Menu for v1.3

[lgb3d]

Recently I had a breakthrough.

Without a GCS menu program for Windows.. it does not give the player the ability to save or load games...

My game is somewhat lengthy and I'm trying to make it as challenging as possible. As well as entertaining as possible..but if the player does not have the ability to have longevity in the game and is forced to continue restarting from the very start of the game with nothing in the inventory who's actually going to make it that far?

I kept imagining to myself I can make a menu program, no I have never went to school for computers.. but I grew up in the right era... Young on tinkering with qbasic taught me how to code in basic... reading the source of HTML Pages taught me to code HTML... cut something out add something else run it again see what the difference is figure it out teach yourself... The gcs was much a similar education for me although it came with a manual, thank God... point being I have no expertise to write a program, but I do believe it's possible to write a program that would fill the void left in the absence of a menu program for the windows gcs version 1.3

So the other day I start thinking to myself "go.bat" is not the game it's what launches the game... but batch files can do quite a few interesting things..

So I started tinkering with it, when I make final I get a single line in go.bat but there's a process and variables that could be tinkered with... No harm no foul.

"Pnocomp f pdata c %1 %2 %3 %4 %5"

That is the way the single line reads. The "C" is somewhat to clear data, so when pnocomp runs it is fresh..

So I subtract the C... every time I play the game I start off exactly where I died with full health and all the items I was carrying wow.

So I made the batch file to read with multiple executions of pnocomp. The first time should always be from the start of the game so I leave the "C".. another two times with pause in the command prompt between executions that occur without the "C"..

This gives the player three lives like an old coin eating arcade game... no save games no checkpoints.

At that point I knew I was onto something. So I started writing a simplistic program that avoided launching pnocomp immediately..

I put a couple lines in that would ask for the players name creating it as a variable... as well used a few lines to explain to the player you get three shots each time you will start where you died with full health and all the items you were carrying after the third time you die you have to start back from the very start worth nothing... each time the player dies I would have the command prompt taunt the player, since I had the players name I can make it really personal.

I can access the date and time on the computer and make it visible in cmd... So as my script is explaining the game.. and I have the players name it was on this date at this time... that he started playing or perhaps that hus funeral was...

Then I started thinking to myself shoot I can script a couple lines they keep track of the time pnocomp is running... so each time the player loses a life it says exactly how much time it took him to die...

So I'm pretty pleased with myself so far I've given the player greater longevity which I felt was a must... but at the same time I feel like I should be brainstorming because I see a lot of potential here if I script and code things correctly...

For example if the player dies I could have a prompt that asked do you want to continue... and if the player responds it would launch pnocomp w/o the "C"..

Or perhaps there is a countdown and if the player does not respond in time it jumps back to the clear and refresh pnocomp with the "C"..

But in reality, a batch file doesn't only read or launch it can write to the computer... and I've identified there's a game State preserved when the "C" is left out of the exe.. so technically if the player pause the game and returns to the command prompt program, that could be the option of saving and preserving that and writing it as a new file that could be accessed later... AKA save and load.

Before I go that far I really need to dissect other gcs games go.bat.. I've looked a few over but I have not toyed with them yet.. the ones with gcss menu have a bit more to them which is what I think I really need to look closer at to comprehend.

If they are accessing various other programs to carry out the actions that might be my dead end, as I don't have the source code, and Kevin Stokes forewarned everyone even with these programs might be impossible to compile...

But if I could identify the way the game runs and where is that game State temporary file appears I could either make it function with my batch file as I described above or write a separate program similar to menu... But that's probably more complex then a project I'm currently capable of figuring out...

When I started to make my game a little over a decade ago, I thought to myself yes I love Doom I want to make something like Doom... But the same I wanted to make it like Zelda I used to play on the NES... A world you can explore, travel back and forth through, different events occur at locations you've already visited based upon something that occurred at the other end of the map... But you know I really loved Ghouls and ghosts on the mssters system, The parallel I suddenley see is that right now my game is three-strikes-and-you're-out although you have more hit points It's oddly reminiscent. But much better than how it was 24 hours before where you get one shot from start to end in no matter how when or where you died it's back to the very start...

Anyways, I'm going to try to shoot a quick video now that I explained everything in text to demonstrate how go.bat the batch file is currently functioning on my game

[lgb3d]

For the thought of save states..

Main directory "end.Txt" is created /updated every time the game is paused or player dies. It appears to be the direction the player is facing, the elevation and location on map... and apparently a few other notes, I don't want to say health inventory or Universal register as these numbers all appear to fluctuate based upon movement but I can't imagine where those would be stored...

