Basically - no new version for many, many months. Apologies. I have now
retunred to Norway after 4 months in Shanghai. Private life seems to be getting
in the way of the project. Sorry. I will try to put in at least one hour per
night from now on - not much, I know, but it's that or nothing for a while
(300 hours 'real work' last month didn't leave much time for causal hacking).
At least with 1 hour per night, I will feel that I am making some
progress, no matter how slowly & I won't get rusty & forget the program.
One slight bug fix - if the user selected "load existing file" at start up, but cancelled the open FIle dialog, the program crahsed. Now if the user cancelled, the sample game is loaded instead.
I have, reluctantly, abandoned the TMS memo component. What does this mean to you - well, until I find an acceptable free memo component you won't have syntax highlighting in any of the code memos.
Why did I abandon it - techie reasons follow - it always left a blank line
at the top of every memo and I was tired of trying to explain that away from
users. I did find one bug, which admittedly they fixed, but there were other
'behaviours' which I did not like. And in the bug fix version they now have
a TMS copyright line at the bottom of each memo in the free version. Sure,
I could probably hack it away, but my conscience wouldn't like that. So, I'll
carry on coding and carry on a background search for a free syntax highlighting
component.
November, 2003 - v0.5.2
Private version. tried out an esoteric new idea which didn't, in the end, prove to be practicable.
26 September, 2003 - v0.5.1
Are you all sitting comfortably? Then we'll begin ... last year I had a
problem with the display on my laptop. Since I was no longer living in the
counrtry where I bought it, but that was the only country where it was under
warranty, I had to pay $75 to ship it back to Dell and fuither $75 to have
it returned. When I received it, the problem was still there, it looked like
nothing had been done. I called Dell and asked what to do now and they suggested
returning it to them. I pointed out that that would cost another $150 and
there was no guarantee that it would be repaired this time either. The only
suggestion was that I buy a 3 year international, next day on site warranty
for $300! Whether from frustration or what, I acquiesced(!) - well, I could
set it off against income tax. The next day, someone appeared at the office
in Norway and repaired the display.
Fast forward a year and the power supply failed. I called Dell and they informed
me that my warranty had expired. I explained that I had purchased an extended
warranty and they expalined to me that there was no record of this in the
system. Curiously, they had a record of the service visit last year, which
they were happy to admit would not have been made without the new warranty
- but, since the warranty wasn't entered in their computer records, it did
not exist.
Long story short - SEVEN WEEKS - of 'phone calls, listening to music on hold
at international rates, of emails, of faxing the reecipt fot the warranty
SIX times, of being the ball in a game of Dell ping-pong: "Sorry, not
our department, try this number". In the end, threats prevailed and I
received a new power supply. I have purchased machines from Dell in the USA,
UK, Germany and Australia - they do give the best bang for the buck. But you
can be sure that I will be looking elsewhere in future.
Sorry about the rambling explanation, but I have 2 months of inactivity to
explain away here ;-)
Selecting verbs/prepositions no longer causes a crash.
Nor does clicking object/verb/"direct object code/indirect object code".
Semi-fixed an infinite loop problem - on the verbs page, when the user clicks
a verb which takes an indirect object (such as attachVerb), the indirectObject
list no longer grows infinitely - unfortunately, what is added tot the list
of indirectObjects is the verb itself, not any objetcs! However, I have 'released'
this version because the infinite loop problem is removed, so that people
can get a better look at the way the major new update (vocabulary handling)
is shaping up.
28 July, 2003 - v0.5.0
well, it has been 7 weeks or so since the last version - but it is summer
here in Norway after all. This is a fairly major update, with lots of new
functionality for manipulating vocabulary. I haven't tested this in any depth,
but post it for anyone who is interested to see how this functionality will
look; I expect some bug reports.. I don't intend to add any more functionality
at this time, and would now like to get down to some serious alpha testing
by implementing Colossal Cave.
