Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos : Defendant's Lobby

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos

Sun Jul 15, 2007 5:33 am

N-Mario

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BTW, I have to ask... is VB.net exactly like Visual Basic, just have more features? I did a bit of research online via google, and they look about the same. :gumshoe:

Because I have currently Visual Basic 6.0, and have bought some books about programming in visual basic. But if VB.net is supposedly easier, than I may be headed in the wrong direction. :ack:

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos

Sun Jul 15, 2007 5:39 am

XImplosionX

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N-Mario wrote:

BTW, I have to ask... is VB.net exactly like Visual Basic, just have more features? I did a bit of research online via google, and they look about the same. :gumshoe:

Because I have currently Visual Basic 6.0, and have bought some books about programming in visual basic. But if VB.net is supposedly easier, than I may be headed in the wrong direction. :ack:

I found VB.NET easier. VB 6.0 is outdated and unsupported. I suggest going to MSDN and taking a look there. I could go into a huge thing about .NET, but its off topic.

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos

Sun Jul 15, 2007 5:44 am

N-Mario

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XImplosionX wrote:

N-Mario wrote:

BTW, I have to ask... is VB.net exactly like Visual Basic, just have more features? I did a bit of research online via google, and they look about the same. :gumshoe:

Because I have currently Visual Basic 6.0, and have bought some books about programming in visual basic. But if VB.net is supposedly easier, than I may be headed in the wrong direction. :ack:

I found VB.NET easier. VB 6.0 is outdated and unsupported. I suggest going to MSDN and taking a look there. I could go into a huge thing about .NET, but its off topic.

$%@#&, I wish I would have known this sooner, instead of wasting time with Visual Basic. :ack:

So now, I have all these books on Visual Basic, but nothing on VB.Net, Which is now, apparently Visual basic 2005. I hope those books I bought on Visual Basic do help in VB.net/VB2005 coding in some way. :nick:

Last edited by N-Mario on Sun Jul 15, 2007 5:50 am, edited 1 time in total.

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos

Sun Jul 15, 2007 5:48 am

XImplosionX

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N-Mario wrote:

$%@#&, I wish I would have known this sooner, instead of wasting time with Visual Basic. :ack:

This is the latest version of the Visual Basic Language ;)

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos

Sun Jul 15, 2007 6:11 am

N-Mario

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So...... This VB.NET, or Visual Basic 2005, can it use/make animations in any form? I've attempted to import a simple gif into VB 6.0 but it wouldn't play.

Well, maybe your case maker has a way of handling sprite animations with smooth, accurate frame timings. :phoenix:

BTW, is FanCaseMaker a working title? I've always thought of the name, Visual Case Maker, would work wonders. Since there is a Visual Pinball Maker, and your case maker is being made with Visual Basic. It seems to make sense to have a name like Visual Case Maker, IMO. But since it is your program, I'll let you call it whatever you want. I was just sharing you my cents. :phoenix:

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos

Sun Jul 15, 2007 6:15 am

XImplosionX

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N-Mario wrote:

So...... This VB.NET, or Visual Basic 2005, can it use/make animations in any form? I've attempted to import a simple gif into VB 6.0 but it wouldn't play.

Well, maybe your case maker has a way of handling sprite animations with smooth, accurate frame timings. :phoenix:

BTW, is FanCaseMaker a working title? I've always thought of the name, Visual Case Maker, would work wonders. Since there is a Visual Pinball Maker, and your case maker is being made with Visual Basic. It seems to make sense to have a name like Visual Case Maker, IMO. But since it is your program, I'll let you call it whatever you want. I was just sharing you my cents. :phoenix:

I'm not sure how well VB2k5 handles images, I'm using XNA for all my graphics calls. As for sprite animations, I am writing an animation handler of sorts, that'll time the scene length with the number of frames in the sprite.
Name is working title.

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos

Sun Jul 15, 2007 6:23 am

N-Mario

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Hmm..... It'll be interesting to see your case maker. I will be really looking forward to it. :phoenix:

If MechaBowser really is dead, and Shaun never completes his variant, then all we have left is a few others. And you are the only other user that actually has proof. Hmm.... There might be others that are attempting at some, whether they are just fan cases alone, or actual case maker engines, but I have yet to see any results from them. And yours seems promising, even at that level of completion %. :phoenix:

And if you do end up releasing a complete case maker (with everything I have listed in my previous posts), you will be my god, and my dreams will hopefully come true. :phoenix:

BTW, if you ever need any beta testers, I am willing to help out. :larry2:

Also, upon double checking the coding styles/similarities between classic VB, and VB.Net/VB2K5, I noticed that VB2K5 has a much more lengthier code base for the same type of demonstration.

