View Full Version : Larry's Toaw edition developement forum
So why doesn't this exist? Personally I think it has much more change of becoming the game we want, than Matrix Toaw(which will probaply be 'improved Toaw').
A subforum would be good, considering the amount of replies the single thread already has.
Well, there are issue here, some of which are legal. I know that Larry is in communication with David, and will be discussing the TOAW project, and Larry's clone. I too am very excited about Larry's clone, and I hope he gets to finish it. I am dreaming of a strategic-capable wargame that allows combat to be resolved on the operation level.
TOAW is my favorite game so far, but that's not to say that it is my 'ideal'. My dream game does not exist, and I have high hopes for Larry's efforts. The inclusion of multipayer capabilities, full production and resource management, along with a solid diplomatic model get me quite excited. :)
It is posible that in the future a sub-forum for Larry's work could be created, but we need to get past the current issues to see where things are headed first.
larryfulkerson
13 Oct 05, 14:07
So um........Hey you guys:
David sent me an Email with his phone # and said either call me or gimme a phone # where I can call you. So I called him..................and .................
I got stuck in voice mail hell.
So I sent an email back to him with my phone # and said call me day or night anytime.
Now you guys know as much as I do. LOL.
cool......a TOAW clone development forum. I could get used to that.
Bloodstar
13 Oct 05, 16:35
So um........Hey you guys:
LOL, bravo Larry... This "so um" is excellent I must use this... :laugh:
Mario
So um........Hey you guys:
David sent me an Email with his phone # and said either call me or gimme a phone # where I can call you. So I called him..................and .................
I got stuck in voice mail hell.
So I sent an email back to him with my phone # and said call me day or night anytime.
Now you guys know as much as I do. LOL.
cool......a TOAW clone development forum. I could get used to that.
Hi Larry
Well I tried today but the line was busy. I will try again later.
David
larryfulkerson
16 Oct 05, 11:09
Hi Larry
Well I tried today but the line was busy. I will try again later.
David
So um.......Hey David: if all else fails why not communicate via email? my address is
larryfulkerson2002 at yahoo dot com and / or
larryfulkerson at hotmail dot com.
Sorry I missed your call. I too attempted to commo you last Friday about 09:00 tucson time and I guess you were out to lunch ( 12:00 new york time ) and missed again. But I did leave a voice mail thingie.
sincerely, larry "mud" fulkerson
I too hope that all his efforts are not to be frustrated. That would truely suck.
larryfulkerson
16 Oct 05, 19:18
So um.......Hey you guys....I've been giving some thought to the AI that might be employed in the TOAW thingie. I was thinking that maybe there ought to be 2 separate AI's one for the force_commander and one for each of the formation_commanders, since the force_commander has to "think" stragetically and the formation_commanders have tactical problems to solve; with the force_commander being the boss of all the formation_commanders.
There are several states that a formation might be in at any one time in the game, with movement and combat predominating. The separate states for movement might be something like:
a) movement to contact
b) hasty_attack
c) deliberate_attack
d) prolonged_attack
e) deliberate_retreat
f) hasty_retreat
So these could be the orders that a force_commander might issue to each of the formation_commanders. Then the formation_commander might have to do an inventory on each of his units as reguards readiness and / or supply to see which ones he could best use to accomplish his mission. Some of the separate states for readiness and supply could be something like this:
readiness:
a) readiness_able ( 100% to, say, 50% )
b) readiness_marginable ( 49% to, say 40% )
c) readiness_not_able ( anything below 40% )
supply:
a) supply_ample ( 100% to, say 50% )
b) supply_adequate ( 50% to say 33% )
c) supply_low ( anything below 33% )
if we define the ordinary garden variety unit thusly:
class Unit {
unsigned int State;
Unit();
~Unit();
};
then we can combine any of the states into the unsigned integer State if we just
#define them or make each state a constant integer, thusly:
const unsigned int unknown = 0; // included for completeness
const unsigned int movement to contact = 1;
const unsigned int hasty_attack = 2;
const unsigned int deliberate_attack = 4;
const unsigned int prolonged_attack = 8;
const unsigned int deliberate_retreat = 16;
const unsigned int hasty_retreat = 32;
const unsigned int readiness_able = 64;
const unsigned int readiness_marginable = 128;
const unsigned int readiness_not_able = 256;
const unsigned int supply_ample = 512;
const unsigned int supply_adequate = 1024;
const unsigned int supply_low = 2048;
// more states can be included here
If an unsigned integer is 32 bits ( 0xFFFFFFFF ), and it is on most platforms, the largest number that our State can hold is 4294967295, so we won't run out of states anytime soon. If we need additional states that one unsigned int won't hold we can simply define another variable, say State2, to hold the other states that won't fit in the first variable.
Now we can define two separate decision-trees, one for the force_commander AI and one for the formation_commanders. Each of the formation_commanders can use the same tactical decision-tree since their problem-domain will be strikingly similar. However the force_commander needs a strategic decision-tree so his will be neccessarily different.
