EVONE Public Beta 2 Released!

Arios SoftWare announces the release of EVONE Public Beta 2! EVONE, the Escape Velocity Override Nova Editor, is a powerful, graphical plug-in editor for the Escape Velocity series of games by Ambrosia Software.

This release features a revamped interface to improve the development experience and remove any possible confusion. A revolutionary new feature in the form of a Run button on the main plugin window is also included. Now, you can test the plugin in the target game simply by clicking the button, even if you have not saved the plugin! EVONE will copy your plugin to the game's plugin folder and launch the app. Then, when, and only when, you quit the target game will EVONE delete the copy it made, restoring everything to how it was before you tested the plug. The built-in logic prevents crashes by only deleting the file when EVONE has received notification that you quit the game - simply switching back to EVONE will not cause it to be deleted.

Also new in this release is a hex editor, for editing any resource type, and an advanced Template Driver. Not only can the Template Driver edit any resource type you provide ResEdit templates for, but it includes built-in templates for all EV-related resources and a number of generic ones. You can now edit vers resources, for example, directly within EVONE using the included templates. But the Driver does not stop there. Help text is displayed for every field of all EV-related resources - you may never need to refer to the bible again - and all flag resources are displayed as a series of easy-to-use checkboxes! There is no longer a need to remember how to add 0x0441 and 0x0004 and what, specifically, those flags change in the game.

Yet another new feature is a new dual approach to data files. You now can choose to use either of two methods or a combination of both. The easiest way to get EVONE to load the correct data files into your plugins is to configure the last three panes of EVONE's Preferences. Once you tell EVONE the location of each of the games you have installed, EVONE will load the files it needs right out of the games' folders. They are opened read-only to prevent corruption. For more complete control, simply place the files you want EVONE to load in the Data Files folder in the EVONE folder. And to experience the best of ease and control, use a combination of both.

Finally, with many thanks to SpacePirate, EVONE now contains the ability to convert any EV or EVO plugin to an EV Nova plugin. Simply open the plug in EVONE and choose Convert to EVN from the Tools menu. The SpacePort plugin-application will launch and boom, you have a fully functional EVN plugin.

With this release, EVONE comes much closer to being a full-fledged plugin editor, but the future still holds amazing promise. Imagine a complete RLE builder, allowing you to combine and edit each frame and mask and then encode and decode RLE resources. Imagine a Mission String editor where you set a few values and have EVONE fill in multiple mission resources - all you would need to do is write the descriptions and set any special ship requirements on a per-mission basis. Such an editor could even run control bit logic to ensure mission sequences and branching. All of this and more is planned for a future version, but in the meantime, employ EVONE's ground-breaking power to enhance and speed your plugin development project.

EVONE is available for download at the redesigned Arios SoftWare website at:

(url="http://"http://www.ariossoftware.com/products/evone/download/")http://www.ariossoft...evone/download/(/url)

NOTE: It is HIGHLY recommended that you skim the included QuickStart guide in order to get up and running quickly. It describes the data file configuration process, which is essential to running effectively.

EVONE is a $10 shareware application. If you plan on using EVONE, please register and support Arios SoftWare and the shareware industry.

Please post any comments you have either below or on the Arios forums ( (url="http://"http://forums.ariossoftware.com")http://forums.ariossoftware.com(/url) ). Note that problems should be posted to the Arios forums, where you will receive the best support.

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(url="http://"http://www.ariossoftware.com")Arios SoftWare(/url)
(url="http://"http://www.ariossoftware.com/programs/evone/")EVONE 1.0.0 - the plugin editor for EV/EVO/EVN(/url)

(This message has been edited by AriosSw (edited 06-19-2003).)

What is the deal for restrictions? Is it still days or has it been changed to uses? because no offence, but I refuse to register it until it is complete.

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Hey! If I want cheesey poofs, I'll get cheesey poofs!
-Eric Cartman Law Enforcer
"Respect my Authorita!"


Quote

Originally posted by AriosSw:
Imagine a complete RLE builder, allowing you to combine and edit each frame and mask and then encode and decode RLE resources.

Do you need any help with that part? I am familiar with the RLE format and have written my own encoder. It also incorporates a dithering algorithm that will dither an image in memory down to 8-bit, useful for making rle8's. The encoder is fully functional and I have tested the finished sprites in EVN. However, I wrote it for the PC. If you want to port my code, I could send it to you.

-Vaumnou

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Did you know that 63.8% of quoted statistics are made up on the spot?
"He's too late. SEE?!? THE CLIFFS OF INSANITY!!! Hurry up!"
"You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. .... Radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat." - Albert Einstein

(This message has been edited by Vaumnou (edited 06-20-2003).)

/me lets out an explosive breath, Finally.

The restrictions have been changed to uses thank god!!!

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Quote

Originally posted by Starbridge42:
**What is the deal for restrictions? Is it still days or has it been changed to uses? because no offence, but I refuse to register it until it is complete.

