Kind of a long post here so hopefully some of the experts will bear with me and help me see where I am going wrong. (This might help others who approach SCI Studio the same way I did.)
In SCI Studio 3, I create a new game based on an empty game. Since this feature is able to be used, I choose to use it. I copy the main SCI interpreter files into my game directory. (These files are: std.drv, adl.drv, sciv.exe, joystick.drv, ibmkbd.drv, gm.drv, and ega320.drv.)
Now, in order to even compile a script I need a vocab.000. So I open up the Vocabulary Editor from the main toolbar. I then create a simple group just to get things going. I do a "Save As" to my game directory as Vocab.000. Now, it appears you cannot just add this to your game because there is no resource file yet. However, if I hit the Rebuild button that creates resmap.tmp and resource.001. This then does allow me to use the "Save to Game" menu item on the Vocabulary Editor and this does seem to work in terms of putting Vocab.000 into my game. I then Rebuild again as this seems to be necessary.
Now I am also told in the Help documentation that the game must have a script.000 and that bare minimum to go in this file is:
(script 0)
(class Game
(method (play)
// Put code here
)
)
(instance GameInstance of Game)
So I open the Script Editor and put the above in the script. I have to save the script as Main.sc let us say. Then I compile it to Main.sco. But I cannot add Main.sco to the Resources. When I try to do I get:
"The file you are trying to add, C:\BrandNew\Main.sco, is not a valid SCI resource, or does not contain a valid header."
So I add to my Main.sc file:
(include "sci.sh")
and that seems to work. When I add this line, it automatically adds Main to my game (as Script.000) but when I try to double-click on Main I get the message:
"Sorry, scripts can not be edited, only created. You can create them with the script compiler."
Now I realize you cannot edit scripts if the .sc file is not present. But in this case I have the Main.sc and Main.sco in the same directory in my game directory, just like in the template game. (And according to the Help file, that bare minimum quoted above is all I need for SCI0 to execute a game.)
Also if you Rebuild anytime after this you get the error message:
"Resource package/map file identifier mismatch! The game you are trying to open is incomplete, corrupt, or not the correct version."
Then you get the message:
"An extremely odd error occurred that should'nt have. Go figure. The game will now be closed."
This seems to not just close the game, but forces you to End Task the whole SCI Studio via the Task Manager in Windows 2000.
This was a lot to wade through so I appreciate those that took the time. Now I realize people will say: just use the template. I can do that. But obviously the choice is in there to create a game from scratch. Creating a game from scratch can be a good exercise for you to try if you want to learn how to build a game from the ground up. Plus it will make you very cognizant of how all the resources all link together, which can generally give you a great deal of insight into the overall structure of SCI. This is the case in any development language. So the real question, given my steps that I have provided, is what am I doing wrong? I realize doing a game without the template is not the best way, but for learning purposes, I am still curious about "from the ground up development".
(I think part of the problem may be how I am creating the Resource.001 file. I just create it, by proxy, by hitting the Rebuild and it seems if you do that often enough, when creating your own game, you cause that resource package/map mismatch problem.)
