Due to some of the very common confusion about PlasmaShop’s support for decompyling python files, I’ve decided to release an update that should make things both easier and a bit clearer. Now, extracting a PAK file gives you the option to immediately decompyle the extracted files, and also automatically refreshes the file display when it’s done.

The update, now version 2.2.4, also includes a couple of other fixes, including the one I mentioned in my previous post here, and can be downloaded from here: [PlasmaShop 2.2.4].

Enjoy

Ok, I know it’s been a LONG time since I’ve posted anything here, but I figured I should give a little background as to the current status of PlasmaShop, libPlasma, and all those other related things

Due to several issues, including lack of real cross-platform-ness and some limitations and annoyances with Delphi, I’ve now started re-writing PlasmaShop in its entirety in C++ using the wxWidgets toolkit, for a 3.0 release. This will allow it to run natively on Windows, Linux and even OSX (assuming I can find a Mac to compile it on…). Also, it should take care of several of the UI issues people have mentioned to me in the past, including the many features that are more hidden than I realized, causing people to either not know they exist, or have trouble figuring out how to use them. Who knows, I might even get crazy enough to write real documentation this time ;). Included with the suite will be at least all the functionality of PlasmaShop, including a graphical PRP editor to replace (or at least complement ) the old (and horrendously outdated) PRPTool and PRPExplorer tools.

Even more of interest to some, though, will be that the PlasmaShop 3.0 suite, including libPlasma, will be completely open source under the GPL, so others can actually make use of the work, or provide their own updates. I haven’t decided between the old GPL v2 that libPlasma has been (technically) under since I started the project, and the more-recently-released GPL v3, but it will be one of those two, most likely. If someone is an expert on licensing or knows the GPL really well and has a suggestion, I’m definitely open to hearing it

As of right now, libPlasma supports an insanely large amount of Plasma’s formats (almost all of the PRP classes, all the encryption formats, and a few other things), but PlasmaShop is still relatively early in its development. Therefore, I can’t predict any sort of time frame for its release, or even when it’ll be ready for beta testing. However, once I get the licensing stuff more final, I’ll be releasing the SVN repository details on here for those interested parties to peruse.

Finally, regarding MOUL support: PlasmaShop 2.x and PRPTool 0.2 have, for quite some time, supported MOUL files, although only in a private build. I did this because I wasn’t sure about the necessary legal stuff regarding it, but it seems that anymore it doesn’t matter anyway (especially with Dustin’s nifty “Drizzle” project out there now), so I’m now merging the two versions into the public release, which you can download from here: [PlasmaShop 2.2.3] ♦ [PRPTool 0.2]. With that in mind, libPlasma also supports MOUL, as well as the other Plasma 2.x and 3.x engines, and therefore PlasmaShop 3.0 will follow suit.

Peace
~Z

EDIT: Robert found a bug that appeared in 2.2.3 that caused some incorrect data to be written to PAK files, which caused both PlasmaShop and Uru to fail on attempting to read them; This bug has been fixed now, and the updated version is at the same download location above.  Also, the links actually point to the right files now :).  Thanks Robert!

I admit it, I enjoy reading xkcd. Furthermore, I admit that I frequently find myself relating to its comics.  But this one deserves special mention, I think.  So, after reading it, I decided, apparently like many, to check google for the phrase “died in a blogging accident”.  Only, instead of finding only 2 hits, I was met with over 8,000!  Further investigation found that the comic, released only yesterday, has caused quite a surge of activity in Google, linking many pages to that precise phrase (this is, in essence, what a googlebomb is, for those that aren’t aware).

This picture shows the google trends for the phrase within the last 24 hours or so (that’s my own screenshot), and of course, slashdot had to have it’s own article about it too. So naturally, I had to make my own small contribution, which is why I’m here today to report the news

Peace

Ok, so the Hex Isle support isn’t really “complete”, in that the syntax highlighting support isn’t really done, but nonetheless, it does support it now. So go ahead and give it a whirl if you’ve got Hex Isle, and lemme know what you think. Of course, even if you don’t have Hex Isle, there are a couple of other fixes I found and fixed while updating it. Anywho, enjoy

http://uru.zrax.net/PlasmaShop/PlasmaShop-2.2.zip

Current Version: 2.2.2 (January 4, 2008)

Need a break from Guitar Hero? Want something holiday-flavored? Try Acordian Hero: http://www.noinc.com/holiday06/flash.html

Go on, you know you want to…

So, apparently there was a bug in PlasmaShop 2.2.0 with the creation of new .PAK files (and possibly even with adding files to existing .PAK files) that would corrupt your .PAK and give you an error message. Robert pointed this out to me today, and it should now be fixed. Enjoy

http://uru.zrax.net/PlasmaShop/PlasmaShop-2.2.zip

Current Version: 2.2.1 (October 29, 2007)

Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything here…  I’m really not much of a talker — much more of a listener usually.  In any case, there’s a rather nice update in the world of Plasma today:  As some people out there know, I’ve been working for some time now on a Plasma library (libPlasma) for Uru and Myst 5 related code.  Along with this, I’ve also been providing documentation of sorts to others working on Plasma-related projects so they too can get more work done in the field of Uru content creation tools.  Most notably is probably Paradox’s work on HuruStudio, and the works of who knows how many other developers that use one or both of these projects as a resource for knowledge and further development.

