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Topics - Mnemonic

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Game announcements / ANN: The Games section on WME homepage

« on: January 01, 2009, 04:36:55 PM »

Hello folks,

I've made some changes to the WME Homepage. The Games section is now mirrored directly from WME Resouce Center. It means that 1) it's easier to edit 2) every forum member can now edit the page. So if you think your game should be on the homepage, or if there's some wrong or outdated info, now your can edit it.
I also removed some old dead links in the process. The page will now only exist in English, but the translated versions were terribly outdated anyway.

Some simple guidelines:

As you can see, there are two sections on the page. Detailed information with screenshots and a list of links. The detailed section should only contain games that are either finished or have a playable demo available.

Please always include two screenshots when adding games to the top section.

Try not to break the page layout. The easiest way is to copy a description of other game and edit it. Use the Preview function and read more about the formatting syntax.

You can upload images to resource center, thumbnails are generated automatically (again, just copy the screenshot code from existing descriptions).

And naturally, the page should only contain WME games.

If unsure, post in this thread.

Technical forum / ANN: The future of WME

« on: December 20, 2008, 02:00:02 PM »

Hello muties,

since some of you are asking about the future of WME, here's what's going on.

WME 1.x is currently in maintenance-only mode. That means, it will only receive bugfixes and possibly some minor feature changes, but no large new features are planned.

I'm now (finally) fully concentrating on WME 2.0, which is going to be a major rewrite of the engine and tools. It was a tough decision (I will not go into details here), but I strongly believe it is necessary to ensure future growth and expansibility of WME.
I'll post more information on the project when I have actually something to show, but for now it's very early in development.

A mini-FAQ...

Q: When is WME 2 released?
A: When it's done. Seriously, I can't answer that. I'm only working on WME in my spare time, therefore it's pretty much impossible to make any solid plans. It will surely take at least months to have something presentable.

Q: Should I wait for WME 2 to start production of my game?
A: Definitely not. If WME 1.x provides the features you need now, by all means use it.

Q: Will WME 2 be backward compatible with WME 1.x projects?
A: No, it's not a design goal. There may be some conversion tools for easier transition, but nothing is sure at the moment.

Q: Will WME 2 support (insert your favourite feature here)?
A: It's too early to discuss specific features. Let's just say I intend to use features that worked well in WME 1.x and expand on them, creating a state-of-the-art game engine. Again, I will release more info when I'm ready.

More questions? Post them in this thread.

Technical forum / MOVED: Displaying tasks/quests on beginning a new game

« on: December 15, 2008, 09:51:07 AM »

This topic has been moved to Game design.

http://forum.dead-code.org/index.php?topic=3315.0

General Discussion / Latest beta: WME 1.8.9 (December 20, 2008)

« on: October 26, 2008, 05:58:53 PM »

Hello folks,

I'm releasing a WME update to version 1.8.9. I'm marking this release as beta version, because I still need your help testing the widescreen support.

~~WME 1.8.9 installer download (16MB)~~

~~Update from WME 1.8.x to WME 1.8.9 (7MB)~~

(Note: Saved games are compatible with WME 1.7.2 and later)

Version 1.8.9 beta (December 20, 2008)

FIX: Aspect ratio settings were ignored if the settings dialog has been disabled by the user.
FIX: When searching for "backup resolution" (when the requested full-screen resolution is not available) monitor aspect ratio is taken into consideration.
FIX: Settings dialog was always showing if optimal or backup resolution has been auto-selected.
FIX: Rare crash in pathfinding for 3D actors.

Version 1.8.8 (November 15th, 2008)

WME now uses nearest higher resolution for full-screen if the originally requested resolution isn't available.
The "Use desktop resolution" in game settings dialog can be enabled or disabled in project settings.
Updated Theora video library to version 1.0.
FIX: Previous beta silently failed if the requested full-screen resolution wasn't available.