4 June, 2003 - v0.4.134
refined handling of under/behind/search-hiders & the handling of the
under/behind/search-loc property of hiddenItems. The program will now only
allow a hiddenItem's under/behind/search-loc to be set to an object of the
appropriate class..
30 May, 2003 - v0.4.13
fixed some major problems relating to renaming of just about everything:
R/A/I/properties./classes. I can't believe that most of this stuff has gone
unnoticed until now!
as previously stated, the memo component which handles syntax highlighting
doesn't function as a 100% of the standard component which it replaces. As
a result of this, when entering code for an object property, the code box
enlarges to hide the other input controls, but when the code is deleted, it
does not shrink as it should - fixed.
the "confirm delete map" option was not being properly saved/restored
between program runs.
the items in the code generated for 'List' types should not be surrounded
by 'single' 'quotes' (although they are still sperated, by, commas).
message boxes should no longer pop up behind the main form on nav
bar.
map room tooltips which reference a room on another map now precede its
name by its map's name.
sundry internal optimizations, not visible to the users but of importance
to the author who likes polished code.
29 May, 2003 - v0.4.12
Oops! changing to to the memo which handles syntax highlighting uncoupled
the functions which store the values of these memos!
27 May, 2003 - v0.4.11
fixed a problem with choosing the "classes" radio button on the
nav bar.
corrected code generation problem with word lists.
25 May, 2003 - v0.4.10
fixed some problems related to treating charItems & vehicles as rooms
and generally tidied up the menus (especially the find menu) related to such
items.
20 May, 2003 - v0.4.9
first attempt at handling the syntax highlighting of the user defined code
. There may be some keywords missing; it might be an idea to highlight classes
& properties too; and perhaps the user should determine which colo(u)rs
are used? Is there any point in letting the user add his own keywords?
tooltips on the map are now generated 'just in time' and so should always
be correct unlike the version implemented in the previous version.
fixed a problem which caused a crash when closing a map using th esystem
close button, top right (but not the menu Map/Delete)
18 May, 2003 - v0.4.8
added tooltip to the map, showing directions of passges leading from the
rooom, the room class(es), its contents an dtheir contents, all configurable
as to whether to show or not.
forgot to prompt for save file name when saving the demo game.
05 May, 2003 - v0.4.7
object property/contents/code/notes tabs now have a terminating asterix
to indicate if any exist: I also indicate similarly if the object. has multiple
parent classes.
added Load/Save/make code buttons to the toolbar.
05 May, 2003 - v0.4.7
added a notes filed foe each object (room/actor/item).
added support for the otherSide property of doorway and classes descended
therefrom.
when deleting a keyedLocakable, the program will prompt to ask if the user
wishes to delete the corresponding keyItem(s).
and when deleting a keyItem, the program will remind the suer of any keyedLockable
which may now no longer be openable (possibl;e to do: prompt for a new keyItem)
the status bar once again correctly shows the correct number of classes
and properies(after the great v0.4.0 reorganization). It shows both total
and number of user defined. Classes are now also shown as total and number
of user defined.
23 April, 2003 - v0.4.6
yet, yet more property related fixes.
it is now longer possible to create a map with no name. And a deleted map
really is deleted .
14 April, 2003 - v0.4.5
yet more property related fixes.
inherited properties may now be double clicked to override them in current
class or object.
9 April, 2003 - v0.4.4
More property related fixes.
7 April, 2003 - v0.4.3
Some property related fixes.
1st April, 2003 - v0.4.2
This version intentionally left blank
26 Mar, 2003 - v0.4.1
TADS code for properties of classes is now generated
correctly.
the correct input editor is now shown when adding a
new property to an object.
some slick stuff with the string grids. Try resizing teh main window &
watch the string grid columns resize (and watch their titles follow them).
19 Mar, 2003 - v0.4.0
After a long, long winter break ...
Major reimplementaion of handling of properties to
parallel how TADS itself handles htem.
Introduced proper handling for keyItem.
