DKCLB General Discussion Topic

The dream tool of any hardcore DKC player, the DKCLB aims to make editable in unison all elements from the original DKC Trilogy, and allow customization of it all, too! Powered by the Delta Suite.

Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Cyclone » December 20th, 2008, 9:47 am

Simion32 wrote:In the event that your hardware cannot do a vsync, Allegro emulates vsync, and therefore the FPS will almost never change because the emulation doesn't "miss" any frames unless your computer is really slow. :roll:


I'm pretty certain my lcd monitor supports vsync. I just ran Zsnes and vsync was turned off and I saw a weird line move verticaly across the screen. I turned on vsync in the video options and it got rid of the line. Triple Buffering also worked.

In Delta I get 60fps in 1x mode and 30fps in 4x mode. The game isn't horrible choppy but it isn't silky smooth like 1x mode in DELTA or in fullscreen mode in Zsnes. I'm pretty sure my computer is fast enough. GeForce 6800 Ultra, dual 3.41ghz xeons and 2 gigs of ram.

Edit. → just checked task manager and DELTA only uses 25-27% of cpu. Couldn't the cpu usage be increased to make it faster? One thing could be to use hyper threading or to utilize dual processors? Probably too much work though... but hyper threading should be easier? unless hyper threading is already implemented by the operationg system?
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Simion32 » December 20th, 2008, 10:07 am

At this point, I'm unsure as to why you're getting 30FPS in 4x mode...

For comparison, my specs are:
Intel Core 2 CPU 6300 @ 1.86GHz
GeForce 7300 LE
2GB of RAM

What FPS do you get in 2x, 3x, Full-Emu and Full-Stretched?

I've a feeling this has something to do with how the image gets to the screen... the only thing I can think of at the moment is that your graphics card has trouble with image stretching? :|

The method goes somewhat like this...
During startup, create two video bitmaps 32x1280x1280, these are pages
...
Processing
Clear Active Page
Tiles > Active Page
Bananas > BBuffer
BBuffer > Active Page
Show Active Page onscreen (waits for vsync) and change Active Page to point to unused video bitmap
Repeat

EDIT:
Cyclone wrote:DELTA only uses 25-27% of cpu
Hmm... that doesn't seem right, esspecially because it doesn't take 100% even when it's the only program I have running. Chances are, the slowdown you are experiencing is coming from other programs running in the background. if that's not it, I don't know what is...
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Cyclone » December 20th, 2008, 10:49 am

Simion32 wrote:What FPS do you get in 2x, 3x, Full-Emu and Full-Stretched?


1x = constant 59-60fps
2x = 56-60fps but mostly it runs at a constant 59-60fps
3x = 56-60fps but mostly it runs at a constant 59-60fps
4x = 29-30fps but mostly it runs at a constant 30fps
5x = ? window larger then screen. can't see fps...
EMU-Style = Constant 60fps. Pefectly smooth. But display messed up as mentioned in previous post(see screenshot)
Stretched = slightly choppy but not too bad. Display messed up.

When I changed screen modes from 1x to 3x the fps counter starts at 60 and count it's way down to 30fps and then count it's way back to 60fps.

I had no other programs besided one IE window open.
delta= around 25% cpu
Idle = around 75% cpu
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Simion32 » December 20th, 2008, 11:20 am

Cyclone wrote:EMU-Style = Constant 60fps. Pefectly smooth. But display messed up as mentioned in previous post(see screenshot)

Fullscreen Emu-Style adjusts to the screen's size and picks the biggest scale it can without screwing up the 8/7 ratio. I think it's the result of (1) using a 1280x1280 virtual screen, and (2) having the display centered on the 'monitor'... in this case it treats both monitors as a whole monitor, and it goes off the side of the first screen when centering. I think I may be able to put together a solution for that.

But it's perfectly smooth, so that's good. :)

Oh, I plan on having the program dynamically remove scale options that are bigger than your monitor... so don't worry about it too much.

Cyclone wrote:When I changed screen modes from 1x to 3x the fps counter starts at 60 and count it's way down to 30fps and then count it's way back to 60fps.
That's really strange... that means DELTA misses a whole half-second. I can't think of any logical reason for that to happen if nothing else is interfering... possibly switching the window scale stops DELTA long enough that it has to recover... no clue.
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Simion32 » December 28th, 2008, 2:38 pm

Here's a square rendition of the DKCLB logo. I think it looks much better than the 512x256 one, simply because of the extra detail.
DKCLBLogo302.PNG
(302x302, click to enlarge the image)
Revised logo with 1:1 aspect ratio... any suggestions?

