@zacha-pedro, on Apr 30 2007, 09:41 AM, said in EV Classic and EV Override for Nova released!:

I hate fonts. I hate TrueType. I hate Apple. I hate Microsoft. I hate Font Book. I hate Apple Type Services. I hate Sillycon. I hate PostScript. I hate Adobe. I hate the Apple Font Tools. I hate this whole friggin mess.

Didn't you give up already?

@zacha-pedro, on Apr 30 2007, 09:41 AM, said in EV Classic and EV Override for Nova released!:

ten power a gazillion hojillion frooglepoopillion

I eat that many weet-bix for breakfast!

@zacha-pedro, on Apr 30 2007, 09:41 AM, said in EV Classic and EV Override for Nova released!:

Way too many electrons had to suffer for very little purpose, suffering which could have been avoided if that darn system would have been better thought up, in order to finally bring you this file. Please think of the electrons.

Many thanks, Zacha :). I will always remember the electons...

@zacha-pedro, on Apr 30 2007, 09:41 AM, said in EV Classic and EV Override for Nova released!:

PS: Guy, you might wish to automatically disable only encoding Növä-creator files when Plugin Archiver is only asked for one file to archive...

Or you could just zip from the Finder - I don't think that font would be of much interest to windows users

In other news I realised Sillycon is supposed to be used for the intf too, so I've fixed that now. Um, don't suppose you'd have any idea how to fix the baseline problem that happens on windows (short of creating a separate intf for windows)?
(edit) Removed. Problem has been partially fixed.

I'll post a new beta soon. Sure you don't want that commodity exchange added? It would go into a separate 'EV Fixes' data file that I've made for that weapons mission (so as to preserve the original data).

This post has been edited by Guy : 02 August 2007 - 05:10 AM

@guy, on Apr 30 2007, 01:59 AM, said in EV Classic and EV Override for Nova released!:

Didn't you give up already?

I never, ever, completely give up a file hacking task. Heck, some of the things of my portofolio (i.e. linked in my signature) have been obtained after a few unsuccessful tries. I simply gave up for the time and put that task in the background, with low-priority low-activity watching. As part of this low-activity watching, the last time I was browsing the web I ran a Google search for similar search, and you know the rest.

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Or you could just zip from the Finder - I don't think that font would be of much interest to windows users

And OS9 users? Are you thinking of OS9 users? They deserve to get it too! Well okay, they don't have this #### Font Book or validation issue, but they should check that this version works under OS9 too (no reason why it wouldn't, but you never know with TrueType). In fact, Windows users could too convert it to a ttf and check that this version works for them (I'm a little more worried about Windows, as to ensure the uniqueness of the PostScript name I had to remove the entry for the Windows platform).

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In other news I realised Sillycon is supposed to be used for the intf too, so I've fixed that now. Um, don't suppose you'd have any idea how to fix the baseline problem that happens on windows (short of creating a separate intf for windows)?
Picture_1.png

Well, you could always yell at the party responsible to fix it (dunno whether it's a fault in Windows, in which case it'd be MS, or in WinNova, in which case it'd be Becky err, rather Matt Slot who should fix it now :)). Or, you could hack the Windows version of the font to modify the baseline until this works err, no, this would break the buttons. Nevermind.

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I'll post a new beta soon. Sure you don't want that commodity exchange added? It would go into a separate 'EV Fixes' data file that I've made for that weapons mission (so as to preserve the original data).

Nah. It would artificially add a pretty good run that was never in any version of the game. It's not a bugfix (which one can argue the weapons mission fix is), I'd wager that wood was set to be cheap there as a dummy emplacement so that it could not actually be bought for cheap anywhere (notice the original EVC Bible, -1 is not documented as a possible value to use for none for the SoldAt field, dunno wether that actually works, contrary to the BoughtAt field, so it possibly wasn't an option to use -1 to indicate that no spöb offered this jünk), not as an intent which wasn't eventually honored to have it actually available there.

This post has been edited by Zacha Pedro : 30 April 2007 - 12:57 PM

@zacha-pedro, on May 1 2007, 05:54 AM, said in EV Classic and EV Override for Nova released!:

And OS9 users? Are you thinking of OS9 users? They deserve to get it too! Well okay, they don't have this #### Font Book or validation issue, but they should check that this version works under OS9 too (no reason why it wouldn't, but you never know with TrueType). In fact, Windows users could too convert it to a ttf and check that this version works for them (I'm a little more worried about Windows, as to ensure the uniqueness of the PostScript name I had to remove the entry for the Windows platform).

Well they have Expander, don't they?
And windows users would need to find conversion software but I can do that and check it myself (and it does work - or at least as much as it did before).

@zacha-pedro, on May 1 2007, 05:54 AM, said in EV Classic and EV Override for Nova released!:

Well, you could always yell at the party responsible to fix it (dunno whether it's a fault in Windows, in which case it'd be MS, or in WinNova, in which case it'd be Becky... err, rather Matt Slot who should fix it now :)). Or, you could hack the Windows version of the font to modify the baseline until this works... err, no, this would break the buttons. Nevermind.