If we separate the "thinking" this way the PO might be a more able opponent.
What do you guys think?
Sounds good. Now we should just work out what priorities the force commander should have. Keeping a solid frontline is one.
That's a great idea, Larry! That might solve all sorts of problems.
larryfulkerson
17 Oct 05, 15:17
Hey you guys.....I'm putting the finishing touches on the Scenario Designer Thingie and I've run across a potiential problemo.
I've discovered that I'm developing this thing for 1024 by 768 pixels, mainly because that's the size of the screen I have on my monitor.
SO......I need to know what the most popular size that most of the gamers are using so I can develop this thing THAT size.
Your choises are :
800 X 600
1024 X 768
1152 X 864
1280 X 720
1280 X 768
1280 X 960
I'm guessing that somewhere between 800X 600 or 1024 by 768 is the most popular size. Do we need to do a poll or something? Who do I talk to about doing a poll? Mensschefressher?? or Mantis???? or ?????
This data would really come in handy when it comes time to publish the clone, if and when it ever gets done. LOL.
How about having it scale automatically to the user's desktop resolution, like TOAW does?
larryfulkerson
17 Oct 05, 15:44
How about having it scale automatically to the user's desktop resolution, like TOAW does?
Great Idea. Same idea that surfaced at Matrix Games Forum. Like minds think alike. Or something like that. That's what I'll do .....make it adaptable to the monitor resolution instead of a fixed size. Thanks.
Keep those suggestions coming....it helps.
Lol, posting hours on both boards clearly show James was first - it is with good grace that I concede the paternity of it all ;)
larryfulkerson
18 Oct 05, 15:21
So um........Hey you guys.....I ran into an interesting development today. I'm revising the Game logic part of the scenario design thingie and I noticed I needed a variable to hold the current turn.
A short int would hold 0x7F which, as I'm sure you know is 127, which isn't enough for the longer games.
An unsigned short would hold 0xFF which is 255 which isn't enough still.
The current turn would never be negative so we don't need a signed number so the next step up in size is an unsigned integer which would hold 0xFFFFFFFF which as I'm sure you know is 4,294,967,295 which I'm pretty sure would be almost enough for any game that exists. Even if the computer was playing itself and the turns were only 60 seconds long that's enough turns to last about 8,000 years. That oughta just about be enough.
Just keeping you guys in the loop.
unsigned int Current_turn = 1; // start with turn 1, end with turn 4 Billion +
Well let's see...
Dream campaign game of WWII, 5 years... Individual men represented; turns at 1 second...
1,577,880,000 turns... Well, we're good 'til the late 50's!
:laugh:
Dan Neely
18 Oct 05, 19:50
So um........Hey you guys.....I ran into an interesting development today. I'm revising the Game logic part of the scenario design thingie and I noticed I needed a variable to hold the current turn.
A short int would hold 0x7F which, as I'm sure you know is 127, which isn't enough for the longer games.
An unsigned short would hold 0xFF which is 255 which isn't enough still.
The current turn would never be negative so we don't need a signed number so the next step up in size is an unsigned integer which would hold 0xFFFFFFFF which as I'm sure you know is 4,294,967,295 which I'm pretty sure would be almost enough for any game that exists. Even if the computer was playing itself and the turns were only 60 seconds long that's enough turns to last about 8,000 years. That oughta just about be enough.
Just keeping you guys in the loop.
unsigned int Current_turn = 1; // start with turn 1, end with turn 4 Billion +
What's wrong with a 16bit int, 65535 is a much less absurd max. OTOH the compiler will probably align data in 32bit chunks anyway.
larryfulkerson
18 Oct 05, 20:29
I'm using the Borland C++ Builder 6.0 compiler and, yes, you're correct, the alignment is for 32-bit data blocks so whether I use a 16-bit number for the variable or a 32-bit unsigned integer the displacement in the code will probably be the same, so I guess I may as well go ahead and use the 32-bit number. Also, in the future the 64-bit compiler will probably have flags you can set for whether or not you want the 64-bit alignment or not but for now.....I gotta use what I got.
I'd rather use a 16-bit integer though, it has the right numbers and code footprint but....
Hey, I'm looking for a few good men to beta test the scenario designer thingie. Anybody interested can drop me an email. The size of the executable, zipped up, is about 4.06 Meg in size so I have to go through email with it. A screenshot of the sdt up and running is found below:
Dicke Bertha
20 Oct 05, 13:05
I got a phone call from David H. of Matrix Games. He said to go ahead with the clone and see what I can do with it. I thought I'd do that. But, before the clone can get very far I'll need some supporting tools and one of those is the Scenario Designer Thingie so we can develop scenarios to test with. It's about 75% done. I still need to finish-up the editing of forces, deployment, and the map. As it is now you can edit the database of equipment, change nationalities of equip. , change attributes of equip., etc.
