Nemmy Games Developers Blag

Starting at this moment we are going to start to recommend that Linux users have the latest version of Wine installed on their machines in the event that it is newer than the one in most repositories.

This comes from studying the updates in Wine 1.0+, which include the fix for the common problem that required users to use the terminal and the cd command to the directory before running the program.

Since this problem no longer exists, and Wine runs EXEs from their directories, we highly recommend that you get the latest version of the software.

Roman

Let’s face it, when it comes to the Windows API, Game Maker is lacking in many areas. But the developer(s) of Game Maker were well aware of that, and that’s why they put in their software the ability to call functions from an external DLL.

There are many DLLs out there, some of them more awesome than others, but one that I think stands out is Hobble Software’s MaxWinAPI DLL. This DLL gives you access to all sorts of Windows API functions, including tabs, textboxes, buttons, progress bars, combo boxes, tables, etc. Are there downsides? Absolutely. The biggest is that because of the way Game Maker draws on its windows the APIs will not refresh properly, and will look bad. The solution of course is that the DLL includes a function to create its own windows, where everything works as intended.

Tabbing between controls doesn’t seem to work either, and the MaxWinAPI windows do not respond to GameMaker keypress “Events”. Nevertheless, it will respond perfectly to keyboard_check_direct() events placed in the Step event. Remember if you are using a letter, (ie. “everything they press ‘C’) you need to use ord(). For example

if(keyboard_check_direct(ord('C')))
{
show_message("C has been pressed");
}

The DLL is also not documented very well, so make sure to view the provided examples and study them carefully. Furthermore, you may like to know that work on MaxWinAPI2 is underway and that it is much better documented.

Plus remember there’s a great community who will be more than willing to help out with any questions you may have.

Good luck!

Roman

Good news! A number of projects have passed the beta phase and are (hopefully) coming soon to an Intertube near you. These include a typing tutor, some LAN stuff, a cool C++ program that lets you do awesome things with unreal numbers. It’s all really quite cool.

Roman

We have been getting a lot of spam. The good news is, we now have a way to hopefully not get anymore. That is all.

Roman

Oh yeah, and we’re still working hard on games. We have some characheter art and some engine work in the works, plus a few smaller projects and engines.

But  here it goes. Go vote. I won’t tell you who I endorse, Faizz Buk can do that for me. Instead, all I will say is go vote. If you’re a gamer or a nerd of some kind, there are plenty of technology related issues, including things like net-neutrality, the video game rating system, technology outsourcing in a global economy, which tech jobs are disappearing or being outsourced to places where labor is cheaper and more productive. Because we live in such a modern and global age, tech issues are becoming more and more important, and have the potential to do more that affects how we are able to collaborate.

I would highly recommend, therefore, that people vote. Find a candidate, watch their YouTubes, look into their record, and vote.

Roman

Here’s an update on WINE. Mostly everything works. Full screen and window mode now work, though there is about a two second delay when exiting the game. We’re still working on that.  Also INIs and other external files now work, as does some cool DLL-induced kung-fu with which we have been experimenting lately…..

Roman

I figured it would be good of me to make a post, instead of leaving all of it to Roma. So, haldo, Seth here. I thought I would have an interesting little game here for all of you that read this (is the number higher than zero?) Why don’t you all list a book, song, and artwork that you like? Or alternatively, author, artist and…artist that you like. This has to do with research for a computer game project, humor me.

And for every mention of Dan Brown, or J.K. Rowling, I hate you.

We at Nemmy Games are starting to initiate Project Babel in our future projects and we need to know if anyone knows fluently any language other than English.

What is Project Babel?
Project Babel is a project intended to get translations of dialog and menu items for the games,.

How can I contribute?
Let me know what language(s) you can do, and when the time is right I will send you an INI file with the English that will look something like this

[File]
Dialog1=Hello, this is an example.
Dialog2=Really?

Let’s say you were doing Spanish, you would send me back

[File]
Dialog1=Hola, este es un ejemplo.
Dialog2=¿Realmente?

What’s in it for me (as in you, the translator)?
Ever wanted your name in the credits of a game played by a lot of people all over the Internets? Of course you have. Plus, you’re allowing this awesome game to be accessible to more people who may not understand English very well (yes, there are actually people like that).

Is there money involved?
Not really, but you’ll be doing something nice, and isn’t that it’s own reward? Isn’t it? Hello? Is anyone out there?

What kind of languages do you need

Mainly real ones. While 1337 and “Elmer Fudd speak” are hilarious, no one actually speaks them, so they wouldn’t help us. Also that means no binary, and no hex. Nerds.

Any language will do that’s not kanji (or kanji-like) - we’re looking for a low number of letters, but if you know hiragana, that would be what we would probably pursue if we had Japanese.

So when’s the deadline?
Eek, don’t use the ‘d’ word. We hate deadlines. We hate them a lot. Translation is done in your own free time with general checkpoints every so often. We hate deadlines, but we assume stuff is actually getting done and will get done in a reasonable amount of time. So if you can indeed contribute, please let us know, either by going to the contact page at http://www.nemmygames.com/contact.php or by replying here. Thanks.

Roman

We got most of the game working in Wine, the program that attempts to run Windows EXE files. The game can only run in fullscreen, however, and we’ll need to be switching over to a new sound system. The sound issue seems relatively easy to fix, so we should have a version that works mostly in Wine pretty soon. As I mentioned before, nothing will be externalized, the ZIP file will contain the EXE file, which is quite larger at the moment, around 6 MB with no Resources folder for externalized data.

Roman

Work on the next game has been going on for a bit, and I’m pleased to announce we are about halfway done. What is this game you ask? The game is tentatively titled Knight’s Vacation. Think Knight’s Tour, but cooler (hopefully). Graphics are set to be isometric (ie, 3d-looking) and pretty darn polished. The new graphics guy, Drew, is working on them, and trust me, they’ll look awesome when they’re finished.