the text attribute memory location, it is a 16 bit word, but only the lower 8 bits are used.

Keep in mind this value gets recalculated everytime AGI prints text on the screen, regardless of display mode. When in graphics mode, if BG is 0 (black),  FG is stored at this location. If BG is non-zero, AGI stores a value of 0x008F in this location. (The graphics routines use this value of 0x008F to display black text on a white background).

If in text mode, AGI combines the FG and BG values into a single 16 bit number, by shifting the BG left by four bits, then AND-ing it with FG.

Also note that this value is only used internally to support the graphics subroutines. While it is stored in the save file (because it's in the block of memory that gets dumped), it isn't really needed because AGI recalculates it everytime it needs it when drawing text on the screen.

248

AGI Development Tools / Re: WinAGI Version 1.2.3 Is Available!!!

« on: March 21, 2019, 03:59:10 PM »

Would it be possible to add dedicated keys for going back and forth between frames? When I animate, I need to be able to quickly flip the frames and draw without going through menus. I also have a macro keyboard I use, so I can bind shortcuts to keys on it when my laptop is in tablet mode (and the regular keyboard isn't available). Adding it would make it significantly quicker and more comfortable to animate views.

I am not currently planning an update to WinAGI any time soon. Ideally, I'd like to either port it to a more modern development platform, or incorporate it's features into the AGI/SCI Developer project. But that all depends on how much free time I have in the near future. I'll add this to my WinAGI 'TO DO' list, but I can't make any promises.

249

AGI Development Tools / Re: WinAGI Version 1.2.3 Is Available!!!

« on: March 21, 2019, 03:42:09 PM »

I noticed that you added a link for "set.pri.base" on the WinAGI page. Would you mind creating the entry for it on the Wiki? Just click on the link and and you should be able to create it.

I was planning on updating all the AGI commands at some point, using the WinAGI help file as the baseline. I'll add the set.pri.base one today.

250

AGI Development Tools / Re: WinAGI Version 1.2.3 Is Available!!!

« on: March 20, 2019, 06:47:02 PM »

Hey, I'm loving this new version of WinAGI, and I'm really looking forward to using it to make an AGI game

Thank you, I'm glad you like it. I would love to see some new games created with WinAGI. I found it much easier to write the tool than to use it!

Are there any keyboard shortcuts for the View editor, though? For going back and forth between frames in a loop and so on, the help file doesn't seem to have them and I can't find any.

You're right, the Help file isn't helpful on that issue. Sorry about that.

But there is a way to use the keyboard to change the selected loop/cel. Use the TAB key to bring the view tree into focus (you can tell it has the focus because the selected item will be highlighted in blue instead of gray). Then you can use up/down and left/right to move through the loops and cels.

251

AGI Development Tools / Re: WinAGI Version 1.2.3 Is Available!!!

« on: March 14, 2019, 12:42:40 AM »

Well, that was just a bit anti-climactic. For some reason, I am unable to upload the install file. Until I can figure that out, here is a link to the file that should work:


If I can figure out what the problem is, I'll update the original post to include the file itself instead of a link.

The install file is now available from the AGI Wiki WinAGI page.

252

AGI Development Tools / WinAGI Version 1.2.3 Is Available!!!

« on: March 14, 2019, 12:37:09 AM »

After a long, long hiatus, an updated version of WinAGI is finally available. This release adds a ton of new features and improvements, as well as fixing a lot of bugs.

You can download the install file from the AGI Wiki WinAGI Page.

It includes AGI version 2 and version 3 templates (THANK YOU to Eric Oakford for your help!) that were written in WinAGI. I encourage everyone to check it out, as the enhancements to the various resource editors, and other tools (such as the Layout Editor and the built-in support for ScummVM, DosBOX and/or NAGI to allow for easy testing of games during development, to name just two) make this the best AGI game development tool ever produced. I would be happy to answer any questions regarding capabilities and usage of WinAGI.

I hope that you find this to be a useful tool, and that it encourages the creation of more fan based AGI games.

Enjoy!

253

AGI Development Tools / Re: Need Testers for WinAGI

« on: February 11, 2019, 09:05:25 AM »

THANK YOU Eric!

I'll take a look at that bug in the reserved defines editor.

254

AGI Development Tools / Re: Need Testers for WinAGI

« on: February 08, 2019, 11:17:12 PM »

Thanks Eric! I'll PM you with a link to the WinAGI installer so you can have the most recent version to work on the templates. The ones currently included are in a sorry state, so anything you can do to improve them is greatly appreciated.

255

AGI Development Tools / Re: Need Testers for WinAGI

« on: February 08, 2019, 06:11:54 PM »

I have addressed the comments that I received from one tester, and also fixed/improved a few other things. But I haven't heard from any other testers. Does that mean there are no bugs left???      I kinda doubt that, so if any of you have any feedback, please let me know.

I'm currently trying to update the template game, but I've discovered that while I might have learned a ton about the ins and outs of AGI, I am not that great at making actual AGI games. So if anybody out there wants to help with the templates, I would absolutely LOVE the help.

I am hoping to get the templates ready by end of the week, and release a final version by then. Then I can move on to some other projects for awhile. I'm ready for a break.