Stranded II Mod Viewer (Hosted on SourceForge)
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Edit: Hmm. Maybe it was the combinations.inf which was an add-on of a mod I spliced with mine. I'll move it and see if that's the problem.
Edit #2: Not it. Curious. I'll send you the combi files via message.
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Stranded II General Stranded II Mod Viewer (Hosted on SourceForge)Edit: Hmm. Maybe it was the combinations.inf which was an add-on of a mod I spliced with mine. I'll move it and see if that's the problem.
Edit #2: Not it. Curious. I'll send you the combi files via message.
Thank you so much as this will help me make sure this kind of error doesn't appear again. (Your name's in the "Thanks" page now.)
I have messaged you the exact details concerning this.
Being that there's been a fair few bug fixes since the last release, I'll post a new one in a few hours.
Edit: Released SIIMV 10-04-21 00-30
All previous mentioned fixes are in this update.
edited 1×, last 21.04.10 01:34:55 am
"Unhandled Exception. (SIIMV-10-04-21 00-30)"
units.inf
### Seat
id=51
name=Seat
group=vehicle
icon=gfx\table.bmp
model=gfx\table.b3d
x=0.50
y=0.25
z=0.50
###scale=0.75
colxr=12
colyr=10
mat=wood
speed=0.0
turnspeed=0.0
health=150
behaviour=amphibian
rideoffset=-9.25
The negative value is ok, chokes on the decimal.
(If you're curious, I'm tired of standing around my campfire. I just want to sit and enjoy a little Hanffaser at eye-level with the fire. Can't figure how to move the camera, or alter player definition, so tried a different approach. It works.)
p.s. Thanks for the shoutout in the 'About'. It was not necessary, but appreciated. You are a gentleman.
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EDIT-
Just a thought or two on potential program refinements:
1) an option to save the error log, w/o doing a copy & paste (unless I missed it somewhere?)
2) column widths shouldn't necessarily reset on a view change. I don't mind setting them on program start, or adjusting them as needed, while working, but they really ought to remain set to user preference during a session.
Just minor quibbles. They don't detract from the program at all, so don't try to re-write it just for that. I'd rather have functionality over 'polish'. Save it for version 2.
edited 2×, last 27.04.10 03:01:59 am
Thanks for the rideoffset. Fixed it.
1: Really good idea. Implemented. For next release: You will now be able to save a compendium or error log to text file.
2: Columns are dynamically created by a function that takes a count from the "inf" files of the needed number of columns and builds them. This happens every time you change item or object. Combinations and buildings should already retain widths through a session, but will reset on loading a mod. Changing the image scale in preferences forces a reload of all displays.
The size of these are controlled by 3 sizes.
ImageScale = This is the image scale in pixels. Min - Max = 16 - 64. (This is the size of the icons in all DataGridViews).
ItemCell = Image Scale + 30 (This so there's space for a 3 digit number for amount beside the item image in cells for combinations, buildings, unit loots etc)
TextCell = Size of a text cell.
Because of the dynamic nature of column creation, I am unable to keep column widths at this time.
re: 1) Damn, you're quick! I thought I spent too much time at the computer!
re: 2) Not a problem. It was just a passing thought.
You should probably know I am actually using the Viewer very infrequently, so I am not the best judge of what a real modder may want or need in the program. If it is of any interest, my 'process' goes something like this:
a) get an idea;
b) try to understand what I need to make it work;
c) implement idea;
d) dig through every scrap of info I can get, after my 1st attempt fails;
e) re-implement idea;
f) re-think after 2nd attempt fails;
g) run Viewer to see how original mod was written;
h) get unrelated "unhandled exception" from prior mod;
i) locate exception, make note to advise psytechnic;
j) re-visit Unreal forum, search, find stupid error;
k) get idea working, get new idea, take moment to post psytechnic;
l) goto "b".
p.s. Suspect you are much younger than me. Advise you occassionaly turn off computer, go smell roses.
P.S. I'm not as young as you think. I've smelled daffodils, roses, tulips and conifers. I've had my own child and said many things along the lines of "When I was young..." and "Can you believe the prices nowadays?". I get out and about, but there's not that much I haven't already seen, so I program to teach myself something new.
