StOrM3

-- Listen Up -- After further digging, I was able to save the Beta 1.3 Version created by: icuurd12b42 who appears to be a Global Moderator on the GM forums... So chances are much better talking with him about this. Also, following his instructions, I was able to import his project and then export the scripts into Game Maker Studio format readable. Next step is to make some mods he says such as the scml filename will have to be hardcoded for each project, as GM Studio has had the file selection form stuff ripped out, but they have put the non-pausing form functions in so I may be able to just switch it over to that, but I don't think this will be necessary, since each person, and each project will know what scml files and stuff will need to be loaded in.. Here is how the Author: icuurd12b42 explains it: In the controller object: // This function is not supported by GM Studio ATM. Hard code the path and filename. var fname; fname = get_open_filename("Spriter Files (*.scml)|*.scml",""); if(fname !="") SpriterLoadProject(fname); else game_end(); // End This Function from Controller Object. BTW: I will NOT take Credit for his hard work, icuurd12b42 is the original Author, I'm Merely Modifying his Code to Update the scml Format, and maybe add some extra stuff like hotspots and / or bones if possible. So as he says Just Hard code the path and filename, and this shouldn't be a problem. Although, icuurd12b42 did stop with pre-beta R3, so I will have to modify the internal scripts to load the new / and hopefully stable file format, at least stable enough to make it work without too many changes afterwards... I hope others will benefit from this bit of hacking, and file mods to make a setup at least useable for GM Studio! Finally, I had to do it myself, since my last post as Indecom had me P.O.'d after me seeing his game was done and he was trying to upload a Win 8 version of it to the M$haft store, this took the cake for me, as I knew he had to have his version of GM Studio Spriter Setup done.. Anyways, give me a few days to play around with it, and run some tests, maybe if Lucid or whoever is coding on spriter currently, can shoot me some info as to what I may have to modify and / or change to update the file format loaders.. Thanks 4 Listening, Ciao' 4 Now, StOrM3

Indecom dropped out of the game maker studio api business.. I've tried to contact him and nudge him a few times on the GM forums, and he always just tells me he is busy with his current game, and that the api is in disarray and not in a useable status, which means, I've figured it out, I've got it, and noone else is going to use it... I've even asked him to ship me what he has, so I can pick it up and run with it, and he won't... He keeps saying when I'm done with what I'm working on I'll finish it sometime, I have to have it done for my current game, but evidentally he doesn't care about the rest of the GM Studio population that are already spriter pro owners.. Oh well, Se La Vi !! Just thought I would post an update since he doesn't anymore.. Sorry to report all this, I really wanted to use Spriter for some projects.. Ciao' Mano's StOrM3

Yes we need a Game Maker Studio Plugin that works!

OK, I finally got everything together, and the DOCS have been generated, although I'm not sure why Doxygen didn't go ahead and finish the *.CHM help file generation from the html files, I set all those options up inside the Doxyfile, and it said it was launching the hhc.exe file, and it generates the hhk, hhc, index files, and I have graphviz setup, and it did all those, and I now have a fully browsable copy of the help and sourcecode references, I changed the options to even include the non documented sourcecode, full classes and functions, etc.. Kind of nice setup once it is done.. maybe it generated the *.chm file I just don't know where it put it at.. hmmm... Anyways, I included the full tree options etc.. Now, when I get time to sift through things, I'll get to hammering down on the AGK revisions.. Just now though, I am hammering home some changes to my latest game, adding the spike objects, and scripts, and laying out the rest of the levels, objects needed.. Thanks for the patience, it's not that I'm an C++ newbie by any stretch of the words, it's just that it's been a while since I have gotten neck deep into a serious project.. Last project I wrote was the Unit Editor for Total Annihilation that I reverse engineered the *.3do file format, and made a DXF->3do file format convertor, then made it into a full blown editor, which cavedog informed me was better than what they used internally.. ;') either that or snesKEY, not sure which was the last project... Yes, I'm that StOrM3 ;') Ciao' 4 now, Ken

