RTCED 0.1 - Development Diary with screenshots

Use this forum to discuss additional RTC utilities (other dungeon editors, graphics generators etc).

Moderator: George Gilbert

Forum rules
Please read the Forum rules and policies before posting.
User avatar
andyboy_uk
On Master
Posts: 647
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2003 1:51 am
Location: London, UK

Post by andyboy_uk »

Gambit: Thats in there now but there is 1 little snag.

When placing an item (say a key) there is 5 positions on the floor it can go.. NE, NW, SE, SW and CENTRE.

However when it need to go on an alcove, the editor switches the rotation automatically to N, E, S, W when placing over a wall.

Now for keys, this isnt TOO much of an issue but when you are placing monsters (like a screamer) and you put them in a wall, it assumes that they will be a N, S, E, W rotation. Now with a sanity check the editor normally says "Errr. No you cant put a monster on a wall tile" but when you switch them off it is happy to do so.

So.. What would you prefer...

1. When the sanity check is off there is a little key you press to decide which rotation method to use rather than leaving it to the editor to decide whether you are over a wall or not?

or

2. The item takes its default rotations only (i.e. a mummy will only ever have the NE, NW, SE, SW, CENTRE rotations)

It would be a little pointless to have both? Personally Im thinking option 1 but what does anyone else think? Gambit?
Regards,

Andy
User avatar
cowsmanaut
Moo Master
Posts: 4378
Joined: Fri Jun 30, 2000 12:53 am
Location: canada

Post by cowsmanaut »

while I find it interesting that you knew immediately what the fountains were.. I will alter them as you suggest. I did thing about if there was enough blue exposed to effectively tell it was a fountain.

moo
User avatar
Gambit37
Should eat more pies
Posts: 13714
Joined: Wed May 31, 2000 1:57 pm
Location: Location, Location
Contact:

Post by Gambit37 »

Heh, at first I didn't realise that they *were* fountains; I thought they were plaques or something. I only twigged when I looked closely and realised they were top-down versions of your gold lions...
User avatar
andyboy_uk
On Master
Posts: 647
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2003 1:51 am
Location: London, UK

Post by andyboy_uk »

Progress today...

04/01/2004: First ALPHA released !!

- Add: Party can be moved by choose button on the dungeon properties menu using the new selectSquare() function
- Add: Party Icon drawn for start position and updates when changed in dungeon properties
- Add: Only includes used characters in RTC Export
- Add: User preference to SHOW_HIDDEN_OBJECTS (i.e. DOORFRAMES) advanced user preference
- Add: HIDDEN property for objects (i.e DOORFRAMEs or ATTACK and SOUND objects)
- Add: Left-Alt Mouse Scrolling
- Add: LARGE_CENTRE object type for large monsters (dragon, coutyl).
- Add: A few more objects to the vault for playing with
- Add: Yes No Dialog Box for quitting without saving etc.
- Add: User Preference PLACE_TILE_CREATE_REQUIREMENTS to allow required items to be created automatically
- Add: User Preference PLACE_TILE_TYPE_CHECK, PLACE_TILE_REQUIREMENT_CHECK, PLACE_TILE_SANITY_CHECK added for advanced authors to disable editor error checking
- Add: SelectItem() function added for selecting target items.
- Add: Left and right Shift to edit items on squares now
- Fix: Bug where if you selected a blank line on the object vault the system would go into an infinite loop
- Fix: Bug where system would only work in full screen when compiled
- Fix: Item list filter fixed on objectVault selector
- Fix: Game Mode now allows item editing.
- Change: The entire way the object vault window works so there is now only 1 mode of editing that does it all (big changes)
- Change: Entire system runs in single editing mode now (instead of layout, features, games) - big changes
- Change: Standardised the function parameters to level, x, y, rotation for my own sanity.
- Change: Rewritten item list population code to be far more efficient
Regards,

Andy
User avatar
PicturesInTheDark
Arch Master
Posts: 1154
Joined: Mon Aug 26, 2002 4:47 pm
Location: Vienna, Austria

Post by PicturesInTheDark »

The first rotation method sounds better. Did I catch your drift in saying that while monster's won't be allowed "inside" walls when the sanity check is on you will have the engine ignore them when it's off? For that sounds reasonable... (Are we talking all walls? Trick walls?...)
And congratulations to the first Alpha version!

Regards, PitD
User avatar
andyboy_uk
On Master
Posts: 647
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2003 1:51 am
Location: London, UK

Post by andyboy_uk »

If the wall is solid and the sanity check is on then the editor will moan at you and disallow it. However, you can switch the individual tests off in the ini file should you wish to put a monster in a wall (and then RTC will moan at you when you run it instead).