When player dies "pend" is created in main directory, type is file.. but no format or file type, cant read in notepad.. perhaps it's not relevant, except to a mode of continue game. When "go.bat" calls "pnocomp" with "C" "pend" disapears, perhaps its for Universal register flags for the end state..

In data folder "Univx.bin" (x=universe #) created updated when warp to next map.. if you are playing the game and have not been on a map there is no Universe .bin for it.. so the level data must be stored here enemies pickups animations ect.... Can't read in notepad..

Every time you die "State32.bin" is created in data folder.. Idk... just like "pend" it disapears when pnocomp runs with "C" in the string.. until I discovered at which point it appears I was assuming this would be the players health items and potentially Universal registers. As the player can carry those from one map to the next and an animation on level 10 that requires Universal register I was triggered on map one would not react to it until you load map 10... but based upon the time in which it appears that's unlikely.

All active "univx.bin" and "end.txt"... would have to be stored, and available to be recalled and loaded in to the game directory..

So hoping that would be simplistic to do, pause the game return to cmd and copy the current files to an alternate file for storage and call them back later to play...

The thing I would see as confusing is identifying how many of and witch "univx.bin" are active...

Example you're playing the game.. you have already died once or twice so you are operating pnocomp w/o "C".. and you've traveled from Universe 0 to Universe 10.. there are 10 active univx.bin.. at which point you pause the game and choose to load a different saved game. But the saved game is univ 1-9.. so if the player was to enter Universe 10 it would already be written and it would not be a fresh start...

The only way I see that the game would run flawless utilizing my theorize save load... when you choose to load, the First Act would have to send you to pncomp + c.. and then the data transfers so its not erased by the "C" in the string..?

Then "pend" and "state32.bin" give the player two more chances with out the "C" in pnocomp... storing a location elevation and whatnot the player was at when he died.

With my limited knowledge sounds easy to have "go.bat" script to copy and store data then extract from separate file and amend the main and data directories with ".bin" and ".txt"..

Just have to make a code that seeks out all ".bin" and end.txt, and coppies them to a new folder for storage.

I'm going to devise a few experiments and see if I can figure out if my logic is functional before I start coding it..

Perhaps my theories off on the save load... But sure as heck I'm pleased with my accomplishment of getting multiple lives in gameplay data preserved... So if my semi logical Theory does not work I'm still in a better place than I was the other day.

[lgb3d]

Okay I'm going to describe the experiment I just did.

I launched the game with a fresh start, after pnocomp +c executed.. I manually imported end.txt & all univx.bin..

Game still starts from the very beginning so something is wrong with my application of end.txt or understanding of it..

But.. univx.bin... did load correctly, my initial test I had traveled through three levels, kill guards picked up and moved items.. the univx.bin is only created after you leave a level ... So although I played three levels all I got was 2 univx.bin.. ok.. although my game began from the start the maps were exactly the way they were...

Small success...

So I need to discover if I can get the active game which is running to generate a current univx.bin when game is paused..

But regardless I'm not getting the correct player location when game loads although the maps are accurate to what occurred during the saved game play...

But this experiment gets good...

So I started exploring another title.."sgt blood".. I think it's Sergeant blood into aliens or Sergeant blood escape something like that apparently it was made in collaboration with pie in the sky and it's not the world's best game.. but the menu functionality and file directory and multiple batch files are pretty interesting compared to other GCS titles..

My intent was to view the command line for loading the game, and see if there was anything in the batch file that was easy access "txt" to a load save feature.. nope..

And when saving the game yes who makes a separate file to store the data in and each save file has three forms of data files.. "descript.dat" stores the name of the save entered by the player. "Univx.bin" as many universes or Maps the player experienced as well as it creates this without the player leaving the level... and "state.bin" at this point I'm sure that's where the players health inventory Universal registers Etc are stored, and bizarre it parallels "state32.bin" that is generated in the window engine the difference being in the window engine it only appears when the player dies...

So essentially I believe I would have to get the running game not my "go.bat" to produce state.bin and curent "univx.bin" for my batch file to store in save fame file...

So yes with go.bat I could make save files including all levels that the player has exited but not a level he is currently on and never exited... And if I was to do this.. the player would always begin from the start of the game any inventory items that were picked up or picked up but otherwise the levels would be and they're saved state...

The only other way I could imagine this happening with "go.bat" alone.. when the player dies, the script could offer to save at that location.. "state32.bin" has been created at that point.. and all levels other than the one the player was currently on would be in there Save State. And he would enter that level with fresh "univx.bin" meaning if he killed an enemy on that level when he loads the game that enemy would be alive again...

