Need testers for editor

Most of you know I've been working hard on a tile editor for 2D games. I'm going to need testers very soon for this.

Last call for testers resulted in a hard disk crash which killed the source. Now I have backups so no worries.

Here is a screenshot of the program.

If you decide you would like to test this application please let me know. Source code will not be provided and requests for source code will be denied.

Setup programs will consist of Setup.exe and TileEditor.msi. Older tile sets will be provided in the install for testing purposes.

Application should be ready for complete testing by the end of the month.

I'm very interested Bubba. It will be a pleasure to help. But it will also be to my advantage since I'm very interested on 2D game development.

Who knows, maybe I come to like it so much, I'll use it for my own projects... in a not so distant future, I hope. ;)

You already know I'll test it :)




... Don't you?

I'd be interested in testing it. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bubba

Source code will not be provided and requests for source code will be denied.

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Awww, but I wanted to take advantage of your months of slaving over a hot keyboard in seconds! :(

[weed]
You'll release the source when it's finished though, right? Otherwise it's illegal cos everything should be open source. Youuuu'll go to jail11! :mad:
[/weed]

I'll test the OSX port ;)

Do we at least get to know the file format for the maps? :)

And yeah I'll give testing a go.

A port to the PSP and DS would be interesting too. :)

I'll skip the beta testing, but I look forward to the initial release version.

I'll help you with some beta testing Bubba. My email address is <<snipped>>

And you know ill help you in the eventual bugresearch for the causes lol

I'll help you keep you earnings safe when you distribute this for a profit. :)

i would be interested in helping test if i may..

I would like to test your wonderfull looking editor. congrats for getting this far. :)

The editor should be ready for testing by the end of the week. I have to do the property sheet serialization and creation code (on load the sheet is created along with the property pages). The goal is that the desktop and project will be 'just as it was' when you saved it.

I'm having problems with the property sheet creation code during loading. When fixed I will begin releasing the exe to those who have expressed interest in testing the program.

Yayage.

Quote:

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I'll test the OSX port

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Same here :D

Wow thats a good looking app Bubba, count me in for testing if you need some help. Do you want full on "Come at it with everything" or just "use this in a normal way and don't place it on the rack" sort of test?

Send me a pm if you want me to test.

Good looking because you don't know about all the obvious bugs I must fix prior to release. ;)

Seriously, thanks though. I've put a lot of thought into this redesign and yet no matter what I do, MFC and Win32 code ends up looking like a giant mess. Win32 is just not suited for object oriented programming. We don't need .NET and we don't need more frameworks. We need an operating system that is truly object oriented in nature.

Hopefully Vista will be just that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bubba

Hopefully Vista will be just that.

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ewwwwww

Ill test,as long as it doesnt crash my computer...
and i really dont care about the source because i would go crazy over understanding like the first line haha

It will most likely crash and/or throw exceptions. Since XP runs applications inside of a 'fence' so to speak, it should not affect anything.

But 'testing' in it's very nature means reporting bugs and those bugs may crash your system.

Kind of a misnomer there don't you think?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bubba

Hopefully Vista will be just that.

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I was under the impression Microsoft wanted developers to use .NET for Vista application programming. :p

you said crashed the source did that mean you had to reprogram it from scratch? whoa thats rough

This version has been re-programmed from scratch. In order to correctly port from VC6 to 2005 I had to make significant changes to the source code.

Bubba I am assumming this is the one you wrote in MFC. May I ask why you didn't chose C#? It is pretty nifty. I don't know the full capabilies of it but I think it could handle things of this nature

I didn't choose C# because I don't have time to learn it right now. I'll probably buy some books on it soon, but for this project I really need to get the editor to the map makers.

I'm quite anxious to get the maps up and running. So far we have all the pieces of the engine nearly complete. All that's left to do is create the maps based on paper designs, write some test level scripts, select the sound fx and music, and let the thing run its course.
Very interested to see how the script interacts with the engine. I know how it's supposed to work, but 'supposed' to and 'will' may be two different things.

Lots of work has gone into both the engine and the editor with the primary focus having been on correct and efficient resource management as well as a highly optimized render loop, which isn't the easiest thing to do for 2D in a 3D API.

Switching to C# mid-course would only cause further delays with no added benefit from the start. There are 3 fan games planned for this series so perhaps I will use C# for those editors. However, I will probably just add functionality to the C++/MFC editor.

Still having problems with the doggone tilesheet. Problem is that a tile sheet will not display if no pages have been added. But after you have 1 page and then call SetActivePage(), it displays itself. No biggie until I realize my tile renderer window for the tile page needs to use GetClientRect() to figure out it's dimensions. Well GetClientRect() will fail if m_hWnd is not a valid handle and if the property sheet is not displaying, it will throw and exception. I've gotten around it but now the tile sheet disappears which isn't cool. Last time I had this working but in a different design. Not sure what to do as of yet.

