Mysterious exclamation sign

[Sascha]

Hi,
I don't know, maybe this
topic belongs to "Bug reports",
but I have a problem:
I have changed the graphics of the
invisible stuff of my graphics set Icy World (latest update, without the problem)
but when the invisible sand the invisible
normal wall is activated there appear
not empty spaces: there appear exclamation signs!
I have already checked the graphicsinfo.conf:

Code: Select all

invisible_steelwall:                    invis.pcx
invisible_steelwall.xpos:               4
invisible_steelwall.ypos:               3
invisible_steelwall.frames:             1
invisible_steelwall.EDITOR:             invis.pcx
invisible_steelwall.EDITOR.xpos:        0
invisible_steelwall.EDITOR.ypos:        0
invisible_steelwall.active:		invis.pcx
invisible_steelwall.active.ypos:        0
invisible_steelwall.active.frames:      1

invisible_wall:                         invis.pcx
invisible_wall.xpos:			5
invisible_wall.ypos:                    4
invisible_wall.frames:                  1
invisible_wall.EDITOR:                  invis.pcx
invisible_wall.EDITOR.xpos:             1
invisible_wall.EDITOR.ypos:             0
invisible_wall.active:                  invis.pcx
invisible_wall.active.xpos:             1
invisible_wall.active.ypos:             0
invisible_wall.active.frames:           1

invisible_sand:                         invis.pcx
invisible_sand.xpos:                    5
invisible_sand.ypos:                    4
invisible_sand.frames:                  1
invisible_sand.EDITOR:                  invis.pcx
invisible_sand.EDITOR.xpos:             0
invisible_sand.EDITOR.ypos:             3
invisible_sand.active:                  invis.pcx
invisible_sand.active.xpos:             0
invisible_sand.active.ypos:             3
invisible_sand.active.frames:           1

Ah, and is it possible to make the transition
from light switch on to light switch off smooth
with frames ("light_switch_activating:" or so)?

[Daniel H.]

Are you sure that you have the xpos and ypos right on the invisible sand?

Code: Select all

invisible_sand.xpos:                    5
invisible_sand.ypos:                    4

If you try to specify an xpos or a ypos off of the edge of the picture, then you may get an .

Especially check the 5. That appears to be the only 5 in the whole file, and that makes me wonder if that is the problem.

If it's not, then I suggest checking al of the other xposs and yposs.

Ah, and is it possible to make the transition
from light switch on to light switch off smooth
with frames ("light_switch_activating:" or so)?

No, but IMO that's a good idea!
Right now, you would have to make light switches and invisible materials using custom elements if you want to make a transition.

[Holger]

> maybe this topic belongs to "Bug reports"

Most probably not, looks like intended behaviour, so you have chosen the correct forum section. :)

> there appear exclamation signs!

This happens if you have errors in your "graphicsinfo.conf"...

> I have already checked the graphicsinfo.conf:

Have you checked your "stderr.txt"? Usually all errors that occur are reported there, so you should always have a look at it when defining graphics.

[Tomi]

In Linux, it's not in stderr.txt, but instead you have to open a terminal (Konsole, Eterm or XTerm) to run Rocks'n'Diamonds (write "rocksndiamonds" and press Enter, I think), and all errors will be reported directly to the terminal window.

[Holger]

Yep, perfectly right.

To be honest, I never really thought about this case. I mean, that people might *not* start R'n'D from the shell when using Linux. But of course you can start R'n'D from the graphical environment under Linux -- no idea where the error messages go in this case. That's something I probably should check...

(This also raises the question if ~/.rocksndiamonds is still the best choice for the user data folder on Linux, as it is principally a hidden folder, at least under graphical environments. But using some sort of "Documents" directory may vary between distributions... Oh well...)

[Sascha]

Daniel H.> Especially check the 5. That appears to be the only 5 in the whole file, and that makes me wonder if that is the problem.

