Topic: Getting started: bugs and errors. (Read 48134 times)

Holey Moley · « **Reply #30 on:** February 18, 2013, 11:01:09 AM »

Quote from: SaneGino on February 18, 2013, 09:14:44 AM

Well that's cool.

Bite your tongue. I told you that because it could save you an awful lot of time and trouble. Just wait. You'll see.

Quote

The gist of the game I'm building is much like Battlespire, if you've ever played it, and I plan on making it rather large.

Well at least you know that whatever happens your game will be better looking

SaneGino · « **Reply #31 on:** February 19, 2013, 05:48:28 AM »

Correctamundo.

I'll be popping my head in and out time from time when I run into any gamebreaking stuff. Hopefully this thread can end up helping many a SOM_EX newcomer. Hopefully.

SaneGino · « **Reply #32 on:** February 19, 2013, 06:13:43 AM »

Well THAT was quick.

When an enemy strikes the player and deals damage, SOM_DB crashes, and that's literally all the information I have for you.

Holey Moley · « **Reply #33 on:** February 19, 2013, 06:58:10 AM »

You'll have to attach your project file if you come across a bug. If it's big try to replicate it in a miniature project.

I see a potential zero divide if your maximum HP is zero. Not sure if that is possible.

SaneGino · « **Reply #34 on:** February 19, 2013, 07:29:00 AM »

As the maximum file size is 1.9 megs, and the project is well over 120, I'm not sure what I need to post. Just the .som file?

Holey Moley · « **Reply #35 on:** February 19, 2013, 10:26:30 AM »

Your project folder should be ~2MBs before compression unless you have customs in its data folder. Make a copy of your project without BGMs and delete the MPX files in the MAP folder.

If it is much larger make a smaller project. This is the only way bugs that aren't affecting everyone ever get fixed.

EDITED: My test project compresses to 28KBs with save files. Figure something out.

Holey Moley · « **Reply #36 on:** February 19, 2013, 03:26:44 PM »

I found an unrelated bug last night that broke some extensions that make the skyline much nicer. It will be fixed in the next release or trial but you can bypass it by setting sky_fadeline_multiplier less than 1. Then the horizon will blend into the sky. If you are using skies.

You can also do something like sky_distance_multiplier=1.2 and sky_fadeline_multiplier=0.8 to make the saturated area of the fog blend into the sky so that there is a smooth transition. That just says push the sky back 20% so that that bit is all fog. And then make 20% of that blend into the sky.

Makes things much simpler IMO and is nice. It's not realistic but neither is everything else fading in and out. It is snazzy though. I may sit down to make it a little nicer at some point. Right now the triangle order matters. But the same applies to SOM's fade in effect, so I probably shouldn't fix it unless that is fixed. Even if its not as good as it could be, better to be consistent.

Kind of embarrassed. SOM isn't so pretty out of the box.

EDITED: That should also make the fix'es to the skies in the IMAGES.INI file work if you copied that to your project folder as directed. Except I didn't get them all done. And I just noticed that sky02_1.txr is different in my alternative data folder, so must be someone took it upon themselves to alter it or something. How dare they corrupt the righteous files of Sword of Moonlight

Things will be a lot better organized once the art files here can be canonical. There's just too much to keep track of

Holey Moley · « **Reply #37 on:** February 19, 2013, 05:26:56 PM »

Here is a proper sky with these fixes. Nothing really fancy except the main sky is 4x larger (or 2x, 4x area) and colorkey is disabled on the halo or skirt or whatever. Plus the blending is extensions. I only posted this because I spent a whole lot of time just now poring over these two cases to figure out what the hell is different (to make that sharp line in the right) when I should have been going to sleep.

I am pretty sure I know what it is now. Yet another bug. Probably because I totally reworked the sky stuff to radically simplify it a little while back after spending some time with one of SOM's bugs that proved quite revelatory. Apparently I broke many things in the process. Good finds

SaneGino · « **Reply #38 on:** February 19, 2013, 07:31:01 PM »

Hm. I did notice the skies are a little funky, but to be honest, those look much nicer, glitches and all.

Anyways, I had alot more custom junk than I thought. Here you go.

Please mind my very very very rough start. Just fiddling with the tools and getting a feel.

