HiddenChest RGSS Player Executable

[KDC]

Unsure at that point. I'm gonna try it out on a worked on project later, to see if I get somewhat better results. But yeah, I could partially blame Aluxes for that.

[kyonides]

Great Discovery!
Underline or Scratch What You're Reading!

As you might recall, I have been working on my game project entitled A Short Odyssey, working on its old fashioned battle system to suddenly read some forgotten SDL2 header file where I could find how to setup the Underline and Strikethrough options! Wow! The required steps and details were easy to implement in HiddenChest! I wonder why Ancurio never wanted to implement such common font features if SDL2 already offered them. Well, that's like asking him why he constrained the engine to just reinventing the wheel (and all of the RM versions defects or limitations).  

And yes! You can apply all possible styles at once if that's what you wish!  

I will add the list of new methods (very few indeed) to the first post of this bumping thread.

I have updated all the download contents of the web hosting sites where HiddenChest has been hosted ever since!

@KDC: Really, HiddenChest nor mkxp do mess with the default scripts at all, they just read them, evaluate them the Ruby way and executes them accordingly like in any vanilla XP game you have played for years.

[kyonides]

The Hidden BUMP Is Mischievous for Sure!

As you may recall, RGSS based games lacked of some interesting features tools like mkxp and HiddenChest offer abundantly. What you did not expect me to tell you is that I did manage to block the Alt + Enter key combo from entering into fullscreen mode!

Now you only need to use the following script call:

Code:

Graphics.block_fullscreen = true

To prevent players that know about the configuration file to keep changing the screen settings in an attempt to alter the gameplay. Now you have got full control of how your game should be played!  

Of course, you can use another call to enable it once again if you wish...

Code:

Graphics.block_fullscreen = false

By the way, I have compiled a binary executable that should be able to run in Full HD! Yes, the 1920x1080 screen resolution or 1K!

Warning!

I have only updated MediaFire files just in case anybody sends me any bug report or feature request I could handle on my own. Once I know for sure it is a stable version of HiddenChest, I will upload it to other web hosting sites as well.

Oh Crap! I forgot people like Wulfo usually get in troubles while trying to download stuff from that website. Fine, I have uploaded it to Box.com as well.

And yes, the github repository data has been updated accordingly to reflect all previous changes!

[kyonides]

A Huge Step Forward for a Little HiddenChest!

Really, I am not mocking of anything regarding space travel. It just happens that I have come back to let you know that something amazing has happened to the HiddenChest engine. What is it? Err, well, it is not something really new for VX Ace or MV users but it is for XP forumers indeed!  

Chapter 1: The Introduction Without Any Explanation

Melana: But what is it then? I don't like it when you get mysterious about new features.
Me: Err, that's on purpose I guess!?
Nyakuya: He won't tell you till you press him long enough to start blabbing about it.
Me: Ha... Ha...  
DerVVulfman: But you know, they're right about that! Come on! Go tell us what you did to your engine this time!
Lani: Yeah! Go ahead!
Me: Fine, fine...

This time HiddenChest allows you to play XP games with the window openness feature included a la VX Ace!

DerVVulfman: Yeah, they were right about it, that's nothing new... Wait a second! Did you say XP a moment ago? Is that an RGSS1 based game?
Melana: Yes, he did! He mentioned XP back then!
Nyakuya: Nah, you probably copied and pasted the code from VX Ace over to XP code and enabled it by default.
Me: Say what!? How dare you! That's not funny even as a yoke.
DerVVulfman: Well, you gotta admit he's got a point here.
Me: You too!? For your information I didn't borrow such code! The only things they got in common are the openness method and the need to animate their target windows.
KDC: Huh? I'm thinking I'm missing your point here, kyonides.