Version 1.8.7 (October 26th, 2008)

Experimental support for maintaining optimal apect ratio when running normal resolution game on a widescreen monitor and vice versa.
New script property Game.SaveDirectory for querying the directory where saved games are stored.
FIX: 3D actors sometimes briefly displaying wrong pose when transitioning between animations.
FIX: 3D actors not resetting talking animation when talking on other channel than 0.
FIX: DropToFloor property incorrectly affecting 3D actor attachments moving them to unexpected positions.
FIX: Nested GUI windows displaying in wrong position if their parent window is moved.

This build contains experimental support for widescreen monitors. What does it mean? If you are running a game using "normal" resolution (i.e. resolution with aspect ratio 4:3) on a widescreen (16:9 or 16:10) monitor, the game settings dialog will display a check-box labeled "Maintain aspect ratio". When checked, the engine will not use the original game resolution, but finds a nearest higher resolution with the same aspect ratio as user's monitor (determined by desktop resolution). The game will then display horizontal or vertical (or both) black bars around the game viewport. The point is to prevent stretching of image.

The function works both ways, i.e. running normal resolution game on widescreen monitor and vice versa.

Additionally, there's second check-box, "Use desktop resolution", which allows user to use desktop resolution (typically native resolution for LCD displays) and the game viewport is then centered.

I would like to continue the discussion from this thread. If you were having troubles with the previous test build, please try this new beta. It writes more detailed information to wme.log file. Also it's a bit more tolerant and is able to use 16:9 and 16:10 resolutions interchangeably.

Please post your observations in this thread. Thank you.

Technical forum / I need brave testers with wide screens

« on: July 18, 2008, 06:54:13 PM »

Hi folks, I've been working on widescreen support lately. The idea is, if you run 4:3 game on a widescreen monitor, the settings dialog will offer you a check-box titled "Maintain aspect ratio". If you enable this option and run the game in full-screen, it will not use the original resolution, but a nearest higher widescreen resolution and black bars will be added to the extra space. That way screen distortion is avoided.
This feature also works the other way around, i.e. 16:9 game running on 4:3 monitor (such as Chess Worlds).

However, since I don't have a widescreen monitor, and since this feature required quite large changes to WME renderer, I'm asking for your help with testing before I make this build "official". If you have a widescreen monitor and you'd like to test, please download the testing WME build. Unzip the files to your WME installation folder (you can either backup the original files or reinstall WME 1.8.6 update later to get back).

Once installed, please try WME Demo and WME Demo 3D (and possibly your own game) to see if it offers you the "maintain aspect ratio" check-box and if the games work correctly with the option enabled.

Please post your experience in this thread. Thanks!

General Discussion / MOVED: Compound animation of walk. How to do?

« on: June 27, 2008, 06:05:47 PM »

This topic has been moved to Technical forum.

http://forum.dead-code.org/index.php?topic=2942.0

Technical forum / MOVED: Get the path to saved games directory

« on: June 10, 2008, 10:32:02 AM »

This topic has been moved to Feature requests, suggestions.

http://forum.dead-code.org/index.php?topic=2918.0

Help wanted and offered / MOVED: Dialog and item help

« on: May 20, 2008, 09:55:01 AM »

This topic has been moved to Technical forum.

http://forum.dead-code.org/index.php?topic=2879.0

Technical forum / ANN: Dropping support for DirectDraw

« on: March 16, 2008, 01:17:50 PM »

Next release of WME will drop support for DirectDraw. What does it mean? From now on WME games will require 3D accelerated video card (just like when you enable the "Require 3D acceleration" option in ProjectMan in current releases). 3D accelerated videocards are a standard for several years now, and even 2D game WME develpers intentionally require 3D acceleration in their games, therefore I believe there's no point in supporting the "compatibility mode" any longer.

The DirectDraw renderer will be still present in the engine, but it will be only available via troubleshooting options and it will not be officially supported (and it will not provide new features added to the accelerated renderer).

Comments?

