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zagnalopius

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  1. Happy New Year everyone, I needed to take a break from coding for a month or so, but I fired up Xcode today and had a good time, so I think I’m ready to start working again. Sknight – Thanks for answering my questions. I never needed to fiddle with any of the other parameters myself, even on a relatively slow eMac, but I’ve decided that I definitely should add “Open With Flags” (or something similar) to access them in a future version of GUIntv. John Tanner – Right now I'm working on a keyboard hack GUI that will let you configure the Intellivision's controllers on the fly in GUIntv. In the meantime, I've attached a simple hack file that I use on my MacBook Pro. It maps the left controller's action buttons to the left shift, control, and option keys, and the keypad buttons across four rows on the left side of the keyboard (1,2,3 q,w,e a,s,d z,x,c). DZ-Jay – It should be very easy to add a preference that makes GUIntv’s file selector always point to the last used directory. I never really considered dealing with subdirectories, but I’ll see what I can do in the future. As far as saving preferences goes, there are two versions of GUIntv – an Applescript and an app version – and they both handle preferences differently. Version 1.2 is an Applescript that saves its preferences internally as persistent global variables. Version 2.1 is a Mac app that saves its preferences in a plist file in ~/Library/Preferences. This might be a little confusing because version 1.2 was actually made after 2.1. I wasn’t planning on updating version 1.1, but there are still a lot of people on older machines who couldn’t use the new version, so I gave the Applescript one last update to fix a few issues, including how preferences are saved. KeyHack.txt
  2. Sknight, I see what you mean by the "Additional Parameters" box. If I implement something like that in GUIntv, I'd probably add an option called "Open With Flags" to the File menu. Open With Flags would open a window with a text field where unsupported flags could be entered before selecting a game. I don't think it will be difficult to code, but it's something I'll look into more after I finish the keyboard hack file GUI. Out of curiosity, what Mac were you using when you needed to manually set audio parameters? The main reason I wasn't planning on supporting more flags is that most of them seemed designed to coax more performance out of slow machines. Seeing as GUIntv 2.0 and newer require at least Snow Leopard to run, I figured that the default hardware settings weren't going to be a problem for anyone.
  3. Here's GUIntv version 1.2. Sorry it took longer than "a day or two", but I wanted to make a few last-minute changes. Like I said in a previous post, I wasn't planning to work on this, but GUIntv 1.1 was so crap-tacular that I felt like I had to try to fix it as long as people were still interested in a straight Applescript version. Here's what's new in version 1.2: Separate file paths for jzintv and each of the Intellivision ROMs, and the ROM files no longer require specific names. It's a more flexible system, and doesn't need as much prep work to get started. There is no longer an external preferences file. All preferences are stored in GUIntv's script bundle, so if you used version 1.1, you can get rid of the "GUIntv Preferences" file in ~/Library/Preferences. The current settings for all preferences are shown in the main window. Uses version 2.1's error handling and messaging routines. Please let me know if you find any bugs. Enjoy! GUIntv12.dmg.zip
  4. Speaking of future releases, version 2.5 is coming along nicely. It will feature redesigned file path and naming preferences as suggested by Sknight, along with my first stab at a GUI for configuring the Intellivision's controllers. Although I'm focused on the new version, I couldn't help but notice that the original 1.1 version is still pretty popular. As a matter of fact, it's been downloaded almost as many times as the Xcode version. So while I was writing the code for the new file preferences, I decided to try going back and adding them to the Applescript. The result is GUIntv version 1.2. I started coding the original GUIntv on a whim and put it together in a few hours while skimming the Applescript language guide. Although it got the job done, I had no idea what I was doing, so it was both kludgy and needlessly complex. Version 1.2 is a major improvement in just about every way, and I think it's at the limit of what is feasible with Applescript alone, so unless it's buggy, this will probably be the only update the Applescript version will get. Version 1.2 is 99% done. I just need to do a little more testing, and write some new documentation, and I'll post it here in a day or two. In the meantime, here's a screenshot of version 1.2's new main menu, and a work in progress screenshot of the Intellivision controller GUI for version 2.5.
  5. Hey Sknight, I just tried out your build of SDL and it works perfectly. Thanks a lot for posting it for everyone! If you don't mind, I'd like to include a link to in the next version of GUIntv. Regarding suggestions one and two in your post above, I didn't realize that specific file names were only necessary if the ROM's file paths weren't specified. I always thought jzintv required the system ROMs to be called "exec.bin" and "grom.bin" , so I designed the interface accordingly. Since there's really no need for a central Intellivision "system folder", I'll probably redesign the interface for the next release. I don't think I'll scan the system for ROMs, but I'll add controls in the preferences that let users specify separate paths for jzintv, EXEC, GROM, and ECS files. As far as suggestion number three goes, my main reason for writing GUIntv was to make it easier to play Intellivision games on OS X, so I'm trying to keep everything as simple as possible while providing the controls most people will want to use regularly. Personally, I don't see the use for most of the unsupported options except maybe rate control and the debugger. That said, I appreciate your interest in my project and if there are any features of jzintv that you think GUIntv should support, please let me know, and I'll see what I can do about adding them to a future release.
  6. Ok, I think i've fixed the problem. Lion can't handle Applescript's beep command if it's used from Applescript Objective-C. I was trying to use beep to play a sound every time an alert dialog appeared and it was messing everything else up. That explains the issues Lion users were having, but what's really weird is that supposedly it wasn't a problem for everyone. I have no idea why. GUIntv should work fine now, but during my recent testing, I've found an issue with jzintv and Lion. If you try to run jzintv in fullscreen mode on Lion, the screen goes black as usual, but instead of starting a game, jzintv quits with error 1010. The screen switches back to the normal Mac screen, but leaves behind an odd black window that floats over everything else. It can be moved, but the only way I've found to get rid of it is to log out. It's not a bug in GUIntv because I have the same problem running jzintv directly from Terminal, so I think it's either an issue with jzintv or the current version (1.2) of the SDL framework. I tried using a few different builds of jzintv and got the same result. I also tried to build the newest version of SDL with Xcode but couldn't get it to work. If anyone can test GUIntv with version SDL version 1.3, I'd be interested to know if whether or not that helps. Anyway, here's GUIntv version 2.1 for you to try. As usual, please let me know if you find any bugs. I'm also attaching a picture of the error message and black window that appear when I try to use fullscreen mode on Lion. Does anyone have any insight into why this is happening? GUIntv21.dmg.zip
  7. Hey, Cjherr, sorry you're having trouble. Lots of other people seem to be able to use GUIntv with Lion, so I'm not sure what the problem could be, but I'm starting to look into things. Could you tell me more about your system? What kind of Mac do you have and version of Lion are you using? As far as the preferences go, do they revert to the defaults if you close the preferences window and open it again, or only when you quit and relaunch GUIntv? If you could send me a copy of your preferences file in a PM that would be helpful. It should be in the Preferences folder inside the Library folder in your Home folder. The file is named 'com.zagnalopius.GUIntv.plist'. When you try to open a game, do you get any error messages, or does it seem like nothing at all happens, like GUIntv ignored your request? It might take me a while to find the problem, but I'll try.
  8. Thanks for the info, Goldenegg. No one else has reported any problems, so I'll assume GUIntv is bug-free until I hear otherwise. If anyone does have any problems though, they should let me know so I can start trying to fix whatever is wrong.
  9. Vprette, can you tell me what's happening when you try to launch GUIntv? Does nothing happen or do you get an error message? Is anyone else having problems using GUIntv with Lion?
  10. Wait no more Goldenegg, GUIntv version 2.0 is here! Please let me know if you find any bugs. -Zagnalopius
  11. GUIntv Version 2.0 is almost ready! What a difference a month makes. Version 2.0 has been rewritten in Applescript Objective-C, so it now looks and behaves like a normal Mac app. The only catch is that it requires OS X 10.6 or higher. If you’re running an older version of OS X or have a PPC machine, you should stick with GUIntv version 1.1. GUIntv is still a work in progress, but I’m pretty happy with the results so far. Most of the features I wanted to implement are there, but modifying keyboard hack files will have to wait for the next version. I've included a few screenshots to whet your appetite. As you can see everything has been totally redesigned to take advantage of standard Mac controls.
  12. Thanks for the heads-up Goldenband. I found the problem was the way I was using global variables. I guess should have read the Applescript developer guide more carefully, but I'm learning as I go along. Anyway, here's version 1.1 for you to try.
  13. zagnalopius

