Messages

31

Newbie Coding / Re: How to update tutorials' screenshots?

« on: October 16, 2016, 05:57:55 pm »

Yep: files shared and saved. I can be forgetful again (a real pleasure)

32

Newbie Coding / Re: How to update tutorials' screenshots?

« on: October 13, 2016, 04:43:58 pm »

Nicely done, one thing that might be worth to mention in the MP tutorial is that when all players check the "I'm ready" checkbox the game will start automatically (just so no one is caught by surprise)

Yes, this is an useful information!

Yes it should be nice to have the first version of the tutorial in the tracker (maybe even in game) for added convenience and safety.

Yes, indeed: even if I am careful when moving, modifying, or overwriting these files, mistakes do happen here I'll post the patches soon.

33

Newbie Coding / Re: How to update tutorials' screenshots?

« on: October 11, 2016, 08:38:22 pm »

Here is the third zip containing the updated seq_tutorial.ufo and screenshots (.jpg format to reduce size of the zip). It contains all the .ufo sequences for tutorials, but only the updated or new images.

List of changes :
 - "Introduction" tutorial: changed sentence introducing multiplayer (last sentence = "Start a server if you want to host a game, or connect to the lobby to wait for an active server.").
  - renamed images (just remove introCampaignFinancialGraphs, and campaign1FinancialGraphs; renamed files, "introCampaignFunding" + "campaign1Funding", are in the zip).
  - new tutorials: "Skirmish", "Multiplayer".

"Multiplayer" tutorial was build using on line info (manual), and tested using multiple instances of the game on my computer; error checking is welcome After taking in account your feedbacks, do you mind if I post the patches of this first version in the bug tracker, with .png images (total size: about 40 Mo)? It will allow me to rework images a little bit later, at a slower pace (I first proposed to take in account the GUI changes quite quickly, but I don't know whether I will be able to do it during these incoming days).

34

Newbie Coding / Re: How to update tutorials' screenshots?

« on: October 09, 2016, 08:30:31 pm »

All clear!

we have our own scripts to handle that

Nothing to do, that's always good to read

"Alien rush" will keep spawning more aliens every turn until you lose or quit (or you manage to win: you'd need to kill every single alien in the whole map before ending your turn)

Alien rush seems quite a challenge. And no hall of fame to record exploits...

"Max Soldiers" is the max amount of soldiers per player/team that should spawn in the map

On my build of the 09/09 (windows version), this doesn't seem to be working: I tried with four (max. soldiers), and the spawned squad was eight phalanx soldiers, but only four equiped (the other four carried nothing at all). I don't remember the chosen map (=don't remember if there was a dropship to chose, and then if there could be some conflict between "aircraft choice" and "max. soldier" parameter).

the game only crashed when no network connection was available at all

Ok, this is just a glitch. I'll try to write something like "connect your computer first, and then set your multiplayer game" (draft sentence).

35

Newbie Coding / Re: How to update tutorials' screenshots?

« on: October 09, 2016, 04:59:32 pm »

Thank you for your feedbacks, encouragements, and testing!

I like it, and things I mentioned before have been addressed so I'm happy

If I can, I try

I was thinking about if the research screen also spoiler a bit too much, but it is okay.

Yes, I had some concerns here, but I was thinking that adding images taking advantage of the nice art of the game could be a good incentive for new players. So, to reduce spoilers, I mainly choose early technologies of the campaign, or weapons listed in the sirkmish or multiplayer modes.

First I was confused, you said we should remove the old images

My fault... I should just have said: overwrite duplicates, and optionally remove <list of unused images>. The missing files are in the first zip, and are still needed indeed  (the second zip is a sort of "upgrade" of the first one, not a standalone version).

So I checked if there was a way to draw a border around objects in the sequence scripts but there wasn't... Until now!

Thanks! When I made my early tests, I tried to use the "size" keyword to highlight objects with semi-transparent rectangles, and was not really happy with it: labels became dim; placing the rectangles was not always easy (and was not sure about their positions on different screen resolutions). Moreover, when writing my ideas with pen and paper (oldschool way ), I noticed I would use many different screenshots anyway, and concluded that using screenshots only could also be an advantage: updating the sequence was really quicker and easier, just replace files without diving in the code (when trying different screenshots and highlights, this is a real time saver).

So I think I should proceed carefully: first finish the tutorials with screenshots only; then, download the new nightly build to check the changes in the GUI (I noticed in the commit log that you "updated some UI to give more space for texts"; nice!) and to get an updated sequence renderer; then, update screenshots; then, post patches in the bug tracker to keep record of this first versions of tutorials; and then only, test the new keywords.

Hence... Some more questions to help finish the tutorials.
 a) About text: will text be correctly updated in the .po files? In the current seq_tutorial.ufo, I just recorded deprecated text, and directly replaced the old entries with "_Something like that".
 b) About skimish mode / multiplayer: what is the "download" tab for? What do you download with it?
 c) About skimish mode: what is the effect of "alien rush"? and the effect of the "max soldier" setting in the "default" tab (I tested it, and had the impression it was the max. number of equipped soldiers you have in battle... but I had a strange behaviour after the first try: whatever the setting, I was getting the same squad over and over. So, some doubts here...)?
 d) In the multiplayer mode, what is the difference between "password" and "Rcon password"? (As I understand it, Rcon password is an administrator password to remotely connect to the server; and password is used by players to connect to the server... Some doubts here again)

36

Newbie Coding / Re: How to update tutorials' screenshots?

