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Originally posted by Zacha Pedro: **That's really odd indeed, Dr Trowel. May we see the original image, by the way? **
Sure. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have the needed combination of free time and server access.
------------------ (url="http://"http://home.comcast.net/~drtrowel/")Dr. Trowel's E.S.W.P.(/url) -- Cold Fusion graphics for EVN Override, EVN:O bug fixes, 'n more. Very Good Stuff: (url="http://"http://www.evula.com/escape_velocity/")EVula(/url) (url="http://"http://w00tware.ev-nova.net/")NovaTools(/url) (url="http://"http://www.evula.org/infernostudios/search.html")EVPlugSearcher(/url) Play FAQs: (url="http://"http://ev-nova.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2832&sid;=43627ead61761e7f19060b00c14c739c")N(/url) (url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum;=EV+Nova+FAQs&number;=30&DaysPrune;=20&LastLogin;=")N(/url) (url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum;=EV+Override+FAQs&number;=53&DaysPrune;=20&LastLogin;=")O(/url) (url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum;=Escape+Velocity+FAQs&number;=28&DaysPrune;=20&LastLogin;=")C(/url) Dev FAQs: (url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum;=EV+Plug-in+Developer+FAQs&number;=29&DaysPrune;=20&LastLogin;=")A(/url) (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/ubb/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&number;=31&SUBMIT;=Go")B(/url) Interests: The Good, The Bad, and The Loopy.
Originally posted by Zacha Pedro: By the way, no problem following my changes, orca?
Nope. No problem at all.
Yet some other changes: change 6 and 7 to be Appendix I and Appendix II, with same names and content. Then, after 5, add a new "6: ...and back again" and fill it with: "Now you've probably crashed Nova (or at least made it act funny), and gathered some experience in the process, reread the Bible and try to give sense to what you didn't understand at first; the explanations and caveats in the appendixes of this guide should be helpful. Now you should be able to get the most of the Bible, though some stuff will probably remain obscure (most plug devers are still puzzled by KeyCarried), but the main features, that can be defined as what is being used by the default scenario, should be understood; if you still can't give sense to something after having read it 4 times while checking some stuff in the data files that makes use of it, then ask us at the EVDC (note: still not to be made a link) a precise question about what you don't understand. Notice you will always need to lookup the Bible at times for things too complex to be completely memorised (such as what is in the Appendix I), though after some time of making plugs you should know enough to make plugs without the constant need to check the Bible. The objective of this guide is now complete: you are able to pull the technical information you're interested in from the Bible. Keep this guide in some place near the Bible, though, as a reference (heh, a reference for The Reference), especially for the stuff in Appendix II just below. You can save this guide to your hard drive as well as its images by using your browser's archive feature, telling it to include images and links up to one level deep, ignoring links to other sites. I personnally wish you the best of luck in plugmaking, and who knows, it's possible some day I'll enjoy playing a plug-in you made...
I'll be sure to add them.
Do you think this is a good conclusion? By the way, the title will be the one in the topic title, i.e. "The Bible Explained to Dummies" (the one at the beginning of my first post was put when I began writing and I forgot to change it when I posted what I has already written offline with TextEdit), but it will keep the subtitle I put (How to make the most of the Holy Book with your editor).
Oh, I've been using For Dummies. I'll fix that.
From what I know about HTML, the page title inside the <title> markups should be the title (The Bible Explained to Dummies), the title, repeated in the page, should be there like a h1 or h2, the subtitle a h3 or h4, the section titles h4, the subsection titles of Appendix II, h5 (I don't like h6, sometimes you can't actually tell it from normal text). The internal links at the beginning should be in a list, with normal text size.
Well, so far what I'm doing is making the title The Bible Explained to Dummies, then at the top of the page, an h1 with The Bible Explained to Dummies, then below it an h3 with How to make the most of the Holy Book with your editor. Lower down, I have the anchors as h4's, each section title an h2, and the text in the sections all regular text.
Lastly, here are preliminary credits, to be put at the end, obviously. "Written by Zacha Pedro HTML work and english correction by orcaloverbri9 Hosted by Space Pirate, in a division of the EVula Empire Thanks to pipeline and Dr. Trowel"
Anyone can make it to the thanks, provided he's helpful.
Cool. I'll put them in.
------------------ The programmer's code of entomology: there's always another bug. There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who have friends. Windows users: stop asking for plugins. (url="http://"http://www.aznt.com/EVN/EVNEW/")Make one yourself.(/url) (url="http://"http://www.cwssoftware.com")Sephil Saga Website(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.evula.org/infernostudios/search.html")Add-ons Search Engine(/url)
(This message has been edited by orcaloverbri9 (edited 07-22-2004).)