I am an enthusiastic programmer, taking my work very seriously, even my own personal projects. This kinda works to the advantage of everyone because I will continue to bang away at this code until I feel it's complete and stable enough to ask DC if I can host it on this site. By that point, this thing will be a full blown editor.
Quote
I'm sorry to hear you're having a difficult time with my program,...
Oh, please, no, I think you misunderstand. I do not find your program at all difficult, I think it is a well thought-out and nicely polished app, and I find it both easy to use & useful. I was simply trying to explain that I don't use it in quite the way you might expect, and therefore you should NOT take my opinions as representative of those you want to share it with.
When I experiment with Stranded, I am trying to learn the scripting language, and use what I learn in creating/modifying existing definitions/scripts to my own ends. In the course of that, I may alter values from the formats usually found in the 'plain vanilla' mod. This may/may not result in an error when I test the change in-game. If the game chokes, I revert to the original format. If the game accepts it, but the Viewer chokes with an 'unhandled exception' error, I let you know, because I believe you want & deserve such feedback.
Generally, I use the Viewer as a database reference, when I am trying to balance weights, quantities resulting from combos & actions, etc. Usually, the debug functions in Stranded are sufficient to point me to errors in my logic or syntax, so I generally am not using the Viewer to those ends.
When I have made file-oriented errors, resulting from deleting a needed combo item, or neglecting to correctly name/provide a needed icon or model, or similar textual errors, the Viewer's error-handling has been impeccable in bailing me out, and I applaud you for that.
I just don't use it much for script-checking, as I tend to do most of that in my head, and through trial & error. The "rideoffset" error is an example. I had made that change hours before, and had gone on to experimenting with that unit in-game, debugging and making changes. After one change, I mistakenly clicked the Viewer icon, sitting next to the Stranded icon, on my desktop, and as the Viewer defaults to loading the last loaded mod, it threw the error. Given the nature of the prior 'unhandled exceptions', I was pretty sure just where it came from, checked by modifying the value, and posted you.
I may be wrong, but I suspect the average player, just beginning to experiment with modding, is unlikely to alter an integer to a decimal, because he/she doesn't think he/she should. If he/she does change it, or makes a typing error, they may not understand the nature of the resulting Viewer error or be able to adequately explain to you how it came about. I'm just trying to help.
In retrospect, in listing my creative 'process' in my prior post, I suspect I led you astray in item "h)", by not clearly stating the default loading of the current mod, with an error of my own making embedded in it, before loading the 'vanilla' mod to check. Ergo, your assumption I was having difficulties. Mea culpa...
Apologies if I offended you with the "younger" comment (I have gray hairs that have seen a few decades go by). I was just amazed at your attention & response time. I mistook you for a young (age-wise) programmer.
Let me see if I can turn it around by stating that I think your mind is young. Good for you! Keep it that way.
--------------------------------------------------
EDIT: I wanted to do this as a new post, as I wanted to redirect the conversation, but the forum software chastised me, so...
Quote
The only bugger is, I don't know how to read B3D at all. I really don't get it. I can read, ASM, C, C++, C#, Java and damn near anything else, just not Basic... (*hangs head in shame*)
I am just ... mind-boggled. Given what I've seen of your app, and your models, you are a high-caliber programmer. Maybe it is a generational thing. I go back to Intel 8088's, Timex/Sinclair Z80's, DOS 2.0, and interpreted BASIC.
I was never passionately involved in programming, despite my interest, due to RLS. Still, if i needed to do something somewhat complex, & the manual brute force effort was significant, I could cobble together a BASIC program to handle at least some of the work. That was the original idea of BASIC, a quick & dirty way for people without the skill for ASM to accomplish complex tasks. I dabbled some in ASM, and a Tandy UNIX offshoot called OS9.
Along about then, though I had heard of C, and was starting to get my feet wet with it, MSWin3.1, C++, C#, & OOP, where just becoming the leading, bleeding edge.
