Profile for Isaac
Field | Value |
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Displayed name | Isaac |
Member number | 4202 |
Title | Warrior |
Postcount | 192 |
Homepage | http://webpages.charter.net/theswamp/isaac/ |
Registered | Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
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Betatesters for 3D Blades of Avernum Editor! in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
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written Friday, November 19 2004 02:00
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quote:No, although I've browsed it a lot lately. It has lots of interesting information. I put the links in like that because: I felt like I was giving up and wanted to make up for it by mentioning many of the good websites/games I've foundI didn't want to them to be a list (don't know why not, though :P )All the links are at least somewhat related to the word they're found onSome of them might help other programmers@Arenax: I'll email you. -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
Betatesters for 3D Blades of Avernum Editor! in Blades of Avernum | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
|
written Friday, November 19 2004 02:00
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quote:No, although I've browsed it a lot lately. It has lots of interesting information. I put the links in like that because: I felt like I was giving up and wanted to make up for it by mentioning many of the good websites/games I've foundI didn't want to them to be a list (don't know why not, though :P )All the links are at least somewhat related to the word they're found onSome of them might help other programmers@Arenax: I'll email you. -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
Betatesters for 3D Blades of Avernum Editor! in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
|
written Thursday, November 18 2004 14:39
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Oh dear. I've been doing other things.... I wish I knew what was wrong, but I don't. I can't reproduce anything. Jeff's code is pretty bad; I don't really want to do more with it. I have looked at much of the code and the changes and can't find anything suspicious. Someone else could try compiling it themself, although that shouldn't make a difference. I have even lost most of my interest in Blades of Avernum for now; Battle for Wesnoth has 'cured' my interest in RPGs, and, being somewhat of a perfectionist, I am more a fan of strategy (which can be improved on a scale) than nonlinear plot (which there is no perfect, or even optimal, solution to). I feel I must leave the solution, if there is one, to another programmer who has experienced these problems. I have what I would consider a finished version, except that other people are having problems with it. If those problems were solved, I would be very happy to share the praise with him or her upon the release of a relatively bugless version, which could be justifably called 3D Editor 1.0 (Mac). Ideally, the entire editor should be rewritten with more power, extendability, and portability, but that is obviously a major task. Also hindering that is a perhaps poorly-designed, closed-source game engine, with many arbitrary limits and idiosyncrasies. Blades of Avernum is a good game, whose creator has wisdom in business, but it could have been designed much better (using C as the basis for the scripting language's basic syntax was a bad idea, considering the kinds of problems people tend to have with it, but then, hindsight is always an advantage). I wish Jeff luck in his next "Blades" game; may it be as much better than BoA as BoA was better than BoE. As for me, I shall likely look into these forums occasionally, as I am doing now, but, barring unlikely events, I shall remain aloof. -- Isaac the Stumped Genius P.S. Hope the new directions help! -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
Betatesters for 3D Blades of Avernum Editor! in Blades of Avernum | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
|
written Thursday, November 18 2004 14:39
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Oh dear. I've been doing other things.... I wish I knew what was wrong, but I don't. I can't reproduce anything. Jeff's code is pretty bad; I don't really want to do more with it. I have looked at much of the code and the changes and can't find anything suspicious. Someone else could try compiling it themself, although that shouldn't make a difference. I have even lost most of my interest in Blades of Avernum for now; Battle for Wesnoth has 'cured' my interest in RPGs, and, being somewhat of a perfectionist, I am more a fan of strategy (which can be improved on a scale) than nonlinear plot (which there is no perfect, or even optimal, solution to). I feel I must leave the solution, if there is one, to another programmer who has experienced these problems. I have what I would consider a finished version, except that other people are having problems with it. If those problems were solved, I would be very happy to share the praise with him or her upon the release of a relatively bugless version, which could be justifably called 3D Editor 1.0 (Mac). Ideally, the entire editor should be rewritten with more power, extendability, and portability, but that is obviously a major task. Also hindering that is a perhaps poorly-designed, closed-source game engine, with many arbitrary limits and idiosyncrasies. Blades of Avernum is a good game, whose creator has wisdom in business, but it could have been designed much better (using C as the basis for the scripting language's basic syntax was a bad idea, considering the kinds of problems people tend to have with it, but then, hindsight is always an advantage). I wish Jeff luck in his next "Blades" game; may it be as much better than BoA as BoA was better than BoE. As for me, I shall likely look into these forums occasionally, as I am doing now, but, barring unlikely events, I shall remain aloof. -- Isaac the Stumped Genius P.S. Hope the new directions help! -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
Fields in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
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written Wednesday, November 10 2004 02:36
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quote:Scripts are somewhat slow, so a long script that occurs every move (whether implemented with START_STATE or some other way) may slow the player down noticably. quote:No, but if you're just placing quickfire, I don't think it gets randomly removed, it just spreads, unless a script explicitly destroys it. It seems to me that placing the script in the INIT_STATE should work, if it's quickfire. However, looking at your script, I see that it places antimagic fields. You DEFINATELY do not need the ifs. I think the problem is that antimagic fields decay after the town's START_STATE happens. You might want to try putting it in the START_STATE of a terrain script that you place nearby (you may need to put in its INIT_STATE; I'm not sure) because terrain script START_STATE triggers far more often than town START_STATE. quote:If you want it to happen every turn everywhere in the town, use START_STATE. Besides, there is a maximum of about 60 specials you can place in a town (it depends on town size; I think that's for large towns). If there was some good reason to have one everywhere, you could make new floor types so that every floor in the area has the special ability to trigger a special encounter. It would trigger for each character that move, even out of combat, and trigger even in combat, but not in either case if the party stands still. You do not want to try this here. -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
