Rocks'n'Diamonds

Please use this thread to report bugs in the pre-release 3.2.0-7!

Good job! Can't wait for final 3.2.0 and all the converted level sets ... keep on going, Holger!

1. I had some trouble to start it. I extracted 3.1.2, 3.2.0rc0, rc1, rc2, rc3, rc4, rc5, rc6 and rc7 in this sequence to the same folder.
Then I got the stderr.txt:
rocksndiamonds.exe: warning: cannot find artwork file 'emc_objects.pcx'
rocksndiamonds.exe: warning: trying default artwork file 'emc_objects.pcx'
rocksndiamonds.exe: cannot find default artwork file 'emc_objects.pcx'
rocksndiamonds.exe: aborting

I had to copy emc_objects.pcx and emc_players.pcx from the emc_emc_mine_3_gfx-Levelset to \graphics\gfx_classic, then it started without error.

2. Switching view between players works fine, but I wonder, if it wouldn't be useful to switch the amount of dynamites and the key status to the current player, too?

3. Just a general question about the menus: Sometimes there's the question Yes/No or for example the choice of the player colour at the beginning of a network game. How can I select the answer without using the mouse?

> Good job! Can't wait for final 3.2.0 and all the converted level sets ...
> keep on going, Holger! Very Happy

Thanks!! :-)

> 1. I had some trouble to start it.
[...]
> I had to copy emc_objects.pcx and emc_players.pcx from the
> emc_emc_mine_3_gfx-Levelset to \graphics\gfx_classic, then it started
> without error.

Ouch! :-O

This is due to a reference to these graphics for debugging purposes (and will be removed/fixed in the final 3.2.0). I've just added these two files to the "graphics" folder of the pre-release archive, so others who test it won't have this problem (and won't have to do the above steps).

Thanks a lot for reporting this little show-stopper bug for 3.2.0-7!! :-o

> 2. Switching view between players works fine, but I wonder, if it wouldn't
> be useful to switch the amount of dynamites and the key status to the
> current player, too?

Veeery good idea -- you're perfectly right, it should be done exactly that way! Wonder why I never thought about this! :-o :-)

Any suggestion what to display when focus is on all players? Currently I'm displaying keys and dynamite of player one, but this is probably not the best solution, as every players needs his own keys/dynamite...

> 3. Just a general question about the menus: Sometimes there's the
> question Yes/No or for example the choice of the player colour at the
> beginning of a network game. How can I select the answer without using
> the mouse?

Do you mean the "setup" menu choices or the "door requester" choice? For the setup menus, use the cursor-left and cursor-right keys or the "Return" key or the "Space" key to toggle choices. For the "door requester", you can use the "Escape" key for "No" and the "Return" key for "Yes". Unfortunately, there is currently no way to select the network player colour without the mouse.

Sorry if I'm posting in the wrong place. I've seen from the announcements that prior to install the latest pre-release there is something to do.

Since I'm using 3.1.1, now I should DL 3.1.2, and install it in a different folder. Then I have to DL all the prereleases and install them subsequently in the same folder up to the 3.2.0-7.

Is that what I should do to install it properly?

If I am supposing right up to now, I need to know where to find the "middle" releases between 3.1.2 and 3.2.0-7...

> Since I'm using 3.1.1, now I should DL 3.1.2, and install it in a different
> folder. Then I have to DL all the prereleases and install them
> subsequently in the same folder up to the 3.2.0-7.

Sorry for causing confusion -- this is only needed if you never used any pre-releases before. If you have used the 3.2.0-6 pre-release, just update to 3.2.0-7 with the provided archive.

If you never used any pre-releases so far, you should start with 3.1.2 as the base package (in this case, 3.1.1 will work fine, too, as there is only one single, little bugfix from 3.1.1 to 3.1.2).

> If I am supposing right up to now, I need to know where to find the
> "middle" releases between 3.1.2 and 3.2.0-7...

Just download them from the links in the announcements of the pre-releases 3.2.0-x. But you only really need them for the updated graphics files in some pre-releases. If you already used 3.2.0-6, you only need this last package to upgrade.

Ok, just got 3.1.2, then I'll install 3.2.0-6 (the second version) and then 3.2.0-7, hope this will be enough - you know, dial-up connection

By the way: all saved levels should work correctly from the separated RnD folder, despite of the location of any running version, isn't it?

Just done what posted above. Everything goes fine, no tapes broken and maybe even faster gameplay - just an impression. Obviously I speak about my levelsets (just tried MasterRocks and Rockfighter, both old and new versions [player presses --> switch of]).

Noticed that the EM Engine animation for Rockford isn't that smooth as in the RnD engine. Is that a new or it's a normal thing? The former seems to miss some frames...