It was all way, way over my head. I understood the concepts; signals, queques, mouse messages, etc. But there were way too many commands that did small things that had to be strung together to do things that a single BASIC command could do. Sure, there were tons of library functions, but you had to wade through tons of often obtuse documentation to find what you needed. It gave tremendous flexibility and control to the dedicated programmer, at the expense of a very steep learning curve.
Interpreted Basic, had, at best, a couple of hundred commands, and a fairly simple syntax and grammar. Most people loved it. Dedicated programmers tended to look down on it because being interpreted a line at a time it was often necessary to use "goto's" and "gosub's", which in the hands of non-perfectionists would often result in 'spaghetti' code, and it burned machine cycles.
When compiled BASICs w/IDEs began to be introduced, the writers tried to address some of that by beginning to build in the ability for users to write functions, sub-functions, and the ability to write in-line ASM & C code.
'Course, by then, the real programmers had moved onward & upward, and were writing apps for MAC & MSWin that did things you used to do with BASIC, so fewer people were programming in BASIC, at all.
All this lengthy preamble leads me to the simple fact that you may be just too damned knowledgeable about contemporary programming to recognize the flint knife/stone axe aspect of BASIC. It's primitive.
re: BlitzBasic. I'm not familiar with it, never used it, but in looking at DC's source code, it is very reminiscent of Microsoft's QuickBasic. The early versions were interpreted, but later versions, v4.5, etc. were compiled. You might still find it floating around on the net in old archives. It had extensive tutorials & example programs included.
In looking at DC's code, it appears he did what you do with BASIC - he wrote his own functions using the 'basic' commands. I've only skimmed the code lightly, but I suspect he avoided any BlitzBasic-supplied library routines, in favor of writing his own from scratch.
As an example, see this post Some DC source code
I'm reasonably sure (though I am often, often wrong), that DC wrote that 'parse_comma' function from scratch using just Blitz commands, for the simple task of reading comma delineated parameters. All it does is sequentially test each character in the string passed to it to see if it is a comma, and returns a flag. It is up to the calling function to determine what to do based on the flag.
Still, you do not need to understand BASIC, BlitzBasic, or DC's source code to use the wealth of info embedded in it for your app. E.g.:
'load_game.bb' (the code that presumably interprets "sys\game.inf") begins with:
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Global game_healthsystem Dim game_exh_move#(2) Dim game_exh_swim#(2) Dim game_exh_jump#(2) Dim game_exh_attack#(2) Dim game_exh_damage#(2) Global game_divetime=8000 Global game_divedamage#=1
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healthsystem=4 exhaust_move=0.02,0.02,0.016 exhaust_swim=0.06,0.05,0.06 exhaust_jump=0.08,0.08,0.08 exhaust_attack=0.15,0.15,0.15 exhausted_damage=1,1,1 dive_time=120000 dive_damage=0.25
So, look a little deeper (back to "load_game.bb"):
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;### Load Game Function load_game() Local in$,var$,val$ ... ... // a chunk of setup code ... Select var$ Case "healthsystem" game_healthsystem=Int(val$) Case "exhaust_move" split(val$) game_exh_move#(0)=Float(splits$(0)) game_exh_move#(1)=Float(splits$(1)) game_exh_move#(2)=Float(splits$(2)) Case "exhaust_swim" split(val$) game_exh_swim#(0)=Float(splits$(0)) game_exh_swim#(1)=Float(splits$(1)) game_exh_swim#(2)=Float(splits$(2)) Case "exhaust_jump" split(val$) game_exh_jump#(0)=Float(splits$(0)) game_exh_jump#(1)=Float(splits$(1)) game_exh_jump#(2)=Float(splits$(2)) Case "exhaust_attack" split(val$) game_exh_attack#(0)=Float(splits$(0)) game_exh_attack#(1)=Float(splits$(1)) game_exh_attack#(2)=Float(splits$(2)) Case "exhausted_damage" split(val$) game_exh_damage#(0)=Float(splits$(0)) game_exh_damage#(1)=Float(splits$(1)) game_exh_damage#(2)=Float(splits$(2)) Case "dive_time" game_divetime=Int(val$) Case "dive_damage" game_divedamage=Float(val$) ... ... // more Cases ... End Select
'var$' is the left side of the '=' in the "sys\game.inf". Each 'Case' is the string used in the "sys\game.inf"
He uses a 'split' function to separate the 3 parameters he requires for the exhaustion routines and assigns them to their respective element position in their respective array, explicitly declaring their type as he does so. (I suspect he wrote the split function himself, but I haven't dug deep enough to verify that.) The actually code to perform the exhaustion routine is buried somewhere in the game function code files, but YOU don't need that.
