Entity 2.1.24

[troymac1ure]

Oh, I didn't realise you had made a branch...
Yea your merge went fine, but I've moved a lot of stuff around using the master branch, so I've had to manually apply the changes >_<

However, HelpForm and PluginUpdater appear to be missing from the repository, can you send me them?

Apparently I did something wrong. Here they are (Unpack into /Entity/Main/):
http://www.remnantmods.com/archive/misc ... Update.rar

Can I add "All Files" to the update list, without re-adding all the binaries you removed or do I just need to individually add each file? I see you modified the .gitattributes file, so I assume I can use that somehow.

BSP viewer not working

How so? No code changes took place in the BSP viewer (for 2.1.18). I just loaded a map in it and it moved fine. Have you tried a different map?

[XZodia]

Add All Files should be fine as .gitignore will ignore the folders containing build files.
But you should always check what your commiting.

[troymac1ure]

Yeah, I acidentally did a "commit -ammend" instead of "commit --amend" and so I have one commit that's garbage. Didn't know how (if possible) to delete it.
I'm slowing understanding it, but I keep re-reading the stuff. I notice that there are right click git options as well. Do you use those or just command line?

[XZodia]

I just use the git window, I don't seem to have a any right click commands, but if I did I would use them

[troymac1ure]

*Side Note*
For those that have good plugins, u/l them to the plugin directory (no need to rename them) on the remnant MISC server and run the plugin updater (to save the next poor sap the couple minutes of updating time) to add your plugins to the list. Don't worry about dups, they'll be removed.

[troymac1ure]

So far, amongst bug fixes, learning & such, I've gotten this accomplished:



Slowly it's coming along. Also, updated a couple of XZodia's plugins (wigt and skin) available through the "Plugin Updater". It won't show these being the newest as all of Grim's plugins are labelled version 0.99, so you will need to manually select them.

[CaptainPoopface]

That looks cool! Although I don't know how I would use it, to be honest... Can you explain your intentions?

Also, I don't know if this is a matter of the plugin or the meta editor, but it would be nice to see the 4-byte float values encoded as floats instead of bytes (I am thinking specifically of the effe tag reflexives where chunks 4-7 are scale A and chunks 8-11 are scale B, and the effect scales from A to B). I would like to understand the "Function" bytes of (for example) the MGS2 tag and how to edit them to achieve some desired outcome, but I don't know if anyone understands those. I've seen other tags with a "Functions" reflexive as well. I remember a mod, probably from the Killtrocity v2 map pack, that had a giant blue-green MGS2 in the center of it. Maybe I can dissect that.

[troymac1ure]

That looks cool! Although I don't know how I would use it, to be honest... Can you explain your intentions?

The first screen shows an example of a label that is situated outside of the reflexives tag. There are a few of these instances throughout, but since Entity couldn't handle them, they were just left alone.
In this case, I am in the [wgit] ...\main_menu_screen tag and it has a box that should allow you to pick from a specific list of screen "skin"s, however this list of names is located in the [wigl] ui\ui_shared_globals tag and so before now, you wouldn't be able to list them. The current entity/plugin will just show "11" which isn't very helpful unless you know that you need to relate this number to the listing in the [wigl] tag. Now with the update, you will see the list from the [wigl] tag and be able to instantly tell that "11" stands for the "main_menu" skin. Hope this describes that part.

The second screen shows ALL of the menus from Halo 2 and allows you to change the bitmaps, locations and scroll settings. This would allow for very easy custom menu backgrounds. And hopefully when I get it finished, custom menu text and positions as well, so all menus will be completely customizable in a visual form.

Also, I don't know if this is a matter of the plugin or the meta editor, but it would be nice to see the 4-byte float values encoded as floats instead of bytes (I am thinking specifically of the effe tag reflexives where chunks 4-7 are scale A and chunks 8-11 are scale B, and the effect scales from A to B).

