Eldoril

Thx, js1\. Should've come here before bothering Robin. Couldn't figure out how to get the admin panel up to make changes. Easy to understand explanation. Thx!

Alright, people. I did make the comment to warn others so no one else gets hit like I did. I am still fairly 'computer stupid, but my daughter found a way to get to the restore point and counteract _**MOST**_ of what that virus did. However, comments about this do not answer the questions I asked. I apologize for being as computer stupid as I am, but I need to know if my suspision about the differences between EE 2.7 compiled and Source code are correct. Can anyone answer that, please?

Greetings again Eclipsers, I have recently come VERY close to having my computer crash after getting hit by a virus. Anyone who gets an E-mail that has something related to a new anti-virus software called Antivir, be careful and _**DO NOT**_ open it. I made that mistake, and it nearly cost me my computer. Anyway, it corrupted both Evolutions and Stable to the point that I could no longer use the versions that I had downloaded. I re-downloaded all of the Eclipse versions, and the only on that works correctly at the present is Evolutions. Stable freezes when crossing from one map to another, and Origins keeps giving me an error, every time, when trying to start the client, "Runtime error 5 Invalid procedure call or arguement" and I have not made ANY changes what-so-ever. I have just downloaded it and tried to fire it up. And yes, I did register the dll or oxc files, or whatever they were prior to trying to start it. My questions are these: 1) What is the difference between Evolutions Compiled and Evolutions Source Code? If it means what I think it means, then 2) Is this source code in this 'SadScript' that can be altered without having to use VB6? Thanks for your time, Eldoril

@ Aramyth, To get rid of that completely, could that entire file not just be deleted? Is it absolutely necessary to make the game run?

Urahara, I found the same glitch. I ended up having to alter a Source file in the server. Here is what I did. Open the Server folder Open the Scripts folder Open the Events folder Double click on the 'UsingStatPoints.ess'. When prompted, open the file with Notepad. Scroll down to the bottom of the page. In the second last line, 'Call SetPlayerPOINTS(Index, GetPlayerPOINTS(Index) + 1)', change the '+' to a '-'. When closing the file and it asks if you want to save the changes made to the file, hit Yes. From then on, your points total should go down as your character uses them. I hope this helps!

New, I have had some experience with paperdolling problems, and found that the Item Sheet can only be 384 pixels X 8832 pixels. It seems that if 8832 is any larger, a white box appears around the sprite, blanking out the sprite wile both moving and still. Go into Attributes on the Item sheet and change the righthand number to 8832, and all should be well. Eldoril

I have found that the experience can also be altered in the Server Folder by opening and changing the amounts in the Experience notepad emblem with the gear on it. I have formerly set new values for the levels that way.

I have been getting an error lately, as seen in the subject line. I am trying to progress my game, yet every day for the last week, I keep trying to make more NPC's, and get the runtime error, which in turn shuts down the engine yet leaves the server alone. I thought that it was fixed yesterday, when I saved my tiles, sprites, items, and arrows, along with a few other minor modifications. After I saved the above, I dumped and re-opened the entire Stable.rar, replaced all of the above, and it worked. Now, I go into the game this eveningm and the error has returned. I just read a topic about another error with Stable, something about the library files being bugged. Is this also a what is causing my problems? 1) I have also found a few other problems with Stable, one of which is a recurring problem that I had with Evolution. When I opened the files from the .rar, my computer automatically opened the sound effects as .wav files. All the files work except for the rain and thunder, which both give me an error that comes up in the chat box as such; C:\Documents and Settings\…...\Client\SFX\rain/thunder.mp3 does not exist. I attempted to transpose the file with a program I have from a .wav to .mp3, and got a message saying that an error prevented the transposition because the .wav file used an unsupported codec. 2) When using accumulated points, when I used them to increase my speed, they got posted under Magic, even tho they said I got more speed. 3) I had some trouble with the Paperdolling function. I would get a white box around my character with it engaged. I did find a fix for this later, with a bit of experimenting. I found that the Item sheet could only be 8832 pixels high, and then it worked perfectly. As always, any assistance with these matters would be appreciated. I am getting frustrated with these problems, but keep plugging away because of the normally easy use of your game server and engine. Humbly, Eldoril

So in other words, if I wanted to make a gun, setting it up as indistructable, but with clips of ammo that can be used up, that would not be able to be done with either of these functions? I apologize if I am sounding short or angry, but Stable is throwing a fit for some reason. See my newest post.

