Hiro the Dragon King's site

.reconnect Advertisements

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 02:16:03 +0000

When a client reconnects to a game via .reconnect or through the Options menu, they are greeted once again with an advertisement. For those with bad connections, this isn't really an optimal experience. Is this intentional? And as I have not yet had the chance to test, is this the same for link()?

Isometric Screen Size; Resolution?

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 07:13:34 +0000

Let me start by saying this: I love the isometric worlds that you allow us to build. I absolutely -hate- the way that client.view is handled.

We have never been able to directly set the resolution of the game. Instead, we have always used client.view to determine resolution. When 4.0 was released, we could use the interface to determine the scale of the map. Once big icons were introduced, we could use icon_size and client.view to manually set the client's screen to an even larger array of resolutions.

But, when moving into the realm of isometric projection, all of that is thrown to the wind. We are given a method, an obtuse formula for finding the resolution of the screen, but no method for actually setting it.

Will we ever be given a way to set the native resolution of our games? Can we at least be given a decent method of setting the resolution in isometric games?

Semantic Dispute, Silk's Faggot Tree, and A.T.H.K.'s Paranoia

Thu, 31 May 2012 01:55:05 +0000

Nadrew wrote:

Not the first, NEStalgia has a fully standalone version too, the only interaction with BYOND is the OPTIONAL ability to login with your key. But good job anyways :)

Screw them, they had help from Tom. Besides, mine doesn't install BYOND and doesn't require the Internet, and the one you're referring to for NEStalgia doesn't seem to be public yet. So again, screw them.

Stand Alone Complex

Thu, 31 May 2012 01:43:06 +0000

Introducing BYOND's [apparently second] completely standalone game! I've spent the better part of the last two months working on all of the systems that this game would need to be made completely standalone from BYOND's suite. That's not to not advertise that it was made in BYOND, as there is plenty of credit given to BYOND, but so that it could be distributed as a standalone executable from other platforms, such as Steam. This is also, much like my other projects, mostly a test to see if I could do actually succeed, and also to prove that it could be done. Now with all of these systems in place, I can write any number of games, throw this interface over them, and make them standalone as well.

If you are using BYOND, you will have to shutdown your pager in order for the executable to work. It is a known issue and should be resolved any time now. There have been issues with anti-virus programs declaring the files a "high-level threat" and deleting a portion of the files, so you'll need to either make an exception and rerun the executable or turn the anti-virus off before running the executable. Please report any issues with anti-virus programs, or otherwise, to the LetterBox Bug Reports Forum.

So, without further ado, I give to you, BYOND's second completely standalone game, LetterBox.

LetterBox Update (Version 2.2)

Thu, 31 May 2012 01:34:42 +0000

With this version of the LetterBox comes a whole slew of new features. I have been writing, testing, and wasting my life on these features for the better part of two months. But, the result, in my opinion, is fantastic, and opens new doors for my future projects. Below, is a list of all of the changes.

Pieces:
- Added both uppercase and lowercase letters: [a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z (ash)]
- Added numbers: [0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9]
- Added symbols: [, . ! ? " : ; _ - + * / = < ~ ^ % & @ # ( [ { | $ (euro) (pound) (beta)]
- Added shapes: [line, diagonal line, circle, triangles (2), rectangle, square, rhombus, pentagon, pentagram, hexagon, hexagram, heptagon,heptagram (2), octagon, octagram (2)]

Mouse Control:
- Right-Click rotates piece clockwise.
- Ctrl+Right-Click rotates piece counter-clockwise.
- Alt+Right-Click flips piece horizontally.
- Ctrl+Alt+Right-Click flips piece vertically.
- Shift+Right-Click changes piece's case or size, for letters or shapes, respectively.
- Alt+Shfit+Right-Click randomly changes the piece's color to another color.

Online Features:
- Nicknames
- Per-client, time-stamped chat, with chatlog.
- Players list with moderation options.
- Host can mute, kick, and ban players.
- Other players' mice visible with nickname.
- Hosting options: server name, status, port, visibility, and player limit; reboot; port checker; and world log.
- Servers poll, listing all of the above settings for public servers, or server at requested address.

Editing Pane:
- Choose any type, size, and color of piece to create.
- Options for "click to create" and "click to delete".
- Smaller personal screen for private pieces.

Save Files:
- Save file for server map, settings, and banned and muted lists.
- Save file for client map, settings, and ingored list.
- Individual logs for world log and chat log.