Holey Moley · « **Reply #39 on:** February 20, 2013, 05:24:45 AM »

Quote from: SaneGino on February 19, 2013, 07:31:01 PM

Hm. I did notice the skies are a little funky, but to be honest, those look much nicer, glitches and all.

Anyways, I had alot more custom junk than I thought. Here you go.

Please mind my very very very rough start. Just fiddling with the tools and getting a feel.

Just reminding everybody that we are busy making SOM if not realistic, at least easy on the eyes. And that is after all all that really should matter.

You cannot really use custom files in your project DATA folder yet. It works with som_db.exe for some reason but not SOM_MAP as far as I can tell, and probably not any of the other tools. The only thing custom you should have in your project folder is BGMs, pictures, and movies. Those have to go if you have to post a project for debugging.

I am going to be working on making SOM_MAP and friends work with the project data folder because the Ex data folder is not a place for custom anything. Its a folder where you synchronize public files on the internet which should go through a strict standardization and approval process. Obviously the only thing that is in there right now is the stuff that comes with SOM. After a major game is released we can think about integrating its contents. And the contents of other From' games will be added also over time.

Anyway I only mention this because if you need to post a test project you should only use game pieces that everyone has easy access too, so customs are out even if you have some. That said I happen to have a lot of the customs that have been around for a long time in my alternative data folder. But anything made in the last 2 or 3 years I won't have.

The holy grail is to make it so most games can be mostly made out of public domain stuff here (or elsewhere) online, so you can download a game that is only a couple megabytes initially and stream any of music and movies and stuff from the internet as you play. Like browsing a webpage. Most likely you will already have game pieces cached if you have played any other SOM games recently and as artwork is improved it will be automatically updated the next time you encounter it in game. Its an alternative vision to downloading a multi-gigabyte (internet clogging) demo for sure.

Holey Moley · « **Reply #40 on:** February 20, 2013, 06:57:46 AM »

Before anything else you need to be spending a lot more time familiarizing yourself with Ex.

To begin with the SOM_EX.ini file in your project looks like it is setup for tools. You can put that kind of thing in your project Ex.ini but you probably want it in your tool/SOM_EX.ini file so it applies to all of your projects.

Code: [Select]

[Editor]

language_pack_to_use = Old English

;Read text/English.txt for download instructions.
;Place the language pack (do not unzip) in the text folder.
;It will be used automatically if it's the only one.
;Otherwise you can select the one you prefer below.
;language_pack_to_use = Old English

;do_hide_direct3d_hardware_devices = yes

;default_pixel_value = 00f

clip_volume_multiplier = 0.5

texture_subsamples = 2

[Folder]

;If you've been working with Som much prior to 2012 or so
;you'll probably want to point your Ex enabled install to your
;working data folder (from your previous Som install)
alternative_data_folder = C:\Program files\Sword of Moonlight\data

;Same deal with your tool folder if you have anything special in 
;there, or don't want to use the available language packs.
alternative_tool_folder = C:\Program files\Sword of Moonlight\data

Also your alternative_tool_folder there is pointing to a data folder! I am kind of surprised this even works. That may be a bug in and of itself.

Your project Ex.ini file should look more like http://svn.swordofmoonlight.net/SAMPLE/Example/Example%20Ex.ini. By not following instructions or preparing you can only hurt yourself. If your CS teachers didn't teach you that first thing in college you didn't get your moneys worth.

That Example Ex.ini file is getting pretty long in the tooth. But I don't think it will get updated anytime too soon. It's a start. You just need to study the extension documentation in the wiki and follow the discourse.

Holey Moley · « **Reply #41 on:** February 20, 2013, 07:41:10 AM »

PS: Plus there is that not everyone has the same tools setup!

Here is the project Ex.ini file I made so to not give myself a headache.