However, if the checks are off and you want full free control there are 2 types of position (or rotation types) that you can place an object on,

the first is N, S, E, W (for walls this would be for - mirrrors, alcoves, items in alcoves, etc) (for floors this would be big monsters like the dragon)

the second is, NE, NW, SE, SW and CENTRE (for walls I dont think there is anything that would use these rotations and for floors, this is used for small monsters and items)

So when you are placing an item, it looks at where the item is restricted to (i.e. WALL or FLOOR - if at all) and if it is allowed to go on both then while placing the rotations automatically switch between floor and wall rotations, for instance

when placing a sword, when you are over a floor there are the 5 positions it can go in CENTRE, NE, NW, SE, SW (actually it may not be allowed in the centre - that may only be for monsters) but I will fix that later. and when you move over the wall it switches to N, S, E, W assuming it is to be on an alcove or something similar.

Now this is all very sensible for most people, but more experienced authors may be able to exploit things in the engine by doing some of this seemingly crazy stuff, so the option is there to turn these checks off. That means however the editor doesnt look at the tile underneath the mouse any more as it doesnt care where you put an item.

So I think the best thing to do is to put in a keyboard shortcut on the R key that switches between placing it on N, S, E, W and NE, SE, NW, SW, CENTRE rotation types.

Hope that makes sense, and the setting will be in the next version of the editor.
Regards,

Andy
User avatar
andyboy_uk
On Master
Posts: 647
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2003 1:51 am
Location: London, UK

Post by andyboy_uk »

05/01/2004: rev.6 ALPHA Released
- Add: Menu options to go up and down the levels
- Add: SpaceBar rotates object as well as RMB
- Add: DEFAULTFIXED tileVault directory with 64x64 tiles for all large items and 32x32 for small (no 94x94)
- Add: User Preference for PERFORMANCE_TIMER (added for mesuring speed of the main loops)
- Add: User Preference for TILE_TOGGLE_TIME_LIMIT for time to leave before allowing the same tile to be changed between floor and wall
- Change: Left mouse now toggles floor and wall tiles rather than LMB/RMB respectivley
- Change: Only tiles within the screen boundaries are drawn (efficiency)
- Change: Only items within the screen boundaries are drawn (efficiency)
- Change: All the handles for the menus have been renamed as they were driving me insane.
- Change: Centre position removed for all small items that are not monsters
- Change: Object Vault redesigned to be more far more efficient (no tabs) also more flexible categories
- Fix: Dungeon Property Text exports as upper case (not displayed that way yet in editor)
- Fix: No second mouse pointer in window mode
- Fix: No need to have the EDITORPATH setting now as it will pick up dir automatically
- Fix: Bug where large monsters were not being rotated.
- Fix: Hard coded tileVault loading
- Fix: Party Facing error now exports rotation name rather then number in RTC Text file
- Fix: Help Panel updated to display rotate on RMB and space bar
Regards,

Andy
User avatar
andyboy_uk
On Master
Posts: 647
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2003 1:51 am
Location: London, UK

Post by andyboy_uk »

- Add: Middle Mouse held and mouse move scrolls map
- Add: Shift Left click selects tile (without bringing up edit list)
- Work: Extracting information about objects and properties to compile complete tile vault.
- Change: Changes to layout made according to first change made (i.e. first tile made a wall - user is placing walls)


THe way the walls are placed is now the same as the editor that comes with RTC. It was much nicer that way, a
Regards,

Andy
User avatar
andyboy_uk
On Master
Posts: 647
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2003 1:51 am
Location: London, UK

Post by andyboy_uk »

Rev. 7 wont be out for a few days but Im hoping its going to have quite a bit more functionality in it this time round.

- Add: User preference for LOG_ACTIVE added
- Add: Log file and diagnostics functions added for performance tweaking and info gathering on slow systems
- Add: Loads of new property value windows for ameding properties of objects (fun stuff :)
- Add: All requred property text files in property vault.
- Add: Help text to property text files
Regards,

Andy
User avatar
andyboy_uk
On Master
Posts: 647
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2003 1:51 am
Location: London, UK

Post by andyboy_uk »

Did the OPBY parameter screen last night :D yay!

