R.A.I.N. Agents Everywhere!

[Wolfrider]

I was expecting not being discovered until I had at least decent screenshots to show, or an aprox. 'release date', then, browsing randomly this forums, I encountered a very familiar title in a page called The Big Board

They even put the URLs for all to see!, And that spanish forums are password protected (only members can browse), I asked who is the RAIN Agent there and since then... I got only silence...

Well, I am being paranoid, better not to watch "Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni" at 3:00 A.M.

Well, having URLs with 'members only' and in spanish is no good thing, so I'm putting the screenshots here:




As you can see, I was using the same text frame that comes with the RenPy demo, so this is really early development stage. At that time, I had only two character images, a CG still, and a BG, So you are seeing the 80% of that i had. By this time, I had finished the entire first chapter and making some new graphics for the next. With the new version of RenPy I probably use a bitmap font... so this is no fast work.

I also have some questions:

- Is there any way of making RenPy autodetect the language preferences of the system at first start? I want to start with translated menu pages but this is impossible without a language detection routine.

- If there is a compromise between file size and music quality, what goes first?
I am asking this since I can feel the difference between OGG and CD, but it doesn't make OGG sounds bad to hear, only different. But i don't know at what sample-rate/bit-rate people will start complaining.

- Technical Sound Issue: Can I mix different sample rate files in the same game? (let's say, 11025 hertz, 22050 herts, 44100 hertz) will the mixer sound bad if I make something that way?

Well, my goal is finish it for september (i will regret saying this...) and any comment will be welcomed.

Thanks, and congratulations to RAIN for being so efficient.

[monele]

Wow... so RAIN does exist ??... Meep ^^;...

I second the question about detecting the locale. Would be useful.

OGG should be fine. I mean, it's a game you're distributing, not a music CD. Most people won't even have good sound systems anyway and wouldn't notice if you upped the quality. I *think* something like 256kps would be a maximum value for such a use. I'd go with 128. Keep in mind it's just my opinion and I'm not very knowledgeable on that one ^^;.

Good luck with the project

[ShiraiJunichi]

I concur. 128mbps is perfectly fine. Most people have a hard time telling the difference between compressed and uncompressed audio. However, for dial-up internet users, the difference in download time is phenomenal.

[Alessio]

If there is a compromise between file size and music quality, what goes first?

Depends on your priorities. You can get by with much less than 128 kbps, actually. After some testing, I settled for 96 kbps for GO! Magical Boy. Even with headphones it's still good enough. You will definitely hear the difference if you make an A/B comparison, but IMHO it's enough for VN music.

Technical Sound Issue: Can I mix different sample rate files in the same game? (let's say, 11025 hertz, 22050 herts, 44100 hertz)

Yes, no problem. You can even mix uncompressed WAV files and compressed files. No problem, unless you need them to be in sync - that I didn't check.

[PyTom]

Well, I am being paranoid, better not to watch "Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni" at 3:00 A.M.

Well... yeah.

- Is there any way of making RenPy autodetect the language preferences of the system at first start? I want to start with translated menu pages but this is impossible without a language detection routine.

Unfortunately, I don't know of a good way to do this. (I don't believe the LANG environment variable is a standard part of windows... could someone check that for me, or suggest an alternative approach?)

Technical Sound Issue: Can I mix different sample rate files in the same game? (let's say, 11025 hertz, 22050 herts, 44100 hertz) will the mixer sound bad if I make something that way?

I believe you can, so long as the rates are all power-of-two multiples of each other. (So 2x, 4x, 8x, etc... the rates you used should be okay. I wouldn't mix 48000 and 44100 hz sounds together.)

Thanks, and congratulations to RAIN for being so efficient.

I will give a commendation to Agent GARBO.

[gp32]

Unfortunately, I don't know of a good way to do this. (I don't believe the LANG environment variable is a standard part of windows... could someone check that for me, or suggest an alternative approach?)

Simply package your game with an installer like NSIS; during the installation procedure run the requisite functions to find out what the system language is. Install appropriate resource files depending on that.

[ShiraiJunichi]

GARBO

... do I even dare ask?

[musical74]

Well, Shirai, I'M not gonna ask about GARBO...you can if you want

[PyTom]

Sheesh. Don't they teach kids any history these days?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Pujol ... s_Garbo%29

Garbo was the British codename of Juan Pujol García (February 14, 1912, Barcelona – October 10, 1988, Caracas), a double agent who played a key role in the success of D-Day towards the end of World War II. The false information Pujol supplied to the German command helped persuade Hitler that the main attack would come later, resulting in his decision to hold back troops from the area around the D-Day landings.

WWII History Bonus Round

Without looking it up, what were:

- The Four Freedoms?
- Liberty Ships?
- Mulberry Harbors?
- Operation Coronet?
- Operation Fortitude?
- Operation PLUTO?
- The ULTRA Secret?

[Wolfrider]

And I remember Eileen was talking something about infiltrating in the White House...

Well, at this point, i want to say thnaks to all of you, for your help.

I was also thinking that detecting the locale will be a bit hard, being RenPy a cross platform engine. Of course, Windows relies more in his (BIG) register text file than in environmental variables for the language, so there is no LANG neither LOCALE variable. Ow, well, i will think in something (an icon based menu?)

For the sound files, your opinions had been useful, so i'm now working on that.

And, the NSIS is a good idea. But it comes with a little disadvantage. I wil be doing some tests.

And, i must get out of my head the image of Eileen cosplaying Metal Gear Solid.