Syndrome - Revision history

Parasyte at 06:18, 28 December 2020

2020-12-28T06:18:51Z

Parasyte: /* Building */

2010-10-21T07:31:05Z

‎Building

Parasyte: /* TODO */

2010-10-21T07:30:21Z

‎TODO

Parasyte: /* TODO */

2010-10-21T07:29:08Z

‎TODO

Parasyte: /* Building */

2010-10-21T07:27:22Z

‎Building

Parasyte: /* Compression */

2009-12-03T02:26:10Z

‎Compression

Parasyte: /* Building */

2009-12-03T02:13:15Z

‎Building

Parasyte: /* Building */

2009-12-03T02:01:43Z

‎Building

Parasyte at 07:28, 21 October 2009

2009-10-21T07:28:43Z

Parasyte: /* Building */

2009-06-16T23:02:35Z

‎Building

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 [[Image:Syndrome.png]] [[Image:Syndrome2.png]]
-On May 23, 2004, I decided to drop MFC (and C++, for that matter) and entirely rewrote the program in C for MinGW. This iteration saw a completely new interface, using an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_document_interface MDI] layout and resizable windows. A console window was also included which would output debug information:
+On May 23, 2004, I decided to drop MFC (and C++, for that matter) and entirely rewrote the program in C for MinGW. This iteration saw a completely new interface, using an [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_document_interface MDI] layout and resizable windows. A console window was also included which would output debug information:
 [[Image:Syn1.png|800px]] [[Image:Syn2.png|800px]]
@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 On February 8, 2009, over 6 years after the project started, I decided to drop the Win32 dependencies completely. This second rewrite (or third iteration) is currently in progress, written in JavaScript for XULRunner. The plan is to eventually include C++ modules for efficiency reasons.
 ==Download==
-Syndrome source code is available on hgkw: [http://hg.kodewerx.org/syndrome]. You can also clone the Mercurial repository with the following command:
+Syndrome source code is available on github: [https://github.com/parasyte/syndrome]. You can also clone the git repository with the following command:
-  $ hg clone http://hg.kodewerx.org/syndrome
+  $ git clone https://github.com/parasyte/syndrome.git
 ==Building==
-The current source tree is a minimal implementation of a XULRunner application; the XUL, CSS, and JS sources are available in the /src subdirectory, and two shell scripts are included for launching the application.
+The current source tree is a minimal implementation of a XULRunner application; the XUL, CSS, and JS sources are available in the /src subdirectory, and two shell scripts are included for launching the application. Note that XULRunner has been retired by Mozilla. Some modern replacement technologies are [https://nwjs.io/ NW.js] and [https://github.com/electron/electron Electron]. A light weight alternative is [https://github.com/webview/webview webview].
 The linux shell script requires XULRunner to be installed and available in your PATH. If you are on a recent version of Ubuntu, you already have everything needed to try it out:
@@ Line 29: / Line 31: @@
   $ ./syndrome-linux
-The Mac OS X shell script will build an application bundle and place it into a new /Applications/Kodewerx directory. Then it will run the application. To use this, you must download a recent copy of the [http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/xulrunner/releases/ XULRunner runtime]. At this time, the most current release is version 1.9.2.10:
+The Mac OS X shell script will build an application bundle and place it into a new /Applications/Kodewerx directory. Then it will run the application. To use this, you must download a recent copy of the [https://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/xulrunner/releases/ XULRunner runtime]. At this time, the most current release is version 1.9.2.10:
   $ ./syndrome-osx
@@ Line 37: / Line 39: @@
 XULRunner 1.9.1 adds some much needed functionality such as better support for the HTML Canvas element and much faster JavaScript execution time. Version 1.9.2 is also in the works which adds even more interesting features, such as scaling canvases (and images) with the nearest neighbor algorithm to prevent ugly blurring artifacts; perfect for low resolution pixel art. This can be done with the CSS [https://developer.mozilla.org/En/CSS/Image-rendering image-rendering: -moz-crisp-edges;], or the [https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Canvas_tutorial/Using_images#Controlling_image_scaling_behavior mozImageSmoothingEnabled] property on canvases.
-We need a proper build environment using configure/make on Linux and Mac OS X, and a Visual Studio project for Windows. [http://www.cmake.org/ CMake] might be a good choice. Though recently, I am really liking [http://www.scons.org/ SCons].
+We need a proper build environment using configure/make on Linux and Mac OS X, and a Visual Studio project for Windows. [https://www.cmake.org/ CMake] might be a good choice. Though recently, I am really liking [https://www.scons.org/ SCons].
 ==Syndrome==
@@ Line 69: / Line 71: @@
 ====Compression====
-The compression algorithm used on tiles is an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lempel-Ziv-Storer-Szymanski LZSS] derivative. It may also be used on other kinds of data.
+The compression algorithm used on tiles is an [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lempel-Ziv-Storer-Szymanski LZSS] derivative. It may also be used on other kinds of data.
-Another intermediate form of compression used is often referred to as "Tile Squaroid Assembler" ("TSA") in the ROM hacking community. I dislike this name (in part because "Squaroid" is not a word in the English language) but do not have a better one to suggest. The method resembles a "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictionary_coder Dictionary Table Encoded]" ("DTE") array; a very simple form of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_tables Hash Table].
+Another intermediate form of compression used is often referred to as "Tile Squaroid Assembler" ("TSA") in the ROM hacking community. I dislike this name (in part because "Squaroid" is not a word in the English language) but do not have a better one to suggest. The method resembles a "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictionary_coder Dictionary Table Encoded]" ("DTE") array; a very simple form of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_tables Hash Table].
 The idea behind the DTE/hash table is to represent several bytes (a "block") of information as a smaller block (typically only a single byte) of information. As an example, it is easy to represent a 2x2 square of tiles in only one byte; the byte used can therefore reference a total of 256 different 2x2 block combinations. The combinations available are first compiled into a big list called a dictionary. To decode a byte ''n'' into the resulting 2x2 square of tiles, you simply have to look up the ''n''th entry in the dictionary.
@@ Line 104: / Line 106: @@
 Wiki Article:
-* Mockup screenshots to help illustrate conceptual ideas such as the nested-style user interface. Use [http://balsamiq.com/products/mockups Balsamiq Mockups] to create the mockups.
+* Mockup screenshots to help illustrate conceptual ideas such as the nested-style user interface. Use [https://balsamiq.com/wireframes/ Balsamiq Wireframes] to create the mockups.
 Syndrome:

@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
   $ ./syndrome-linux
-The Mac OS X shell script will build an application bundle and place it into a new /Applications/Kodewerx directory. Then it will run the application. To use this, you must download a recent copy of the [http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/xulrunner/releases/ XULRunner runtime]. At this time, the most current release is version 1.9.1.4:
+The Mac OS X shell script will build an application bundle and place it into a new /Applications/Kodewerx directory. Then it will run the application. To use this, you must download a recent copy of the [http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/xulrunner/releases/ XULRunner runtime]. At this time, the most current release is version 1.9.2.10:
   $ ./syndrome-osx

@@ Line 104: / Line 104: @@
 Wiki Article:
-* Mockup screenshots to help illustrate conceptual ideas such as the nested-style user interface.
+* Mockup screenshots to help illustrate conceptual ideas such as the nested-style user interface. Use [http://balsamiq.com/products/mockups Balsamiq Mockups] to create the mockups.
 Syndrome:

@@ Line 107: / Line 107: @@
 Syndrome:
-* Create the C++ rendering module.
+* Write the rendering module in C as a dynamic library; call exported functions with [https://developer.mozilla.org/en/js-ctypes js-ctypes].
 * Extend the GetDataX() functions: maybe GetDataPtrX() ? or functions to get arrays...
 [[Category:Developer_Documentation]]