No clue exactly why I added the Krash and rail... but I feel that it fits into the picture nicely. It seems that the Kremlings have been stealing all of the 4-unit FUEL barrels. ;)

Oh, and Qyzbud, would this be OK for use on the Atlas Projects page? That edit of the previous you have as thumbnail for DKCLB isn't that bad, but it definitely looks a bit unprofessional...
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Qyzbud » December 28th, 2008, 4:00 pm

That's a much nicer logo. Actually, I'd probably call it a title graphic, as the term 'logo' doesn't really suit something as graphically rich as this... but that's quite beside the point. The point is: I like it, and have put it on the Projects page. The Krash and minecart rail add to the collage nicely. It's bound to get a few people excited about creating their own custom minecart tracks!

One question... Why did you opt for a 302 x 302 resolution? Just curious. :P
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Simion32 » December 28th, 2008, 4:06 pm

It's the layout and width of the "Donkey Kong Country" text that is 302 pixels wide, so I just went with that, rather than cramming it all into 256x256.

This is probably one of the more detailed graphics I've made, other than the Video Promotion thing I posted earlier. It has 6 layers plus sprites along with the text.

I'm working on an Ice Cave variant at the moment. I would like to do a mechanical/factory themed graphic as well.

EDIT: Fatal error: Smarty error: unable to write to $compile_dir '/var/www/templates_c'. Be sure $compile_dir is writable by the web server user. in /var/www/Smarty/libs/Smarty.class.php on line 1092

...I get that when I try to go to the projects page. What on earth?
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Qyzbud » December 28th, 2008, 4:24 pm

Simion32 wrote:EDIT: Fatal error: Smarty error: unable to write to $compile_dir '/var/www/templates_c'. Be sure $compile_dir is writable by the web server user. in /var/www/Smarty/libs/Smarty.class.php on line 1092

...I get that when I try to go to the projects page. What on earth?

Mmm, I'm working on some server settings. I hope to have that back to normal in a few minutes.
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Cyclone » January 3rd, 2009, 10:58 am

Simion I was thinking on a gameplay mode for DELTA similar to the Bottles Revenge Mode in Banjo-Tooie.

Counter-Cooperative Play
- The first player controls the Kongs and the second player controls an enemy on the screen.
- The second player can switch enemies at anytime.
- If the enemy the second player is controlling goes outside the boundaries of the screen then this enemy will lose focus and will not be playable for a set time (10 seconds?)
- If the first player (playing as the Kongs) kills the enemy the second player is controlling then the second player will have a 10? second time out and will not be able to choose another enemy to play as.
- When the second player possesses a new enemy it will very briefly become highlighted so the second player knows who he/she is controlling...but quick enough that if the first player is not paying attention...Surprise. :D

- Maybe allowing the second player to control any enemy at anytime is not fair for the first player? There could always be an option to have the computer randomly select an enemy for the second player.

Some examples of Baddie actions.
- Some baddies could have special moves to make the gameplay more fair. A lot of the baddies in DK1 can't jump so maybe these particular baddies should be able to jump once possessed by the second player? Example, all Gnawties and Klap-Traps can jump, zingers can fly anywhere, even the stationary ones, etc.
- Any computer controlled actions of the baddies can also be controlled by the second player.
- DKC1. Nut throwing neckies would be able to throw nuts in any direction towards the player. Same thing with the Manky Kong, Clambo, etc
- DKC2. Cat-O'-9-Tails can grab the first player and throw them any direction into the brambles. :D
- DKC2. In the Rickety Race level the second player can control the Kremlings racing in the cars. Their special ability could be to throw TNT Barrels at the first player.

There are probably many gameplay flaws with this Counter-Cooperative mode that would have to be worked out...

...and also probably too much work to program this into DELTA but…. I was bored. ;)
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby BlueTronic » January 3rd, 2009, 11:25 am

Being all these new changes are going to be made, shouldn't there be a special mode for it that doesn't have any changes? Especially if the kind of changes that alter the game itself, like the ones Cyclone mentioned, are going to be added.
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Simion32 » January 3rd, 2009, 11:41 am

Nice idea, Cyclone. I'll think about doing it once all the normal things in the trilogy are complete. :)

I'll probably be adding a preferences dialog to DELTA soon...