No no, the buttons are affected too. I'm guessing font problem since other fonts seem okay (like the old sillycon.ttf I had - it was almost unreadable on windows but it was positioned correctly). If you can hack the baseline that would be great (the problem is not new to your hacked version, so you don't have to worry there)

@zacha-pedro, on May 1 2007, 05:54 AM, said in EV Classic and EV Override for Nova released!:

Nah. It would artificially add a pretty good run that was never in any version of the game. It's not a bugfix (which one can argue the weapons mission fix is), I'd wager that wood was set to be cheap there as a dummy emplacement so that it could not actually be bought for cheap anywhere (notice the original EVC Bible, -1 is not documented as a possible value to use for none for the SoldAt field, dunno wether that actually works, contrary to the BoughtAt field, so it possibly wasn't an option to use -1 to indicate that no spöb offered this jünk), not as an intent which wasn't eventually honored to have it actually available there.

Hm, I would have argued that it wasn't intentional. I mean, why not? :huh: It's not like the durknen girns in Nova.

This post has been edited by Guy : 01 May 2007 - 04:41 AM

@guy, on May 1 2007, 11:39 AM, said in EV Classic and EV Override for Nova released!:

Well they have Expander, don't they?

I thought you advised me to use OSX's built-in zipping. And I remind you it uses a scheme that no version of Stuffit that can run under OS9 understands (guess why I have 5 different versions of Stuffit running around on my Mac )

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No no, the buttons are affected too. I'm guessing font problem since other fonts seem okay (like the old sillycon.ttf I had - it was almost unreadable on windows but it was positioned correctly). If you can hack the baseline that would be great (the problem is not new to your hacked version, so you don't have to worry there)

Err no. I don't know enough about fonts to go ahead and change a fundamental attribute like that (the name table issue wasn't really something that had deeply to do with fonts, it's wasn't font-specific data, only surrounding stuff). Not to mention that I don't even have a Windows box to test the result of the hacking so I'd basically be going around in the dark, and the fundamental working of my hacking is the following:

10 HACK FILE
20 IF HACKING_SUCCESSFUL THEN
30 REJOICE
40 ELSE
50 GOTO 10

Plus, given what I know of TrueType now and the problems with this standard, I'm suspecting it's a completely demented subtle incompatibility with the Windows implementation of the TrueType engine. No thanks. (notice this not me giving up, which would be temporary; I basically never accepted the job to begin with; so, you're outta luck ;))

And as I'm at it, as I basically forgot about that PM until now:
Well, the Unarchiver may be interesting, but it's not that popular (proof: I don't have it :p), and besides I'd prefer not to get caught with only one unexpander (even if it's for getting non-essential data).

For knowing which files to SplitForks, I'd say ask the user if he wants to keep custom folder icons and other folder attributes, and generate the appropriate ._ files if yes (for folders and files named Icon<CR>).

Who the hell cares for .hqx.xxx?

No, I don't have a Panther machine next to me either. Hmm I don't really know, but I don't think the files are duplicated, I'm sure there are tools which could tell you which AppleEvents are sent which would help you tell what is going on.

And don't get too big a head because you think I made a release for you, I merely put out a test build for you to, well, test.

@zacha-pedro, on May 2 2007, 10:25 AM, said in EV Classic and EV Override for Nova released!:

I thought you advised me to use OSX's built-in zipping. And I remind you it uses a scheme that no version of Stuffit that can run under OS9 understands (guess why I have 5 different versions of Stuffit running around on my Mac...)

Oh yeah, maybe I got confused with sitx. Which version included apple double compatibility?

@zacha-pedro, on May 2 2007, 10:25 AM, said in EV Classic and EV Override for Nova released!:

Err... no. I don't know enough about fonts to go ahead and change a fundamental attribute like that (the name table issue wasn't really something that had deeply to do with fonts, it's wasn't font-specific data, only surrounding stuff). Not to mention that I don't even have a Windows box to test the result of the hacking so I'd basically be going around in the dark, and the fundamental working of my hacking is the following:

10 HACK FILE
20 IF HACKING_SUCCESSFUL THEN
30 REJOICE
40 ELSE
50 GOTO 10

60 COMEFROM 30
80 HACK FONT BASELINE

Plus, given what I know of TrueType now and the problems with this standard, I'm suspecting it's a completely demented subtle incompatibility with the Windows implementation of the TrueType engine. No thanks. (notice this not me giving up, which would be temporary; I basically never accepted the job to begin with; so, you're outta luck ;))

Yeah, didn't expect it really. Oh well, they'll just have to live with it.

@zacha-pedro, on May 2 2007, 10:25 AM, said in EV Classic and EV Override for Nova released!:

And as I'm at it, as I basically forgot about that PM until now:
<snip>

Ugh, I've forgotten what all this means now. The dmg had my name on it though
(edit) Oh right, so what happens to non-Nova, non-Icon files with resource forks?