Alrighty, Hey, I have really gave it a go, trying to port the C++ api to AGK, but got hung up ALL DAY trying to get the documentation to generate using Doxygen for windows version 1.8.3.1-setup.exe which I got setup, which installs a GUI, then I also installed Graphviz for windows also for DOT and class graphical inheritance displaying, as well as ensuring both tools are added to the path variables, I've tried to generate the documentation using first the GUI, loading the doxyfile first, then changing options as needed, and tried generating this way, it was kind of a NOGO, it made some docs, but when opened they were un-readable, with html tags throughout and java stuff... So then, I opened a command prompt and tried manually running doxygen doxyfile and got a slew of warnings, unknown tags, unable to open some files, etc.. etc... Long story short, I really am trying to make this work here guys, but am hitting brick walls at every turn, I finally got the files I need to start with, and only the files I need, but I was wanting to get a set of docs to start off with, so I can understand the class relationships, references, inheritance, and what was on your mind when you did things, but even this seems to be more than a simple task... ??!!?? For someone that wants some help porting this to all kinds of platforms, we sure are making it hard to understand, and even harder just to obtain the main starting files, and simple set of source generated docs of the classes, and even better the graphical visualization of the class relationships and possibly a UML diagram or two.. Umm, my mind is fried, it has been a long day, I bet it is something simple like the doxyfile downloaded being saved improperly from google chrome in some java / html format instead of a simple human readable text file.. I just hope the other sourcefiles are not going to suffer from this problem as well, I simply browsed the directory since I do NOT want to setup a subversion app just to grab a copy of the source files needed to make a port of it for AGK, so I browsed the directory, and right clicked and selected save link as and left filenames as they were, and tried to re-create the folder structures on my harddrive under folder source with main 2 files: SCMLpp.cpp & .h inside source folder, then libraries folder under source folder and renderers also under source folder, inside libraries folder I saved the xml files listed as needed, inside renderers folder I basically grabbed all the other ported renderers such as SCML_cocos2dx.h &.cpp and SCML_SDL_gpu.cpp &.h I plan to use SDL version as the example to mimic for AGK versions, also have the *_main.cpp files for various renderers also, I'm hoping these are all the files I require, as well as I hope they are in a usable format, and not screwed up like the doxyfile was when saved under google chrome.... I'm sorry to go off, but man... My brain is screaming right now WTF!!!??!!! I'm just trying to help out some others.. I mean, if I really need to use Spriter, I can just use Construct 2 for those projects.. but it would be nice to use it under AGK as well.. anyways man, I'll report back sometime in a few days, after I get a handle on this sourcecode, hopfully getting the docs to generate something useful to human beings ;').. A PDF file or HTML zipped folder of the correctly generated docs would be awesome! Just a thought.. Anyways, just thought I'd let you guys know, because I'm sure there are alot of other people experiencing issues very similar to mine, and may be holding some others back from creating other ports as well.. Ciao' Mano' Again, thanks for listening and giving me a sounding board to blow off some steam.. Ahh, to have my linux box back on the network to avoid stuff like this.. StOrM3 aka Ken

