Topic: Getting started: bugs and errors. (Read 48135 times)

SaneGino · « **on:** February 11, 2013, 08:37:56 PM »

UPDATE: Administration speaking. The information in this thread is out-dated, so it's being locked. Some of it may be useful, but other parts are misleading because the Getting Started guidelines have since changed. Namely projects are configured with their SOM files now, and the old Ex.ini extensions have been abandoned. This wasn't just for appearances. There was actually a real chicken/egg problem with the old workflow that appropriation of the SOM file addresses very elegantly.

I'm not really much of a computer expert, I went to college for it, but never really got too far, for finances, and since I know little about EX, I would call myself a beginner. I'm having a few problems, the first of which is the model titles are all random characters, I was wondering if there is a way to fix that, or rename them. Second of which, there is a file missing. Kage.cp, which I'm not sure where I can get, nor if it's as simple as pasting the file over. Thirdly, when i start up a preview, its throws some sort of sound related error, although the sound seems to be working fine. Is it something I should be worried about?

Thanks. ^^

Holey Moley · « **Reply #1 on:** February 11, 2013, 10:32:17 PM »

Well you found your way to the right sub forum then

Sounds like you are off to a good start. SOM is really easy compared to any other way of making a full fledged video game. Luckily for you if you went to school for computers as you say you've probably faced much more intimidating things in your classes. We see a lot of people who want to make a game as if playing games and making games is the same thing.

Mostly you just have to follow the guide on the site. There is one in the Ex section and another in the Subversion repository that is a little more terse but also more thorough (though it may be a little out dated)

I can't really help with every little thing. Maybe Verdite will.

The random characters are Shift_JIS Japanese. If you want to see Japanese you need to add support to Windows via the control panel. If not you have two options.

You basically need to map Ex to an alternative data folder. That looks like this...

Code: (tool/SOM_EX.INI) [Select]

[Folder]

alternative_data_folder = Z:\Transfers\KF\SOM\data

That is explained in the guide. You can also drop the "Old English" language pack into the text folder. There is a guide in the text folder.

If only the model titles are garbled then you probably did something similar for your tools (ie. alternative_tool_folder) unless you did something else like overwrite the tools with other files.

There can always also be a bug. If you think there is I can look into it. Anyway unless you intend to make all of your artwork from scratch which is really advanced, you will probably want to use an alternate data folder with some of the doctored textures you can find around the internet. SOM's textures have a lot of holes and things.

I haven't quite gotten to the stage of methodically remastering all of SOM's artwork.

EDITED: Like I think the guides probably suggest we assume that your "alternative folders" are full of English translated files (in which case translation is not an issue)

As for Kage.cp you can suppress the dialog with:

Code: [Select]

[Output]

do_missing_file_dialog_ok = yes

You can also use cpgen.exe to make a Kage.cp file. A 0 sized file may also work. Kage is the shadow that appears under NPCs. This dialog is very handy for finding files that are missing in your game. Which tends to happen a lot when people go to share/demo games.

The sound error is a fix to warn people when their sound device isn't up to 3D sound but is trying to do it anyway. But the most likely reason you are seeing it is because of a bug that afflicts maps without a BGM file. I made a thread the other day called "Sound fun" that has a tiny silence .wav file attached. But if you can wait like a day I am about to release SomEx.dll 1.1.1.6 which has a fix for this bug.

It's a good time to get acquainted with SOM. It's not quite ready for prime time. But you can make a professional looking bug free game with it now and 1.1.1.6 has very fluid analog controls with lots of motion effects. The last few versions have had analog effects too. But its taken a while to fully flesh out all of the little details.

I was about to post something about what to expect in 1.1.1.6. There will be a more pared down introduction accompanying the blog announcement.

Holey Moley · « **Reply #2 on:** February 12, 2013, 09:26:53 PM »

PS: About the sound message box. When I set it up I wasn't thinking about the no BGM bug and didn't even realize that bug would trigger it. The box is there so if someone tries a game the game won't be brought to its knees by the sound device, but instead they can keep playing without 3D sound so at the very least they will be compelled to keep playing the game and look for a fix if they like what they see.

I am frankly surprised the no BGM bug was not fixed until just now. I guess everyone is just so used to the bug being there. It only occurred to me to fix it when I was sent a test project to look at the other day that was hastily setup and so did not supply a BGM.

Holey Moley · « **Reply #3 on:** February 12, 2013, 09:41:35 PM »

BTW: Here in a bit I intend to prepare a guide explaining the correct way to write a script for your game with Ex. Basically the way you translate your game into other languages is the same way you write a script for your game. You just write the first translation so to speak. It makes sense if you consider that SOM is Japanese and your game probably isn't.

