Version 1.9.0 Beta is out!

All discussion about the Commander Genius project (a Keen interpreter + more).
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gerstrong
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Version 1.9.0 Beta is out!

Post by gerstrong »

Just released Commander Genius version 1.9.0 beta some hours ago.

The bad news are, it works only on Ubuntu so far using the PPA:

http://launchpad.net/~gerstrong/+archive/ubuntu/cgenius

If you already use that PPA, you are going to receive the updates automatically.

For Windows and the other system users, please be patient. I had some problems regarding the compatibilities of the files across different systems. I'm working on it right now.

As soon I get these problems fixed other build will appear on the Website.

Patience, Keen Dreams on CG is getting closer to you...!

EDIT: Now Windows version is up and running as well. Android version is on the way to appear on the google play store.
Having fun developing stuff...
Levack
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Post by Levack »

I haven't gotten the windows build to run KDreams yet it just crashes at the title screen.

On android it works just fine except for:

* you have to press all of the action keys (ctrl, space, Enter) to get past the title screen

* if you save after getting the bombs and reload the game will think you did not "finish" the level and will not be marked "DONE"

* when using a keyboard it is confusing to adjust from alt to space as the throwing key and when I hit alt it takes me back to the main menu

Xmas mod worked fine except of course some of the sprites had the wrong images and the castle wall didn't unlock (but I was able to complete the game anyway because bad tile info allowed me to get to the bad elf level):christmas

Hopefully since this is a beta you only removed the controls and sound options until they are completed? I was wondering if (in the interest of modernizing) looking up and down can be added to dreams.

I see you have a new image on the website with all the episodes shown. Will keen 9 be able to mostly, finally work properly in the 2.0?

By the way, what is the state of dosfusion? One Windows version had it and it seemed to work decently, then it appeared to be removed.

Keep up the excellent work and happy new year.
gerstrong
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Post by gerstrong »

Levack wrote:I haven't gotten the windows build to run KDreams yet it just crashes at the title screen.

On android it works just fine except for:

* you have to press all of the action keys (ctrl, space, Enter) to get past the title screen

* if you save after getting the bombs and reload the game will think you did not "finish" the level and will not be marked "DONE"

* when using a keyboard it is confusing to adjust from alt to space as the throwing key and when I hit alt it takes me back to the main menu

Xmas mod worked fine except of course some of the sprites had the wrong images and the castle wall didn't unlock (but I was able to complete the game anyway because bad tile info allowed me to get to the bad elf level):christmas

Hopefully since this is a beta you only removed the controls and sound options until they are completed? I was wondering if (in the interest of modernizing) looking up and down can be added to dreams.

I see you have a new image on the website with all the episodes shown. Will keen 9 be able to mostly, finally work properly in the 2.0?

By the way, what is the state of dosfusion? One Windows version had it and it seemed to work decently, then it appeared to be removed.

Keep up the excellent work and happy new year.
Let me answer your questions later, just tell me which windows did you use. With Widows 10 64 bit it ran fine without any crashes when I tested.
Having fun developing stuff...
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Post by VikingBoyBilly »

So I never ever tried commander genius before... until now, maybe, if I feel like it. Does this still have that 2-player feature I've seen?
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gerstrong
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Post by gerstrong »

Okay Levack,

I was a bit busy now I have some time to answer your questions. I hope you let me know which Windows you used. I will continue testing on errors. After that version I found a lot more pointer errors and unnecessary code, because in Refkeen based on the original source code there are very old problems in the code which with todays standard do not exist anymore. I have been using C++ here and there where I see advantages resulting the code maybe a bit bigger but also more bullet proof. Though the current github master branch got a bit smaller once again, so a lot is being done to better support Keen Dreams and also learn from that code as it serves as base for the galaxy games.

To all the others I was you a happy new year!!!

Getting to your questions:
Levack wrote:I haven't gotten the windows build to run KDreams yet it just crashes at the title screen.

On android it works just fine except for:

* you have to press all of the action keys (ctrl, space, Enter) to get past the title screen

* if you save after getting the bombs and reload the game will think you did not "finish" the level and will not be marked "DONE"

* when using a keyboard it is confusing to adjust from alt to space as the throwing key and when I hit alt it takes me back to the main menu
I see you have played it a while, very good!

That with the level not "DONE" bug is strange. Must have overseen something. I have implemented a way to just set the "DONE" sign on those levels only if you find at least 3 Bombs, so the player has more chances to collect them. Otherwise the gameplay would become unplayable in my opinion. Normal levels should work as usual. Just wrote down your issues at Github.

