sometimes99er Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 (edited) I put the first bigassmap.png through a tile-extractor and there’s only 18 unique characters. That's the part of the "character set" - not that much. The map however is 56 x 72 = 4032 bytes. If you could keep it at 16 unique characters, much the same map would fit (relatively easy) in half the space, 2016 bytes. 1 byte = 8 bits = 2 x 4 bits, 4 bits = 16 character codes, 2 x 4 bits = 2 times 16 character codes. When and if the XB Compiler moves to the lower 8K, there'll be even more space for your program. Does your XB program read the map from a file as is or is the map held within the program ? Edited May 7, 2013 by sometimes99er Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted May 8, 2013 Author Share Posted May 8, 2013 Thanks for that, sometimes! The map data is stored in the disk. We do a CALL LINK("xxx") to retrieve the data and display it onscreen... that being said, the ENTIRE bigassmap is loaded into memory upon program startup and then Matthew's assembly sub displays the proper section of the screen at the appropriate time. I'll have to look at this more tonight when I get home... =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted May 8, 2013 Author Share Posted May 8, 2013 In looking at it, I'm fairly confident that I've modded that map since that was posted... I'll find it tonight and send it... It just doesn't look right in some places.... Question, assuming I get down to 16 unique characters... I wouldn't really have room for specialty characters (such as chests, potions, etc) on the main exploration screen.... Of course, if they were placed procedurally and NOT part of the main map data, that would save quite a bit of space... I think we had decided on that method quite a while back... But I'm still trying to get my head around my pre-existing code and what's actually there... I have 3 different BATTLE programs I wrote for testing and have no idea which one is the most efficient... There are also 10 copies of the Beryl game on my computer and all are a little different. =) I don't think I'm quite ready to start work on this game again just yet. I have alot of house cleaning to do (in the development) before I'm set and ready to go... That being SAID... I'm still going to need to do that house cleaning and part of that is getting this magellan deal figured out... I'll try to get that mag file out to you tonight, sometimes... Thanks again. =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted May 8, 2013 Author Share Posted May 8, 2013 Oh yea... it's COMPLETELY different... looks-wise, anyway. =) Here's the file... It's entitled Forest5.mag. The large map is map #11 in this file... The other maps here are segments or renderings of the viewport I made for testing. You'll need to look at #11 for what we're needing. =) ***NOTE... There are things in these character sets that are NOT in the main map... Such as the viewport window, fonts, etc... Forest5.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted May 8, 2013 Author Share Posted May 8, 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimes99er Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 It was only that 18 characters were so close to 16. I wouldn’t know if the map was final or not. I think you should simply just forget about the suggested 16 character limit. The .mag file you supply works fine here with versions 1.2 through 1.6. Thought you said you had lost or corrupted something. If you have problems with any other .mag files, I’ll gladly take a look and see if I can salvage any graphics and/or maps. One thing is wanting to move forward, but sometimes you have to take two steps back to take one step forward (sort of what Mark suggests). Often one wants to do both this and that, but the way forward is to concentrate on a smaller part and then go back and view it all from above, deciding where to dig next. I’d suggest that you concentrate on, more or less, finalizing a map and the graphics. Including decisions on what’s travelable, what’s not, what’s pickup items, and if there’s more than that. Forget about coding for a while. There’ll be room for some smaller fine-tuning of the maps and graphics in later steps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted May 8, 2013 Author Share Posted May 8, 2013 sorry, perhaps I was not concise. The OUTPUT was corrupted... It's almost as thought it were offset by one or two characters. I have been reading the Magellan thread and it looks like retroclouds tweaked something in the output concerning a corruption (on a particular character code caveat)... I tried to export the magellan data in order to put it into the Beryl program and it was severely mangled. I thought perhaps there was something broken in the file itself or the exported data was getting screwy somewhere. Thanks for the suggestions... =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimes99er Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Okay. Do you have output from Magellan that works and one that does not work ? Maybe retroclouds could take a look too ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted May 8, 2013 Author Share Posted May 8, 2013 The data that works is in the game now... I think I edited my .mag file to fix some small issues where, on screen switch, the PC was getting trapped in untraversable spaces... Once I modified, the NEW DATA came out screwy. Im not 100% sure which one is which, as it has been a looooong time since I messed with it. When I get some time to play with it, I'll be more precise.. As of now, the exploration routine works fine with what I have in there now... Except for a few bugs where you can trap yourself in a mountain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimes99er Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 You could check before scrolling, otherwise you have to ensure that there's a path on the other side by design. I guess you can't move diagonally ? Is it a general wraparound world - I mean there are paths leading out of the map ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted May 8, 2013 Author Share Posted May 8, 2013 The intent was for a "one way in,one way out" type of deal with several things that have to be accomplished before one can exit the map and enter the next segment of the game. I had planned to work this by design so that no additional checks needed to take place in exploration mode... We shall see how that plan holds up going forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted May 9, 2013 Author Share Posted May 9, 2013 (edited) I have attached a toolkit that I was using (back when) to convert raw exported data from Magellan to usable files. It took me a while to put this together from fragmented sections of my old development files on my computer, but here's what I've got. 1) conv2bas.txt: This is a program which takes the exported XB map data and converts it directly into assembly-usable characters (essentially the +96 offset) on a file on a disk to be called up for use later. 