This sounds like a plugin issue. XZodia lists the scale values as bitmask32 (if we are talking the same thing). Make a new plugin set, then try using the plugin updater to d/l the most recent plugins. This way you still have all your originals if you don't like some of the plugins.

I would like to understand the "Function" bytes of (for example) the MGS2 tag and how to edit them to achieve some desired outcome, but I don't know if anyone understands those. I've seen other tags with a "Functions" reflexive as well. I remember a mod, probably from the Killtrocity v2 map pack, that had a giant blue-green MGS2 in the center of it. Maybe I can dissect that.

Haven't looked into MSG2 at all (or even sure what it is), so no help there.

[XZodia]

Nice work troy =)

The function reflexives are quite interesting, the problem is that they are basically a data stream.
Each reflexive can contain different data depending on the surrounding values.
Myself and others looked into them a while ago but we didnt make enough progress with them.
When I get a chance I'll try and remember to see what open sauce has on them, and possibly make an control for them.

[troymac1ure]

Still pluggin away at a next release, so far to keep people updated (+ is done, - needs to be done and possibly more to come):

Code: Select all

2.1.19
------
+Quick key display (under Tools still showed F1-F5)
+Re-added YeloDebugSettings.xml file (was missing)
+Modified code to allow attempting connect even without YeloDebugSettings.xml file

-= ME2 =-
 +Added support for external tag labels using tagtype="" & tagname="" in plugins
 -> (For example "[wgit]\Panes\List Blocks\Skin Index" is taken from "[wigl]\ui\ui_shared_globals")
 +Added support for Poke button (All but full tag)
 +Extended SID boxes (too short)
 +Fixed bug with bitm Ident hover over null bitmaps
 +Fixed crashing bug with labels in an externally referenced reflexive
 +Fixed bug in "Goto Tag" function
 +Fixed Poke button (wasn't enabled at all)
 +Fixed changing reflexives with Peek selected

-= Visual menu editor =-
 +Scrolling bitmaps
  +Fixed negative values
  +Fixed Incorrect display of movement with X & Y scrolls
 +Pause moving bitmaps on lost focus (saves CPU when running in background)
 +Load alternate MainMenu files
 +Revert Pane/All Screens buttons
 +All changes saved to memory (can switch between screens without committing to file)
 +Add Mouse bitmap movement support
 +Add support for sub-bitmaps
 +Depth layering of bitmaps
 +Loads all (possibly) required data in reflexives
 +Add tracking original listing for "unsorting" list boxes
 -Tab ordering
 -Bitmap Ident box sorting for easer

[troymac1ure]

So added a few more things / fixes into Entity as well as working on the Menu screen editor.
The Menu Editor now shows the selected skin (menu selections) backdrops, but here is my issue.
It shows the selection words in the right place using a default windows font set to the H2 font size, but I haven't figured out what text it displays yet.

I know the base of the WGIT(? I think, not at home right now) tag shows the unicode it uses, but does anyone know where it selects the text within that unicode to display on each line? I'll check into it more later, but thought someone may know.

Like on the settings menu, it shows "Controls, Appearance, Voice Output, Voice Masking,..." but in the unicode, "Voice Output" is below 3 other options, so it doesn't just lit them in order.

[Ogrish]

The new stuff sounds cool, but could you fix an old problem that bugs me.

When i Recursive Duplicate I want it to relink the Duplicated tags.
And BSP Viewer still not working.

[troymac1ure]

The new stuff sounds cool, but could you fix an old problem that bugs me.

When i Recursive Duplicate I want it to relink the Duplicated tags.

I'm not at home and I haven't played with that too much, so if it's not straight forward, could you give me a quick step-by-step on how to duplicate the issue?

Somthing like this for example: (this is what I will try unless otherwise stated)

• 1) Open BeaverCreak
  2) select [weap] needler
  3) select Recursive (but not Parsed)
  4) hit Export
  __ (Where from here ???)
  5) Open <new> map
  6) Click import
  7) select [weap] needler
  >> Notice Trigger_1 is no longer linked

And BSP Viewer still not working.

