|
Post by Dave on Feb 25, 2008 3:33:48 GMT
Although it really should be Ninth Sense. Humans have 7 senses (most people forget kinesthesis and equilibrium), so the Kai Discipline would be 8th and your program would be 9th. But since JD called his discipline "Sixth Sense" instead of "Eighth Sense", your name is fine. You made me smile with that, Mooncheese. When you get a chance to try the new package on Vista, please post whether it worked or not. If not, I will soon have a working Vista install to test/develop on, and I'll be able to solve any compatibility issues.
|
|
|
Post by alderaine on Feb 25, 2008 17:10:24 GMT
Great name I'll be setting up a page to list "works in progress" soon - probably immediately underneath the finished software page. Let me know if you would like your link included there. I do not think the Project Aon license allows you to distribute the books with your software - you need to either make it work with the online copies, or make the user download them (I've included a button in my software to do this, and can send you the code if you like) - this ensures the reader always has the latest version. I will test this relatively soon myself, possibly on both XP & Vista.
|
|
|
Post by alderaine on Feb 25, 2008 17:30:16 GMT
I've made a start on testing this on XP, and following a successful install I encountered the following first comments... - It is visually very striking - a delightful addition to the Aon armoury * The program creates a directory structure of Seventh Sense\Lone Wolf by default - this seems overkill as one directory deep would suffice * Full screen needs a minimise option * There does not seem to be any way to turn full screen off once it is set in game * The sliding menus are cute for the first two minutes, but there needs to be a way to turn them off. * It took me a while to work out how to agree with the Ts & Cs - I would put the button under the T&C window to make it more evident * Equally for "The story so far" - there is a button on the left saying to click here to begin the adventure, but it does not do anything until you work through the story pages, which is not obvious * On XP, I found the scrollbar to be "sticky" - it does not seem to smoothly slide down the page * I read through all the starting sections, but still can not seem to click "begin" - how do I set up the character? I think there needs to be a "quick start" where you do it all from the character sheet rather than having to navigate through all the pages I hope this is helpful I will work through the character setup page by page when I have time to see if I can get it working.
|
|
|
Post by Dave on Feb 25, 2008 18:38:04 GMT
- It is visually very striking - a delightful addition to the Aon armoury Thanks! Except that I am planning on also doing a Grey Star version, which would sit so nicely beside the Lone Wolf version in "Seventh Sense\Grey Star" good points there. I will address those in a future release. Please understand that this is only my 2nd real project in c++, so I am still learning, and figuring out the best ways to do things... Did you read the "Notice" on the left - it clearly describes how the color of buttons functions: Red buttons must be "resolved" before you can move on. The tooltip for the begin adventure "here" should also say as much. Yes, scrolling could be improved. The reason it feels sticky, is that if you are dragging it down or up, and the mouse goes outside the scrollbar area, it will "let go." I'll try and figure a way for it to "hold on!" You've got me puzzled on this one. When you read the "Game Rules" page, do you see red buttons on the words "pick" (a Random Number). You simply have to click them to pick. My aim in doing things this way was to keep it as similar to reading the actual paper books as possible. If you still have trouble getting going in it, perhaps I need to modify the "Notice" section to be more easily understood. (It's easy for me, since I wrote it! but not necessarily for someone reading it the first time.) I disagree on this, though its more of a design choice. It's a good idea, though, but not for my program, imo. Yes, very helpful! Thank you for the feedback. I am glad to see that you were able to run the program with this version, which is a marked improvement over the last version!
|
|
|
Post by Dave on Feb 25, 2008 18:49:05 GMT
I'll be setting up a page to list "works in progress" soon - probably immediately underneath the finished software page. Let me know if you would like your link included there. Yes, please! I designed it to be an independent download from the books, not knowing that Project Aon would host it. Jonathan said that as long as it was hosted on Aon, they could go together. However, your solution sounds ideal - would you please send me that code? I'll try and work it in for the next release. That would save on PA bandwidth all around.
|
|
|
Post by alderaine on Feb 26, 2008 14:08:37 GMT
I've started playing through the book now, and this is truely a beautiful creation. The experience certainly is on a par to reading the books, but with very cute automation. * Even on "off", random numbers have a little too much delay. I would have a setting to keep the random number grid up, but without animation so the number is highlighted immediately * I would include the actual footnote rather than directing the reader to the whole footnote list - it can be hard to find the right one * I encountered the text "If you have the Kai Discipline of Tracking, turn to nnn" - but it let me turn to another section. In my understanding, this wording means you MUST turn to that section. (c.f. "If you have the Kai Discipline of Tracking, you MAY turn to nnn") * I found combat very difficult to follow - many things flashing around the screen (and yes I have played the books - fixing the information on-screen would probably make this more logical. I have to say that representing combat well is something I'm struggling with in my program as well, so we might benefit from bashing our heads together on this one. * When I died (climbing the hill after the tunnel) - I clicked menu, restart the book, and the game crashed * I found attempting to pick up more items than I could carry a little bulky - the dialog shown could list the available items, and allow me to select which one(s) to drop * When you have the option of eating a meal or using hunting, I'm not quite sure why you would choose to eat a meal? Book 1 completed (well, on a simple route anyway!) - very impressive, and it certainly hangs together * On change of books, I don't see why you need to make the reader agree to the Aon license again (In fact, I'm not sure you need to make them agree to it the first time, but it's not a bad thing to have there once) - I quite liked the way you take the reader to the next book, although I might be inclined to allow them to skip the combat rules (I guess you could use the TOC for this?)