Levack wrote: Xmas mod worked fine except of course some of the sprites had the wrong images and the castle wall didn't unlock (but I was able to complete the game anyway because bad tile info allowed me to get to the bad elf level):christmas
I did not think that this mod would work. I did not test any mods, but it's good to see. For the next version some mods will be tested with the Dreams engine.
Levack wrote: Hopefully since this is a beta you only removed the controls and sound options until they are completed? I was wondering if (in the interest of modernizing) looking up and down can be added to dreams.
To be honest I don't know what to do with. I want to modernize the options. It is just disabled code, I can reenable anytime. I would like to implement our config system, but I still need to think in how to do that. Especially how it would in Dreams menu is what we need to tinker. From the other episodes you still can map the controls if PC version of CG is in use.
Levack wrote: I see you have a new image on the website with all the episodes shown. Will keen 9 be able to mostly, finally work properly in the 2.0?
I want to improve the support on Keen 9. Actually it runs fine in CG if you ignore the fact that AI is broken and that's the main problem. Getting the AI code into CG is very difficult for me, because I lack of knowledge about these hieroglyphs. I can learn them. I have a book about assembly, the intel codes of the past, but to be honest I'm a bit too lazy for that.

So here are my thoughts. I might extend Keen 9 the use a script language I want to support in CG. I'm thinking about python code for game AI and modding loaded from CG and having files which are really human readable. It maybe would mean a new generation of modding in Keen community. But patching the EXE the way it is now seems to be very popular, so I don't know if people will have interest to program it like that way. I will attempt to do that for version 2.0 and see what the outcome is. Maybe I'll take LUA as scripting language instead, I see it as another alterantive. I don't know yet.

But to fully support Keen 9 with a nicer script language is a goal I have in mind. For the issues with Keen 7 and 8 I might do the same though I see they run very well. You know extension is always possible...

It is hard to support mods, hacking exes is hard, creating mods I consider very hard and I think for a game like Keen it could/should be easier. Remember, goal is to modernize keening in CG.
Levack wrote: By the way, what is the state of dosfusion? One Windows version had it and it seemed to work decently, then it appeared to be removed.
Dosbox-Fusion is still there but disabled. The builds I now provide do not use it, since the feedback was very bad. It also is hard to maintain this code, because it contains many programming problems. I consider the fusion superior in some ways to the original Dosbox, especially because multiple graphical filters are supported, SDL2 works with that version and yeah you can run every dosgames in CG. But there exist Dosbox itself, so why copy the code build the same program? Make it better, dosbox needs some improvements, mabye or maybe not? Duke II with dosbox I played the other day. Runs nicely, but dosbox does the same...

I talked to Qbix, the dosbox main developer. He was not that happy about the idea, to integrate dosbox code into Commander Genius, I understand that to be honest. There are more recent version of dosbox than 0.74, but all are dev versions. Since I respect the original author of Dosbox and he doesn't like the idea, I might remove the dosbox fusion parts or put them on archive. I really don't have enough time to continue on that branch. I also don't know what I should do with it. As told, it is hard to port and codebase most the cleaned up. There is a lot of work to invest. If more people want me to develop that fusion stuff, they can argue here. But remember, Commander Genius has become more of a source port than a x86 emulation with freedos.
Levack wrote: Keep up the excellent work and happy new year.
Thanks, happy new year too, take care! :-)
Having fun developing stuff...
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Post by Levack »

It didn't work on:

Windows Vista _ 32bit
Windows 7 _ 64bit
Windows 8.1 _ 64bit

It worked on android versions:
4.4.2
5.0
gerstrong
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Post by gerstrong »

Levack wrote:It didn't work on:

Windows Vista _ 32bit
Windows 7 _ 64bit
Windows 8.1 _ 64bit

It worked on android versions:
4.4.2
5.0
Just uploaded two fresh Windows builds with a lot of bug fixes. I had no time testing it on Windows 7 or 8. It would be nice if you take a look. On my system with Win10 all the Keen games were playble. If you still have issues I might create an dev environment with an older Windows version to see what is happening. This is very important because for 2.0 I want a solid release
Having fun developing stuff...
Levack
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Post by Levack »

Keen dreams and Xmas mod now work on:

Windows 7 _ 64bit
Windows 8.1 _ 64bit
I would like to implement our config system, but I still need to think in how to do that. Especially how it would in Dreams menu is what we need to tinker. From the other episodes you still can map the controls if PC version of CG is in use.
I think you will need to make some sort of configure menu in Dreams, because the settings are what the Galaxy and Vorticon settings are. So the keys aren't correct unless you change them in a different game. The space key, which is the firing key, brings up the stat menu (but enter brings up the stat menu like in galaxy), which means you can't fire. This is not a problem for me, but for somebody new to Keen or CG it could be confusing.
for 2.0 I want a solid release
In that case, do you want all the episodes to be completable? Episodes 2,4,6, and 9 I could not finish due to bugs.