I'll see if it works on my end.
Is this for all maps? How far does it get into loading?

[CaptainPoopface]

Bsp viewer works ok for me. I had some good times with it on headlong. That's a map I really wrestled with in the pre-Troy Entity, and I was extremely pleased with how fast it went. The ability to type in the coords and rotations of a selected object is awesome. I'm hoping to release something soon, small but good.
I have had problems loading some bsp conversion mods, but I don't think that's Entity.

[Ogrish]

If i open a tag click recursive, right click tag duplicate recursivly it creates the new tags but dosnt link to them.

Example: highlight a flag_base Bloc, right click, recursive duplicate, then open flag_base(1). It will be linked to the origanal flag_base hlmt, coll, mode, phmo. It should relink to hlmt(1), Coll(1), mode(1), and phmo(1) and the created tags all need relinked too, or your mode(1) will be linked to the origanal shaders etc...

The Bsp viewer fails imediatly on all bsp's and gives me a message but i cant show it right now.

[troymac1ure]

K. I'll check into this.

Haven't had a chance to work on it for a bit here, but forgot to mention earlier, the new StringID selector now shows associated Unicode strings. Should help alot for relating StringIDs to something useful.

[troymac1ure]

If i open a tag click recursive, right click tag duplicate recursivly it creates the new tags but dosnt link to them.

Example: highlight a flag_base Bloc, right click, recursive duplicate, then open flag_base(1). It will be linked to the origanal flag_base hlmt, coll, mode, phmo. It should relink to hlmt(1), Coll(1), mode(1), and phmo(1) and the created tags all need relinked too, or your mode(1) will be linked to the origanal shaders etc...

Done! Will be in the next release.

Also, what version did the BSP viewer stop working for you (or what is the error?)


EDIT: This should speed up edits where multiple things all use the same info

[Ogrish]

So i tested and the main menu bsp opens right up so maybe it a plugin problem, im going to turn off the registry option and set maps manually and see if it helps.

[troymac1ure]

The BSP viewer (I'm almost sure) doesn't use any plugins. All the values are hard coded, so plugins shouldn't matter. Try some clean maps and see if they errror.

[Ogrish]

its working now

[troymac1ure]

its working now

I'll make sure to break it on the next release

Also, I think I'm about ready to ship 2.1.19 for testing and complaint feedback
I know there are unfinished sections in the new Visual Menu Editor, but it's a work in progress. Some things may not be able to be changes or may not save. I can't totally remember how far I got on it.

[troymac1ure]

Alright 2.1.19 is out.

I've spent much time on this, so please take 2 minutes to look at page #1, post #1 for all the fixes, add-ons and updates in this version. As always, feedback is appreciated. (viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1325#p18478)

One note is that I fixed a tag duplicate bug that caused any referenced reflexives to be lost. This should help some lockups/weird issues as it was just referencing data that was not associated with those reflexives (AKA garbage).

2.1.19 Dec 30-2012 <Merry Christmas/Happy New Year!>

Code: Select all

+Quick key display (under Tools still showed F1-F5)
+Re-added YeloDebugSettings.xml file (was missing)
+Secondary Magic calulated instead of being assumed MATG (allow MATG duplications?)
+Added check for improper idents while loading tags / auto-fix bypass added as well
+"Duplicate Recursively" now sets Idents to duplicated tags
+Duplicating tags now keeps externally referenced reflexives
 -Creates multiple copies of duplicated tags

-=[ StringID ]=-
 +Added code to help reduce possibility of conflict while background loading?
 +Allows for old style quick selection (dropdown list) again
 +Fixed slow load time (delayed data source binding until dropdown)
 +Popup box (Unicode/StringID viewer)
  +shows Unicode translations
  +Option to allow viewing of only StringIDs with/without Unicode
  +Option to sort Unicodes by offset or name
  +Shows position of Unicode values
  +Support for some unicode codes (such as buttons, etc)
   +Added external file for easy unicode code additions (unicode.txt)

