HiddenChest RGSS Player Executable

[DerVVulfman]

By the way, thanks to some nosy Wulfo's complains and reports...

And at no point has anyone with a wolfish grin suggested to give you such inquiries.

[kyonides]

This Release Got ReConfigured!
Version 1.1.60

Basically, what that heading actually tries to convey to the public is that the latest release has a new codename, namely ReConfigured.
The main reason behind this change is that I have officially replaced the C++ parsing stage of Game.ini and gave it back to Ruby.

There were a couple of things that motivated me to make this bold move. For instance, the original mkxp INI file parsing was giving me terrible headaches while trying to port HiddenChest's new features to Windows. Boost::Filesystem was also another terrible pain you know where. So I preferred to use another cross platform solution. Yes, I am talking about  Ruby itself!

As I had mentioned elsewhere, I soon noticed that I had some extra work to do to make all default features of XP, VX and VX ACE work properly. Font methods were not cooperating as much as I wanted but I found a convenient solution that served me as a pain killer here.

Now everything works as intended!  

How did I do it?

I just adapted my well known Game.INI Data Extractor scriptlet to HiddenChest.
Now it will parse your Game.ini file automaticaly whether you like it or not.

This release is currently available on:

• Linux
  
• Windows 10 (beta stage)
  

[kyonides]

Your Game Title Matters!

Releases 1.1.61 & 1.1.62

Now the engine can parse the Game.ini without depending on Boost libraries for the most part thanks to  Ruby 2.7!
I have updated the project very often as you might have noticed by now.

Basically, both editions handle INI parsing stuff. The latter also fixes 2 issues I noticed last night where you could not find the RTP's even if you had added it to the CONF file and visually erasing the game title if you ever pressed the F2 button to toggle the FPS display.

Now both features work as originally intended!

These releases are available on:

• Linux - Ubuntu related distros
  
• Windows 10 - x.61 beta & x.62 official
  

[kyonides]

And the Engine Got Updated Twice in a Row! 

Releases 1.1.63 & 1.1.64

The Game.ini Parser written in Ruby can now find your custom RTPs and SoundFonts by reading the default RTP lines and the custom ones added like SoundFontWin, SoundFontLnx, SoundFontPathWin & SoundFontPathLnx. Now the INI file can work on both Linux & Windows.

Here is a Game.ini Template:

Code:

[Game]
Library=RGSS104E.dll
Scripts=Data\Scripts.rxdata
Title=KSoundFont XP
RTP1=Standard
RTP2=/home/kyonides/Maker/RGSS/R1
RTP3=
Version=1.0.0
Author=Kyonides
SoundFontWin=C:/Audio/SF2/GMGSx.sf2
SoundFontLnx=/home/user/Maker/GMGSx.sf2
SoundFontPathWin=E:/Audio/SoundFonts
SoundFontPathLnx=/home/user/Music/SF2

It looks very cross-platform-friendly, don't you think?

There is still a little issue that cannot be avoided: saving your game project on Windows or throught Wine or Proton on Linux will rewrite the file deleting any custom RTP paths.  

This might be valid for all RGSS-based editions of the RM series. Please keep a copy of those paths saved in a separate file just for the sake of convenience.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed error that would make the game crash if the SOUNDFONT constants had no predefined empty value or had been not predefined at all.
  
• Lack of the additional lines in the Game.ini file will no longer make the game throw a fatal error.
  

[DerVVulfman]

Thank you for the Windows Binaries. I have indeed downloaded and performed a few little tests.

There is still a little issue that cannot be avoided: saving your game project on Windows or throught Wine or Proton on Linux will rewrite the file deleting any custom RTP paths.  

Well, um.. no?

I not only hit SAVE on a project with the contents of the Game.Ini file remaining constant, but I used the game editor to change the title which directly edits the Game.Ini itself:

Code:

[Game]
Library=RGSS104E.dll
Scripts=Data\Scripts.rxdata
Title=HC Test 2024 May Edition
RTP1=Standard
RTP2=C:\Games\Enterbrain\RGSS\Standard
RTP3=
Version=1.0.0
Author=Kyonides
SoundFontWin=Audio/SF2/GMGSx.sf2
SoundFontLnx=/home/user/Maker/GMGSx.sf2

Differences between your suggested Ini and mine are mediocre at best. I set a path to the soundfont within my project's audio folder itself and not fixed path from my PC's root directory, a win insofar as I see it. However, I can see that 'Standard' as defined for RTP1 still doesn't work, though necessary for the editor. Well, that's a MEH so far as I see it. The path to the RTP is based on where YOU install it, am I right?