To give you an idea of the complexity here I'll show you the code for OnFileImportBMP() which is called when the user selects File->Import->BMP. This is the method you use to import new bitmaps into the editor. The editor will then extract tiles of a pre-set tile height and width (in editor options) from the bitmap. Once this is done, the next time the project is loaded, they will appear w/o having to import the bitmap.

Code:

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void CMainFrame::OnImportBmp()
{
  //Common file dialog
  CFileDialog *dlg=new CFileDialog(true,
                                  L"*.bmp",
                                  NULL,
                                  OFN_FILEMUSTEXIST,
                                  L"Windows bitmaps (*.bmp)|*.bmp|");

  INT_PTR result=dlg->DoModal();
  if (result==IDOK)
  {
    //Get pointer to active document
    CTileEditorDoc *pDoc=(CTileEditorDoc *)GetActiveDocument();

    //Get current number of tiles
    DWORD dwNumTiles=m_pDoc->m_pTileMgr->GetVecSize();
   
    //Debug message box
    AfxMessageBox(L"Adding tiles");
    //Add tiles from image and return bitmap dimensions in size
    CSize size=pDoc->m_pTileMgr->AddFromImage(dlg->GetPathName(),m_pView);

    //Set some local vars for later use
    int iTileH=m_pDoc->m_pTileMgr->GetHeight();
    int iTileW=m_pDoc->m_pTileMgr->GetWidth();     
     
   
    //If tile sheet does not exist, we must use the following code
    //otherwise we must use a different method   
    if (!m_pTileSheet)
    {
      //Construct tile sheet object
      m_pTileSheet=new CTileSheet(L"Tile palette",this);
     
      //Create new map manager for tile sheet and pass on doc tile mgr
     
      m_pTileSheet->Init(m_pDoc->m_pTileMgr);

      //Add 1 map to the map manager
      //Size is computed from return values from AddFromImage()
      m_pTileSheet->m_pMapMgr->Add(size.cx/iTileW,
                                  size.cy/iTileH);
     
      //Fill map with values from 0 to dwNumTiles
      m_pTileSheet->m_pMapMgr->FillValues(0,dwNumTiles);
         
      //Create tile page
      CTilePalettePg *pg=new CTilePalettePg;
      pg->Construct(IDD_TILEPALETTEPG);
     
      //Add page to tile sheet and to vector for later cleanup
      m_pTileSheet->AddPage(pg);
      m_pTileSheet->AddPageToVec(pg);
     
      //Debug message
      AfxMessageBox(L"Creating tile sheet");

      //Create tile sheet as layered tool window
      m_pTileSheet->Create(this,-1,WS_EX_LAYERED | WS_EX_TOOLWINDOW | WS_SYSMENU);
     
      //Set active page -> if property sheet is not visible at this time,
      //this will make it visible
      AfxMessageBox(L"Setting active page");
      m_pTileSheet->SetActivePage(0);
           
   
      //First, remove CLOSE from system menu
      CMenu *pMenu=m_pTileSheet->GetSystemMenu(FALSE);
      pMenu->EnableMenuItem(SC_CLOSE,MF_BYCOMMAND | MF_GRAYED);
      pMenu->RemoveMenu(SC_CLOSE,MF_BYCOMMAND);
                 
      //Since window is now visible, client rects are valid
      //So init the renderer for the new tile page
      pg->Init(m_pTileSheet,0);
      pg->Invalidate();
     
      //Since the tile sheet is valid, now set it's alpha
      m_pTileSheet->SetLayeredWindowAttributes(0,220,LWA_ALPHA);   
     
      //Redraw entire view beneath tile sheet
      m_pView->Invalidate();
           
    }
    else
    {

      //Add 1 map to map manager
      m_pTileSheet->m_pMapMgr->Add(size.cx/iTileW,
                                  size.cy/iTileH);
      //Fill map with correct values
      m_pTileSheet->m_pMapMgr->FillValues(m_pTileSheet->m_pMapMgr->GetVecSize()-1,
                              dwNumTiles);
         
      //Create tile page
      CTilePalettePg *pg=new CTilePalettePg;
      pg->Construct(IDD_TILEPALETTEPG);
     
      //Add page to tile sheet and select it to view it
      m_pTileSheet->AddPage(pg);
      m_pTileSheet->AddPageToVec(pg);
      m_pTileSheet->SetActivePage(m_pTileSheet->GetPageCount()-1);
     
      //Since window is now visible, client rects are valid
      //So init the renderer for the new tile page
      pg->Init(m_pTileSheet,m_pTileSheet->m_pMapMgr->GetVecSize()-1);
     
    }
   
  //Assign filename as title of our tab in tab control
  CTabCtrl *pTab=m_pTileSheet->GetTabControl();
    TCITEM item;
    item.mask=TCIF_TEXT;
    CString strTitle=dlg->GetFileTitle();
    int    sizeOfString = (strTitle.GetLength() + 1);
    LPTSTR  lpsz = new TCHAR[ sizeOfString ];
    _tcscpy_s(lpsz, sizeOfString, strTitle);
    item.pszText=lpsz;
    pTab->SetItem(m_pTileSheet->GetPageCount()-1,&item);
    delete [] lpsz;
   
