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Message: 5685
Author: andrewbroad
Date: 07/03/2006
Subject: JSWED 2.3.0: Andrew's comments (Chapters 1 to 5)
In my last JSWED learning-cycle (Message 5010 and its predecessors),
I only got through Chapters 1 to 13 of jswed.pdf.
This message revisits Chapters 1 to 5 for JSWED v2.3.0, and all the
things related to these chapters that I've been storing up to say
since November 2005. It does not repeat the suggestions I already
made in those messages.
I have already installed JSWED v2.3.1 (which still gives jswed-
2.3.0.tar.gz BTW), but I don't expect that it would affect this
message, so I'm not going to repeat the effort I made with v2.3.0
today.
=================================
1 Changes since previous versions
=================================-------
1.1 Since 2.2.9, the last stable version
----------------------------------------
The larger window has the drawback that if I want to compare 3 games
side by side (with separate JSWED windows in the top-left, top-right
and bottom-left of my screen), I can't see the whole of the room in
the top-right at the same time as the other two.
It would be nice if JSWED could have a simple room-viewer/navigator
in a much smaller window, if not support visual room-comparison
(both intra-game and inter-game) explicitly, where each navigation-
control would change the rooms in all games together.
==================
3 Installing JSWED
==================----------
3.1 Installing under Windows
----------------------------
> Under Winsows NT/2000/XP, you need to add an environment variable,Some users will need more precise instructions:
> which is done using the System control panel. Set the new
> variable's name to SDL_VIDEODRIVER and its value to windib.
1. select Control Panel from the Start menu;
2. double-click on System;
3. click the Advanced tab;
4. click on the Environment Variables button;
5. under System variables, click New;
6. set Variable name to SDL_VIDEODRIVER;
7. set Variable value to windib;
8. click three OK buttons.
I've no idea whether this benefits me or not.
===============
4 Running JSWED
===============
Drag & drop is now my preferred way of opening files in JSWED, with
a shortcut to jswed.exe in each folder containing files I want to
edit.
To prevent important files from being edited with JSWED, I copy them
to C:\Program Files\JSWED2\ first - and, of course, I make regular
backups of works in progress (daily to floppy disk and to my Yahoo!
Mail account, and monthly to CD).
Making them read-only is another option: in Windows XP, right-click
the file, click Properties, click Read-only, then click OK.
-------------
4.1 Load file
-------------
When loading a JSW128 or JSW64 game where the game-engine is an
earlier hacklevel than the one supported by the current revision of
JSWED, it should ask the user whether (s)he wants to upgrade the
game-engine or not (if not, then JSWED should allow the user to
upgrade it via the Game screen, should (s)he wish to upgrade in the
future).
-------------
4.2 Save file
-------------
Saving as a new filename doesn't change the name of the file that is
saved when you press F2 - or the filepath that is displayed on the
main menu.
When saving a MM128 game, the scrolly gets corrupted.
When saving a MM128 game as a TAP file, is it really necessary to
save all those Spectrum-files on the TAP file (the same as a
JSW128/64 game), if all that's added over MM48 is 128K music?
-------------
4.3 Edit game
-------------
Here are some general comments that apply to Chapters 6, 9, 13 and
presumably the new Chapter 18.
When moving between the screens of JSWED, it should stay in the room
you were editing - for example, if I visit "Top Landing" on the
Rooms screen, then move to the Guards screen, I want to see "Top
Landing" without having to move to it from "The Bathroom" again.
I would like to see "Main" at the top of the list of screens (top-
left of the JSWED window), as well as being able to get back there
by right-clicking and selecting Exit.
And "Main" should be treated just like the other screens, with the
list of screens at the top-left rather than "Edit game" in the main
menu itself (with non-mouse users being able to move between the two
lists by pressing Tab - any good Windows application should offer
full functionality through the keyboard alone, for I know how
frustrating modern computing can be in circumstances where it's not
possible to use a mouse).
When viewing a room, JSWED should be able to show or hide the
following objects, giving the user a checkbox for each (all shown by
default; if all are hidden then JSWED just shows the elementary
cells):
+ conveyor (JSW48/128 only)
+ ramp (JSW48/128 only)
+ guardians
+ all items
+ uncollected items (when viewing a saved-position snapshot)
+ start-position (MM only)
+ portal (MM only)
+ hard-wired objects (Eugene, Kong Beast, solar, Maria, toilet)
+ teleporters
It would be desirable to see teleporters in /all/ screens with a
view of the room - not just the Tele. screen.
And in all these screens, I want to see room-numbers next to the
four arrows in the "Go to" panel.
In the Rooms screen, I want to see the cell-graphics in the Cells
panel for all game-engines - not just JSW64.
Sometimes when editing a room, you want to move a number of cells at
once (typically, but not necessarily, a rectangle of cells). It
would be nice if JSWED allowed you to select a number of cells and
move them all at once (similar to left-clicking a number of files in
Windows XP whilst holding Ctrl - you can then drag them all to a new
location).
And it would be great if you could select a cell-class by clicking
on a cell in the cellular layout (or in the case of a Custom-cell,
select its colour-attribute). There would need to be two modes for
editing the cellular layout: one for sampling a cell's cell-class
(perhaps right-click or press Enter?), and one for setting a cell's
cell-class (left-click or press space).
Likewise, when editing Screens, it would be invaluable to be able to
sample a character's colour-attribute.
The new WYSIWYG display of room-titles is all very nice - but JSW128
room-titles don't display at all! Also, the [61-63] room-titles in
the original JSW aren't WYSIWYG, i.e. JSWED doesn't faithfully
render ASCII codes outside the 32-127 range.
As with the cellular layout, there are times when WYSIWYG isn't
desirable - e.g. weird fonts like the one in _strangel_ or the
Russian translation of _JSW in Paris_, or if there are colour-
attributes which make the characters invisible.
So WYSIWYG should be checkboxable - I suggest one checkbox to make
both the cellular layout and the room-title WYSIWYG, or else to use
a standard font and cell-graphics like JSW CK (when playtesting
_strangel_, I occasionally had to resort to JSW CK or SPECSAISIE to
tell me what was going on in a room).
Bugs
----
Non-swinging ropes in unpatched JSW games (e.g. We Pretty, JSW:LOTR
and Party Willy) are displayed as swinging in JSWED!
Wraparound ramps and conveyors are truncated at the right edge of
the screen, and ghost-conveyors (conveyors which extend beyond the
bottom-right, creating a mirage in cell-row 8) aren't displayed
either.
The screenshot-utility (press F8) saves its files in C:\Documents
and Settings\Broad\ for some reason. It should at least confirm to
the user where it has saved its files. It would also be nice if it
could include - at the option of the user - room-titles and the rest
of the bottom third (for mapping-purposes I would want just the
playing-areas and the room-titles; for isolated screenshots the
whole screen).
JSWED (v2.2.* at least) sometimes goes into a mode where it doesn't
respond to keypresses properly (the mouse still works). This happens
sometimes when I've been using RealSpectrum for a while and then go
back to JSWED.
====================
5 The user interface
====================
No further comments on Chapter 5.
--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://www.geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://www.geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/
http://www.geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/willy/
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