Aegir’s Rantings

Okay, I’ve spent this afternoon thinking about an idea for GRFMaker, or what would be a set of tools related to GRFMaker. Here it is:

Textual representation for the .lst format.

Before GRFMaker, you decoded .grf into an .nfo and a .pcx. You edited them both, and compiled them back into .grf.

When GRFMaker came allong, you worked in the GUI, using this concept of ‘blocks’ that represented chunks of .nfo code. GRFMaker made an .lst, and it could make a .pcx and .nfo out of your work. The .pcx and .nfo were then turned into a .grf. Just like normal.

What I propose, is a textual representation of the ‘block’ concept in use. To be used allongside GRFMaker, and perhaps instead of depending on the work situation (Unable to access GRFMaker, wanting to perform complex text operations on files for use with GRFMaker, and so forth).

For example. Instead of the .nfo/.pcx to .grf process, I propose:

GRFMaker Interface ——-> .lst —> .nfo/.pcx —> .grf
Text form —/

So its the same, except at the very end stage, where the user interacts, he/she has two options, that work allongside each other.

GRFMaker already can save to .lst, and export to .grf (convert to .nfo then to .grf), what I would like to see is a set of command line tools similar to grfcodec for converting .lst to .nfo/.pcx, and converting .lst to a text form.

Another example. This is perhaps how a station (Because thats about all I code ) name block would look like:

Another thing is that comments within each block would be useable, but they would be lost apon conversion to .lst, or when used with GRFMaker.

[Name Block] ; This is the header for the block. Would have the exact same name as what the block does in GRFMaker.
Feature = c5xx ; Station name
Language = 3 ; American and English
ID = 0
Name = Basic Platform

So obviously, its exactly the same as what you see and manipulate in GRFMaker, but in text form. What would be difficult is trying to represent blocks that have multiple windows to modify (Data blocks).

Here are my reasons for this rather large suggestion:

1) Another alternative way to code graphics

2) Allow drawing up plans and sketches easier on paper, or in .txt form easier when GRFMaker is not availible.

3) Perform search and replace operations on .lst’s

4) Attract people familiar with modding other games, who do not wish to use a GUI (This text form I am proposing is very similar to what is used in the Command and Conquer series of games, and also very similar to what is used in the game Freelancer. Im quite sure other games use somthing similar aswell)

5) Some people think using GUI based tools is cheap. Give them an alternative (But they’ll be attracted back to GRFMaker by the sprite block tools )

6) Command line utilities for converting .lst’s to .nfo/.grf (Thats another suggestion) can be used allongside grfcodec and then used under other operating systems, and with advanced scripting (Such tools can be used with Cygwin bash aswell).

7) I have more points, but I’m slowly getting a headache from looking at bright white on a CRT monitor.

Now, finally, I am no programmer, so I have no idea wether this is an easy task, or somthing incredibly difficult, so obviously I’m not demanding anything, just throwing another suggestion onto the table.

I put it here, regardless of the fact I’m going to email this to Szappy, because other people might want to read it, or comment on it. And I can link this straight to Lakie instead of emailing it to him aswell.

We have Cheerios in Australia!

That is almost surreal.

My schools filtering system really isn’t very good. Simply going to http://aegir.bur.st as apposed to the other domain, www.aegir.bur.st gets in. Albeit with a different, screwed up, stylesheet.

Fight teh powah!

Back to using my wireless enabled laptop again. No more fascist filtering system. Oh no.

I started riding BMX again lately, I was surprised at how, one day in, I was gutter jumping, two days in, back to dirt jumps (Albeit piddly little ones) and three days later, back to more advanced sets of trails (Still piddly little jumps though). I’ve been re-discovering muscles I never thought I had :lol:.

So, last thursday, my laptop was freshly installed, and I didnt have the Linux rtl8180 drivers (Wireless) installed. So I thought, to hell with it, I’ll travel light. So I went to school with a fairly light bag, just a pad of dead-tree stuff, my iPod, my Mobile Phone (Paper-weight you see, I rarely use it). And my cable to connect my iPod to computers. So anyway, I had a small arsenal of tools to use on my iPod for when I’m on other workstations.

So, early in the day, I started using PuTTY with the Flinders University main proxy, and that worked well. Shortly after I ended my session, the proxy was blocked by the school (Which is on the Flinders Uni network aswell, so its not like I was really going out of my way to connect to this proxy.). So yeah, had PuTTY connected to my account on bur.st, and I was playing around with my website, talking a bit on IRC, nothing much really.

So yeah, the proxy was blocked, thus preventing me to get on SSH, as the school proxy blocks just about everything but port 8080/80. Not only that, but it also hast to go via an annoying system: Content Keeper. Now already, that filtering system has been doing stupid things, like blocking a website about the Falkland Islands invasion of 1982 as Crime/Terrorism. That pissed me off. This was a school damnit, how is anyone who’s doing school research supposed to look into anything that comes under ‘questionable’ categories. You use filtering systems to block Porn, and Maddox. And thats about it.

But the plot thickens, later that afternoon, I went to this site, and in the last few minutes of school, went to post a blog entry about Project Generic Stations. Guess what, when I went to press that phat little ‘Publish’ button, I got greeted with the Red Screen of Death. Telling me my own website had been banned for ‘Adult’ content. Now I know that their aint any ‘Adult’ fucking content on here. Except maybe for the occasional curse word.

So are places of education also supposed to suppress students views about, well, anything? God know my website could not possibly come under any of the filtering categories. So I’ll probably go into the Admin office on Monday and suggest they add a new category to the filtering system: Fascism.

So it’s safe to say, on Monday. I will be back to using my laptop and the wireless internet, the infrastructure belongs to the Flinders University itself, and my school, the ASMS has no say, or control of.