**

The demo system is as follows: You now have thirty days of actual USE, not a thirty day time-frame. And, this version will reset any demo period from the previous version. Why would you not register until it is complete? I plan on going 1.0 with it by the end of the summer, but even then, it will not be "complete". All the features I listed for a future version probably will not be in 1.0 - the program will keep evolving for the forseeable future. Also, since you will get free updates to future versions when you register, I find your stance somewhat unreasonable, but it is up to you.

If you can't tell, I'm really excited about this app - even the Template Driver, which seems mundane to most people, I believe is a marvel of engineering - I was able to pull off some incredible stuff with it.

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(url="http://"http://www.ariossoftware.com")Arios SoftWare(/url)
(url="http://"http://www.ariossoftware.com/programs/evone/")EVONE 1.0.0 - the plugin editor for EV/EVO/EVN(/url)

Quote

Originally posted by Vaumnou:
**Do you need any help with that part? I am familiar with the RLE format and have written my own encoder. It also incorporates a dithering algorithm that will dither an image in memory down to 8-bit, useful for making rle8's. The encoder is fully functional and I have tested the finished sprites in EVN. However, I wrote it for the PC. If you want to port my code, I could send it to you.

-Vaumnou

**

I would be very interested in seeing your code, if you do not mind, particularly the dithering algorithm. What will make this somewhat easier for EVONE is that I can use the actual RLE utlity functions built-in to SpriteWorld, so I actually get to use the "official" RLE encode/decode algorithms and assorted other functions. I do not know if it does dithering yet, though, I'll have to look into that...

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(url="http://"http://www.ariossoftware.com")Arios SoftWare(/url)
(url="http://"http://www.ariossoftware.com/programs/evone/")EVONE 1.0.0 - the plugin editor for EV/EVO/EVN(/url)

Quote

Originally posted by AriosSw:
I would be very interested in seeing your code, if you do not mind, particularly the dithering algorithm. What will make this somewhat easier for EVONE is that I can use the actual RLE utlity functions built-in to SpriteWorld, so I actually get to use the "official" RLE encode/decode algorithms and assorted other functions. I do not know if it does dithering yet, though, I'll have to look into that...

OK, I'll send the dithering algorithm to you as soon as I can. It's based on the Floyd-Steinberg method.

I noticed a minor problem on your webpage: the background color is white. It looks really odd while loading, you might want to change this.

-Vaumnou

------------------
Did you know that 63.8% of quoted statistics are made up on the spot?
"He's too late. SEE?!? THE CLIFFS OF INSANITY!!! Hurry up!"
"You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. .... Radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat." - Albert Einstein

Quote

Originally posted by AriosSw:
**The demo system is as follows: You now have thirty days of actual USE, not a thirty day time-frame. And, this version will reset any demo period from the previous version. Why would you not register until it is complete? I plan on going 1.0 with it by the end of the summer, but even then, it will not be "complete". All the features I listed for a future version probably will not be in 1.0 - the program will keep evolving for the forseeable future. Also, since you will get free updates to future versions when you register, I find your stance somewhat unreasonable, but it is up to you.

If you can't tell, I'm really excited about this app - even the Template Driver, which seems mundane to most people, I believe is a marvel of engineering - I was able to pull off some incredible stuff with it.**

1.0 in my mind tells me that you should have a feature compleat and fully operational program. If it's not it really shows that whoever is making it just wants the money and can't wait untill the program is compleat.

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"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe."-Albert Einstein

Quote

Originally posted by Skyfox:
**1.0 in my mind tells me that you should have a feature compleat and fully operational program. If it's not it really shows that whoever is making it just wants the money and can't wait untill the program is compleat.

**

At 1.0, EVONE, the app itself, will be feature complete, earning its designation. Editors are entirely separate entities, and as such, they will be released when they are completed. For example, the Galaxy Editor in PB2 is 1.0, but this has no effect on the version number of EVONE or of any other editor. The two major improvements I spoke of above will both be implemented as editors.

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(url="http://"http://www.ariossoftware.com")Arios SoftWare(/url)
(url="http://"http://www.ariossoftware.com/programs/evone/")EVONE 1.0.0 - the plugin editor for EV/EVO/EVN(/url)

Quote

Originally posted by AriosSw:
At 1.0, EVONE, the app itself, will be feature complete, earning its designation. Editors are entirely separate entities, and as such, they will be released when they are completed.

Wait, what? How can EVone be considered completely separate from the editors. The editors are what make EVone an editing application. And I also don't quite agree with a time limited, requires registering, Beta. Time expire it maybe. But currently it's just a preview with no assurance of a final version. (Not that your not trustworthy, it's just a general statement)

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(This message has been edited by ThorPrime (edited 06-20-2003).)

Quote

Originally posted by ThorPrime:
Wait, what? How can EVone be considered completely separate from the editors. The editors are what make EVone an editing application. And I also don't quite agree with a time limited, requires registering, Beta. Time expire it maybe. But currently it's just a preview with no assurance of a final version. (Not that your not trustworthy, it's just a general statement)

EVONE itself is a life-support system for editors. The actual editors are more like plugins. Buying EVONE is sort of like buying a motherboard. You still have to plug in a processor, RAM, PCI cards, etc.

