NAGI v2.06 Released!

[Nick Sonneveld]

Hi!

You can find the latest release here:
http://members.dingoblue.net.au/~sonneveld/nagi/  
Don't forget to download the SDL runtime as well.

The index page was getting too big so I moved the links, downloads and news into separate sections.  It should be easier to navigate now.   Gustaf Wennerholm also supplied a Gold Rush screenshot.  Hopefully Gold Rush is now beatable in NAGI v2.06! Also the favicon this website uses is a LOT smaller now.

NAGI has a new sound engine with noise and volume support!  Various bug fixes as well as the ability to log now.  Check out the history for the full details.

   * Workaround for Gold Rush.  It reads the free memory variable but it's never set.  Now deliberately sets it to 10 during new games, rooms and restores.
   * New sound engine!  Supports noise channel (both types of noise with different frequencies), volume control, uses square wave, various options supported in the config file and notes will dissolve to silence if played for too long (just like Sierra's implementation).  Various changes have gone on underneath to make it easier to add other sound support.
   * Application icon by Charles Irwin added.  I had to reduce the colours because I didn't want NAGI to get too big yet.
   * Non-console version of NAGI is default, there is now a separate console version.  If you don't like the console, you can run NAGI without having to worry about it.  If you're a developer and you appreciate the debug messages, the console version is still there.
   * NAGI doesn't crash if you restore in Serguei's Destiny too many times in the same place.  Will fix any other game that calls restore from a logic other than logic.0
   * Logging has been added.  You can now log all the unknown words in games you're developing.

- Nick

[Chris Cromer]

Hey Nick all the links are broken I can't get to anything.

[Nick Sonneveld]

hmm.. try now

[Chris Cromer]

Yeah now it works. I can't wait to try out the new version.

Is the volume controlled by a v20 now?

[Nick Sonneveld]

sorry.  that was a broken <base> tag in the html.  It's all fixed now though.

NAGI can support the sound variable, but you'll have to enable it in nagi.ini.  I decided to make it a config option because it would break the sound in so many fan games (some that wouldn't get updated by the original author anyway).

It would be nice to have it in games though.. you could quickly fade a song to silence before going to a new room.

- Nick

[Chris Cromer]

I think I might try adding some sort of user volume control to V if that is the case. This way the user can change the volume of the game in the game.

[Chris Cromer]

Well it works but I am not sure if it looks that good. Basically the special menu has two more options. Volume + and Volume -. After they press one it checks to see if the volume is either greater than 0 or less than 15 if it is it will change the volume and print this: "Volume: number" to let you know what level the volume is at. It works for now but I will have to think of a better way to impliment it.

[Joel]

I've got several questions:

1. how do you use the logging that this version adds? it sounds useful, but I don't know how to use it.
2. how does NAGI get the names for games in the menu when it loads up...is that based on the CRC?
3. is the scale supposed to work > 2? the windowed mode is a little small on my screen
4. are there any plans to implement an options dialog in the future rather than having to go in and make changes to the ini file?
5. how about the ability to switch games after nagi has loaded without quitting nagi first?

[Chris Cromer]

Have a look at my template on my web site. I added a logging function to it so it would log errors. Type a word that the game does not understand and it will log it to a seperate file. It also logges things like missing views and any other error message the the AGI Interpreter give you. The logging function has been on mine all the time. The logging function also workes with the origianal interpreter.

I think Nick once said that he would make it so when you quit the game it would let you choose another game or quit the interpreter. But I don't remember where I read it. Chances are it is probably in some old topic.

[Nick Sonneveld]

1. how do you use the logging that this version adds? it sounds useful, but I don't know how to use it.
2. how does NAGI get the names for games in the menu when it loads up...is that based on the CRC?
3. is the scale supposed to work > 2? the windowed mode is a little small on my screen
4. are there any plans to implement an options dialog in the future rather than having to go in and make changes to the ini file?
5. how about the ability to switch games after nagi has loaded without quitting nagi first?

logging: Sierra's interpreter actually comes with a log command.  If you call it within the game's logic, you can use it to log anything.  Sierra's developers typically used it to log unknown words and use it to add them to the dictionary later on.

names: NAGI uses a list of names and checksums in a file called standard.ini.  Unfortunately, this has to be kept up to date whenever a new game comes along.  However, I've got plans to make it so new games can bundle along a small file describing itself.  I just haven't got around to it yet.

scaling: At the moment, NAGI only supports x1 and x2 scaling.  I need to implement font scaling to support other sizes.

I have on my todo list options dialogue and game selection on exit.  I haven't actually looked at doing it yet but when i next work on NAGI, this will be what I'll look at.

- Nick

[Joel]

thanks for pointing out the log() AGI command. I didn't know about it before. That'll definitely be helpful, 'cause I sometimes think of random things that a player might try while I'm in the middle of testing my code and then I either have to write it down, type it into a file manually, or implement it immediately, or else I forget about it.

Just curious, what resolution does NAGI use in full screen mode? On my monitor it looks squished compared to the Sierra interpreter in a full-screen console (which, according to my monitor, runs at 720x400). My monitor just says "New Mode" for NAGI.

[Nick Sonneveld]

Well, it's meant to be 320x200 and 640x400.. i hope

- Nick

[Nick Sonneveld]

I urge you guys to check out this thread on releasing the source of NAGI.

- Nick