@@ Line 37: / Line 37: @@
 XULRunner 1.9.1 adds some much needed functionality such as better support for the HTML Canvas element and much faster JavaScript execution time. Version 1.9.2 is also in the works which adds even more interesting features, such as scaling canvases (and images) with the nearest neighbor algorithm to prevent ugly blurring artifacts; perfect for low resolution pixel art. This can be done with the CSS [https://developer.mozilla.org/En/CSS/Image-rendering image-rendering: -moz-crisp-edges;], or the [https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Canvas_tutorial/Using_images#Controlling_image_scaling_behavior mozImageSmoothingEnabled] property on canvases.
-We need a proper build environment using configure/make on Linux and Mac OS X, and a Visual Studio project for Windows.
+We need a proper build environment using configure/make on Linux and Mac OS X, and a Visual Studio project for Windows. [http://www.cmake.org/ CMake] might be a good choice. Though recently, I am really liking [http://www.scons.org/ SCons].
 ==Syndrome==

@@ Line 69: / Line 69: @@
 ====Compression====
-The compression algorithm used on tiles is an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZ77_(algorithm) LZ] derivative. It may also be used on other kinds of data.
+The compression algorithm used on tiles is an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lempel-Ziv-Storer-Szymanski LZSS] derivative. It may also be used on other kinds of data.
-Another intermediate form of compression used is often referred to as "Tile Squaroid Assembler" ("TSA") in the ROM hacking community. I dislike this name (in part because "Squaroid" is not a word in the English language) but do not have a better one to suggest. Typically, the method resembles a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huffman_coding Huffman]-like "Dictionary Table Encoded" ("DTE") array called [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_encoding Block Encoding]. Therefore, "Block Encoding" may be a preferable term.
+Another intermediate form of compression used is often referred to as "Tile Squaroid Assembler" ("TSA") in the ROM hacking community. I dislike this name (in part because "Squaroid" is not a word in the English language) but do not have a better one to suggest. The method resembles a "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictionary_coder Dictionary Table Encoded]" ("DTE") array; a very simple form of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_tables Hash Table].
-The idea of Block Encoding is to represent a large block of information as a smaller block of information. As an example, it is easy to represent a 2x2 square of tiles in only one byte; the byte used can therefore reference a total of 256 different 2x2 block combinations. The combinations available are first compiled into a big list called a dictionary. To decode a byte ''n'' into the resulting 2x2 square of tiles, you simply have to look up the ''n''th entry in the dictionary.
+The idea behind the DTE/hash table is to represent several bytes (a "block") of information as a smaller block (typically only a single byte) of information. As an example, it is easy to represent a 2x2 square of tiles in only one byte; the byte used can therefore reference a total of 256 different 2x2 block combinations. The combinations available are first compiled into a big list called a dictionary. To decode a byte ''n'' into the resulting 2x2 square of tiles, you simply have to look up the ''n''th entry in the dictionary.
 Given each tile in the background layer tile map consumes 2 bytes, a stage the size of the MM7 intro level (4864 x 768 px for just the foreground) would require a tile map that's 116,736 bytes long. (Nearly 5% of the full ROM! And this is probably the smallest stage in the game.) That does not even include the tiles or palettes.

@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 For Windows, just double click the "syndrome-win" shortcut. You must have Firefox 3.0 (or newer) installed in the default location (C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox) for the shortcut to work. If you have Firefox installed to a different location, you can change the shortcut to point to the firefox.exe file by right clicking the shortcut and choosing "Properties".
-At some point, XULRunner version 1.9.1 will be released. But until then, you may run Syndrome on Shiretoko (Firefox 3.5 beta) with its -app command line argument. XULRunner 1.9.1 will add some much needed functionality such as better support for the HTML Canvas element and much faster JavaScript execution time; we want to move to 1.9.1 as soon as possible. [http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/xulrunner/nightly/latest-mozilla-1.9.1/ XULRunner 1.9.1 Betas] are available for all three major platforms.
+XULRunner 1.9.1 adds some much needed functionality such as better support for the HTML Canvas element and much faster JavaScript execution time. Version 1.9.2 is also in the works which adds even more interesting features, such as scaling canvases (and images) with the nearest neighbor algorithm to prevent ugly blurring artifacts; perfect for low resolution pixel art. This can be done with the CSS [https://developer.mozilla.org/En/CSS/Image-rendering image-rendering: -moz-crisp-edges;], or the [https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Canvas_tutorial/Using_images#Controlling_image_scaling_behavior mozImageSmoothingEnabled] property on canvases.
 We need a proper build environment using configure/make on Linux and Mac OS X, and a Visual Studio project for Windows.