User defined classes are correctly restored from
saved files.
Code generated from classes with multiple parents is
now correct..
Fixed some glitches in the recent file list.
28 Nov, 2002 - v0.3.7
Nav Bar is now 'always on top'.
Renaming a property no longer crashes the program.
It is now forbidden to create two objects with the
same name, but distinguished by case (i.e thsi program's inpuit is no longer
case sensitive, but it will reflect whatever case you use to declare an object
when generating TADS code).
The usual round of bug fixes.
27 Nov, 2002 - v0.3.6
Minor bug fixes.
25 Nov, 2002 - v0.3.5
Multiple maps seem to be working (currently, a
non-empty map may not be deleted; in future, the option will be given to move
its rooms to (an)other map(s)).
Some cosmetic stuff about positioning of new rooms
(always relative to - the current position of - the last room which was placed
- on a per form basis (even if the room has been dragged around since it was
last placed).
Default location of new Actors and Items is now the
current room.
You can no longer give a map an invalid name.
Code is now correctly generated for boolen
properties.
For some stupid reason, the buiilt in classes from
adv.t had been being saved in the project save file. This has been corrected.
Any old save fiels will no longer work - if anyone has any which they need
converting to the new, corrected format, justa sk me & I'll do it (or tell
you how to). (btw, this greatly improved loading & saving times)
The usual round of bug fixes.
21 Nov, 2002 - v0.3.4
built in classes & properties are now indictaed
by red text and user defined by green.
fixed a nasty circular refernce bug whereby class A
could be a parent of class B which was a parent of class A !!
trying to assign a property to an object caused a
crash. This was a silly bug introduced in the big upheaveal of the major
internal recoding for v0.0.3.0. A close check reaveled a few more such.
The usual round of bug fixes.
19 Nov, 2002 - v0.3.3
Tweaked the Nav bar & tool bar somewhat.
User can no longer manipulate built in classes
(neither code nor properties).
When defining a new class the possible parent classes
offered are now of the correct type (object or vocabulary).
Code is now generated correctly for user defined
classes.
Some more functionality related to connectors between
two maps.
The usual round of bug fixes.
13 Nov, 2002 - v0.3.2
A week's delay after trying to reinstall Windows XP and finding the compiler
wouldn't run. Sigh! I just knowI should move development to Linux.
More Nav Bar stuff (not worth giving details here, as
it is still in such a state of flux)..
Plugged a bunch of memory leaksn.
6 Nov, 2002 - v0.3.1
The first appearance of the soon to be world famous Nav Bar. Rushed out
for an Alpha tester & sure to be full of bugs.
31 Oct, 2002 - v0.3.0
A relatively large internal rework, which should not
be apparent to the user (other than that it has probably destabilized the
code). Just as the jump to v0.2.0 combined the 3 basic Room/Actor/Item class
types internally into one Object class type, this version combines the R/A/I
tabs, of which the user only ever saw one at at at a time into a single
Objects tab. That may not sound too exciting to you, but it should help unify
& simplify the code, making it easier to maintain and extend.
And I hope that the tab order problems are sorted
too.
Fixed problem with new passage dialog.
Made a bunch of dialogs non-resizable.
26 Oct, 2002 - v0.2.13
More change to map based mousery. Left click a room
make it the current room and also makes it drag gable. No shift key needed.
This seems somehow more intuitive.
The opening dialog now includes the ability to reload
recently saved projects.
Fixed some gnarly bugs when loading a saved project
with multiple maps.
R/A/I name displays correctly in title bar (again -
bug introduced last version).
Tightened under the hood/the usual small, obscure bug
fixes.
Plugh's philosophy sometime's diverges from MJR's. So, two new properties
were added to help with the Plugh paradigm:
- Because "chairitem", "beditem" and "vehicle"
descend from "nestedroom", objects of these classes and any class
descended from them would normally appear on the room tab and
on the map!! These classes all descend from "nestedroom",
so I have added a new property to "nestedroom" called 'dontTreatAsRoom'
(figure it out for yourself).