Chapter 2: The First Attempt to Explain What the New Version Actually Does

Me: Right... Let me explain it in a little more detailed way... I Did Not Pick The Easy Way or Take The Shortcut! OK, I know, it sounds hard to understand... The thing is that I just couldn't do that for a simple reason even if I was tempted to do so.  
Melana: Is it true? Then explain to me how did you manage to overcome such a enticing temptation.  
Me: Huh!? Enticing? Really Melana? Nah, it wasn't that bad at all. You see, once I had copied and pasted such a code I would have broken a few things in XP for sure. What kind of stuff? Err, well, I think the way the window graphics are distributed since VX and VX Ace use their own versions of the windowskin. I even think they don't have the same size...
Melana: Oh! Then what did you do then?
Nyakuya: Good question! He just didn't answer the question  as he always do.
Me: Well, you've seen the screenshots. A window now opens when the scene begins or closes after exiting the current scene. An hypothetical third screenshot would look like one of my previous A Short Odyssey game snapshot...
DerVVulfman: And you didn't waste any time to advertise your very own game, didn't you sharkie?  
Me: Hey! Stop pointing out such stuff, Wulfo!
Lani: wulfie's likes + 1
Me: As if he had said or done anything relevant here... Anyway, that's not the end of the story!  
Melana: That's not all!? Then tell us more! Don't keep us waiting!

Chapter 3: The Mysterious Improvement is Better than You First Thought

Me: OK, OK, you might also need to know it's far better than VX Ace's window openness...
Nyakuya: Oh really? Wait till I unknowingly find a way to break it!  
Me: Right... Well, what makes it a great asset for HiddenChest is that It Has 4 Modes!
Well, I gotta admit VX Ace offered two by default, namely animated and non animated, where animated equals a window that opens and closes on its own...
Siletrea: I don't fully grasp of all this stuff but I suspect there's some sort of AI involved here!
Me: Huh!? AI!? Err, well, Silly, let's keep it simple and down to earth. I just added useful code that will handle most of the actions in C++ plus their respective Ruby wrappers... OK, some of the CRuby code isn't that basic because it also handles stuff BEFORE the window finishes its initialization aka creation step and gets displayed on screen.
Melana: But that's amazing indeed! Don't underestimate your achievements!
Me: Err... Thanks, Melana... OK, let's talk about those two missing options or modes I haven't mentioned on this post. They are the top-down and the bottom-upwards openings! Fine, I didn't find the right words to phrase it as clear as to let even Silly get the whole picture. Even so it's true, you've got more than just the window opening in the middle of its current X Y coordinates. It could stretch downwards or upwards as well!  
DerVVulfman: OK, at first I didn't think that what you'd say next would be impressive at all, but that does sound like hitting the jackpot to me. Did you really implement it yourself?

Chapter 4: Some Details and Revelations

Me: Well, I actually reused some existing code to make it happen. You see, there was only one way to display any changes on screen, but the arrangement was not that obvious as I first thought. I did try several options till I had finally found the best one! You wouldn't even imagine how many times it seemed like I had to give up because that was beyond the reach of my current Ruby, CRuby and C++ programming skills.
Melana: Poor you! Take a long break, please!
Me: Nah, now I'm just feeling great for breaking another wall, achieving another goal, etc. Still, you should know I was forced to carefully test my engine hundreds of times to make sure that changes in Ruby, CRuby and C++ code didn't break the gaming experience. Though I do have one more thing to add here...


HiddenChest will also try to prevent you from calling a few default and newly added methods from making your game crash abruptly. I know, they aren't a lot of them but now it will try to inform you of what's the default value for that specific attribute or function or it won't let you get a strange bug showing up right in your face because the window hasn't been created fully by then.


Me: What does that actually mean?
Melana: Yeah, let me know!
Me: Fine, fine... It means you can call the some_window.open_mode = :center method and it won't matter if you do it inside the current window's initialize method, before or after the super call to Window_Selectable superclass, HiddenChest will process it instead of failing to do so! Then you can call the some_window.open method to tell the scene that it should be opened once it can be updated as usual. Guess what? You can even call them outside the initialize method, like right in your current scene script!