    //Redraw entire view
    m_pView->Invalidate(); 

    //Set focus back to the view away from the tilesheet
    m_pView->m_pTileRdr->SetFocus();
 
   
    //Update list
    //This is a hack for right now since docking window system is not fully functional
    //Dock window 0 is the only dock window for this app
    //Dock dialog #1 inside of dock window #0 is always tile list
    //Update it's list control to reflect new bitmaps added
 
    //Get pointer to tile list dialog object
    CTileListDlg *pTileListDlg=(CTileListDlg *)m_pToolsDlg->m_ptabMyTabCtrl->GetPage(1);
   
    //Update it's list to reflect all tiles loaded in memory
    pTileListDlg->UpdateList(dwNumTiles,m_pDoc->m_pTileMgr->GetNumTiles());
 
   
  }

  //Delete the common dialog object
  delete dlg;
 
 
}

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The reason for the complexity is that the document is the sole owner of the tiles and of the tile maps. However, the maps being used to display the tile pages in the tile sheet are owned by the tile sheet object. Each map layer represents one tile page. This way I can use the same map class as the main tile map, and yet gain different functionality.

CTileEditorDoc
- CTileMgr
- CMapMgr

CTileSheet
- CTileMgr (pointer to CTileEditorDoc::CTileMgr)
- CMapMgr (this object is not CTileEditorDoc::CMapMgr)
- std::vector<CTilePalettePg *> m_vTilePages - vector of pages that have been added to the tile sheet

CTileMgr is a CGDITileMgr object which manages a collection of CGDITile objects.

CMapMgr is a CMapMgr2D object which manages a collection of CMap2D objects.

ya sooo when do we get to try it?

"It's done, when it's done" - JC

Somehow feels appropriate here.

i thought it was done?it just needed testers

No, it's nearing completion. I'm not hyping it or anything nor promising anything spectacular - just functionality. It will be done when the loading and saving sections work correctly. Not before.

It's just simple MFC with simple tile editor functionality, nothing else.

how long have you been working on this project?and would i need to know every single solitary function of c++ to build it? ive been wanting to know those questions//

Build it? I'm pretty sure he's not giving us source code...

Posted by bubba with bold letters in the first pos:

Quote:

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Source code will not be provided and requests for source code will be denied.

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im not asking for the source im asking how long it took to build... :p

30 seconds? 60 seconds maybe. Or perhaps 17.6

Why's it important anyway?

Hehe i think it was faster than that.

On a more serious note though....you need to mark your words here because when you say build this to me your refer to the process of compiling and linking.

What you probably wanted to know was "how long did it take to code", in which case i would say that it has taken bubba roughly a year give or take a few months. This includes at least 1 complete rewrite and alot of testing and changing.

Tilesheet issue has been solved and they now load correctly. I added a toolbar as well as some custom buttons to it for easier view layer access and control.

All I have to do now is take out all the debug dialogs and it will be ready to destroy....er....um....test.

Take out the debug dialogs? Why not leave them in? Make it easier for you to track the bugs down wouldn't it? :p

Ok I'll be needing email addresses of those who are interested in testing.

The docking window system has been changed to use CCustomDialogBar which is derived from CDialogBar. This allows me to gain MFC docking functionality w/o re-inventing the wheel. The idea came from CodeGuru and several other sources on the net.

For testing purposes, I will need to establish guidelines for reporting bugs.

Guidelines will be:

Bug report

• Cprog nickname
• Email address (for replies)
• Date tested
• Time tested
• Operating system
• Machine specifics (specs, RAM, etc)
• Bug report text

I'm setting up a database and spreadsheet for all bug reports. Please include as much information as possible in the bug report text. I need to know important information like the following:

• Number of programs running?
• Number of systray programs running?
• Error message, if any, that was displayed?
• Was it an MFC assertion or some other type of error?
• What were you trying to do in the program when the error occurred?
• Can you repeat this error easily?
• How often does this error occur in any given program session? (every time, sometimes, infrequently, etc)
• If this was not a program killing error, please describe in great detail what it was that you feel was incorrect (IE: Graphical corruption in tile selection screen on left border of window...., etc, etc)

Also I'm open to any realistic suggestions you may have on ways to improve the editor and/or it's interface. Realistic means that it would not require a complete re-write of the underlying code to implement. So suggestions like adding a 3D engine to it would not be realistic.

The setup program I will be sending to testers is simply Setup.exe accompanied by Setup.msi which contains the program data along with test bitmaps. The non-debug version of the VC80 libraries are included and the setup program may install the .NET 2.0 framework if you do not have it on your system.

I check my system daily for viruses and spyware using AdAware, Spybot S&D and AVG free, but as always I would recommend scanning any attachments prior to running them. Please let me know if you encounter any problems so I can take the appropriate action on my own system. I'm fairly confident my system is lean, clean, and mean.

I would be happy to test it. Email is <<snipped (AGAIN!)>>

I'm asking the mods to close this thread so that people do not post their email addys here.
PM me for more info.

Thank you.

Closed by request.