Jump to content

Zodiac: Story of the Guardian

Photo

Final (?) Beta


  • Please log in to reply
19 replies to this topic

#1 C-Dawg

C-Dawg

    Magus

  • Members

Posted 12 July 2015 - 10:43 PM

========================================================
PREPARE YOUR THUMBS FOR THE JULY 13, 2014 BETA OF ZODIAC
========================================================

With the aid of my hard-working testers, I have cleaned up all of the bugs that I am aware of, and the game is getting pretty polished. I hesitate to call this the "final beta," because I suspect there are probably more bugs hiding in esoteric corners of the game, but this might be the final beta. You can go download the files piecemeal on the project downloads tab if you really want to, but I suggest you use this Link instead, which includes all of the necessary files (Zodiac.qst,, ZClassic.exe, and all music files):

https://www.dropbox....ac TGS.zip?dl=0

I recommend this because this download comes with a special treat: Gleeok was kind enough to give me a special preview of the new version of ZClassic to use. The critical feature this adds is that, if you load Zodiac in this particular version of ZClassic, your screen transitions will be lightning-fast. That's right, no more waiting around for a million years while you bump your head on a platform! Praise be to Gleeok! Of course, if you liked the old, slow scrolling, just load up the regular ZClassic program in the directory and you can enjoy that, too.

WHAT COMES NEXT?

There only thing left to do before I call Zodiac done is to add the secrets leading to alternative endings and bonuses for achieving them. My goal is to keep those particular features under wraps until they're done, say in August or September, and so future releases including them will be password protected.

But, before I do that, we need to squash bugs, if there are any. I also need feedback on gameplay and balance issues. If you all find terrible, game-breaking bugs or sequence breaks in this version, I'll probably update it again before going into secret-y mode.

You have two weeks to find the bugs and breaks. I'll be out of pocket and largely offline until August starting on July 14, 2017, so I leave this game in your capable hands. Download and screw around. Try to sequence break. Try to exploit the quirks of the engine. Go nuts. Can YOU finish the game without cheating before I return?

 

HAVING TROUBLE?

 

I've heard people having strange problems when using the full directory download.  Well, never fear.  Just load up ZC 2.5.1 and dump the following files into that folder if you want to do this the manual way:

 

Music Files:

https://www.dropbox....-12-15.zip?dl=0

 

Special ZClassic Version:

https://www.dropbox....zodiac.zip?dl=0


Edited by C-Dawg, 13 July 2015 - 11:12 PM.

  • Jared and Deedee like this

#2 Deedee

Deedee

    Bug Frog Dragon Girl

  • Moderators
  • Real Name:Deedee
  • Pronouns:She / Her, They / Them
  • Location:Canada

Posted 13 July 2015 - 12:56 AM

Whoawhoawhoa

 

What version of Zelda Classic are we talking about here? 2.6? What new features does it have?

Lightning fast transitions sound awesome!


Edited by Dimentio, 13 July 2015 - 12:57 AM.


#3 Evan20000

Evan20000

    P͏҉ę͟w͜� ̢͝!

  • Members
  • Real Name:B̵̴̡̕a҉̵̷ņ̢͘͢͜n̷̷ę́͢d̢̨͟͞
  • Location:B̕҉̶͘͝a̶̵҉͝ǹ̵̛͘n̵e̸͜͜͢d҉̶

Posted 13 July 2015 - 01:18 AM

Probably 2.5.2



#4 Deedee

Deedee

    Bug Frog Dragon Girl

  • Moderators
  • Real Name:Deedee
  • Pronouns:She / Her, They / Them
  • Location:Canada

Posted 13 July 2015 - 01:21 AM

Probably 2.5.2

NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU



#5 C-Dawg

C-Dawg

    Magus

  • Members

Posted 13 July 2015 - 07:28 AM

Is the special ZClassic version working for everyone? I had someone tell me it did not.  It's working for me, though.


Edited by C-Dawg, 13 July 2015 - 09:15 AM.


#6 bigjoe

bigjoe

    Apprentice

  • Members

Posted 13 July 2015 - 10:03 AM

It works, with the trivial problem of having to reset the quest directory and select the quest again.



#7 C-Dawg

C-Dawg

    Magus

  • Members

Posted 13 July 2015 - 12:18 PM

Yeah, they don't allow relative paths for save files yet.  I'm also told by [NewStarShipSmell] that the new build of ZC is automatically starting up in fast-forward mode, with no cap.  Is that happening for anyone else?

 

If so, I'll see what I can do about making a new download to fix that before non-ZC people discover the problem.

 

I'm glad I got this uploaded earlier than I expected, so I have a day to try and make sure it's working properly for everyone!


Edited by C-Dawg, 13 July 2015 - 02:48 PM.


#8 MeleeWizard

MeleeWizard

    Best of both worlds.

  • Members
  • Location:Myrtle Beach, SC

Posted 13 July 2015 - 01:09 PM

Fast-forward?  I said that it went from a full screen of blank white to nothing and back again until it just gave up and ran the regular ZC instead.



#9 C-Dawg

C-Dawg

    Magus

  • Members

Posted 13 July 2015 - 01:29 PM

Yeah, the fast forward error comes from NewStarShipSmell.

#10 Gleeok

Gleeok

    It's dangerous to dough alone, bake this.

  • Members
  • Real Name:Pillsbury
  • Location:Magical Land of Dough

Posted 13 July 2015 - 07:46 PM

I think the absolute filepaths still have some kinks in them. For example, in the config file you can clearly see under "last_dir" it still stores the full filepath there, and somewhere in the load save game routine as well.

The other issues might simply be the fact that the config file is not set up or has wrong values in it--Are you guys using ZLauncher??!--; (MeleeWizard: Can you delete the config file, since it should default to run in a window?) "cap_fps" and "fullscreen" must have wrong values in it.

If you copy over just the zcsound.dll and zc.exe over to the 2.5.1 directory it SHOULD work the same as that version and be able to use the old save files, config files, etc.

C-Dawg: I didn't know you wanted to pre-package the whole thing up like that. It needs some tweaking I think. :P

#11 C-Dawg

C-Dawg

    Magus

  • Members

Posted 13 July 2015 - 08:09 PM

Yeah, sounds like it.  If you are around tonight, I can log into chat and you can walk me through fixing it.  I'd like it to be up and running smoothly before I leave tomorrow morning. 



#12 Gleeok

Gleeok

    It's dangerous to dough alone, bake this.

  • Members
  • Real Name:Pillsbury
  • Location:Magical Land of Dough

Posted 13 July 2015 - 10:43 PM

Well, for the zc guys here I would just let them download it separately, if they want it, and they can just copy it over to the 2.5.1 zc directory and it should be happy living side-by-side with it. (I have like 6 or 7, or something ridiculous like that, different versions in my ZC folder!)

To give it to someone who doesn't know zc so it is preloaded I haven't tried that before, but I thought Nick or Saffith has been able to do that in the past...not sure. I have actually never tested this though.

...Well, I suppose it's as simple as deleting the config file, then moving the whole ZC directory to somewhere else (like your desktop for example). If that doesn't work it's definitely a bug.

#13 C-Dawg

C-Dawg

    Magus

  • Members

Posted 13 July 2015 - 11:00 PM

Well, deleting ag.cfg doesnt' help with the relative linking to the preloaded save file, as far as I can tell.  Will deleting the ag.cfg from the download at least cure the strange behavior people are reporting?

 

You kinda see what I'm trying to do, right?  Eventually I want it set up so that the end user downloads a single file, and the directory has:

 

1. A game manual

2. A shortcut to the ZClassic game sitting in the parent directory

3. A game data folder where the normal ZClassic stuff all lives

and

4. A few preloaded saves in case people don't want to learn how to actually find the game file in a directory.  My limited testing shows that shockingly many people fall into this camp.  "What?  Two steps? Psh, confused, going back to Call of Doody"

 

EDIT: Hah, in the short term, I can just rename Zodiac "1st.qst" and it autoloads.  Doesn't show an icon, though.  I'll upload a fixed version of the directory with ag.cfg removed and this little workaround.  Hopefully that will make things... better?

 

I can fix the link here, but I don't think I can fix it in my Downloads post.  Any way you can swap that out once I get the new link up in a minute?

 

EDIT2: All done.  Opening post has fixed downloads.  I think.


Edited by C-Dawg, 13 July 2015 - 11:13 PM.


#14 Gleeok

Gleeok

    It's dangerous to dough alone, bake this.

  • Members
  • Real Name:Pillsbury
  • Location:Magical Land of Dough

Posted 14 July 2015 - 01:28 AM

Found the problem: ZC is retarded.

Exhibit A:

Decrypting...okay.
Opening...okay.
File not found "c:\SVN\zc\trunk\output\common\../../../../../Documents and Settings/Me/Desktop/zc-250-5th/HoF5th.qst". Searching...


It should store the filename seperate from the path, but it doesn't. Instead it has all the paths merge into megapath and destroy Tokyo. :shrug:
I also don't know why the simple case of no path isn't working...

Anyway, I just hacked in a fix for it. It's probably the worst code I've ever written. Basically every time it can't find the quest it keeps removing directories one by one until it can. If it can find my HoF5th.qst after moving it from that mess I don't think you'll have any more problems with it.

So, have a good trip C-. Probably too late for a fixed version right now.

#15 C-Dawg

C-Dawg

    Magus

  • Members

Posted 14 July 2015 - 01:42 AM

Yeah, I'm heading to bed. My patch -- replacing 1st.QST with a copy of Zodiac-- is way worse than yours!

Anyhoo, if you have access to the text on that download page, I sure would appreciate it if you swapped the old link for the new one. The link for the whole file at the top of this page is updated and should work better.

Edited by C-Dawg, 14 July 2015 - 07:12 AM.



0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users