Also if you go to use any of the little standalone tools that From Software released via its SOM website. Some of them. A minority I think. Will look in the install folder that is in the registry (regedit.exe) which is a problem because that's not likely to be your data folder when using Ex right now. The only thing you can really do about this is use the Setup.bat script. Just copy it into the install you want to use and run the script, then when you are done run the script in the folder that you checked out the files here to.

http://svn.swordofmoonlight.net/Setup.bat

Holey Moley · « **Reply #4 on:** February 14, 2013, 05:56:28 AM »

Quote from: SaneGino on February 11, 2013, 08:37:56 PM

I'm not really much of a computer expert, i went to college for it, but never really got too far, for finances, and since i know little about EX, i would call myself a beginner. I'm having a few problems, the first of which is the model titles are all random characters, i was wondering if there is a way to fix that, or rename them. Second of which, there is a file missing. Kage.cp, which im not sure where i can get, nor if its as simple as pasting the file over. Thirdly, when i start up a preview, its throws some sort of sound related error, although the sound seems to be working fine. Is it something i should be worried about?
Thanks. ^^

I took the liberty to capitalize your i's and add apostrophes. 8 edits in total. You get this one as a freebie

SaneGino · « **Reply #5 on:** February 14, 2013, 06:56:15 AM »

Grammar never was my strong point. XD Well, as for the model names, what you said worked, thank you. As a side effect, however, it unassociated all the models with their respective objects. T~T As far as the kage file, I can only find the source code in the folder where the .exe is supposed to be. I tried compiling it, but I think I lack the libraries to compile the file. As for the sound issue, as long as it isn't going to rend my computer wire from wire, I can deal with it for now, while I'm messing around with the scripting and tile sets to get a feel for it.

Holey Moley · « **Reply #6 on:** February 14, 2013, 08:38:51 AM »

Never mind grammar. Just use English capitalization and punctuation and spelling. Oh and paragraphs! Just try harder for SOM and everyone else. If there is a lot of demand I will make an Ebonics language forum or something

Your map won't play until you fix the sound issue. It might play thanks to the measures put in place by that message box. But you are knocking yourself out to keep running into it. Anyway SomEx.dll 1.1.1.6 was officially released earlier today. It automatically fixes the bug for SOM.

You need to post what steps you took to break your install. It sounds like you are not following the guides. Could save yourself some trouble to review them. You never know.

Most people come here after spending time with an English fan-translated SOM only to find that they need to install SOM in a second place. Then they map their new install to the old install.

The guides are fairly straightforward but I don't mind racking up some threads in this sub forum that illustrate the missteps people will commonly make.

You don't need to "compile" anything. The source code is just in there so everyone has a copy of it to be sure that it is never truly lost by any mechanism.

Does the message box not tell you what folder it is looking for a kage.cp file in? I am inclined to just ignore kage.cp. But if you can figure out what folders it should be in I will add kage.cp files to the file repository here. Anyway SOM doesn't seem to actually need it but when the kage.mdl file is loaded up it expects a matching kage.cp file.

Offtopic: Hmm. I wonder why your posts say you "has 0 posts" along the bottom. That's not good???

EDITED: Oh yeah. I'm sure it's because posts to this sub forum don't count against your total.

Holey Moley · « **Reply #7 on:** February 14, 2013, 09:15:10 AM »

PS: If you post each point in its own paragraph it is easier to respond to them one by one with quotes and everything.

Anyway to update SomEx.dll you must update the SomEx.csv file with Subversion as normal. It will trigger an update when you run one of the programs. That's probably explained in at least one of the guides too. But I figured what the hell. May as well cover all of the bases.

SaneGino · « **Reply #8 on:** February 14, 2013, 11:21:11 AM »

It seems to be pointing to the data\enemy\model folder of my previous install. Hm.

Also, I meant to say that I cannot find the cpgen.exe, only the source code for it.

Perhaps this is related or maybe it isn't, but NPC models will not show up in game, or in the editor. The Npc is still there, it can be interacted, but it is invisible.

Holey Moley · « **Reply #9 on:** February 14, 2013, 11:02:02 PM »

Aha!

It occurred to me this morning what you are describing. This is normal anyway so it didn't pop into my head when I was thinking about things you could be doing wrong...

Basically you already have a project going. And your project is looking for the pieces with the old Japanese names you were using. So you just need to go back to SOM_PRM and reassign the pieces and save.

All executable files (exe and dll) go into the tool folder. I've made a note to add kage.cp files to the SOM repository here. You should only need cpgen.exe if you are making your own models. At some point I am going to build it into SomEx.dll so it can automatically generate cp files at run time and cache them (if it makes sense to) so we don't have to keep track of them or even fuss with them. We will only be keeping the .cp files that are installed with SOM for reference. Although they will probably be deleted in later revisions at some point.

PS: Incidentally it was recently brought to my attention that SOM_MAP (and friends presumably) don't seem to default to the project folder when looking for files the way som_db.exe (the game testing program) does. Makes you wonder why som_db.exe does that. Probably to be compatible with som_rt.exe. But anyway I am going to have to add that functionality soon because it is bad practice to keep custom stuff in the general data folder...

At the same time I am going to setup a new .set file system that is already implemented in the database here so you we can organize pieces into sets, and so you can pick out the set/pieces you want included in your project so so many don't have to be loaded up and sorted through, and so you can keep files anywhere and share them between projects...