(One item to note - in that chunk of setup code, he explicitly defines the character '#' as a comment delineator within the game .inf and script files. I think comments in the .bb files are strictly delineated by a semi-colon, though DC used the '#' after a semicolon in many of the files to visually separate sections.)
Regardless of whether you understand the code, given your programming skills, I think you could probably knock out a small tool in short order, that would read, and parse these files to determine accurately each parameters type, for those parameters you need to verify.
Hopefully, despite the length of this post, it has some value for you. Though I am already pushing the limit on my spouses patience with my computer time, if I can assist you with any of this, please feel free to PM me.
edited 1×, last 29.04.10 08:30:14 am
SIIMV is due for another update being that I've done some really good work on it recently, so here's what's coming in the next release:
-SIIMV will nearly be complete! Once I've finished the compendiums, I'll be starting work on turning it into an editor!!!
(
= Already Done)(
= Not Done)-(
)New Feature! THE BUILD TREE! This populates a treeview on the "Buildings" page with the discernible build tree from the "unlockbuilding xx;" functions defined in the building's scripts. Making it easy to see what you need to get that hut or garden.
-(
)Units page implemented with individual view and table functionality. That's all of 'em folks! Items, Objects, Units, Combinations and Buildings. All laid out in one connected program. Tasty!-(
)Item View shows item links to combinations, buildings (used to build), objects (found/spawn from) and units (looted from).-(
)Object View shows object links to buildings (building plans for object) and items (found from) and spawned items (grows on).-(
)Unit View shows unit links to buildings (building plans for vehicles) and items (loot).I've now started really focusing on how to improve the compendium systems and here's what's happening there:
-(
)Choice to open multiple compendiums in one or separate windows.-Compendiums for Items (
), Objects () and Units ()-(
)Compendium sections can be ordered and deselected in Preferences.-(
)Compendiums will be wrote in a format that is copyable to an ".inf" file.-(
)Choice to hide headers from the compendiums.Once the remaining items from this lot have been completed and maybe a few more teaks, I'll make another release.
Edit: I've been playing around with this a little more today and I realise something quite nice. For all you modders out there, say you want to make a copy of some of the things from the game, if you change the compendium load orders in preferences to exclude headers and other non necessary parts (the links), you can highlight the things on the respective table that you want to copy, open their compendiums in one window, and then either save it to file or use the editor itself as a primitive text editor before saving. Quite nice.
edited 1×, last 02.05.10 01:35:06 am
"You have done well, grasshopper!"
I appreciate your appreciation. Glad to help. Seriously, you might want to find both an old interpreted BASIC & a later compiled BASIC w/IDE, just to play with and understand a bit more, to add to your repertiore.
The following is no reflection on you, just a sad fact I am seeing. Recently, my step-daughter brought a young MS-Certified IT tech, (employed at a large-ish mfg. plant) as a date to her birthday party. As we didn't have either enough candles or a fire extinguisher, I used 6 candles to do her age in binary. He didn't have a clue what I was talking about.
I've only been using WinXP for about 4 months. (Actually, I only acquired Stranded about a month ago.) I only recently discovered how to disable the stupid Search Assistant, to go right to Search Companion. Two days ago, while looking at the word 'parse_comma' in an open Notepad window, I was aghast when the Search Companion told me that, despite my entire drive being indexed, the word did not exist in any of the '*.*' files I instructed it to look in. Nor could it find the word in any '*.bb' files in the specific 'includes' directory I directed it to. Only after digging down into the advanced Indexing options, adding the '.bb' file type, and reindexing, did it find it. Someone(s) at Micro$uck$ has forgotten (or never learned) what a 'wildcard' means. Unfortunately, I see that kind of thing happening, more and more often. Personally, I still do a great many things in a DOS window, with almost extinct DOS tools. We need to get back to "BASICS". (Pun intended.)
