Bliss / Cas-Stunts track editor

[Cas]

Hi, folks!  I had been off for a long time and recently visited the forum, found it still very active, so I decided if I wanted to come back, better not do it empty-handed!  Then, I started to work on a new track editor and here I'm bringing you the first beta version. I hope you like it. I'm still working on it, so please do tell me of any bug or general suggestion.

EDIT:
Current latest version: Bliss 2.6.1 2022-01-14
Download from site: https://www.raceforkicks.com/bliss
Or from NotABug repository: https://notabug.org/xlucas/bliss/releases (down as of today)
Supports GNU/Linux 64bit, Windows, FreeDOS and DOSBox
GNU/Linux 32bit is still compatible and you could compile from source (which is included) if you want the binary for it.
I'm unable to upload the ZIP file directly to the forum because it's larger than 1MB.

NOTE for GNU/Linux users: By now, I think most distros have switched from libtinfo.5 to libtinfo.6. The binaries are providing use the latter. If you're running an older distro, you may need to upgrade your libtinfo.

Please feel free to host a copy of Bliss in your sites, guys, so there are as many places to download it from as possible.

[Duplode]

Nice! The editor has some interesting features already. Before getting into them, a note on running the program for other folks willing to try it: the Windows executable is 64-bit, while the Linux one is 32-bit (I had to install the 32-bit libxpm to run it here). Also, the DOS executable needs an extender called CWSDPMI, which you can download from here (pick the first "binary distribution" link, then extract CWSDPMI.EXE into the program directory).

• The terrain brush is great! (For other testers: press T twice, then pick water or mountain and drag with the left button to raise/flood or the right one to lower/dry.) One extra feature might be a straight-roads-and-small-corners brush that worked in a similar way, picking the right orientation as you drag.
• The warnings about odd terrain-element combinations are a nice touch, but in the case of hill slopes painting the whole tile yellow does not work so well - you can't see what the terrain is, and it also some combinations work nearly perfectly, such as outer angled slopes on the inside of large corners. If possible, making the tile border yellow/red in such cases would work better.
• There is one feature request that needs to be made early on, because it is essential for any TB replacement: breaking down multi-tile elements into individual tiles, so that illusion tracks and advanced track continuation tricks become possible. Ideally it would be possible to insert multi-tile elements both in the normal way (as in the in-game editor) and tile-by-tile as in TB - perhaps there might be a keyboard shortcut to switch between the two modes.
• One issue I had with both the Linux executable and the Windows one (in Linux, through Wine) is that they use 100% of one CPU core.
• The DOS executable works under DOSBox. The only oddities I noticed there is that it takes a few seconds to start and show the welcome dialog, and that entries in the track file list get duplicated. (The latter effect also happens when running the WIndows .exe with Wine, but not with the Linux build, so I guess it is the environment's fault.)

[Cas]

   Thank you, Duplode!  You've done a lot of testing. You found some undocumented keys and bugs I hadn't noticed!
I compiled the Windows version for 64bit (I actually had my brother do it for me, since I use Linux), but I could compile it 32bit if necessary. The Linux version is 32bit because I'm currently using a 32bit Linux, but would like to upgrade and probably next versions will be 64bit.
    What Linux distro are you using?  Were you able to run the binaries without any dependencies expect for the 32bit lib? I'm interested in knowing more about this. The error about file name duplication, I had not noticed, because I did most of my tests under GNU/Linux, but now that I read it, I know exactly why it happens. I will have it fixed and upload the update. It's not hard to resolve. The editor can actually combine track elements already, but I compiled it without that option, because I hadn't added the switch yet and I preferred the default to be more like the original editor. Next version will include at least a key shortcut to switch editing mode. There is also an option for not showing the terrain warnings. It can be used for checking what's "under the yellow box". I'll also include that in the next upload.
    About the high CPU usage, I've noticed that in some of my programs and I really don't know why that happens. I think I need to include more idling time in it. I can see DOSBox takes some time to load the DOS version. I believe it is because I load the Targa graphics byte by byte, as the screen format is different from that of the graphics. I could make this work faster by changing the file format, but the file would be 25% larger and the loading time would only vary significantly under DOSBox. I'll consider it

[CTG]

well-done

[Cas]

Thank you, CTG!   I'm fixing the bugs and I'll try to publish the next beta tonight!