So with this settled, couldn't there be a new subforum for the Clone, created within the TOAW forum? Not so long ago, Larry was our only real hope and hero, and who knows what cross-pollination may come from a successful Clone and TOAW-Matrix, or even a new TOAW-cousin? Larry's Stockholm fan-club demand justice!!! :blab: :cheeky:
Yes, we demand a new subforum or we'll start a terror campaign...which will mostly consists of evil planning and beer drinking...mostly beer drinking...beer. mmm.
Anyways, subforum would be very useful.
Larry, by "Scenario Design Thingie" are you refering to ODD (Opart Design & Debug)? If so, I'll be happy to cooperate with you even so far as providing source code, but I wrote it in Pascal so unless you got a good converter it's probably more hassle than it's worth.
Curt
P.S. my email has changed to cmchamb {at} comcast.net
Email address edited by SH to protect email address from Spam Trawlers.
larryfulkerson
20 Oct 05, 17:07
Larry, by "Scenario Design Thingie" are you refering to ODD (Opart Design & Debug)? If so, I'll be happy to cooperate with you even so far as providing source code, but I wrote it in Pascal so unless you got a good converter it's probably more hassle than it's worth.
Curt
P.S. my email has changed to cmchamb {at} comcast.net
Email address edited by SH to protect email address from Spam Trawlers.
I'm sorry Curt, I'm not familiar with ODD. Is it like BioEd ( but better? )?
I'm in the process of writing a TOAW clone and thought I'd write a scenario designer thingie as well, since my format for files ( in and out ) isn't the same as TOAW ( I wanted plain english text files ) and so developing the SDT first would help produce scenarios for the clone for testing purposes. So far the SDT thingie will allow a user to modify the equipment database; in the works is
(1) add/delete events,
(2) modify the scenario briefings,
(3) change ( or create from fresh scratch ) the game map
(4) reinforcements, deployment, and modification of forces
(5) something else that I can't remember right now
I've had at least two other people attempt to get the SDT up and running on their system and had problemos with it because they were running XP Home version and XP Home doesn't like "third party" programs to write their files to any directory other than "My Documents" so I'm toying with the idea of using the registry instead. I'm not wild about that idea but that's how TOAW does it and I suppose it would fix the problemo.
Anyway You're welcome to download the SDT thingie from the RD website ( www.the-strategist.net/~larry ) and play with it. Any information reguarding stuff I need to change to make it more user friendly would be appreciated. If the RD site is down or something I can send you a working copy via email instead.
Thanks ahead of time.
larryfulkerson
20 Oct 05, 23:14
So um...Hey you guys....I'm still working on the TOAW clone and I've had a thought I wanted to run past you guys.
TOAW always starts up with that where-do-you-want-to-go-now screen with the five buttons you can click on to (1) start a new game ( 2) continue a saved game
(3) play a PBEM game ) (4) change game options and (5) go to the editor. And you always always have to click on one them to go the next step.
I'm wondering if you guys would rather it just continued where you were when you last closed it down. If you were playing a game when you quit last time, my thinking is that I could read from the file you saved just before you quit ( you did save it right ? ) and then you'd be in the same spot where you quit last time.
And if it was a PBEM game you were playing when you quit I could just display the same five buttons like TOAW does it.
How's that sound? Any nay sayers? It's just a thought to make the program a little more user-friendly.
Anybody like the idea?
larryfulkerson
20 Oct 05, 23:21
Here's a picture of the splash screen of the TOAW clone up and running. This is a rough draft, you understand.
Oh. and I fixed the code so that the game scales according to the resolution of the monitor you have and I tested it at 800 by 600 and 1024 by 768 and no problemos.
http://img487.imageshack.us/img487/8471/cloneupandrunning7uk.jpg
Menschenfresser
21 Oct 05, 06:56
I'm not sure it can get anymore user friendly than the five buttons. Everything I want is there. As to starting up what I had going the last time I played...naw. I jump around from thing to thing.
But it looks like TOAW, sounds like TOAW, tastes like TOAW, smells like TOAW....so according to Chicken Little, it must be TOAW.
Considering that all those TOAW graphics are probaply copyrighted, maybe you should contact the people who have made modified grpahics? Some of those are really good, and even better than the original TOAW graphics.