So far 1.9.1.0 has not crashed.(unless you click the close window button)
The configure file problem seems to be fixed.
Actually [keen 9] runs fine in CG if you ignore the fact that AI is broken and that's the main problem.
Yeah, I know.... nitpicky me :P
gerstrong
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Post by gerstrong »

Levack wrote:Keen dreams and Xmas mod now work on:

Windows 7 _ 64bit
Windows 8.1 _ 64bit

I think you will need to make some sort of configure menu in Dreams, because the settings are what the Galaxy and Vorticon settings are. So the keys aren't correct unless you change them in a different game. The space key, which is the firing key, brings up the stat menu (but enter brings up the stat menu like in galaxy), which means you can't fire. This is not a problem for me, but for somebody new to Keen or CG it could be confusing.
Yes I know. I want to design one similar to the original Dreams. The original one has stuff I would like to remove, like the calibration thing of joysticks. There will a simple mapper for the controls were keyboard/gamepad work together. About Space/Return default keys, this will get some improvements also.
In that case, do you want all the episodes to be completable? Episodes 2,4,6, and 9 I could not finish due to bugs.
With Episodes 2, 4 and 6 I'm not aware that they are unbeatable. I have no idea why that shouldn't be possible. I finished those multiple times in the past. Before Release 2.0 I will play all the episodes through for testing. But please do me a favor and report issues, in case not already done. The project is big I haven't gotten that much support lately and I cannot see everything happening.

So far 1.9.1.0 has not crashed.(unless you click the close window button)
That is good. Closing the windows should exit CG, that's normal. I might add a confirmation box for sich exit events.
The configure file problem seems to be fixed.
Actually [keen 9] runs fine in CG if you ignore the fact that AI is broken and that's the main problem.
Yeah, I know.... nitpicky me :P
That's okay, that way we can improve products and that is what I want -> deliver the ultimate Keen experience on modern systems!
Having fun developing stuff...
Levack
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Post by Levack »

With Episodes 2, 4 and 6 I'm not aware that they are unbeatable.
Episode 2 uses the scrub robots for a large majority of levels, but the scrubs are just falling off the walls at bottem right corners.

Episode 4 The only level I can not beat is the well because the dopefish won't eat the schoolfish when they swim by the dopefish mouth.

episode 6 the elevators do not hit the "Block" sprite (grey box with a "B") if they start out right next to a "Block" sprite and the elevators start out upwards rather then down. This happens in at least one level, Pyramid of the Gnosticene Ancients, (but it is not noticable unless you miss the red key) Not sure if the elevator bug happens in keen5.

Keen 9 you can't enter the last level (15).
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Post by gerstrong »

Levack wrote:
With Episodes 2, 4 and 6 I'm not aware that they are unbeatable.
Episode 2 uses the scrub robots for a large majority of levels, but the scrubs are just falling off the walls at bottem right corners.

Episode 4 The only level I can not beat is the well because the dopefish won't eat the schoolfish when they swim by the dopefish mouth.

episode 6 the elevators do not hit the "Block" sprite (grey box with a "B") if they start out right next to a "Block" sprite and the elevators start out upwards rather then down. This happens in at least one level, Pyramid of the Gnosticene Ancients, (but it is not noticable unless you miss the red key) Not sure if the elevator bug happens in keen5.

Keen 9 you can't enter the last level (15).
Well, seems there is still some work to do in order to make that a better product. I have reported the issues so I won't forget those...
Having fun developing stuff...
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Post by gerstrong »

Though I cannot agree fully with the bug you found in Keen episode 4 I improved the underwater level a bit and the sounds on the map when Keen is swimming got improved on the way.

https://github.com/gerstrong/Commander- ... issues/238

For the rest I'm still looking what is up...
Having fun developing stuff...
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