Fields in Blades of Avernum | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
|
written Wednesday, November 10 2004 02:36
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quote:Scripts are somewhat slow, so a long script that occurs every move (whether implemented with START_STATE or some other way) may slow the player down noticably. quote:No, but if you're just placing quickfire, I don't think it gets randomly removed, it just spreads, unless a script explicitly destroys it. It seems to me that placing the script in the INIT_STATE should work, if it's quickfire. However, looking at your script, I see that it places antimagic fields. You DEFINATELY do not need the ifs. I think the problem is that antimagic fields decay after the town's START_STATE happens. You might want to try putting it in the START_STATE of a terrain script that you place nearby (you may need to put in its INIT_STATE; I'm not sure) because terrain script START_STATE triggers far more often than town START_STATE. quote:If you want it to happen every turn everywhere in the town, use START_STATE. Besides, there is a maximum of about 60 specials you can place in a town (it depends on town size; I think that's for large towns). If there was some good reason to have one everywhere, you could make new floor types so that every floor in the area has the special ability to trigger a special encounter. It would trigger for each character that move, even out of combat, and trigger even in combat, but not in either case if the party stands still. You do not want to try this here. -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
Betatesters for 3D Blades of Avernum Editor! in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
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written Sunday, October 17 2004 10:17
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quote:I'm sorry, I have tried as hard as I can to figure out what's wrong. I can't reproduce any of your problems, and I have looked in the code and can't find anything suspicious. No one else seems to be having these problems. Do you know of anything unusual about your computer? That is all I can think of to ask; I have absolutely no idea whatsoever what could cause any of the problems you have mentioned. I suppose you could be lying or insane, or something like that, but that seems highly unlikely. -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
Betatesters for 3D Blades of Avernum Editor! in Blades of Avernum | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
|
written Sunday, October 17 2004 10:17
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quote:I'm sorry, I have tried as hard as I can to figure out what's wrong. I can't reproduce any of your problems, and I have looked in the code and can't find anything suspicious. No one else seems to be having these problems. Do you know of anything unusual about your computer? That is all I can think of to ask; I have absolutely no idea whatsoever what could cause any of the problems you have mentioned. I suppose you could be lying or insane, or something like that, but that seems highly unlikely. -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
Indestructible zombie help in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
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written Sunday, October 10 2004 11:48
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quote:No. I wish it was possible. -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
Indestructible zombie help in Blades of Avernum | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
|
written Sunday, October 10 2004 11:48
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quote:No. I wish it was possible. -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
Simple screen size question in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
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written Saturday, October 9 2004 04:12
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I put in the 3D Editor the SHIFT-direction feature, easy scrolling between outdoor sectors, a way to change outdoor size, and hotkeys for changing what view you're using. -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
Simple screen size question in Blades of Avernum | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
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written Saturday, October 9 2004 04:12
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I put in the 3D Editor the SHIFT-direction feature, easy scrolling between outdoor sectors, a way to change outdoor size, and hotkeys for changing what view you're using. -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
Betatesters for 3D Blades of Avernum Editor! in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
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written Saturday, October 9 2004 04:06
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Thank you for your prompt responses. Version 0.12b2 is available. It slightly changes the colors of monster borders in 3D. In particular, the hidden-monster colors are different, and it is now possible to distinguish Hostile A and B. I also added another feature, after someone mentioned something they wanted to do in the editor on the forum, and I realized I wanted the same thing. Option-clicking on a space now centers on that space, and if you're zoomed out, it zooms in to that place. I also made it much easier for Mac developers (such as myself!) to test it while programming. [ Saturday, October 09, 2004 04:07: Message edited by: Isaac ] -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
Betatesters for 3D Blades of Avernum Editor! in Blades of Avernum | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
|
written Saturday, October 9 2004 04:06
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Thank you for your prompt responses. Version 0.12b2 is available. It slightly changes the colors of monster borders in 3D. In particular, the hidden-monster colors are different, and it is now possible to distinguish Hostile A and B. I also added another feature, after someone mentioned something they wanted to do in the editor on the forum, and I realized I wanted the same thing. Option-clicking on a space now centers on that space, and if you're zoomed out, it zooms in to that place. I also made it much easier for Mac developers (such as myself!) to test it while programming. [ Saturday, October 09, 2004 04:07: Message edited by: Isaac ] -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
Betatesters for 3D Blades of Avernum Editor! in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
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written Monday, October 4 2004 00:38