I went throught the event trigger and effects, I think it should be worth thinking what should be added here, anyways:
Triggers:
Force 1 attacks
Force 1 occupies
Force 1 uses chemicals
Force 1 uses nuclear
Force 2 attacks
Force 2 occupies
Force 2 uses chemicals
Force 2 uses nuclear
Event activated
Event cancelled
Force 1 winning
Force 2 winning
Turn
Unit destroyed
Variable Value
Effects:
Activate event
Air shock 1
Air shock 2
Air transport 1
Air transport 2
Cancel event
Cease Fire
Cool Front
Disband unit
Enable event
End normal
End victory 1
End victory 2
Force 1 (objective)track
Force 2 (objective)track
Formation orders
Guerillas 1
Guerillas 2
News only
Nuclear attack
Nuclear OK 1
Nuclear OK 2
Open fire
Pestilence 1
Pestilence 2
PO 1 activate
PO 2 activate
Rail damage 1
Rail damage 2
Rail repair 1
Rail repair 2
Rail transport 1
Rail transport 2
Refugees 1
Refugees 2
Remove (exclusion)zone 1
Remove (exclusion)zone 2
Replacements 1*
Replacements 2*
Sea transport 1
Sea transport 2
Set ownership 1
Set ownership 2
Shock 1
Shock 2
Storms
Strategic Bias 1
Strategic Bias 2
Supply 1+
Supply 1-
Supply 2+
Supply 2-
Supply point 1
Supply point 2
Supply radius 1
Supply radius 2
Theater option 1
Theater option 2
Theater recon 1
Theater recon 2
Use chemicals 1
Use chemicals 2
Variable +
Variable -
Victory 1+
Victory 2+
Warm front
Withdraw Army
Withdraw Unit
I'm sorry Curt, I'm not familiar with ODD. Is it like BioEd ( but better? )?
No. Not the same and certainly not better. It's a design utility I wrote it to help with map drawing, event listing & debugging, objective plotting, and stuff like that. It's a planning tool. It doesn't interface directly with Opart.
The Bioeditor alters the executable to include modified database values.
Curt
larryfulkerson
21 Oct 05, 11:54
Considering that all those TOAW graphics are probaply copyrighted, maybe you should contact the people who have made modified grpahics? Some of those are really good, and even better than the original TOAW graphics.
Yeah, I was going to use the MOD's graphics, they're better than the originals.
larryfulkerson
21 Oct 05, 11:56
No. Not the same and certainly not better. It's a design utility I wrote it to help with map drawing, event listing & debugging, objective plotting, and stuff like that. It's a planning tool. It doesn't interface directly with Opart.
The Bioeditor alters the executable to include modified database values.
Curt
OH. well, yeah, that would help greatly, and would facilitate production of the clone. May I please have a look at the source code?
larryfulkerson
21 Oct 05, 18:44
Nobody ever plays with this type of mode do they? So if it's all the same to you guys, I'll just leave this mode out of the clone. That'll save several millions of bytes of graphics that we don't need in the download for the clone.
http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/2682/3dlarge1tt.jpg
I very much doubt anyone uses that mode...I don't remember ever using it.
Dicke Bertha
21 Oct 05, 20:13
Yes, we demand a new subforum or we'll start a terror campaign...which will mostly consists of evil planning and beer drinking...mostly beer drinking...beer. mmm.
Anyways, subforum would be very useful.
Tell me more about the terror champagne. I am a bit new to this demonstration thing, never flew any red flags too, but I remember a guy who protested in the city by living in a hard paper box for some reason. Of course he didn't achieve much with it. Anyway I am putting a sticker on my signature for the Campaign for Larry's Clone to be inforumed. :smoke: Every engineer a revolutionary! :rolleyes:
Tell me more about the terror champagne. I am a bit new to this demonstration thing, never flew any red flags too, but I remember a guy who protested in the city by living in a hard paper box for some reason. Of course he didn't achieve much with it. Anyway I am putting a sticker on my signature for the Campaign for Larry's Clone to be inforumed. :smoke: Every engineer a revolutionary! :rolleyes:
I'm not quite sure actually. I think we're supposed to do something evil...perhpas we should organize a revolution instead? Thats much easier, just kill a bunch of people and yell 'viva la revolucion'!
larryfulkerson
22 Oct 05, 12:21
So um.......Hey you guys.....I was given an excellent idea by RhinoBones.
The Scenario Design Thingie was designed to enable the user(s) to modify the equipment database of an executable. So now there's the possibility of having a lot of different executables out there with different equipment ( or the same pieces of equipment with different capabilities ). Instead of having a lot of different executables playing the same scenario ( especially in PBEM games ) why not have the equipment database travel with the scenario ( in the scenario file ).
I was planning on having a plain-text file as the scenario anyway. We could just have the equipment used in a scenario ( with their capabilities ) listed in the scenario file. That way both players ( or all players for multi-player games ) could be using the same equipment database when they play a scenario.
And of course we could have a separate file that has any and every piece of equipment ( with it's capabilities ) in the executable itself.
I think it's a good idea. What do you guys think?
I think it's a good idea. If we have 100 scenarios and all of them have different executable..well it get's messy.
So um.......Hey you guys.....I was given an excellent idea by RhinoBones.
The Scenario Design Thingie was designed to enable the user(s) to modify the equipment database of an executable. So now there's the possibility of having a lot of different executables out there with different equipment ( or the same pieces of equipment with different capabilities ). Instead of having a lot of different executables playing the same scenario ( especially in PBEM games ) why not have the equipment database travel with the scenario ( in the scenario file ).
