[ETPC]

Any news?

[NightFright]

We are getting there. And if there were news, I'd not hesitate to post them. Bumping is neither helpful nor necessary.

Things are still unchanged, the usermap packs are the blocker. They work in general, but not as user-friendly as I want them to be. EDuke32 is currently also not in the stable, reliable and functional state I would need it to be. The idea is still to make all addons work with latest snapshots since I hate operating with outdated builds.

The code-heavy addons still need to be tested and I will probably release those first as test versions. Since a new edition of WGRealms 2 is also imminent, a full release wouldn't happen before that anyway since it would render the current edition immediately obsolete.

[Le Gluon du Net]

Hello Frightnight,
in your dn3d addons archive a file fm3x_help.txt is read only and that could cause bugs during extracting (in special conditions).
I didn't see others files read only in your archive but perhaps they are others.
Could it be possible you avoid read only files in your archive?
Thank you for your help.

[NightFright]

Fernando did this originally, I wouldn't touch this kind of stuff. Anyway, I will check all my local files for such flags (it looks as if it's really just that one file). Please understand however that I am not going to make a new version just for this.

[Le Gluon du Net]

I understand, but it's good you have this info.

Another thing, I surely missed something but are this addons compatible with duke3d.grp file from “Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour.” ?

[Phredreeke]

there's no reason it shouldn't be but I think the supplied eduke32 build is too old to autodetect it

[NightFright]

I removed version detection for duke3d.grp. In theory it should work fine since the groupfile itself does not have any fundamental changes, structure is the same compared to Atomic.

[Le Gluon du Net]

I tried again with last Eduke32 version from git,

- with classic duke3d.grp, all addons shown:
https://imgur.com/2Rq8NPb

- with Steam 20th anniversary version (WT):
https://imgur.com/16KSbdv

Could you reproduce this issue?

I use a command line to launch Eduke32:
./eduke32 -usecwd -cfg config.cfg -j "dn3d/gog/" -j "dn3d/steam/" -j "dn3d/steam/classic/" -j "dn3d/steam/addons/dc/" -j "dn3d/steam/addons/nw/" -j "dn3d/steam/addons/vacation/" -j "dn3d/all/" -j "dn3d/addons/dc" -j "dn3d/addons/nw" -j "dn3d/addons/vacation" -j "dn3d/addons/frightnight/addons" -j "dn3d/addons/frightnight/dukezone2" -grp "hrp/"*

The same command line, two different result, two different duke3d.grp files.

[NightFright]

It only detects the standalone groupfiles, then. I dunno if EDuke32 has a dedicated checksum identifier for WT. If it does, I don't know its exact name.

Anyway, I don't use WT groupfile for anything, so I can't say I tested much with it. I realize it's becoming a problem now since it's the most recent version of the game and usually the one people buy these days if they never got in touch with it before. I will have to take this into account for future releases.

Still, technically all addons should work with WT. If they are not shown, it's something in addons.grpinfo. if you see the phrase "DUKE15_CRC" there a lot, that means all of those entries will only show in the list if you are using Atomic. Personally I'd like to show everything with Atomic and WT, but I dunno if I can define more than one dependency per addon. Maybe Hendricks can clearify that.

You can try editing addons.grpinfo by yourself and replace all instances of DUKE15_CRC with -1742012854 (or 0x8F127FFD, if I did the hex conversion correctly). Beware though that after that it won't work with Atomic any more.

[NightFright]

Correction: World Tour groupfile dependency should be 0x982AFE4A.

I have attached a modified grpinfo file with WT dependencies. Rename it to addons.grpinfo and replace your exising file with it. If it works after that, it proves that EDuke32 does not handle the WT groupfile the same way it does Atomic duke3d.grp (since it works fine without dependencies in that case).

Attached File(s)

•  addons.grpinfo.txt (18.53K)
  Number of downloads: 23

[Le Gluon du Net]

NightFright, on 04 October 2020 - 03:28 AM, said:

Correction: World Tour groupfile dependency should be 0x982AFE4A.

I have attached a modified grpinfo file with WT dependencies. Rename it to addons.grpinfo and replace your exising file with it. If it works after that, it proves that EDuke32 does not handle the WT groupfile the same way it does Atomic duke3d.grp (since it works fine without dependencies in that case).