Just ITEM_MULTIPLE property type to go and then FLOORITEM_TRIGGER will have all its required property pages.
Regards,

Andy
User avatar
andyboy_uk
On Master
Posts: 647
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2003 1:51 am
Location: London, UK

Post by andyboy_uk »

11/01/2004:
- Add: WALLITEM_SHOOTER and reordered properties to be valid
- Add: Help text to item list window
- Add: RELAY and TRIGGER items added
- Change: Changed properties to be displayed by the Setting value rather than their name
- Change: List Single properties now are list boxes rather than combo boxes

11/01/2004: Rev.7 Released
- Add: Added the ITEM_MULTIPLE property (big one - used for triggers)
- Fix: Bug with the TARGET property with items not being removed properly
- Fix: Bug with itemNumbers being randomly reset (causing confusion when editing objects)
- Fix: Bug with the item list population
- Fix: Pointer reshown when in windowed mode after scrolling with LEFT ALT or MIDDLE MOUSE
- Change: User vault implemented
- Change: Objects can now have entries in New-Objects, New-Animations and New-Bitmap sections of the rtc text file

07/01/2004:
- Add: User preference for LOG_ACTIVE added
- Add: Log file and diagnostics functions added for performance tweaking and info gathering on slow systems
- Add: Loads of new property value windows for ameding properties of objects (fun stuff :)
- Add: All requred property text files in property vault.
- Add: Help text to property text files

06/01/2004:
- Add: Middle Mouse held and mouse move scrolls map
- Add: Shift Left click selects tile (without bringing up edit list)
- Work: Extracting information about objects and properties to compile complete tile vault.
- Change: Changes to layout made according to first change made (i.e. first tile made a wall - user is placing walls)
Regards,

Andy
User avatar
andyboy_uk
On Master
Posts: 647
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2003 1:51 am
Location: London, UK

Post by andyboy_uk »

- Add: User preference for INTELLIGENT_ROTATIONS, to switch off the automatic change when placing an object over a WALL or FLOOR.

=======================

Well there is a pretty big change in teh pipeline for the RTCEditor probably for around rev. 10.

Although I take my hat off to the BlitzUI library for the way it works and what it is capable of, I have decided to take the plunge into the world of B+ and exploit all the new and whizzy features of the Windows GUI commands.

Work has already started on the new version and I am tempted to start a seperate thread to keep people up to date on how it is going (up to you lot really) but it does mean I get a chance to go through the code and tidy it all up, this is not a bad thing at all. It also helps me to get used to B+ for future projects.

So although revisions of the current editor will still be released, a new version is in tow (always a little behind the main editor) that will speed things up no end and make the editor compatible with far earlier versions of DirectX and also far slower machines.

I will create a new area of screenshots for you all on my (rubbish) web site, while I also look for a new webhost.
Regards,

Andy
User avatar
Gambit37
Should eat more pies
Posts: 13714
Joined: Wed May 31, 2000 1:57 pm
Location: Location, Location
Contact:

Post by Gambit37 »

Oooh -- sounds very exciting! I'm already hugely encouraged by the current editor, so an even better one makes me quiver in excitement! ;)

By the way, I split the web hosts bit and moved it to the discussions forum as it was abit off topic here.
User avatar
andyboy_uk
On Master
Posts: 647
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2003 1:51 am
Location: London, UK

Post by andyboy_uk »

Ok, Big changes are happening at the moment. Im afraid its not ready for release just yet because it doesnt do EVERYTHING that it did on the last release (that is a bind of rewriting entire sections of code in a completley different way).

Basically I started from the ground up again in a new version of Blitz and Ive been porting code from the old one and tidying it up (no end).

I wont do a release until it does everything that Release 7 did (and maybe a couple more bits as well).

I can say now, it is MUCH faster than the old one and far easier to maintain and add on to.

BlitzUI is a great great piece of code, but Blitz+ really does take the biscuit when you dont need 3D graphics.

Ive also added the foundations of an HTML help system. This will progress to include tutorials, object definitions, and bits of information found in the Definitive guide and the Object List available on the web.

And here's a screenie (copy and paste to see it)
http://www.freewebs.com/andyboy_uk/rtceditor/ed10.jpg

18/01/2004:
- Add: Error checking on placeable objects and default placeable set to 1
- Add: Object Placement converted (BIG BIG BIG BIG :shock: job)
- Add: Object vault converted with filtering
- Add: toggle levelLayout converted
- Fix: Shadows not displaying problem fixed
- Change: Screen res setting dictate window size, or full screen without
- Change: Objects being added to dungeon are now much simpler and done with pointers

17/01/2004: Windows GUI Re-write (rev 8)
- Add: Multiple wall set foundations (for expansion later)
- Change: Screen resolution settings now dictate main window size

12/01/2004:
- Add: User preference INTELLIGENT_ROTATIONS to switch off the automatic change in rotation when placing an object over a wall or floor tile, if disabled the 'R' key switches between them

11/01/2004:
- Add: WALLITEM_SHOOTER and reordered properties to be valid
- Add: Help text to item list window
- Add: RELAY and TRIGGER items added
- Change: Changed properties to be displayed by the Setting value rather than their name
- Change: List Single properties now are list boxes rather than combo boxes

I should be able to get most of what I had before working by the end of the week. I am reserving tomorrow off as Kill Bill Vol1 comes out on DVD and I am going to get and watch it tomorrow night :)

Keep the suggestions rolling in. I check here EVERY day. PM me if you want to.