2) drawtext2.txt: This is a program which takes all Magellan exported data (graphics and color included) and pulls it from disk... It then displays the map onscreen in XB. You have options here to display a "slideshow" of maps by simply changing the number of loops. It's a bit esoteric, but I used it for a very specific test... There is a youtube video showing how this is used. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G0Mwy2z-r4 3) mytestxbtxt.txt: This is a program similar to conv2bas, but in this case, the exported XB data from Magellan is converted into BYTE format and stored for use with assembly draw functions. It's accomplished by using a neat little DISPLAY USING ###,###,### type thing and works great! This is what I was using for the conversion to BYTE data for the Beryl scrolling exploration routine. There are a few other files in the zip... mostly some assembly testing I was doing at the time. =) Anyway, there may be some more stuff I need to upload here for posterity's sake (and so I don't lose it!!!) so I'll keep looking. ALSO INCLUDED!!!!! a .dsk file including the Beryl game in the videos. It's just the exploration right now, BUT you can certainly use the MENU by pressing "M" while exploring, or examine any unique map positions (which... there is only one at the moment. It's the sword). To examine it, walk to where your character is TOUCHING the sword, press the "space-bar" to "examine" and it will ask you a direction... Walk around the world using E,S,D,X. Enjoy exploring Forestia. =) Owen Magellansupport.zip BERYLSHIT.zip Edited May 9, 2013 by Opry99er Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted May 9, 2013 Author Share Posted May 9, 2013 BTW, if you look at the XB code, you might notice that the MENU section of the code is very different in structure from the rest of the program. That's because I wrote the entire menu routine in TIdBiT... Matthew's very useful and interesting BASIC translator. You can find it by clicking the link below. TIdBiT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted May 10, 2013 Author Share Posted May 10, 2013 The file I posted the other day is the exploration and menu features, fully functional and usable. You won't have much luck with the menu unless you use the ITEM menu. I currently have it pre-loaded with some stuff you can use on your PCs. As far as exploration goes, I currently only have the "path" walkable, but that will change when I have some time to update my map and re-code the tile checks in the program. If you have any questions, let me know... If you have any suggestions, please let me know. =) I had a battle sequence coded into one of my test programs, but all it did was redraw the screen (slowly) and show the battle screen. I took that out for the time being because it was frivolous. Owen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertLM78 Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Hey Owen, I see there isn't a download link here in this thread (at least not near the top). Do you have the demo uploaded anywhere else besides Heatwave? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted June 29, 2013 Author Share Posted June 29, 2013 4posts above your post. BERYLSHIT.dsk There it is... Use menu and examine features and explore the map. Have fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted June 29, 2013 Author Share Posted June 29, 2013 BTW, that version has been enhanced with a quickload program, so you can't even read the intro, it's so fast. Before t took about 50 seconds to load!!! Thanks seniorfalcon!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertLM78 Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Awesome - downloading now . You've have finish this game when you get the chance to sit down with it - it looks to me like a brilliant blend of ToD with the Adventure of Link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted June 29, 2013 Author Share Posted June 29, 2013 thanks... Actually, I think this is the original version... Not the quick load version. The quick load version loads n 3 seconds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertLM78 Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 That is a great looking world - surprisingly snappy for XB, as well . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertLM78 Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 thanks... Actually, I think this is the original version... Not the quick load version. The quick load version loads n 3 seconds. Yeah, I think it's the original - I had plenty of time to read the intro . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertLM78 Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Have you thought about adding a splash, perhaps before the intro text? Something with Beryl in battle would be cool . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted June 29, 2013 Author Share Posted June 29, 2013 Look earlier in the thread for Tursi's CONVERT 9918 stuff I was doing... You can search) the thread for it using the search function for 9918...should find it... Full bitmap graphics. You can also view my YouTube video on it... Matter of fact, that would be better... Check that out. Type Convert9918 or something like that into a YouTube search bar... You'll LOVE it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted June 29, 2013 Author Share Posted June 29, 2013 Glad you like the map. ave you used items from the menu yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertLM78 Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Look earlier in the thread for Tursi's CONVERT 9918 stuff I was doing... You can search) the thread for it using the search function for 9918...should find it... Full bitmap graphics. You can also view my YouTube video on it... Matter of fact, that would be better... Check that out. Type Convert9918 or something like that into a YouTube search bar... You'll LOVE it... Neat stuff there! Glad you like the map. ave you used items from the menu yet? I haven't - I saw the sword in the ground, but I couldn't do anything with it - I should probably read the instructions . I figured the code wasn't that far - I'll have to check the demo out again - at the moment though, I'm playing the disk version of TI-INVADERS . It started out this afternoon as a text source file on my Linux box and wound up on the TI, assembled, and now enjoying the cheat function very much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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