I was planning on having a plain-text file as the scenario anyway. We could just have the equipment used in a scenario ( with their capabilities ) listed in the scenario file. That way both players ( or all players for multi-player games ) could be using the same equipment database when they play a scenario.
And of course we could have a separate file that has any and every piece of equipment ( with it's capabilities ) in the executable itself.
I think it's a good idea. What do you guys think?
I think this is the way to go Larry. Distribute the "official" database with the scenario, but allow designers to assign unique attributes to units/equipment which is saved with the scenario file. It might increase the size of the scenario file but we would get so much in return.
larryfulkerson
23 Oct 05, 00:31
So um.......Hey you guys.....I split up the code into three layers:
Application Layer: where the user clicks on a mouse or enters a keystroke or something like that
Game View Layer: where the map scrolls or the weather pattern is displayed or a view of a different unit is desired or something like that
GameLogicLayer: where the AI makes it's decisions, or where the decision has to be made as to where the PO will take the next move or something related to the logical decisions to be made somewhere.
And I've installed a messaging system where messages are passed back and forth from one layer to another so that the code can be made flexible, extensible and modular. I tested the messaging system and found that if you allow about 10 milliseconds for the creation, processing, and handling of each message ( a figure that I guess might be close to that needed by the system ) then we can pass about 196 messages per second ( at least on my machine we can ). And I think 196 messages per second might just about do anything we need on a slow moving game like the clone is going to be handling.
Each message will be thinks like "a user clicked on the button to show the weather" and the game view layer will receive the message and act on it by displaying on the game map the little fluffy clouds at random depending on the current weather predicted to be in the neighborhood.
Or a user might move the mouse to the left edge of the game map causing a message to be created meaning "we need to scroll the map to the right" and the game view handler will receive it and scroll the map just so many pixels per "step" until the message is received to stop scrolling.
All these messages will happen so fast that it'll be almost instantaneous ( I never could spell big words ). So I think It'll work just fine.
Just keeping all you guys in the loop.
RhinoBones
23 Oct 05, 01:18
So um.......Hey you Larries.....
Last time we spoke I was under the impression that the clone was only targeting the editing functions. Sounds like you have now progressed to changing the actual execution file.
Alright . . . go Larry!
Regards, RhinoBones
Nobody ever plays with this type of mode do they? So if it's all the same to you guys, I'll just leave this mode out of the clone. That'll save several millions of bytes of graphics that we don't need in the download for the clone.
http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/2682/3dlarge1tt.jpg
I suspect that if you allow downloads of your executable code only and allow people to rely on the graphics they have with their own COW games you will
not have a big download and also will not run into any conceivable rights issues.
RhinoBones
23 Oct 05, 03:19
I suspect that if you allow downloads of your executable code only and allow people to rely on the graphics they have with their own COW games you will not have a big download and also will not run into any conceivable rights issues.
Tiberius - What ??
Regards, RhinoBones
Tiberius - What ??
Regards, RhinoBones
It may not be kosher for Larry to make available a download that includes all the graphics from TOAW etc. - basically the whole game.
If he uploads only his executable file(s) and other material he creates and allows
people to download them into their TOAW directories or wherever so that Larry's game can access the (players) pre-owned TOAW graphics, I don't see how there could be a problem.
larryfulkerson
23 Oct 05, 16:15
Hey you guys...........as you may or may not know MicroSoft designed Windows XP Home version with extra data security so that "third party" programs can't write their files to the "Program Files" directory tree.......which makes it hard for a program to save their configuration from one session to the next. It can write to "[USER NAME]\My Documents\TOAW" etc. but most of you guys will have a different user name than mine....that makes writing to that directory somewhat less than nominal.
So I figured out a way to write entries to the Registry so that configuration data can be read from there. I'm making two new entries in the Registry so that I can read from them from one session to the next. Anybody have a problemo with that? If so, now's the time to speak up.
Here's an example from my registry:
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/331/registryentries4bb.jpg
Dan Neely
23 Oct 05, 17:43
There's a way to get the path to my documents in a batch file. Presumably there should be an api call to do the same via c++.
larryfulkerson
23 Oct 05, 20:14
There's a way to get the path to my documents in a batch file. Presumably there should be an api call to do the same via c++.
Thanks Dan I'll look into it. I'm assuming that you don't want me lurking around in your registry. I understand that 100% and I agree with you. Writing files is the way to go, and I'll do it. Somehow.
While I at times have played the game higher, 1024 X 768 works for me!
larryfulkerson
23 Oct 05, 22:43
So um..........Hey you guys. I finally found a reference book that gave enough hints for me to figure out how to find the temp. directory that supposedly is good to go for XP Home version. and I tested it and the configuration settings were saved just like they were supposed to be. So I don't have to write to the registry anymore. Cool.
This should be good news to you RhinoBones dude.
Here's an example from my machine ( a screenshot ).
