Im really starting to get into the editor now. Learning new stuff everyday which is great.
Id like to see an updated manual for TAB which includes things which are missing like light sources, dark locations. I find it quite hard searching for stuff. I know the online manual is the same as the tutorial.txt included with tab but theres also a language.txt and a readme.txt. Ive printed out these three documents but I think it would be great if an updated manual was written so you didnt have to refer to different documents. I love how you can have random elements %r% in the program. Makes an adventure much more enjoyable.

I have a few questions and if anybody can help me with this that would be great.
Ive mapped out my adventure on paper with all objects and puzzles and im nearly done entering all of the locations. What i'd like to do is when you run the adventure in TAB player I want to make the game so it describes objects in a different colour and displays the exits in a different colour - something like this.

You are standing next to a beautiful waterfall and you can hear the sound of running water.
There are huge oak trees all around and in the distance you can hear someone screaming.

You can see:
A bucket
A rope

Exits lead: West and North

What Now?

Can I actually do this as if i remember the exits seem to be in the same colour and in the main text.

My second question is when using graphics i understand in the settings screen you input a directory for the graphics and sounds. So my graphics are /graphics/ and i have named the graphics files loc1,loc2 etc I have tested this and it works fine. By the way do graphics have to be a certain height or width or saved in any particular format before using them in the game or does TAB resize the graphics automatically to put in the graphics window enabled by selecting '2' from the settings screen. Also how do i enable sound effects in the game so it lets me play a sound when i enter a location. Do I need to code this and is there a format for naming the sounds. Also what size do sound files have to be and in what format? Mp3 or WAV. Was just wondering if there was a maximum size for sound files.

Thanks to anyone reading this and replying. Im really starting to get into this program now and im using it every day. Ive nearly finished all the locations (there are about 120). My adventure is a Star Trek game and has about 30 characters so far. You are on board the Starship Enterprise and the ship has taken some serious damage. Shields are down and you have no power. Your job as captain is to Repair the ship by any means neccessary. Once ive finished the locations im going to start my coding. When I finish the game I will post a link to it on these forums but ive got quite a lot to do yet.

Happy adventuring guys!!!!

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Im really starting to get into the editor now. Learning new stuff everyday which is great.

Great. After the initial learning period the penny begins to drop and using it becomes second nature after a while.

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Id like to see an updated manual for TAB

Yeah... Sorry. I keep meaning to write a better one. Been a bit busy of late - but it is still on the agenda to write a more user friendly instruction manual.

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I want to make the game so it describes objects in a different colour and displays the exits in a different colour.

The simplest way (but not the only way) to do EXACTLY what you said is to go to the System Menu Editor and change/accept the system message
"You can see:" to read
"[color=%RGB_RED]You can see:"

That will cause that message and any objects listed to be printed in red eg:


You can see:
A bucket
A rope


However, this assumes that you have not set any individual object text descriptions to use a different color... If you did and that object was listed then it would show up in the list in maybe a different color.

Similarly, for the exit listing amend/accept the appropriate System Message:
"[color=%RGB_DARKBLUE]Exits lead:"

should produce:

Exits lead: West and North


What Now? (will be printed in the default text color as selected on the game settings color preferences)

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By the way do graphics have to be a certain height or width or saved in any particular format before using them in the game or does TAB resize the graphics automatically to put in the graphics window enabled by selecting '2' from the settings screen?

Yes. Location, Object or Character pictures must be sized to fit in the graphicboxes.
Acceptable formats are bmp, jpg png, or gif.
Videoclips (if used) will be auto-adjusted (shrunk) to fit in the boxes automatically.
Acceptable format: .wmv

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Also how do i enable sound effects in the game so it lets me play a sound when i enter a location. Do I need to code this and is there a format for naming the sounds. Also what size do sound files have to be and in what format? Mp3 or WAV. Was just wondering if there was a maximum size for sound files.

If using sounds then you need a separate directory to the graphics to contain your sample and music sound files. And the directory has to be set in the game setting editor - just like the graphics... sound files can be in mp3, ogg, wav or aiff format.
(There are lot of sound playing actions in the readme file)
I don't think there's restriction on the size of a sound file...
You will need coding entries to play, pause, stop or loop a sound file.
Files are loaded and played from the correct sound directory using the

playmusic
playsample

action commands.

eg:

#playmusicmymusic.wav#

#playsampledoorcreak.mp3#

#loopsamplewaterfall.wav#

To play a simple basic sound effect when the player specifically enters a location usually requires an entry in the Script1 editor (called just after a location is described) such as:

[start]room=3[acts]playsamplenoise.wav[end]

If the player moves by a direction to room 3 then play "noise.wav" once. It will also play if the player redescribes (or types "look") in the that room.