I too think that Spriter should incorporate Box2D and make use of it in the API, the reason being is... Well kind of selfish but, take this factor into consideration: Every single popular Game Maker type of API / App what have you, makes use of Box2D either the Web Version or the de-facto standard, for examples: GM:Studio uses Box2D, Construct 2 - Box2D Web, App Game Kit or AGK for Short from The Game Creators uses Box2D, Game Salad, and the list goes on and on.. I know that this does not take into account the other engines which don't, but the majority of them do, and the ones that don't, are more difficult by nature anyways, and as such the people who make use of those engines, are already more than familiar with how to program api adaptations themselves, so really there is no reason to take those into account when creating an all around generic API for spriter to interface with the more popular game engines / game creators if you will. But merely take into account that users could inherit from classes and use function overriding to replace functions and classes which make use of Box2D for movement and collision, such as for Revolute Joints & Prismatic Joints w/ Motors & Physics fixtures aka Physics Shapes which contain the objects, which will NOT support Convex shape data at least yet, so were talking Boxes & Circles, and custom shape data made up of multiple points and / or multiple boxes or circles. Basically all we need is a way when creating our animations & characters is a way to specify the physics shape of either the whole character or a box / circle for each underlying part of the character / vehicle / building / whatever, which could be supported by adding a checkbox to the project for either whole object physics shape or body part individual physics shapes, and based on what the user checks or selects during the new project creation process, will then allow them to either go about creating the whole character then define the physics shape by either laying out the physics shape points 1 by 1, in a clockwise order, until they right click and select finish physics shape, or allow them to draw a circle / or box type shape encompassing the entire shape if selected up front during new project create wizard, or if each body part is to contain it's own physics shape also selected at the beginning of the new project creation wizard, in which case you will allow the user to add each part to the project by selecting it from the project sprite folder, and once the body part has been added to the list, and the player adds it visually on the workspace correctly oriented based on joint / bone location, then we will allow them to either draw a custom physics shape around the part by adding custom points -> right clicking to select finish physics shape and / or allow them to draw a box / circle around the body part just added, and finished by right clicking and selecting finish physics shape to let spriter know that they are done defining the physics shape for this part of the project / object / character whatever... Then when the project is exported to *.png files or whatever, we can also save the *.scml file which merely contains either the object as a whole object with the physics shape encompassing it, which will be specified right at the top of the scml file either object type: whole or object type: seperate in which case the data following this field will either specify the whole objects location data, physics shape data, and movement info such as joint info, motor info for part moving, or revolute joint movement specifying angles, translations and / or forces / impulses and sprite filenames necessary to recreate the object from, and which joints / angles / impulses / forces apply to this sprite portion of the object, now if it is object type: seperate then you will specify each sprite filename, type of joint / motor / speed / angle / impulse / force applied to this sprite / portion of the object also including the physics shape data for this sprite portion of the object, and will continue the format as such till you reach the end of the object definition all parts all physics shape data / joints / bones / impulses / forces / motors / angles and speed of each part, which will allow virtually all the main game creators / engines / tools / api's etc.. to easily load and translate the sprites & *.scml data easily into box2D physics enabled sprite objects.. On the other hand the other engines that don't use box2D should still benefit from having this data, and can most likely load the generic api done in C++ and convert to their physics engine by simply inheriting the classes, function overloading, operator overloading, maybe using templates would be an idea, this way generic drawing / rotation / other forces type member functions of the classes could have their data types specified by the user of the api by importing the template and filling in the different templated types with those from their physics library and or game engine sprite types, make use of their object references for loading, rotation, forces, collision checking, etc.. Templates might be the way to go, or a generic set of base classes from which we can derive our own types and override the base member virtual functions with our own, which the compiler can sort out on it's own as long as we change the parameter type information, or if your feeling extra energetic you could make an all encompassing c++ api, which simply lets the users select their engine by compiler pre-processor directives.. #ifdef AGK etc.. etc.. Sorry for running on so long, but I am just really wanting to get Spriter working for all of my engines, especially App Game Kit since it currently has to level / physics editor that is up to date and no way to create complete objects ouf of individual sprites w/ physics shapes and properties, PEP author is kind of busy with a game he is working on, thus the features are slow coming, and has some errors preventing us from daily use, also it isn't really for creating animated complex physics enabled objects.. Hey there is a thought, he is wanting to get PEP 1.3 added to the main distro of AGK, maybe you could talk to him about adding Spriter object support *.scml loading for each object or just individual objects you load into PEP for placement etc.. in the level.. TGC is already wanting to add Spriter support to the main AGK engine as it is inside the new features questionaire about which features are most important going forward with AGK, so it would only make since for PEP to support Spriter objects / sprites loading and he already has physics properties support added to PEP so it should be fairly possible to get this working, and as he is starting to utilize the *.xml file format, maybe you two could collaborate on a format to make it easy to snap in Spriter object support, and vice versa for adding *.xml support to the *.scml file format.. Anyways just a thought or many that is, sorry for running on, but when I'm programming my mind goes 1000 miles a minute, and I try to help out as much as I can.. I still don't have a subversion client installed so I can't check out the *.cpp sourcecode for the generic C++ API that was created, I'm going to try and set that up today and grab it, so I can see what I can do about at least making it work with AGK Tier 2 C++ support using NDK / Eclipse / Cygwin environment setup for Android Development inside App Game Kit.. Thanks for all your work on this though, I do appreciate it, I just hope we get all this stuff worked out before Spriter comes out of Beta.. Ciao' 4 now, StOrM3 http://www.mypkegames.com/