For examples:

* Hello World
- Classic VB

Code:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
    MsgBox "Hello, World"
End Sub

- VB.Net/VB2K5 code of above

Code:

Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
    MessageBox.Show("Hello, World")
End Sub

* Unloader
- Classic VB code

Code:

Private Sub cmdClose_Click()
    Unload Me
End Sub

- VB.Net/VB2K5 Code of above

Code:

Private Sub btnClose_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnClose.Click 
    Me.Close()
End Sub

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos

Sun Jul 15, 2007 9:05 pm

XImplosionX

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N-Mario wrote:

Hmm..... It'll be interesting to see your case maker. I will be really looking forward to it. :phoenix:

If MechaBowser really is dead, and Shaun never completes his variant, then all we have left is a few others. And you are the only other user that actually has proof. Hmm.... There might be others that are attempting at some, whether they are just fan cases alone, or actual case maker engines, but I have yet to see any results from them. And yours seems promising, even at that level of completion %. :phoenix:

And if you do end up releasing a complete case maker (with everything I have listed in my previous posts), you will be my god, and my dreams will hopefully come true. :phoenix:

BTW, if you ever need any beta testers, I am willing to help out. :larry2:

Also, upon double checking the coding styles/similarities between classic VB, and VB.Net/VB2K5, I noticed that VB2K5 has a much more lengthier code base for the same type of demonstration.

For examples:

* Hello World
- Classic VB

Code:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
    MsgBox "Hello, World"
End Sub

- VB.Net/VB2K5 code of above

Code:

Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
    MessageBox.Show("Hello, World")
End Sub

* Unloader
- Classic VB code

Code:

Private Sub cmdClose_Click()
    Unload Me
End Sub

- VB.Net/VB2K5 Code of above

Code:

Private Sub btnClose_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnClose.Click 
    Me.Close()
End Sub

Those events are created automatically by VB.NET's IDE when you use it, you don't have to write that all out.

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos

Sun Jul 15, 2007 11:00 pm

N-Mario

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Oh, alright. I'll see about looking into this. :phoenix:

If you end up not finishing your case maker, I suppose I could still try my hand at this. But I'll still be a total beginner at it. I don't have anything about VB.net/VB2k5 to work with, though. Since I've invested some money on VB books already, and not specifically about VB.NET/VB2k5. I would have to do some online investigating for VB.NET tutorials, I guess. :sadshoe:

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos

Mon Jul 16, 2007 1:11 am

BigFish

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DO NOT USE VB.NET!!! VB6 is a whole lot better. Besides, my comp got messed up with a VB2005 beta, and now anything that uses the .NET framework dosen't work, so I kinda hate it for that reason anyways. :nick:

Also, you don't have to use Visual Basic. There are other options. Like, there's Python, Game Maker, and much more. You could even just make a visual editor for a visual novel program, like RenPy.

Quote:

No.... I don't think that's going to work for me...... Not right now, anyway.

I was kinda going for an RPG Maker type interface, except I decided to do away with the double clicking. What kind of interface are you thinking of? Anything else would seem kinda cumbersome to a case maker, in my belief...

Quote:

I have tried importing .gif images regularly in VB, but when I go to run my VB app. the .gif image does not play. Maybe it is missing something important, or code, maybe? :ack:

VB6 does not support GIF animations off the bat. You have to separate the images and use a timer to advance them.

Quote:

Also, how will using animated .gif images help the case maker?

Most sprite rips are in animated GIF format. Why make extra work for the user?

Quote:

It doesn't have any mid loop points, does it? How will FPS (Frames per Second) be handled?

The frame rate is stored in the GIF file. The mid loop points would be defined in the program. You'd be able to add/remove frames from the animations so you could use the CR sprites.

Quote:

Will the VB code use its own sequence of frames per second, or will ti reply on the animated gif's timings? :eh?:

Rely on the animated GIF timings. Although it would be good if you could choose which one to do.

Quote:

And how will we handle sound triggering? For example, one time sound, or sound trigger via animation frame number. :eh?:

Both I guess. In the scripting thing, there'd be a "Play sound" command. Also, in the animation editor for the characters, there'd be a "Play sound on frame" box.

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos

Mon Jul 16, 2007 1:49 am

N-Mario

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Unnngghh..... You both are confusing me! :meekins:

One of you say that VB 6.0 is outdated, and unsupported. That VB2K5 has a better offer to work with. And the other one says that VB2k5 is sort of a virus? :gumshoe:

Well, I downloaded VB2K5 Express from that website, and installed it. But I haven't had any problems with it yet... Maybe that's because I never attempted to make anything with it yet. I don't know. But VB2K5 seems to work fine for me. And I use Win XP, if that makes any difference.

