WinAGI Version 2.1.16 Available for Download

[AGKorson]

For distribution you can use a binary difference patch between the original DIR and VOL files and your modified versions. NSIS includes VPatch you can use to create one with an installer to apply it.

I have never used that tool, so am not exactly sure how it works. Since you have to recompile your game to create new DIR and VOL files anyway, what's the value in then using NSIS/VPatch tool? Why not just use your new DIR/VOL files as is? Am I misunderstanding how it works?

[Collector]

To avoid IP issues. The likelihood that the IP owners would take action on such an old game might be remote and one might be able to distribute it without getting hit with a C&D, why take the chance when there is an easy solution. Also posting or linking to what amounts to a complete game could get a post deleted on some communities/forums as an "abandonware" or warez post.

[AGKorson]

That makes sense! I never thought of that.

[Threepwang]

Very well, I understand a little more every day. In fact I tend to want to use WinAGI like SCICompagnon 

I have two more questions. French uses accented letters. So I need an AGI font 255 characters with accented letters. http://www.image-heberg.fr/files/1648738546236223923.png

Where is the font located in the game, because I will have to modify it? (Otherwise the game will not be able to read the accents) In fact I would like to be able to write directly with accented words in each LOGICS file. http://www.image-heberg.fr/files/16486955621017682477.png

Is there an AGI font 255 characters with accented letters that I could use?

Thank you for your patience 

[Threepwang]

Hi @Collector !
I often read your posts on the sierrahelp forum

The most important thing for me was to understand what it is possible to do or not to patch the game. Your answer gives me a clue and I thank you for it. I also found the ''Patch Maker'' tool which seems good to replace the essential part of the resources. I seek simplicity for the player. You are all Sierra and Programming Gurus  but you should never forget that most players don't know anything about it.

Patch Maker: https://www.clickteam.com/patch-maker

[AGKorson]

Extended character support in AGI is complicated. Getting the kind of results you are hoping for is doable, but is extremely difficult and I mean EXTREMELY DIFFICULT.

The WinAGI help file provides detailed information that explains the limitations of AGI in handling fonts. But to summarize, AGI can display the extended characters when in text mode without any problems, but in the graphics mode, extended characters will only display properly if the background color is black. Also, there is no way to edit the font that AGI uses - it comes from the built in MSDOS font.

That means you can't use extended fonts for the 'regular' messages that get printed in black text on a white background with the traditional red border.

Unfortunately, this limitation can't be modified using 'normal' AGI programming techniques. But there are some advanced programming techniques you can use that will modify the AGI program as it is running to get extended characters to work. I described the technique in this post:
https://sciprogramming.com/community/index.php?topic=1881.0

If you only use interpreter version 2.917, then the solution in that post will work for you. But if your game uses any other version, it won't. You could create a new logic that duplicates the technique, but you would need to understand assembly language and know how to disassemble the original interpreter.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help, but that's just the way AGI works. It was not designed to be supportive of extended characters.

[Collector]

Doesn't NAGI use external fonts?

[ZvikaZ]

Very well, I understand a little more every day. In fact I tend to want to use WinAGI like SCICompagnon 

I have two more questions. French uses accented letters. So I need an AGI font 255 characters with accented letters. http://www.image-heberg.fr/files/1648738546236223923.png

Where is the font located in the game, because I will have to modify it? (Otherwise the game will not be able to read the accents) In fact I would like to be able to write directly with accented words in each LOGICS file. http://www.image-heberg.fr/files/16486955621017682477.png

Is there an AGI font 255 characters with accented letters that I could use?

Thank you for your patience 

I answered at https://sciprogramming.com/community/index.php?topic=2054.0

[Threepwang]

Please, what are the steps to compile a LOGIC file?
Because if I do Compile Game, the game does not launch at all. ScummVM does not recognize it.
If I do Rebuild VOL files it's the same.
If I do the first then the second, it's the same.
I also tried Compile Dirty Logics and there I got an error.

[Threepwang]

Space Quest I changes the order in which authors are presented each time the game is relaunched. Once to put Marc Crowe first and once to put Scott Murphy first. This is a big problem for me, because it prevents me from aligning the text properly. Since the same view206 file is used for both presentations. If I align one I shift the other. I would have liked to block the intro so that it was always by Scott Murphy that the intro started. Is such a thing possible?

Video A with Scott Murphy: https://www51.zippyshare.com/v/8EtoKSJZ/file.html
Video B with Marc Crowe: https://www96.zippyshare.com/v/C5z6I8BG/file.html

http://www.image-heberg.fr/files/16490823392612512090.png
http://www.image-heberg.fr/files/164908286146044384.png

AGKorson if you consider that my requests are too far from your topic, do not hesitate to tell me and I will open one specific to my project.

I'd like to apologize for my English skills 

[Threepwang]

For the names in the intro of the game here is Doomlaser's solution:

Open Logic67. You can disable the switching by changing the line:

if (v126 > 50)

to

if (v126 > 0)

This will make it so that Scott is always the top name!

Personally, I think it's better to keep the name switching and adjust the X position for the names in either situation.  X position is the "left/right" position of the name, so you just need to do some trial and error to make sure it's in the right place.



**Thank you very much doomlazer 

[doomlazer]

Sorry for the eye-bleeding-inducing image there, everybody.

When I looked through the logics I had the same trouble as Threep: If I modify any of the logics and "compile game" it will no longer launch in ScummVM. I can run the modified game in DOSBox, but scummVM says it can't find the game data after logic changes.

Is there a way to avoid this?

Edit: Threepwang discovered that the modified game launches fine under ScummVM v2.0.0, so this likely something introduced in SVM2.5.x. Same results when editing logic with AGI Studio.

[AGKorson]

To compile logics, you can do it individually for each logic (using Compile Logic on the Resource menu), or you can do them all by using Compile Game on the Game menu. Compile Dirty Logics also works. The difference between the two is that Compile Game will recompile ALL logics, but Compile Dirty Logics only compiles those logics that have been modified and don't match what's in the VOL files.

I don't have a lot of experience with SCUMMVM. I think it has some built in file checks that prevent it from running modified Sierra games, unless you get them registered somehow. Or something like that. Hopefully someone with more knowledge of SCUMMVM will weigh in.

[Collector]

ScummVM performs a hash check of certain files in a game's directory to determine the game. I used the hash lookup tables as a starting point for my Sierra Version tool. Usually SVM will read the hash of a file (usually a dir file for AGI or a map file for SCI) and if it gets no match it will display that hash and tell you to report it to the SVM team to have the game added. My tool copies it to the clipboard so I can paste it in my own tables.

[obscurenforeign]

Is anyone else having problems with the words editor crashing WinAGI? No, probably not...

Threepwang, I speak French if you want any help from me. (Probably not.)

I remember a long time ago I tried to translate an AGI game into French, but I gave up really quickly. Well... I wasn't as good at French or programming back then, but it felt obvious to me how much AGI wasn't made with other languages in mind.

I don't have a lot of experience with SCUMMVM. I think it has some built in file checks that prevent it from running modified Sierra games, unless you get them registered somehow. Or something like that. Hopefully someone with more knowledge of SCUMMVM will weigh in.

I believe ScummVM will consider any AGI game it doesn't recognize as an unknown fanmade game. However there are certain game hashes ScummVM also blocks entirely. (For example, the cracked version of Gold Rush.)