Hey I will give it a go, if you can zip up the entire repository, and either send it to my email or post it some where I can snag it.. I am not using GIT nor do I have any subversion client setup right now.. Sorry for the lack of my reply, but I have been battling a problem with my current game, I have a physics game, done with GM:Studio and the prismatic joint and motor is not working as it should, to allow my spike objects to go up and down, to kill the player etc.. I had to make 2 prismatic joints with motors and create and delete them based on collision of spikes with sensor boxes, and this is needless to say less than Ideal setup, so I posted a bug report that setting / changing the motor speed to a -negative number does not make it move back up as it should.. But, I still do want to make this work with App Game Kit, especially since I will be doing alot more work in AGK at least until GM:Studio can fix these bugs or add these features, also I requested Ashley add a prismatic joint and motors to Construct 2 Physics behaviors and properties also.. We'll see, but until then, I will be trying to work exclusively in AGK, once PEP is done for level editing and sprite placement and physics shapes and properties can be setup.. If I have the complete package, it should be nothing to change the member functions we need to get it rendering inside AGK Tier 2 or C++ inside Eclipse.. Thank you for all your help as many others have stated already, this is a great thing to have... Just let me know where I can snag it from, or if you want to email it to me, you can send it to my gmail account at: storm36969@gmail.com Thanks again, StOrM3 aka Ken

Please Support App Game Kit C++ Tier 2 Rendering... I've been waiting on an interface to AGK from The Game Creators for a while now, and I think this is the perfect opportunity, especially since I would rather work in C++ than the basic like language of Tier 1.. I'm more than happy to help test it out, as I am a registered spriter pro pre-purchase owner, and AGK Beta tester, currently on version 1.08 beta 9.. I have plenty of C++ experience, so would love to get this working, and welcome your implementation for AGK 1.08 Tier 2 C++ Rendering.. Thank you for this soooo Much! Ken Cornett aka StOrM3 storm3@twlakes.net

I 2nd, and 3rd this request! I love AGK, I use AGK 1.08 Beta 5, for Android Development, it has great Box2D Physics support, and even just added recently to the 1.08 version is 3D Command Set. I love the Basic Language as well as Tier 2 C++ support using Eclipse. Even the Basic language compilation to an apk involves using the Eclipse IDE, compiling the runner project template, then you take your Basic byte code compiled files and place them in the correct folders, along with your media, and re-compile it to get a working apk, which also makes use of NDK, for native code compiling, and Cygwin environment for script execution. I also use Game Maker:studio and Construct 2, so I would love to have spriter working for all 3, this way no matter which environment I am working in, I could use the same set of spriter files. Although, I understand that the Game Maker plugin stuff is not yet working with Game Maker:studio, hopefully soon, as the forum hints at this.. I just figured out my physics stuff in GM:studio last night and look forward to being able to use Spriter to animate my traps and machinery for my current project. Thank you guys for everything! StOrM3 aka Ken Registered Spriter Pro - Pre-Order Purchaser.