And seeing that the everything in the hiddenchest.conf (or whatever.conf) is now either set at default, can be altered by way of Graphics.resize_screen, or are covered in the classic Game.Ini file to set the RTP and soundfont....

... I deleted the hiddenchest.conf file and have no problems. That file is basically MOOT for RPGMaker XP users. It appears you began migrating the .conf entries into Game.ini. Perhaps 'rgssVersion' may be next.

---

Now the bad (but correctable) news:

For the RPGMaker XP version, with a completely fresh scripts.rxdata file and no changes at all, I attempted to create snow on the field map. The map event being a nominal:

@>Set Weather Effects: Snow, 8 @0
@>

Snow with 8 power (range of 1-9) and set to a delay of 0 frames for instant display.

The display read:
NameError
uninitialized constant RPG::Weather::Grahpics

I pasted ccoa's weather script in place and it worked.

So apparently, there is a misspelling in the code somewhere attempting to look for a Grahpics module.


And there's still the issue with Show Picture. It is odd, Show Picture does not show the images, but Move Picture flashes them briefly on the screen. Something in how its being displayed by the sprite class by way of Sprite_Picture itself?

[kyonides]

A New Semi-Stable Release Has Arrived!

Version 1.1.65

Available on both Windows & Linux!

New Game.ini Features:

• Debug
  
• Fullscreen
  

Set them to either true or false and you'll be fine.

Latest Bug Fixes:

• Typo: RPG::Weather#update no longer calls the wrong module in RMXP.
  
• Windows Only: Sprite#opacity or #bush_opacity no longer returns a stuborn Float value. Now you'll get an Integer as intended.
  This fixes the bug that render the Sprite_Picture invisble, opacity set to 1 out of 255:Engine's Internal Calculation looked something like this opacity / 255.0 = 1 

Rejected Feature Request:

• Add support for CONF file's rgssVer value.
  Reason: It's never been necessary. The Game.ini Parser will take care of figuring out what extension your open or encrypted game has before loading it.
  

[DerVVulfman]

Almost there with the Sprite class

I can confirm the following:

• Blend functions correctly
  
• Opacity functions correctly
  
• Origin (Top-Left vs Center) functions correctly
  
• Zoom functions correctly
  
• Rotate functions correctly

Unfortunately, the x and y coordinates are not working and all images are positioned in the top left corner regardless of setting. Likely and hopefully, the problem is related to the issue the innate Sprite class had with opacity values passed.

On a personal basis, I think adding both Fullscreen and Debug options into the Game.Ini file as unnecessary. And for Debug to be in the Game.Ini, the chance for cheating.

The current editor is indeed passing the required command string into the Game.ini file that triggers debug mode. When working upon a project that has HiddenChest's executable renamed Game.Exe, I am able to access all of the Debug features within the script code... walk through walls when using [Ctrl] and access the debug menu with [F9]. And only then from the editor. IF it was possible to engage Debug mode by way of Game.Ini, anyone could set any switch, increase any variable, or go into map areas that the game developers may have as off-limits for storyline reasons.

And your inclusion of the Graphics.fullscreen method and parameter makes it possible to craft a game that begins fullscreen at the game developer's leisure. By merely including Graphics.fullscreen = true into the Main script worked just the same as the Game.ini

However, there is a matter of a 2-second screen-refresh delay with the fullscreen/windowed options, and it makes no difference if switching is performed by Graphics.fullscreen, the Game.Ini command, or just using [Alt]+[Enter]. When switching modes, the entire screen goes black and remains black for 2 seconds. Action does not halt, I was able to move the player character in the field map while the screen was black.

