Yeah, I've got most of the stuff I was talking about yesterday in place, except fixing that one minor bug in the Journal.  Sound is in, thanks to Soundsnap and pdsounds, offering free sound samples to use, and OpenAL providing the library!

Anyway, about the sound system:

• I scrapped the part with the list of samples- now it just registers by filename in the various places it's called
• It keeps any buffer it creates, unless it is cleared (which it does upon entering a new area, and such).  it basically acts as a caching system.
  
• It uses the first sound source (of which there is a limited number.. 20) it can find that's useful.  If it can't find anything it fails
• BG is a special source, although it counts towards the 20.  If you try to play a new background music it'll stop the old one first.
• I still need to add a timing feature for sound so that they can be properly timed (like special effects)
• monsters and items can have their own 'hit' sounds.
• Skills can have sounds, played at any part as part of the command list
• Area scripting also allows the music to change and for sounds to play (and looping sound samples is also supported here, as well as stopping all sound)
• I don't have the code to play sounds in the subscreen done yet (such as when using healing items)
• the title screen music, miss sound effect, and victory theme are all coded in defines for now, since they're system-wide and not dependant on anything in the content.

And, regarding Journal:

• It loads a big string, splits it by line, figures out wrapping and allows scrolling using the keyboard (although that's not all properly done yet)
• There's a file to define which ones are available, and it uses it's position in the file to determine the order
• The code to 'award' things such as when talking to someone or getting journal pages is not yet in place

Here's the build: adv2_20080425_1.zip

Here's the required Sound Pack, which I'm not going to update as often since it's big: sound_20080425_1.zip

Here's the OpenAL Driver pack if you don't already have a game that installed it for you already: oalinst.ex

I haven't posted a new build in a while, but unlike the other times that doesn't mean i haven't been working on it.  I've been working on a few sub-systems which aren't yet ready to show:

• The Journal screen.
  I had to find a wrap-supporting code snippet that I could modify into a "scrolling text" thing, which I've largely done.  It still has some problems with eating the character immediately after a carriage return, but that should be relatively easy to fix.
• Sound support using OpenAL
  This is a big thing, since it ties into everything.. I'm still getting my head around the way the "buffers" and "sources" work.  I've got it playing some test sounds, but I haven't finished building the Manager which will:
  
  1. Load a text file containing all the relevant samples
  2. Load them into a buffer when they're called, using the loading code I already have (which supports pack files)
     
  3. Put them into one of X sources when they need to be played
  4. Remove them from the source when playing is complete, so I can 'juggle' the limited number of sources I have.

What?  It's been months upon months, but I've actually gotten some progress done on the game.  Isn't that ridiculous?

At Capcom's Online Store (http://shop.capcom.com/store/capcomus/DisplayStoreHomePage) they had a deal - pre-order the new Phoenix Wright game and get a free plush Phoenix.  I ordered two, one for me and one for my friend.

The game's release date came and went, nothing.  Unable to find a phone number for support, I contacted their support page.

After sending a couple of emails without a response, I received a message (sent to everyone who had pre-ordered I assume) saying they were sorry, and here was some compensation.

Unfortunately the compensation was useless - it was a 5% coupon code, only usable in November.  Why would I order something from them when I still had no way of knowing I would receive the first thing?

Anyway, they promised it would ship "early november".  Mid november hit, and I sent another email, with no response.  I sent another one, and they just told me, sorry it's backordered.  I sent another email asking if there was a reason it was backordered and when I could expect it.  Then, insultingly, I received THE SAME form letter telling me it was backordered.  The original email  they sent was still visible in the reply quote text, but they sent it to me again.

I then sent another email complaining about my email not being read.  And got no response.  I sent another, and four days later received an email saying that the game shipped.

I said, okay, finally.

I received it last week, but there were no plush toys.  Furious, I sent another email outlining how I've been wronged every step in the process and I demand compensation.  I sent another, and another.  I finally got a response- and it just said, be patient, the game shipped.  WELL YES.  It shipped.  I have it, but the order was NOT COMPLETE.

I caution everyone never to shop at the Capcom Online Store, or any Digital River run store again - and I caution Capcom to find a provider that can actually provide the service they promise.

There are things you don't expect are going to happen when you get up in the morning.

For instance, receiving an email from a radio station in Ecuador about being interviewed on the show about superheroes.

If you want to hear the interview, we made a recording...  it might not be the best quality though, I'm going to ask if they can send me a disk or something.

But yeah... probably the most surreal thing to happen to me this year.

Edit: Fixed spelling of Ecuador.

To lead off right now I'd like to make an announcement. The game is, and always has been ADVENTURERS 2. The full name of the game is- ADVENTURERS!! II: The Cursed Mask and the Sword of Reality

What, you want to see the logo? As a wallpaper? Well, if You insist..

Some facts: The three characters currently in game are products of the canonical couples from ADV! - Protagonist is Karn and Lumi's son, Dashijiru is Drecker and Karashi's son, and Justica is the offspring of Tesla and Ardam.

