Sentience: VB Game (comments please)

You'd be lucky to live after seeing one line of the sentince code...;)

Well, I guess Arbiter might let you get away with one line, but not nearly enough for optimizing or debugging.

Maybe its just me, and maybe im really dumb but ....

Where do i download the game?

You want some responses? I have 5(+1) bugs for you.

1) When you go to component contruction, the screen resolution changes back to what it is when you open up Sentience.*
2) The component contrution screen is resizable.*
3) You can close the launcher while the is still running (with the close button).
4) After opening the Component Contrution screen, I closed down that window, shut down the launcher, as the close button was then visible, and resigned from the . The screen went black for about 30 seconds (a completely blank screen), then finnaly, the main menu opened. Then when I closed the the , the resolution didn't change back (due to the fact that I had closed the launcher). Please note that there are 2 bugs said in this paragraph.
5) After opening Sentince, the task bar was visible over the main menu. Why not just hid/show the task bar at the same time as changing the screen resolution?

*Visible in Screen Shot


Also, sorry about having to crop the screen s , he image was too big to upload (and yes, I was running at 800x600, atleast until the changed it to 1024x768 or 1280x1024.)

I also had to save it at 50% loss (the picture was too big after cropping...).

Quote:

---

Originally posted by An Al bum Cover
Maybe its just me, and maybe im really dumb but ....

Where do i download the ?

---

Look for any post by Behemoth or Arbiter, and you will see a Sentience picture in their signuture linking to the site (download GameDev.exe).

Thank you Gaming World...


hehehe, now you will see some trully useless comments....;)

Hi peeps.

Sorry I've not been on in a while. Everyone was badgering my for a new version and when I finally got it ready (after many ludicrously long nights) hardly anyone bothered replying.

Unfortunately I'm a course today and in seminars all day tomorrow and I don't have time to reply to all these posts at the mo.

When I get home tonight I'll try and reply to them all (before I collapse unconscious... :D )

Thanks for your continued support people and please post as many bug lists as you can. Gaming/Icheb I'll look at yours in more detail this weekend.

Nice to know you all still care... :)

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Arbiter
Nice to know you all still care... :)

---

We never said we cared.
We just want you to do lots of tedious development ;)

Quote:

---

Originally posted by plenderj


We never said we cared.
We just want you to do lots of tedious development ;)

---

:rolleyes:lol:rolleyes:

I downloaded the game, but it had an error extracting image 1262 (i think not sure... i am at school right now) and the game just froze at the Sentience: screen

I will try again when i get home, but thats not for another 2 1/2 hours.:(

Quote:

---

Originally posted by plenderj


We never said we cared.
We just want you to do lots of tedious development ;)

---

Don't make me hurt you Leprechaun.... :D

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Icheb
I like the game, if only i knew how to work with it...

But Arb, if you would read this, come back here, don't let more than 6 (?) months work go down to waste !!

---

6 months?

6 MONTHS???

Over 2 years.... :rolleyes:

:)

oooh, now you've upset him :D

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Arbiter


6 months?

6 MONTHS???

Over 2 years.... :rolleyes:

:)

---

i am here for about 6 months now, i don't know how long the project is running already, i just used the time i'm here for it...
(just looked it up, i've been here since page 22 in this thread ;))

sorry :D

(are u gonna kill me now ?)

ok, the files extracted ok this time, but i got a msgbox that said:

_____________________________
||__SenLauncher_______________ |
|Run-time error '5': |
| |
|Invalid procedure call or argument |
| ___ |
| |OK| |
-----------------------------------------------

wuts thats mean??:confused:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by An Al bum Cover
ok, the files extracted ok this time, but i got a msgbox that said:

_____________________________
||__SenLauncher_______________ |
|Run-time error '5': |
| |
|Invalid procedure call or argument |
| ___ |
| |OK| |
-----------------------------------------------

wuts thats mean??:confused:

---

what windows do u use ?

An Al bum Cover,

Sorry for not replying earlier...

