PoP1-Total Pack: New version development

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starwindz
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Re: PoP1-Total Pack: New version development

Post by starwindz »

Hi everyone. Now I came back to the development. During 2 years, I could not have time for development due to some personal reason. Sorry about that.

Anyway, I am currently making some kind of to-do-list for the total pack update with Norbert. The to-do-list would be announced within 2 or 3 days.
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Re: PoP1-Total Pack: New version development

Post by malvivio »

Thank you very much for the new Total Pack! :mrgreen:
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Re: PoP1-Total Pack: New version development

Post by David »

Bugs I found:

* When searching by Enjoyment or Difficulty, I get an error saying: '5.0000' is not a valid floating point value.
I guess this is because my system is configured to use the comma as decimal separator, but the mods.xml uses a decimal point instead.

* When I want to Install a mod, my installed download accelerator intercepts the downloading of the ZIP file.
I removed ZIP from its settings and this solved the problem.

* Can't run Secrets of the Citadel.
I guess that's because it uses SDLPoP.
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Re: PoP1-Total Pack: New version development

Post by starwindz »

To-do-list for Ver.4.00 development now announced. If you have some comments, please let me know them.
Thank you.

==================================================
To-do-list for Ver.4.00-pre1 (2017.03.05)

* Status headers
[W]: Working now
[A]: Awaiting for next work
[V]: Done
[-]: Considering adding a feature


* Items of to-do-list
[W] [PoP1-SDLPoP/Mininim] Non-DOS launching management <01>
[W] [PoP1-SDLPoP/Mininim] Update info text of status panel <01>
[W] [PoP1-SDLPoP] Frontend support <01>
[W] [PoP1-SDLPoP] Replay: Recording assist <02>
[W] [PoP1-SDLPoP] Replay: File list-up and play <02>

[A] [Graphics] Add the dungeon, palace and character graphics of Princess of Persia <06>
[A] [Etc] User Created Media option to do a YouTube search. <07>
[A] [Etc] Change diffpop.exe option <08>

[A] [Etc] Favorite mods management
[A] [Comment view] HTML-style user-comment view <03>
[A] [Etc] Comma as decimal separator handling <09>

[V] [Mods] No longer needs to 'manually' add the original game <04>
[V] [UI] Change "Use Original Graphics" to "Use Official Graphics" <05>

[-] [PoP1-DOSBox] Config: PC Speaker support
[-] [PoP1-SNES]
[-] [PoP2-DOSBox]
[-] [Graphics] Individual character graphics customization <10>
[-] [Etc] Firewall management for pop1_total_pack.dll


* Remarks
01 (by Norbert)
// Forum comment
Instead of (just)
-----
<s_executable>...</s_executable>
-----
it now uses
-----
<s_executable>...</s_executable>
<s_executable_sdlpop>...</s_executable_sdlpop>
<s_executable_mininim>...</s_executable_mininim>
-----
If <s_executable> has a value, then it is a DOS mod.
If <s_executable_sdlpop> or <s_executable_mininim> have values, it is
respectively an SDLPoP or MININIM mod. Combinations are possible, for
instance a mod that includes both a DOS and a MININIM executable. Total
Pack should not launch non-DOS mods with DOSBox. :) An example of a
non-DOS mod here:
http://www.popot.org/custom_levels.php?mod=0000153
(Secrets of the Citadel)

02 (by Norbert)
the XML now includes for each mod:
- a number in <i_replays>...</i_replays>
- a <replays>...</replays> block
To learn what replays are, see:
http://www.popot.org/custom_levels.php?action=Replays
To download example replays, see:
http://www.popot.org/custom_levels.php?mod=0000111
http://www.popot.org/custom_levels.php?mod=0000001

03 (by Norbert)
Comments can now include text inside spoiler tags.
(this is a [ spoiler ]secret[ /spoiler ] example)
Mod 0000017, for example, has a comment that uses the tag:
http://www.popot.org/custom_levels.php?mod=0000017

04 (by Norbert)
This one has been added:
http://www.popot.org/custom_levels.php?mod=0000001
This means Total Pack no longer needs to 'manually' add the original
game at the top of its overview.