- Another annoyance to Plugh : class "Actor" descends from "qcontainer"
... (to be implemented)
24 Oct, 2002 - v0.2.11
If a dragged room is dropped near the edge of the
map, scroll bars will now automatically appear & disappear as required.
Copyright & Disclaimer moved from Help menu to
About box.
Map key form now always appears on current map,
rather than just on the first map.
Moved the global code from the Configuration tab onto
a new Global tab and moved the Notes there too.
The Passages grid now supports more than 5 entries.
22 Oct, 2002 - v0.2.10
The global code input memo now resizes along with the
application.
The name of the current room is shown in the centre
of the Directions tab.
Current map name is no longer shown twice in
program's title bar.
Progress bar closes properly after building Class
Tree (bug introduced in v0.2.8).
Various small bug fixes (including much to do with
changing the basic underlying class of an object).
If the map key is closed it will not reappear after switching away from
then back to the map.
17 Oct, 2002 - v0.2.9
Implemented a new drag mechanism for the rooms which
is smoother and better behaved.
Multiple maps are supported and adding a passage from a room on one map
to a room on another creates a map connector. However, there is still much work to be done on the multiple map
front.
Creating a new passage is recognized as changed data,
so that a save will be prompted on exit or new game.
Rearranged the Rooms/Directions tab
Added indication of return direction, if any, on the
Rooms/Directions tab.
Also, if a direction has a passage, its label text is
green, so that the user can see passages at a glance.
The current room is now colo(u)red white, to make it
easier to distinguish.
Clicking a room on the map makes it the current room;
holding shift while clicking allows the room to be dragged.
Configuration of code generation is now enabled by
default (but can be turned off).
Project name is now shown correctly in the program's
title bar after File Save (as).
Code is now generated with the same file name as the
project save save file, rather than prompting for it.
Showing the status bar is now an option (default =
show).
Room's location now properly shown.
14 Oct, 2002 - v0.2.8
Adding a new class on the Actors/Class tab no longer
causes a crash.
It is no longer possible to close the progress bar
(when loading or saving a project), thus causing a crash.
Fixed problem where the first Rooms/Directions combox
mouse clicked won't drop down. I must make sure that all other combo boxes
work properly.
The "location" label on the Items tab now behaves
itself when the form is resized.
The Item & Actor menus "edit/rename/delete" are
now only enabled if at least one item/actor exists (otherwise, "new" is the
only choice).
Project name is now displayed in title bar
(configuration option : full path or just project file name).
Configuration options and window size/position now
saved/restore in/from Plugh.Ini file in program directory.
Added configuration option to say how program should start up - load sample
project, start new project or prompt (still to be implemented - load existing
project - including recent file list (which also needs to be added to the
prompt form))
13 Oct, 2002 - v0.2.7
fixed various bugs concerning
adding/renaming/deleting classes & properties.
renaming a room no longer crashes the program.
when creating a passage from the map, the correct
directions are offered for outgoing & return passages.
status bar works again (though it may soon be
removed)
Dismissing the Map key window, then leaving and returning to map view, seems
to make the Map key window re-appear - fixed.
09 Oct, 2002 - v0.2.6
Save/restore configuration options
Added form, shown when program is first run,which
prompts user to start a new project, load an existing one or see a sample.
The inevitable small bug fixes.
08 Oct, 2002 - v0.2.5
Thus was a private build for an alpha tester.
Demo game no longer created by default. Must be
requested.
Can remove properties which have been assigned to a
room/actor/item.
some bug fixes, cosmetic.
01 Sep, 2002- v0.2.4
added progress bar when creating class trees.
some minor bug fixes (most trivial, but one TADS code generation problem)
& memory leaks.
16 July, 2002- v0.2.3
various small cosmetic bug fixes.
added the ability to create passages directly from
the map (right click menu).
it LIVES!!! my Creature LIVES!!!! mwuh ha ha ha!!! Successfully generated
functioning TADS code for Cloak of Darkness.
