ALICE.NET 1.0 alpha

[Criptych]

I'm really sorry about the stupendous lack of updates lately, but there has been a lot going on that kind of got dumped in my lap, and I'm still trying to get something resembling a schedule back together. orz
A couple things to announce; first, ALICE.NET has a new home on the web, http://www.getalice.net (apologies to Paint.NET ). Although I will try to post any new updates at both sites, this is the new "official" site. This way, access to the site is no longer limited by my own computer's bandwidth, uptime, and spontaneous self-maintenance (read: normal Windows behavior, i.e. crashing and Windows Updates). In addition, it hosts a dedicated download tracker and a wiki (currently broken following a software update...) for documentation. Second, the 1.0 release is close to completion, and I plan to have it finished by the end of the month (just a few more days... eep!). Keep your fingers crossed!

Um...is the ZIP file SUPPOSED to have only two files and be 96k?

Also, whenever I click "New Project", one of the VERY few buttons that it allows me to click, I always get this error message:

No, it should be about 3MB, and contain a directory full of PNGs and four smaller files (3 projects and the doll itself). Try downloading it again; if it still doesn't work, try the torrent.

The error message is, unfortunately, perfectly normal. It's a bug that I didn't notice until some time after uploading - the program is trying to clear project data that doesn't exist yet (i.e. you haven't opened one). Try opening an APX file first, then click New Project - and the error should not occur.

"error.log" is supposed to contain anything printed to STDERR, including exceptions such as the above, but since I get all that in the debugger I probably didn't notice it was empty. I'll look into this as soon as possible.

[Jake]

I believe you need to download the Alice doll from the same site as well, and open the Doll file from within it before you can use most of the app? The download on the site only has the executable and .config file in, the doll is a separate download.

[Criptych]

I believe you need to download the Alice doll from the same site as well, and open the Doll file from within it before you can use most of the app? The download on the site only has the executable and .config file in, the doll is a separate download.

Oh... right. Then it should be about 96kb. I thought he was talking about the ZIP containing the doll.

[KAMINARI]

Ah.

I do not believe I can access torrents, so I shall download both parts separately. However, you should change the site so it informs viewers of this.

[KAMINARI]

Well, I downloaded the Doll File, and I still get the same error message.

EDIT: Hmm...When I open the "Alice" file in the Doll Folder, I can use the program. Interesting.

[KAMINARI]

Interesting...

I cannot access "recolor", nor can I create groups...
In fact, the only features available to me are seeing a few things at a time (by clicking on the thumbnails), "New Project", "Open", "Render", and "About".
Now, I can understand that this is merely the first version, and so different things won't be available yet, but I would like to know how to create groups.

[Criptych]

I cannot access "recolor", nor can I create groups...
In fact, the only features available to me are seeing a few things at a time (by clicking on the thumbnails), "New Project", "Open", "Render", and "About".
Now, I can understand that this is merely the first version, and so different things won't be available yet, but I would like to know how to create groups.

Yes, right now the only usable features in the program are selecting layers, and rendering the current selection. However, you can create an APX (Alice Project XML) file in a text editor (Notepad works great), then open it with ALICE.NET. For example, "GSG.apx" looks like this:

Code: Select all

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<AliceProject Version="1.0.0.0" Doll="Alice:E649682E-1A97-41E9-9B5F-65619C0A12FF">
  <Group Name="Body">
    <Layer Ref="Body:Base" />
    <Layer Ref="Body:Arms" />
  </Group>
  <Group Name="Triela Hair">
    <Layer Ref="Body:Hair:Style 06" Hue="90" Sat="0.00,1.00" Lum="0.30,0.70" />
    <Layer Ref="Body:Hair:Bangs:Style 03" Hue="90" Sat="0.00,1.00" Lum="0.30,0.70" />
  </Group>
  <Group Name="Triela Face">
    <Layer Ref="Body:Face:Mouth:Speak" />
    <Layer Ref="Body:Face:Eyes:Looking Forward" />
    <Layer Ref="Body:Face:Eyebrows:Style 07" />
  </Group>
  <Group Name="GSG Uniform">
    <Layer Ref="Clothing:Tops:Long-Sleeved Dress Shirt" />
    <Layer Ref="Clothing:Tops:Necktie" />
    <Layer Ref="Clothing:Skirts:Business Skirt" />
  </Group>
  <Group Name="Triela">
    <Group Ref="Body" />
    <Group Ref="Triela Hair" />
    <Group Ref="Triela Face" />
    <Group Ref="GSG Uniform" />
  </Group>
</AliceProject>

Note that each "Group" element simply contains a list of the layers in it; each "Ref" is a colon-delimited path to the "Layer" defined in the doll file. (The syntax has changed a little in the current version-- mainly to support recoloring-- but the idea is the same.)

[KAMINARI]

Thanks! That helps a lot!
Can't wait for the next version!

[KAMINARI]

I have a suggestion/request for the next version:
Could you add the capability for creating male characters to the program? That way, all the characters (male & female) will look similar, and not out of place.

[catherinedevlin]

I'm trying to download from http://www.getalice.net/download/, and getting a "not found" error at http://the-other.endoftheinternet.org/a ... 0alpha.zip.

I'm trying to get it with Bittorrent, but that doesn't seem to be working for me - I'm not very torrent-experienced, so I could be doing something wrong, or maybe there aren't any torrent sharers available out there right now?

Anyway, if the regular download link could be repaired, that would be great... thanks!

[duanemoody]

found it here: http://www.mediafire.com/?wmymje0mtyn