But still, XImplosionX's work seems promising, at the moment. That is, if he plans to finishing it. :phoenix:

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long

Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:29 am

Steel Samurai

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Seems that XImplosionX has everything under control. Nice!
Good going XImplosionX! :b33r:

Spoiler: StepMania vids

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos

Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:08 pm

XImplosionX

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N-Mario wrote:

Unnngghh..... You both are confusing me! :meekins:

One of you say that VB 6.0 is outdated, and unsupported. That VB2K5 has a better offer to work with. And the other one says that VB2k5 is sort of a virus? :gumshoe:

Well, I downloaded VB2K5 Express from that website, and installed it. But I haven't had any problems with it yet... Maybe that's because I never attempted to make anything with it yet. I don't know. But VB2K5 seems to work fine for me. And I use Win XP, if that makes any difference.

But still, XImplosionX's work seems promising, at the moment. That is, if he plans to finishing it. :phoenix:

You don't have to listen to either of us. Go with whatever language you like. I use VB2k5 for a few reasons:
1. XNA Framework, absolutely beautiful Managed Graphics API
2. Mono.NET, allows cross platform development on Mac/Linux
6. Nice IDE, making designing GUI's a snap.

But VB6 has its advantages. The reason he had problems with VB.NET is he was using the Beta. As we know, MS betas are always buggy, but Visual Studio Betas? I can't even get the VB2k8 Compiler to Install properly :o

But really it is all personal choice, some people use C#, C++ or Python. Its all a personal preference.

@Steel Samurai,
Thanks for the props!

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos

Mon Jul 16, 2007 6:51 pm

N-Mario

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Well, you once said that VB6.0 was unsupported. So I thought when you mentioned VB.NET, it would be better programming language. I donno.

I also read that ANYTHING made with Visual Studio products (whether its VB6, VB2K5, C#), it would require the .NET framework to operate. In other words, if users do NOT have the .NET framework installed, I would need to include the extra files to make the case maker operate on other machines? :gumshoe:

Nevertheless, I would probably need the knowledge, or codes for a case maker to work.

- User input graphics interface
- Text Typewriter
- Sprite Animation & user input sprites frame timings.

That's all I can think of right now. I'm sure theres more to operate it.

But I think I'm interested in your case maker, while I read up more information about programming. :phoenix:

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos

Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:43 pm

M_E_ChoosesPARTAY

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A good way to see if your case maker is complete would be that you can tell you are able to remake everything in 1-1 through 1-4, and 2-1 through 3-5. Things that might get overlooked:

Spoiler: 2-4

You should be able to use arrows/joystick in 2 screen mode.
More than one ending
Questions(Cindy Stone or Cinder Block or Mia Fey)
Not in any of the games really, but alternate paths and areas would be neat.
Credits
Multiple cases, unlockable cases
Intros(animated gifs could work for the images as well as the text, but built in text overlaying would be cool)
Music fading in and out
Characters fading in and out
Pictures (usually shown at the end of a case)
Sound with text, able to turn text sound off(blip blip blip just SHUT UP!)
Able to speed through text
Case art
Oldbag lightning text
I sorta missed the exlamation points in GS2 and 3. :payne:

I think everything else is pretty obvious and is in most of the games.

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos

Tue Jul 17, 2007 12:24 am

N-Mario

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M_E_ChoosesPARTAY wrote:

A good way to see if your case maker is complete would be that you can tell you are able to remake everything in 1-1 through 1-4, and 2-1 through 3-5. Things that might get overlooked:

Spoiler: 2-4

You should be able to use arrows/joystick in 2 screen mode.
More than one ending
Questions(Cindy Stone or Cinder Block or Mia Fey)
Not in any of the games really, but alternate paths and areas would be neat.
Credits
Multiple cases, unlockable cases
Intros(animated gifs could work for the images as well as the text, but built in text overlaying would be cool)
Music fading in and out
Characters fading in and out
Pictures (usually shown at the end of a case)
Sound with text, able to turn text sound off(blip blip blip just SHUT UP!)
Able to speed through text
Case art
Oldbag lightning text
I sorta missed the exlamation points in GS2 and 3. :payne:

I think everything else is pretty obvious and is in most of the games.

Yea... We got all that. But the problem seems to be coding/programming them, and making them work for the users to make their own fan cases with these options. :nick:

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos

Tue Jul 17, 2007 3:08 am

BigFish

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Come on, please don't use VB2005! Despite what you may think, VB2005 is not easier, and obviously, mono does not support all the features of .NET. Besides, mono is OVER 40 MB!!!!!! Sure, it'll be cross-platform, but anyone without a fast internet connection won't be able to use it. (I have dial-up.) Besides, mono's cross-platform stuff is pretty much in beta, while languages like Python and Java have been cross-platform almost since the start.