-Vaumnou

------------------
Did you know that 63.8% of quoted statistics are made up on the spot?
"He's too late. SEE?!? THE CLIFFS OF INSANITY!!! Hurry up!"
"You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. .... Radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat." - Albert Einstein

(This message has been edited by Vaumnou (edited 06-20-2003).)

Quote

Originally posted by Vaumnou:
**EVONE itself is a life-support system for editors. The actual editors are more like plugins. Buying EVONE is sort of like buying a motherboard. You still have to plug in a processor, RAM, PCI cards, etc.

-Vaumnou

**

Precisely, that is an excellent explanation. Each editor in EVONE is, technically, a plugin (a CFPluginRef for the developers out there). EVONE editors can do anything - they basically have supreme power. They don't even have to edit any resource type. EVONE is infinately extensible via plugins and it just so happens that each editor is a plugin.

Quote

Originally posted by ThorPrime:
**I also don't quite agree with a time limited, requires registering, Beta. Time expire it maybe. But currently it's just a preview with no assurance of a final version. (Not that your not trustworthy, it's just a general statement)

**

Perhaps having worked on it for a year and five months now, I see it differently. Since EVONE, to me, is a constantly evolving entity, the actual version number is nothing more than a random designation I give it. I could very well have declared this version 1.0 (I was actually thinking about it) and declared this version to be feature complete. I decided to say this version is not feature complete because there are some features I would like to add.

From my point of view, you are not going to register just because you feel you have some gaurantee, no matter how intangible, of receiving a next version. You would register EVONE if you truly feel it useful or if you want to support shareware and my efforts. As a result, I feel it should not matter if I decide to cease development tomorrow (not that I will!) - you paid for and recieved the current copy. Again, from my point of view, the lack of assurance of a final version is irrelevant - you are registering the current version, which, I have to say, is fully worthy of being shareware.

A 1.0 designation appears to invoke some perception that the app is more fully worthy than one with a PB2 designation. To me, those designations are nothing more than a random number placed on the app and are fully interchangeable. EVONE will continue to evolve no matter what version it is given, so it really makes no difference.

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(url="http://"http://www.ariossoftware.com")Arios SoftWare(/url)
(url="http://"http://www.ariossoftware.com/programs/evone/")EVONE 1.0.0 - the plugin editor for EV/EVO/EVN(/url)

Mac OS 8.6 support?

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Quote

Originally posted by thedecline:
Mac OS 8.6 support?

What I want is 8.1 support :p. So that I can use it on my emulator. Hint, hint. ๐Ÿ™‚

-Vaumnou

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Did you know that 63.8% of quoted statistics are made up on the spot?
"He's too late. SEE?!? THE CLIFFS OF INSANITY!!! Hurry up!"
"You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. .... Radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat." - Albert Einstein

When it has a feature complete graphical spob editor, you can have my $10.

๐Ÿ˜„

_bomb

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"Life is not to fear... Life is to enjoy." -
TEB
And don't you listen to these nitwits. Nova's a great game and don't let anyone tell ya otherwise. Better or worse than EVO? Who gives an african monkey's nads?
-pistgavin

Quote

Originally posted by Vaumnou:
**What I want is 8.1 support:p. So that I can use it on my emulator. Hint, hint. ๐Ÿ™‚

-Vaumnou

**

Anything under 9 is not "officially" supported, but it very well may work if you upgrade to CarbonLib 1.6 (see the EVONE Resources forum at http://forums.ariossoftware.com). OS 8.1 support is unlikely, since I do not believe CarbonLib 1.6 is compatible - sorry Vaumnou ๐Ÿ™‚

Quote

Originally posted by Bomb:
**When it has a feature complete graphical spob editor, you can have my $10.

**

That is actually next on the list (well, after a PICT viewer, which should only take two or three days)!

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(url="http://"http://www.ariossoftware.com")Arios SoftWare(/url)
(url="http://"http://www.ariossoftware.com/programs/evone/")EVONE 1.0.0 - the plugin editor for EV/EVO/EVN(/url)

(This message has been edited by AriosSw (edited 06-21-2003).)

Much better. A lot less bugs. i may register.

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Stephen
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Quote

Originally posted by AriosSw:
**That is actually next on the list (well, after a PICT viewer, which should only take two or three days)!

**

See, the only problem is, I anticipate needing one for some big time work next week or the week after.. A PICT viewer is good, but a spob editor would be much better. ๐Ÿ™‚

_bomb

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"Life is not to fear... Life is to enjoy." -
TEB
And don't you listen to these nitwits. Nova's a great game and don't let anyone tell ya otherwise. Better or worse than EVO? Who gives an african monkey's nads?
-pistgavin

I like it!
BUT i woudl never attempt to make a plug for nova, just the graphics ina far/near future..... i may start using this for trying out ships in EVO... hehehehe

Im afraid i feel a "EV-Edit" deja-vu with this....

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Quote

Originally posted by Bomb:
**See, the only problem is, I anticipate needing one for some big time work next week or the week after..
**

NovaMap?

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