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Bliss / Cas-Stunts track editor

Started by Cas, March 08, 2015, 01:16:12 AM

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Duplode

Just had a quick look at the new features. The arrows in debug mode are a very intuitive way to display fillers. Overall the workflow for creating illusion combos is quite efficient - position the main tiles first, then use X/Y/Z to fix any wrong fillers, using the debug mode if you get confused. A minor addition that occurred to me would be an indicator of whether the CTRL+E combining mode is activated.

Quote from: Cas on March 10, 2015, 05:23:40 AM
If anybody can give me a hint, for example, of how I could reduce the CPU usage, I'd appreciate it. I'm not really doing anything unusual. It's just a normal main loop.

I have no FreeBasic experience, but as you implied earlier on it does feel like a main loop looping too fast, with more idling time needed. I wonder if you have margin to increase it without affecting GUI responsiveness.

Cas

And.... upgrade!
It took me a few days this time and it may seem that I didn't do much, but I'm trying to get the editor out of the beta status, which soon will happen, so I'm concentrating on bug correction and optimisation.
Among other things, I added an indicator for manual editing, as you suggested, Duplode. What took me most of the time was the directory listing system, which has been highly improved. There could still be bugs there, I'd appreciate if you guys tested the program and used it intensively.
I need confirmation from users of both Windows and Linux distros other than Ubuntu that the shortcuts SHIFT+F1 and SHIFT+F2 work on your computer and whether the alternatives F11 and F12 also work. In Ubuntu, F11 and F12 are currently not working. I can fix that, but I would like to first know if this is an Ubuntu problem only.
Also, please take a look at the new graphics. Currently, many elements are still just like the original Stunts graphics, but many others have been enhanced to look better.

Please spread the word. I'm sure Cas-Stunts is already at a level as to replace all other editors available. If any of you still prefer to use another editor for any particular reason, please let me know, so I can continue to better the program and make it the number one choice for every stunter. Thank you!
Earth is my country. Science is my religion.

Duplode

Quote from: Cas on March 21, 2015, 04:20:30 AM
Among other things, I added an indicator for manual editing, as you suggested, Duplode.

Thanks!

Quote from: Cas on March 21, 2015, 04:20:30 AM
What took me most of the time was the directory listing system, which has been highly improved.

Directory browsing is indeed an important improvement. Speaking of that, two nice things to have (for people like me with messy directories with loads of tracks  :)) there would be PageUp/PageDown support and moving through (or filtering) the track list as you type the file name.

Quote from: Cas on March 21, 2015, 04:20:30 AM
I need confirmation from users of both Windows and Linux distros other than Ubuntu that the shortcuts SHIFT+F1 and SHIFT+F2 work on your computer and whether the alternatives F11 and F12 also work. In Ubuntu, F11 and F12 are currently not working.

Same thing here in Arch - SHIFT+F1 and SHIFT+F2 work, F11 and F12 don't.

Quote from: Cas on March 21, 2015, 04:20:30 AM
If any of you still prefer to use another editor for any particular reason, please let me know, so I can continue to better the program and make it the number one choice for every stunter.

At this point, I believe the main Track Blaster feature to be added would be the selection-and-clipboard commands (cut-copy-paste, mirror and fill). That might be a good opportunity - those commands are very unintuitive in TB, and they would probably feel a lot more natural in a more mouse-driven interface.

Cas

That's good!  Thank you!

PgUp and PgDn are easy to implement. I could also do filtering, but I have a practical problem there: suppose you enter a text. As you type, the list should be changed. Now, if you typed a complete file name, only that file should be shown below. Well, you currently can click on files in the file list and the name will populate in the entry box and you can continue to scroll and click on other file names, but if I do the automated filtering, this will no longer be possible, since clicking on one file name will take that to the entry box, thus filtering and leaving only that file in the list. I have to find an alternative, another idea, so that I can do the filtering without that interfering with the current working of the list.

I'll probably also enable F11 and F12 for GNU/Linux, even though they're not necessary, since SHIFT+F1 and SHIFT+F2 work well and you also have "T".

A clipboard would be a major addition to the editor, but I agree that it's a very important one. In order to get that done, I realised I had to change the way graphics are being handled. Because I saw this was probably going to also solve the problem with the slow start-up in DOS, I've already made that graphic system change. The loading speed in DOS has only increased a little, which makes me think the actual problem has to do with DPMI initialisation when I try to allocate memory for the first time, but I'm not sure. Anyway, the change now allows for a "third layer", which I will use for the clipboard selection system. It will also make it possible to improve the graphic quality. This is going to take some time.

I think the first thing I will do is get rid of the bugs and get the first non-beta release. Then, I will be able to continue with the new features.
Earth is my country. Science is my religion.

Duplode

Quote from: Cas on March 22, 2015, 07:52:31 AM
PgUp and PgDn are easy to implement. I could also do filtering, but I have a practical problem there: suppose you enter a text. As you type, the list should be changed. Now, if you typed a complete file name, only that file should be shown below. Well, you currently can click on files in the file list and the name will populate in the entry box and you can continue to scroll and click on other file names, but if I do the automated filtering, this will no longer be possible, since clicking on one file name will take that to the entry box, thus filtering and leaving only that file in the list. I have to find an alternative, another idea, so that I can do the filtering without that interfering with the current working of the list.

