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Thunderwolf

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Crossbowman

Posts: 233

Joined: 22 Jan 2008, 23:00

Website: http://thunderwolf.freehost10.com/KaMMissionBuilder/index.php

Location: Netherlands

Post 14 Mar 2008, 12:25

My laptop is back and WITH all data intact!!!
Working on the next version should go a lot faster now.
~old sig
MissionBuilder v0.9f2 UPDATED!!
Defend The Outer Colony. fight for your king and uncover the secrets of this land.
Temporary version at
http://thunderwolf.x10hosting.com/index.php
"You can't defeat me, I've played Knights and Merchants"
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Thunderwolf

User avatar

Crossbowman

Posts: 233

Joined: 22 Jan 2008, 23:00

Website: http://thunderwolf.freehost10.com/KaMMissionBuilder/index.php

Location: Netherlands

Post 11 Apr 2008, 11:30

I just wanted to say that I'll probably release the next version on next tuesday and that I will use my myhosting247 to host it.
~old sig
MissionBuilder v0.9f2 UPDATED!!
Defend The Outer Colony. fight for your king and uncover the secrets of this land.
Temporary version at
http://thunderwolf.x10hosting.com/index.php
"You can't defeat me, I've played Knights and Merchants"
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The Knight

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Pikeman

Posts: 177

Joined: 28 Jul 2006, 22:00

KaM Skill Level: Average

Post 22 Apr 2008, 18:14

and?
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Thunderwolf

User avatar

Crossbowman

Posts: 233

Joined: 22 Jan 2008, 23:00

Website: http://thunderwolf.freehost10.com/KaMMissionBuilder/index.php

Location: Netherlands

Post 07 May 2008, 08:02

~old sig
MissionBuilder v0.9f2 UPDATED!!
Defend The Outer Colony. fight for your king and uncover the secrets of this land.
Temporary version at
http://thunderwolf.x10hosting.com/index.php
"You can't defeat me, I've played Knights and Merchants"
<<

Thunderwolf

User avatar

Crossbowman

Posts: 233

Joined: 22 Jan 2008, 23:00

Website: http://thunderwolf.freehost10.com/KaMMissionBuilder/index.php

Location: Netherlands

Post 10 Jun 2008, 08:40

I now have every command implemented and working. After I work on the translation-possibilities (I will likely send all translators a email soon), I will revisit the importing process, and start over with it.

Finally I may also make a small tutorial of how to make a mission with missionbuilder, as it seems there aren't many people who understand how to use it.
~old sig
MissionBuilder v0.9f2 UPDATED!!
Defend The Outer Colony. fight for your king and uncover the secrets of this land.
Temporary version at
http://thunderwolf.x10hosting.com/index.php
"You can't defeat me, I've played Knights and Merchants"
<<

Thunderwolf

User avatar

Crossbowman

Posts: 233

Joined: 22 Jan 2008, 23:00

Website: http://thunderwolf.freehost10.com/KaMMissionBuilder/index.php

Location: Netherlands

Post 26 Jun 2008, 09:17

laptop's broken down again. I do have a backup of 2 days before, but it's a lot of work to do over, so it will be later as planned.
~old sig
MissionBuilder v0.9f2 UPDATED!!
Defend The Outer Colony. fight for your king and uncover the secrets of this land.
Temporary version at
http://thunderwolf.x10hosting.com/index.php
"You can't defeat me, I've played Knights and Merchants"
<<

The Knight

User avatar

Pikeman

Posts: 177

Joined: 28 Jul 2006, 22:00

KaM Skill Level: Average

Post 26 Jun 2008, 19:04

:D you should never buy fujitsu notebooks from super markets XD
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Thunderwolf

User avatar

Crossbowman

Posts: 233

Joined: 22 Jan 2008, 23:00

Website: http://thunderwolf.freehost10.com/KaMMissionBuilder/index.php

Location: Netherlands

Post 27 Jun 2008, 12:15

lol::: It's ASUS from a Computer store...

I have Released 09f anyways, the work lost was a bit less then expected so...