And finally after I do that I will sit down and prepare a new English language pack and some stuff to list pieces by set in the tools (probably pieces will be able to appear within more than one set) and finally then people may want to use the new English translation so I will finally pull together a language pack neutral system that has been on the back burner for lack of demand which would have saved you from this trouble in the first place

EDITED: Also, just so you know it isn't necessary to unzip the language packs. And it occurred to me that the SOM_RUN image in the language packs is cracked, so you can actually use SOM_RUN without a SOM disc if you are not using the original program that is in the tool folder. Presumably only Japanese users will use that file and they are in Japan so they can order a copy from From if they are not out of them.

FYI: From did tell a fan in Japan that it doesn't care what people outside of Japan do with SOM because at the very least the laws that apply to it are not even technically in effect. Also I intend to setup an alternative to SOM_RUN called SOM_NET. People have a lot of trouble with SOM_RUN once they are ready to share/demo their projects. Especially with custom stuff since SOM_RUN is a lot pickier than the other tools. Plus it doesn't know about Ex. But I don't know when I will get to that. There is a very useful extension for SOM_RUN in the Editor section if you get that far.

SaneGino · « **Reply #10 on:** February 15, 2013, 08:48:46 AM »

I apologize. I get the gist of what you are saying, but I'm not sure I follow. My NPC models don't appear because the program is looking in the wrong folder?

Holey Moley · « **Reply #11 on:** February 15, 2013, 10:58:33 PM »

Quote from: SaneGino on February 15, 2013, 08:48:46 AM

I apologize. I get the gist of what you are saying, but I'm not sure I follow. My NPC models don't appear because the program is looking in the wrong folder?

When you Preview the pieces in SOM_PRM do you see a visual or is it just black? If it isn't black then you need to assign pieces to your NPCs, objects, etc. If you don't Save your assignments will be lost (edited: you should probably be trying basic stuff like this before looking for help either way. By default SOM is not a creature of convenience)

If this doesn't work you will have to go into greater detail before I can make any sense of what might be going on.

SaneGino · « **Reply #12 on:** February 16, 2013, 04:31:18 AM »

I know how to set the models to their respective objects, at the least. :P I have the models set in SOM_PRM, saved, and I can see them there, but when I try to place an NPC onto a board, it wont show up, in game or in SOM_MAP's viewer.

Holey Moley · « **Reply #13 on:** February 16, 2013, 05:13:54 AM »

Quote from: SaneGino on February 16, 2013, 04:31:18 AM

I know how to set the models to their respective objects, at the least. :P I have the models set in SOM_PRM, saved, and I can see them there, but when I try to place an NPC onto a board, it wont show up, in game or in SOM_MAP's viewer.

Well the plot thickens then. Do:

Code: [Select]

[Output]

do_missing_file_dialog_ok = no

In your project's EX.ini file, in the folder with your .som file. In other words don't suppress the missing file dialog if you did that earlier.

Choose OK and see if you are missing the files for the pieces you are not seeing.

Sorry you are off to a rough start. To be honest Verdite is the only other person that I know for sure is using Ex successfully and he is making all of his artwork from scratch, so I don't know if he even has any of the original files in his Data folders.

PS: Can you please edit the Subject of your first post so that future users can get an inkling of what the thread is about?

Also which route did you take before? The language pack? Or the alternative data folder?

SaneGino · « **Reply #14 on:** February 16, 2013, 05:32:38 AM »

Well, I used the language pack, and didn't unzip it, but once I used the alternative data folder is when it worked.

As for the NPC problem, when I added that line to my SOM_EX.ini file, it caused missing file error messages to stop popping up, and now, I can hear the NPC walk around, but I still cant see him.

As for which files it told me I am missing, there are three. Kage.cp, 0177.mdl, and 0179.mdl, which I assume may be my invisible NPC problem, although I don't quite understand. I seem to remember fiddling with the npc model but it had little change on the outcome, and I can see it in SOM_PRM viewer. I dont remember this error message showing until I changed the NPC model to something different. Maybe its not related at all.

simple machines forum

News:

Sword of Moonlight|

Archive (pre 2023)|

Beginner and other Nonsense|

Getting started: bugs and errors.

Author Topic: Getting started: bugs and errors. (Read 48135 times)

SaneGino

SaneGino says,

Holey Moley

Holey Moley says,

Holey Moley

Holey Moley says,

Holey Moley

Holey Moley says,

Holey Moley

Holey Moley says,

SaneGino

SaneGino says,

Holey Moley

Holey Moley says,

Holey Moley

Holey Moley says,

SaneGino

SaneGino says,

Holey Moley

Holey Moley says,

SaneGino

SaneGino says,

Holey Moley

Holey Moley says,

SaneGino

SaneGino says,

Holey Moley

Holey Moley says,

SaneGino

SaneGino says,

simple machines forum

News:

Sword of Moonlight| Archive (pre 2023)| Beginner and other Nonsense| Getting started: bugs and errors.

Author Topic: Getting started: bugs and errors. (Read 48135 times)

Sword of Moonlight|

Archive (pre 2023)|

Beginner and other Nonsense|

Getting started: bugs and errors.