NOTE: im not a good C/C++ coder :( so, please stop replying with 'do it or ask somebody to do it for me'.

( pretty hostile intro ain't it? :D )

id like to suggest of associating .xvc to verge engine.
i think this is doable only in Windows (?)

this will be a nice way of avoiding too many verge.exe in our localdisks (especially mine ^^).

It also might erroneously encourage the association that an XVC file is all that is required to run a Verge game. [I am aware that XVC contains linked and 'compiled' VC code.]

Which, maybe it is, I haven't tried :) But I don't like the idea very much for some reason...

If you want to save disk space on multiple Verge's, Creek, you should use Textpad's tools.

You know how you can set any DOS command or Windows program as a tool?

1. Create a central folder to hold the latest version of Verge3.
2. Set up a Textpad Tool: 'Run Verge3' or somesuch. The tool should be a program, which runs Verge3, inside of the current directory.

Now, whenever you want to run a game...

1. Browse to the game folder
2. Open up the system.vc
3. Goto Tools -> Run Verge3



And Textpad will automatically execute Verge in that directory, running the program. This way you can have multiple folders, but only one copy of Verge.

And also keep in mind that people, including myself, are bound to include a version of Verge3 in their zips anyway, so it would probably only work for your personal projects -- and even then, it'd be wise to include a version of Verge3 in the folders once you publish them, because not everybody who downloads your stuff will know the Textpad trick :)

In the end it's a handy way to look at code quickly without having to copy all the Verge files to that project folder -- but it's not much good for anything else, like saving diskspace [since you'll inevitably have to put a copy of Verge3 there eventually anyway].

I'm also not sure, but I suspect that Verge uses its location, not the .xvc's, as the base directory for file access. This would mean that you would have to keep all your verge games in one directory (which wouldn't work since you can't have more than one system.xvc, obviously) or you'd have to use absolute paths whenever you accessed files (which is not very good for anyone else running it). In addition, remember that .xvc is not compatible across versions of verge (the .vc almost always is, but the bytecode is not)

It's possible that some of this could be changed, of course! I kind of like not having to make sure I have all the requisite .dlls and crap that don't come with it - this is one of the biggest reasons why I don't use ika or Sphere or almost any other game dev engine.

VERGE.EXE is just 592kb and FMOD.DLL a mere 151kb. Of course, being a 56k'er (still.. *grumble*) I always want smaller files but that should be second in precedence to providing users with games that can be played "right out of the box," as it were. It just feels more professional.

Having to download a games engine seperately and all that crap is a hassle and something I vowed to leave behind me since I stopped using ASCII GCS MegaZeux. On top of that, it means that every game would have to use the same version of Verge. Now, in some cases that can cause some nasty incompatibility problems but the main reason I don't like it is it stops very smart people from modifying VERGE.EXE to their own ends. Which I encourage.

Well, okay... Associating different files would probably actually require some skill with C++ or at least a gander at Google. And then in addition to file association code, you'd need to modify the main function the grabs command line arguments, so it's able to parse any xvc. I strongly recommend against this as well as other people, though, so I don't think your efforts would be well spent doing that.

However, adding builtin functions and builtin variables is an EASY thing to do (opcodes.h, vc_builtin.cpp, vc_core.cpp, vc_library.cpp) and people wouldn't disagree with that if they're useful additions.

EDIT: also! My WIP of verge.exe in release build is around 750kb.

Anyways, the point that associating all .xvc's with a single verge.exe is foolish on the grounds that there is already a splintering of verge.exe's made all custom-like is exceptionally valid.

We gave the source out, now people can make their own custom verge3 executables. But since they are custom, there's no way to promise compatibility between them all.

It's really in everyone's best interest to keep the whole "one game, one exe" overhead. frankly, less than a meg of "redundancy" per game is way, way less bloated than you'll find... pretty much anywhere else.

Just stop thinking of each of these multiple copies as "verge games" and just as "games".

Quote:Originally posted by mcgrue

Just stop thinking of each of these multiple copies as "verge games" and just as "games"....well yup. i'll try...

i tried to check on the repos to check for changes in the verge source. i saw Win_keyboard and whole lot more win_... then another mac_keyboard, and other mac_...s

so if in case associations will happen there'll be like win_assoc and mac_assoc. pretty time consuming.

just wondering, where's the linux_...?

The Linux stuff hasn't been put into the official repository yet. Someone is working on getting that done (I think).

And Mac OS is built on Darwin, which is a version of BSD, which is a derivative of Unix on about the same "generational" level as Linux.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong guys, but aren't file associations all handled by Windows? Can't you just right click a .xvc, choose "Open with..." and choose a verge.exe somewhere? Yeah I just realized that this would need some command-line parameter hackery as well. Durr.

As I said earlier though, the whole problem with this is that the current directory, as far as verge.exe is concerned, is where it resides, not where the .xvc lives. It might be possible to put something in that changes that current directory to the .xvc's, but that would just leave us with yet another custom verge.exe.

And what if you get a game packaged into a .vpk, where there is no .xvc?


All around, I guess I just want to strengthen Grue's point: Try to think of them as seperate games, not as "verge games".

All throughout verge's life, verge has sought to not touch the registry.

Why? Because registry-touching is bad! You want verge to disappear from your system? You delete it, end of story. Doesn't contribute to computer entropy at all.

Anyways, yeah, Ubuntu is cool. Based on Debian, right? Friendly, I hear.

I guess that's the difference between a games creation engine and a games creation system right there: a GCS is a platform for making and playing games, while a GCE is inherantly part of a game. I prefer the GCE approach solely because it's that bit more flexible.