05 (by Norbert)
Maybe change "Use Original Graphics" to something like "Use The Mod's
Official Graphics". Because "Original" could also refer to the original
PoP1 game, which makes it multi-interpretable.

06 (by Norbert)
Could you add the dungeon, palace and character graphics of Princess of
Persia:
http://www.popot.org/custom_levels.php?mod=0000156

07 (by Norbert)
User Created Media option to do a YouTube search.
Instead of, for example...
"Prince of Persia New 13 levels"
...I suggest you use
"Prince of Persia" "New 13 levels"
(notice the " differences)
The former gives no hits, the latter gives several.

08 (by Norbert)
Maybe start diffpop.exe with --locations or -l (both do the same).
Then it won't just say, for example...
[ DIFF ] level 1: 4 (default: 3)
...but also
[ INFO ] Location: guard information (guard base hit points)
Then users understand that, for this example, the level 1 value of 4 is
about altered guard base hit points. With --locations or (-l) it
includes (sub)section information. The information that you also see
with CusPop, the (sub)section headings. (Both diffpop and CusPop get
this information from princehack.xml.)

09 (by david)
When searching by Enjoyment or Difficulty, I get an error saying: '5.0000' is not a valid floating point value.
I guess this is because my system is configured to use the comma as decimal separator, but the mods.xml uses a decimal point instead.

10 (by kj-5349)
Is it possible for graphics to be updated automatically like the mod packages? Or if not, you would manually add them in your next release?
As for character graphics, is there an option to change the individual characters rather than a preset package?
Like for instance:
Changing to the SNES fat guard or the lady warrior (Clive Dent's Princess of Persia).
Changing to SNES skeleton.
Changing guards to PoP2 (BlackChar), or the "Vizier" guards from my package.
And also changing to SNES Jaffar but customizing the Prince to Norbert's Micro Palace Prince or the Princess (Clive Dent's Princess of Persia).
This means having individual options for the Prince, Guards, Fat guards, Jaffar, and Skeletons.


* References
1. Total pack forum
viewtopic.php?f=123&t=3085&start=90
2. PR Utility: Basic information
http://www.popot.org/documentation.php? ... PoP1Images
3. PR utility: Forum
viewforum.php?f=70
4. SDLPop: Forum
viewtopic.php?t=3512&start=315
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Re: PoP1-Total Pack: New version development

Post by starwindz »

4.00 will support SDLPoP launching feature such as an attached screenshot. Most of mods can be running via SDLPoP under Total Pack environment. Currently the dev is at very primitive stage. :)
(The mod of this screenshot is 'Random Tournament mod'.)
Attachments
test1.png
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Re: PoP1-Total Pack: New version development

Post by malvivio »

Will you add also the possibility to choose between standard audio and soundblaster? The original standard audio with all the sounds correct as they were in 1990.
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Re: PoP1-Total Pack: New version development

Post by Norbert »

starwindz wrote:Most of mods can be running via SDLPoP under Total Pack environment.
If your idea is to allow users to launch all mods with an SDLPoP you include in Total Pack, that will cause problems.

There are two reasons this will cause problems:
- 1. SDLPoP mods can be customized in various ways. For example, SDLPoP mod "Secrets of the Citadel" modified SDLPoP.ini to automatically start the game fullscreen, and also modified the source code of SDLPoP itself to include custom potions and such.
- 2. DOS mods can have customized PRINCE.EXE files. All CusPop customizations are in PRINCE.EXE. SDLPoP has its own EXE file, which means it ignores all these PRINCE.EXE for DOS customizations. Example: if a DOS mod changed the "starting minutes left" from 60 to 120, then SDLPoP needs a "start_minutes_left = 120" in SDLPoP.ini. Several DOS mods modified PRINCE.EXE to lower the starting hit points. And to allow triggering any tile. And to change the environments used for levels (palace in level 1, for example). And to change guard hit points and types. And so on. All these changes are in the DOS PRINCE.EXE, and SDLPoP will not know about them.