8 July, 2002- v0.2.2
fixed bug where file/new would double the number of
poroperties in the project. Added display of number of properties to status
bar.
fixewd some more code dealing with properties.
Including the option on the Class form, Properties tab, to display only
properties of the class being examined, or also those which the class has
inherited from its ancestors.
added a class tree view, in the style of MS Explorer. Note the way that
it color codes to differentiate between user defind classes and those declared
in adv.t - I intend to do this for all list boxes, eventually.
24-June,2002- v0.2.1
some bug fixes
Added progress bar to make the load/save progress
less tedious (trying to speed this up, but it doesn't seeem possible).
Added ability to show/hide colo(u)r coded key to the
map.
Fixed 'feature' which allowed some properties to be shown twice in teh list
of properties available to colo(u)r the map.
9 June, 2002- v0.2.0
Well, the reason I put the project on hold was that I wasn't keen on the
major rework required to allow full manipulation of the classes & properties,
including the class inheritance tree and user definition of new classes &
properties. After I bit the bullet, I reckon that I have implemented it in
only about 50 hours, so it wasn't so bad after all. Of course, despite my
cursory testing, it's probably still full of bugs, but at least the framework
is in place, users can see the proposed functionality and the project can
proceed.
Note that there are still some open issues, but the system should me usable
as-is.
I added a "find" menu to
enable you to centre the map on a specified room or the room containing a
specified item or actor (even if enclosed in another item, actor, etc).
I added a Configure/Map View tab to allow you to specify classes or properties
which you would like to see visually indicated on the map. If any room is
of that class (or, optionally, of a class derived from that class) or has
that property set (or, optionally, has the possibility to set that property)
or contains an item or actor (which contains an item or actor, etc) which
is of that class, or has that property set, then the representation of the
room on the map will contain a small coloured square indciating this.
For instance, you can easilly see all dark rooms or rooms containing actors,
etc You can also, for instance, define a property called puzzle and
mark it as a design only property. You can then use it to quickly mark all
rooms conatining puzzles on the map but, since you made it a design only property,
no code will be generated for it. See here for a
screenshot.
Some more minor stuff, like allowing nested rooms,
etc which I won't bother to list as no-one is likely to be comparing this
version with the last anyway.
There's a lot more connections. You can double click
on any list box to jump to the definition of the item which you double
clicked.
Added recent projects to the file menu.
Added some more expressive exception handling.
Program errors will now provide more information and you will given the option
to e-mail this information to me.
I finally fixed it so that you can see the outline of
a room which you are dragging on the map, while you are dragging it.
some bug fixes.
9 Oct, 2001
Well, I've been idle for about a year, during which time there has been no
further development. I don't know whether I will continue. If there is any demand,
then I shall. If not, I may just potter about with it, at a slower pace than
previously & announce it to r.a.i.f if I ever get a reasonable beta version.
22 July, 2000- v0.1.5-
Split all classes into two major types & 4 subtypes
- room/item/actor or other (vocabulary : verbs, prepositions, etc.). Only
appropriate classes will be offered in lists. Class specific code.
Hopefully, got round the save/restore problems by making
sure that the random file name for the work file really is unique.
25 june, 2000- v0.1.4-
Some about box stuff : get version number directly from
the program executable; add clickable labels for home page & e-mail.
Menu File/New works (menu File/sample game was added in
v0.1.3).
When creating or renaming a room/item/actor, the return
key now acts as if the user had click on OK, rather than tabbing to the
OK key (let me know if you want this to be a configurable option).
When creating or renaming a room/item/actor, the name must
begin with a letter & may contain only upper & lower case letters
and numbers an underscore - unfortunately, this causes the cursor to spring
back to the start of the input field & there seems to be no way to avoid
this.
Some minor tab order stuff.
ite, & actor location edit button now works when
location is not a room.
oops! the passages button stopped working in the last release.