Technical forum / MOVED: EXPAND_WIDTH = - X don't work

« on: March 15, 2008, 05:34:33 PM »

This topic has been moved to Done.

http://forum.dead-code.org/index.php?topic=2730.0

Technical forum / MOVED: Problems with the actor turning (TurnTo)

« on: January 06, 2008, 04:48:45 PM »

This topic has been moved to Fixed.

http://forum.dead-code.org/index.php?topic=2588.0

Technical forum / MOVED: Animation Events Problem

« on: December 09, 2007, 04:25:42 PM »

This topic has been moved to Fixed.

http://forum.dead-code.org/index.php?topic=2538.0

General Discussion / Half-Life 2 giveaway

« on: October 23, 2007, 03:30:03 PM »

I happen to have one extra license of Half-Life 2, so if anyone's interested, you can get it. There's no catch, all you need is:
-a Steam account (free)
-a decent internet connection to be able to download the game from Steam (several gigabytes of data)

If you are interested, post in this thread. If more people post within the next 24 hours, one winner will be chosen by WME's Random() function

If no one posts within 24 hours, the first person to post after that will get the game.
Only people registered to the forum before this message has been posted can apply (to eliminate random bystanders

Technical forum / MOVED: animated item images

« on: October 13, 2007, 01:00:48 PM »

This topic has been moved to Bug reports.

http://forum.dead-code.org/index.php?topic=2403.0

General Discussion / Latest stable: WME 1.8.11 (Sep 4 2009)

« on: September 23, 2007, 05:53:21 PM »

Hi muties,

after several beta versions, WME 1.8.10 with wide screen support is here. Enjoy

EDIT: And now WME 1.8.11 is out, with some bugfixes.

~~WME 1.8.11 installer download (16MB)~~

(Note: Saved games are compatible with WME 1.7.2 and later)

Version 1.8.11 (September 4, 2009) - maintenance release

New method window.CreateEntityContainer().
Method entity.PlayTheora() now allows you to specify starting time for video playback.
FIX: Hidden geometry misplaced in scenes with parallax scrolling.
FIX: Wrong mouse position when using Game.MouseX / Game.MouseY / Game.LockMouseRect() together with aspect ratio correction.
FIX: WindowEdit not storing the FadeColor property.
FIX: Calling Game.EndDlgBranch() when there was no active dialogue branch crashed the engine.
FIX: Aligning static control content to the bottom edge didn't work.
FIX: Minor bug in String Table Manager.

Version 1.8.10 (February 14th, 2009)

Support for maintaining optimal aspect ratio when running normal resolution game on a widescreen monitor and vice versa. See the "Wide screen support" chapter in documentation for more details.
WME now uses nearest higher resolution for full-screen if the originally requested resolution isn't available.
New "Use desktop resolution" setting in ProjectMan, which allows players to run the game in monitor's native resolution.
New script property actor3D.AmbientLightColor for overriding ambient lighting for individual actors.
New script property Game.SaveDirectory for querying the directory where saved games are stored.
Updated Theora video library to version 1.0.
FIX: Rare crash in pathfinding for 3D actors.
FIX: 3D actors sometimes briefly displaying wrong pose when transitioning between animations.
FIX: 3D actors not resetting talking animation when talking on other channel than 0.
FIX: DropToFloor property incorrectly affecting 3D actor attachments moving them to unexpected positions.
FIX: Nested GUI windows displaying in wrong position if their parent window is moved.

Version 1.8.6 (April 6th, 2008)

3D characters now can contain "private blocked regions" for simple collision detection between actors (only works for scenes with 2D parthfinding enabled).
Added an option to include the D3DX library with compiled game (for games using Direct3D 9).
The crash reporter is now disabled if WME is being debugged (useful for plugin developers).
The Game.PlayVideo() method is now marked as deprecated in favour of Game.PlayTheora().
FIX: The editor control now works in UTF8 mode and with right-to-left languages.
FIX: Sprite.Reset() method now also stops all sounds being played by the sprite.
FIX: Playing Theora video inside a GUI window (using an embedded entity) resulted in misplaced video.
FIX: Some minor bugfixes.