Inside the initialize method, the first call should start with self.open_mode = option to make sure it will be processed accordingly and use the open method after the contents are created and they get refreshed. Outside like in a scene script you would be able to call them after the line where that window was created. The name of the variable should precede the method calls. Of course, you only need to call them once!  

Chapter 5: And Melana Had to Ask About It...

Melana: What happens if you call them several times in a row or in different places?
Me: Well, that's easy to find out! Only the last call of open_mode will be valid for it would have overridden the previous calls settings. Concerning the open method, you only need to call it once. Really, just once!  
Nyakuya: Hey! Wait for me!  I need to take notes of all of these things to keep them in mind later on.
Me: Oh well, go ahead but you should know I won't stop talking just because of that.


One last thing you should know about it. You SHOULD call the close method from outside your window script, like in the scene, I don't know... Probably you would do it whenever you hit a button because you need to close the window to open another menu or close the scene.

Then you would need to add a Window#closing to the line right above Graphics.freeze to make sure the first or last window menu will not be ignored before leaving the scene so it can get enough time to get animated.

Happy Game Testing!

[kyonides]

Kind of Animated Sprites

In the latest release of your favorite engine, HiddenChest offers a new feature, to show or hide sprites as if they were curtains! Yeah, the effect does appear to be like an invisible curtain that shows or hides them! I know, there might be other ways to achieve the same effect, but it also works vertically! You don't believe me!? Then take a look at these screenshots!

The almost same happens if the scene closes but they go the other way around! And nope, they are not wrong, I just skipped the final result where everything looks normal.

There is a new script called SceneExample where you can see how to create or edit any scene to make it take advantage of the new features!

Really guys, I am getting out of ideas so please contribute with some curious featurettes I could probably add to the engine!

By the way, if you want to check what is the engine version you are using, print or puts it by calling print HIDDENCHEST::VERSION. The current official release is version 1.1.16!

Technical Details

This version also included a minor fix that solved an issue with the window taking longer than necessary to open or close because it called too many times a single method / function but that has been smashed already!

New Script Calls!

Sprite#reduce_speed and Sprite#reduce_speed= Sprite#increase_width! Sprite#reduce_width! Sprite#increase_height! and Sprite#reduce_height!

The first two calls measures speed as amount of pixels to show or hide per screen refresh alias frame.

Keep in mind this is only valid for regular Sprites! RPG::Animations, those found in the Animations database aren't taken in consideration at all.

[kyonides]

Go Click on the HiddenBump!

 

Oh well, it's not like the hidden bump really matters but the latest version of HiddenChest should!!  

Melana: I don't wanna be mean to you but why would you care about this release?
Me: Yeah, I knew somebody would ask me about it... and it had to be YOU!  
Melana: Don't make get excited without reason! Tell me about it!  
Me: Fine... Well from now on, both Sprites and Windows are Clickable! You might still need to add some Ruby code to any scene, but I know for sure it does work!  
Melana: Wow! That's amazing indeed!
Me: Great isn't it? I know there are some scripts that add such features but I think it gotta be faster if most of the code were written in C++ to avoid many Ruby calls like additions and comparisons that normally force me to convert them to C values... Not something I'd love to do every single day but... it's already done.

Now windows like Window_Command own a new instance variable called @area. There you need to store all the x, y, width and height your command box will need. Keep in mind that you need to add the window's current x and y coordinates since the boxes where the command options are displayed ignore that by default due to internal calculations (processed in C++). I'd recommend doing that in the window's refresh method.

I know that might not sound easy to achieve but that's exactly why I've helped you with updated Scene_Example and WindowOpenness examples so you can basically copy and paste their changes. I even commented the new @area stuff. The scene update changes might be easy to understand if you're already used to read Ruby code.