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I have some questions for the users of this. (Don't forget you're still beta-testers!) Have you been inconvenienced by the multiple steps needed to get between 3D editing and zoomed-out mode? Do you even use zoomed out mode? Do you ever use normal 2D editing? How often? Have the TAB and OPTION-TAB keyboard shortcuts been useful? Do you use OPTION-TAB more than the other, so perhaps the keys to use them should be swapped? -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
Betatesters for 3D Blades of Avernum Editor! in Blades of Avernum | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
|
written Monday, October 4 2004 00:38
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I have some questions for the users of this. (Don't forget you're still beta-testers!) Have you been inconvenienced by the multiple steps needed to get between 3D editing and zoomed-out mode? Do you even use zoomed out mode? Do you ever use normal 2D editing? How often? Have the TAB and OPTION-TAB keyboard shortcuts been useful? Do you use OPTION-TAB more than the other, so perhaps the keys to use them should be swapped? -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
help with zoom in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
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written Monday, October 4 2004 00:32
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quote:You mean, you're in the northwest corner of the town, and you want to go to the southeast? To do this, press CONTROL-3 (3 on the numeric keypad). Scrolling all the way across the map is a standard feature. quote:None that I've ever found, sorry. However that makes me think that I shall implement something in my 3D Editor: OPTION-CLICK on a location to center on that location, in any mode of zoom. -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
help with zoom in Blades of Avernum | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
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written Monday, October 4 2004 00:32
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quote:You mean, you're in the northwest corner of the town, and you want to go to the southeast? To do this, press CONTROL-3 (3 on the numeric keypad). Scrolling all the way across the map is a standard feature. quote:None that I've ever found, sorry. However that makes me think that I shall implement something in my 3D Editor: OPTION-CLICK on a location to center on that location, in any mode of zoom. -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
A thin line between good graphics and insanity in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
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written Monday, October 4 2004 00:21
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If you're using Appleworks (on a Mac), you need to move the graphic all the way to the top left of the window in Appleworks before copying it, with no space, 0 pixels, between it and the top, and it and the left. Otherwise the problem you described happens. I have no idea why; Jeff told me this while ago when I was having the same problem. -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
A thin line between good graphics and insanity in Blades of Avernum | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
|
written Monday, October 4 2004 00:21
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If you're using Appleworks (on a Mac), you need to move the graphic all the way to the top left of the window in Appleworks before copying it, with no space, 0 pixels, between it and the top, and it and the left. Otherwise the problem you described happens. I have no idea why; Jeff told me this while ago when I was having the same problem. -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
Graphics Question in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
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written Friday, October 1 2004 00:26
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quote:Sorry, it doesn't. quote:In the past I have experimented with Mac graphics, and also did some stuff with using graphics in the 3D Editor. There are no restrictions on its size, as long as any image you use is within its bounds. Why would there be such a restriction? It would seem pointless and wasteful. For example, if you only have 4 graphics, there's no point wasting space by making the image 10 units wide. -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
Graphics Question in Blades of Avernum | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
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written Friday, October 1 2004 00:26
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quote:Sorry, it doesn't. quote:In the past I have experimented with Mac graphics, and also did some stuff with using graphics in the 3D Editor. There are no restrictions on its size, as long as any image you use is within its bounds. Why would there be such a restriction? It would seem pointless and wasteful. For example, if you only have 4 graphics, there's no point wasting space by making the image 10 units wide. -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
Betatesters for 3D Blades of Avernum Editor! in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
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written Wednesday, September 22 2004 01:34
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quote:I don't know what to say. You seem to be the only one having all these problems. And you say it's still quitting without bringing up anything saying anything was going wrong? (have you upgraded to 10.3 yet? that would make things simpler; I don't know so much about exactly how 10.2 works.) -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
Betatesters for 3D Blades of Avernum Editor! in Blades of Avernum | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
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written Wednesday, September 22 2004 01:34
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quote:I don't know what to say. You seem to be the only one having all these problems. And you say it's still quitting without bringing up anything saying anything was going wrong? (have you upgraded to 10.3 yet? that would make things simpler; I don't know so much about exactly how 10.2 works.) -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |
Betatesters for 3D Blades of Avernum Editor! in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
Warrior
Member # 4202
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written Tuesday, September 21 2004 01:07
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quote:Very odd, I didn't think I changed anything related to that. Oh well, at least it's gone. quote:That doesn't happen to me. I wonder if you could possibly have any kind of weird system preferences or anything? Or weird hardware (I know you switched the mouse)? Or weird reflexes - you just automatically click twice? Or is it some strange bug that will be gone next time? @Mortimer: I have a few final touches to make and apparently another problem of Dahak's to try to solve; I hope I'll be able to release 1.0 soon, which should be ready for porting (that is, it shouldn't change after that). -------------------- Creator of the 3D Blades of Avernum Editor for Mac. Get it at Ingenious Isaac's Illusion, my web page. Better yet, get Battle for Wesnoth, a wonderful free TBS game. Posts: 192 | Registered: Sunday, April 4 2004 08:00 |