I have been working on my game again and have another question. In the Item set-up, there are a pair of check boxes. One is marked Stackable, the other is marked Bound. Can someone please explain what these terms mean? Eldoril

Dear Kyle the Ferret, I am presently using both 32 X 32 and 32 X 64 sprites in my game, and have found that if you place the 32 X 32 in the bottom of the 32 X 64 line, the sprites work just fine. I have another blank tile sheet that I used as a sizer, and have enlarged my sprite sheet by 32 pixels in the width to keep everything in line. A note I would like to put in here is about the paperdolling. I have found, thru trial and error, that the Item sheet can be no more than 8832 pixels in height. Anything more than that will cause a glitch that causes a white box to appear around the player's sprite. Eldoril

Yes Sputnak, I get it with both rain and thunder.

I have tried to enable sound effects and music to the game I am working on, but keep getting an error: C:\Documents and Settings\…\Big Client\SFX\rain.mp3 does not exist. When I initially unzipped the game and engine file, all the sound effects automatically opened in .wav file format. I have a program loaded on my computer that will transpose from .wav to mp3, but when I try to do that, I get another error: This file cannot be converted because it uses an unrecognized codec. I have looked in the resources area, but have only found graphics; no sound effects. Did I look in the wrong place, or did I just not look hard enough? Is there somewhere else that I can go to get properly formatted sound effects? As always, any assistance in this matter would be appreciated, Eldoril

I wish to thank you for the advice about the shops, but I have come up with a better idea, or at least one that seems to be working. I had tried making a shop for Warrior gear (Helmets, Weapons, Shields, and Armor), Cleric Gear, Mage Gear, and Woodsman Gear, and that was what was causing problems with the money. I have since changed it to Armor, Weapon, Hat, and Shield Shops, and the monetary problems seem to have resolved themselves. I have also had communications via private messages with Kimimaru and Admiral Refuge, and have found that I cannot alter the source code since I have VB.net, not VB6\. Apparently going from the VB6 to the VB.net is like trying to get Windows 95 to run a program from Windows XP. They seem to not speak quite the same language, and in just the right places that it makes them virtually incompatible. I appreciate the information from both of you, and am going to try working with Stable for a while. I do have a slight problem with that, tho. I downloaded it earlier today, and it seems that I am having a problem. I had my map size in Evolution 2.7 set at 31 by 31, making the map 32 tiles by 32 tiles. Every time I would try to fire up the server, I would get 'Run-Time error 9, script out of range'. I got it 17 times before I found that it appears to have come from changing the map size. After I changed it back to 30 by 30, it fired up every time. I have gone back to the download section, and see that there are a number of what appear to be fixes or patches, but not knowing much about programming (i just successfully wrote the 'Lucky 7' program from the booklet I got with my version of VB.net), I have no idea just which fix I should download to fix this mape size problem, or if there even is one. I like the Big Client. Having needed glasses for nearsightedness since I was 9, it is easier for me to see and read. So, as I said, I will work with it and see how it acts compared to Evolution 2.7, and see which one I like better, and perhaps give a report. Also, with both EE 2.7 and Stable, all of the sound effects appear as .wav files, yet when I try to put them into the game, I get a message saying {C:\Documents and Settings\…\Big Client\SFX\Thunder.mp3 does not exist}. I have a program on my computer to change to and from various media file types, and I get an error {The file cannot be converted because it uses an unrecognized codec}. As always, any suggestions or advice would be appreciated. Humbly, Eldoril

Kimimaru, I read thru your link, and tho it seems to have all the answers, I find that I cannot open the source code to be able to make the changes you suggest. I have Visual Basic.net (version 2003) loaded, installed, and running on my computer, but still cannot open the server or whatever it is that needs to be opened to alter the source code as you suggest. Do you have any suggestions for this problem? Also, since I have you here (so to speak), I have other questions. I have copied this server and game engine, altering a few things like map number and sizes, and quite a number of my own tiles. I have an idea for a sci-fi game, but I would like to know if there is a way to make places like caves and/or sewers dark all the time? If this is possible, then there should also be a way to attach light to the player, as in the form of a flashlight or lantern, yes? Are these things possible? If so, after we figure out how to open whatever it is that I need to open to alter the source code, can you "talk me thru this" as well? I also have questions about this "scripting" I keep reading about. I have done some searching thru old posts and tutorials, but still do not understand whether this scripting means that I can make certain NPC's do certain things at certain times in conjunction to the player's progress in the game, or is it a more general things like walking up or down a diagonal stairway? I will continue to read posts and tutorials and try to figure this out on my own, but any help would be appreciated. Also, I have found that magic spells do not "fire" the animations as they are shown in the [edit spell] where spells are made up. As a spell is being made, there is a page where there is an animation, yet when one of my characters throws say a fire spell, no fire appears on or around the NPC target. Is this another source code problem, or is this part of this scripting thing I cannot seem to figure out? Lastly, my banks do not work. I cannot make either a deposit or withdrawal. I have tried to use the banks many times, yet they have never worked. Is there a fix for this as well? I apologize for all the questions, but I am trying to get my game moving along, but these things are making progress slower than I feel it should be. Again, any assistance in these matters would be greatly appreciated Eldoril