Esspecially since there are a few more Windowed modes I want to add:
Stretched 480x360 - YouTube Resolution
Borderless (x1,x2,x3,x4,x5, and 480x360)
Resizeable
Border-less Resizeable (not sure how this one would be done)

Kong-Fu wrote:Especially if the kind of changes that alter the game itself, like the ones Cyclone mentioned, are going to be added.
Such changes will be disabled by default, unless of course they are bug fixes. I can't think of many bug fixes DKC would need, except barrel cannons which are quite buggy when they're pushed to the limit. The barrel cannon engine will likely be almost completely custom to allow lots of flexibility; after it's done I will then tweak the code so that barrels used in DKC behave the way they do in-game.
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby eladriano » January 4th, 2009, 9:01 am

Wow I have to say that I'm really impressed with your work Simion! I don't understand even a 1/4 of what your talking about on here but what I do know is that I found this site a few months back and was really excited about your project. To see that your still just as dedicated to the project and that progress is being made made my day. Keep up the great work!
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Simion32 » January 4th, 2009, 1:03 pm

Progress Update: Physical Surfaces Display
PhysicsDisplayBeta.PNG
Testing out the surface display code.
The overlaid digits are the raw physmap data.
Red is for the first byte of a tile, and blue the second byte.
PhysicsDisplayBeta.PNG (26.42 KiB) Viewed 86494 times

Today I started messing around with DKC's Jungle Physmap, and I finally managed to get a layout that made sense (previously it looked really jumbled). It load the 16x32 surface tiles from an external PNG file, and then displays them based on the physmap data.

There are a few quirks, however... from what I can tell, physics data for tiles greater than 0xE9 is completely ignored, or something to that effect. I have a feeling that some of the last few tiles in fact don't ignore their physmap data, but as of now I don't know whether this rule holds true. The other thing to note is that vertical flipping does not affect the physical tiles at all. What I figured was a "vertical flip" bit earlier is probably actually used for something like a "can jump through" property.

eladriano wrote:Wow I have to say that I'm really impressed with your work Simion! I don't understand even a 1/4 of what your talking about on here but what I do know is that I found this site a few months back and was really excited about your project. To see that your still just as dedicated to the project and that progress is being made made my day. Keep up the great work!
Thanks! Positive feedback makes me even more determined to finish this project... of course, I just ignore the nay-sayers. ;)
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Raccoon Sam » January 5th, 2009, 1:50 am

Simion32 wrote: I just ignore the nay-sayers. ;)

There are nay-sayers about this project?? :D
But seriously man, you've done an awesome job. You are arguably the best reverse engineer I have ever met.
On a related note, those physical layers below the three bananas are walkable, but also jump-through from below. Is there a byte that sets that or something? Or are there separate phys-tiles for 'walkable but not jumpable-through from below'?
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Simion32 » January 6th, 2009, 8:58 am

Raccoon Sam wrote:Is there a byte that sets that or something? Or are there separate phys-tiles for 'walkable but not jumpable-through from below'?
It's in fact a bit, that is set per each 16x32 tile (I was right on the assumption in my previous post).
PhysicsDisplayBeta2.PNG
The light-blue areas are jump-through, while the darker blue tiles are solid.
It also now uses some fancy translucency effects, as I've been wanting to test that for some time.
PhysicsDisplayBeta2.PNG (31.42 KiB) Viewed 86407 times

Each physical tile in the physmap takes up one byte, and there are two of these for every 32x32 tile in the tileset. Note that the bytes are stored in the format LLRR in ROM, where LL is the left tile and RR the right; this data isn't stored in Little-Endian format.

As for the format of the data itself, each byte is organized like this: HJTTTTTT
H = If set, the phys-tile will be flipped horizontally.*
J = If this bit is enabled, you can jump through the platform.
TTTTTT = This is a 6-bit value ($00-$3F) identifying the structure of the physical tile.
* If the 32x32 tile in the tileset is also flipped horizontally, this bit has the inverse effect.
** Also, note that the physical tiles are never affected by a vertical flip of the 32x32 tile.