Is built-in support for GIF animations (among other things) really a good reason to cut off everyone with dial-up, an older version of Windows, or stupid enough to install a Visual Studio beta :sal:

?

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos

Tue Jul 17, 2007 3:59 am

N-Mario

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Well..... As I said before, and as I've learned. If I used ANY Visual Studio products to make a game/program, it requires the .NET framework. So, users who do not have that installed on their computers, will not be able to run case makers made with a visual studio product, like VB6, or VB2K5.

There are also those users who are using macs, IIRC. But I prefer Windows apps anyway. :gumshoe:

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos

Tue Jul 17, 2007 4:03 am

BigFish

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Darn, I thought I'd sway you, or at least get someone to say:
"OMG you still have dialup!?!? :ack:

LOL thats lame!!".

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos

Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:26 pm

XImplosionX

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Like I said before, don't let either of us influence your decision. Write the app in whatever language you prefer. My personal preference is VB.NET with XNA, others may not like that combonation. It all depends on what you are good at, and what is easiest for you. I'd porbably suggest looking around at Graphics API's for VB.NET, simply to handle textures with Z Order (Or not)

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos

Tue Jul 17, 2007 7:21 pm

N-Mario

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Hmm........ Well I like programming languages that allow you to place objects right on the window, like what VB6 and VB2K5 does. Not something that is entirely made up of code. Mostly programs that lets yu make windows apps & games.

So..... I assume if I write something in VB6, users with WinXP (and above) would be able to open the .exe file alone, anyway? :eh?:

I just need an idea where to lead myself into, before attempting anything, I guess. I don't want to make a program, and find out it only works on my computer, while other users complain that it won't work on their computers. Even if they are WinXP (or whatever) users. If they were Mac users, I would understand why it would not work. But there should be no exception if its WinXP (or later) users.

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos

Tue Jul 17, 2007 8:05 pm

BigFish

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If you use VB2005, chances are it won't work for most people who use XP. In XP, the .NET framework is pretty much an optional 20 MB download. Besides, they might have fixed this by now, but my experience with the .NET framework was it being slow and clunky, almost as bad as Java. It works in Windows 2000, but chances are barely anyone with Windows 2000 has the .NET framework. And then you leave all the Windows 98 users in the dust. VB6 works on just about any computer in existence, even Windows 95, and probably could run on Mac and Linux with Wine. Although VB2005 has some nice features, it's just too darn complicated, really. Like the code examples that are on Wikipedia and stuff, VB2005 code is much more complicated!

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos

Tue Jul 17, 2007 8:20 pm

XImplosionX

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BigFish wrote:

If you use VB2005, chances are it won't work for most people who use XP. In XP, the .NET framework is pretty much an optional 20 MB download. Besides, they might have fixed this by now, but my experience with the .NET framework was it being slow and clunky, almost as bad as Java. It works in Windows 2000, but chances are barely anyone with Windows 2000 has the .NET framework. And then you leave all the Windows 98 users in the dust. VB6 works on just about any computer in existence, even Windows 95, and probably could run on Mac and Linux with Wine. Although VB2005 has some nice features, it's just too darn complicated, really. Like the code examples that are on Wikipedia and stuff, VB2005 code is much more complicated!

With VB2k5, you can include the .NET Framework runtime in your deployment options. Make it so they can download it as your application is installing. I agree VB6 is a great language no doubt, and I would use it, if I found it useful. Also, the speed issues have been fixed. The reason you had such a bad experiance was quite simple, VB2k5 BETA. We should always know that ms betas are buggy at best, and cannot be a fair judge.

The only thing that really matters is:
1. You find it enjoyable
2. Your language can accomplish what you want
If you have that, your good to go.

Re: Some ideas/thoughts about programming a Case Maker *Long Pos

Tue Jul 17, 2007 8:58 pm

N-Mario

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BigFish wrote:

If you use VB2005, chances are it won't work for most people who use XP. In XP, the .NET framework is pretty much an optional 20 MB download. Besides, they might have fixed this by now, but my experience with the .NET framework was it being slow and clunky, almost as bad as Java. It works in Windows 2000, but chances are barely anyone with Windows 2000 has the .NET framework. And then you leave all the Windows 98 users in the dust. VB6 works on just about any computer in existence, even Windows 95, and probably could run on Mac and Linux with Wine. Although VB2005 has some nice features, it's just too darn complicated, really. Like the code examples that are on Wikipedia and stuff, VB2005 code is much more complicated!

Yea. That's what I'm thinking. I don't want to have to make a program, then have to include the framework files just to get the application working. I would rather try to make a windows app. program that everyone can use, without all the complaining that it doesn't work on their machines.