Sorry, but I need assistance again, With other game engines I have used in the past, shops have been able to have two items usable as currency to purchase or 'build' a third. Your shops are only able to take one item, a piece of currency, as payment for an item. I would like to be able to make a Keymaster or Locksmith Shop where I can submit both a key shank and head to 'build' a key. Is this a source code fix, or something else? Is this something I can fix, with my limited experience with your 2.8 version, or will I need to go into the source code? Eldoril

Thank you all for all the input, but I found that I did not have the proper understanding of 'Shops'. It was not until I went thru making another set of shops that I found that I can make, and have made, all of the different currencies that I wanted, and as far as I have gone, they work properly. As far as having 'Moneychangers' in some towns, I had figured to use your idea, defendersdef, and trade them as in your suggestion, 100s for 1 g, or something similar to that idea. As for fixing items, I may just take that part of the shops out, making characters purchase new after the items wear out, as per your suggestion, Kimimaru. Either that or I make all my items indestructable, which, in my opinion would sort of take some of the fun out of the game. I suppose I can think of something. To Anna, I have the idea that only certain types of items (armor, weapons, etc.) will be sold in certain 'Kingdoms' making it possible to get them in these areas, so that problem is solved, that of making certain currencies being used to purchase certain items. Again, I thank you all for your input and ideas. If I understood how to use VB, I would perhaps be able to make those types of changes, but as I stated, I have not done any programming since there was Basic, and that was about 25 years ago, when home computers first came out, ones that did not have hard drives and computers ran off of 5 1/2" actual floppy disks. I shall continue working things thru, and with all of your help, hopefully, this game will happen. As always, thank you all again for your help and patience, Eldoril

Dear Eclipsers, I appreciate all the assistance in the past. All those who have given answers, which may not have been the answers I wanted, but the answers I needed (hahaha). I appreciate your help and patience with me. I feel like a true n00b, but I have been out of computers since the coding was written in basic, with either light or dark colored blocks, or character strings (chs$). I do have another question, and then I hope that that will be it for a while. I am attempting to remake a world that I used to play in in an old version of Dungeons & Dragons. In order for it to be as close to that old world as I can make it, I need more than one type of currency. I am not just looking for gold, silver and copper pieces, but different types of the above, in addition to something similar to Wampum, or colored beads made of wood. From all I can gather, I can make the different types of currency I want, but only one type can be used to purchase or repair items. Is this a source code problem, or is this something that can be done in scripting, or is this just something I need to live with? I have about 10% of my world mapped, and a few other pieces, but with my work schedule, and having 2 other people in the house using the computer, it is difficult to make any real headway. I am chipping away at it tho. As always, any assistance in this matter would be appreciated. Thanks again, Eldoril

Ballie, When you have the Admin panel open while mapping, click on the world tab at the top. one of the buttons below is marked 'Location'. Press that button, and your coordinates will appear in yellow letter at the top left corner of the screen, just like they did for you before. That is normally one of the first things that I do when mapping. Eldoril

You should be careful with map sizes, tho, shikei. If you make maps that large, ande then try to make a game full of 1000 maps that size, it will take forever for you server to load, and make even make your game run very sluggish. This is just a suggestion, but you may want to rethink making maps that large.