.winset Command Arguments

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 15:48:57 +0000

Can you pass element parameters through .winset as arguments for a command? I expected this ...

.winset "command=\"AlterSize window.size\""

... to work because, in the past, I have used this ...

.winset "command=\"Update 5\""

... for menu options and it would correctly send "5" as an argument for the Update() verb. Instead, no matter what I do with "window.size", be it brackets, quotations, et cetera, I receive various runtime errors from the interface.

Any ideas?

LetterBox Update

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 12:32:19 +0000

LetterBox by Hiro TDK

LetterBox, originally, was was tech demo to prove the feasibility of a multi-player jigsaw puzzle game on BYOND, that objects could be moved simultaneously across multiple players' screens. The reason I picked letters for the objects is because I had recently played with some fridge magnets at my fiancee's parent's place. Granted, the magnets that I played with were Hebrew characters, but the idea was there.

Once I had the tech demo running, I put a link in The Saloon so that my fellow Chatters could test it with me. The tests showed that it worked far beyond my expectations. I was even able to use a dummy mouse to show where everyone's mouse was on the screen. After testing, the Chatters convinced me to work out the kinks and give it a hub. So, I did.

It's been almost a year now, about ten months, and two days ago, I finally picked up the project again, after having completely rewritten the libraries behind the project. I picked up the old project, dumped it, and started from scratch. And the new version is much more polished now.

The update to LetterBox brings quite a few things:
- Better mouse positions updates
- Names attached to each player's mouse
- A completely new layering system for letters
- Introductory credits
- Title screen layered directly over the game (Shown Above)

Upcoming updates:
- Chat and players sidebar
- Lowercase letters, numbers, symbols, and shapes
- Manually adding and removing objects from the screen
- Shuffling pieces

So, pick it up, play it, host it, play it with friends. Enjoy.

HDK Mouse And Keys Update [Version 3.1]

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 19:26:03 +0000

/*-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*\
                         HDK Mouse And Keys Update [Version 3.1]
\\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

    The update for this library is substantial. The biggest update is the addition of
the Screen datum. If you already use this library, you will have to rewrite portions of
your code for compatibility. You may also want to delete the library from your computer
and redownload it, as BYOND doesn't clear out and update older help files properly.
Instead of accessing lists by numbers, lists are indexed using the IDs. This makes the
entire system quicker and more efficient, especially across multiple players. The other
updates are rather minor, such as how pausing the scripts and naming elements is handled.
Now included is support for individual left and right key up and key down macros for the
modifier keys.

\*-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/



/*-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*\
                                     Screen Handling
\\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

    The Screen (/Screen) datum allows the developer to create and manage "screens" across
multiple clients. A Screen has a view size, an ID for referencing it in lists and its
map element, a list of atoms displayed by the screen, and a list of clients currently
viewing the screen. Clients also have a map variable that dictates which screen it uses
as its default map. Let's take a closer look at the Screen datum and its interface.
*/
Screen/var

/*This variable is used to to identify the map element associated with this Screen and
also used for accessing the mouse coordinate lists for individual Screens.*/
    id = ""

/*These variables are the equivalent of client.view. They hold the Screen to a specific
number of tiles on each axis, When the Screen is used on the client's default map,
client.view is actally set to "[view_x]x[view_y]"*/
    view_x = 0
    view_y = 0

/*These are temporary variables written to by ScreenSize() for the purpose of ease
of use. They represent the view size of the Screen in pizels, i.e., view*icon_size.*/
    tmp/size_x
    tmp/size_y

/*This is the list of clients currently viewing the Screen. you should only access and
change this list via AddClient() and RemoveClient().*/
    list/clients = list()

/*This is a lits of atoms in the screen. When a client is added to the Screen, all of the
atoms in this list are added to client.screen.*/
    list/objects = list()
/*

