Editor Wishlist/Coordination

[Dualnames]

There is... I also use dummies but I just run a piece of code on game_start to assign their properties. Like view, position, room ecc.

That is just what i do. I have a procedure for resetting a character before it is used for a new purpose and a procedure to select a character that is currently not in use.
The problem is just getting a lot of characters into the editor, for there is just the possibility to add/import 1(!) new character at a time. We need a button in the editor, allowing the import x instances of the exported character y.

Oh, nvm me, I misunderstood. I second that then. I have to say today I was playing with the new editor. As much as I like those + - thingies for collapsing functions/ifs/anything bracketed/sections of the code in general, they somehow removed the most awesome thing. Which is to move over the mouse to the right and select a whole line by left clicking. I mean, yeah, collapsing is cool, but seriously? I lived without collapsing for the past 4 years and I coped quite easily. I know you can still select the line, but it's too god-damn pixel perfect. Imagine people using a mouse-pad. Just move over that + to the left would be awesome.

[Ryan Timothy B]

I know you can still select the line, but it's too god-damn pixel perfect.

I just click the line, hit End (or click off to the right side to begin with, to start the parser at the end of the line), hold shift, then press Home.
It's something that just became natural for me and unbelievably efficient.

[Khris]

I put the cursor at the start of the line, then press shift & arrow down. Does the same thing but copies the next line code at the end, too. That way one can easily move around lines without having to clear space first or remove it after cutting the line.

[Ryan Timothy B]

I have AGS pinned to my taskbar in Win7. I would love that when I right click on it, the recent list is actually populated with the correct name of the game instead of Game.agf. Is there a reason AGS is creating a Game.agf file instead of: Journy Of Iesir.agf?

I tested it by renaming a blank game's file and it didn't appear to run into any issues with loading, compiling or running the game.

Edit: Never mind about that last line. It appears that AGS will create a Game.agf file if the other is renamed. Obviously this would have to be changed if there aren't any issues with having a game file not named Game.agf.

[Jackpumpkinhead]

I don't know how difficult it would be but I would like to see a seek bar for audio and have the milseconds displayed so you can find exact milseconds in a specific ogg or mp3

[monkey0506]

Ryan, (I thought I already replied to this, but anyway) I think that the name of the "Game.agf" file is somewhat based on what is now an antiquated way of thinking about the naming convention for the files (like the old "ac2game.ags" files).

Part of the reason ac2game.ags files were so named, AFAIK, is simply to ensure that the filename would always be less than 8 characters (not counting the file extension), in compliance with the DOS portion of the engine (particularly when using RunAGSGame).

However, seeing as the DOS engine has been dropped entirely, I would venture to say that there's no longer a "technical" reason for these files to be named like this. I mean, the Game.agf files can't even be used with RunAGSGame anyway. I'd actually like to take a look and see what can be done about the naming of the AGF file.

[Ryan Timothy B]

Yeah I figured it was the 8 character limitations of dos that made it Game.agf in the first place, and that it's within its own folder making it impossible to confuse one project from another.
The only issues I can see now are perhaps the accented characters and such. I can't remember the technical term for them.

It's definitely not a huge hassle. I do open multiple projects up at once all the time and I mostly figured it was a quick fix with the editor.


Also, since I'm posting in here again. You know what feature I really like with XNA. I like the ability to press the back button on your mouse to return to where you previously were in a script. Whether you moved away from your current location by jumping to a function or simply scrolled away from where you were previously editing the script, it will return you to where you were.

It's definitely a very speedy feature, I would love to see that with AGS.

[monkey0506]

Well, I'll have to consult with the C# gurus to see if there's any hidden complications with the changes I've made, but I've actually compiled a build of the editor that uses the project's folder name as the name of the AGF file. AFAIK you can't have accented characters in an AGS folder name anyway, can you?

In any case, there's a couple more things I need to check on (like ensuring that the AGF name is persisted when you load and then recompile the game)..but so far I don't see any reason why this shouldn't be a viable request.

