I’ve been using FMOD Ex 4.37.05, from 2011, all this time and recently figured I ought to look into updating. So I got a copy of FMOD Studio 1.08.04, one month old, and spent like five maybe ten minutes adapting Noxico’s sound code. Now I have a little archive with the new DLLs and two CS files, a clean drop-in replacement. I’m just wondering, is it worth it in the end to switch?
Month: June 2016
On dialogue and file formats
When I started on this game project, I put all the data in a bunch of XML files. Some of them were parsed into token trees before use, others were custom-parsed.
Eventually I felt like XML’s verbosity was unneeded, and I came up with a format that more closely matched the token tree data structure and was reasonably human-readable.
Recently I converted the second-to-last XML file to TML; the i18n word list and its related data, done mostly with a quickly whipped up converter and a little bit of aftercare. The only thing left in XML format is the game’s dialogue.
<scene id="GenericUnknownHottie" name="(starting node)"> <filter target="bottom" type="relation" value="none" /> <filter target="top" type="value_gteq" name="charisma" value="50" /> <p> "Ah... Greetings, traveller," [b:he] says with a slightly flushed smile. "Can I... help you, maybe?" </p> <action name="introduce yourself" /> <action name="invite to have sex" /> <action name="no thank you goodbye" /> </scene> <scene id="GenericIntroduceHottie" name="introduce yourself" list="Introduce yourself"> <filter target="top" type="value_gteq" name="charisma" value="50" /> <p> You tell [b:name] your name and flash [b:him] a twinkling smile. </p> <p> "It's a pleasure meeting you, [t:name]", [b:he] says a little flustered. </p> <script type="text/javascript"> top.SetRelation(bottom, "acquaintance"); bottom.SetRelation(top, "considers hot"); </script> <action name="invite to have sex" /> <action name="goodbye" /> </scene>
-- TML version scene: GenericUnknownHottie start filters bottom: relation value: none top: has path: charisma value: >= 50 $: ""Ah... Greetings, traveller," [b:he] says with a slightly flushed smile. "Can I... help you, maybe?"" action: introduce yourself action: invite to have sex action: no thank you goodbye scene: GenericIntroduceHottie name: introduce yourself list: Introduce yourself filters top: has path: charisma value: >= 50 $: "You tell [b:name] your name and flash [b:him] a twinkling smile." $: ""It's a pleasure meeting you, [t:name]", [b:he] says a little flustered." script <[[ top.SetRelation(bottom, "acquaintance", true); bottom.SetRelation(top, "considers hot"); ]]> action: invite to have sex action: goodbye
How exactly this data is used doesn’t matter here. No, what I’d like is opinions. So please tell me, does that example look readable? Do you maybe have another idea?
Regarding the new patch system I just whipped up and put on Bitbucket
Given this starting data, music.tml:
Title loonie_-_cronologie_4_remix.xm sandras_sweet_sex_seminar.xm Grassland joule-mozarella_filofox.xm aa-molec.s3m hyo-dum.it
and this patch, music.tml.patch:
-- Add this to the end of the file add: - Added patch_me_in.s3m -- Add this between Title and Grassland add: Title Inserted patch_me_in.s3m -- Add this to Title add: Title/- beek_ita.it -- Remove a particular song from Title remove: Title/loonie_-_cronologie_4_remix.xm -- Replace a song replace: Title/loonie_-_cronologie_4_remix.xm Cronologie IV.ogg -- Replace the whole set of title music choices replace: Title Title Cronologie IV.ogg Sandra's Sweet Sex Seminar.ogg -- Change a token's value(s) set: Inserted value: 42 text: something
Given two tokens with the same name, you can use something like bodyplan[6]
(zero-indexed!) or bodyplan[=felin]
in a path as well.