    Now let's take a look at how to use a Screen. The Screen datum has six procedures
that you'll need and you'll use thes as the interface. Save for cases where you'd need to
change the id of a Screen, you shouldn't interact with a Screen's variables directly.
*/
Screen/proc
    New(id, x, y, client/c, map)
/*
    This creates a new screen with the specified id, and view size. The fourth variable,
c, allows you to shortcut creating a new Screen for a specific client. Instead of
creating a Screen, then adding the  client to it, you can simply pass the client through
Screen.New(). The fifth variable, map, like the client shortcut, allows the Screen to be
created as the default map for the specified client, when set to TRUE. By default, id and
client/c are null, x and y are 5, and map is FALSE.
*/
    ScreenSize(x, y)
/*
    This procedure updates the size parameters of the Screen with a new size, x and y,
with the default for each being 5.
*/
    AddClient(client/c, map)
/*
    This is procedure will add the specified client to Screen.clients and adds the atoms
from Screen.objects to client.screen, and if map=TRUE, sets the client's default map to
this Screen.
*/
    RemoveClient(client/c, map)
/*
    This procedure removes the specified client from Screen.clients, removes the atoms
in Screen.objects from the client's screen, and if map=TRUE, sets the client's default
map to false.
*/
    AddAtom(atom/a, x, y)
/*
    This adds the specified atom to the Screen and adds it to the screens of all clients
in Screen.clients. If x and/or y are specified, it will locate the object at that
position on the screen.
*/
    RemoveAtom(atom/a)
/*
    This removes the specified atom to the Screen and removes it from the screens of all
clients in Screen.clients.

    Now, here, I'll write a small snippet that shows how to use this to make a unified
title screen for all new clients connecting to a server.
*/
var/Screen/titlescreen

world
    New()
        ..()
        titlescreen=new("map", 16, 9)
        var/obj/title=new()
        titlescreen.AddAtom(title)

client
    New()
        ..()
        titlescreen.AddClient(src,map)
/*
Here, we define a global variable referencing a titlescreen. On world.New(), we create
the titlescreen that displays on a client's map element titled "map" with a size of 16x9.
We also create an object to be displayed on this screen and add it to the screen. On
client.New(), we add the client to this screen. Using this example, on login, all clients
will be directed to the same, reusable title screen. Any visibly interactable objects,
such as a button that animates when pressed, should be added to the client's screen
rather than to Screen, as to avoid other clients noticing when you press buttons.

\*-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/



/*-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*\
                                     Mouse Tracking
\\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

    Mouse tracking brings to the developer, complete and up to date information on the
client's mouse. The mouse tracking system works on each individual client's computer,
client side, by sending a script to a browser on the client's end, which then keeps runs
and keeps the server updated on the position of the mouse. In order to begin tracking,
you simply pass the desired screen through StartMouseTracking().
*/
client/proc
    StartMouseTracking(Screen/screen)
/*
    This procedure queries for the parent window of the specified screen, then copies all
of the properties of the map element matching Screen.id and uses them create a perfectly
cloned browser element. THe browser element is then provided a script that updates the
client of the mouses position approximately every tick, calculated using the properties
copied from the map element. There are also three corresponding procedures.
*/
    PauseMouseTracking(Screen/screen)

    ResumeMouseTracking(Screen/screen)

    StopMouseTracking(Screen/screen)
/*
    The first two procedures simply send a message through JavaScript, telling the script
to stop updating the server. The third deletes the browser element. There is one more
relevant procedure.
*/
    UpdateMouseTracking(Screen/screen)
/*
    This updates the script of the framerate and the icon-size of the map element. This
procedure should only be called in the instance in which either of those changes. Every
update sent to the server from the client decoded first through client.Topic() and then
through UpdateMouse().
*/
    UpdateMouse(Screen/screen, x, y)
/*
    The arguments here are rather self-explanatory. The first refers to the screen for
which the coordinates correspond. The other two are the actual coordinates of the mouse.
The default behavior is to write the coordinates to two lists, using screen.id as the
index.
*/
client/var
    list/mouse_x = list()
    list/mouse_y = list()
/*
    Below is are examples of how to access the lists.
*/
    client.mouse_x["map"]
    client.mouse_x[screen.id]
    client.mouse_x[client.map] //This shortcut uses the client's default map variable.k
/*
    There also four other sets of coordinates that you have access to, as a developer
using this library. They are translated from the previous set, on the server, using
information available only to the server. Each set of coordinates has a corresponding
variable to flag whether or not to translate them.
*/
client/var
    GenerateScreenLoc = TRUE        //This is FALSE by default, as are the rest.
    list/screen_tx = list()
    list/screen_px = list()
    list/screen_ty = list()
    list/screen_py = list()
/*
    The previous are accessed in exactly the same way as client. mouse_z/y.
*/
    GenerateMapCoordinates = TRUE
    map_x
    map_y
/*
    These act the same way as mouse_x/y, in that they represent the number of pixels that
the mouse is removed from position 1:1, 1:1 over the actual map.
*/
    GenerateMapLoc = TRUE
    map_tx
    map_px
    map_ty
    map_py
/*
    These are the actual tile and pixel coordinates of the mouse over the actual map.
*/
atom/movable/var/current_screen