Those numbers you see on the screen are some variables which I'm using to test my replica of DKC's physics.
DKC exhibits a strange behavior in its physics engine that can only be described in numbers:

Suppose you have a target speed of 0x0200, and so far it has accelerated to 0x01F9. Apply the formula
speed = ((((targetspeed + 0) - speed) >> 3) + speed);
to this, and you still end up with 0x01F9. Why? well look at it this way... subtract the speed from the target-speed, and you get 7 - this is 00000000 00000111 in binary. But notice that it shifts right 3 times in order to divide by 8; in this case the result is 00000000 00000000, and so nothing is added to the speed to make it inch towards 0x0200.

What DKC does when it reaches this "speed block" isn't necessarily the most accurate solution... it simply jumps straight to the target speed, in this case 0x200. Which means that (from what I gather) rightward movement will loose some accuracy compared to moving left.

But this won't happen when going down, say from 0x0007 to 0x0000, because when 7 is subtracted from the target speed, you get a negative number which has ones in front... -7 would be 11111111 11111001. Shift that right 3 times, and the result is always 11111111 11111111 which means -1. So, in this case it will continue down to 0x0000 instead of getting stuck.
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby edevore » January 8th, 2009, 10:02 am

Hello, Simion -- (Simon32)

I was just wondering if and when you come to starting the actual (*.SMC - Snes Rom) "Donkey Kong Country": 1, 2 and 3 "Super Nintendo" rom maker that plays on a emulator or actual snes hardware... Since you will be working with the type snes format, An idea I had was a "Snes Game Maker (In C++ Or What Ever Your Using For Delta..)" that supports plugins such as "DKC": 1, 2 and 3.. also other plugins such as Super "Mario World" and other famous games to export the type of data of which game plugin your using to a "*.smc" rom that can be played on the snes or an emulator such as "ZSNES" for example......?

I would do this myself but I dont know any major programming languages other than "Macromedia Flash" and a little more than half of "Game Maker".
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Simion32 » January 8th, 2009, 10:11 am

Really, such a thing would be too difficult to design. We already have Lunar Magic for Super Mario World, no need to reinvent that wheel. Nice idea about combining the features from several games, but it's not that simple. Each game is built differently (even the DKC's are different to an extent), so it would require heavy knowledge of each included game.

The DKCRE's ROM editing features are not top priority. For the most part, I will be focusing on the data extraction capabilities which are needed for DELTA to operate.

Most of my initial effort will be going into DELTA/DKCLB because it is a much more... 'thorough' project, if you understand my wording. ;)
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby edevore » January 8th, 2009, 10:22 am

Old Comment:
Spoiler!
Yeah I understand Simion, but I was saying.. an engine with each plugin for different game exports that can be added on such as, DKC, SMW, Zelda, Pacman, Blue Bomber, Claymation and much more for example.

Edit: Think of it as an extendable snes smc engine.


Edit 2: Anyway if its not of any interest or is not possible then please forget I even posted the idea, its just awhile back I have heared about some program called "The Snes Game Maker" and it has no more info or updates on it anymore so I am not sure if it was a sure thing or even a true project though..
(It might of been some "Lets get the public's hopes up so we can make them all :x or :cry: and then run away like this :twisted: — Just joking, anyway who knows what happened..?")

Edit 2 Continued: @Simion32 -- Its been a few days after your last update and I wanted to know if there's been any major updates on DKCLE/DKCLB or DELTA

Update: January 14, 2009

Hi, Simion -- (Simion32)
How Is The Update, Is There Any Progress?
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby becooldude39 » February 8th, 2009, 1:50 am

When is it going to be released by the way im new here
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Simion32 » February 8th, 2009, 5:35 am

Well, maybe you should read some of this thread before posting... :lol:
Also, if you haven't read the rules already, please do so.

There are demos of the DELTA engine, but both DELTA and the DKCRE are works in progress - do not expect them to just get done. Besides, hacking the DKC's is a process of trial and error, not something straightforward.

There won't be any updates for DELTA at the moment, as I'm currently focused on getting DKCRE v0.0.5.0 done.
April 12th: DKCRE v0.0.5.0 has been released, so progress on the DELTA Game Engine will now resume.
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Simion32 » April 22nd, 2009, 10:20 am

Update: DELTA Game Engine v0.0.4.2d
Basic Physics Engine Working

>>> DOWNLOAD LATEST VERSION HERE <<<
Be sure that you put the v1.0 DKC ROM in the application's folder before opening it, else you could get some strange results.