-=[ ME2 ]=-
 +Create referenced reflexives (Right click on reflexives within the treeview window)
 +Added support for external tag labels using tagtype="" & tagname="" in plugins
 -> (For example "[wgit]\Panes\List Blocks\Skin Index" is taken from "[wigl]\ui\ui_shared_globals")
 +Added support for Poke button (Value / Reflexive / All Reflexives) (*no full tag ATM)
 +Fixed Poke button (wasn't enabled at all)
 +Extended SID boxes (too short)
 +Fixed bug with bitm Ident hover over null bitmaps
 +Fixed bug when leaving Block Index (appeared since last version?)
 +Fixed crashing bug with labels in an externally referenced reflexive
 +Fixed bug in "Goto Tag" function
 +Fixed "copy to all" reflexives bug I introduced during test phase
 +Fixed changing reflexives with Peek selected
 -Tab ordering (drag and move) unavailable

-=[ Visual menu editor ]=-
 +Load alternate MainMenu files
 +Pause moving bitmaps on lost focus (saves CPU when running in background)
 +Revert Pane/All buttons
  -Stream gets closed?
 +All changes saved to memory (can switch between screens without committing to file)
 +Loads all (possibly) required data
 +Tracks original listing for "unsorting" of items
 -=[ Bitmaps ]=-
  +Moving bitmaps
   +Fixed negative values
   +Fixed incorrect display of movement with X and Y scrolls
  +Mouse movement support
  +Add support for sub-bitmaps
  +Depth layering
  -Ident sorting
 -=[ List Blocks ]=-
  +Shows menu item backgrounds
  +Proper item spacing (if bitmaps are used for spacing)
  -Does not save/visually show changes to any boxes
 -=[ Text Blocks ]=-
  +Shows text blocks
  -Incorrect text layout shown

[kornman00]

Apparently I looked at this thread back in May and haven't looked back since because my first unread post was on page 28 or so ;x

From looking atOpen Sauce H2X mercurial Commits March 18th was the last commit for H2X,
I thought the whole point of open sauce was ground up map creation?

The point of the HEK and BlamLib is modifying tag files and using tag files to build maps, and in BlamLib's case reconstructing source tags from cache tag memory. The code we have dubbed Halo2_Xbox is just a runtime extension.

And with the HCE community relatively active and with a lot of people interested in modifying the Halo4/Reach megalo scripts/variants, developing stuff for Halo2_Xbox (with a community this small) is way off my todo list. It's getting to the point where it's almost easier to just reimplement Halo2 stuff in CE. We already have vehicle boarding working, and dual wielding isn't too big of an undertaking. Far more valuable to develop for CE than H2X. The only real thing H2 has over H1 is the use of Havok. Everything else can really be built into the existing systems or built on top of them.

Welp, see this thread again in another seven months!

[troymac1ure]

For those who already tried updating using the auto-update and got an error relating to 7zip.dll, this is now fixed, so try again.

[CaptainPoopface]

I'm really enjoying the latest update. Changing strings is much faster, and I like the popup box that shows unicode strings. The ability to set an external reflexive and then reference it in another tag is really handy. I only resort to plugin changing when adding/sharing a reflexive that is not already in the tag. That's still a relatively short operation with the ability to load different plugin sets though.

+Added check for improper idents while loading tags / auto-fix bypass added as well

I occasionally get a popup message about something being incorrect (e.g., when I load the sbsp tag), but I don't know what it means. Is there a hole in my map somewhere, or something else corrupted after my hacks? I should try it on a clean map and report what I find. What is meant by the auto-fix bypass?

I don't understand what this means (the second statement seems to contradict the first):

+Duplicating tags now keeps externally referenced reflexives
-Creates multiple copies of duplicated tags

I haven't used the main menu editor yet, but I should post pictures of the one neodos hot-rodded for me as inspiration to others.

Thank you for putting in the time and effort to make Entity better!