9 June 2000- v0.1.3 - Fixed bug where changing an outgoing passage,
which looped back to the same room, to another destination caused a GPF. I found
this one in a maze of twisty little if-statements, all alike.
5 June 2000- v0.1.2 -
Current room/map/item/actor title now in program's title
bar, as well as hint bar.
Corrected alignment of components when window is enlarged/maximized.
Corrected problem where contents are not shown.
Fixed stupid bug where you are prompted to delete passage
to "--- NO WAY ---".
Solved problem where multiple copies of each class would
appear in the available classes listbox for item & actor classes (one
extra copy each time the page was shown).
Fixed problems where some items/actors were shown twice
on the list of possible locations when creating a new item/actor.
If a unidirectional passage exists, it is now shown on the
map pointing in the correct direction.
Corrected Tab order.
Oops! forgot to remove debug code, so save file was always
being saved as Plugh.ini in the program directory, no matter what the suer
specified.
Code generation for item readDesc added.
25 may 2000 - v0.1.0 -
Added "generate TADS code".
Added an extra tab each for Room/Item/Actor to add/remove
classes, in order to support multiple inheritance of room/item/actor class.
Added contents list for items & actors.
Added option to alphabetically sort lists.
Internally classified each adv.t class as room.item/actor/other
and indicated whether it can contain items/objects.
Used these data when populating certain lists, so that only
contextually valid options are offered.
Newly declared classes inherit from their parents.
When a container is deleted, new configuration options determine
what to do with its contents.
5 may 2000 - v0.0.9 - I believe that save & restore are now
working. That really only leaves generating a TADS file & we have a reasonable
beta version.
18 April 2000 - v0.0.8 - I believe that the mapping is now fully
functional & debugged, including all sorts of weird & sneaky redirecting
of passages. Why not try to prove me wrong?
12 Mar 2000 - v0.0.7 -
added class hierarchy manipulation, to allow the user to
add, delete & edit class dependencies.
Double clicking an item in a room's contents list edits
that list. Similarly, a button was added to the item form to allow immediate
editing of the item's location, whether item or room (can't seem to recognize
a double click on a drop down combo box).
Something which seems trivial to the user caused a major
recode. When a room already has a passage in a given direction and the user
wants to make another passage in that direction, he must confirm deletion
of the existing passage. Also very tricky, is that the create new passage
dialog box should only offer return directions which are not already in
use at the destination.
Implemented proper handling of one-way passages.
12 Mar 2000 - v0.0.6 -
single clicking a room on the map makes it the 'current' room.
Added Delete Current Room code.
Alignment of input fields now works when main for is
resized (minimum size = 640x480).
Added actor handling.
Added 'new item' option.
After struggling for weeks with the Borland STL implementation of 'vector',
I was forced to code a workaround (Sorry about the delay).
13 Feb2000 - v0.0.5 -
replaced top level tabs by a toolbar.
Added room rename code.
Resized everything to default to 640 x480 pixels (in a future
version, text entry fields will sensibly resize when the program window
is resized).
The map is now MDI (Multiple Document Interface), although
currently only a single map is supported.
There should no longer be any need to release any accompanying
DLLs. This may possibly have destabilized a few things (although I couldn't
find anything), but we're at an early stage yet anyway.
04 Feb2000 - v0.0.4 - added a class hierarchy which shows the
class inheritance tree of adv.t. This will become user modifiable in future
versions.
20 Jan 2000 - v0.0.3 - a new passage offers a sensible return
direction. Lots of code tidying which is not visible to the user.
20 Jan 2000 - v0.0.2 - add room now works, as does add passage
(from the room/directions tab).
16 Jan 2000 - v0.0.1 - initial pre-Alpha demo version. Began the
R.A.I.F discussion on how Plugh should develop. Follow this link if you're interested
...Deja.com
message: want an I-F development GUI?
Deja.com
message: want an I-F development GUI?