BasicPhysics.PNG
The current engine. You can't see it here, but I've added
a graphical mouse cursor for use in the game engine.
BasicPhysics.PNG (27.45 KiB) Viewed 86016 times

After quite a bit of heavy coding on an object engine (which actually occurred sometime during DKCRE's DKC2 research), I have the basic physics engine working. There is no collision detection, I just set a lower limit as the ground level. The box can still be moved "anywhere" but I had to have some artificial area restrictions in order to test it.

EDIT: The update download was added after this post was replied to. I felt it was appropriate to place the update notice text here as well. This is a beta-demo, so it's not guaranteed that everything will work perfectly. ;)

There are several statistics meters at the top:
-The white text at topmost is the camera X/Y.
-The blue text is for X positioning of DK. From Left to right: Current Speed, Target Speed, Acceleration, X Position. The last two digits in each meter are 'decimals' with 256ths instead of 100ths.
-The red text is for Y positioning of DK. From Left to right: ---same as for X values---
-The yellow text is for friction level and gravity.

The controls I needed were relatively simple, but I haven't gotten game pads working so I did this:
Z = Run Left, X = Walk Left, C = Jump Key, V = Walk Right, B = Run Right,
3 = Set ÷8 friction, 6 = Set ÷64 friction

So far, the engine accurately replicates:
-Movement to left/right on Normal (÷8 friction) or Ice (÷64 friction) type terrain. The friction setting is displayed in yellow above the white bar. The test box (Donkey Kong) can either run or walk.
-PERFECT Variable Jumping!!! This was actually quite easy to get working, but it wasn't so easy to notice that the mass/gravity applied was in fact two different constant values, rather than DK having one constant gravity. When you press the jump button, it fires off the jump command. This sets the speed to 0xF900. From there, if you aren't holding the jump button, it subtracts 0x70 from his upward speed after accelerating downwards. If you are holding the button down, however, it subtracts only 0x48, which is a little less. Each frame you are holding the button down results in a higher jump.
-Simulated (but accurate) Hitbox The hitbox you see is the hitbox of DK's standing and running sprites. It doesn't change to other hitboxes (such as the one for jumping) yet, since this value was taken from the real data and hard-coded instead of extracting it from the game data. This is just to get the basic engine running.

Also, the small square that's colored like windows logo is is the center of DK's sprite. I haven't fully investigated it, but it seems that the center X position of a sprite is used in determining when an object hits a wall, rather than the X of the hitbox border that's facing the wall. The hitbox's side, in the case of a side-wall collision, acts more like a 'Y range' of where DK can collide with a wall; and the center mark's X serves as the horizontal collision offset.

EDIT: I decided to upload a demo. This will be version DELTA v0.0.4.2d since it is nowhere close to v0.0.5.0 yet.
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby edevore » April 22nd, 2009, 11:01 am

This project sounds great but the resource project is my target right now, I am very happy for LB but I really need those resources from RE ---- I know that you are working your best on the projects, :D but I am super excited about RE and have not much excitment about LB at the moment because of the fact of my main problem was obtaining resources to hack the game on my own with limited hacking ability. ;)

One Note: I will be really happy when both are done at the same time or RE is done before LB, and more happy if the projects are completed before next year!

Anyway, Great Job - Simion!
Thank You, You're The Best!
Spoiler!
You May Take My Award! :P
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Cosmicman » April 22nd, 2009, 11:06 am

All I have to say is that this is awesome news!
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Wow, another great leap for fan-kind. ;-D

Postby Qyzbud » April 22nd, 2009, 2:58 pm

Very exciting, Simion! I'm at work right now, but I eagerly look forward to checking this out when I get home. Your DKCLB is possibly the most exciting fan project I've ever come across, and each step you accomplish brings us tantalizingly closer to the reality of a fan-generated DKC4, and any number of similarly amazing gameplay possibilities for our favourite series... I'll update the news feed tonight, and will work on an official DKC Atlas project page for the DKCLB (and another for the 'LB) when I get a chance.

Keep amazing us, mate. ;)
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Gnawzooka » April 22nd, 2009, 3:14 pm

It's all quite exciing. :) Sounds like you're doing well too.
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Simion32 » April 22nd, 2009, 3:56 pm

Update: DELTA Game Engine v0.0.4.2d
DOWNLOAD LATEST VERSION HERE

I decided to go ahead and upload a demo, so you can see what progress has been made. The previous post contains all needed controls and information. It has been edited to include the update title text as well. Be sure that you put the v1.0 DKC ROM in the application's folder before opening it, else you could get some strange results.

