Public Beta Test - Arc

Quote

Originally posted by Tiresmoke:
**I was not commenting at you Orca. At least you took the time to report your findings. There were quite a few people that downloaded the file and never said a word. If that was because of the plug being from a Windows user then I guess they simply don't care to considure that a Windows user could actually make something they want. Fanboy's. Hmphh...

The bottom line is that I am about 1/4 of the way through a Plugin and I am sure there are others using PC's that have started theirs as well.

So the bottom line is that either the PC users are considured serious enough to ask for help or you will likely lose PC users starting with me. And I have seen enough on these forums to beleive that this is the case.

**

It doesn't help that you posted this during the week of Christmas. It's not that we don't want PC plug-in makers. It's just that not very many people are able to get on during Christmas week. So lighten up. Sheesh.

And the comment about people complaining about there not being a pc version of a plug, is true because pc "weenies" do complain about it, because they are used to being given everything.

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http://www.cdrwerks.com
Home of the EVula Plug.

Quote

And the comment about people complaining about there not being a pc version of a plug, is true because pc "weenies" do complain about it, because they are used to being given everything.

Well I did not see any other PC Winnies asking for anything here. So I guess it must be me your talking about. If not then that comment does not belong in this topic.

Guys the bottom line is that while I use a PC that is not all I have ever used. I started in computers in the 70's and long before the first windows machine came out. I have used many platforms and realise that they all have there own strengths and weaknesses. I have seen many of these types of arguements over the years. I know how to push peoples buttons as well as anyone here as the prior post show.

I am not here to get into that arguement. All I am looking for with this post is to make everyone aware that there is a problem and to demonstrate it. The problem started when a Mac user I work with could not convert the Plug I am working with him on to use on his Mac. That should have sent some real serious flags up for everyone that something was wrong.

Instead what I get is all this stuff about using the existing converters without a single person responding that they even tried it. Well at least until I started pushing Orca's buttons. Still that was the only reply I got after many days of waiting. And yes I realise it is the holidays and a lot of folks don't have much time. Yet with all the posts here and all the people that downloaded it you would think that at least one other person could have responded as it only takes a few seconds to see if the converter will convert it.

David responded and I guess that at least justifies the effort I went to. Yet I see this turning into a typical PC Vs. Mac post and that was never my intent.

So I hope you understand now where I am coming from and stop the silly Fanboy games as I am doing this as much for the Mac owners as anyone. That is exactly why I would considure dropping any further development for this game and going back to Racing games. It is your call.

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Nothing like the smell of burnt rubber in the morning. - Now let's see some Tiresmoke!
(url="http://"http://www.rsdg.net")www.rsdg.net(/url)

Also note that the PC people who want plug-ins converted for them stay on the Nova board. Only people serious about getting help come here (for the most part, at least).

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Well as AriosSW's Converter still does not work converting the ship or the plug I am making on at least a couple machines I could still put the link back up if anyone is still interested in trying to track that issue. I never got a mail back from him and I think it would be a disservice to the community to just walk away from whatever problem exists with that Converter as it seems from this post he has quite a following.

Let me know if your interested and I will supply you with a link.

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Nothing like the smell of burnt rubber in the morning. - Now let's see some Tiresmoke!
(url="http://"http://www.rsdg.net")www.rsdg.net(/url)

OOPS! :frown:I'm sorry if I offended you, but it was not my intent: I was absolutely not thinking of you when I was speaking of "Winnies", rather of these people complaining in the Nova boards because they do not realise there is a converter included with Nova. I respect the PC users usually, just there are some that got used to have everything ready for them. At any rate, while the PC .bin to .rez converter is meant to be used by the end user, if ever EVNEW keeps saving its work as .rez files (or do not offer the option to save as .bin) the .rez to .bin converters are sure enough experimental development software that the end user is not to have to use, so it's up to the plug maker to convert it successfully before distribution. Actually I would expect PC plug developpers to test their works on a Mac (and the other way round, Mac plug developpers to test on PCs) before distribution, or notify in the readme "not tested on Macs/PCs" (dismiss the unuseful mention).

Now, do you excuse me? Again, I'm sorry. :frown:

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The feeling you're a Nova geek - priceless.
There are things you can't buy or that are free, for everything else, there's indeed Eurocard Mastercard.