Version 1.8.5 (March 16th, 2008)

New scripting methods (see the documentation for more details):
- actor3d.GetBonePosition2D(), actor3d.GetBonePosition3D() - for querying 2D and 3D position of a specified bone.
- actor3d.CreateParticleEmitterBone() - for creating particle emitter connected to a specified bone.
- actor3d.SetTheoraTexture() - for assigning a Theora video as a texture.
- actor3d.AddIgnoredLight(), actor3d.RemoveIgnoredLight() - for specifying lights that should/shouldn't affect the 3D actor.
The CreateParticleEmitter() method of actors and entities now allows you to specify that the particle emitter will follow its owner around.
SpriteEdit now allows you to enable vertical/horizontal mirroring of animation frames.
SpriteEdit now provides an option to keep streamed animations in memory after they stream in.
In WindowEdit you can no longer select hidden controls with mouse in the preview pane.
WindowEdit now allows you to set the "Caption" property for editors.
The "compatibility mode" (aka DirectDraw mode) has been dropped. WME games now require 3D accelerated video card.
New PAINT_WHOLE_CELL property is now available in bitmap font definitions to allow proper character overlapping. The SPACE_WIDTH property is now documented.
FIX: Particle emitters assigned to 3D actors didn't always work.
FIX: Crash on terminating script with child threads still running.
FIX: Images used instead of sprites were needlessly loaded twice from disk.

Version 1.8.3 (February 9th, 2008) - yet another maintenance release

Updated libVorbis to the latest version.
FIX: Response boxes sometime briefly displaying text using system font.
FIX: Yet another attempt to fix the actor skipping when using certain combinations of GoTo and TurnTo methods.
FIX: Added a missing "Caption" property to buttons in WindowEdit.
FIX: Removed forgotten debug log messages in ProjectMan.

Version 1.8.2 (January 13th, 2008) - maintenance release

New Scene.ScrollToAsync() method omitted in previous releases.
New Game.AutorunDisabled property to enable/disable Windows CD AutoRun feature while the game is running.
FIX: Random crashes when using custom fonts for dialogue responses.
FIX: actor3D.GoTo() method causing actor jumping to a target position under certain conditions.
FIX: The editor control no longer "eats" key presses it cannot handle (such as function keys).

Version 1.8.1 (November 4th, 2007) - maintenance release

WME compiler now recognizes the #region and #endregion directives for better visual script organization. WME Integrator can now add support for these directives (users of UltraEdit/UEStudio please re-generate integration files).
FIX: WindowEdit was not saving scripts attached to entity containers.
FIX: Display driver crash in ProjectMan when rapidly changing scene previews.
FIX: 3D actors sometimes getting stuck in the corner when 2D pathfinding was enabled.
FIX: Engine crash when the user used = instead of == for comparison.
FIX: Engine crash when changing scene while GetResponse() was active.
FIX: Occasional crash in 3D scenes while changing to another scene.
FIX: Inventory item cursors not animating when "combined cursor" is enabled.
FIX: Wrong paths generated by SceneEdit immediately after adding a new package to the project.

WME 1.8 (September 23rd, 2007)

