ID:2732049
 
Somehow this week has flown past. It really didn't help that I had some overdue errands to get to here and there (mostly related to car burial arrangements) that chopped up development time, and a couple days I didn't feel well. But I've still been hard at it despite the interruptions.

I've been very deep in the RenderIcon() code and didn't get to any 514 bug fixes as intended, but the good news is the guts are in place and working. A call to client.RenderIcon() will request a render, and the client will send back a file unless it knows the file already exists in which case it just sends the ID. There are some additional things I want to do, like allowing objects to be used with all their visual contents, and sending some atom info "out of band" (that is, apart from the usual maptick updates) in case a client needs to be told about them. Also I have to document all this. But the hardest parts are mostly together.

A feature idea struck me not too long ago that I'll probably want to implement in 515: a per-client proc call just before the maptick, a lot like Stat() but called every tick, that if it exists will allow users to do some last-minute handling before the map updates are sent. The reason for this is that some games might need to do a lot of complex mouse processing, and it's better to limit that to once a tick. It's even better to do that just before sending any map updates, to keep those changes as reactive as feasible.

The other night my mind strayed back to Z linking and I had a very restless night of thinking about code instead of falling asleep. Those are the worst. But I'm extremely tempted to pull the trigger on Z linking for 515, or at least get some of the bones in place. Probably what I'll do first is set up some of the underlying mechanics that will make all of this smoother, which has the additional benefit of possibly simplifying some code. So maybe it's a 516 thing, but it's looking more doable now than in the past.

Anyway bug work for 514 has not been forgotten, and I plan to get to that next week for sure this time. There's an issue with tile movers I need to look at in particular, among some others.

As the holidays are fast approaching, don't forget to rummage through the couch cushions and send a few coins to BYOND to keep the lights on. I'm grateful to all our Members and other donors who've contributed in the past and hope to keep rewarding that generosity with exciting new stuff, and of course important fixes.

It's time to bust out the baking pans and make some treats, but more importantly: I have a wish list to fill. Yes, that time of year is upon us. I have no idea what to expect of the Thanksgiving parade this year, which will probably still be weird but not as weird as last year. It's hard to believe that's less than three weeks away.
with z linking would you be able to link a z level to itself to create a loop?
In response to RootAbyss
RootAbyss wrote:
with z linking would you be able to link a z level to itself to create a loop?

Yes, you would.