Mac question for Alex or anyone else who's mac savvy
by Drake1009 · in Marble Blast · 06/22/2004 (12:00 pm) · 15 replies
Well my MBLevel installer is finally about done. Only thing which is giving problems now is that Solo is testing it. It works fine for him, but the addition of a mod manager to enable/disable mods seems to have caused a bit of confusion.
The program re-writes the main.cs file to include the name of the mod needed to be loaded. The problem is that when marble blast is next loaded it claims it can't find the main.cs file even though it's in the directory.
So far we've been able to get it to find the file again with a cp main.cs main.cs.
Before the copy a text edit of the file confirms that the newFloors mod we tested on is indeed listed as userMods along with marble. But when the game launches it doesn't seem to be loaded.
2 questions then.
1) what could we be doing wrong with the main.cs file? It should be the right directory. We had other trouble with the program not finding the right directory because it seems to exist multiple places. The program should do the editing the proper place.
2) Is there a difference in the way MArble Blast would load mods on a MAC compared to a Win machine which would explain why nothing happens when using the mod?
The program re-writes the main.cs file to include the name of the mod needed to be loaded. The problem is that when marble blast is next loaded it claims it can't find the main.cs file even though it's in the directory.
So far we've been able to get it to find the file again with a cp main.cs main.cs.
Before the copy a text edit of the file confirms that the newFloors mod we tested on is indeed listed as userMods along with marble. But when the game launches it doesn't seem to be loaded.
2 questions then.
1) what could we be doing wrong with the main.cs file? It should be the right directory. We had other trouble with the program not finding the right directory because it seems to exist multiple places. The program should do the editing the proper place.
2) Is there a difference in the way MArble Blast would load mods on a MAC compared to a Win machine which would explain why nothing happens when using the mod?
About the author
#2
The reason being that the file was actually there. I have no idea why it would revert and work again, but the fact is that the file created was broken by my parser to figure out where to insert it. Everywhere it said $userMods I replaced the line with the $userMods = " line. Once that was fixed it worked perfectly on both mac and PC.
I didn't know it failed on the PC as I had rushed that part of the program and hence the only testing I did was to ensure that the line itself was changed. I didn't notice the 0.02 kb file size drop even if you added to it.
Same reason I requested this thread deleted. It's unneeded.
06/23/2004 (5:11 pm)
Well I got it sorted out before I wanted to post the other thread I made.The reason being that the file was actually there. I have no idea why it would revert and work again, but the fact is that the file created was broken by my parser to figure out where to insert it. Everywhere it said $userMods I replaced the line with the $userMods = " line. Once that was fixed it worked perfectly on both mac and PC.
I didn't know it failed on the PC as I had rushed that part of the program and hence the only testing I did was to ensure that the line itself was changed. I didn't notice the 0.02 kb file size drop even if you added to it.
Same reason I requested this thread deleted. It's unneeded.
#3
Click Here
The file is in zip format so unpack it and you will have a file called MBLevelInstaller.pkg. Double Click on that file and you will start the installer. Just follow directions and the program will load on your Desktop(you can change this directory within the installer if you wish). You might want to test the program out with some of Drake's mods.
06/24/2004 (4:25 am)
Anyone who needs the Mac version of Drake's Installer can download it here.Click Here
The file is in zip format so unpack it and you will have a file called MBLevelInstaller.pkg. Double Click on that file and you will start the installer. Just follow directions and the program will load on your Desktop(you can change this directory within the installer if you wish). You might want to test the program out with some of Drake's mods.
#4
06/24/2004 (5:31 am)
I must say Solo has done a nice piece of work with the differences between MAC and PC. I've seen the screenshots and right now I'm wishing I had a mac.
#5
It just Aqua behaving the way it should.
solo.
06/24/2004 (8:33 am)
Wish I could take credit. :: )It just Aqua behaving the way it should.
solo.
#6
That system always confused me actually. Always did on my amiga when I didn't know what program was focused.
06/24/2004 (11:27 am)
You put any code in there which would cause the PC to not display it properly? As far as I could see the difference was that the menus weren't attached to the window but to the top of screen.That system always confused me actually. Always did on my amiga when I didn't know what program was focused.
#7
So, yes, basically the window is separate from the menu bar now(normal for Mac). I can see how it's confusing for Window's user, but Mac users have come to love and embrace Aqua, which will be celebrating a new version of OS X soon.
06/24/2004 (10:54 pm)
I didn't add much code. I played around with an About menu item, but that's all. The menus automaticatically went to Apple's menu bar when I built it in Project Builder( I don't know why it does this). I also took out the Exit menu item and File menu item for some windows because it became redundant with the Mac app(Mac has quit option showing in menu bar all the time).So, yes, basically the window is separate from the menu bar now(normal for Mac). I can see how it's confusing for Window's user, but Mac users have come to love and embrace Aqua, which will be celebrating a new version of OS X soon.
#8
06/28/2004 (11:04 am)
Sweet! Cool stuff. Glad to see a better way to get mod content into MB.
#9
06/28/2004 (1:21 pm)
Glad it can be of some use. As I said Alex. If you're tired of verifying wether the custom levels submitted will run on MB or MB gold, just give me a list of the .dif files exclusive to gold and I'll add a quick parsing for it to let people know.
#10
06/29/2004 (2:17 pm)
Alright, I'll try to get that to you later this week, pretty busy at the moment. :)
#11
06/30/2004 (5:43 am)
Take your time. I don't Need it. I just thought it might make your job a little easier if people used the installer to send in files with.
#12
06/30/2004 (2:21 pm)
It would make it much easier, I'd probably get to updates much more often if I has some standard format people could send files in, and had all the custom interiors / requires MBG info determined automatically.
#15
07/01/2004 (4:42 am)
Basically the files are just Zip files renamed to indicate they contain a bit of information. The program should ease the process of packing up levels if you have them installed and tested. Should work fine for other people who don't want to use the program or can't use the program. 
Torque Owner Alex Swanson
as to 2)... as far as I know, the loading of mods (I am assuming custom .cs files mostly) should be identical on Mac and PC. One thing that you could do is have your script remove main.cs.dso, as it is possible that it isn't getting recompiled. That would be rather strange though.
Let me know if that helps, otherwise I'll have to ask someone more familiar with the technical aspects of .cs loading.