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[Terminat0r]

AIM=dakillermonkie
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[CaicedoLuis]

i could make Map Patcher allow the user to open more files. if u can make the files and send them to me.

[CaicedoLuis]

i just got a chance to open the Map Patcher and in a quick 5 mins added the ability to open different map files

I erased the Funtion of making PPFs in Map Modder cus i was gonna change it to XPF Studio but that sorta died. i just gotta rewrite everything (no biggie tho) also i think having the ability to make EXE patches is kinda useless because most ppl patch with HCE

Next on list is make it read XML and Make PPFs

[CaicedoLuis]

i looked at something else before i seen ur post and learned how to use the XML its pretty simple now

[xorange]

QUOTE (CaicedoLuis @ Oct 5 2003, 04:47 PM)

i could make Map Patcher allow the user to open more files. if u can make the files and send them to me.

Ok, I'm done with the text files for MapPatcher.
You can get 'em here: http://hside.zencomp...m/hexranges.rar

[eXentric]

QUOTE

Btw, eXentric, the Summaries are not absolutely necessary, right?

Functionality wise, no they're not necessary. But, try to think about the end-user. I would say that the name is mandatory (/weapons/projectiles/blah/blah isn't very user-friendly). The descriptions could be left out and added over time. I think it is very nice for the user to have descriptions of things, especially ones that are less well-known. Otherwise, the user has to change it and then play the game and try and figure out what changed. That's just my humble opinion though.


Also, anyone that's looking into XML should _NOT_ be looking at generating the XML manually (i.e. by writing to a text file). If you are writing in .Net, there are extensive tools for reading and writing XML in an object-orientated way. If you are writing in VB (or even in C++) you should follow that link that I posted last time to get familiar with MSs free XML DOM object which can be used by any program that can use a COM object.

Manually writing open and close tags and attirbutes is NOT FUN at all. The XML DOM gives you a very object-orientated way to do this all in code. Like

XmlNode MapNode = Document.CreateNode("map")
XmlAttribute NameAttribute = Document.CreateAttribute("name")

NameAttribute.InnerText = "a10"

MapNode.Attributes.Add(NameAttribute)


Thats may seem like quite a few steps to put an attribute on an object, but when you're writing a converter and dealing with thousands of entries, it becomes very easy to write methods like:

AddMap(string Name, string Title, MapType MType)


When / if we agree on a format, I could easily make an object model for dealing with these files. I could make it a common assembly for sharing across any .Net application and I can even register it for COM interop so older VB and C++ programs could even use it. You could then do stuff like this:

foreach (Map M in MapManger.Maps)
{
    Debug.WriteLine(M.Title);
}

(I can do that now in Cartographer)

Just thinking out loud...

[xorange]

Heh, that's a bit over my head atm.

Of course, the lists I am making for Cartographer aren't
even XML. I was just getting my projects mixed up.

For PEPs I'm using a nice little XML editor called XMLEditPro 1.2
It's small and it works nicely.

Yes, I definitely understand what you mean about the summaries.
I agree. I just figured it will probably take a while to complete all
the summaries for every single element class 'and' type, and just wanted
to see if we can still test the functionality of the data without them.

[CaicedoLuis]

ok lets vote on keeping EXE patch making or changing it to PPF or having both. EXE IMHO doesnt work properly but it could be a simple fix. Hey i could always just use my format and Cartographer can kep its own. XML will just put more work on my hands and everything already works properly.

*Still working on PPF Creation

[eXentric]

[eXentric]

CaicedoLuis, just ourt of curiosity: If I were to provide you with a really really simple object library at some point to read the same XML file format easily, would you consider integrating it?

Just trying to think ahead.

[xorange]

QUOTE (eXentric @ Oct 7 2003, 12:18 AM)

Thats fine with me. xorange, If you ever want to work together and make a comprehesive list of Classes and (at least) names for the items, I could have Cartographer editing all items in a very short amount of time. I'm just a little proud (maybe too proud) of the user interface and how stupidly simple Cartographer is to use. I dont want to loose that. So, I dont think I'll really be updating items until I can get nice and pretty class names and at least decent names for the items rather then their path names (/vehicles/warthog/whatever/whatever). Sorry, not trying to crash the party...

No worries. Sounds good to me.

Here's where I'm at so far...
(Please let me know if I'm on the right track! I'm just working off of the data format in the source sample you gave me a link to.)

I have created a file containing all the Element Classes and space for a summary for each that looks like this:

/// <summary>
///
/// </summary>
Actor,
/// <summary>
///
/// </summary>
Actor Variant,
/// <summary>
///
/// </summary>
Animation Trigger,
/// <summary>
///
/// </summary>
Antenna,
/// <summary>
///
/// </summary>
Biped,
/// <summary>
///
/// </summary>
Bitmap,

etc...
This should have every known class.
I used Silent Cartographer as a "template" because it's index contains the most classes...71 I think.

What I'm doing now is gathering all the Element Types from each Class from all levels.
Once I get this together I'll take a look at all the names and make sure they are all unique and format them appropriately (with summary lines & stuff).
Next I'll maker a big mapkeys.ctg with all elements for all maps and friendly names instead of paths.

Then it's time to write nice little summaries for each element class & type and try to capture more representative images, right?

[xorange]

QUOTE (eXentric @ Oct 7 2003, 12:21 AM)

CaicedoLuis, just ourt of curiosity: If I were to provide you with a really really simple object library at some point to read the same XML file format easily, would you consider integrating it? Just trying to think ahead.

Shhh!

Just kidding.  
Heh...I just don't want Caicedo to jump into XML yet
because I haven't put together a new XML data file yet, like mapkeys.ctg,
and I'm eager to use MapPatcher for some projects I have in mind.

I'm so selfish. hehe

[eXentric]

QUOTE

Here's where I'm at so far...

Damn, you go xorange! Lemme know when you're getting close. I'll start working on filtering here as soon as I have time so it will be available when ready.

QUOTE

Then it's time to write nice little summaries for each element class & type and try to capture more representative images, right?

You are correct sir. Classes only have a name, but Items have a name, a description and an image. Names are important, descriptions after that and images after that. We agreed that descriptions and images are optional so they can be done at a later time or not done at all.

QUOTE

I'm so selfish. hehe

Heh heh heh. Okay, sounds good. I like well-defined standards because they fuel progression. But, I don't want to take away your precious resources either!!!  

[CaicedoLuis]

Hehe ill release Map Patcher when PPF is complete.. which is about 1 day (i have a life)...

Yea i would consider having XML but like xorange said I dont wanna jump into XML just yet

[eXentric]

I've been busy on other things myself too. I've been looking at the Halo PC map format too. I'm hoping we can get the output files for Halo PC...

NEWay, just checkin in.

Talk to you l8r

eXe