Use Discretion to test DCME maps

[Samapico]

I was planning to remove the 'Test Map' feature from DCME, and provide an external EXE to do the job instead. The EXE would be started up, possibly with an argument telling it which .lvl file to load.

So I was wondering if it would be possible to do a lightweight version of Discretion for that purpose? I'm not asking you guys to do any of it, I just want to know if it's something that could be done in less time than re-coding one; and if Discretion is in such a state that it could work, preferably with LVZ's and subgame-style .cfg settings.

 

Thanks

[Bak]

hmm you might be able to compile the modules directly into the executable instead of having .dlls. It's probably easier than starting from scratch.

[Samapico]

Hmmmmmm, I was thinking about this...

 

Questions:

1) Is it possible to know if Discretion is installed on a system, and where it is? Any registry key or something?

 

2) Can LVZ's be loaded for the offline map?

 

3) Can the offline map be reloaded instead of having to close the map and come back? i.e. the equivalent of ?go when there are changes made to a map and you're already in there.

 

4) (Related to 3) More importantly, would it be possible to trigger this from an external program? i.e. with a WindowMessage or something like that?

 

Plan:

1) I'd add command line arguments like '-offline

 

2) It would need to also load .cfg settings, and a list of LVZ files, using custom gfx and sounds in those LVZ's if applicable.

 

3) If you make modifications to the map in DCME, and hit 'test' again while Discretion is already running (and in offline mode), it would simply reload the map.

 

4) DCME would check if Discretion is installed, and use it where it is installed if it is. Else, it will offer you to download it before using the Test feature. (I'll have to modify the (sucky) update manager to allow optional downloads)

 

 

I know all of these things 'can' technically be done, but do you see any potential issue, or things in the architecture of your program that would make some parts of it impossible? All of these things need to work only for offline mode, and maybe there are some security issues that could, I dunno, allow someone to load any map from DCME in the zone he's in or something?

 

 

PS: I just updated my SVN Discretion folder... lol:

94,37 MBytes transferred

Added:2919 Deleted:42 Updated:174

Nice.

 

I still have lots of things to do with DCME before I get there, though.

 

Edit: Changed topic title from 'lightweight stand-alone client' to something that makes more sense now

Edited July 15, 2009 by Samapico

[Bak]

The first thing I would do is make a module that can display LVZ on the screen/map. The easiest way is probably like how continuum used to do it where you extract the lvz's files and save them to the disk in the zone's directory. Then other modules (like UniqueImage and Animations) can load them from the disk.

[Samapico]

I could do that lvz module I guess. Should be a nice warm-up to get used to the discretion world

I'm guessing these UniqueImage and Animations support all the same features as LVZ mapobjects/screenobjects?

I'll have to check it out

[Bak]

They should support most of them. If there's something missing let me know and I'll add it.

 

You'll also need to draw the UniqueImages using the Graphics module and the CB_PRERENDER callback. Check out http://wiki.minegoboom.com/index.php/Discretion_Commands_and_Displaying_Images

[Bak]

There is some code in pspace that does LVZ deconstruction in C++ that you may find helpful (or not)

 

svn co https://pspace.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/pspace pspace

[Bak]

The newest Utilities module on the svn should have zlib compression and decompression functions that may be helpful for lvz, although admittedly I haven't tested them yet.

[Samapico]

may be helpful? I don't see how LVZ would work without zlib

 

 

I don't know when I'll have some time to spare for this... could be in a couple of weeks

[Bak]

the Utilities interface may be helpful, you could alternatively use the zlib functions directly

[Samapico]

*bump*

 

Was thinking of a new plan... making a new editor using discretion's engine directly... most rendering would be done automatically, add some stuff to render a grid and a cursor, a selection... I think this would make a much better long-term solution.

[L.C.]

Plus you can add support for squared 2048, 3072, 4096, and 8192 map sizes.

 

EDIT: Or perhaps support for any map size with dimensions divisible by 16 or something (just some base-2 number I pulled out of my head; Half-Life has this limit for textures).

Edited December 15, 2009 by L.C.

[aquarius]

you mean no more dcme?

[Samapico]

DCME would be a real pain in the ass to get working for eventual new features... And it's impossible to improve support for 64bit systems, and for non-Windows systems. So yeah, the best thing to do, imo, is to start a new project, using all the experience gained developing DCME. DCME wasn't supposed to become this big in the first place, it was just supposed to be a SSME with minor improvements. Also, by using some of discretion's modules to display stuff, it's easy to imagine a 100% accurate quick testing feature, or even collaborative work on a map directly on a server... Online edits, directly from the client. That would be awesome

[Hakaku]

I think a directly integrated editor would be pretty kickass if you could pull it off Sama.

 

As for LC's comment, that's ultimately a client restriction, though I'm pretty sure Discretion already supports (or plans to support) variable map sizes, so it shouldn't be an issue.

[Bak]

already supports