Orca, if once you finish it up, feel free to email it to me at hypermike (a) adelphia (.) net. I have a style sheet already, as well as a header and footer. The style sheet is at (url="http://"http://evula.org/infernostudios/plugdev/_style.css")http://evula.org/inf...gdev/_style.css(/url) , the header is at (url="http://"http://evula.org/infernostudios/plugdev/_hstart.html")http://evula.org/inf...ev/_hstart.html(/url) , and the footer is at (url="http://"http://evula.org/infernostudios/plugdev/_hend.html")http://evula.org/inf...gdev/_hend.html(/url) . Just use a standard php include, or use a ssi include, EVula allows the use of both. If you don't know how to do any of that, I'll be happy to put it in for you.
~ SP
------------------ Fear the SpacePirate, He made a (url="http://"http://www.evula.org/infernostudios/search.html")plug-in search page(/url)... And he'll board your ship! -mrxak *** (url="http://"http://www.evula.org/infernostudios/")InfernoStudios(/url) was last updated 06 June, 2004. ***
I suddenly realise something. No longer will I be able to claim complete independance from The EVula Empire. Not that it's much of a problem though, it's not making me one of his minons, or at least I hope so...
------------------ The (url="http://"https://secure.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/store/hazel.cgi?action=serve&item;=breakdown.html&BREAKDOWN;_SKUID=1480")Ambrosia Mac CD(/url) with other registrations - 5$. Paying for (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/evn/")EV Nova(/url) as it's such a great game - 30$. The (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/evn/tshirts.html")1337 EV Nova T-shirt(/url)(url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/webboard/Forum25/HTML/000003.html#ZachaPedro05-18-200409:42AM") (/url) - 22$. The (url="http://"http://w00tware.ev-nova.net/")NovaTools(/url) by wOOtWare to tinker with your Nova - FREE! The feeling you're a Nova geek - priceless. There are things money can't buy or that are free, for everything else, there's indeed Mastercard.
Originally posted by SpacePirate: **Orca, if once you finish it up, feel free to email it to me at hypermike (a) adelphia (.) net. I have a style sheet already, as well as a header and footer. The style sheet is athttp://evula.org/inf...gdev/_style.css , the header is at http://evula.org/inf...ev/_hstart.html , and the footer is at http://evula.org/inf...gdev/_hend.html . Just use a standard php include, or use a ssi include, EVula allows the use of both. If you don't know how to do any of that, I'll be happy to put it in for you.
~ SP**
?
You can include() a regular HTML file? Wait: I just tested it, and it works...cool, never knew that. I know how to do both, don't worry. I have a tiny bit of CSS in my document to make the links underlined when you hover over them (nothing else), but apparently you've already taken care of all that, so I'll just take it out.
ZP: When you said to change the last clause in one of the sentences in section 2, what did you mean?
By the way, I'm basically rewriting entire paragraphs as I go...but don't worry, all the information is there (although I added a little myself). Essentially, I'm making a good guide...better!
What does give you a problem, orca? "-in "3: An example: the oütf resource", at the end of the second paragraph, change "in that case the outfits with equal DispWeights are ordered in increasing ID order""? Just replace "in that case the outfits are ordered in increasing ID order, as was before Nova." by it. If it's something else, tell me.
Go ahead, make the changes you feel necessary, I thrust you. And if I realise at the end that I shouldn't have, the original text is still here.
A little change: in the 6, after "a precise question about what you don't understand.", insert "If there is something you basically understand, just that a detail seems obscure, there's no harm in testing it with a small plug and checking how the engine reacts."
At the end of 5, add "Sometimes your plug won't work. It can seem to have no effect, or a partial effect (for instance if you add a new ship it won't appear in systems, you have to include it in the düdes that populate the systems you want it to appear in; also, after having bought it maybe you will no longer be able to buy most stuff, check then that your shďp has the last contribute bit checked like the other ships do), or it can crash Nova at load (you should then check the debuglog, and for out-of-bound values in your plug), at pilot load (check the pilotlog and that you made as little changes as possible to the stuff the pilot owns/ the missions the pilot runs/ the system and spob the pilot is in), or at hyperspace exit (check that everything is valid in the system you're trying to enter and the ships, dudes, fleets and pers that should be flying it). At any rate, don't panic. First examine your plug, pilotlog and debuglog to pinpoint the problem, and try to correct it. I may take more than one try. If you really can't find the problem, or you can't solve it, then post a new topic in the EVDC about it, telling when it does crash if it does, what your plug is supposed to do, how you implemented it, and what does not work. It's of no use to post "my plug doesnt work help me!!!!""
Note that I intend to make a debugging/testing/troubleshooting guide after my others (for instance it will tell how to make a chär that will not be in the final plug, just for the purpose of testing, as well as some other such stuff).