(This message has been edited by Zacha Pedro (edited 12-28-2003).)

Yes no worries. I got a tad upset to see that this seemed to come down to a PC Vs. Mac issue which should not have happened.

I underestand where your thinking is coming from especially when it comes to testing things on both platforms. In fact there are two folks that have the lions share of the plug I am working on. One is a Mac person and one in a PC person. My inmtent from the start was that whatever I make should be usable on both platforms.

I also realise that this is less than a popular topic as the game was built for Macs and many folks see PC's intruding on their territory. So there will always be a certain amount of resistance to anything from a PC. Remember I was also once in that world myself.

Now my only real concerns are that if I or other PC owners develop something that it can be share acrossed that boundary. So in effect I am working for the Mac owners in this regard. So I hope you understand why I was upset with the direction this topic has taken.

I also hear and recognize what your saying about the Bin fprmat. Yet there is nothing I can do that will champion that cause and everything I can do to champion the topic at hand. So that is where my efforts will be directed.

here is a fresh link to the file for anyone willing and able to test this in the manner it was intended; (url="http://"http://slowry.home.westpa.net/Arc.zip")http://slowry.home.westpa.net/Arc.zip(/url)

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Nothing like the smell of burnt rubber in the morning. - Now let's see some Tiresmoke!
(url="http://"http://www.rsdg.net")www.rsdg.net(/url)

Quote

Originally posted by Tiresmoke:
**Yes no worries. I got a tad upset to see that this seemed to come down to a PC Vs. Mac issue which should not have happened.
**

The only person that brought this to a PC v. Mac debate was you.

I am willing to try the plug-in on my comp and see if it will convert.

-Edit- It converted just fine on my computer with RezConv.

And no I was not talking about you as being a whining pc user. Except when you keep complaining that nobody posted on your topic.

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http://www.cdrwerks.com
Home of the EVula Plug.

(This message has been edited by cdrcoyote (edited 12-28-2003).)

What OS Version are you using and what base system spexs do you have?

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Nothing like the smell of burnt rubber in the morning. - Now let's see some Tiresmoke!
(url="http://"http://www.rsdg.net")www.rsdg.net(/url)

Mac OS 10.2.8
800 Mhz PowerPC G4
512 MB Memory

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http://www.cdrwerks.com
Home of the EVula Plug.

Thanks a bunch.

So far the results are two systems able to convert it with OS 10.2, One that can't. and My system 8 emulated that can't.

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Nothing like the smell of burnt rubber in the morning. - Now let's see some Tiresmoke!
(url="http://"http://www.rsdg.net")www.rsdg.net(/url)

Quote

Originally posted by Tiresmoke:
**Thanks a bunch.

So far the results are two systems able to convert it with OS 10.2, One that can't. and My system 8 emulated that can't.

**

What is your definition of "can't"? As in Nova can't open it. Or it has no resources? Or that it just doesn't have the Nova plug-in icon?

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http://www.cdrwerks.com
Home of the EVula Plug.

(unlurk)

Windoze plug-making issues?

see: (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/webboard/Forum9/HTML/004892.html")http://www.ambrosias...TML/004892.html(/url)

To make a long story short:

The problem is the Rle8 resources
EVNEW converts them into grayscale... since 8-bit colour is an indexed-palette colour mode, and the mac and win 8bit palettes are (obviously) different. Then, when the mac reads the grayscale and indexes it according to the palette, what you get is random colours.

Why does this matter? EVN 4 Mac wont load (or so im told) if you dont have an rle8 for every rled.

The bottom line (an overused phrase in this topic).
You need the rle8's in your plugin if you want it to work on mac.

Furthermore, If you want mac users runnning on 8-bit graphics (for whatever resons) to see your graphics properly, then you need to send your original graphics to a mac user, who will convert and EnRLE them for you.

Aprosnef? would rle8 creation in EVNEW be simpler if the 8 bit graphic were created in photoshop with a macintosh palette? just wondering...
BTW: Many many many many (lots) of kudos for EVNEW... now i wont have to beg in the street for a ppc-mac 🙂

(lurk)

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CDR; Can't as in can't convert it.

Yes I am aware of the problems associated with the RLE8's. In this case the ship does not have any. You should still be able to run it on a Mac if your set to a high color palette. That is one thing I would like to confirm.