[Sephiroth]

I'm back so I may as well make my usual wishes for next version:

-Support for pointers to custom struct.
-Thread API wrappers.
-Animated CJ on the sidebar spreading useful tips!

Thanks in advance 

[hedgefield]

Something that occured to me yesterday is that it would be cool if the shakescreenbackground command could be expanded on a little bit. Right now it only goes up and down, and it doesn't exactly interpolate between those two (aka the movement is not smooth at all if you set the speed very low). I've no idea how it does what it does exactly or what the limitations are, but taking a cue from the Tween module, it would be nice if we could smooth out the movement, and also shake left and right, perhaps even introduce a random into it. Putting those ingredients together you could create a pretty nice shakycam effect.

[dbuske]

It would be nice to have a cooperative editor so that two people can use the editor at one time.
How do the teams of game makers on AGS games handle using the editor.  Let's say one person is scripting and another working on a character.

[Atelier]

Can't this already be done if you share a folder somewhere and both your editor's file paths go to the same place?

[Knox]

@hedgefield

Very good idea...I would also love to have a smoother shake screen + randomness.

[hedgefield]

I noticed there is a game.inventory_greys_out variable, but not one for ALL GUI controls. So during the game you cannot toggle the setting where it greys out inactive controls for anything other than the default inventory. Not a huge deal but it's a bit of an annoyance in some cases.

[monkey0506]

hedgefield, use the SetGameOption function:

Code: ags

SetGameOption(OPT_WHENGUIDISABLED, 2); // controls unchanged

[Rocco]

I would find it very usefull to move objects and characters (and even hotspots, walkable areas, regions..) pixelwise with the arrow cursors,
for easier adjustment in the right spot.

The second thing im praying to heaven every day,  is the way to low limit for walkable areas and regions.
It would highly recommend to raise the limit to at least 50 like the hotspots,
but i guess this doesnt belong to the editor and can only be done by CJ in the core Program, which wont happen in the near Future. 

[SSH]

I think someone should rewrite my crappy walkcycle generator in .NET and include it in AGS.

[tzachs]

I think someone should rewrite my crappy walkcycle generator in .NET and include it in AGS.

Not promising anything here, but it might help if you'll release the source code (same goes for SteveMcrea's version).

I would find it very usefull to move objects and characters (and even hotspots, walkable areas, regions..) pixelwise with the arrow cursors,
for easier adjustment in the right spot.

I remember craving it myself, and it seems simple enough to do, I'll look into it.

Edit: Done in 3.2.2 for objects, characters and edges. I'm not sure how to approach the rest of the areas since it's using native methods to draw onto the mask, so I didn't touch it.

[Ali]

Something that occured to me yesterday is that it would be cool if the shakescreenbackground command could be expanded on a little bit. Right now it only goes up and down, and it doesn't exactly interpolate between those two (aka the movement is not smooth at all if you set the speed very low). I've no idea how it does what it does exactly or what the limitations are, but taking a cue from the Tween module, it would be nice if we could smooth out the movement, and also shake left and right, perhaps even introduce a random into it. Putting those ingredients together you could create a pretty nice shakycam effect.

This could be scripted in module form pretty easily, if rooms were designed with a bit of extra space around the edges. If I remember correctly, shakescreenbackground affects the entire screen including GUIs, so I don't think it's very well suited to a shakycam effect.

[SSH]

I think someone should rewrite my crappy walkcycle generator in .NET and include it in AGS.

Not promising anything here, but it might help if you'll release the source code (same goes for SteveMcrea's version).

I'll leave Steve to release his own stuff, but here's the latest code I've got knocking around (including some code from Steve):

As suggested, I'm releasing the source code for this, so that anyone can take it and make something better. Please give Steve McRea and myself some acknowledgment if you re-use any parts!

I haven't looked at this for nigh on 3 years, so apologies if its broken or rubbish!