In a related issue though accidentally found and expected to be quite uncommon, the screen goes black for 2 seconds if generating a pop-up using Ruby's standard p or print commands while in fullscreen. There is no delay nor blackout when displayed in windowed-mode, but only in fullscreen. Like I say, it is something that would be uncommon as this would be more for bug-testing and system alerts more than an actual game option.

[kyonides]

HiddenChest's Second Semi-Stable Release Has Arrived!

Version 1.1.66

Available on both Windows & Linux! 

New Features:

Game.ini Parser now supports custom:

• Width
  
• Height
  
• Window gets centered automatically.
  

Even if you leave any of them empty or set a value to anything lower than 320x240, the missing values will get replaced by the engine's default ones.

Improved Features:

• Debug gets disabled if it starts searching for an encrypted game file.
  

Bug Fixes:

• Sprite#x and #ymethods will not prevent the game pictures from being placed at any given location.
  The issue was caused by the RM series weird custom of using floats instead of integers for x and y coordinates in the Game_Picture & Sprite_Picture classes. It seems likely that the RM's always had to internally convert them back to integers. (Ruby could have handle that with ease...)
  
• Renamed Graphics#snapshot_dir instance variable as #shot_dir for convenience sake.
  

Commentary on the Development of This Engine

Right now it doesn't seem feasible to make any important changes to how fast or slow it toggles between fullscreen and windowed modes. This being system dependent makes it complicated. It relies on SDL2 to handle the internal mechanisms involved in both Linux & Windows. And HC's Graphics C++ namespace doesn't show me any sign it can be simplified at this point. Thus, it seems this situation will remain the same for the time being.

I know Debug is optional but there might be people wanting to try some stuff even if they haven't opened their RM editor.

On the fullscreen feature I gotta say that I've seen several game developers including some custom fullscreen features in their Game.ini files way before I made any changes to how HiddenChest handled the parsing of such a file. So this means that this feature is staying here forever and ever.  
By the way, even mkxp's CONF file included that feature by default.

EDIT:

Today the 21st I've been able to upload updated binaries for both Windows & Linux. The GitHub repository already features a new official release.

[kyonides]

Third Semi-Stable Release Already Hosted by GitHub!

Version 1.1.67

New Codename: Click-a-Mole

This time you can find all of the binary executables available for both Windows & Linux on the GitHub repository!

Note: You still need to download the latest binary DLL's from MediaFire or Box.com only.

Release States

Windows: Semi-Stable. A bit slower startup time than its Linux counterparts. (Mainly because it needs many custom DLL's?)
Linux: Stable. Shows up quite fast.

Summary of Changes

• Fixed Previously Disabled Right Click & Window#mouse_inside?(index)
  
• Added getters & setters for Input.mouse_ox & Input.mouse_oy
  
• Updated ClickableWindow XP script demo
  
• Added Array#to_rect method
  
• Rect#new also accepts a single Array as its only argument.
  
• Game.ini now lets you only set either the game window's Width or its Height while leaving the other one untouched.
  

The reason why I had to include some Rect related stuff was that Window#mouse_above? and #mouse_inside? rely upon an index based on the clickable @area's created by the current selectable / menu window. Methods like Input.mouse_ox help you fine tune your mouse and windows.

Default Input.mouse_ox value: 8.
Default Input.mouse_oy value: -8

[kyonides]

Fourth Semi-Stable Release Uploaded Tonight!

Version 1.1.68

Release States

Windows: Almost Stable. A bit slower startup time than its Linux counterparts. (Mainly because it needs many custom DLL's?)
Linux: Stable. Shows up quite fast.

Added 5 new Input methods:

• double_click?(Input::MouseLeft) or double_click?(Input::MouseRight)
  
• double_left_click?
  
• double_right_click?
  
• default_timer alias base_timer
  
• default_timer= alias base_timer=
  

Default Click Timer Value: 20 frames approx.

The only reason why I included double_click? was that some people care about accessibility. So now they can even let the gamer pick their favorite main mouse button at will.

Some people might wonder why have I included Input.default_timer alias base_timer. Well, they are a way for  game developers to fine tune the double clicks in their games.

By the way, I have also updated ClickableWindow XP script demo.

Both README and LEEME MD files have been updated!