WinAGI 1.2.1 BETA available for download

[AGKorson]

Took a bit longer than I had planned, but here is next version of WinAGI:
WinAGI 1.2.1 BETA

There are a lot of improvements since last version. Here's a short list of the more significant changes:

• converted Interpreter Version property to string type, so no more errors when trying to open templates when using non-US country settings
• Better validation of default settings on startup so no more 1 point fonts in editors
• Colors can be edited in Settings, so custom palettes can be created for pictures and views
• Graphics features make more use of API calls to manage transparencies, masking. Should improve overall performance as API calls much faster than native VB graphics methods
• Layout Editor overhauled, significantly improved performance and features; editor is now much more resilient to changes made by user both inside and outside of the editor to rooms and exits
• added ability to show pics on layout editor as inset to room boxes
• a ton of picture editor improvements:
• added ability to resize/reposition background image on picture editor
• background feature now includes transparency option for drawn image (to see background through the drawn picture)
• Test Mode in picture editor does not force background to hide and switch to full draw state; user can do tests on partially drawn pictures, and background image can be visible during testing
• added mousewheel support to Picture Editor to zoom in/out
• added export feature for picture images (export as bmp, gif, png, tif, jpg), you can export visual image, priority or both
• new option for cursor highlighting in picture editor: small square for current coordinate; all others marked with x OR original WinAGI, with flashing cursor around selected coordinates and all others not marked
• added new gif export feature for view loops - you can convert any loop into an animated gif
• fixed menu editor to extract actual message strings if arguments in the menu commands are local/global defines or variable tag(e.g. m1, m2)
• double-clicking menu editor lets you change background picture so you can see your how your menu looks against actual in-game pictures
• compiler warnings are displayed in a separate window; double-click a warning to go directly to corresponding line in logic source
• made improvements to argument tips feature
• when using reserved names, they can be viewed in the global defines editor on a separate tab (can't be edited, but can be copied, search-in-logic enabled)
• diasbled VB syntax as an advertised option. (It is still available as an undocumented feature: on settings form, use Ctrl+Shift+? to show vb option checkbox on Logics tab. In Logic editor, use Alt+S to switch a logic to/from VB syntax)

I haven't updated the Help file yet; I'll do that after I polish things up for full release. I'd love to get as much feedback as I can. If you find a problem/bug, let me know here. The more information you can give to help me reproduce any errors or bugs the better.

If you have any questions about features (old or new),  I'd love to hear those too. WinAGI has a ton of capabilities that many of you probably aren't aware of. Please post those questions in a separate thread, or PM me directly.

[Kawa]

Your link says 1.1.1, but the file is 1.2.1 :3

[AGKorson]

Your link says 1.1.1, but the file is 1.2.1 :3

Good catch. Fixed.

[MusicallyInspired]

Fantastic!

[Nicktatorship]

Nice! Will definitely check it out.

[lance.ewing]

Great! Will definitely give this a go as I get time.

The first thing to report is with regards to installation. I assumed I should probably uninstall the earlier version, so I did that. I'm on Windows 8.1. After uninstalling the old version and then executing the installer for the new version, I got two different error messages during installation but neither appears to have stopped the tool from working.

The error messages I saw are shown in the attachment below. The user I installed with is an Administrator.

[Collector]

Those errors look more like compatibility errors. The second from how much more Win 10 is locked down than earlier versions of Windows. Trouble registering an OCX on modern Windows is not unexpected and the Registry is far more restricted to programs than it used to be. I do not know what may be broken from the OCX not getting registered without knowing what uses it. The 2nd could be solved by moving stored settings from the Registry to an XML. I understand how much more involved this would be outside of dotNET.

[Kawa]

Ah, OCX in later Windowses. One of the reasons I switched to C#.

[AGKorson]

Great! Will definitely give this a go as I get time.

The first thing to report is with regards to installation. I assumed I should probably uninstall the earlier version, so I did that. I'm on Windows 8.1. After uninstalling the old version and then executing the installer for the new version, I got two different error messages during installation but neither appears to have stopped the tool from working.

The error messages I saw are shown in the attachment below. The user I installed with is an Administrator.

wshom.ocx is a Windows Scripting Host Object Model wrapper. I used it for folder management when changing a game's directory (which probably isn't going to be done very often). It's old code, and in other places where I need to access directories, I use API calls. I should probably clean this up and replace it with API calls too, so that OCX isn't needed anymore.

Regarding the second error, it's nothing as nefarious as compatibility errors - it's a result of changing some setting variable types between versions and failing to check for it when loading settings. ugh, I should know better. I've already fixed that bug.

I've already identified over 25 new things (either minor bugs [thank goodness no major issues found yet!], or feature improvements) that I'm working on - mostly in Picture Editor and Sound Editor. I'll upload that here and keep it updated as new things are reported so you can avoid reporting what's already known.

Thx all for the feedback!

[AGKorson]

Here's the list of bug fixes and other changes/additions being worked for v1.2.1:

Please check here to see if any bugs or improvements you want to report are already listed here. As I get feedback, I'll add them to this list, and also track the status of fixes.

[morpa]

Great to see it's still alive!
Feature request: It can't handle the object file from the amiga-version of KQ 1. Could it be added support for that? (Let me know and I'll send you Kings quest 1 amiga).

[AGKorson]

Hi there! Sorry for delayed response- been busy with the holiday.

Amiga OBJECT support is included in 1.2.1. (I forgot to include that in the list of enhancements)

Would you mind trying it out and let me know if it is ok, or if there are any bugs? And if you have a full set of Amiga files for any Sierra games, I'd love to have a copy to help with decompiling efforts.