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The update looks sweet! Can't wait to try it. I'd love to see what you could crank out as a mod, if you spent time modding.
All previous mentioned updates and fixes are in this update.
This is pretty much it. The first beta release of the mod viewer. It has all the functionality I expected the "viewing" side to have, so in terms of what I started, I succeeded. I need beta testers to thoroughly test this out now before I start work on making it an editor. I don't wanna get stung later with a basic mistake.
This is by no means the end though. I am intending on turning this into a mod editor as well, so help me out now, and I'll have a lot less work later.
Released SIIMV 10-05-02 12-30
Quick bug fix: Added error checking for "find=", "spawn=" and "loot=" item IDs that don't exist.
edited 1×, last 02.05.10 01:14:05 pm
(...sigh...) You may come to hate seeing me pop up in your thread...
SIIMV-10-04-21 00-30:
"unhandled exception"
'items_edible.inf'
### Insectparts
id=98
name=Insect Parts
group=food
icon=gfx\insects.bmp
mat=flesh
weight= // I accidently left the weight blank
Was just about to post you, saw the update available. Copied SIIMV 10-05-02 11-30 over SIIMV-10-04-21 00-30 only. Don't know if it matters, didn't delete the old .ini file. Got an 'unhandled exception', something to the effect: "...BuildTreeNode,Item32ndex..." Unfortunately, didn't copy it. Restarting the Viewer didn't help. Restarted, continued, load the original DC mod, no problem. From current Viewer instance, reloaded my mod, no problem. Restarted Viewer with my mod as default load. No problem. Couldn't re-create the error. ('Course, I've only had it for 15 minutes.)
SIIMV 10-05-02 11-30:
"unhandled exception"
'items_edible.inf'
### Insectparts
id=98
name=Insect Parts
group=food
icon=gfx\insects.bmp
mat=flesh
weight= // I deliberately left the weight blank
Still throws an error on that one.
I'm going to try a few things to see if I can re-create the other error. I'll let you know.
"Are we havin' fun, yet?"
----------------------------------------------------
EDIT:
Hmm... I deleted the new version & its .ini. Re-installed the prior version, ran it with no problem, exited, overwrote the prior .exe with the new update. It asked me if I wanted to default to loading the prior mod, I said 'yes', and it loaded flawlessly.
Given that I had been getting 'exceptions' minutes before with the prior version (though I had resolved it), maybe something was corrupted in the prior .ini file. Might have been a fluke. Are you caching any files elsewhere on the drive than the installation folder?
If it doesn't recur, I'm going to chalk it up. Any thoughts on anything you'd like me to test for?
edited 1×, last 02.05.10 02:10:25 pm
If you read the edit from my last post, you'll see that 1 hour after posting that version, I release another version with some bug fixes I've missed.
With any new version, as much as I try to make the settings backward compatible, they don't always agree, so it's always best to start afresh by deleting the settings file.
See if you can recreate the error with the latest version. Could you give me a little more information on the error? What was the weight value that caused it to throw?
Also, for the benefit of the people following this thread, can you give your opinions on the new functions like double clicking from cells, compendium fun, units display and most importantly, the build tree? I'd like to get some feedback on this.
Note: It's unusual, but I haven't had one e-mail or conversation through the support address I set up for this app, but I'm still manning the line, of anyone wants some direct help or in-depth discussion about this app.
edited 1×, last 02.05.10 02:22:17 pm
Didn't see your edit, I think we are both live at this instant, though in different time zones. (Hi, UK, from PA,USA.) I'll dl it, but if you don't mind, I'll try later to recreate the bug, I need some sleep. Basically, I had fixed the weight error ( the error was I had neglected to supply a weight, a null string), so the mod was correct. On running the new version, it choked on something, (see my prior post for what little I remember of the msg), the viewer had loaded some files, but I can't really say how far it had gotten. (I'm a little burned-out at the moment.)
Again, thanks for all your help with this.
