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Aug 15, 2002, 3:49am

MFC, MFC, MFC--or you can create it using raw Win32 API code, which is
pretty nuts--it takes quite a lot of lines of code just to make a blank
window, and to actually make it do something useful... o_o

I am personally using VS .NET, however VS6 doesn't work too differntly
if I remember correctly. Just make a new MFC app--set the settings to a
Dialog application, this is about all you need for a simplistic 1-page GUI
such as the settings for an AW bot. Visual Studio does most of the grunt
work for you when you create buttons and such; MFC is pretty much totally
object oriented, which you can be sure you will be using a lot in C++ :)
For example, when I create a button on my IDD_AWBOTBASE_DIALOG resource with
an ID of IDC_CONNECT (each item should have a unique ID), MFC will
automatically create the appropriate functions:

void CAWBotBaseDlg::OnBnClickedConnect()

etc., etc.--of course this is only for a simplistic GUI of buttons, radio
controls, etc.--to get anything somewhat advanced takes more work and
knowlegde of MFC. I recommend getting a good book on it or reading some
things on the internet about it to give you a basic idea of the workings of
it.

Also, if you do not like Microsoft standards such as MFC, (some people seem
to think that it adds a bunch of useless classes) there are several
alternatives that are probably simpler--I do not know of any offhand, but
someone else might know of some?

Object-oriented power to the max :)

Deconstructor

Aug 15, 2002, 3:50am

Actually, here's a fairly popular alternative that just crossed my
mind--good for crossplatform development, especially for games and other
mutlimedia apps:

www.libsdl.org

Deconstructor

Aug 20, 2002, 5:29pm

STL :) This is what I do to keep track of everyone in the scene.

(Ignore the myBotClass::, I copied this out of my own bots--just change the
functions to whatever you are using, you get the idea)

#include <map>

using namespace std;

typedef struct {
char* citName;
int X;
int Y;
int Z;
int citNum;
int avatar;
int gesture;
} avInfo;

map<int,avInfo> avatars; // Info on everyone in the scene

void myBotClass::awEventAvatarAdd(char* avatarName,int avatarSession,int
X,int Z,int Y,int yaw,int avatarCitNum,int avatarType,int avatarGesture){
// Store avatar info
avatars[avatarSession].citName=avatarName;
avatars[avatarSession].X=X;
avatars[avatarSession].Y=Y;
avatars[avatarSession].Z=Z;
avatars[avatarSession].citNum=avatarCitNum;
avatars[avatarSession].avatar=avatarType;
avatars[avatarSession].gesture=avatarGesture;
dbgPrint("%s entered the scene. Citizen: %i Session:
%i",avatarName,avatarCitNum,avatarSession);
}

void myBotClass::awEventAvatarChange(char* avatarName,int avatarSession,int
X,int Z,int Y,int yaw,int avatarType,int avatarGesture){
avatars[avatarSession].citName=avatarName;
avatars[avatarSession].X=X;
avatars[avatarSession].Y=Y;
avatars[avatarSession].Z=Z;
avatars[avatarSession].avatar=avatarType;
avatars[avatarSession].gesture=avatarGesture;
}

void myBotClass::awEventAvatarDelete(char* avatarName,int avatarSession){
avatars.erase(avatarSession);
}

This way, you have a little spybot that keeps tabs on everyone in the scene.

Deconstructor

Aug 21, 2002, 5:01pm

If I think I understand right, you want to display the .rwx models in 3d?
Well, I'm not sure if there is an OCX or DLL that does this all for you, and
I'm not too knowledgable on the Renderware specs, but you'd have to use the
Renderware API itself (http://andras.net/rw21docs) or write your own code to
parse the vertices and such out of a .RWX script file and pass it to some
other rendering API--either OpenGL or D3D, I.E.:

ModelBegin
ClumpBegin
Vertex -0.05 0.00 -0.05 #1
Vertex -0.05 0.00 0.05 #2
Vertex 0.05 0.00 0.05 #3
Vertex 0.05 0.00 -0.05 #4
Vertex -0.05 0.10 -0.05 #5
Vertex -0.05 0.10 0.05 #6
Vertex 0.05 0.10 0.05 #7
Vertex 0.05 0.10 -0.05 #8
ClumpEnd
ModelEnd

Just read the vertices out of here and then
glVertex3f(vertices[0][0],vertices[0][1],vertices[0][2]);

This may be helpful:
http://www.grovers.com/objects/rw.html

Deconstructor

Aug 27, 2002, 1:07pm

You have to make the member function static:

class TMainWindow{
//yadda yadda
static void AW_AvatarAdd(void);
};

void TMainWindow::AwAvatarAdd(void){
//foobar
}

Why? The event handler triggers the function, however, the function can be
part of a class--and there can be 1000's of TMainWindows, so the program has
no way of determining where to trigger the function. The static keyword
makes that member common to all instances of the class--for example:

class foo {
public:
static int bar;
};
foo class1, class2;
class1.bar=1; // class2.bar = 1 now also--you can also do foo::bar

This method should have no problem, however, seeing as you have only one
window and will only have one bot.

Object oriented power to the max!