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/86/registryentries9dr.jpg
larryfulkerson
24 Oct 05, 00:40
Hey you guys: I finally broke three million lines of code in the toaw clone thingie.
I don't know how many the SDT thingie has but the clone's more important anyway don't you think?
And OH, by the way. I finally found a way to read/write the configuration files to the MS approved way of using "documents and settings\[user name]\local settings\temp" like the big dogs do it. Maybe it'll run on Windows XP Home now. RhinoBones is gonna test it for us. Aren't you Rhino? Cross you fingers guys.
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/1443/linesofcode2xa.jpg
RhinoBones
24 Oct 05, 07:00
Whenever you are ready !! You know my address.
Regards, RhinoBones
Your IDE looks just like Delphi.
Dan Neely
24 Oct 05, 16:22
Your IDE looks just like Delphi.
he's using Borlands C++ compiler. They're using the same IDE for the same reason that MS does the same with VC++, VB.Net, C#, etc.
Dan Neely
24 Oct 05, 16:25
Thanks Dan I'll look into it. I'm assuming that you don't want me lurking around in your registry. I understand that 100% and I agree with you. Writing files is the way to go, and I'll do it. Somehow.
Personally I couldn't care less and the registry is MSes current prefered method of storing data. (I've had to reread the designed for winxp spec repeatedly at work. Fortunately our client isn't requiring us to actaully send the app off to MS for testing.) I was just pointing out there was a way to do it.
Hey you guys: I finally broke three million lines of code in the toaw clone thingie.
I don't know how many the SDT thingie has but the clone's more important anyway don't you think?
And OH, by the way. I finally found a way to read/write the configuration files to the MS approved way of using "documents and settings\[user name]\local settings\temp" like the big dogs do it. Maybe it'll run on Windows XP Home now. RhinoBones is gonna test it for us. Aren't you Rhino? Cross you fingers guys.
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/1443/linesofcode2xa.jpg
:eek: 3 million lines of code!! :scream: :kotz:
larryfulkerson
28 Oct 05, 02:02
Hey you guys....Rhino Bones says that he started up the clone on his machine and saw the Splash Screen. That's good news. That means we can run on Windows XP Home operating system. So I'll put the same changes into the Scenario Designer Thingie and we'll be 80% good to go with the SDT.
The clone is in the shop getting it's wheels aligned and a new paint job.
I'm putting the scenario data, map data, and equipment database all in the same file which as you might imagine requires some major surgery to fix. But it's coming right along. And the good news is that all this data is in plain english. I'm thinking of using a string table in a DLL so that we can have a French version, and an Italian Version, etc. That'd be cool.
I'm switching from a scenario dump to a sorta INI style of input data to help with the parsing.
Here's a sample from the scenario file I'm building right now:
[Scenario Information]
scenario=G:\Program Files\TalonSoft\TOAW-CW\Scenarios\Arracourt 44.SCE
version=106
date=September 1944
location=France, east of Nancy
map_scale=2.5 km per hex
map_size=21 by 21 hexes
time_scale=Half-day turns
unit_scale=Company/Battalion
length=8 turns
//
[unit colors]
force_1=All - Grey on Grey
force_2=All - White on Green
See how we have sections ( the guys in brackets [section] and these are followed by Keys that have values
Key.......value
length=8 turns
The Microsoft People have already built a parser for this style of setup and I can use IT instead of writing my own parser. It's fast, it works ( I've already used it lots of times ) and it never makes a mistake....which is the coolest part.
Anyway, good news all around tonight. Thanks Rhino for testing the dude.
Dicke Bertha
28 Oct 05, 17:10
:clap: go Larry, go!
RhinoBones
28 Oct 05, 17:55
Hey you guys....Rhino Bones says that he started up the clone on his machine and saw the Splash Screen. That's good news. That means we can run on Windows XP Home operating system. So I'll put the same changes into the Scenario Designer Thingie and we'll be 80% good to go with the SDT . . .
. . . Anyway, good news all around tonight.
Actually, I thought I had failed when 'only' the splash screen appeared. But hey, baby steps leading in the right direction. This testing stuff might get interesting real soon.
Other than the suggestions I wrote on the resturant napkin, there are a few more which I have sent to Siberian Heat. The attached document contains things you may want to add to the SDT.
Best Regards, RhinoBones
And the good news is that all this data is in plain english. I'm thinking of using a string table in a DLL so that we can have a French version, and an Italian Version, etc. That'd be cool.
Forget about French and Italian. Do the DLL table in a usefull language, like Portugues. :devil:
Secadegas
29 Oct 05, 04:56
Forget about French and Italian. Do the DLL table in a usefull language, like Portugues. :devil:
Porque é que eu sinto que isto é uma pequena ironia... :whist:
(translation from the "usefull language": Why am i felling a certain irony here...)
larryfulkerson
29 Oct 05, 21:33
Hey you guys.......what do you want showing on the Order of Battle screen?
