Writing a Pakrat replacement

[YM]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nutomic

I dont really understand what you need a GUI for, you just put some lines in the advanced compile options and thats it, nothing which would require a GUI.

Except removing all the duplicated things I get added by default and adding in the extra stuff.. This is the 21st century, I dont want to be altering things on a command line basis!!

[Psy]

Don't do a Valve. Make a GUI for god's sake.

[A Boojum Snark]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terr

Detecting assets which are both on the disk (tf/ directory) but also in the GCFs, testing if they are different, prompting user to decide whether it means including or not.

No. If it's in the cache you do. not. embed.

Also, while everyone is going zomgui I'd like to say: this would require the python base stuff installed right? It's not exactly a standard thing to have (like java and .net have become) so uhh... I don't know what I really wanted to say. Just that you'll probably end up where 95% of your customers need to go get that too.

[Terr]

When I say "no GUI" I was thinking of either

1. A text interface that's still interactive ("type quit to exit")
2. A frontend mouse-around-GUI frontend as a separate application that controls the command-backend. Like how VBCT is a "frontend" for vbsp/vvis/vrad.

I originally considered making (and indeed, started coding) the whole thing in Java, so if an interactive mouse-driven GUI is such a must-have it's certainly less-painful than Python GUIs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Youme

Except removing all the duplicated things I get added by default and adding in the extra stuff.. This is the 21st century, I dont want to be altering things on a command line basis!!

Duplicated things? Extra stuff? Could you elaborate on this problem/frustration?

Part of the reason I was thinking of omitting a pakrat-esque GUI is because it seems like most of the important bits (textures, models, soundscapes, particles) can all be done automatically, and the rest would be relatively simple prompts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by A Boojum Snark

No. If it's in the cache you do. not. embed.

Not with the same name, of course. What I mean is it seems like a place where some sort of action should be taken or alert raised, potentially because the mapper may have never had an accurate view of his own map due to local modifications.

Quote:

Also, while everyone is going zomgui I'd like to say: this would require the python base stuff installed right? It's not exactly a standard thing to have (like java and .net have become)

AFAIK Java is not installed on Windows by default, someone has to download it too. I'd love it if it was (and not Microsoft's "embrance and corrupt" strategy) since it would shut up the people who complain that they have to download it to run things.

[Balloonsfor600]

Hmmm... If it's easy to use without the GUI I say why do you need it (even though I would prefer one)? Long story short, I will keep an eye on this.

In the meantime - I think that I will try this Map Analyst that Nutomic has described.

[A Boojum Snark]

I didn't mean by default, I meant standard, like I said. Most people have java nowadays.

[Terr]

Can anyone provide example cases where automation breaks down and a GUI (one more complex than Yes/No/Cancel) is required? I'm working under the assumption that the map already plays correctly on the packager's computer, so all the custom models and textures etc. are already in the tf/ directory on-disk.

I'm not saying they don't exist, but for design purposes I'd like to figure out the use cases.

[Aly]

When I fisrt used Pakrat it tooks me ages to find the right god damn thing to install on that horrible Java site.

Why can't things like that be included on the windows DVD as an "optional install" like mac has the dev tools?

[Terr]

Finding what to install for Java is so much easier now.

That said, it's not included along with the DVD because it's from a separate company from Microsoft, and Microsoft has their own somewhat competing set of tools. And the last time Microsoft did something like that they basically riddled the installed version with Windows-specific features in order to break the spec (analogous to what Internet Explorer did for the quality of HTML ) and ended up paying $20 million in a lawsuit.

[The Political Gamer]

So GUI or No GUI?