DerVVulfman: What about the second chapter of this scripting story? Is it coming up next?  
Me: Well, now that you mention it... Nope!

Notice

I have only updated HiddenChest source code so just those few that really know how to compile C++ and Ruby code might take advantage of this version of my engine. Besides I haven't tested this clickable feature on windows that have two columns nor Window_Item...

The new script calls are Sprite#mouse_above? or Sprite#mouse_inside? and Window#mouse_above?(command_index) or Window#mouse_inside?(command_index), where command_index is the command window's index starting from 0. (It's the window that show you "Start New Game" and such stuff. )

Happy BSOD! I mean... Happy Game Testing!

[kyonides]

Late Night Bumping Notice

Contrary to what some werewolf hybrid that finally denied he could shapeshift, meaning he can't be a werewolf after all , I have updated HiddenChest, at least in two out of the web hosting websites where you can find my engine. This time it might not contain the console versions for nobody ever showed any interest in using them so far. Even so I could upload them later on if enough people need any consoles while playtesting their games. It's not like you really need them nor should you ever distribute your games with such an executable at all...

By the way, I have uploaded a 64 bit version of the dll pack in case you were missing any of them.

[kyonides]

A Bumping Message Box!

 

Coming up next! Enter the MsgBoxSprite class!

So far I have only compiled Linux binaries, but I might get some for Windows 64 bit tomorrow I think.

SceneExample script has been updated to let people open a new scene with a single MsgBoxSprite right in the middle of a black sea of nothingness. And yes, you can click on the red x or cross to exit that scene! (Or just press B or C...) P would print a screenshot and then switch to the next stage where you can only press B or C buttons. I've also uploaded some of KScenario graphics to let people test that MessageScene for themselves.

EDIT

Actually I have already uploaded the updated source code and Windows 64 bit binaries to all those three web hosting sites I've mentioned in the past. It's quite great, isn't it?

[kyonides]

Instructions on How To Use MsgBoxSprite

Step 1 - Create a sprite!
Step 2 - Assign a backgroud bitmap to our brand new sprite!
Step 3 - Pick a nice title bar bitmap! (28 pixels tall at most, as wide as you might ever need, like 1280 pixels or so)
Step 4 - Choose a nice close icon! (some 24 x 24 pixels icon)
Step 5 - Create a bitmap where you will place all texts! (it can have the same dimensions as the background bitmap)
Step 6 - Display any text message!

Code:

@sprite = MsgBoxSprite.new
@sprite.bitmap = RPG::Cache.picture("SomePicture")
@sprite.bar_bitmap = RPG::Cache.picture("SomeTitleBarPicture")
@sprite.close_icon = RPG::Cache.icon("SomeIcon")
@sprite.contents = Bitmap.new(@sprite.width, @sprite.height)
@sprite.contents.draw_text(0, 0, @sprite.width, 26, "A Title", 1)

Notes
Actually the bar_bitmap and close_icon are optional, but the close_icon will let the player click on it to close that message box.
bar_bitmap's bitmap will be clipped automatically!
The contents width and height will be automatically adjusted so you will get a surface with original width - 8 pixels and original height - 4 pixels.
MsgBoxSprite does not offer any flash nor wave effect for obvious reasons!

[kyonides]

Gray Days Are Coming This Way!

Well, the latest version of HiddenChest already available on mediafire doesn't really bring great news... I just removed some temporary code and added a new featurette, the Backdrop.gray_bitmap!!

If you remember clearly, Naoxe Desert isn't gray at all...

Code:

# some scene code
Graphics.freeze
Backdrop.gray_bitmap
# some scene code

Other options are Backdrop.keep_bitmap (normal snapshot) and Backdrop.blur_bitmap (blurry one).

And then in the target scene just add...

Code:

@sprite = Sprite.new
@sprite.bitmap = Backdrop.bitmap
# some scene code
Graphics.freeze
Backdrop.clear_bitmap
# some scene code

I hope you like it!