Could you provide your computer specs please, inc OS etc?

Also, to play Sentience you need DX7 or above. If you don't have DX7+ it may not run.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Icheb



(are u gonna kill me now ?)

---

I'll let you live.... for now......

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Arbiter


I'll let you live.... for now......

---

ooooOOOOOoooo ;)

So people, has anyone posted any bug lists besides Icheb and Gaming?

No.

Plend - I think it's time for one of your super furry bug lists - let people know what they need to aim for... ;)

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Arbiter
So people, has anyone posted any bug lists besides Icheb and Gaming?

No.

Plend - I think it's time for one of your super furry bug lists - let people know what they need to aim for... ;)

---

Sure thang boss :)

Cheers pal!

*ahem*

Superfurrybuglist?

Gaming,

Finally been able to look at your points. Addressed in order.....

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Gaming_World
You want some responses? I have 5(+1) bugs for you.

1) When you go to component contruction, the screen resolution changes back to what it is when you open up Sentience.*
Bizarre. I'm unable to duplicate this and have no idea what could cause it.

2) The component contrution screen is resizable.*
Added to bug list

3) You can close the launcher while the is still running (with the close button).
Added to bug list

4) After opening the Component Contrution screen, I closed down that window, shut down the launcher, as the close button was then visible, and resigned from the . The screen went black for about 30 seconds (a completely blank screen), then finnaly, the main menu opened. Then when I closed the the , the resolution didn't change back (due to the fact that I had closed the launcher). Please note that there are 2 bugs said in this paragraph.
What are the two bugs? The launcher failing to restore the res isn't as you closed it yourself. I think the problems you're having with your res changes are down to your graphic card - could you let me know what it is please?

5) After opening Sentince, the task bar was visible over the main menu. Why not just hid/show the task bar at the same time as changing the screen resolution?
It's supposed to be....

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Arbiter
*ahem*

Superfurrybuglist?

---

Yeah I made it, but I couldn't find it this morning when I got up so :rolleyes:

You plank!

Dig it out and post it dude - Behemoth and I are in a Sentience frenzy so I want to attack what I can!!

4) After opening the Component Contrution screen, I closed down that window, shut down the launcher, as the close button was then visible, and resigned from the . The screen went black for about 30 seconds (a completely blank screen), then finnaly, the main menu opened. Then when I closed the the , the resolution didn't change back (due to the fact that I had closed the launcher). Please note that there are 2 bugs said in this paragraph.

What are the two bugs? The launcher failing to restore the res isn't as you closed it yourself. I think the problems you're having with your res changes are down to your graphic card - could you let me know what it is please?

One of the bugs is that the you can close the launcher down (it was stated in #3), and the other is the black screen (after resigning).

5) After opening Sentince, the task bar was visible over the main menu. Why not just hid/show the task bar at the same time as changing the screen resolution?

It's supposed to be....

So once the main menu is completely open, you should still be able to see the task bar OVER the main menu? I know that it should still be visiable, but it shouldn't be OVER the main menu. I will attempt to get a screen shot later. School just started, and I should be able to get the screen shot at 3:30 PM (PST) [23:30 GMT], or in around 6 hours and 15 minutes.

Was good stuff.
Even managed to get a runtime error :)

4) With you now. Try not to post bugs more than once - it confuses the issue.... ;)

5) I meant that the task bar is supposed to be hidden. I have no idea why it wouldn't be.... I shall have to look into that.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by plenderj
Was good stuff.
Even managed to get a runtime error :)

---

Yeah, yeah. I bet you never even bothered. Bet you just drank beer and spent the evening tooting on a dooby instead... :p

I also think that there was another bug in #4, but I don't rember what it was.

Heres the screen shot for the bug. I also discovered why it is happening: clicking off the splash screen while it is loading. Nice easy bug for you to fix...

Are you sure it will ever be spectacular?

Gaming,

Look at it, and tell me it isn't already spectacular.