Cheers,
A
Regards,

Andy
User avatar
andyboy_uk
On Master
Posts: 647
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2003 1:51 am
Location: London, UK

Post by andyboy_uk »

So sorry guys, I have been really really busy over the last weeks, I havent managed to progress with the editor at all, but I will be continuing this week.

More news and a release very soon.

And it is very much improved on Rev 7.

Just a few more things to put in. I am having trouble with window sizes at the moment, resizing screws up so Im recommending a res of at least 800x600. It will be a fixed window but if you put in a -1 in the INI file it wil maximise it. Also having some flicker when the property value windows are shutting.

Internal Image lists and sound lists are now in, there has been a change to the itmes allowing you to move them to above or below certain objects. Admittedly this isnt quite there yet.

Promise it will be along very soon.
Regards,

Andy
User avatar
andyboy_uk
On Master
Posts: 647
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2003 1:51 am
Location: London, UK

Post by andyboy_uk »

Ello everyone,

Well work did continue last night for a few hours but life has taken a turn for the busier both at work and away from work. I had some trouble getting a decent layout for the target window but that should be all sorted now.

As soon as the functionality of that is finished (tomorrow - time allowing) I am going to convert over the EXPORT code and do a release, its been too long since a release and the changes are fairly vast.

This release will be more in its infancy than the last one (but much nicer control over the properties of objects and the items on the squares as well. For instance, the AUTO_CREATE_DEPENDANTS isnt working yet and there is no sanity checking on ANYTHING. (that should keep gambit happy)

Im hoping a friday (if Im not out drinking) or sunday (if Im not working) for the release and Im hoping I'll be out Saturday ;) ;)
Regards,

Andy
User avatar
Big-J-Q
Adept
Posts: 215
Joined: Sat Apr 14, 2001 6:05 pm
Location: Oulu, Finland

Post by Big-J-Q »

So has there been any progress lately?
User avatar
andyboy_uk
On Master
Posts: 647
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2003 1:51 am
Location: London, UK

Post by andyboy_uk »

To be quite honest, no. I have been working like a mad man, not getting home till quite late in the evenings and most weekends have been in the office as well.

Not ideal but the extra cash is coming in handy, but has left no real time to carry on with any of my development projects.

It is not forgotton and will be finished :) Just got to find a day when I get back that Im not tired of looking at a PC screen.
Regards,

Andy
User avatar
andyboy_uk
On Master
Posts: 647
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2003 1:51 am
Location: London, UK

Post by andyboy_uk »

Well its been bl00dy ages since I posted in this thread and Im afraid there has still been no real progress with the editor since last time.

At the moment I cant actually remember the last full weekend that I had due to work commitments (likewise by the time I get home Im not in the mood for sitting in front of my machine at the moment)

I will get ass back in gear very shortly as I really want to get this editor finished and quite possibly create a dungeon of my own.

So, sorry about the delay, things will be back on track pretty soon.

Later everyone,
Regards,

Andy
User avatar
andyboy_uk
On Master
Posts: 647
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2003 1:51 am
Location: London, UK

Post by andyboy_uk »

Ok, Development got started again this weekend, but in a bit of a new direction. Im now using C#.NET to write the program. Basically, there is too much I want to do in the editor and knowing how easy it is to do most of it in C# makes it a pain to rewrite functions that already exist in B+.

The only thing that is going to be a bit of a learning curve is the DirectX stuff, but it has been a bit of fun learning it and its getting somewhere now.

Loads to do on it, but with the IDE being very very good, it should go together much easier.

First release will be have all the features that the last release of the original one had
Regards,

Andy
User avatar
andyboy_uk
On Master
Posts: 647
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2003 1:51 am
Location: London, UK

Post by andyboy_uk »

Struggling with DirectX in C#.NET and the online tutorials. So I bought a book.

:shock:

Will keep you all up to date with where I get to with it
Regards,

Andy
User avatar
Gambit37
Should eat more pies
Posts: 13714
Joined: Wed May 31, 2000 1:57 pm
Location: Location, Location
Contact:

Post by Gambit37 »

The last entry above was dated 2004. I think it's safe to assume this project is dead. :-( Also, andyboy hasn't posted here since last September.
Post Reply