« on: October 07, 2016, 10:25:50 pm »

Here is a new zip containing the updated seq_tutorial.ufo and screenshots (.jpg format to reduce size of the zip). List of changes :
 - All tutorials: turquoise used for titles ; text and images now synchronized; some rewriting; some renamed or updated screenshots (remove the old ones); different musics for different tutorials.
 - "Introduction tutorial" : added "skirmish" and "multiplayer" quick intro.
 - "Campaigns: part 1" tutorial: removed spoiler info.; added "air-defence" info (txt + img).
 - New tutorials : "Campaigns: part 2" and "Tactic battles".
I also tried to include the most useful tactictal tips in the tutorials.

I will continue with the last two tutorials, explaining how to set skimish or multiplayer games. I just would like to ask: are multiplayer games over the Internet only, or other connexion modes (even legacy one) are supported (even if not displayed)?

Please tell me what do you think (or just tell me that this second version... is better than the first one )

37

Newbie Coding / Re: How to update tutorials' screenshots?

« on: September 29, 2016, 06:49:17 pm »

Glad to help if I can This is the bright side of free and open source projects.

I am checking the "Tactics" forum to see what would be useful first, and reading gave some ideas for early integration of basic principles (for example, I already added a tiled view of the buildings that have an exit to the surface in the 2nd campaign tutorial). When tutorials are completed, I'll probably add a topic to ask for further ideas (but better finish "work in progress" first).

I'll submit another "preview .zip" in 2 tutorials.

38

Newbie Coding / Re: How to update tutorials' screenshots?

« on: September 28, 2016, 03:17:45 pm »

Thanks for this feedback.
1- Ok. Maybe using some light blue (turquoise), like in the rest of the interface could do.
2- I choosed to do so to force reading of the (short) text, to give the feeling that waiting time was not too long, and to ease transitions (when text only is used). But i can synchro text + images if you prefer: the aim is to let readers feel comfortable. And it's always difficult to deal with tastes
3- I hesitated, but during campaign, I noticed that this button appears before XVI was mentionned in mails (and after campaign started). I'll will remove it though.

I had another idea for a new tutorial called "Tactics". If the players could feed some screenshots (1024 x 768) and comments, we could make a nice introduction to battle tactics (example: armor piercing capabilities for some rifles, use of smoke & incendiary grenades, use of IR googles to spot hidden ennemies, way to cover eachother, etc.).

39

Newbie Coding / Re: How to update tutorials' screenshots?

« on: September 27, 2016, 03:23:18 pm »

Ok then. I removed "align"s with images.

And here is my first attemp with the tutorial sequence. I zipped together :
- the seq_tutorial.ufo and its backup (=original file),
- the screenshots used by the new sequences (provided in the .jpg format to reduce the size of the zip; but I work with .png images only).

Only the "Introduction" and the "Campaign: part 1" tutorials are working. Please tell me what do you think about this first proposal (don't hesitate to criticize).

40

Newbie Coding / Re: How to update tutorials' screenshots?

« on: September 26, 2016, 06:31:22 pm »

Ok, I'll wait (many passwords required here , but, well, spam is always a problem).

I have other questions:
- I have the impression that the "align" keyword doesn't work for images; is this correct?
- I changed the tutorial menu just by adding sequences (to prepare the incoming tutorials); is this enough, or should I care for something else?

41

Windows / Re: Dont see the box lines on inventory

« on: September 26, 2016, 06:10:11 pm »

Hello. I had the same problem with the v2.6 version (nightly build for Windows)..... Note : this is also true for the "XVI" button on the geoscape (with .pk3 => invisible; without .pk3 => visible).

Updated info. : I may be wrong concerning the XVI button, because I started a campaign without unzipping the .pk3, and unzipped them only a few days after, while the campaign was already advanced. So disease is perhaps spreading and I am not aware of it. I'll watch carefully

The issue in the bugtracker was updated as well.

42

Newbie Coding / Re: How to update tutorials' screenshots?

« on: September 24, 2016, 11:29:44 pm »

Hi,

No problem, not in a hurry (i just played the game and stored screenshots), and thanks for answering, whatever the delay

Maybe the wiki could be updated to keep record of your answers (I also notice the "size" keywork that is undocumented)? (I am quite familiar with wikis, so I could do it... But have I to create another account? The one for the forum is not working)

43

Windows / Re: Dont see the box lines on inventory

« on: September 24, 2016, 11:08:55 pm »

Thanks for your feedback

I don't have any single idea of "why it worked" either, but I think this was not fixed just because this is not obvious to notice: for me, the lack of grid was first tought as a "feature" of the new interface (even if this was not a really good one...); and (to repeat DarkRain's words), maybe developpers work with unzipped .pk3 (because it is easier to handle unzipped files) and didn't notice the problem (because there is no problem to notice with unzipped files).

That said, I made a bug report (n°5605).

44

Windows / Re: Dont see the box lines on inventory

« on: September 22, 2016, 02:28:22 pm »

Before moving the .pk3 files out of their install folder, you had to unzip them.

So, to be more specific , try to :
- install the most recent v2.6 build you have (or, to make a quicker try, just move back the .pk3 you removed in their original folder).
- go to the folder where the game is installed.
- unzip all the .pk3 (i did it with 7-zip, "Extract here" option).
- move all the .pk3 to another folder (I moved them in a "New folder" that was not in the UFO:AI folder)

Please tell me if it works (it worked for me with the build of the 9th september, thus it should work with more recent builds).

45

Windows / Re: Dont see the box lines on inventory

« on: September 21, 2016, 01:47:55 pm »

Hello. I had the same problem with the v2.6 version (nightly build for Windows). I recently unzipped all the .pk3 files of the game, and moved the .pk3 files in another directory. And the problem is gone: the grids displayed in inventory are back. Note : this is also true for the "XVI" button on the geoscape (with .pk3 => invisible; without .pk3 => visible).