Name of the unit obviously, but what else....location, supply status, type of unit, or
something else entirely? Let's take a poll and see what everybody thinks should be included in the order of battle display.
Right now the TOAW is displaying the name of the unit, the formation it's from, it's location and the type of unit it is. I can put that kind of stuff in there but I thought I'd give you guys a chance to voice your opinion as to what SHOULD be included there that isn't already.
Now's your chance to have your say. The clone is going together, more so all the time. Let's hear from you before it's too late. LOL.
http://img456.imageshack.us/img456/1938/orderofbattle2op.jpg
larryfulkerson
29 Oct 05, 21:54
Here it is with the Name, Location, and Type of unit:
Double Click on one of the units and the order of battle screen closes and takes you to the unit wherever it is on the game map. If it hasn't entered yet, well, I haven't figured out what I do in that case yet. Just ignore the choice I guess. Maybe I should just list the units that have "arrived" in the game so far and ignore the ones that haven't arrived yet, like the TOAW does now.
http://img456.imageshack.us/img456/9380/orderofbattle8wl.jpg
Dicke Bertha
30 Oct 05, 02:34
The second is better. Maybe it should show present orders too, and deployment. For example if the unit hasn't received any orders, it could show the last turn's orders in italics (like 'dig in' and 'entrenched'. Once a unit has received orders, the italics go to normal font. Perhaps the OOB could be made to show just what the player wants? Other data of interest could be supply level, readiness, supply in hex, movement etc etc.
What about reassignment; will it be possible to 'drag and drop' in this screen? If so I think original (parent) formation should be in the name too, for easy re-reassignment.... or some other colour to show that it is a loaned unit...
Another question: will you be able to give orders directly in the OOB? Like mark your Tactical Air, right click Interdiction, Ignore Losses, and mark your 24th Arm Eng, right-click Dig In Minimise Losses... or somewhere else in the game?
It is looking very good Larry!
Now, coffeetime! ;)
larryfulkerson
02 Nov 05, 00:05
Hey you guys.......Any Graphics programmers out there? I'm in a sort of a quandry.
I'm building the graphics engine part of the clone and now I'm at the part where I read the map data and build the game map. I've put together a sorta test map where there are different terrain types to be built at random on the game map...better to see if there are any problemos with any specific terrain type that way....and I've gotten to the part where I need to mask the clear open terrain ( the basic terrain of the un-painted game map ) and then paint the specific overlaying terrain on top.
I can get the terrain mask to paint to the open terrain correctly, but when I do a boolean OR to paint the terrain........well, it looks like nothing has happened at all. I've tried about 110 different permutations of boolean AND , OR, and XOR and nothing seems to be giving me the effect desired ( which is that the terrain is painted on top of some clear terrain). As you can see from the picture below, the AFTER image doesn't look all that much different from the BEFORE image. So I guess I need some advice ( and consent ) from you graphics programmers out there who know what they're doing.
I'm from a mainframe environment and there's not much graphics stuff to be had there. So this is all new to me. There's only several choices to make in order to make this happen. Here's my different operations:
/* CANVAS->COPYMODE =
cmBlackness Fills the destination rectangle on the canvas with black.
cmDstInvert Inverts the image on the canvas and ignores the source.
cmMergeCopy Combines the image on the canvas and the source bitmap by using the Boolean AND operator.
cmMergePaint Combines the inverted source bitmap with the image on the
canvas by using the Boolean OR operator.
cmNotSrcCopy Copies the inverted source bitmap to the canvas.
cmNotSrcErase Combines the image on the canvas and the source bitmap by
using the Boolean OR operator, and inverts the result.
cmPatCopy Copies the source pattern to the canvas.
cmPatInvert Combines the source pattern with the image on the canvas
using the Boolean XOR operator
cmPatPaint Combines the inverted source bitmap with the source pattern by using the Boolean OR operator. Combines the result of this operation with the image on the canvas by using the Boolean OR operator.
cmSrcAnd Combines the image on the canvas and source bitmap by using the
Boolean AND operator.
cmSrcCopy Copies the source bitmap to the canvas.
cmSrcErase Inverts the image on the canvas and combines the result with the source bitmap by using the Boolean AND operator.
cmSrcInvert Combines the image on the canvas and the source bitmap by using the Boolean XOR operator.
cmSrcPaint Combines the image on the canvas and the source bitmap by using the Boolean OR operator.
cmWhiteness Fills the destination rectangle on the canvas with white.
*/
Anybody got any good ideas?
http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/7736/beforeandafter3st.png
larryfulkerson
11 Nov 05, 23:44
Hey you guys:
I've decided to adopt a DLL approach to the clone so that to get the game to speak to you in a different language you just substitute the "language" dll to a different one. So the clone could be used by anyone in the world in their own language.
The problemo is that I gotta find a translation of all the messages, information strings, etc. that the game may use in all the languages we intend the clone to be used by. So we're gonna need someone who speaks French, German, Spanish, etc. to translate all those strings into their own language first.