Still, not ALL things are translated in this Release. 2nd, I will need to add those new goal-types Lewin posted about as well.
~old sig
MissionBuilder v0.9f2 UPDATED!!
Defend The Outer Colony. fight for your king and uncover the secrets of this land.
Temporary version at
http://thunderwolf.x10hosting.com/index.php
"You can't defeat me, I've played Knights and Merchants"
<<

Lewin

User avatar

KaM Remake Developer

Posts: 3822

Joined: 16 Sep 2007, 22:00

KaM Skill Level: Skilled

ICQ: 269127056

Website: http://lewin.hodgman.id.au

Yahoo Messenger: lewinlewinhodgman

Location: Australia

Post 17 Jul 2008, 03:02

Hi Thunderwolf,
Recently I downloaded 0.9f as I haven't tried your tool for a while and this seemed like a big release. Please don't take this the wrong way, I'm not complaining, I'm trying to help you.
To be honest I wasn't very impressed. It still seems to suffer from the problems it did in the beginning: Everything seems a bit obscure, loading/save are not at all user friendly and it crashes randomly.
The installer looked and worked great, and I started it up without any issues. I did notice that it installs all these little tools like script packer. Why not put them inside the main program?? It's just slow and annoying to have all these small programs. It then said I should set the options as this is the first run. Sounds like a good plan, so I say yes. I set the language (was already English anyway) and then I look at the other options. The font is quite hard to read. Script packer is unambiguous and should say something like "Compact scripts" instead. (although I would always want this option so why is it optional? Who wouldn't want the scripts compacted?)
Process priority is not necessary either, as it makes little different as to how fast it is and is very risky. (if it starts chewing CPU on high priority....) What exactly does graphics cache do and why would your everyday noobie need to change it? KaM Directory makes sense so I set that, but it wouldn't recognise the TPR EXE so I had to change it to "Other EXEs". Surely a Select folder dialogue would be simpler? I click save (it confirms that is has saved) and then, as there is no other button to click I hit the X in the top right. The whole program closes. I would expect the editor to open up about now, but it doesn't.
So I open again it myself. It loads up with no issues. The first thing I notice is that it doesn't fit comfortably on a 1024X768 screen, a bit a the bottom is missing. (but not much) I then decide to open mission 1 TSK to see how good loading it. So I click Load. To my surprise it wants me to load .SAV files and not .DAT as I would have thought. What is the point of .SAV files. You should be able to load .DAT files well enough and this means that .SAV files are not needed and confusing.
So I click Cancel. A window opens to tell me that I just pressed cancel and so the mission can't be loaded. That is just annoying and not needed. Then I spot a button called Import mission. Why is this importing? This is a mission editor, but it must import mission files?? I find mission 1 and click load. "Files seems to be a encoded mission file. Decode it?" Well you don't say!! I click import mission, open a DAT file and then you ask me if I want it decoded?? OF COURSE I DO!! (as far as I know no one would want to open no encoded files and if it seems to be encoded (if it's a .DAT) then you should decode it without confirmation. So I click yes.
Then it wants me to save a text file of the unencoded version!! Can't this just be a temporary file without asking me? What use is it? The screen flashes a few times and then it tells me that everything loaded. I think that if everything is ok, then you don't need to tell me. If something goes wrong then yes, you should say so, but a dialogue telling me that it loaded successfully is annoying. I click ok. "File closed" appears. WHO NEEDS TO KNOW THAT!! That is debugging information and not necessary. "Done processing commands" another useless debugging message. Maybe you should have a debugging option to disable that?
But now the mission is loaded and everything looks great! However, the map isn't loaded? Why isn't this automatic? When I click load background it asks me what the map is. Surely you can load that from the file + KaM dir? I select mission 1. Map2bitmap comes into action and the map loads. Ah, that's better! Now this looks really great. So I click on the mini map to go to the main village, and it displays an error. I click ignore but the message continues appearing. I click abort and start over. This time I use the arrows, and I nearly get to the village before another repeating error happens!!!!!!! By now I am sick of re-opening the file so I give up. It is especially difficult as it doesn't remember where I was before it just puts me in the mission builder folder so I must browse to the KaM folder manually each time. By default it should start there.

I'll compare the loading process in my editor to yours:
Mine:
Click load. Select a .DAT file a click ok. Loading starts, displaying what it is currently doing, but without you needing to click anything. The map loads automatically as part of the process.

Yours:
Click import mission. Select mission and click ok. Confirm that you want it decoded. Select a spot for the temporary decoded file. Click ok to a few debugging dialogues. Click load background. Find the map manually and click ok.

Sure, my editor takes a hell of a lot longer loading, but at least it does it by its self without you needing to do anything. (besides laugh at the joke displayed or make some tea) If you factor in the extra time spent clicking ok, finding the map, etc. then load time is about the same between our editors.