> Ok, just got 3.1.2, then I'll install 3.2.0-6 (the second version) and then
> 3.2.0-7, hope this will be enough - you know, dial-up connection

I've just checked the older pre-releases -- yep, that's exactly enough, as all graphic files from previous versions are also included in 3.2.0-6 and 3.2.0-7.

So you are right: To get a complete 3.2.0-7, you need 3.1.1 or 3.1.2 as the base, and then 3.2.0-6 and 3.2.0-7! (Sorry for the complication -- this was exactly meant for the dial-up folks, so that each update is as small as possible... :-o )

> By the way: all saved levels should work correctly from the separated RnD
> folder, despite of the location of any running version, isn't it?

Yes, exactly!

To be precise, this is true for all level sets stored inside the "Rocks'n'Diamonds" sub-folder in your "My Documents" folder.

I think that we have crossposted

What about the different animations mentioned above?

Jannik wrote: > 2. Switching view between players works fine, but I wonder, if it wouldn't
> be useful to switch the amount of dynamites and the key status to the
> current player, too?

Holger wrote: Veeery good idea -- you're perfectly right, it should be done exactly that way! Wonder why I never thought about this!

A very good idea, but it should not be done exactly that way. In my opinion this should be an Option. Both possibilities have their fascination.
And in Version 7.3.65 there will be more option switches than grid fields in the playfield, I think ...
And this subthread should split to "New Ideas"... sorry

> I think that we have crossposted

Oops, also just noticed that. :-)

> Noticed that the EM Engine animation for Rockford isn't that smooth as in
> the RnD engine. Is that a new or it's a normal thing? The former seems to
> miss some frames...

That's right. This is a characteristic of the EMC graphics engine -- most elements can only have exactly 8 frames (with a few exceptions, like the "magic ball" element). In a future version I may try to change this and allow more frames like in the R'n'D graphics engine, but for 3.2.0 it will be just like in the original EM/EMC engine.

> A very good idea, but it should not be done exactly that way. In my opinion
> this should be an Option. Both possibilities have their fascination.

Hmm. When I read this, I think that there is a misunderstanding. As I understand it, Jannik just meant to *display* the current state of keys and dynamite of the focussed player, but not to transfer it to the current player. So it's something which does not affect the engine at all, but is rather a cosmetic change.

> And in Version 7.3.65 there will be more option switches than grid fields
> in the playfield, I think ... Very Happy

Yeah... ;-)

> And this subthread should split to "New Ideas"... sorry

No problem ... so far it's more about bugfixing than new ideas. There won't be any new things or new ideas from 3.2.0-7 to 3.2.0-final, just bugfixing.

Network mode doesn't work.
When I start RnD with -network, it crashes, when I create a game.

Update: Forget about it, it was just some kind of stupid strange shortcut-ip-lan-firewall-misconfiguration, my fault!
Network mode really works smooth, and even the tape recorder can cope with the view modes (only view all players doesn't exactly zoom to the center between players).
Just one little flaw: the game stops, when one player enters the exit. It would be better, if a level could only be solved by entering exit with all players ...

Update 2:
I think there IS something wrong in the network code. Today I tried to play with a friend via internet, the first attempt it worked, but when we changed the levelset, we got these strange crashes I mentioned yesterday, even when we changed back to the previous levelset.
Then I tried with my notebook (2xLAN) and it crashed too.
Then 2xLAN with RnD 3.1.2 worked.
Then 2xLAN with RnD 3.2.0rc7 ... worked.
Then 2xLAN + 1xINET with RnD 3.2.0rc7 worked, but the INET player was only visitor, cause it was a 2-player game.
Then 1xLAN + 1xINET with RnD 3.2.0rc7 crash again.
Then 1xLAN + 1xINET with RnD 3.1.2 worked. Very strange ...

About the key/dynamite status:
What about a little indicator, what view mode is active? Like 1, 2, 3, 4, Sigma (for all) or better little players in yellow, red, green, blue and the Sigma sign ?
In the all players view mode you could display the sum of all dynamites and maybe of all keys too, because that's the stuff, that the whole team owns.
An alternative could be a 4x4 table for the keys, but I think there isn't enough space ...
Btw: What about an additional indicator for the vertical EMC style keys (purple, blue, brown, grey)?

About the menu:
I meant the door requester choice. Because RnD bases on such an old-fashioned (<- no affront) game, I didn't even expect mouse support. I looked a long time for a possibility to use keys, until I found out that it's clickable. I would definitely prefer a key control ...
Btw: About the setup menu, how do you think about moving to the last choice, if you're at the top and press 'up'? I'm so lazy ...

Holger wrote: Hmm. When I read this, I think that there is a misunderstanding. As I understand it, Francesco just meant...

...Francesco? That's not my quote, there above...

> ...Francesco? That's not my quote, there above...

OOPS!! Sorry!! Seems I was confused... :-o ;-)

Of course I meant "Jannik"! :-)