One little thing: the hex additions from the EV plug dev FAQ should be next to each other (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/ubb/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum;=EV+Plug-in+Developer+FAQs&number;=29&DaysPrune;=20&LastLogin;=#30")just like they were originally(/url), just that when I copy-pasted they came all below each other.
(This message has been edited by Zacha Pedro (edited 07-22-2004).)
(quote)Originally posted by orcaloverbri9: **By the way, I'm basically rewriting entire paragraphs as I go...but don't worry, all the information is there (although I added a little myself). Essentially, I'm making a good guide...better!:)
ZP requested the original of the image I posted earlier. This was a photo from a trip I took a few years ago -- it's a poorly focused snapshot that happened to be on hand when I needed something to demonstrate my point, not something I'd be likely to use in a Nova plug that I'd release. Anyway, here it is:
Here is what it looks like when viewed in ResEdit:
Note the large reported size of the resource -- as I mentioned earlier, the full data of the original image is still in the plug file. All Nova can access , though, is the data that appears in ResEdit's preview window. The game blows this up to fill the space provided in the landing screen, resulting in the monstrosity that I posted earlier.
If there's a Windows gamer out there willing to run a quick test, load this plug into Nova: (url="http://"http://home.comcast.net/~drtrowel/misc/600dpiLandingPic.zip")600dpiLandingPic.zip(/url). Then visit Earth and report whether you see the Balinese spring temple or the blocky abstract art mess. The plug includes the 612 X 285 PICT with dpi set to 600, is in a .bin inside a .zip, and is 423 K.
Pipeline: Thanks for confirming my sanity (at least on one issue)!
ZP: Thanks for the thanks!
------------------ (url="http://"http://home.comcast.net/~drtrowel/")Dr. Trowel's E.S.W.P.(/url) -- Cold Fusion graphics for EVN Override, EVN:O bug fixes, 'n more. Very Good Stuff:** (url="http://"http://www.evula.com/escape_velocity/")EVula(/url) (url="http://"http://w00tware.ev-nova.net/")NovaTools(/url) (url="http://"http://www.evula.org/infernostudios/search.html")EVPlugSearcher(/url) Play FAQs: (url="http://"http://ev-nova.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2832&sid;=43627ead61761e7f19060b00c14c739c")N(/url) (url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum;=EV+Nova+FAQs&number;=30&DaysPrune;=20&LastLogin;=")N(/url) (url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum;=EV+Override+FAQs&number;=53&DaysPrune;=20&LastLogin;=")O(/url) (url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum;=Escape+Velocity+FAQs&number;=28&DaysPrune;=20&LastLogin;=")C(/url) Dev FAQs: (url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum;=EV+Plug-in+Developer+FAQs&number;=29&DaysPrune;=20&LastLogin;=")A(/url) (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/ubb/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&number;=31&SUBMIT;=Go")B(/url) Interests: The Good, The Bad, and The Loopy.
(This message has been edited by Dr. Trowel (edited 07-22-2004).)
Originally posted by Zacha Pedro: **What does give you a problem, orca? "-in "3: An example: the oütf resource", at the end of the second paragraph, change "in that case the outfits with equal DispWeights are ordered in increasing ID order""? Just replace "in that case the outfits are ordered in increasing ID order, as was before Nova." by it. If it's something else, tell me.
Go ahead, make the changes you feel necessary, I thrust you. And if I realise at the end that I shouldn't have, the original text is still here.**
Do you mind a lot of rewording? In far too many places to count, I've reworded parts of sentences, changed words, etc., not because of bad English, but to make it "feel better" to read.
Also, I'm adding in a few notes, like about the rlë's being semi-Nova-specific, and about why you shouldn't just post "my plugin doesn't work help me!!!".
Originally posted by orcaloverbri9: Do you mind a lot of rewording? In far too many places to count, I've reworded parts of sentences, changed words, etc., not because of bad English, but to make it "feel better" to read.
Not at all, I was sure my phrasing would be odd for the English-native. Just post it here before mailing Space Pirate.
Originally posted by Zacha Pedro: Not at all, I was sure my phrasing would be odd for the English-native. Just post it here before mailing Space Pirate.
No problem. I won't post it in text form because it is so HTML-ized that that would be a big waste of time, but I'll upload it and link to it.
Any more changes to add (isn't that contradictory?)?
Originally posted by Dr. Trowel: It's good you mentioned this, Orca -- Zacha P may be OK with what you're doing but, more generally, this is the sort of thing that can sometimes upset an author. This is especially true when the original author loses the final say-so over what actually gets published (or posted to a public web site).
Well, I'll be linking to it, so he won't lose the final say. If he feels that there is something I did that I shouldn't have, it can easily be fixed. And besides, as he put it: if it turns out he shouldn't have trusted me, the original text is still intact.