The build this time, I built a few days ago but never got around to posting it.  New features are listed below.
DOWNLOAD BUILD

• Title screen (with menu)
• You can now use potions at all from the menu screens
• Ditto spells
• Learning spells is implemented (try levelling protagonist up and seeing the spells in the menu)
• There's a few random bug fixes

I've got a report that the game can crash when you click an item in the item menu, neither they nor me were able to reproduce this bug, but if you see it, let me know.

- The Taste of the Danforth is severely overcrowded.  I think they need to expand it a bit somehow.
- Someone really, really loves one way streets.
- Try all the doors HARD before you assume you're stuck in the stairway of a parking garage.
- Spaghetti Factory = very good.

I spent the last part of the weekend in Toronto with Nicole. We went shopping, and went to Ribfest.

I learned these things:

• At Ribfest: Just because a rib place won last year doesn't mean this year they have ribs that are even halfway decent.
• At Computer Stores: Most computer store owners have no clue if laptop DDR downclocks.
• There are parts of Toronto where there are one way streets as far as the eye can see, and they change direction mid way through. It's like living Chu Chu Rocket.
  
• There are some sketchy dealings at parking lots. The sign can say "$2.65 per half hour" but what that actually means is "$10 all day screw the rest of the sign".
• Silver Snail closes at 6 on tuesdays. I found this fact out at 6:30 after finding parking.
  
• There's capsule toy mario DS styluses. I got a bullet bill.
• Carnival games are still as sketchy as they always were. There's no actual relationship depending on what you win and how many times you actually win, it seems.
• a lot of games = a lot of customs
• I know where to go if I want to buy a model of R-2 Powered now. Too bad I don't care about R-2 Powered. if it was R-1, maybe...
• Venus versus Virus is a pretty good manga
• It's hard to find a place to buy floppies now a days
• Compusmart shut down all it's toronto stores. I found this out after searching for one for an hour
• Hernando's Hideaway is a really good restaurant - best mexican I've ever had
• Speghetti Factory + Closed due to power problem = Annoying
• Parking is HELL
• Rickard's Honey Brown isn't bad.

And one thing learned by another person, at Factory Direct:

• Defective ram is still defective even if you tell the customer "It's your computer" before letting them finish telling you what's wrong with it.

DIAL M FOR MENU!




FEETURES:

• Fixed a combat bug with status effects after a character dies
• Added the menus!  Press M when walking around
• The item menu shows you the list of items, you can't use them yet
• Quit quits the game (removed the ability to do so from the menu)
• Party lets you switch party members.. double click or hit enter/space on one, and then on another.  Use the "nobodies" to create a smaller party.
• Back to return to the game
• The party lists show up for equip and skills but you cant do anything here yet

Upcoming:

• Make more of the menus actually do things
• Replace the menus in the combat with these ones (since they work with both mouse and keyboard)

Known bugs:

• Base 1 won't stay in the party.  This is because he's not technically "in" the party but it wasn't checking it.  Fixed in my local copy
  

Here's the new build.

There's actually TWO builds since the last one (apparently livejournal failed to post the last one), so you might as well just read the list:




New features (20070718)

• Equipment can now have triggered skills, such as on-attack or on-damage or some such. I've added one to Dashijiru's weapon, a 50% chance of gaining some mp back after his turn.
  


• Skills can be set to resist (Poison has a small chance of it) based on arbitrary stats
  


• Skills can have a chance to not fire (see the above 'mp regen" ability.)


• Status Effects, are handled pretty much identically to weapons (and for now are defined in the weapon file)
  


• I added a walking up animation for Protagonist on the map
  


• Skills can now be set to either target dead or not target dead- I added a life spell to Dashijiru if you want to test it by killing off a party member


• Added particle effect support (the actual particle engine is built into HGE) - see the healing skill and poison for examples


• Skills can now modify stats, since I handle dead as a stat (instead of a status effect) that's how the revive skill works


• in-combat-only stat modifiers can be done using statname_temp, and until nex turn can be statname_turn


• Changed the directory structure to be easier to manage


• Changed the fonts a bit to actually fit all the skills that need to be fit


• Apparently the latest version of HGE had this all along: press alt-enter to play in full screen
  

New Features: (20070721)

• Added the title screen handler, and removed the HGE logo in debug mode (when compiling in Release mode, it still shows up)
• Added the beginnings of the camp screen: hit M when walking around
• Added per-hit effects per weapons.  Supports both particles and sprites.  For the character that throws their weapons, it'll be used for that animation effect too.
  
• Cleaned up losing code (try it out)
  
• Added the ability to have a skill cast a second skill as an all target, for targeting all monsters.  Try Rays of Lights for an example (it's also a good way to test losing)
• Started making my own Gui controls (using the hgeGUIObject base class) - the first one is the menu items in the menu (notice the pointing finger)
• Cleaned up some of the drawing-special-effect-location-code to use sprite centers instead of the hotspots which are used for sprite positioning
• Put in support for absorbing (cast fire on SlimeLeader) or resistance (he has a high holy resistance, too) and Weakness to elements, properly.  A defense stat over 255 starts to absorb.
  
• Some stuff I dont have tests in for yet.
• Preliminary Unfinished saving code that's currently inaccessable.

Known bugs:

• Status effect.. effectiveness (say poison damage) currently cant be based on the caster's skill, so poison always does 15 damage.
• Sometimes the menu highlights too many items.