This is a beta-demo, so it's not guaranteed that everything will work perfectly. ;)
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Stone » April 22nd, 2009, 4:20 pm

Whoa, I have to download it immediatly, thanks Simion!
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Simion32 » April 22nd, 2009, 4:32 pm

You're welcome! :D

Actually, when I first uploaded this, I had the file named wrong. I only JUST fixed it a minute ago. If the file got a 404 that might have been why.

edevore wrote:I am very happy for LB but I really need those resources from RE ---- I know that you are working your best on the projects, but I am super excited about RE and have not much excitment about LB at the moment because of the fact of my main problem was obtaining resources to hack the game on my own with limited hacking ability. ;)
Sorry, DKCLB is priority #1 as far as I'm concerned. DKCRE will only be worked on when resources are needing extracted foir use in DELTA/DKCLB.

edevore wrote:One Note: I will be really happy when both are done at the same time or RE is done before LB, and more happy if the projects are completed before next year!
MOST LIKELY NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Could I finish DKCLB before the end of this year in one fine, strong, moment of programming effort? Yes, my friends. It is not probable; but it is ever possible. (Have a banana or two if you know where 80% of this quote comes from!)
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Gnawzooka » April 22nd, 2009, 5:23 pm

Possible? Sounds good. :D In fact, that'd be sooner than I expected.
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Cyclone » April 22nd, 2009, 5:41 pm

Hi Simion. I have not had a chance yet to try out your latest updates (definitely looking foreword to trying them) but I was thinking it would be neat if you had a blog where you could post your development progress or thoughts. Maybe just a rom hacking blog in general. Would be a great way to get your thoughts sorted if your having trouble with a bug or something.

It would also give us DK fans something to do while we wait for LB to be completed. :D
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Simion32 » April 23rd, 2009, 11:08 pm

I really doubt I'll have DKCLB done before the end of this year. Might possibly have DKC1 done though. For the whole project, I AIM to have it done around summer 2012... not because of the doomsday theories, but rather that's just a guess on my part on how long the ENTIRE project (and DKCRE) will take. ;)

Cyclone: The blog sounds like a good idea, I'll look into that later. DKCLB isn't finished, so I don't want to attract a bunch of noobs asking "when will it be released?!11"... :roll:

New Music Features for DELTA: USF (N64), GBS (GB), GSF (GBA), and 2SF (NDS) music support is being added to upcoming versions. However, these music file types will not be accessible until at least DKC is editable in the Level Builder, so that future uploads save some space.

It won't be actively in-use, but I thought I'd let ye scurvy dogs know about this music-format upgrade. I hope it becomes useful in the future. In fact, DELTA did have USF support previously but I took it out at the last moment. EDIT: I added GBS and 2SF to the list... these extra WinAMP input plugins should cover all the major DKC-like DK games. I don't plan on including non-DKC music with DKCLB demos, but still want to allow for their use in custom levels.
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby asmodeus » May 1st, 2009, 1:16 am

Simion32 wrote:Update: DELTA Game Engine v0.0.4.2d
DOWNLOAD HERE

:cry: Well, anyhow I can't see anything of that seeming amazing engine :cry:
problem.png
problem.png (17.37 KiB) Viewed 85586 times

Always the same problem: I start the program and I have to open a 1.0 DKC rom. I start opening a rom (U, USA?), and I've also tried it with E (Europe?), then it says something like "Processing ROM, please wait...". When there is "Achetype 14 of 14", it waits a bit and then there appears an error that DKC Delta Game Engine has detected an error and has to be exited. Does anybody also have that problem? Did I do something wrong? Please help :(.
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Simion32 » May 1st, 2009, 7:14 am

I have no clue what could have happened. Usually, thing like this are caused by either a memory error (forgetting to delete an instance of something that was allocated using the new declaration or a pointer) or it can be caused by reading from an incorrect adress and getting wrong data. I'm unsure as to what happens.

Does the previous build (v0.0.4.0) do this, or is it ONLY (v0.0.4.2d)?