Deconstructor

[View Quote]

Aug 27, 2002, 1:17pm

Just a side note--the only problem I see that you will probably encounter is
the fact that static members can NOT read or write to nonstatic members
(however, vice versa works). Possible solutions:

One solution is to make any variables you require to use in the event
handlers static, which is ok if there are only a few. If you have ot make
the majority of the members in the class static so you can access them,
what's the point in having the class?

Another solution is to have a pointer somewhere to your TMainWindow class in
your application, so you can access it from your event handler and get out
of the static function.

What I've been doing in my object oriented AWBot class is it has static
member classes of AWBotInstance--AWBot class has the static members
AwEventAvatarAdd, etc. which get called when the events happen. These
member functions check aw_instance against every AWBotInstance->instance
until they find the match, and then they call
AWBotInstance->AwEventAvatarAdd. Works pretty well, actually. :)

Deconstructor

Aug 31, 2002, 5:54pm

> aw.h is in ../microsoft visual studio/vc98/include/ and the proggy folder

If it is in that folder (for standard includes), the #include must be in
<>'s

#include <aw.h>

Or you could add the file to your project and do #include "aw.h" :)

Deconstructor

Aug 7, 2001, 1:54pm

I personally feel Eep has a fairly good idea. I feel that this plugin
system should not only revolve around bots, but controlling everything, like
the world server. Perhaps there could be some universal SDK application, in
which you could just snap your various plug-ins in for what you need to do.
There would be your various standard plugins, for things such as world
server, perhaps some sort of propdump manager for a mapping program, or even
an AW browser plugin. And then, using the SDK, you could code (or download
other) plugins, which could be used for things such as bots and basic world
maintenence.

Why bother doing a plugin system at all? Not only do you have everything
working together instead of tons of seperate applications, but you can also
get the lovely use of object-oriented programming. Perhaps you could have
plugins on top of plugins, for example, a world maitenence plugin on top of
the world server plugin. The world maitenence plugin doesn't need to know
the inner workings of the server plugin, it just knows how to call it's
various functions that it needs to utilize.

Sep 30, 2001, 12:05pm

I voted for rotating in all 3 dimensions, also. I think custom avatars is
way too much trouble for very little improvement, I think there are much
more important things to add.

And on that note, why isn't shared events on the list? I think this would
be one of the biggest things to add to the AW browser, especially if it's
headed in a more game-oriented direction. I don't see how it would be
incredibly difficult, as the SDK already supports it... The browser would
just have to use it. All I think that would have to be added is some code
to reduce lag, so that people who are running around clicking on 5000
objects don't lag the whole area... Opinions, anyone?

Aug 17, 2002, 1:16am

http://www.winternet.com/~mikelr/flame31.html

:)

Deconstructor

Aug 27, 2002, 1:10pm

If I remember correctly, this was due to some faulty entries in AWTeen's
registry in AWTeen, not the special commands.

Deconstructor

[View Quote]

Jul 18, 2001, 2:11pm

Mike Welsh
Deconstructor 331399

Jul 24, 2001, 11:03pm

He's talking about his world, Pollen.
It's a nifty world, go check it out.

Deconstructor

[View Quote]

Sep 28, 2001, 11:29pm

I really think they should add the objects from the 3d homepages to the AW
object path. They already have them done, and they look great. Just take a
look at some of the 3d homepage worlds, I must admit, they look quite good.
It would be nice to be able to use them in AlphaWorld and such... Or at
least some of the textures. Would really liven up the place I bet.

Oct 2, 2001, 5:02pm

Thanks for your opinion, I didn't notice some of those errors before. I
still think some of the objects would make a welcome addition. The
tport_swirl looks pretty nifty if you ask me. I guess a lot of them might
be out of the grounds of AW, though, as it tries to stay away from some
themes.

On a seperate note, I'm thinking taht perhaps a lot of the objects in the
3d homepage worlds may be used in the AWBuild world. (Is AWC still planning
on opening that to the public?) As I recall, the objects were going to be a
modular approach for building houses in particular, and that's what a lot of
the objects in the 3d homepages seem to be. Anyone have any insight on
this?

Decon

[View Quote]

Oct 11, 2001, 8:37pm

Just a small suggestion. I think you should put marginheight="0"
marginwidth="0" topmargin="0" leftmargin="0" in the body tag to get rid of
the margins on the sides and top.

Decon

[View Quote]

Oct 11, 2001, 8:40pm

On the hot spots page, the Nature link goes to a list of events. :)

Decon

[View Quote]

Aug 9, 2002, 4:08pm

Haha, this is funny--I am the original creator of the "YOU ARE AN IDIOT"
page:

http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze29k6v/you.html

I made it in a few minutes as a joke for my friends--the sound is a radio
taunt from the Quake2/3 mod Weapons Factory, but I think they got it from
Monty Python or some similar place. It just sat there for a while--but one
day I came across the URL in another newsgroup--and so I did a Google
newsgroup search to find that it was being posted all over the place, along
with tons of spinoffs. O_o I just find it amazing how such a stupid little
thing became so popular, haha.

Just goes to show you how an internet "fad" grows. :)

Deconstructor

Aug 9, 2002, 8:53pm

Yes, it's a small world after all, I suppose. ^_^

Deconstructor

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