New program to help set up VASL scenarios

[Pacman Ghost]

This was all created with using the latest version (0.4). I turned flags on after and re did all snippets except the Vehicles will do that again.

And you're still seeing the problem with the wrong date being inserted? Try it first thing in the morning, and late at night (no, seriously :-/) and see if it makes a difference.

I love the program i is great!!

I'm working hard on the next version, what's coming up next is pretty cool...

 

[Paul M. Weir]

I scanned most of my scenarios and saved them as .JPGs. I use the "Date taken" file attribute to date the scenario and found I had to be careful to use a date with a time of 02:00 (AM) to avoid some of the dates being set to the previous day due to daylight saving time calculations. Whether the date was decremented depended upon whether I was scanning in summer or winter.

 

[ramzon]

Pacman Ghost, what am I doing wrong as the flags and the vehicle counter art did not show up when I re opened my set up file? Thank you for your assistance.

 

[Pacman Ghost]

Pacman Ghost, what am I doing wrong as the flags and the vehicle counter art did not show up when I re opened my set up file? Thank you for your assistance.

View attachment 6156

The program needs to be running before you load the scenario into VASL (although the scenario doesn't have to be loaded into my program). If you've already tried to load the scenario into VASL and got the missing images, you will probably have to restart VASSAL.

 

[fzmann]

Please add another vote for Mac use. I tried messing around with the source code per the instructions, I'm pretty sure I didn't know what I was doing

 

[Pacman Ghost]

Please add another vote for Mac use. I tried messing around with the source code per the instructions, I'm pretty sure I didn't know what I was doing

The process I used to create the Windows release also works on Linux, so it should work on a Mac, but I don't have a Mac, so I can't test anything. Maybe get onto Fiverr or Upwork and find someone who can create a release package for you...?

Running from source also should work - what was going wrong for you?

BTW, I had to use a Mac for a gig last year, so I know a little bit about how things work in la-la land :-/ IIRC, there are often issues with the default tools, and you're often better off getting things from brew. Also, make sure you're running Python 3.6. 3.7 was released recently, and should work, but I haven't tested it. Earlier 3.x versions also should work, but anything 2.x definitely won't.

Also, if you're non-technical, don't bother trying to get the desktop application going, just follow the "Running just the web server" instructions.

Another thought: run the Windows version in WINE or Virtual Box.

 

[fzmann]

The process I used to create the Windows release also works on Linux, so it should work on a Mac, but I don't have a Mac, so I can't test anything. Maybe get onto Fiverr or Upwork and find someone who can create a release package for you...?

Running from source also should work - what was going wrong for you?

BTW, I had to use a Mac for a gig last year, so I know a little bit about how things work in la-la land :-/ IIRC, there are often issues with the default tools, and you're often better off getting things from brew. Also, make sure you're running Python 3.6. 3.7 was released recently, and should work, but I haven't tested it. Earlier 3.x versions also should work, but anything 2.x definitely won't.

Also, if you're non-technical, don't bother trying to get the desktop application going, just follow the "Running just the web server" instructions.

Another thought: run the Windows version in WINE or Virtual Box.

Ok, I just figured out how to install Python 3.6 (I think). that may have been the issue.
Thank you

 

[Fiedler]

Please add another vote for Mac use. I tried messing around with the source code per the instructions, I'm pretty sure I didn't know what I was doing

me too!

 

[Fiedler]

Ok, I just figured out how to install Python 3.6 (I think). that may have been the issue.
Thank you

A MAC instruction checklist for dummies would be much appreciated

 

[Will Fleming]

Must I be the first jerk here (again)?

Step one, buy a real PC.
Step two, follow the instructions for a real PC.

Just kidding, MAC are great machines and I can understand those who love them. Good luck on getting this tool working as I am sure lots will love it.

 

[Pacman Ghost]

Must I be the first jerk here (again)?

Nah, that was me when I said Mac users lived in la-la land. Nobody bit, though...

Good luck on getting this tool working

My internet connectivity is absolutely woeful right now (and will be for a while ), but I managed to test it under Wine on Linux, and it seems to run OK, which means that it might work under Wine on a Mac. The GUI didn't work, because I didn't have Qt installed, but even though the main window was blank, the server came up OK, and I was able to open a browser and connect to it at http://localhost:5010.

The installation notes talk about some debug settings you can try, to get the GUI working, but I've just realized that the new packaging scheme means that you can't place the debug.cfg file where it needs to be. However, you can specify it in the command line e.g.
wine vasl-templates.exe --debug /home/pacman-ghost/debug.cfg

Alternatively, if somebody manages to get it going on a Mac, they can compile a release package and post it here, or just document what they did to get it up and running.

 

[peterd1973]

Does your opponent need the program to see the stuff that shows up on your screen when you have the program running? Sorry if I worded it strange.