Edit: I see what you mean about omitting the value of a definition. What you don't realise is, I now have to write error checking for each individual assignment of a variable to a game structure... That's around about 200 lines of code that need to be turned into 1000... Error checking... Why can't people get it right first time eh?
edited 1×, last 02.05.10 02:42:49 pm
Have been totally unsuccessful in re-creating the error resulting from 1st use of SIIMV-10-05-02 11-30. Wish I could remember more of the actual error msg for you, but at the time it happened, I thought it would recur, so I tried some experiments to make it work, rather than copy it to a file. Sorry.
I had been trying to trace the 'weight' error, using the prior version, by overwriting '.inf' files until I got a good load, and could isolate the error. Had found & fixed the 'weight' error in the mod. I'm sure I ran the prior version of the Viewer to confirm the fix, so it should have updated the '.ini' file correctly, before I overwrote the '.exe' with the SIIMV-10-05-02 11-30 version. Not sure what else I can do to track it. It might have been a stray cosmic ray, or a rogue quantum string.
I actually did realize, when I found the 'weight' error occured because of a null string, that it might be much more of a headache for you than the variable type errors.
I followed up on that a little. Using null strings in numeric definitions doesn't appear to be a problem for Standed, it defaults to 0. For text strings, the effect varies. Using a null string in "name" results in a couple of different kinds of errors, depending on several factors. Two of those result in a CTD, another in an item not being created. It may/may not be true for other string definitions. In the case of an item that doesn't come into existence until an event happens, some things like "material", "group", "behavior" seem to have no effect. I haven't experimented with other classes. It seems like a Pandora's Box.
Interestingly, your Viewer does recognize its (name=null string) existence as a blank slot in the item tree, with all its associated data intact. Given the aforementioned CTDs in Stranded, that might be a good/bad thing. It helps find the problem, if the user knows what to look for. How you want to handle it as a potential game crash problem is your baliwick.
BTW, in the interest of isolating "unhandled exception" errors, (though I am absolutely, positively, 100% sure there will be no more
), can you tell me the order in which the Viewer loads the sys files? It does partially load game data, and knowing where it balks might quicken isolating the problem.p.s Now that I'm awake, I've read back through the thread. Would you prefer error reports via email? I've been posting so that others who may run into problems might recognize similarities, or learn something from watching on the sidelines, or find this thread in 2013, after the world ends. Personally, I learn a lot from ded threds.
Interesting. So null strings in int = 0, I'm guessing a null string in a float would = 0f. That might actually save me a fair bit of time. However, if I want to do exact error reporting, I'll have to handle each assignment to a structure.
The SIIMV "inf" file load order is a little random. It grabs all the file names from the mod folder (I'm assuming in alphabetical order), then checks the start of the file name and uses an associated function for that type of file (LoadBuildingFile for buildings*.inf etc). So the load order go like this.
buildings*.inf
combinations*.inf
items*.inf
objects*.inf
units*.inf
No data is read from any other file.
It's nice that people keep posting here. This isn't a dead thread, but it is an ongoing project, so there are short periods where this thread quietens down, but that's actually not what I want. I want more and more people to see and try this, and you posting faults here and me replying to them shows other potential users of the app that it's still under development, it hasn't been abandoned and if they ask something, I will answer as quickly as possible. You're actually helping me out a lot more than you realise.
Edit: Calling all SIIMV users!
I need some feedback on the current release. Especially concerning the Compendium system. Do you like it? Would you like me to modify it? Is it easy to see how it could be used for item/object/unit cloning? Are there any functions you would like me to add? Come on people! I need help wrapping up the viewer side before I get started on the editor side!
SIIMV! You make it what it is!
edited 1×, last 08.05.10 11:12:25 pm
edited 1×, last 09.06.10 02:39:31 am
I still have all my old data so I could continue this but Microsoft have now released .Net 4.0, so I have a few choices:
1: I could make a quick release candidate in 3.5 and have done with it
2: I could release a final 3.5 release and continue support in a .Net 4.0 version
3: same as above but continue to turn it into a more advanced mod editor.
All this is well and good, but how many people actually use this tool? This thread hasn't been open in ages and that worries me. I think the best choice I could make at the moment is 1, but that depends on the response I get from you guys.
i cant download from megaupload
edited 1×, last 19.08.10 06:10:00 pm