It's written solely in VB, (with no external DLL's in C++ or anything) using only API calls that are generally available. It runs on any machine capable of running windows 4x and it has tremendous scope.

Have you seen anything else like this done in VB?

Al,

That bug has been pointed out a few times now - I just haven't got around to fixing it. I'll get it patched soon and post an update.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by An Al bum Cover
uh, oh ya, the slurp % bars are really anoying, they go from 0-.99 and then to 100% and it is really annoying... you should maybe change that sometime

i dont know... just a thought. But all the little bars like that go from 0-0.99 and then jump to 100 or 9.6 depending on wut set earlier

---

yep, i stated that one to arb about 5 times now ;)

Yes, yes, yes.... I'm working on it ok!! :rolleyes: :D

Right the buglist I made before I started drinking
(I started drinking rather early, thus the reason for the shortness of the list. I'll make a better one tonight)

Code:

---

First run after install, didn't wait for menu to come out completely - 50%
    Clicked credits + was 2 - 3 seconds pause before page was loaded.
    No pause though with subsequent visits


Did new game. Hit continue after selecting 2 players.
    Label for value of "X Size of Map" (50) appeared first before anything
      else, and then the rest of screen loaded. Looked crappy.


Any way to optimize map generator ?
    Is *very* slow... well is as fast as its always been, but it just seems
      to take way too long than it should


After map was generated, I pressed enter + it said transferring control
    Scrollbars + a few other bits appeared before anything else.
      Didn't look the may west :)


Got a RTE:10 (Array is fixed or temporarily locked)
    Had two players : kedaman and plenderj
    kedaman = computer player, plenderj = human
    I didn't move or anything. I hit turn complete.
    Screen - next player is kedaman ...
    OK button was still grey, but I hit enter anyway
    I then got an RTE:10
    For reference, in bottom left it said "generating monsters"

Was brought back to senlauncher + all was ok

However I had asked it to run @ res = 1024*768
    Graphics were all at 800*600

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Arbiter
Gaming,

Look at it, and tell me it isn't already spectacular.

It's written solely in VB, (with no external DLL's in C++ or anything) using only API calls that are generally available. It runs on any machine capable of running windows 4x and it has tremendous scope.

Have you seen anything else like this done in VB?

---

Yes, in that way it is spectacular, but it would never be a I would buy, as I don't like turn-based strat. In my way it sucks.



I've never had the screens appear slowly (component by component), although I have had a few take a few seconds to appear. I've also never had it not change the screen resolution (in this version), except on Main Menu (which is how it is supposed to be, but you may still wish to change it), or when I shut down the launcher (while I was playing an idoit, and I thought that sience the launcher's close button could be pressed, the would close...).

Plend,

Sounds like a general slowness complaint. Make sure you didn't have tons of stuff running in the background - that often causes stuff like that to happen.

Try running the VB IDE when you already have 20 apps open. It appears in that 'bitty' fashion.

The reason the credits screen takes a couple of seconds is because it's loading the IE control for the first time. After that, it's fine.

There was a problem with generating monsters? That's odd. What is an RTE 10 anyway?

repetition does wonders to annoy... and uh.. oh ya, make people do stuff...


-i wanna complain that the image in you guy's signature makes it very hard to read the forums at 800 * 600 scrn resolution...
very annoying

**just like you to note that i am easy to annoy

With the genererating monsters, it takes a while, and there is no progress update, therefore making the look like it locked up (I ran into this before too, but I must have forgotten to mention it).

Quote:

---

Originally posted by An Al bum Cover

-i wanna complain that the image in you guy's signature makes it very hard to read the forums at 800 * 600 scrn resolution...
very annoying

---

No probs. Just change your desktop res. :)

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Gaming_World
With the genererating monsters, it takes a while, and there is no progress update, therefore making the look like it locked up (I ran into this before too, but I must have forgotten to mention it).

---

It does take a while - I've yet to figure out why. I'll also be improving the progress bar some more when I do some more code enhancements.