client/var
    current_atom

    GenerateIconCoordinates = TRUE
    icon_x
    icon_y
/*
    These work a tad differently. When GenerateIconCoordinates is set to TRUE, the atom
that the client's mouse is over is kept track of at all times and the Screen on which
that atom resides, if not on the map, is kept track of as well, under current_atom and
current_screen, respectively. Keeping those in mind, the position of the mouse over the
actual icon are generated using information such as loc, step_x/y, screen_loc, et cetera.

\*-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/



/*-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*\
                                 Absolute Mouse Position
\\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

    Absolute mouse position refers to the postion of the client's mouse over the actual
screen of his computer. The procedures controlling this are the same as for mouse
tracking.
*/
client/proc
    StartJavaScriptMouse(Screen/screen)

    PauseJavaScriptMouse(Screen/screen)

    ResumeJavaScriptMouse(Screen/screen)

    StopJavaScriptMouse(Screen/screen)

    UpdateJavaScriptMouse(Screen/screen)

client/var
    screenX
    screeny

    jsMouse = FALSE     //This is a read-only variable that tells wether this is running.

/*
\*-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/



/*-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*\
                                      Modifier Keys
\\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

    This system gives the developer access to individual left and right key up and key
down events for the Alt, Shift, and Ctrl modifier keys  This is done by JavaScript on the
client's end, due in part to a special variable that available from Internet Explorer 8,
and up. Every millisecond, the script checks the position of all six keys and updates the
server if any of them change. Unless your player can change the state of one of them more
than twice per millisecond (1/1000th of a second, A.K.A., they're cheating), this system
is foolproof. Along with hooks for all three, there are variables for which you can check
the state of each key, as well as the same controlling procedures as with the previous
systems.
*/
client/var
    shiftLeft = FALSE
    shiftRight = FALSE
    ctrlLeft = FALSE
    ctrlRight = FALSE
    altLeft = FALSE
    altRight = FALSE

    jsKeys = FALSE

client/proc
    shiftLeftDown()
    shiftLeftUp()
    shiftRightDown()
    shiftRightUp()

    ctrlLeftDown()
    ctrlLeftUp()
    ctrlRightDown()
    ctrlRightUp()

    altLeftDown()
    altLeftUp()
    altRightDown()
    altRightUp()

    StartJavaScriptKeys(Screen/screen)

    PauseJavaScriptKeys(Screen/screen)

    ResumeJavaScriptKeys(Screen/screen)

    StopJavaScriptKeys(Screen/screen)

    UpdateJavaScriptKeys(Screen/screen)
/*
\*-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/



/*-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*\
                                      Modifier Keys
\\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

    This system gives the developer access to several numbers from the client's computer
that they would not normally have access to. The system works exactly the same as the
rest of them.
*/
client/var
    tmp/availWidth          //This is the usable width of the client's desktop.
    tmp/availHeight         //This is the usable height of the client's desktop.
    tmp/width               //This is the actual width of the client's desktop.
    tmp/height              //This is the actual height of the client's desktop.
    tmp/colorDepth          //This is the color depth of the client's desktop.

    tmp/jsVars = FALSE

client/proc
    StartJavaScriptVars(Screen/screen)

    PauseJavaScriptVars(Screen/screen)

    ResumeJavaScriptVars(Screen/screen)

    StopJavaScriptVars(Screen/screen)

    UpdateJavaScriptVars(Screen/screen)
/*
\*-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/



/*-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*\
                Thank you for using my library. I hope it comes in handy.

                                        -Hiro TDK
\*-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/

How about those logos, Tom?

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:58:56 +0000

I would like to ask if you have the original vector art for the BYOND logos around anywhere. I've asked in the past and been looked over, and they used to be up for viewing, as far as I can tell, but not anymore. So, is there any way that I can get my hands on them? It'd be a lot easier to platform brand if developers could actually use your logos.

Flash Client: Browser/JavaScript Interaction

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 03:14:41 +0000

Will there be any sort of browser or JavaScript interaction available for the Flash client? As it is, we still have no mouse coordinate information through DM and absolutely every project I've ever worked on in DM uses such information, via JavaScript, so lack thereof would completely shut me off to the Flash client. Even if the interaction wasn't visible, I would be happy.