1) I want to thank all of you for all of your help. I apologize for not replying for all the help, but my life got crazy for a while. I did get my problem with the game engine not firing solved, but at the present, I do not remember how I did it. 2) I have been playing with the tiles, mapping, etc., and have been proceeding about as I had expected, _S l o w l y_ 3) I did find that file with all of the help texts from an old source, reloaded it and got it back into the server folder. I am gald to say that it works as well. I have done some re-writing of some of the files, attempting to explain things a bit better. If anyone is interested, would you mind instructing me how to attach it or something to send ot here for criticisms/suggestions? 4) I am going to attempt to do a new bit of coding in the scripting file. I have already made a minor change to the amount of training points go to a leveled player. I still occasionally play an online game where players also receive a 'rank', and I would like to add that to the game I am developing. I have an idea of how to do it, but would also take any instruction you would be willing to give me. As before, any assistance would be greatly appreciated, and I will try to keep all of my 'Instructors' updated better than I have in the past. Eldoril

Thanks for the help people, but suddenly I have another problem. As of this morning, I can no longer get the game engine to start. I went in to do some mapping this morning, and it started acting wierd. I would fire the engine, and I would get the small bos telling me it was checking files, and then that would disappear and nothing else would happen. I would again fire the engine, and it would get all the way thru until the last screen before I would get the character selection, and it would lock up or something. I actually let it sit for over an hour the last time, and it never went any further. I even went so far as to delete the entire Eclipse Evolutions folder, re-extract the file from the .rar, and try it straight as it was downloaded, and it still will go no further. The server fires up fine, but the engine will not. My daughter told me that it may, with her plugging and unplugging her router into the modem, we ended up with a different I.P. address, so I went into the IP Config and changed it to match the I.P. on the server, but still got the same. Any suggestions?

Thank you both, Xeross and The Soul Numb. I am angry now, at myself. I had an older version of the server, and got rid of it when I DL'd this one. I should have kept it, it seems. Restarting my mapping will not be a problem. I was just testing the water, as it were with the mapping I did recently. I am also re-organizing the Tile Sheets to something easier for me to use, since the tiles seem to be spread all over. I am grouping them together, like Arctic (having all 'snow' tiles together on the same page), Plains ( having all grass and normal outside tiles together ), and so forth. I also have a few that I drew nyself, like an igloo and a pool or billiard table, poker games, and some other alterations of tiles. It is putzy, but a good way for me to blow off steam after work. Re: Sould Numb, can you tell me where to find those text files for the server help topics, of where I can DL an older copy of the Eclipse server? Thanks again, guys! Eldoril

Thank you for the help. It worked. Now I have other questions. I have begun mapping my world, but some things have gone a bit screwy. 1) With the server running, I no longer have access to any of the help section. The list of topics comes up, but none of the actual explanations. I have done nothing that would seem to delete or alter this, so what is wrong? 2) While mapping, under properties, when I try to enact rain under weather, the rain comes, but it is backed by a white tile which then also, along with the rain, moves across the screen, blanking out whatever tile is supposed to be there. The original tile returns once the rain goes by, but I still have a few white tiles moving across the screen with the rain. How do I fix this? 3) In the Data.ini file, I see that it appears that I can alter the size of the maps. It is set @ 'Scrolling=1' ( I take it the 1 turns it on ), then it says 'ScrollX=30' and 'ScrollY=30\. Is this what makes the maps the size that they are, 31 X 31? If so, can I alter this to make the maps larger or smaller? 4) I have altered the 'Classes' files, bringing the total up to 6 ( 3 male and 3 female ). I have also set the Sprites, and the map coordinates where they are supposed to appear, yet they do not appear where I set them to. I have set them to be both male and female sharacters. In order to clear this up, do I need to erase the female sprite number to get only a male sprite, and vise versa for the females? Also, for the map on which they are to start, can I set that to whatever map I want them to appear on? I apologize for all the possibly stupid questions, but I am new to this type of server and game engine, and wish to do things correctly. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Eldoril

A few years ago, my daughter and I played a game on-line, and it slowly declined and was taken off line. She went surfing for me and found a version of your game server and engine (Touch of Death Productions). I still have the copy except for the tiles. Recently, I have been trying to make a game, and tried you engine, but ran into a brick wall. For my game to be of the scope I would like, I calculated that I would need somewhere between 60000 and 80000 maps. The engine that I have will only give me up to 1120 (These maps are 31 X 31 tiles, scrolling in a 20 X 20 tile window). Is there a way to allow access to the number of maps I need? Also, I have come upon information that someone had stolen a copy of your server and game engine and claimed it as their own. If the copy that I have is one of the stolen ones, please contact me and I will delete it. If that happens, is there a way for me to obtain another copy of you server files and game engine to construct a game? If so, could someone contact me with instructions to do this properly? Any assistance would be appreciated. Eldoril