I know your editor was never meant to be as complex as mine in usage but I think it has turned out more complex in loading.

I think that your editor has the potential to be better than mine. Your graphical interface looks amazing and is very easy to use for inexperienced scripters. But until you make it more stable and easier to load then it is impossible to use.

I seem to remember 0.7 being more stable than this. It didn't crash when ever I did anything. (in fact, I used it to make the village in a mission)

Also, your way of adding things (troops, for example) is quite ugly. All the values are entered as numbers in separate dialogues! (e.g. how many troops, what direction. etc.) Can't you put them all in one dialogue, with radio buttons, combo boxes, drop downs, etc.? That would look much nicer. And setting 1 for yes, 0 for no in the options is hardly satisfactory. Can't you use a simple check box instead?

Please don't take this the wrong way, I am just trying to help you by explaining my experience using your editor in a hope that you can improve it further.

Lewin.

P.S. I'm starting to write king-sized posts again. :roll: I'm sorry....
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Thunderwolf

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Crossbowman

Posts: 233

Joined: 22 Jan 2008, 23:00

Website: http://thunderwolf.freehost10.com/KaMMissionBuilder/index.php

Location: Netherlands

Post 17 Jul 2008, 15:19

it crashes randomly.
? I don't know how that happens. It doesn't crash on my laptop, nor on the replacement..
Script packer is unambiguous and should say something like "Compact scripts" instead. (although I would always want this option so why is it optional? Who wouldn't want the scripts compacted?)
I added this as an option, because there was someone whose computer had some trouble with it. I could hide it from normal settings, though.
What exactly does graphics cache do and why would your everyday noobie need to change it?
Graphics cache is a real performance saver. If the cache is set too high, framerates are dropped hugely, so I put this option in, as there are still people working with 32MB graphics memory, which is too low to cache the whole mission and everything else.
So I open again it myself. It loads up with no issues. The first thing I notice is that it doesn't fit comfortably on a 1024X768 screen, a bit a the bottom is missing.
hmm.. that may be, I made it to fit with a height of 800, I could probably fix that though...
That is debugging information and not necessary
oops... forgot to take those out... I kind of released 09f in a hurry, because I can't upload ~7MB at home, as my internet connection goes out every few minutes and speed is only ~10KB at max.
However, the map isn't loaded? Why isn't this automatic?
I had some issues with getting that one in sync, so I left it out.
and it displays an error.
what error?
All the values are entered as numbers in separate dialogues!
I'm sorry, that is quite impossible with GML, the only things it knows are those dialog-boxes and drop-down menu's. Maybe I could check the GML website for an extension, or I could try and add C#-code to it...
Please don't take this the wrong way, I am just trying to help you by explaining my experience using your editor in a hope that you can improve it further.
And I don't take it wrong either, but a lot of the problems which occur don't seem to happen with me.
~old sig
MissionBuilder v0.9f2 UPDATED!!
Defend The Outer Colony. fight for your king and uncover the secrets of this land.
Temporary version at
http://thunderwolf.x10hosting.com/index.php
"You can't defeat me, I've played Knights and Merchants"
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harold

Knight

Posts: 562

Joined: 19 Nov 2007, 23:00

Post 17 Jul 2008, 16:14

No offence Thunderwolf, but why does your editor need more than 32MB graphics memory? Surely you know that it is not needed to put the whole mission in it, but only the piece you are looking at? But I would keep often-used textures in there because it's very slow to send them to graphics ram, fortunately you can compress them with DXT2 without any noticeable loss (because the the Alpha channel has sharp edges and the colours are pre-multiplied with Alpha insofar that all colours with 0 alpha can safely be set to 0 in total, and all other colours have alpha = 1 anyway) saving some transfer time and a lot of space (most GPU's can decode this natively)
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Thunderwolf

User avatar

Crossbowman

Posts: 233

Joined: 22 Jan 2008, 23:00

Website: http://thunderwolf.freehost10.com/KaMMissionBuilder/index.php

Location: Netherlands

Post 18 Jul 2008, 11:28

Let me explain the graphics cache more closely:
if graphics cache is set to 0, only the graphics which are in the screen are drawn. If you move, however, you can see that it has to put the items into the cache, making them 'appear'.
if set to 1, it will cache exactly enough to move 1 step in each direction (with the mover), with each value it gets higher, so does the number of steps in each direction. if set to 12 (or higher), it will load the entire mission in the cache. It can even be set to a negative value, resulting that only a part of the screen will be drawn.