One trick you could do to make the generation code seem faster is to put in a progress update (progress bar, a number counting up, ect).

I was thinking of posting that solution to An Al bum Cover's complaint. I have no problem with it (aside from the fact that it draws your attion to it, which is a somewhat good thing...), and I use 1280x1024, and would go higher if my monitor and video card would support it...

Quote:

---

No probs. Just change your desktop res.

---

well, i do a whole lot or work at school and we're not allowed to change anything about the computer settings (like, the disp. property wont even come up) and i work on my dad's comp at home, and he wont let me change anything about his set up either

:(

Sounds like you need XP, as I belive that if you change the resolution on one account, it leaves it the same for the others...

ya we have XP, but we cant get it to work

And, incase you for got the code for xp goes a little sumthing like this:

Do While 1 + 1 = 2
Me.Suck
Loop

Thats the wrong version of windows. XP is really good. I find that it rarely locks up (I now use ctrl+alt+del more for the proformance graphs then shutting down programs). Very few blue screens (although when it decides to go to a blue screen your comp will reboot in a few seconds...).

VB Code:

Do While 1 + 1 = 2 
 Lockup_Computer
Loop

is for ME...

it seems like i'm always restarting my computer( im running 98 2nd edition or sumthing)

but then again im impatient as a cheetah trapped in a snail's body... ;)
and im always running about 5 different programs, (winamp, vb, paint, paint again, vb again, sumtimes word, etc...) and i never give my computer time to load

im thinking the computers just messed up tho, cuz it wont connect to internet, sum dumb modem problem:rolleyes:

I must admit, my computer acts odd, but then again I have messed around in the registry many times, messing up all kinds of junk...

on 2k sp2 now and its dead stable :)

I had no trouble at all with 98SE ever though...well until I started messing about with it...;)

Ya, they usually start screwing up when you mess with 'em

i do that all the time

only half the time i [forget/dont know from the begining] wut im doing

The Dev machine is XP and previously it was 98SE.

Part of the trials of writing a peice of software as complicated as this is getting it to work on most machines - there's just so much hardware out there it's difficult to make it work on it all...

Well its always worked perfectly for me.
My laptop started out as Win98SE, then I upgraded to WinME, then I upgraded to Win2kPro.

Sentience has been tested and has run perfectly under all three operating systems

I liked it but:
You need to work with the overall design. I think it was difficult to learn all controls etc. The best sollution should be some icons with some logical graphic to each button for example.

Keep up the good work.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by plenderj
Well its always worked perfectly for me.
My laptop started out as Win98SE, then I upgraded to WinME, then I upgraded to Win2kPro.

Sentience has been tested and has run perfectly under all three operating systems

---

WinMe is a downgrade, not an upgrade. I'm not even sure if it would be an upgrade from Win 3.1. From what I could tell from it, it was the WORST of win98 and win2k...

Nice Game you got here.
Needs some debugging and perhaps error handling though.
Maybe its because im running Windows XP........

No, XP isn't the problem. Read up a little ways and you'd find that it is being devolped on XP.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Gaming_World


WinMe is a downgrade, not an upgrade. I'm not even sure if it would be an upgrade from Win 3.1. From what I could tell from it, it was the WORST of win98 and win2k...

---

Do u know Windows 1.0 ?
Me is an upgrade of windows 1.0, with the upgrade it tries to get onto the same level as windows 95 but it is even worse than windows 3.11 so they made an upgrade from windows 1.0 to windows 3.0... (and thats ME):D

Quote:

---

Originally posted by plenderj
Well its always worked perfectly for me.
My laptop started out as Win98SE, then I upgraded to WinME, then I upgraded to Win2kPro.

Sentience has been tested and has run perfectly under all three operating systems

---

That's good to know. I myself have confirmed that it works under XP and 98SE (both the dev machines) and it also runs on a P133, 16mb ram, 1mb shared graphic card running win95 (my "state of the ark" laptop).