This post has been edited by Guy : 01 May 2007 - 07:13 PM

@guy, on May 2 2007, 02:09 AM, said in EV Classic and EV Override for Nova released!:

Oh yeah, maybe I got confused with sitx. Which version included apple double compatibility?

It was Stuffit 8, in fact it's what allows 10.2 users to get such files (except for a minor utility called Panther unzip which was quickly obsoleted by Expander 8), otherwise I wouldn't even tolerate them in the SketchFighter add-ons.

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Ugh, I've forgotten what all this means now. The dmg had my name on it though

Only because I had to no iead how to name that build. Because I keep a copy and tag everything I release into the wild, in case anything is reported against it.

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(edit) Oh right, so what happens to non-Nova, non-Icon files with resource forks?

As far as I'm concerned, their resource forks can go to Hell.

What about .suits?

Beta 3 up now

This post has been edited by Guy : 03 May 2007 - 01:38 AM

Oops, forgot about the case of Sillycon.suit. Well, it's a particular case in and on itself since it's a file which essential data is in the resource fork, but at the same time there is a separate version for Windows users (the .ttf); furthermore I don't think many people are going to include fonts, so I say just manually bin it then apply my hybrid method. Otherwise, resource forks contain secondary or at least non-essential data (say styling for certain text documents, custom icon, missing application string, and all other kind of things that could be considered metadata) and are thus expendable; the only exceptions (plug-ins themselves, fonts, icon files, and old-style PEF Mac programs) are already covered: icons are expendable themselves, fonts can get the special treatment if required, and one would need to be crazy to distribute Mac programs in a distribution made so that OSX, OS9 and Windows users can all get it.

I'm going to test that beta as soon as I can However, given my limited time, I probably won't find well-hidden scenario issues or things like that.

Okay, I'm about to do a final release of this thing (yeah, it's just been a matter of getting around to it). No one's reported any problems so no problems have been fixed. The only thing that's changed (I think), other than version info and Read Me, is I now have yet another new font file for windows. I found a different program to convert it with and it now sits one pixel lower than it did before. Still slightly too high but a noticeable improvement and I now deem it 'acceptable'

One thing I'd like to know is: How's the performance of the flash intro on PPC machines? Jerky, or not really?

This post has been edited by Guy : 20 June 2007 - 11:28 PM

@guy, on Jun 20 2007, 11:09 PM, said in EV Classic and EV Override for Nova released!:

One thing I'd like to know is: How's the performance of the flash intro on PPC machines? Jerky, or not really?

Well, other than it's choppiness scrolling, I haven't experienced any funky music collisions like those experienced on the Override version. But I'm curious if having a .mov format would make the scrolling smoother.

BTW, my comp is a PowerMac G4 400

This post has been edited by Coraxus : 21 June 2007 - 12:20 AM

So it is jerky in-game? (try playing it in QT player, it should be dead smooth) Should be identical to the Override one though. And no, saving it as .mov doesn't appear to be any different, at least on my Intel.

Well, the scrolling plays smoothly off game, but I did noticed there was a breif gap between the starting loop and the main loop of the song, I don't know if that was intentional or not. All of this was played using a stand-alone flash player. Now for quicktime, it's a tad choppy though not as much as when playing it, but there are no gaps in the loop music at least.

Although I have a little experience in Flash, I think I know how you set up the song pieces, and possibly maybe it's possible that you just merge the loop song together somehow.

This post has been edited by Coraxus : 21 June 2007 - 11:37 AM

The music is split into two parts - an 'intro' and a 'loop'. I've just laid the two pieces out on the timeline so that the loop starts when the intro finishes, but this of course assumes it gets played back at the correct speed. If playback is a little laggy then there'll be a gap. I'm guessing your stand-alone player is set to play every frame while QT player may skip frames if necessary to achieve correct playback speed. Later versions of Flash allow me to tell one piece to start as soon as another one finishes but QT only supports up to Flash 5.

(edit) Okay, I just tried converting it to video (3.7MB h.264 and 6.xMB sorenson 3) and that was actually worse :huh:. The Flash file isn't really bad I guess, just not as smooth as it is in QT player.

This post has been edited by Guy : 22 June 2007 - 05:45 PM

Split in two parts, that's what I thought. I was trying to experiment on making an intro myself but merging the two loops as one whole music to see the difference, problem is, I don't know what export settings you put on yours, cause when I exported, it ran smoothly when using the Flash player, but in Quicktime, there was no audio.

If you like, maybe I can give you the audio so you can tinker with it or something.

Well here's the flash file if you want to mess with it. IIRC, the blank frame at the start of the audio layer is to solve exactly that problem, or something like it anyway.
(removed)

This post has been edited by Guy : 29 June 2007 - 06:40 PM

Any luck here or should I just release?

Well, in lack of any further response: