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> From: Darryl Adams <root@vanguard.tig.com.au>
> Nooooo!!!!! Please keep it in Java so that Unix & OS/2 people can use
JAVA Builder is a full GUI based FT Ship and Base designer that I made just to
test a conversion of my JavaScript SpaceDock from my old web page. The problem
is, it needs to talk to a network server in order to store the Ship files.
That's why I was planning on Windows. Builder was also going to expand to
track Campaign games.
If there is enough call, I will continue work on it also, but the Windows
Version is my priority now. If there are enough Unix people out there, I could
always port it to X.
In the windows version, I'm going to add the ability to play PBEM games
directly from the program, it will send the mail messages and receive them
from a POP3 mail server. There will be a server side component to this that
will work with the JAVA version, to make all dice rolls and damage allocation.
Please let the ideas flow, I'd like to hear more about any file standards you
want for Ship Diagrams, as I will support a Binary file storage and also a
Text file for people just using the program to build ships and
stations/bases.
Hope those of you here in the States, and in the UK had a good holiday!
I have upgraded to Delphi 3.0 this weekend and In the middle of Converting
my JAVA Builder <which no one has ever seen, sorry> into native 32-Bit
Windows Code. If you have any wish list ideas for this, please let me know,
i'm planning on having a beta available for test no later then next weekend. A
URL to the site will be made available for Download at that time.
> At 04:11 PM 5/27/97 -0700, you wrote:
For coming into this late....Huh? Did I miss something?
> On Tue, 27 May 1997, Stuart Ford wrote:
> I have upgraded to Delphi 3.0 this weekend and In the middle of
Nooooo!!!!! Please keep it in Java so that Unix & OS/2 people can use it
(which I am both)
What is JAVA Builder????
> Nooooo!!!!! Please keep it in Java so that Unix & OS/2 people can use
> If there is enough call, I will continue work on it also, but the
There is a graphics library for C++ called "Amulet". It works under
Unix
(gcc) and Visual C++ (4.0+). That is what I wanted to use for mine so I
could Linux-ize it.
> In the windows version, I'm going to add the ability to play PBEM games
Sounds neat but I'm not into this aspect. How about a seperate program for
that?
> Please let the ideas flow, I'd like to hear more about any file
I want one that will create a.gif or.bmp of the design. It would also be nice
if the file was stored in a text file that could be printed out and be
readable.
+++++++++++++++
+------------+ +----------------+
> Stuart Ford writes:
@:) ----------
@:) > From: Darryl Adams <root@vanguard.tig.com.au>
@:)
@:) > Nooooo!!!!! Please keep it in Java so that Unix & OS/2 people
@:) > can use it (which I am both)
@:)
@:) JAVA Builder is a full GUI based FT Ship and Base designer that I @:) made
just to test a conversion of my JavaScript SpaceDock from my @:) old web page.
The problem is, it needs to talk to a network @:) server in order to store the
Ship files. That's why I was @:) planning on Windows.
Only Java APPLETS have (security) problems reading and writing files. Java
APPLICATIONS have no such difficulties. Since your plan is apparently to have
people download your program and run it on their
local machines, I would suggest spending the 30-60 minutes it would
take to convert your existing applet into an application and
distributing that. Yes there are a lot of UNIX, OS/2, Mac etc people
out here.
@:) If there is enough call, I will continue work on it also, but the @:)
Windows Version is my priority now. If there are enough Unix @:) people out
there, I could always port it to X.
Lame. Sorry, but that would be lame. I guess I am spoiled because I live in
the future but porting just seems really antique to me.
@:) In the windows version, I'm going to add the ability to play PBEM @:)
games directly from the program, it will send the mail messages @:) and
receive them from a POP3 mail server.
This would be neat. Please keep us apprised of your progress!
> At 04:11 PM 5/27/97 -0700, you wrote:
I know I'm in the minority here, but I'm all for Stuart's Win95/NT app.
Come on guys; Stuart doesn't HAVE to make a ship designer at all, and it's
really not anyone's place to dictate the format in which he chooses to code
out of the goodness of his heart (of course, this is easy for me to say since
I have a Wintel system). Perhaps, Stuart, you could make the source code
available to assist others in porting it to other platforms?
That being said, if you're still taking suggestions, what I would like to see
is:
* A graphic output for the completed ship, in BMP or GIF (GIFs are more web
friendly, but I could use the BMPs in my VB4.0 apps). This was originally Eric
Fialkowski's suggestion, but it's important enough to bear repeating.
* A seperate, editable weapon/equipment database so that different
components can be changed to accomodate house rules and new equipment. What
would be great is if these could be given different names, so I could draw
from different databases for different campaigns or races.
* An output of ships to database that could be incorporated into other
programs.
That's really about all I would want out of a ship design program.
Thanks,
> On Wed, 28 May 1997, Joachim Heck - SunSoft wrote:
> bonus for a heterogeneous group like our list here. That's why I
Or you can use Python (my fave), which runs pretty darn near everywhere Java
does. Or Tcl, with the same results. Or, frankly,
almost any of the next-generation byte-compiled or virtual-machine
languages that have hooks to connect to system-specific services would
work. If we're really clever, they could use RFC822-style data files
which libraries exist already for parsing on most of those languages; if the
fields get standardized, then the systems interoperate.
> Alex Williams writes:
@:)
@:) > [ Java RULES]
@:)
@:) Or you can use Python (my fave), which runs pretty darn near @:)
everywhere Java does. Or Tcl, with the same results.
I agree. I am biased towards Java, of course (and I think it might be easier
to get) but overall I think it's just cooler to have transportable executables
than portable source code.
> Donald A. Chipman, III writes:
@:) I know I'm in the minority here, but I'm all for Stuart's Win95/NT
@:) app. Come on guys; Stuart doesn't HAVE to make a ship designer at @:) all,
and it's really not anyone's place to dictate the format in @:) which he
chooses to code out of the goodness of his heart (of @:) course, this is easy
for me to say since I have a Wintel system).
No, but when he stated that he had already written it in a language that most
of the people here could use and that he was now porting it to a less useful
(for us as a group) form, it seemed like a step back. Luckily ship design
protrams are pretty easy to write so there are a bunch of them around.
Actually I get the feeling they're not used as much as they might be.
@:) * A graphic output for the completed ship, in BMP or GIF (GIFs are @:)
more web friendly, but I could use the BMPs in my VB4.0 apps). @:) This was
originally Eric Fialkowski's suggestion, but it's @:) important enough to bear
repeating.
This would be cool but it is VERY HARD. I'm not sure people are really
grasping the hardness factor involved here. A ship design program is a day's
work but this thing would require significantly more effort. It's not
impossible by any means, but it's tough. Also it might produce ships that only
appeal to the tastes of particular people, and not to others.
@:) * A seperate, editable weapon/equipment database so that different
@:) components can be changed to accomodate house rules and new @:) equipment.
What would be great is if these could be given @:) different names, so I could
draw from different databases for @:) different campaigns or races.
This, on the other hand, is easy and a good idea. Actually my spacedock applet
was at one point rewritten to use just such a database. Then I realized that
no one could write to the file because it was on the net. Another bright idea
down the tubes. I guess I could applicationize the thing to allow this kind of
modification. Maybe I'd better, to avoid being accused of hypocrisy.
> At 12:36 PM 5/28/97 -0700, you wrote:
Well, mind you, I'm only a dabbler, and I'm not at all familiar with Delphi's
RAD, nor do I know nearly as much Java as I should. If it was a VB
application, I would probably use a BMP version of Dr.Tachyon's Ship Bits and
the 3 basic ship templates from the game. Then, I would have the program set
areas for the equipment that pertained to a particular template and blit the
images from Tach's ship bits onto the predefined areas. Assuming that all the
ship bits are the same size (say, 20 x20 pixels), and you know where you're
grabbing them from and where you're putting them to, it shouldn't be TOO
impossible. For example, a 120 x 200 BMP of a Cruiser
template probably has room for 5-9 mountings: number one would be X
50-70,
Y 20-40, number 2, X 30-50 Y 45-65, number 3, X 70-90 Y 45-65, and so
forth. If these locations were all stored in an associated hull object,
A
little additional logic could balance this out some, so that everything looks
more or less symetrical, as well as some safeguards to make sure that you
don't exceed the max number of mountings for the selected hull type. Finally,
blit in the hull boxes and the thrust, and you're all set. No, it's not easy,
but not necessarily anything so tough that it outweighs the advantages of
having such a system.
Y'know, I might even have to take a crack at this myself....
Take care,
> No, but when he stated that he had already written it in a language
It has always been on my list to complete my JAVA version, the current version
I have now is an Application, not an Applet. The only reason i'm creating a
Windows version first is to test out my new development environment.
> @:)* A graphic output for the completed ship, in BMP or GIF (GIFs are
This is something else I would love to support, and have been thinking on ways
to produce the images. More than likely, you would have to drag and arrange
the systems to fit your own needs. It would be quite easy to make a large
number of general hull outlines available.
> @:) * A seperate, editable weapon/equipment database so that different
This is on the drawing board as well.
> From: Darryl Adams <root@vanguard.tig.com.au>
And Mac!
> At 10:20 AM 5/28/97 -0400, you wrote:
I like the idea too. I started with an MS-DOS version and tried to
convert
it to windows 3.11 but now that I have Visual C++ 4.2, I thought I'd
convert to 32 bit. But I'm still learning MFC, I have school, a whole bunch of
other lame excuses. I have an 80% Linux conversion using ncurses:) Stuart
should be praised for going to the effort.
> * A seperate, editable weapon/equipment database so that different
One thing that I'm toying with in my DOS version is weapons that are mass
based like cloak. I'm trying to use a format like this: 3 Arc A Battery, 3,
13, 0
Cloak, MASS / 10 , MASS * 10, 3
(Weapon Name, mass, cost, dependency flag)
That way, new weapons could be added to the database without a rebuild of the
program.
+++++++++++++++
+------------+ +----------------+
I second Tre's statements and requests. Stuart, build it in whatever is
easiest for you.
> At 10:20 AM 5/28/97 -0400, you wrote:
> Eric Fialkowski writes:
@:) >I know I'm in the minority here, but I'm all for Stuart's Win95/NT
app.
@:)
@:) I like the idea too. I started with an MS-DOS version and tried
@:) to convert it to windows 3.11 but now that I have Visual C++ 4.2,
@:) I thought I'd convert to 32 bit. But I'm still learning MFC, I @:) have
school, a whole bunch of other lame excuses. I have an 80% @:) Linux
conversion using ncurses
^^^^^^!
The world-famous text windowing system! I think I'll stick with
pictures. MFC is a pain (so is OWL).
@:) One thing that I'm toying with in my DOS version is weapons that @:) are
mass based like cloak. I'm trying to use a format like this:
@:)
@:) 3 Arc A Battery, 3, 13, 0
@:) Cloak, MASS / 10 , MASS * 10, 3
@:) (Weapon Name, mass, cost, dependency flag)
@:)
@:) That way, new weapons could be added to the database without a @:) rebuild
of the program.
This is a good idea. My spacedock has a file it reads to get mass and cost for
all the weapons and such, but cloaks, streamlining and
the like are all hard-coded into the program, which kinda sucks.