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Nothing like the smell of burnt rubber in the morning. - Now let's see some Tiresmoke!
(url="http://"http://www.rsdg.net")www.rsdg.net(/url)

Mystery solved. Terek had an old copy of Rez Conv. So with what has been reported so far it looks like rgings are taking a positive direction. Thanks for the help to solve things.

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Nothing like the smell of burnt rubber in the morning. - Now let's see some Tiresmoke!
(url="http://"http://www.rsdg.net")www.rsdg.net(/url)

Let's get this straight. Has everyone gotten it to work in RezConv under OS X? If there is any disagreement, email me the plug (seems a good use for support@ariossoftware.com) and I will look into it. Simple as that.

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(url="http://"http://www.ariossoftware.com")Arios SoftWare(/url)
(url="http://"http://www.ariossoftware.com/products/evone/")EVONE 1.0pb2 - the plugin editor for EV/EVO/EVN(/url)

I believe that at this point everyone that has talked with me on this has gotten it to work now. I did mail you the plug as I did with David Arther. As I had not heard from you nor got the mail back undeliverable i figured support was not forthcoming.

Unless there are other reports then I will leave off the subject.

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Nothing like the smell of burnt rubber in the morning. - Now let's see some Tiresmoke!
(url="http://"http://www.rsdg.net")www.rsdg.net(/url)

Quote

Originally posted by Tiresmoke:
**I believe that at this point everyone that has talked with me on this has gotten it to work now. I did mail you the plug as I did with David Arther. As I had not heard from you nor got the mail back undeliverable i figured support was not forthcoming.

Unless there are other reports then I will leave off the subject.

**

Very interesting. As of 11 PM EST on the 30th, I have not received any email. What address did you use?

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(url="http://"http://www.ariossoftware.com")Arios SoftWare(/url)
(url="http://"http://www.ariossoftware.com/products/evone/")EVONE 1.0pb2 - the plugin editor for EV/EVO/EVN(/url)

A newly downloaded copy of RezConv worked for me, so apparently the problem is solved. 🙂

However, Jeff, perhaps you should add a method to decrypt the RlëD's into PICT resources, and then re-encrypt them into Rlë8 resources, overwriting any Rlë8's that already exist. This would solve the problem with the differing 8-Bit palettes.

If anyone wishes to convert the images into Rlë8's manually, you will need (url="http://"http://w00tware.ev-nova.net/")EnRLE/DeRLE(/url) from w00tware. To begin, decrypt the existing RlëD resource into PICTs using DeRLE (Settings: rlëD's + 16 bit render, NO rlë8s + 8 bit render, NO clipping).

Posted Image

This should output both the required masks and pictures. Next, you should open the filename.res16 file in EnRLE, and convert using rlë8 + 8 bit render, NO rlëDs + 16 bit render, and no clipping. This will give you the Macintosh-formatted rlë8. Put that in the plugin, and it will work in both 8 and 16 bit resolution (256 colors and thousands).

Posted Image

~ SpacePirate

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Eat blazing electric death!

(edit: UBB, smaller images)

(This message has been edited by SpacePirate (edited 12-31-2003).)

Quote

Originally posted by AriosSw:
**Very interesting. As of 11 PM EST on the 30th, I have not received any email. What address did you use?

**

Hmmm not sure right off. It was a link on your site if I remember correctly. At least that answers why I did not get a responce.

Oh and so far the PC editor EVNew does not have the ability to deal fully with RLE8's and very few of the tools like wOOtware tools work on a Emulated Mac using OS 8, The RLE8 issue will have to continue another time when us PC owners have a way to deal with it. I do have one question though and that is now that some of you have the ship converted can you see it in the game or does it crash the game. The reason I ask is that this ship does not have the RLE8's and so far no one has complained. Or maybe no one has actually tried to do anything except run it through a converter? 😄

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Nothing like the smell of burnt rubber in the morning. - Now let's see some Tiresmoke!
(url="http://"http://www.rsdg.net")www.rsdg.net(/url)

Quote

Originally posted by Tiresmoke:
Or maybe no one has actually tried to do anything except run it through a converter?:D

Um...of course I have...what makes you say that? Heh...heh? 🙂

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