Try these, (although I'm not sure what the Data Execution Prevention feature is called in German...):

---Make sure Data Execution Prevention is off for normal programs. Else the DKCLB and/or DKCRE may randomly crash... To fix this,
1.Right Click on My computer, then click properties
2.Go to the advanced tab, and click the Settings button under Performance
3.Click the Data Execution Prevention tab
4.Make sure that it's set to "Turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only" and click OK.

---If you're using Windows Vista, don't turn on compatibility mode for the program.

If either of these doesn't fix the problem, please post and let me know.

EDIT: Don't worry, you haven't missed much yet. The only main change is the basic box that can run/walk/jump, and the messy physical surface display.

Also, the GUI for the next version is a lot nicer than its current state (the graphical part of this GUI modification is already done). You'll have to wait to find out why, though. ;)
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby asmodeus » May 1st, 2009, 8:47 am

Simion32 wrote:Does the previous build (v0.0.4.0) do this, or is it ONLY (v0.0.4.2d)?

v0.0.4.0 works! I don't know whether I have tested it before, but it was on my computer. Maybe the next version will work...
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby asmodeus » May 1st, 2009, 8:56 am

Simion32 wrote:---Make sure Data Execution Prevention is off for normal programs. Else the DKCLB and/or DKCRE may randomly crash... To fix this,
1.Right Click on My computer, then click properties
2.Go to the advanced tab, and click the Settings button under Performance
3.Click the Data Execution Prevention tab
4.Make sure that it's set to "Turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only" and click OK.

---If you're using Windows Vista, don't turn on compatibility mode for the program.

If I have understood everything correctly and searched on my German computer, I found something that seems to be what you mean. If so, it is set to what you are telling me. And I use Windows XP.
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby FefeRawft » May 1st, 2009, 12:25 pm

I wanted to check this out but I can't get the Level Builder to work on my computer, so I think i'm just going to wait until this is complete.
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Simion32 » May 1st, 2009, 11:17 pm

Why won't it work? Could you at least describe the problem? If I never know what went wrong, it may never get fixed! :roll:
(of course there are probably things I can't fix, but that's beside the point...)
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Cosmicman » May 2nd, 2009, 12:18 am

The program starts fine with the first level working perfectly but if I press page up or page down to move to different levels this is what happens to all the levels. Is this normal, or something I can fix on the engine settings?

Image
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby FefeRawft » May 2nd, 2009, 4:43 am

I didn't say the problem because it is the same problem that Asmodeus except .... uh in English.

I probably should have mentioned that though.
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Simion32 » May 3rd, 2009, 1:53 pm

Progress Update: GUI Renovations, Part 1
I'll go ahead and reveal the current completed modifications to the engine. Many more features and upgrades are to follow. ;)

I've so far revamped the GUI with these features:
---Changed the Start Screen graphic (again), this time using a High-Res version of the DELTA Logo - no more copyrighted GFX on the start screen.
---Also changed the Application Icon over to the DELTA Logo. I'll be using the "DKC++" Icon for something else. Also eliminates more copyrighted stuff.
---Added a "loading..." screen that displays while the level is loading. Uses a very fancy graphic that took approx. 3 hours to put together.
---Added smooth screen transitions from and to the start screen, loading screen, and level player
---All of the external PNG resources are now compiled directly into the EXE file as BMPs (including: start screen, loading animation, cursor, fonts, etc).
---The engine will now pause automatically when the window looses focus.

Cosmicman wrote:The program starts fine with the first level working perfectly but if I press page up or page down to move to different levels this is what happens to all the levels. Is this normal, or something I can fix on the engine settings?
The physics view tiles were only intended for use in the Jungle Levels. And when it loads a "physmap" (really just junk data) for another tile set, it overwrites the bitmaps that were loaded into the engine.

The physics display feature is very buggy in v0.0.4.2d, and I plan on having it fixed in v0.0.5.0 (or removing it if it somehow becomes a problem). Currently I have the engine to only display these overlays while a key is held. I'll probably have it toggle-able in v0.0.5.0.

EDIT BEFORE BUMP:
FefeRawft wrote:It is the same problem that Asmodeus has, except in English.
Asmodeus and FefeRawft; I thought of two more things to try:

(1) Be sure that you put the v1.0 DKC ROM in the application's folder before opening it, else you could get some strange results.
(2) Make sure that your monitor's color depth is set to High Color (32-bit). Any other mode may cause DELTA to act strangely.