Code: [Select]

Prison of Darkness

[Locale]

do_use_builtin_english_by_default
do_use_builtin_locale_date_format

[Window]

do_not_hide_window_on_startup

window_title_to_use = Prison of Darkness

do_force_fullscreen_inside_window
do_scale_640x480_modes_to_setting

do_auto_pause_window_while_inactive

directx_version_to_use_for_window = 9

shader_model_to_use = 3

;shader_compatability_level = 0

;do_force_refresh_on_vertical_blank
;do_force_immediate_vertical_refresh 

[Option]

do_st
do_aa
;do_log
do_wasd
do_mouse
do_pause
do_cursor
do_escape
do_mipmaps
do_dither
do_smooth
do_invert
do_fog
do_lights
do_ambient
do_hdr
do_sounds
do_bpp
;do_highcolor
do_anisotropy
;obsolete
do_bob
do_sway
do_dash
do_walk
do_pedal
do_red

[Detail]

escape_analog_modes = uzxy-y, xzuv-v

[Analog]

error_allowance = 0.02
error_allowance2 = 0.04
error_tolerance = 0.1
error_clearance = 0.2

[Player]

player_character_radius = 0.375

[Adjust]

fov_frustum_multiplier = 1.2

pc_walk_speed_multiplier = 0.5
pc_dash_speed_multiplier = 0.5

[Script]

;status_fonts_height = 50
;status_fonts_to_use = 200% 100

[Bugfix]

do_fix_any_trivial = yes
do_fix_any_nontrivial = yes

[Output]

function_overlay_mask = c0
function_overlay_tint = fe0
function_overlay_contrast = 000

do_missing_file_dialog_ok

You also neglected to copy the IMAGES.INI file in the tool folder to your project folder as instructed so some of your textures that aren't compatible with Direct3D 9 will look worse than they could.

This is something that would be nice to fix. But its also easy to follow directions.

The bug you were experiencing was due to their not being an [Option] section. It will be fixed in the next release or trial. You did the right thing and your game looked promising. Most people seem a little bitchy when they find their first bug and don't want to help fix it.

They don't realize that's the only way bugs get fixed. And how lucky they are that anyone is up to fixing it.

EDITED: Oh yes you can press F12 for information and Esc for dual analog modes.

I added do_not_hide_window_on_startup in case your game gets stuck starting up but it will appear to be unresponsive while loading. It makes it easier to kill than looking for the background process in Task Manager.

I slowed down your moving speeds to. You can press F4 to fly through the map at 3x speed. Go vertical with Alt or Insert/PageUp I don't know what analog settings to use at the speeds you had, and it might require a larger clipping radius than you would like unless you use do_dpad.

Holey Moley · « **Reply #42 on:** February 20, 2013, 07:55:05 AM »

BTW: I recommend using much more subtle directional lighting. Just so there are defined edges. It makes things feel solid but not unrealistic.

Holey Moley · « **Reply #43 on:** February 20, 2013, 08:16:10 AM »

And you can get around the map tiles disappearing here and there by not checking the Optimize Map feature in SOM_MAP. Ideally you want your map optimized but even if you are careful to make sure everything is properly closed off you can still have issues if you don't keep your maps very simple like those of the KF1 remake.

No one really understands how optimization works. Probably its just based on the simple closure info in the PRF or MHM files one (irrespective of elevation) but you can't see that in SOM_MAP regretfully. We'll get around to figuring it out eventually.

Holey Moley · « **Reply #44 on:** February 20, 2013, 01:21:00 PM »

Quote from: Holy Diver on February 19, 2013, 05:26:56 PM

I am pretty sure I know what it is now. Yet another bug. Probably because I totally reworked the sky stuff to radically simplify it a little while back after spending some time with one of SOM's bugs that proved quite revelatory. Apparently I broke many things in the process. Good finds

It turns out this bug was a long outstanding assumption in the shader (GPU micro program) that if you have do_[alpha]fog on everything would be in fog. Except that the sky is not in fog! The sky is drawn around the PCs head like an astronaut's helmet. So if the fog starts in front of the sky helmet it blends with the sky.

It's a nice feeling knowing that if there are any more bugs on the player's end it is probably in the SomEx.dll source code and not in SOM. Not that I expected this to be a SOM bug, but in retrospect I guess it could have been. Anyway, wasn't what I was expecting. But it is progress.

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Getting started: bugs and errors.

Author Topic: Getting started: bugs and errors. (Read 48134 times)

Holey Moley

Holey Moley says,

SaneGino

SaneGino says,

SaneGino

SaneGino says,

Holey Moley

Holey Moley says,

SaneGino

SaneGino 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,

Holey Moley

Holey Moley says,

Holey Moley

Holey Moley says,

Holey Moley

Holey Moley says,

Holey Moley

Holey Moley 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 48134 times)

Sword of Moonlight|

Archive (pre 2023)|

Beginner and other Nonsense|

Getting started: bugs and errors.