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Ive nearly finished all the locations (there are about 120). My adventure is a Star Trek game and has about 30 characters so far. You are on board the Starship Enterprise and the ship has taken some serious damage. Shields are down and you have no power. Your job as captain is to Repair the ship by any means neccessary.
When I finish the game I will post a link to it on these forums but ive got quite a lot to do yet.

Cool. I like SF type games! You seem to have done quite a lot in a short time already.
Thanks for the info about your game and I hope you continue to enjoy creating it.

Stants, if there's any more info you need let me know. I know most of it is scattered amongst the various text files - or there are some topics in this forum that might be helpful reading...

Bye,
Phil.

Cool thanks a lot phil. Thats really helpful. Just what I was looking for.

hmmm I have another problem lol

Is it possible to play a sound and display a video clip before the first loaction is described. In other words I have an intro which states that the enterprise is under attack.
I want to play a sound clip during the intro text and play a video to show that the enterprise has been hit.
I guess it would need to be in the script one table unless I am mistaken.

Brilliant program phil. T.A.B is so customizable especially with all these system messages that you can edit as well.
Theres not many text adventure programs that allow you to change the way it handles the output. i.e What now>>>>
And to change how it outputs text to the player i.e objects and exits.
Most adventure editors that I have used do not allow you to output how the program displays What now>>> and objects and exits. They are usually
setup as default and you cant change it. Yes you can edit descriptions but most dont allow you to change it so good idea with system messages. (Very clever).

Im not sure if it is possible to play a sound or video clip during the intro text but i guess if it was possible TABLE ONE would be the one to code.

Any help on this matter much appreciated.

Phil maybe you should setup a paypal icon so we can donate to keep T.A.B running.

Ive used a lot of text adventure editors but im sticking with T.A.B now. Ive used QUEST, ADRIFT, SUDS, and INFORM but T.A.B is the best one for me.

I wouldnt mind donating a bit of cash to keep TAB running anyway. Im sure others would.

Be great to get a massive community using T.A.B - lots of adventures. I liked C.A.T the adventure toolkit. That was pretty cool But now i prefer T.A.B and im getting used
to the coding now which is good although ive still got lots to learn. Lol

Happy adventuring!!!

Kind Regards

Stants

Hi stants,

If I'm not mistaken there is a way to play a movie clip in one of the picboxes immediately after the intro text by using a Script 1 entry.
For it to work correctly though your intro *might* have to be shortened so that its text will print in entirety into the adventure game text control without the "Press Space to Continue" prompt appearing - as that would halt the program from showing the clip and/or pics and playing the required sound effect...
I think Jason did something similar when he was writing the "Emily's Dream" game (currently on hold at the moment)
To do it you might need to use an unused location with no exits or description (blank) A good one to use is Loc 500. Set a new start room of 500 in the Game Settings editor.

Then a Script 1 entry something like:
[start]room=500[acts]pic2boxlogopic.bmp#playsampleintrosample.wav#playmovie1myintro.wmv#
pic1boxwhatever.jpg#keypress#room=1#cleartext#desc[end]

After the intro is printed (and the blank location!) causes a logopic.bmp (game title or credit etc) to be shown in bottom picbox2; plays sample effect then play intro vid into upper picbox1. After vid is finished a picture is shown in upper picbox1; prompt and wait for keypress; set original starting room; clear the text and describe the original starting room (I used 1 in the example)

Something like that should work OK.
But anyway let me know.
Thanks for you comments too.

Phil.

Hi stants,

I tried your idea in the "graphic_demo.tab" example program and found a better way I think that solves some "issues" (such as duplication of exits) and seems to work better.
I am using the smaller intro text and the blank loc 500 as game starting location (set on game settings editor)
You can see it in action if you add these two code snippets at the top of the respective editors in YOUR database.
I used a spare flag (14) for this example too. You can change that to another flag number if you want but you should change the sound and picture filenames to your own of course...
The logopic.bmp will load automatically
I have also assumed that the real start location for your game is loc1. If not change the #room=1# action accordingly.