So I guess I need to find some people who speak english AND a different language.
Anybody want to volunteer to do some translating? I'm at larryfulkerson2002 (at) yahoo (dot ) com if you're interested. I'll mail the strings to you and you can xlate them and send 'em back if you would. That'd be a heap of help.
ralphtrickey
13 Nov 05, 13:28
Hey you guys.......Any Graphics programmers out there? I'm in a sort of a quandry.
I'm building the graphics engine part of the clone and now I'm at the part where I read the map data and build the game map. I've put together a sorta test map where there are different terrain types to be built at random on the game map...better to see if there are any problemos with any specific terrain type that way....and I've gotten to the part where I need to mask the clear open terrain ( the basic terrain of the un-painted game map ) and then paint the specific overlaying terrain on top.
I can get the terrain mask to paint to the open terrain correctly, but when I do a boolean OR to paint the terrain........well, it looks like nothing has happened at all. I've tried about 110 different permutations of boolean AND , OR, and XOR and nothing seems to be giving me the effect desired ( which is that the terrain is painted on top of some clear terrain). As you can see from the picture below, the AFTER image doesn't look all that much different from the BEFORE image. So I guess I need some advice ( and consent ) from you graphics programmers out there who know what they're doing.
Larry,
Use TransparentBlt instead. If you're going to support win98, There's an article on how to use BitBlt to do what you want referenced by MSDN.
One common convention is to use the top left corner as the 'transparent' bit to allow for more flexibility, instead of coding a some color to transparent.
Feel free to email me with any more questions, and I'll see what I can remember ;-)
Ralph
Larry, your effort on the TOAW clone is commendable and deserves our utmost respect and assistance.
I'm of German mother tongue and my command of English is pretty good. I'm offering my services for your English - German translation issues. Please contact me at: haegint (at) yahoo dot com :)
May I still humbly suggest that you concentrate your work on finishing the English version of your clone before bringing it out other language versions. I hope you can bring this project to fruitition. I find it quite exciting I have to say.
Best greetings,
Thomas
Larry, your effort on the TOAW clone is commendable and deserves our utmost respect and assistance.
I'm of German mother tongue and my command of English is pretty good. I'm offering my services for your English - German translation issues. Please contact me at: haegint (at) yahoo dot com :)
May I still humbly suggest that you concentrate your work on finishing the English version of your clone before bringing it out other language versions. I hope you can bring this project to fruitition. I find it quite exciting I have to say.
Best greetings,
Thomas
I agree, I can help with the Spanish angle, but since we are all shooting away in English, why bother?
I can translate from english to finnish. Although I suspect most finns would rather play the game in english...I know I do.
Hi Larry
I'm curious. I've seen the SDT at the strategist. Is it complete or are you still working on features?
larryfulkerson
05 Dec 05, 12:17
Hi Larry
I'm curious. I've seen the SDT at the strategist. Is it complete or are you still working on features?
Um....well, I'm still working on the features that are planned for SDT but the only things lacking are: map editing, deployment editing, force editing, etc.
You can still download and play with it if you'd like.
Hi Larry!
Any January 06 updates on your project?
Thx
-Sharon
larryfulkerson
06 Jan 06, 17:02
so um...........updates? Okay......updates: I'm sorta blocked in the graphics department....I think the solution is a new set of graphics. I mean I think I'm going to have to develop my own masks for the textures since I can't figure out how Norman used his mask(s) for those same terrain textures. I can't get his to work and there are a lot of them. There's 17 fundamental terrain types and each terrain type has 80 ( count 'em ) "poses" so that's one mask for each terrain type and each "pose" thereof. that's, let's see, 17 times 80, carry the one......well, it's a lot. So I thought I'd work on something else for a while. The AI is straight forward. NOT!
Plus I'm sorta working on a masters degree in Chemical Engineering which is a black hole for my time.
Bottom Line: the work is ongoing but has slowed down considerably. My best advice, wait for the new version of TOAW which Matrix Games is working on and invest in that. From what I hear there's a lot of new features and many many fixes of obvious problemos. Just what features and fixes I'm not sure I can say, rules being what they are in that department, you know what I mean. HA, like I might know anything at all.
I'm looking forward to the new version of TOAW myself and I DO plan on buying it whenever it finally sees the light of day. Thanks, Matrix Games, for updating such a fine game. It's the only thing I play almost, since you can't count FlightSimulator as a wargame that you can play against another human player, right?
Thanks for the update. Graphics? I'd let matrix worry about changing the graphics. Can't you use the current graphics? Definitely your degree should be a priority. By the time you have that, you'll be able to see what the matrix version does (and doesn't ) do. Then, if there's a need for another version, you'll know what to do.
Good luck!
Dan Neely
06 Jan 06, 18:55
I think Larry's saying he can't figure out how to use the toaw graphic files.
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