Remaking old EV plugins?

Your opinions wanted!!!

Howdy guys,

I just saw some potential interest, which I hadn't even thought about before, in the redoing of old EV based plugins into new EV Nova compatible plugins. I don't mean just passing it through "Spaceport," I mean testing, and updating the EV TC. Like the Empire of Crime series.

Origination thread: http://www.ambrosias...howtopic=114657

Can I get some yays or nays? What do you guys/gals think is the potential interest in this? My thoughts are that a lot of the PC users would not have had a chance to experience the great EV plugins, and so porting them would just deliver a new experience. I felt the same way Tryoki felt, I miss those old EV plugins, they were so awesome.

The other issue I wanted to touch base on was the repacking issues. Who knows where those old EV plugin developers are now. Would it be ok to like mention them as the original idea and such, how does/would it work anyways???

I think I'll try my hand at first porting Realm Of Prey. Sorta to test the waters a bit, I've never attempt this type of thing before. I was, and still am a primarily EVO based plugin developer. EVN was a, change, to say the least.

- Trinix

I think it would be a great idea. Not that I'm gonna do it

Well it would be nice but it would also be a heck of a lot of work. The author of the Empire series is still active and can be seen on the EV board where he is developing the next instalment of the series as a Nova plug. You should definitely contact him before doing anything.

If the Empire guy is working on a Nova version, then that's great. I'll target ROP (Realm of Prey) then. It isn't going well btw, just being honest. lol.

I'm having issues with DLOG & DITL resources. So... Where is the bible for those resources??? I know what they are for, but I'm not sure given the resources themselves how to make or modify them. Or why there is a DLOG & DITL. They seem so closely matching that it is redundant? Here are my questions:

1.) For instance, how would EVN know which is an "OK" button as opposed to "Cancel?"
2.) How would EVN know which button brings up which window?
3.) Is the number of DITL/DLOG resources set the minimum and maximum? (For instance, I can't have fewer or more windows)
4.) Can I streamline some windows, for instance the shipyard when selecting a ship, will not only ask for its picture thumbnail, but also a space for it's stat's?

The only things you can do with dialogs is adjust the size and layout. Nothing else. You cannot arbitrarily create new windows nor new items within a window. If you want to change things the safest way is to copy the existing resources and modify them.

If you really want to know though, DLOGs contain the size of the window, DITLs contain the layout, and the order (or id) of the items within the DITL determine what they do.

(edit) Oh, and the Empire guy is creating a new episode for Nova, not re-doing the old ones.

This post has been edited by Guy : 21 August 2007 - 11:54 PM

Yeah, and Martin Turner is making The Frozen Heart 2 , which presumably includes the port of the original plug-in, as well as Feme Fatale. However, other famous plug-ins have been largely abandoned by their creators (notably Galactic Scourge , among others).

But Tim's Empire Saga , which still has a sequel in the works, would inevitably require the permission of its owner before you proceed (although I'm sure he wouldn't mind).

I'd be up for playing these if they were remade into EV:N. Someone grab Tim xD

Of course, they'd need to be made into the EVC TC for Nova. But then... They may actually work quite well following the Empire storyline in the NOVA universe O.o Empire versus Weave with Empires other groups appearing. Nova has alot of usable systems for empire.

But then... I'd still love to play it in EVC XD

So I'm interested no matter whats done ^^

@trinix, on Aug 21 2007, 11:00 PM, said in Remaking old EV plugins?:

I'll target ROP (Realm of Prey) then.

After, of course, asking the original developer’s permission.

@trinix, on Aug 21 2007, 11:00 PM, said in Remaking old EV plugins?:

I'm having issues with DLOG & DITL resources. So... Where is the bible for those resources???

There is no bible for these resources, because they weren’t created for Escape Velocity. They’re the standard Macintosh resources for creating dialogue boxes going back to 1984. A dialogue box requires both resources; the DLOG specifies the box, while the DITL (dialogue item list) specifies its contents. Most editors (including ResEdit and MissionComputer) provide one editor that handles the two resources in tandem, since they’re so closely linked.

@trinix, on Aug 21 2007, 11:00 PM, said in Remaking old EV plugins?:

I know what they are for, but I'm not sure given the resources themselves how to make or modify them. Or why there is a DLOG & DITL. They seem so closely matching that it is redundant? Here are my questions:

1.) For instance, how would EVN know which is an "OK" button as opposed to "Cancel?"
2.) How would EVN know which button brings up which window?
3.) Is the number of DITL/DLOG resources set the minimum and maximum? (For instance, I can't have fewer or more windows)
4.) Can I streamline some windows, for instance the shipyard when selecting a ship, will not only ask for its picture thumbnail, but also a space for it's stat's?

These are all hard-coded into the engine; the ability to modify the game’s dialogue boxes is a hack developed as a side-effect from the way it functions, rather than an ability given to developers intentionally like most of the resources used to create plug-ins.

If item 1 in a particular dialogue box is the OK button, then it will always act as the OK button, even if you change its title to Cancel. Similarly, there is nothing you can do to change what the game does when you click a particular button, and while you can ‘remove’ information from one of the dialogues by dragging it outside the dialogue box’s boundary, you can’t add any significant new information like you describe in (4), because the engine won’t know to fill it in.

Of course DA, permission is always important. I'm still confused about the DITL and DLOG resources, but I have a general answer, and it is one that above all, I needed, thanks DA. I understand now why I can't expand/modify to the extent that I wanted though now in the DITL and DLOG resources, again, thanks DA.

it'd be great to remake old EVO plugs too.

Ya sure, just as soon as one is created! lol. All the great plugins/TC's were made for the original EV.

Bring Babylon 5 for Override to Nova! That was one well-done TC!

I stand corrected, thanks Archon. Looks interesting.

@archon, on Aug 30 2007, 02:16 AM, said in Remaking old EV plugins?:

Bring Babylon 5 for Override to Nova! That was one well-done TC!

Just recently I've been rewatching all of Babylon 5, and remembered the TC based on it. I couldn't recall which EV it was for, though. Digging around turned it up. Running it through SpacePort pretty clearly demonstrated that that wasn't going to work. Glad to see there's some interest in bringing it back.

@trinix, on Aug 22 2007, 02:23 AM, said in Remaking old EV plugins?:

The other issue I wanted to touch base on was the repacking issues. Who knows where those old EV plugin developers are now. Would it be ok to like mention them as the original idea and such, how does/would it work anyways???

I think I'll try my hand at first porting Realm Of Prey. Sorta to test the waters a bit, I've never attempt this type of thing before. I was, and still am a primarily EVO based plugin developer. EVN was a, change, to say the least.
- Trinix

If anyone wants to port any of my old EMPIRE series of plugs including REALM OF PREY, feel free to do so.

I am currently working on my first NOVA release myself.

Regards,

Tim

http://www.evula.org/empire_trilogy

Neato, thanks.