An alternative would be just moving through the list as you type, selecting the closest match to the prefix you typed. It would work just as well (and arguably even better, as you can keep moving freely through the list).

Quote from: Cas on March 22, 2015, 07:52:31 AM
I think the first thing I will do is get rid of the bugs and get the first non-beta release. Then, I will be able to continue with the new features.

A sensible plan.

Cas

I just updated to a 64bit GNU/LInux, so next update will have a 64bit ELF executable file :)
I didn't feel ready to try Arch Linux yet, though. But it looks like I'll eventually get to that. It's the kind of OS I'd like to try :P
Earth is my country. Science is my religion.

Duplode

#21
Quote from: Cas on March 26, 2015, 04:44:08 AM
I didn't feel ready to try Arch Linux yet, though. But it looks like I'll eventually get to that. It's the kind of OS I'd like to try :P

I switched to Arch in early 2013, after nearly five years using Fedora in my home desktop. The accumulation of small annoyances over those years made me get over the inertia (the most immediate cause was that I had gotten sick of Fedora's crazy distro release upgrades). The initial effort with Arch was significant, but it has paid itself many times since. Transparency rules!

zaqrack

I used Arch for several years in the late 00s. I switched from Gentoo - that was overkill. I liked Arch, but have not used Linux on a daily basis since 2010 or so. :(

Cas

Oh, well, I had DOS only in my computer until internet became very important. Then I figured how to make partitions and I installed Windows 95 (then 98) alongside DOS. At that time, I used DOS for everything except to get to the Internet. Later, many programs, like CD burners and MP3 encoders, came for Windows almost exclusively, so I started to use Windows more, but I didn't like it. In about 2006, I first tried a Linux, a very old Ubuntu, on my computer, but I was just testing it and continued to use DOS and Windows. Later, I tried an old Red Hat and then returned to Ubuntu. Once I was able to get online with Ubuntu, I got rid of Windows and haven't used it since. Only at the office where I worked. Say last time I used Windows on my PC was about 2008, to edit WarCraft II maps :P

I've tried Fedora and OpenSUSE, but I always end up going back to Ubuntu. There's something I don't like about it, though: it's bloated and too commercial. It is known to send you dash search information to third parties unless you opt-out. That's why I want to switch, but I want to switch to a distro where I have true control. Until then, I'll stay with Ubuntu. I have the feeling Arch might be the distro I'm looking for, but I'm certain I need to get prepared :D
Earth is my country. Science is my religion.

Cas

#24
Well, I think I've finally got it ready for the first non-beta version. This is Cas-Stunts 2.1 and it's complete. Of course, there are still many things I want to add, but for this version, it's ready. Only thing is I still haven't been able to build it for Windows, but you can try the other two. What took most of my time was the graphics. I wanted to have a complete new graphics set. Now I will be able to concentrate in functionality. I'll be uploading the Windows executable soon, hopefully tomorrow.
I built a simple website for the editor. You can check it and download it there. Tell me what you think:

http://castunts.lixter.com/index.html 8)

EDIT: It's updated now. The Windows executable is available too!
Earth is my country. Science is my religion.

zaqrack

#25
the terrain brush is beautiful. Where were you in the past 15 years? You could have saved around a hundred hours of my life :)

Overall the tool is very pleasant and easy to use. I love how easy it is to delete unwanted track elements.
However, I am really a keyboard guy and depending almost entirely on the mouse is quite awkward. Especially in context of Stunts. I probably only need some time to adapt though:)
I know it is tough to deal with pixels but some upscaling would be nice. Elements are tiny even at my 1600x900 resolution. I assume I could use the dos executable and the DosBox scaler though...



Cas

Thank you, Zak!

Yeah, I've already thought about the size. I wanted to make it bigger, but I started with graphics borrowed from the built-in editor, which are 16x16 and slowly made my own. I'm planning to make a whole new environment, somewhat smaller than 1024x768 with bigger graphics, but that's going to take quite some time. What I could do as a temporary fix is a 2x zoom of the whole thing, but it'd go 1280x960. Uhm... I think I should better just make a whole new bigger graphics set.
What will come very soon is a lot more keyboard, because I do have that crave for keyboard shortcuts too. There are also some suggestions by Duplode I'm wanting to implement. The graphics kept me busy for a long time.
Earth is my country. Science is my religion.

Shoegazing Leo

Very good and easy to use. I can edit track without dosbox, then I can test when edit.

Cas

Thank you, Leo!

Yes, that's a comfortable side of it!  I'm now working on bigger graphics. It will take some time, but it'll be worth it :)
Earth is my country. Science is my religion.

Cas

#29
Guys, it took me some time, but a new version of Cas-Stunts track editor is ready with bigger graphics. I'm very slow at drawing!  You can download the new Cas-Stunts at http://castunts.lixter.com.

The graphics still need a couple of touches and there's some empty space in the panel I want to organise. Many features are in the process of being implemented and some new bugs may be present because I had to modify the code significantly for the new graphics to work. Please do let me know of any issue or suggestion. DOSBox support has been dropped for now, as it seems DOSBox does not recognise 1024x768 pixel resolution. I will try to find a solution for that, although other things have a higher priority in the project. If you find a way to make the program run under DOSBox without modifications, please tell me.

Duplode: PgUp/PgDn and file-searching as you type have been implemented too!
Earth is my country. Science is my religion.