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 ==History==
 Work on Syndrome began on September 25, 2002 as a Visual Studio 6 MFC project. The screenshots below depict two different builds of the interface. On the left, an older version showing the first time a complete screen was rendered. On the right, a newer version with some tile issues fixed (also with transparency rendered in pink) and an empty sidebar added (once planned to become a toolbox):
@@ Line 15: / Line 16: @@
 ==Download==
 Syndrome source code is available on hgkw: [http://hg.kodewerx.org/syndrome]. You can also clone the Mercurial repository with the following command:
-  $ hg clone http://hg.kodewerx.org/syndrome
+ $ hg clone http://hg.kodewerx.org/syndrome
 ==Building==
 The current source tree is a minimal implementation of a XULRunner application; the XUL, CSS, and JS sources are available in the /src subdirectory, and two shell scripts are included for launching the application.
 The linux shell script requires XULRunner to be installed and available in your PATH. If you are on a recent version of Ubuntu, you already have everything needed to try it out:
-  $ ./syndrome-linux
+ $ ./syndrome-linux
 The Mac OS X shell script will build an application bundle and place it into a new /Applications/Kodewerx directory. Then it will run the application. To use this, you must download a recent copy of the [http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/xulrunner/releases/ XULRunner runtime]. The this time, the most current release is version 1.9.0.11:
-  $ ./syndrome-osx
+ $ ./syndrome-osx
 For Windows, just double click the "syndrome-win" shortcut. You must have Firefox 3.0 (or newer) installed in the default location (C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox) for the shortcut to work. If you have Firefox installed to a different location, you can change the shortcut to point to the firefox.exe file by right clicking the shortcut and choosing "Properties".
@@ Line 37: / Line 40: @@
 ==Syndrome==
 ===The Name===
 I am often asked why the editor is called Syndrome; the name isn't typical of ROM hacking tools. The word 'syndrome' itself does not directly relate to Mega Man 7 or the Mega Man series in any way. The main reason for this is just to be different! But that doesn't explain where the name came from.
@@ Line 45: / Line 50: @@
 ===The Reasoning Behind XULRunner===
 XULRunner is a nice platform; especially for people who are already familiar with doing web application programming. It's easy for web developers to pick up a XULRunner app and modify it to fit their needs. However, it's not very easy for a web developer to start a XULRunner application from scratch -- that's what XULRunner developers are for.
@@ Line 52: / Line 58: @@
 ===Mega Man 7 Information===
 Syndrome is hard-coded to read data out of the US Mega Man 7 ROM. Other regions probably will not work. The first thing it does after opening the ROM file is detecting the ROM mapping mode. (This is part of the 'general utilities' described above!) Mega Man 7 is strictly a HiROM-mapped SNES ROM; but Syndrome does not care. It will detect the mapping mode anyway. This makes the ROM reading class general purpose. (This class also handles SMC format ROMs with or without the SMC header -- another win for modularity.)
@@ Line 61: / Line 68: @@
 ====Compression====
 The compression algorithm used on tiles is an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZ77_(algorithm) LZ] derivative. It may also be used on other kinds of data.
@@ Line 82: / Line 90: @@
 ===The Editor Interface===
 This is an area that I've spent a good deal of time exploring. Over 6 years worth of exploration, in fact. I think the best interface for this kind of game (considering the compression used, as explained above) will be to edit only one piece of the overall 'stage' at a time. For instance, the editor will start up in map edit mode on stage 0 (intro). In the map edit mode, the main canvas will display the complete stage. A toolbox will allow the user to select what kind of tool to use (in this example, a 'stamp' tool, to make changes). And below the toolbox, a palette for selecting one of the available 'rooms': Select an available room from the palette, and with the stamp tool, click on the map to 'stamp' that room into the location where the mouse is hovering.
@@ Line 93: / Line 102: @@
 ==TODO==
 Wiki Article:
 * Mockup screenshots to help illustrate conceptual ideas such as the nested-style user interface.