Also, generally, someone who writes something in English would be very good with English, and someone a lot better with another language would probably write it in their own language and have someone translate it.
Also, ZP, if I recall correctly, Nova supports multi-channel sounds (Nova allows the use of up to 8 channels at once, I believe); however, it is limited by sampling rate (has to be 11kHz) and it probably has to be 8-bit.
Originally posted by orcaloverbri9: **No problem. I won't post it in text form because it is so HTML-ized that that would be a big waste of time, but I'll upload it and link to it.
**
Funny you say that, I just spent the last half an hour to completely reread everything I said, and for the first time, I found nothing to add. Maybe I will later, but real artists ship, so I officially say that my part is complete.
Originally posted by orcaloverbri9: **Also, generally, someone who writes something in English would be very good with English, and someone a lot better with another language would probably write it in their own language and have someone translate it.
Funny too, as I'm experiencing this very fact next to me (basically, I'm doing some archeology with people from various countries, and they all write their reports in their language for later translation in French).
Also, Dr. Trowel, when Safari is loading the JPEG, it shows it in small size as well, but when fully loaded it explodes into the full image. Real odd how software handles the resolution...
I added a note about sounds in Nova in my previous post without knowing that you had already replied to it.
Also, in what way do you want me to have the layout link to the Pegasus? CSS to make the cursor a hand and an onClick? an actual <a> link?
I don't know enough HTML yet to knwo the pros and cons of the two possibilities, but just making a <a> link would make only the text be clickable, while CSS use would allow to click anywhere, right? Anyway, show me both.
By the way, about sounds, it turns out we're both wrong: I just checked warp up in Nova Sounds, and it seems to be 22kHz, 16 bits. Dunno why the (url="http://"http://www.aznt.com/EVN/EVNEW/Readme.txt")EVNEW docs(/url) tell Nova prefers 8 bit mono. Though I knew the "11 kHz limit" (that appeared all of a sudden when Andrew Welch made the Ambrosia Sound Tool for Maelstrom, breaking some third-party Maelstrom Sound replacements, and that was still here in EV and EVO) had been lifted for Nova. Since the Bible does not document that, and we have multiple contradictory sources, could anyone in the know tell us? As for the 8 channels, it's just the feature of the Ambrosia Sound Tool that allows for multiple sounds (8 max) to be played at the same time, (and the most interesting one, just try to play an old Maelstrom without it and the actual version, you really hear that you can have more sounds playing at the same time, even though the AST of Mael just allows for 4 simultaneous sounds).
(This message has been edited by Zacha Pedro (edited 07-23-2004).)
Originally posted by orcaloverbri9: Also, in what way do you want me to have the layout link to the Pegasus? CSS to make the cursor a hand and an onClick? an actual <a> link?
Just for the record, onClick doesn't work well with tabs in Safari. In addition, Safari couldn't care less about the CSS bit about changing cursors. I had a similar effect on my website for a while, but ditched it (partly for those reasons).
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Thanks for your wise advices, O my evil Lord.
Just to let you know that work has begun on the Contribute/Require/Scanmask guide. In the meantime, the relevant part of appendix II will contain a placeholder message; a link to this new guide will be put later (I'll let you do that placeholder text, dunno what would be best).
A couple things the Nova Bible should say, but doesn't (if I recall correctly):
When you mention the DITL resource (etc.), it would be nice to have a link to a useful Apple page about the attributes of those non-EV-specific resource types.
Thanks for reminding me about these. However, thinking about it, I find these things quite advanced, so I don't think this guide should deal with that. But that brings the necessity of some "advanced stuff FAQ", which would contain the aforementioned PICT problem, those three things, and others. Thus my to-do list is for now the following (in order): -contribute/require/scanmask guide -troubleshooting/debugging/testing guide -annoted templates, at least for the most important resources -advanced FAQ
Note this, too: I won't be able to be online as much as I have been these days (where I could remain online up to midnight and after, 6PM and after board's time), so expect checks just once a day.
Originally posted by Zacha Pedro: ..."advanced stuff FAQ"...
Fair 'nuff. I'm just throwing things out for your consideration; pick and choose as you wish.
Originally posted by Zacha Pedro: ('Rle8' and 'RleD') replace PICT (though you can always stick to PICT, but loading time may suffer if there is a large number of them) for all animations such as ships, shots, planets (that can be animated), etc...
Actually, there is a case when you can't "stick to PICT." An RLE file in the Nova Files folder will take precedence over a plug PICT with the same ID number. Therefore, if you want to make replacement graphics for a ship already in the game, you either have to use RLEs or supply a shan that points to PICTS that don't conflict with RLEs already supplied in the Nova Files.