Guild of Writers

In case you haven't heard, there is a problem with Ahra Pahts' shell numbering scheme. All ages should keep their page numbers below 224 because of the way that Plasma stores the age sequence prefix and page number in the same variable. Consequently, Ahra Pahts's pages 'bleed' into the next couple of ages.

To fix this, a new page numbering scheme was proposed. This would require a plan of action involving all of the shell developers, something like the following:

• Develop a script/application based on libHSPlasma that would renumber the PRP files. This utility could also decompile and re-compile the PRPs, making them smaller and decreasing the loading time.
• Execute the script on the latest release of Ahra Pahts
• Fix the page numbers in the .age file and the Python paging scripts
• Release the renumbered Ahra Pahts
• Update all shell-related Wiki pages to reflect the change
• Write a Python script for Blender that renumbers all geometry with one page number to a new page number
• PM the script to each shell developer who needs to renumber their shell, i.e. shells 224-240, 301-340, 401-440

We could also use this as an opportunity to 'shake the tree' and see if there's anyone who would like to incorporate their shell into the next release, or if they no longer want their shell. I could go so far as to say that anyone who doesn't read their PM in 6 months will lose their shell, since we have many former members that have moved on (and few remaining available shells).

Any comments or suggestions?

[EDIT: Changed 'pack' to 'compile']

As I mentionned earlier: I approve. If it needs to be done (and if it can be done in a clean and practical way) then it should be done.

This utility could also decompile and re-compile the PRPs, making them smaller and decreasing the loading time.

That sounds great to me. Loading times are always something worth optimizing in this Age.

We could also use this as an opportunity to 'shake the tree' and see if there's anyone who would like to incorporate their shell into the next release, or if they no longer want their shell. I could go so far as to say that anyone who doesn't read their PM in 6 months will lose their shell, since we have many former members that have moved on (and few remaining available shells).

That might indeed be a good opportunity; to see who's still onboard and 'clean up' what can be. Although there is always the possibilty to see long-gone people come back and claim their shells again. Just two weeks ago Egon came back after being gone for well over a year.

Sounds fine, but my Shell will not be ready for thee next release of Pahts.

That's ok, at this point we don't really know either when the next release of the Age will be.

While we're discussing packing and improvements, I've noticed that most shells include the textures for the shell walls, floor, stairs, etc. in their own pages. This means that the same texture is stored almost 200 times. I think it would be a good idea if we're repacking to set as many refs as possible to the Age-global Textures.prp.

As far as how much work is involved, libHSPlasma can easily do this, and I can write up a Python script to update all the prp files in a given directory.

Paradox wrote:While we're discussing packing and improvements, I've noticed that most shells include the textures for the shell walls, floor, stairs, etc. in their own pages.

I just used prpgrep on the latest Ahra Pahts release, and the only shells that have mipmaps in the PRP are those that are completed - all the rest don't contain any textures. Do you have the latest version?

Paradox wrote:As far as how much work is involved, libHSPlasma can easily do this, and I can write up a Python script to update all the prp files in a given directory.

That would be great! Here's a mapping of the shells that need to be renumbered, their original page number, and their new number:

Show Spoiler

CrtLrgBlue,450,4
Shell223,223,173
Shell224,224,174
Shell225,225,175
Shell226,226,176
Shell227,227,177
Shell228,228,178
Shell229,229,179
Shell230,230,180
Shell231,231,181
Shell232,232,182
Shell233,233,183
Shell234,234,184
Shell235,235,185
Shell236,236,186
Shell237,237,187
Shell238,238,188
Shell239,239,189
Shell240,240,190
Shell301,301,131
Shell302,302,132
Shell303,303,133
Shell304,304,134
Shell305,305,135
Shell306,306,136
Shell307,307,137
Shell308,308,138
Shell309,309,139
Shell310,310,140
Shell311,311,141
Shell312,312,142
Shell313,313,143
Shell314,314,144
Shell315,315,145
Shell316,316,146
Shell317,317,147
Shell318,318,148
Shell319,319,149
Shell320,320,150
Shell321,321,151
Shell322,322,152
Shell323,323,153
Shell324,324,154
Shell325,325,155
Shell326,326,156
Shell327,327,157
Shell328,328,158
Shell329,329,159
Shell330,330,160
Shell331,331,161
Shell332,332,162
Shell333,333,163
Shell334,334,164
Shell335,335,165
Shell336,336,166
Shell337,337,167
Shell338,338,168
Shell339,339,169
Shell340,340,170
Shell401,401,51
Shell402,402,52
Shell403,403,53
Shell404,404,54
Shell405,405,55
Shell406,406,56
Shell407,407,57
Shell408,408,58
Shell409,409,59
Shell410,410,60
Shell411,411,61
Shell412,412,62
Shell413,413,63
Shell414,414,64
Shell415,415,65
Shell416,416,66
Shell417,417,67
Shell418,418,68
Shell419,419,69
Shell420,420,70
Shell421,421,71
Shell422,422,72
Shell423,423,73
Shell424,424,74
Shell425,425,75
Shell426,426,76
Shell427,427,77
Shell428,428,78
Shell429,429,79
Shell430,430,80
Shell431,431,81
Shell432,432,82
Shell433,433,83
Shell434,434,84
Shell435,435,85
Shell436,436,86
Shell437,437,87
Shell438,438,88
Shell439,439,89
Shell440,440,90
Shell129Static,1129,11

[EDIT: Included shell 223 to be renumbered]

Robert The Rebuilder wrote:

Paradox wrote:While we're discussing packing and improvements, I've noticed that most shells include the textures for the shell walls, floor, stairs, etc. in their own pages.

I just used prpgrep on the latest Ahra Pahts release, and the only shells that have mipmaps in the PRP are those that are completed - all the rest don't contain any textures. Do you have the latest version?

No, I most definitely have a crazy mix of files from old versions, new(er) versions, my own versions, and some sample shells. If it's not an issue in the latest shells, then that's one less thing to worry about.

This definitely sounds like a good idea to me.

(And reminds me to get back to work on my shell)

Sounds like a good plan, I am up for testing if the need arises

Maybe you could also have a look at two prp file issues I noticed in Pahts - though I am not sure whether the old one still applies:
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=2376
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=4261

We should remove those DistNSubM pages from the age - they no longer apply.

And I'll re-export Prin Pahts; the PRP probably came from an older version of the Blender plugin that erroneously generated the base class instead of one of the subclasses.

Another thing you may have noted: when decompiling and recompiling the CrtLrgBlue page, it complains about references to the lpc400 scene object (a link in point) that does not exist in the page. We'll need to remove those references.