Yes, you're right.
My console wrote that:

Code: Select all

rocksndiamonds: warning: error found in config file:
rocksndiamonds: - config file: '/home/sascha/Desktop/rocksndiamonds-3.2.0/graphics/icy world/graphicsinfo.conf'
rocksndiamonds: - config token: 'exit.closing'
rocksndiamonds: - image file: '/home/sascha/Desktop/rocksndiamonds-3.2.0/graphics/icy world/exit.pcx'
rocksndiamonds: error: last animation frame (26) out of bounds (96, 160) [320, 128]
rocksndiamonds: custom graphic rejected for this element/action
rocksndiamonds: fallback done to 'char_exclam' for this graphic
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
rocksndiamonds: warning: error found in config file:
rocksndiamonds: - config file: '/home/sascha/Desktop/rocksndiamonds-3.2.0/graphics/icy world/graphicsinfo.conf'
rocksndiamonds: - config token: 'invisible_wall'
rocksndiamonds: - image file: '/home/sascha/Desktop/rocksndiamonds-3.2.0/graphics/icy world/invis.pcx'
rocksndiamonds: error: first animation frame out of bounds (0, 160) [160, 128]
rocksndiamonds: custom graphic rejected for this element/action
rocksndiamonds: fallback done to 'char_exclam' for this graphic
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
rocksndiamonds: warning: error found in config file:
rocksndiamonds: - config file: '/home/sascha/Desktop/rocksndiamonds-3.2.0/graphics/icy world/graphicsinfo.conf'
rocksndiamonds: - config token: 'invisible_sand'
rocksndiamonds: - image file: '/home/sascha/Desktop/rocksndiamonds-3.2.0/graphics/icy world/invis.pcx'
rocksndiamonds: error: first animation frame out of bounds (0, 160) [160, 128]
rocksndiamonds: custom graphic rejected for this element/action
rocksndiamonds: fallback done to 'char_exclam' for this graphic

Yup.

But I think you're right, Holger.
Because you see in this code above: There is one more
Error with the exit door!
I noted that, too! There appears- an exclam!

Always I!

Continuos:
Yes, the light switch is boring.
It should be a little more.....
exciting... or so.

[Holger]

> Holger> Especially check the 5.

That was not me, but Daniel H. who wrote that!

> There is one more Error with the exit door!
> I noted that, too! There appears- an exclam!
> Always I!

So you know what to do now, don't you? :-)

[Sascha]

Holger> Especially check the 5. That appears to be the only 5 in the whole file, and that makes me wonder if that is the problem.

That's my quote!

Oops! sorry!
I'll correct that.
Sorry Daniel!!

[Sascha]

>> There is one more Error with the exit door!
>> I noted that, too! There appears- an exclam!
>> Always I!
>
>So you know what to do now, don't you?

Done.
But I don't know what's wrong with the exit door.

[Daniel H.]

Oops! sorry!
I'll correct that.
Sorry Daniel!!

That's OK!

[Sascha]

BTW: Why appears an exclam?
It would be better when the error would be shown in
an.... error window that opens when there is an error
in graphic.

(Sorry for my miserable English)

[Holger]

> But I don't know what's wrong with the exit door.

The problem is that you have defined an animation frame that is outside of your graphic file.

> BTW: Why appears an exclam?

It's a fallback graphics that shows you that something is wrong. (I could have used any other graphic instead... Maybe I should use one that's unused otherwise and specifically designed for this case.)

> It would be better when the error would be shown in
> an.... error window that opens when there is an error
> in graphic.

No, I don't think so. Your artwork file may have lots and lots of errors, which you don't want to see all in one message box. So this message box would instead direct you to "stderr.txt", which you already know to contain the warnings. So, when you're editing these artwork config files, you are already looking at "stderr.txt" for warnings anyway.

BTW: In case of fatal errors that force the game to abort, 3.2.1 will indeed show such a message box before terminating, directing you to the place where you can find "stderr.txt" with all the details.

[Tomi]

To be honest, I never really thought about this case. I mean, that people might *not* start R'n'D from the shell when using Linux. But of course you can start R'n'D from the graphical environment under Linux -- no idea where the error messages go in this case. That's something I probably should check...

Maybe when making an error message, print it also to some log file (in addition to printing it to stderr), for example ~/.rocksndiamonds/logs.txt or something like that.

(This also raises the question if ~/.rocksndiamonds is still the best choice for the user data folder on Linux, as it is principally a hidden folder, at least under graphical environments. But using some sort of "Documents" directory may vary between distributions... Oh well...)

I like ~/.rocksndiamonds just fine and don't like the idea of moving it somewhere else. User-specific program data *belong* to ~/.* folders. However, I agree that inexperienced users can't find it easily. There are some possible solutions:
a) Make a symlink to ~/.rocksndiamonds from the Documents folder.
b) Add a .desktop shortcut to ~/.rocksndiamonds/levels to the Desktop folder. (.desktop file format is standardized and should work on any GUI.)
c) Add an in-game information (in the form of an info screen, for example) explaining how to access the directory. I like this solution most.