WME is now available in two versions, Direct3D 8 and Direct3D 9. You can select which version of the runtime should be used in project settings in ProjectMan.
New option "Hardware T&L" in ProjectMan to enable hardware accelerated transform and lighting for 3D models.
New WindowEdit tool for editing windows, inventory boxes and response boxes.
Windows Vista integration support. WME games can now be integrated in Vista's Game Explorer. The changes are too numerous to be listed here. Please see the "Windows Vista support" chapter in the documentation for a detailed description.
Changes to animation handling for 3D characters:
- The StopAnim() method now accepts an optional transition time.
- There is a new actor3D.AnimStopTransitionTime property for specifying the time it takes to transition back to default pose once animation ends.
- Non-looping animations played using the PlayAnimChannel() method no longer get stuck at final frame.
New WME crash reporting library which can upload crash details to a database or send it by email. Please upload crash reports so that common crash causes can be analyzed and fixed.
Optimized rendering speed of tiled images, bitmap fonts and particles.
New format for 2D actors definition file. It allows you to define any number of named animation sets. The animation sets can be then switched at runtime using the new actor.IdleAnimName, actor.WalkAnimName, actor.TalkAnimName, actor.TurnLeftAnimName and actor.TurnRightAnimName properties. Additionally you can load new animation sets at runtime using the actor.MergeAnims() method and unload them using the actor.UnloadAnim() method. The actor.PlayAnim() method now accepts either a script filename or an animation set name. Basically all this is an effort to make 2D actors handling more flexible and more similar to the 3D actors model.
Direct keyboard movement for 3D characters now also works for scenes with 2D blocked regions.
New "Require sound" option in ProjectMan. If enabled the game will not run without a sound card (can be used for games which heavily rely on sound design).
String tables now accept space as a separator, not only tabs.
WME Integrator now also supports UEStudio.
The numpad + and - keys in SceneEdit now also work for adding waypoints, not only region vertices.
Changed the way method calls are terminated (see this forum thread for a detailed description). Since this is a potentially breaking change, it's possible to restore the previous behavior using the "Compatibility" property in ProjectMan.
New debugging options in ProjectMan. You can now specify that you want to include the crash reporting library with the compiled games and that you want the FPS display / debug mode to be enabled for the compiled games. It's useful for building alpha/beta versions of the game.
New "copy as is" file filter in ProjectMan, which specifies that certain file types aren't included in game packages, but rather copied to the output directory. Useful for TrueType fonts and AVI videos.
ProjectMan now displays short help for all the project options.
New property Game.MaxActiveLights which returns the maximum number of lights supported by video card.
New property Game.HardwareTL to check whether the game is using hardware transform and lighting.
New property Game.StartupScene and a corresponding setting in ProjectMan. The standard template now takes advantage of this property instead of hardcoding the filename of the scene.
New Scene event SceneShutdown which is triggered just before the scene is about to be changed.
New method Scene.GetLightColor() for querying the color of a 3D light.
New Game.GetFileChecksum() method for calculating a checksum (CRC32) of a specified file (useful for copy protection schemes).
New scene methods and properties for querying lights and 3D nodes: Scene.NumLights, Scene.GetLightName(), Scene.IsLightEnabled(), Scene.IsNode3DEnabled().
New method for storing the saved game thumbnail (i.e. you can now specify the exact moment when to take the screenshot if you need to, instead of letting the engine do it automatically) - Game.StoreSaveThumbnail(). Similarly, the Game.DeleteSaveThumbnail() can be used to release the stored thumbnail.
New 3D actor methods for checking if an animation is playing: actor3D.IsAnimPlaying(), actor3D.IsAnimChannelPlaying().
New 3D actor methods for specifying animation transition time for various animation pairs: actor3D.SetAnimTransitionTime(), actor3D.GetAnimTransitionTime().
New 3D actor property for specifying which channel to use for talking animations: actor3D.TalkAnimChannel.
New global functions for working with the HSL color model (Hue, Saturation, Luminance): MakeHSL(), GetHValue(), GetSValue(), GetLValue() (requested for easier changing of light intensity).
The video subtitle files (.sub) can now use the "localizable" form of text ("/string_id/actual text") which means you can localize video subtitles using the string table, just like any other in-game text.
The Game.PlayVideo() and Game.PlayTheora() methods now allow you to explicitly specify a video subtitles file.
ProjectMan now provides two actions for files: Open and Edit. Double-click defaults to "Open". These actions use the Windows Explorer file associations.
ProjectMan now allows you to compile a single package, so that you don't need to recompile the entire project after making minor changes. Right-click a package in ProjectMan and choose the "Compile this package" command.
FIX: Custom scene properties were not reset on scene transitions.
FIX: Compiled game packages were sometimes referencing more files than how many they actually contained.
FIX: The check-boxes in the settings dialog no longer disappear when pressing the Alt key in XP/Vista.
FIX: When using multiple particle sprites the particle emitter was always choosing only one of them.
FIX: The engine no longer issues absolute path warnings when working with personal saved games stored in "Documents and and Settings" folder.
FIX: TrueType fonts are now only registered for WME, not for all applications (Win2000/XP/Vista).
FIX: Fixed many hard-to-replicate crash bugs reported by users using the new crash reporting feature. Keep the reports coming!