    GUIntv

    Please Note: The latest version of GUIntv (v2.1) is in post #14. Scroll down the thread for the download link. Version 2.1 is an application for OS X 10.6 and higher. Version 1.2 in post #20 is an applescript that will work on older versions of OS X and PPC Macs. I finally got tired of waiting for someone else to write a Mac frontend for jzintv, so I've cobbled together one of my own. I started out fooling around with Automator, and when I realized that couldn't do what I needed, I switched to Applescript. It's not perfect, but this is my first attempt at coding anything for OS X, so don't be too harsh . I'm planning on rewriting GUIntv as a proper Mac app in the near future, but I wanted to share what I have so far. The zip file includes the GUIntv frontend for jzintv, and a frontend for the bin2rom utility called bin2rom GUI. Give it a shot and let me know what you think. GUIntv doesn't support all of jzintv's oprtions, but if there's enough interest in a particular setting I'll try to add it in a future release.
  14. Actually, if you can tell Shingor his name correctly, he gives you a fully loaded Pulse Rifle (not to be confused with the Gauss Rifle hidden on level 1) and two packs of extra ammo good for 95 shots each. The Pulse Rifle does Power(High) and Fire(Low) damage, requires two hands to wield effectively and wears out through use.
  15. That's the one thing I've never been able to do in The Dungeon, the only mystery to me left in the game. What is the weapon and spell you get? I seem to vaguely remember something called "the holy hand grenade" is that it or is that something different? The best things about the AR series are the unanswered questions, the tantalizing hints, the wild rumors and misinformation one still finds circulating online. If you don't mind losing that last bit of magic, keep reading. I think it is much more satisfying to work up a character from scratch and earn an invitation from the monks the hard way, but if you really can't wait to see what happens when a saintly character joins The Order, give this a try. 1) Start a new City character. 2) Go immediately to the dungeon entrance. 3) Save the game. 4) Boot The Dungeon 5) Use the utilities to transfer your City character. 6) Start the game and walk your transfered character to The Chapel. As a Zero level character, you won't meet anything too nasty on the way. 6) Notice the new option at the bottom of the Chapel menu. Using this option will let you enter The Garden and hang out with the monks. Although City characters are supposed to start the game with a "neutral" moral alignment, transfered characters seem to enter The Dungeon as saints. I've experimented with this a bit, and it would seem that your character needs to be REALLY nasty to transfer to the dungeon with an Evil alignment.
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