|
|
|
Post by mckinstry on Feb 26, 2008 19:34:08 GMT
Ok I've been trying to come up with a logo for Dave's program, currently called Seventh Sense. Innitially I created a variation of the wolfs head used on many of the old book covers. Most of the people on this forum have been reading Lone Wolf much longer than me so I'm interested to hear if anyone has any ideas for an image iconic of the Lone Wolf world. A certain weapon, item, obect or location etc. Or even a combination. Also, did Gary Chalk or any of the other artists ever paint the emblems for the Lone Wolf Monastary or any of the many orders in the books? Heres an example of the sort of thing I am aiming for - (desktop icon) and here is the first draft of the wolf head outline - Please feel free to post your ideas weather your artistically inclined or not - I hope my image links work!
|
|
|
Post by beowuuf on Feb 26, 2008 20:22:12 GMT
The beaver books all had the lone wolf face in stark black and white, I always thought it was pretty effective
|
|
|
Post by outspaced on Feb 26, 2008 21:23:15 GMT
A good idea might be to use part of the current "official" logo from Mongoose.
|
|
|
Post by Taryn on Feb 27, 2008 0:28:29 GMT
* When you have the option of eating a meal or using hunting, I'm not quite sure why you would choose to eat a meal? Maybe if you had a "special" meal...I think you can get a meal of Laumspur somewhere.
|
|
|
Post by Dave on Feb 27, 2008 3:25:55 GMT
Thank you for the compliments and feedback, James. I'm glad it worked (for the most part! crash = ) for you. * Even on "off", random numbers have a little too much delay. I would have a setting to keep the random number grid up, but without animation so the number is highlighted immediately This seems more like personal preference. I can't see any reason for displaying the chart without the animation when picking a number. The animation is akin to closing your eyes and poking at the chart with a pencil(as per the book), not knowing quite where it is going to land. Without it, it's basically just a roll of a ten-sided die - hence, no chart needed. This is a very good suggestion, and I will likely take you up on this one (Even though, the current version does skip to the footnote in question when you click on "footnote x", the text should be at the top of the footnote page, unless there isn't enough page left for that.) Ahh, but I find it most helpful to interpret those things based on the other choices presented in the section. For instance: "If you have Tracking, turn to xxx. If you do not, turn to xxx." differs greatly in my mind from "If you have Tracking, turn to xxx. If you decide to take to left path, turn to xxx. If you decide to take the right path, turn to xxx." One clearly makes a MAY/MAY NOT distinction, where the other makes none such. Therefore, in my reckoning, in the first case, having Tracking presents the reader with exactly one option. In the second case, having Tracking presents the reader with three, though of course, the wise reader will follow his instincts and use his Disciplines when given the opportunity. And this is always the case when such language is used as : "If you wish to use your Kai Discipline of XXXX" Yeah, there can be a lot to digest. Give it a few more battles... I might just need to slow down the overall speed, to give people a chance to read the various modifiers as they popup, and scan the combat chart, etc. Ugh. That shouldn't happen. I'll look into it. Sorry! Excellent suggestion. I will at least add to the messagebox a choice that asks the player if they would like to drop something. Then they can go directly there, instead of having to open to the correct page, click drop, etc. Mooncheese nailed it on the head. There might be some special meal or something in your inventory that you forgot about. Plus, it makes it more interactive, I think. I'm not sure what to think of this. I'm certain that I want the user to explicitly agree at least once... perhaps subsequent books can be automatically accepted. bingo. Again, thank you so much for your suggestions and help. You have given me some great ideas for improving the software.
|
|
|
Post by alderaine on Feb 27, 2008 12:20:20 GMT
"Yeah, there can be a lot to digest. Give it a few more battles... I might just need to slow down the overall speed, to give people a chance to read the various modifiers as they popup, and scan the combat chart, etc. " There are so many battles that I feel slowing it down is not a good idea, but as you say it is your software and personal preference "Maybe if you had a "special" meal...I think you can get a meal of Laumspur somewhere." As far as I know, you can choose to eat (use) a meal at any time. There are potions that say you must use them immediately before combat (I'm not sure how you would do that in this software, but I've not tried it yet.) I checked with Jon, and you can distribute the books with your software, providing: 1. It is hosted ONLY on the Aon server 2. The Aon license is available (easily) within the software I don't think you have to make the reader read the license - just make it available. "Ahh, but I find it most helpful to interpret those things based on the other choices presented in the section." - As a reader, with no software, there is of course nothing stopping you doing it, but the wording is crystal clear with no room for interpretation - if you have .... skill, turn to... - it is an instruction. Possibly make it one of the playability options, but as a "reader" using the software, I would just choose that option, so it doesn't matter too much if the software enforces it. I hope to get on to testing the next couple of books soon I'm very interested to see the various sub-games
|
|
|
Post by Taryn on Feb 27, 2008 16:44:15 GMT
Nope, it still crashes on Vista. After I select which book to start with, the window turns black for a while and then I get "LoneWolf.exe has stopped working and Windows is looking for a solution".
Edit: I tried running as administrator and also running in XP SP2 compatibility mode, but neither worked.
|
|
|
Post by Dave on Feb 27, 2008 21:53:16 GMT
Nope, it still crashes on Vista. After I select which book to start with, the window turns black for a while and then I get "LoneWolf.exe has stopped working and Windows is looking for a solution". Edit: I tried running as administrator and also running in XP SP2 compatibility mode, but neither worked. Well, bummer! Vista compatibility will have to wait until I get Vista installed and development tools, etc. (I might try it out in Virtual PC 2007 first, as that could save some headaches with installing the new OS)
|
|
|
Post by Taryn on Feb 27, 2008 22:38:38 GMT
Yeah, Vista is annoying like that. It took a while for me to get Zelda Classic to work. It seems like a lot of non-commercial software fails on Vista except the big ones like Firefox and OpenOffice.org.
|
|