Well, now you’re wondering what the great news is, aren’t you?  Today, I finished up some time-consuming work on a set of classes known as the plControllers, which store key frames and animation details for most of the animation-related data structures in Plasma.  This means now that LayerAnimations, Particle Engines, special cameras, and various other types of complex data can now be supported by programs like PyPRP, HuruStudio, and AgeMaker.  In fact, libPlasma has now successfully parsed and re-written plLineFollowMods, plRailCameraMods, plLayerAnimations (and derived classes) from several test PRPs, both from PotS and from Myst 5.  So hopefully, we’ll all see some nice animated stuff comig up soon :).

Now, I’m thinking I might actually start some rendering and editing code for AgeMaker, so the thing can actually be somewhat useful.  It’s actually getting close to the point where I can use it to do real work.  Well, supposedly it is — since I haven’t written this stuff yet, I still don’t know what other bugs or misunderstandings are still hiding in there ;).  In any case, it should be interesting.

So apparently, newer Ubuntu builds (7.04 and 7.10 are tested at the time of this writing) include a PS/2 kernel “fix” that breaks virtualized mice, such as those used in VirtualPC and VMWare. I discovered this today while trying to build such an Ubuntu VPC; thankfully, the end is not written there… Obviously, you can use the Accessibility options to turn on a numpad-based mouse (similar to the one in Windows), by going to the System menu (Alt+F1, right, right) and selecting Preferences->Accessibility->Keyboard accessibility, and using keyboard navigation to turn on the “Mouse Keys” option. This will let you use a “mouse” throughout the install process (although the only thing you really need it for is to actually click on the install icon — I can’t figure out how to select icons on the desktop when none is selected using only the keyboard in Gnome, even though I can in Windows or KDE… :\ ).

Now, once you actually get your Ubuntu system installed, you will still, unfortunately be mouseless. If you only plan to use a virtual console, or you really love keyboard navigation and MouseKeys ;), this isn’t a problem, but for everyone else, it’s unacceptable. If you never plan to upgrade your kernel, you can find a nifty binary kernel patch at this link, but since that is, as I mentioned, a binary patch, it’s only useful for the kernel that comes straight off the 7.04 installer CD. That’s not really too bad, since under most circumstances you won’t need to upgrade your kernel that much anyway, but I hope this will eventually get fixed… Knowing Linux developers, though, I’m sure it will

Update 09/22/2007

It seems that there’s actually an easier way that should work for all kernels…  this blog post explains that you can actually just append a kernel parameter (i8042.noloop) to make the mouse work again.  I’ve tested this on the latest Ubuntu 7.10 kernel, and it works great!  Of course, getting the kernel itself fixed would be the best option, but this is certainly a lot better than before

Well, if nothing else, this semester certainly promises to be an interesting one… So far, it’s the first time since 6th grade that I haven’t been involved in my educational facility’s top choir; which is kinda disappointing in some ways, but honestly, ask anyone else (there are lots of us) who has dropped from the University Singers choir this semester, and they’ll give you a similar story: We’ve all had enough of Dr. Alt and need a break from that devil! Thankfully, I’m not completely choirless though (I’d probably go insane if I were!), since I’m still going to be involved in the Gospel Choir. Interestingly enough, despite my 4 upper division CS courses and one upper division Honors course, I think this semester will be the least stressful one I’ve had in a long time, just because of the lack of Uni Singers.

Now, of course, to make up for that, I’ve (once again) gotten myself involved in way too many other activities to keep track of, not the least of which being an officer position at the university’s ACM office, as well as agreeing to participate in several other upcoming events and groups. Le sigh. Now here comes the best part, the part that makes it all so interesting: Last thursday, I had a small accident on the way to work, and my truck is now even less drivable than it already was. I’ve now gotten the fender off of the tires, so I can at least drive again (although I admit I kinda enjoyed biking to work and school on Friday ), but it’s still just one of those things to add to my supposedly-calmer-than-usual semester. So I repeat: Le sigh…

Well, we’ll definitely have to see how this semester turns out; although for the most part I have pretty good feelings about it. Of course, that may just be my inner optimist screaming to get out, too :P. Oh, and I hear I make some pretty durn good cookies, if anyone’s interested (and I’ve still got lots of ingredients left from the last time, heh…)