Tested and worked! Thank you very much.
Now I have to find a way for my Duke Nukem 3D + addons Lutris script installer works whatever the duke3d.grp version.

[NightFright]

Ok, then @ Hendricks:
Is there a reason why groupinfo definitions work with Atomic when omitting dependency parameters completely, but for WT they are necessary?

And: Is there a way to make entries compatible with Atomic and WT at the same time (e.g. by defining dependency 2x for one addon)?

[NightFright]

I have decided to make a service release 3.14 to implement proper (or at least better) World Tour support. WT editions are becoming more and more important since it's the last official version of the game people can buy these days. (I have also fixed the FM3X help file with read-only attributes, but that's really minor.)

It basically just works with two batch files now, Atomic users launch addons.bat while World Tour users choose addons_wt.bat.

If you have version 3.13 already installed, you don't have to download the entire thing again since just very small files changed. Unzip the archive below into your EDuke32 dir and you are done.

Attached File(s)

•  eac314_patch.zip (110.56K)
  Number of downloads: 88

[Jimmy]

NightFright, on 06 October 2020 - 03:45 AM, said:

WT editions are becoming more and more important since it's the last official version of the game people can buy these days.

You can always buy the Atomic Edition + Nuclear Winter, Caribbean, and DC expansions on Zoom for only $5.

[NightFright]

Well, that's also an option, of course. Thing is some people complained this isn't working with the groupfile from World Tour, and actually I had assumed it would with the grpinfo I provided in v3.13. Apparently that was not the case, so dedicated grpinfo files for Atomic and WT should take care of everything.

[vini1264]

I'm having crashes in wgrealms 2: siege breaker that is included in this addon compilation

[Phredreeke]

Are you using the EDuke32 build included with the compilation or the latest one? Because it's possible something changed that broke the addon since.

[vini1264]

Phredreeke, on 08 October 2020 - 08:53 AM, said:

Are you using the EDuke32 build included with the compilation or the latest one? Because it's possible something changed that broke the addon since.

The addon guide says that I have to use the latest revision of Eduke32, also the package doesn't include any Eduke32 executable, so I just extracted it in my Eduke32 folder.

[NightFright]

The addon guide is from 2016. I did not update that part of the readme, but after such a long period of time, you can be sure that code-heavy addons such as WGR2 won't work as intended any more if you are running them with recent EDuke32 snapshots. Luckily for you, a new version of WGR2 is in the making which should be more compatible again.

The entire compilation must go through a series of playtestings before a new release is possible, which is why a pre-release is actually not even just a good idea, but a requirement. EDuke32 is an evolving port which means things tend to break over the years. Often it's a painstaking process of backtracking to the origin of certain errors, and considering the large amount of addons and levels included here (yes, also maps can break)... constantly keeping track of everything is a nightmare.

However, I am also to blame for misunderstandings like this. The readme needs to mention a recommended EDuke32 snapshot to use. I would say something between r59xx and r60xx should work fairly well.

[vini1264]

NightFright, on 08 October 2020 - 01:05 PM, said:

The addon guide is from 2016. I did not update that part of the readme, but after such a long period of time, you can be sure that code-heavy addons such as WGR2 won't work as intended any more if you are running them with recent EDuke32 snapshots. Luckily for you, a new version of WGR2 is in the making which should be more compatible again.

The entire compilation must go through a series of playtestings before a new release is possible, which is why a pre-release is actually not even just a good idea, but a requirement. EDuke32 is an evolving port which means things tend to break over the years. Often it's a painstaking process of backtracking to the origin of certain errors, and considering the large amount of addons and levels included here (yes, also maps can break)... constantly keeping track of everything is a nightmare.

However, I am also to blame for misunderstandings like this. The readme needs to mention a recommended EDuke32 snapshot to use. I would say something between r59xx and r60xx should work fairly well.

Thanks for explaining, I think I'll wait the new big update for WGR2, as for the other addons included i'll use an older version of Eduke32 to play them properly

[NightFright]

Sooner or later I had to do this, so I can just as well do it now:

I am officially looking for playtesters to make sure the upcoming new version of the Addon Compilation (v4.0) will work with recent EDuke32 snapshots - either in order to make adjustments to the addons or to induce changes/code reversions in EDuke32 to guarantee a stable and flawless experience.