 

[Will Fleming]

I don't know the inner workings, but it seems that the program runs a small html server (or equivalent) on your PC. From that local instance, it serves up the text and images to VASL/VASSAL.

Thus, I am willing to say, your opponent probably needs it to see the images and maybe some other stuff as well. I assume some of the text and styling would be just fine.

 

[Pacman Ghost]

Does your opponent need the program to see the stuff that shows up on your screen when you have the program running?

Will got it almost right, the program runs a local web server, but it's only used to provide images. If you enable any of the options under Provide services to VASL in the User Settings (currently to include VASL counter images and/or flags in snippets), then yes, both you and your opponent will need to have the program running before you load the scenario into VASL (although you don't need to have the scenario loaded into my program). If the program is not running you can still use the scenario in VASL, but it will take forever to load and will have broken images.

If you don't use these options, it's exactly the same as if you had typed the labels yourself i.e. you can use the VASL scenario as you normally would.

 

[fzmann]

Nah, that was me when I said Mac users lived in la-la land. Nobody bit, though...


My internet connectivity is absolutely woeful right now (and will be for a while ), but I managed to test it under Wine on Linux, and it seems to run OK, which means that it might work under Wine on a Mac. The GUI didn't work, because I didn't have Qt installed, but even though the main window was blank, the server came up OK, and I was able to open a browser and connect to it at http://localhost:5010.

The installation notes talk about some debug settings you can try, to get the GUI working, but I've just realized that the new packaging scheme means that you can't place the debug.cfg file where it needs to be. However, you can specify it in the command line e.g.
wine vasl-templates.exe --debug /home/pacman-ghost/debug.cfg

Alternatively, if somebody manages to get it going on a Mac, they can compile a release package and post it here, or just document what they did to get it up and running.

Update: the good news I was able to install WINE on my Mac via Terminal. The bad news: while running the command wine vasl-templates.exe i got a series of error messages ending with a time out and a message that the debugger couldn't start.

Other kinda of good news: I was able to run the program while using Windows on my Mac (I know, kinda weird) using Parallels, no problem. However, under this mode, I'm unable to copy and paste the snippets between the Windows and Mac environments. I'm evaluating whether or not to run VASSAL/VASL in Windows. My preference would be no, but the examples provided by Pacman Ghost might convince me to use Windows while VASLing.

 

[Pacman Ghost]

Thanks for the update.

The bad news: while running the command wine vasl-templates.exe i got a series of error messages ending with a time out and a message that the debugger couldn't start.

Could you post the output here, it might be something fixable.

However, under this mode, I'm unable to copy and paste the snippets between the Windows and Mac environments. I'm evaluating whether or not to run VASSAL/VASL in Windows.

I seem to remember having the same problem when running stuff under Fusion. I got around it by pasting stuff into a file living in a shared folder :-/

You don't necessarily have to play your game under Windows, just run VASSAL/VASL in Windows to create the scenario, then copy the .vsav file over to the Mac environment and play your game there. You probably won't be able to have any Provide services to VASL options (see the post above), but you never know, it might work...

 

[fzmann]

Thanks for the update.

Could you post the output here, it might be something fixable.


I seem to remember having the same problem when running stuff under Fusion. I got around it by pasting stuff into a file living in a shared folder :-/

You don't necessarily have to play your game under Windows, just run VASSAL/VASL in Windows to create the scenario, then copy the .vsav file over to the Mac environment and play your game there. You probably won't be able to have any Provide services to VASL options (see the post above), but you never know, it might work...

Yes, in thinking more about this I agree with saving the .vsav file over to the Mac.
Here's most of the output I saved.

Thanks,
Felipe

[edited]

 

[Pacman Ghost]

Here's most of the output I saved.

Yeesh, it's complaining about a Windows feature not being implemented in Wine (PathCchCombineEx). Running Wine staging might help (it's the bleeding edge, latest version of Wine, as it's being developed) but otherwise, this is not something that we can fix.

EDIT: The version I used when testing on Linux was 3.19 (Staging) (run wine --version).

 

[von Marwitz]

Update: the good news I was able to install WINE on my Mac via Terminal. The bad news: while running the command wine vasl-templates.exe i got a series of error messages ending with a time out and a message that the debugger couldn't start.

Well, I have made quite some good experience with installing wine to my belly as long as it is not too much of it. Running wine across the keyboard or other parts of my laptop including the software within does also yield error messages or does end with a terminal time-out for the machine with no more start at all. Bugger that!

Cheers,
von Marwitz

 

[Big Noodle]

Love this tool. Hopefully the BFP vehicles will be in the next release. (I just started a project playing ALL the Blood and Jungle scenarios. The first one has a bunch of FT-17 variants not in the program)