I'm sure there's a way to make save load work as fluid as it did and that gcs menu For dos... but it's probably going to require source code C script and a successful compiler...

So for now that's that...

On to the next topic of discovery investigating gcs bat files

[lgb3d]

Another batch file discovery and expermint, that proved successful..

I did make other gains by observing how "sgtblood" batch files as there are multiple "blood.bat" & "go.bat" work.. as well there is "gcs.cmd" and when reading it in note pad...

It gives an interesting line that parallels the way we used to launch go.bat from command prop pre gcs menu.. remember "go s1" that turns on sound..

Sg blood's gcs.cmd.. is probably peace the functions with gcs menu for dos.. as the two other batch files never point to it...

In gcs.cmd there is one line that reads...
F pdara x s1 t m

Ok....

Paralels
Pnocomp f pdata c %1-5...

I'm going to try to break this down oh, I don't know anything about coding or computers.

F=file that is loaded or accessed

P typicaly indicates a variable or input..

So the file "data" is made available...

Now the confusing part...

X=idk
S1= sound on
T=toggle midi on
M=mouse...

I remember there was one command to add to go.bat for joystick... I am going to assume that is "x"

What so what was "t" someone must remember...

I swear in the original dos gcs manual there were definitions for all the go.bat cmd line variables..

Not important now...

So one problem I have had throughout the entire time developing my game... When I test the level both Sound and Music work. But after I make final only music works.

As well once you've made final every time he launched the game you have to manually turn music on. When you do this it takes a couple seconds before splash screen MIDI plays... Which kind of defeats the purpose, if I come out here to play a game or wait for a tune to load..

So..

I changed my go.bat string pertaining to the launch of pnocomp.exe

Pnocomp f pdata c s1 t m..

Now when the splash screen appears, the midi track immediately starts playing..

When you look at the options it will say music is turned on but sound is off.

But if you launch the game music and sound are both playing...

Press alt during game play and check the options menu and it shows an indication that sound is turned on...

Now when does splash screen is up and it says sound is off if you click the button to turn the sound on, during gameplay sound is turned off... So you would have to use the alt button to access the options menu and turn it back on...

So something is up with that toggle switch and a command that comes from it... as well the absence of "s1" in the launch string of go.bat.. I have discovered simply putting an S without the number one produces the same effect and although the options menu does not indicate it the game starts with sound on.

I'm not sure about the "x" or the "t"

As well i have no idea what %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 contributed to the launch string script. The game plays Flawless without it...

I do remember shortley after version 1.3 was released patches were being released from Pie in the Sky software upgrading it for free to owners who purchased the inital releaseof v1.3. But something tells me they knew there were a couple quirks and what I just discovered and resolved might have been quirks with v1.3 for windows...

I do remember the farthest I made it with the upgrade patches was version 2.1... Which was pretty phenomenal still use the Doss editor in combination with the windows editor..

And when I made projects with version 2.1 sound ect functioned after make final..

To wrap this up I am pretty sure my exploration of "sgblood" bat and cmd files just identified and resolved a v1.3 quirk involving wav sound after make final..

Wow... I'm that guy who went too deep and accidentally stumbled into the answer of his own issue with the gcs.. if my experimental achievement ever benefits anyone other than myself I am claiming full credit... yeehaw

[lgb3d]

This video demonstrates the modified batch file I made of "go.bat"

www.dropbox.com/s/6sq4bpahwy0xuws/20220606_203220.mp4?dl=0

In this video I was going for a suicide run simply to demonstrate the batch file as quick as possible... But there's a few other visual key notes to watch for as it is all happening real fast.

On my first life I enter a room and explosions go off. A guard standing on the bridge is gibbed by the explosion, (demonstrating my recent tutorial on how to gib enemies with grenade or explosion). Then I shoot the guard standing in front of me, as I'm coming quick it triggers his retreat script showing his gunshot death scene from the rear ( graphically achieved by modification the guards unique solido.txt)

On my second life, you will see me run into one of the floating heads that explodes when it makes contact. (another example of the "Gib guards with grenade or explosion" tutorial) The burst hurt the player severely but notice the human formed guard nearby is gibbed by the explosion.

On my third life (for contrast) I shoot two guards with the shotgun and they lay on the ground displaying gun death graphic. I turn and there on the ground is a pile of giblets from the previous mentioned guard, as I head to the room with the spinning blades.

[Saturdaynight]

This is great stuff! Keep up the good work!

[lgb3d]

I hope someone other than myself benefits from this, even if that's Limited to a person playing the game once I have it finished...

Imagine die once go back to start .. that is a little too challenging