A better solution is to allow launching with SDLPoP only if <s_executable_sdlpop>...</s_executable_sdlpop> has a value. The reason is: this allows authors of DOS mods to also include an SDLPoP executable and SDLPoP.ini (and other SDLPoP files) in their mod package, if they want to allow users to launch their mod with SDLPoP. Then mod authors can modify SDLPoP.ini to be perfect for their mods. For instance, if they want the "starting hit points" to be just 1, they will include "start_hitp = 1" in SDLPoP.ini.

I do understand that the idea of allowing Total Pack users to launch all mods with SDLPoP (and MININIM) is appealing. But this will cause DOS mods to not function properly. And if you include a separate SDLPoP in Total Pack and don't use the SDLPoP that SDLPoP mods include, this will cause problems with SDLPoP mods that were modified.

I hope you understand what I mean.
If you don't, please private message me and I'll try to answer your questions.
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Re: PoP1-Total Pack: New version development

Post by starwindz »

Norbert wrote:
starwindz wrote:Most of mods can be running via SDLPoP under Total Pack environment.
If your idea is to allow users to launch all mods with an SDLPoP you include in Total Pack, that will cause problems.

There are two reasons this will cause problems:
- 1. SDLPoP mods can be customized in various ways. For example, SDLPoP mod "Secrets of the Citadel" modified SDLPoP.ini to automatically start the game fullscreen, and also modified the source code of SDLPoP itself to include custom potions and such.
- 2. DOS mods can have customized PRINCE.EXE files. All CusPop customizations are in PRINCE.EXE. SDLPoP has its own EXE file, which means it ignores all these PRINCE.EXE for DOS customizations. Example: if a DOS mod changed the "starting minutes left" from 60 to 120, then SDLPoP needs a "start_minutes_left = 120" in SDLPoP.ini. Several DOS mods modified PRINCE.EXE to lower the starting hit points. And to allow triggering any tile. And to change the environments used for levels (palace in level 1, for example). And to change guard hit points and types. And so on. All these changes are in the DOS PRINCE.EXE, and SDLPoP will not know about them.

A better solution is to allow launching with SDLPoP only if <s_executable_sdlpop>...</s_executable_sdlpop> has a value. The reason is: this allows authors of DOS mods to also include an SDLPoP executable and SDLPoP.ini (and other SDLPoP files) in their mod package, if they want to allow users to launch their mod with SDLPoP. Then mod authors can modify SDLPoP.ini to be perfect for their mods. For instance, if they want the "starting hit points" to be just 1, they will include "start_hitp = 1" in SDLPoP.ini.

I do understand that the idea of allowing Total Pack users to launch all mods with SDLPoP (and MININIM) is appealing. But this will cause DOS mods to not function properly. And if you include a separate SDLPoP in Total Pack and don't use the SDLPoP that SDLPoP mods include, this will cause problems with SDLPoP mods that were modified.

I hope you understand what I mean.
If you don't, please private message me and I'll try to answer your questions.
I fully understand what you mean. I have removed 'SDLPoP launching feature of all mods' from the to-do-list. Thank you so much. :)
Last edited by starwindz on March 5th, 2017, 1:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: PoP1-Total Pack: New version development

Post by starwindz »

To-do-list for Ver.4.0 (2017.03.05)

1. Make some mods run properly
1-1. Mod 0000141 (King of persia: Direct run of Windows batch file)
1-2. Mod 0000153 (Secrets of Citadel: Direct run of SDLPoP.exe)

2. Add custom graphics (Dungeon, Palace, Character)
2-1. Mod 0000156 (Princess of persia)

3. Add new and major feature
3-1, Add user-created levelset test manager
- Link to Roomshaker or Apoplexy (Apoplexy win32 needed; Norbert's help needed)
3-2. Add feature of replay download and view
3-3. Add favorite mods manager

4. Fix minor bug
4-1. [Done] Change "Use Original Graphics" to "Use Official Graphics"
4-2. [Done] Change diffpop.exe option
- start diffpop.exe with --locations or -l
4-3. [Done] Change user created media option of YouTube search.

