Miscellaneous defects in the engine

  • #10, by SimonSThursday, 11. June 2020, 12:57 4 years ago
    Write to me at discord, I help lots of people there and that takes me lots of time. I'm here to help as far as I can. And we had some conversations via mail before as far as I remember.
    If you're happy at 5.0.9, no reason to update. But I can't do fixes for that unfortunately. There are many people keeping it at 5.0.9.
    Are the bugs really that gamebreaking, that it means you dump your whole game by updating ? Could you give me some examples ?
    Oak Island is in the works for over 7 years, I know how it is and it's part of my testing, I also test Daedalic games (got around 7 with source code). But there are always cases I miss.

    The files can be downgraded and if you would loose much work in it, I'll be happy to do it for you.

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  • #11, by MachtnixThursday, 11. June 2020, 14:27 4 years ago
    I gave you some bug reports years ago when Vis change from 4 to 5. 
    I think they are fixed now. There were a lot of true type formatting, editor and layout things. Starts with 5.0 RC and a new update every month... wink 
    Meanwhile I don't use Vis so often. The main reason is: I would make games on a 32bit machine, so I test version 5 every update a little bit to look how it is but I didn't really use it for hard working. Because of them I stay with 4.2.5 to possibly switch between 32 and 64 bit systems. 
    And English isn't mine, so I am "out" now. wink 

    If I would have a question or a bug it is about release 4.2.5 and of course nobody use it no longer. So it's how you said: if I'm lucky with 4.2.5 - why should I change..? 3D characters don't work because I still use bones, not joints, so what? I made lights and shaders in a 3D program, not in Visionaire, so what? The progress may be great, but it isnt mine...

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  • #12, by SimonSThursday, 11. June 2020, 14:45 4 years ago
    The next update is the first update that will be 64bits, all current 5 version are 32bits and have xp support. But since XP support of MS is over for 6 years, I think it's time to drop it. And according to the latest steam hardware survey a 64bits os is there in 99% of all systems.

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  • #13, by MachtnixThursday, 11. June 2020, 15:05 4 years ago
    The editor of 5 doesn't run on 32bit. I can't use 5 on XP (or another). If the next Update do that, it will be great. I know, 32bit is old fashioned. But more than 50% of my adventures run on XP without problems. I have a 32bit Win7 to test, but never installed. There are a lot of tool programs (incl. Photoshop) which runs well on 32bit and do what they have to. That's what I want so say: Vis makes simple 2D games in a simple way. It' a kind of "Volkswagen", no "Ferrari". As long I have my 4.2.5 I will use it.

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  • #14, by SimonSThursday, 11. June 2020, 15:13 4 years ago
    The editor doesn't run on XP, that's not the same as it doesn't run on 32bits. The editor uses functions that aren't available in XP and that can't be helped.

    The current player runs on XP and that didn't change from 4 to 5.

    Also I recommend leaving XP and moving forward. XP is 19 years old and has lots of security issues. It's just like DOS, at some time it's become obsolete and you need to move on. Just a recommendation, you can of course stay there as long as you want.

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  • #15, by MachtnixThursday, 11. June 2020, 15:30 4 years ago
    I don't know another 32 bit system than XP - I think 32bit Windows7 isn't well known. But my Linux mint runs on 32bit... *lol*

    I know the arguments. It's not your fault. I only explained why I use Vis still on XP - my 64bit system should do other things... wink

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  • #16, by NigecThursday, 11. June 2020, 18:21 4 years ago
    I think maybe a better  way to track bugs is needed, Discord, things are mentioned in varous channels and end up lost in conversation, I think I mentioned a couple of Linux issues with V5.1 in the bug section

    I think you are doing a great job Simon, things are bound to break trying to move forward and upwards, I think maybe choose a different way to update? that doesn't also update the game building files 

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  • #17, by afrlmeThursday, 11. June 2020, 23:07 4 years ago
    @Machtnix, maybe it's time to look into getting a cheap windows 10 laptop or all-in-one pc or prebuilt? XP has been dead for a long long time now. In regards to VS 5 not running, maybe you have a memory leak or you are using more RAM than your machine can handle? if I remember correctly 32 bits has a limited amount of RAM available & won't necessarily use all of the available RAM in your pc.

    @Nigec: I did create the bug-report channel on the discord server, but for some reason some people ignore it & post bugs in whatever channel. We do or did have an actual bug tracker on the same server as the wiki, but I don't know if it exists any more. Alex never used it, & it was never made public.

    In regards to the update, you don't have to overwrite the current installed build. You can install the update into a new folder.

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  • #18, by MachtnixFriday, 12. June 2020, 15:24 4 years ago
    I use a XP computer  for some 32bit-programs I bought for a lot of money years ago. I use Win7 64 bit for all the others. The problem is NOT to buy a cheap device, the probem is: I haven't 5000 Euro to buy a new 64bit or a fucking abo version, which needs money every month... Because I have this old XP, I use it for Visionaire. Why not? I never go online with XP no longer...

    Edit: yes, a 32bit bus with Windows can only manage 2 GB per application, with some tricks up to 3 GB. Thats the limits of virtual memory adressing. Opening a browser in Win7 costs more than 6 GB memory after an hour, I think XP wouldn't handle it. smile

    And of course, I use XP for all the old CDs with oldfashioned adventures, like MI, Simon, Tentacles, Myst, Syberia, Indiana Jones, Zork, and and and... 

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  • #19, by afrlmeFriday, 12. June 2020, 20:11 4 years ago
    €5000 for what? I built a custom pc that capable of handling pretty much anything & any game I chuck at it for at least 2-4 years for a little over €1000.

    If you are talking about a new copy of windows then OEM version of windows is always the cheapest solution. Often find those on various digital stores for about €10 to €20.

    Maybe I'm just not understanding exactly what it is you are trying to say, but I guess it doesn't matter. smile

    In regards to memory issues, that sounds like a memory leak to me. Web browsers are kind of RAM hungry these days, especially firefox, but it shouldn't use more than 400MB RAM unless you have loads & loads of tabs open at the same time.

    In regards to old games, have you heard of GOG.com? they sell digital versions of old games - usually quite cheap too - that have been tweaked/edited so that they work on newer OS.

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  • #20, by MachtnixFriday, 12. June 2020, 21:10 4 years ago
    5000 Euro for software. I can't upgrade (too old) - I have to buy a new one.

    Yeah, some tools are really expensive. Do you remind 3ds Max or some CADs, starting at f.e. 10000 DM years ago..?  wink

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