Script 1 entry:
[start]room=500[acts]playsamplemysample.wav#playmovie1mymovie.wmv#cleartext#exitsoff#room=1[end]

Script 2 entry:
[start]flag14=0#room=1[acts]flag14=1#exitson#pic1boxloc1.jpg#desc[end]

Seems working good to me and I think it what you wanted

Phil.

Nice one Phil. Thats really great. I will code that in to the editor tommorrow and see what happens. Thanks a lot for your help.
Ill let you know if i run into any problems but by the sound of it its just what I need.
My adventure is coming along nicely. Hopefully if I keep working on it every day it should be finished in about a month or two depending on how much time i put to it of course.
Thankyou very much for your help.
Much appreciated.
Ill keep you posted on my adventure.
Cheers
Kind Regards
Stants.

Ok ive inserted the code into script 1 and 2. I type an into into the small intro editor. And I have my graphics files in the /graphics/ directory and sound files in my /sounds/ directory.
I enter a few locations (4 to be exact) just to test adventure. This is what happens.

Intro starts, sample wav plays, music.mp3 plays, video also plays.

Ok all cool so far. Then I wait for the 1st location text to come up. It doesnt. Do I have to wait until the movie finishes before the 1st location is described.

Ok so I have a huge video file and i dont want to wait until it finishes before i can start playing the game so i go to close the player and wtf it dissapears. Usually it takes you back to the editor and before that it asks you do you want to quit this great adventure. No it just exits and now the program has exited im still hearing the music and the video file playing. I hit CTRL ALT and DELETE and check processes. Thinbasic.exe is running so i close it down. Job done I hear no music and video because ive ended the application.

Seems strange though that it just quits out of the player and is still running in the background. Any help on this phil. Apart from that it did play the wav, mp3 and video just that i cant play the adventure. i assume it is best to have small video files. I guess once its played it then describes the first location.

Cheers
Kind Regards
Stants.

Hi Stants,

Thanx for update on your progress with the intro movie.

To exit a videoclip that is playing the player has to either wait until it is finished or press the <escape> key...

Please try that.

I will look into the behaviour you mentioned to see if I can find out how to prevent the situation you described but in general all other coding actions are put on hold until the movie has finished or is stopped with <escape>
That is normal behaviour in TAB.

You could add some text to your intro description to read eg:
"Please wait while video plays or press ESCAPE to exit the video and start the game"

Phil.

Ahhh ok that explains it hehehe yeah so its best really to use small video files or press esc on large files.
Good idea - a nice message in the intro editor would suffice.
Ok thanks a lot once again Phil.
Ok back to my coding.
Have a nice weekened
Kind Regards
Stants.

Quote :

Ok so I have a huge video file and i dont want to wait until it finishes before i can start playing the game so i go to close the player and wtf it dissapears. Usually it takes you back to the editor and before that it asks you do you want to quit this great adventure. No it just exits and now the program has exited im still hearing the music and the video file playing. I hit CTRL ALT and DELETE and check processes. Thinbasic.exe is running so i close it down. Job done I hear no music and video because ive ended the application.
Seems strange though that it just quits out of the player and is still running in the background. Any help on this phil.

Hi stants,

I have found the source of the problem causing the behaviour you described when a movie was playing & trying to close the Player and return to the editor which was resulting in a crash and no way to access the Editor. Thanks for your report.

I have now fixed it so that the adventure dialog window is completely disabled
until the end of the movieclip or until <ESCAPE> key is activated.
The player will not be able to close, move or resize the adventure window until the movie operation is completed in both Editor and Player programs.

This will prevent any re-occurrence of the trouble.
Now working good!

I will post a new TAB update later with this issue resolved. (probably Sunday)

Regards,
Phil.

Hi Stants,

I posted the TAB update 59 (tabdemo.zip) with the fix to the site.
http://tab.thinbasic.com/

PS. Please be careful not to overwrite your existing TABDEMO folder with the new one or you might accidentally lose all your work!! Keep your own files, gfx, sounds etc... safe.
I will rename future update packages differently so as to avoid confusion.

Phil.

Great work Phil. Working a treat. Thanks for the update.

Kind Regards

Stants.