5. Add minor feature
5-1. Add '2016, 2017, 2018, 2019' and others to 'Creation year' of Search window
5-2 .Remove flickering levelset info panel when changing mods in the mod list
5-3. Add PC Speaker setting to DOSBox setup
5-4. Support DOSBoxSVN
5-5. Comma as decimal separator

6. Add extentive feature
6-1. PoP1-SNES
6-2. PoP2-DOSBox
6-3. Change text-style comment view to HTML-style view
Last edited by starwindz on March 5th, 2017, 2:08 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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Re: PoP1-Total Pack: New version development

Post by starwindz »

Norbert,
Could you please make win32 version of Apoplexy? I would like to use this tool for making the user-created-levelset manager. (A frontend for levelset creation and testing) Thank you.
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Re: PoP1-Total Pack: New version development

Post by kj-5349 »

starwindz wrote:10 (by kj-5349)
Is it possible for graphics to be updated automatically like the mod packages? Or if not, you would manually add them in your next release?
As for character graphics, is there an option to change the individual characters rather than a preset package?
Like for instance:
Changing to the SNES fat guard or the lady warrior (Clive Dent's Princess of Persia).
Changing to SNES skeleton.
Changing guards to PoP2 (BlackChar), or the "Vizier" guards from my package.
And also changing to SNES Jaffar but customizing the Prince to Norbert's Micro Palace Prince or the Princess (Clive Dent's Princess of Persia).
This means having individual options for the Prince, Guards, Fat guards, Jaffar, and Skeletons.
Hi Starwindz, welcome back to the forum, and thanks so much for taking the time and returning to this project once again.
Actually what was meant from the quote is - an option for individually changing each character DATs.
I had a look at these pages VDUNGEON and VPALACE, which seems to be how the level environments can be set.

So a suggestion (inclusive also to Norbert & David), could:-
a. unique characters from the Total Pack as of now be identified for the 5 DATs, then a page be created in POPOT for the unique KID, GUARDS, FAT, VIZIER, and SKELETON DATs, like the VDUNGEON and VPALACE popot pages.
b. besides these pages creation, there is also an auto-update function, and new graphics added to the XML, similar to newly added mods.
P.s. I know the above would be time consuming, as out of currently 169 mods, unique characters would to be identified, and then new pages in popot are to be created, with the zips. So it would be fine to take the time and sync up with Starwindz, and if this is a plausible feature....
starwindz wrote:5-3. Add PC Speaker setting to DOSBox setup
5-4. Support DOSBoxSVN
If the PoP version is 1.3, can Roland MIDI or MT-32 setting be added?

Thx, KJ
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Re: PoP1-Total Pack: New version development

Post by Norbert »

I will look at creating a win32 version of the latest apoplexy.
You can use version 3.0 RC2 for now, that one was still 32-bit.

Creating KID.DAT and all these other DAT file pages, and updating the XML to include them: this sounds like a project for a very far away future. :) Maybe one day.
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Re: PoP1-Total Pack: New version development

Post by Norbert »

Actually, even packed (as a ZIP) apoplexy for Windows is, like, 27MB.
I'm not sure what your plan is with it, but including it in Total Pack would substantially increase the Total Pack package size...
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Re: PoP1-Total Pack: New version development

Post by starwindz »

@kj-5349
The idea about regarding 'individually changing each character DAT' is quite a good but it is very time-consuming...
Regarding MIDI sound setting for DOSBox, I will check it out.
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Re: PoP1-Total Pack: New version development

Post by starwindz »

Norbert wrote:Actually, even packed (as a ZIP) apoplexy for Windows is, like, 27MB.
I'm not sure what your plan is with it, but including it in Total Pack would substantially increase the Total Pack package size...
That is right. I have to re-consider this plan since the size of total pack would be substantially increased...
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