There is quite some content to go through, almost 1500 maps by now. In many cases it'd be enough to do a launch test (do the maps start in general), but the code-heavy addons in this pack would need to be checked more thoroughly. Ideally, everything should be played at least to some extent - the more, the better. Ideally, I would like to have people assigned to specific portions of the compilation so that they can focus on that instead of playing stuff randomly, also in order to avoid people playing the same content. Each tester would then get his personal "portion" of the new version (since I want to avoid releasing a premature full version for everybody).

If we get enough people together, I'd release a list with all the included addons here and people can assign themselves to stuff they want to test. We are talking about 135 addons, so if we get 10 people, each of them would have to look at 13-14 entries. If we get 20 guys, it's down to 6-7 and so on. Some addons are rather short since they are mere map packs, but others are much larger (just think of Oblivion - I don't know if anybody is willing to go through all of those maps, geez), so we should try to balance the workload a bit.

[Phredreeke]

I would suggest focusing on any addons with their own CON code.

A map may break due to physics changes, but that is also something more likely to be resolved through future updates to EDuke32, while an addon crashing/misbehaving due to changed CON behaviour more likely has to be fixed in the CON code itself.

[NightFright]

Yeah, that's plausible. Still it'd ofc also be desirable to find maps that are broken due to flawed/incorrectly updated EDuke32 code. Pure map packs will require less attention in general. I will try to place the addons into categories regarding their coding complexity.

[ETPC]

I can volunteer for testing!

[Fernando Marquez]

NightFright, on 06 October 2020 - 03:45 AM, said:

I have decided to make a service release 3.14 to implement proper (or at least better) World Tour support. WT editions are becoming more and more important since it's the last official version of the game people can buy these days. (I have also fixed the FM3X help file with read-only attributes, but that's really minor.)

It basically just works with two batch files now, Atomic users launch addons.bat while World Tour users choose addons_wt.bat.

If you have version 3.13 already installed, you don't have to download the entire thing again since just very small files changed. Unzip the archive below into your EDuke32 dir and you are done.

Didn't I release FM4X a few months ago? I'm confused as to why FM3X is still there. :)
You can just switch from FM3X to FM4X, or are you holding it for a later release of the pack?

[NightFright]

FM4X will be in v4.0. I did not update any content in this small v3.14 service patch, it was just for WT support. The 3.x series is considered deprecated and will not receive any further content, also since I switched entirely to zip archives for everything. Saves like 50% disk space.

I am sorry that your latest work is still not featured in the compilation, but I am working on getting it out of the door at long last. Basically the new version is ready, but I cannot tell how some of the complex addons behave with latest EDuke32 builds (presumably poorly) and the user map packs still don't have the functionality I requested from Hendricks. They may need to be restructured for that purpose.

[December Man]

I wanted to replay Starship Troopers via this compilation, but it bugged like hell. On E1L3 the soldiers were just shooting at each other and in E1L4 every 5th bug became unkillable. Funny thing is, if you go straight to these levels via DNSCOTTY, these glitches will not occur.

[NightFright]

I actually had someone look over SST and also The Gate to sort out these kind of issues (among others). They shouldn't occur any more in the upcoming update. That will comfort you little as long as you are stuck with the flawed 3.x version, though. I put far too little playtesting into this since it were far too many addons for just one guy to do the QA work all by himself. It's a mistake I don't want to repeat again.

[December Man]

NightFright, on 14 October 2020 - 12:11 PM, said:

I actually had someone look over SST and also The Gate to sort out these kind of issues (among others).

I personally never had problems with The Gate, even though I've finished it several times in the past few years, if that's any consolation.

[December Man]

December Man, on 14 October 2020 - 11:30 AM, said:

I wanted to replay Starship Troopers via this compilation, but it bugged like hell. On E1L3 the soldiers were just shooting at each other and in E1L4 every 5th bug became unkillable. Funny thing is, if you go straight to these levels via DNSCOTTY, these glitches will not occur.

I started playing the TC through a regular version and guess what. The first bug still occurred. I think it's somehow related to the fact that, unlike other base-and-NPC maps, in this one your weapons are not taken away i.e. you are not reset.