[Cas]

Updated! 
Some errors fixed, like file names no longer duplicate. Also, you're able to toggle terrain-track conflict generation and display. I tried changing the yellow box to something more transparent so the actual terrain element could be seen in spite of the warning, but it was very difficult to notice that the warning was there. By toggling warning display off and back on, now, you can easily check what's underneath the yellow box, though.

EDIT: Also downloadable here: https://mega.co.nz/#!jcBgEKQC!pF_4AdoJdoWwfbgxsk6wKMfBaqJnfnePuSM2d85KMLE

[Duplode]

Updated! 

Wow, that was quick!  The CTRL+D toggle solves the terrain conflict, and the debug mode helps a lot when playing with filler tiles. As for the CTRL+E combining mode, it works well for simple superpositions; however, since a left click will always insert all four tiles of an element, some complex combinations can't be done. For instance, among the relevant examples in this Wiki page I can do the broken cork l/r, but not the bridge chicane, which is an L-shaped mosaic of two corks u/d:

79  FF
7B  FD
FE  FD

(As for the symmetrical splits shown there, some orientations can be done, but not all of them. A south-to-north split with the fake path east of the real track runs into the same problem of needing an L pattern.)

    What Linux distro are you using?  Were you able to run the binaries without any dependencies expect for the 32bit lib? I'm interested in knowing more about this.

Arch Linux 64-bit; and yes, I only needed to install lib32-libxpm for it to work.

[Cas]

Ah!  I see what you mean!  Some combinations don't go from left to right and top down entirely. I think the best way for me to solve this is to include a way to manually enter the complements FD/FE/FF. They are always the same, regardless of the track element, so there is no need to actually copy each track element piece by piece, but only the main element and then modify it by changing the complements. It's a lot faster. Cas-Stunts will realise. For example, in your example, the red FD corresponds to the 79h and not to the 7Bh. Cas-Stunts is already able to tell that and will draw the corresponding section of the 79h 4x4 element. Only you can't enter it. I'll device a way to do it.

It's great that you can run the binary without problems. It means that if I later on install a 64bit distro, I will be able to compile 64bit and most people will run the program without dependencies. I really hate dependencies: they complicate program installation and if automated, they make the installation internet-dependent, so you can't just save a copy of the program in a CD/DVD/Flash drive and copy it to your computer whenever you want. Besides, dependencies bring license conflicts sometimes. I like to use only what is guaranteed to find on every system.

[Duplode]

I think the best way for me to solve this is to include a way to manually enter the complements FD/FE/FF. They are always the same, regardless of the track element, so there is no need to actually copy each track element piece by piece, but only the main element and then modify it by changing the complements. It's a lot faster.

Looks like a good solution. By the way, as you say things like bridge chicanes are already loaded correctly when in a pre-existing track, the only difficulty is in recreating them.

I really hate dependencies: they complicate program installation and if automated, they make the installation internet-dependent, so you can't just save a copy of the program in a CD/DVD/Flash drive and copy it to your computer whenever you want. Besides, dependencies bring license conflicts sometimes. I like to use only what is guaranteed to find on every system.

Agree 100%. Packaging Cairo and associated libraries with the Windows build of stunts-cartography was quite unpleasant. (And now it seems changes in libraries which depend on Cairo mean I will have to change the included DLLs when/if I release a new version  )

[Vector]

Can i be a beta tester? PLZ!

[Cas]

Sure!  Everybody can download it and try it
I've been making some additional changes to it, but it's still not ready for another update. 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.

[Shoegazing Leo]

An advantage what I see: I can edit tracks without the DOS Box. The system remembers the classic TB.

[zaqrack]

I am very excited to try out this new tool.

[Cas]

Well... first, I have to say that I'm very happy that the forum is back   I've been trying every few hours to see if it was working and today I had the good surprise!

You can all download the editor and try it freely, of course!
I've now added a couple of features to make it easy to create hybrid track elements. I need to add some touches before I upload this, though. I also want to make track editing even more comfortable and I have some ideas. 

[Cas]

I've fixed some bugs and added a couple of features, mostly concentrated in "illusion track" editing. Some additional features I'm working on are not ready to be published, so they are disabled in this distribution.
I still have to ask my brother to compile the source for Windows, so this zip does not contain the Windows executable. I'll upload it soon. Till then, you can test it with the DOS executable. Please tell me what you think about the new changes. Thank you, guys!