I want to make True Color (24-bit) mode for DELTA, as this color depth seems to be very common.

As for Low Color (16-bit), I might be able to add it, but if I do, the result will probably look horrible because allegro messes up the colors. The SNES uses 16-bit color, but Allegro processes 16-bit colors in a slightly different way. This is why I use 32-bit color for image processing.
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby BlueTronic » May 3rd, 2009, 2:22 pm

My computer, being the enormous pain that it is, can't even get past loading the ROM.

When I first open the application it, it says my comp "has an abnormal refresh rate." Then when it loads the ROM it very very slowly generates the 14 level archetypes. And then after having wasted all that time loading... it stops working.

Oh how I love my computer :roll:
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Simion32 » May 3rd, 2009, 3:17 pm

Are you using a crappy old CRT monitor? Some computer. Sounds like a pile of junk. :lol:

Those CRT monitors use 30Hz. A 60Hz refresh rate is necessary for DELTA to run smoothly. Even then, you'll need a decent computer to run it - as long as your computer isn't years old, it should do just fine.
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby BlueTronic » May 7th, 2009, 9:51 am

Actually it refreshes at 70Hz :P

I have a Windows Vista. It runs slow because the CPU usage is always high, so only programs that are very CPU efficient will work right. My laptop is an XP, it should be able to handle DELTA.

my laptop is twice as fast as my computer... that's sad :(
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby FefeRawft » May 7th, 2009, 11:11 am

Mine does the same, I have Vista and it runs slower than my XP laptop (using right now)

Either way, I can't get the Level builder to work.
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Simion32 » May 8th, 2009, 10:41 am

Kong-Fu wrote:Actually it refreshes at 70Hz
What were those designers thinking?! 60Hz is a harmonic frequency anyway... and it's difficult to time anything in 70ths of a second. It would be impossible to accurately time the game via a 70Hz refresh. Even 120Hz would be better! :P

Plus, you'd need a faster computer to do the same amount of processing in-between frames than with 60Hz. That's probably why it crashed - DELTA probably didn't have time to process everything in-between refreshes (slow computer + fast 70Hz refresh = hang).


As a general note, the graphics display in DKC is attuned to 30Hz, but the game logic runs at 60Hz.

DELTA, however, is designed to do both graphics and logic at 60Hz in order to make the game run smoother. This will have a profound effect on the smoothness of both animations and movement of objects.

FefeRawft wrote:Either way, I can't get the Level builder to work.
Well, If it doesn't work in the next version, then I'll investigate into why it does crash. Though, I'm sure it's related to some of the in-progress code. There's no way to tell for sure just yet. Did v0.0.4.0 work for you?

Another thing to try: There should be a file called "Configuration.INI" in the program's folder. Open this file.
There should be a line called "apppriority = #". Change this to say "apppriority = 3". The high priority could be crashing your computer.

This is probably not the issue, but...
One more quirk: If you have had previous versions of DELTA on your computer, it may pick up on the files that were there before and begin using those files, which could lead to a crash.

I will see what I can do to fix this - this particular issue is related to windows saving the program's "current directory" every time you open/use a file. I only noticed it when I copied the DKCRE to a school computer and then ran it - the program accessed the flash drive instead of its folder in My Documents. I don't know exactly how this happens, but it needs to be fixed.
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby FefeRawft » May 8th, 2009, 10:56 am

I changed it to 3, still crashed, I also don't have v0.0.4.0, but I'll try and use that next, if not, I'll just wait.
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby BlueTronic » May 8th, 2009, 10:59 am

I can change the refresh rate on my monitor, but only to 80 or 85. :roll:
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Simion32 » May 10th, 2009, 11:34 am

> There has been a slight drop in development due to an overly severe storm that hit yesterday.

I can only think that FefeRawft and Asmodeus are possibly having problems due to the "strict" graphics display requirements of DELTA. Then again, v0.0.4.0 worked for Asmodeus, so I'm not sure what's going wrong. :|

However, this problem has led me to realize a few more optimizations. ;)
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby FefeRawft » May 10th, 2009, 1:12 pm

Uh, I clicked on the link for v0.0.4.0, but nothing happened.
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Re: The Donkey Kong Country Level Builder

Postby Simion32 » May 10th, 2009, 2:38 pm

Oops! The URL was missing an underscore character. OK, try the link now.
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