(Any value smaller than -3 will result in that you can't see anything (except the menu's) It will still work, but then you can't see what you're doing)
~old sig
MissionBuilder v0.9f2 UPDATED!!
Defend The Outer Colony. fight for your king and uncover the secrets of this land.
Temporary version at
http://thunderwolf.x10hosting.com/index.php
"You can't defeat me, I've played Knights and Merchants"
<<

harold

Knight

Posts: 562

Joined: 19 Nov 2007, 23:00

Post 18 Jul 2008, 13:09

How are those items put into that cache though - as references to sprites? as copies of sprites? as indexes of sprites?
TKE has no cache - yet 200 FPS is quite normal when vsync is off, so really, why do you need it?
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Krom

User avatar

Knights Province Developer

Posts: 3280

Joined: 09 May 2006, 22:00

KaM Skill Level: Fair

Location: Russia

Post 18 Jul 2008, 19:17

I second that, KamRemake and Editor both with all sprites loaded into memory run at 70-200fps no problem. To be honest I didn't care if that goes to RAM or GPURAM, performance is more than enough anyways.

Sorry, but I don't understand why would you need caching and why is it an issue, unless you use something prehistoric to render on screen :roll: No offence, just wondering..
Knights Province at: http://www.knightsprovince.com
KaM Remake at: http://www.kamremake.com
Original MBWR/WR2/AFC/FVR tools at: http://krom.reveur.de
<<

Lewin

User avatar

KaM Remake Developer

Posts: 3822

Joined: 16 Sep 2007, 22:00

KaM Skill Level: Skilled

ICQ: 269127056

Website: http://lewin.hodgman.id.au

Yahoo Messenger: lewinlewinhodgman

Location: Australia

Post 19 Jul 2008, 02:48

If I want to test how well a program performs then I use our really old P3 laptop. It has NO graphics card, an ancient CPU, and only 256MB of RAM!!! (yeah, it really sucks)
Krom's editor runs quite well, although elevating is really slow. (it can't keep up with the graphical updates, and so it lags a lot) It's still quite usable, I've even made maps on it.
My editor lags a lot in general, but you can still use it. Needless to say, loading is even slower than normal. But it does still work, and once you've finished the loading it's is quite usable.
I haven't tried Thunderwolf's tool yet....
Sorry, but I don't understand why would you need caching and why is it an issue, unless you use something prehistoric to render on screen :roll: No offence, just wondering..
You think what he is using is prehistoric, you should see my code. I don't use OpenGL, all the graphic on the map are just TImages. (the standard image control) I have customised them a bit so that they share memory, but it's still not exactly modern. This is partly why loading takes so long, creating all those TImages takes a lot longer than it would in OpenGL. Why don't I change it you ask? Well, it does work right now and I feel I am too far in to go back, after all the editor is almost finished!
I had some issues with getting that one in sync, so I left it out.
I'd try to fix that if I were you... What exactly do you mean by getting it in sync?
I'm sorry, that is quite impossible with GML, the only things it knows are those dialog-boxes and drop-down menu's. Maybe I could check the GML website for an extension, or I could try and add C#-code to it...
Oh, I had no idea game maker was tat restricting. It would be nice if possible but don't worry if it's a big deal.
what error?
Ok, here are some error messages I got while using it:
While scrolling using the arrow keys in mission 1 TSK without a background loaded:
  Code:
___________________________________________ ERROR in action number 1 of Draw Event for object SendGroup: Error in code at line 1:    if (self.groupbelong.sendtoDir = '0') at position 22: Unknown variable sendtoDir[/quote] I clicked ignore, the same error, then I click ignore again and it went away. This happened when I scrolled to the bridge (where there is a SendGroup) so I guess that is why. I try scrolling more but the error persists. I then try mission 4 TSK.... I can't make it crash so I try loading the background. Still can't make it crash. Try opening mission 1 TSK, I think that is the one with the problem. Something else I noticed, there are a few AI attacks in the top left of mission 4 TSK. Maybe you are showing attacks that don't have an XY? Ok, so it is better than I thought, I just chose a mission that made it crash. :wink: BTW: It is really annoying me that everytime I click load it takes me to the mission builder folder, it should be the last folder used or at least the KaM dir. Lewin.

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