@ryos:

1. The issues I encountered while porting DoD:
A) Since I used special BBB-backgrounds in DoD (featuring a cute 1970s-type DoD-logo plus graphic) I had to somehow incorprate those into the new version of the game. You might remember that BBB-procedures have changed (since 1.0.8 I guess), so now it's possible to type the BBB-text directly into the BBB in the editor, whereas at the time of DoD's initial release you still had to use a res editor.
The problem: The dowwnside of that is, that I had to find a new solution for the BBB-backgrounds, which used to be in the extra supplied "MM graphics" file (in the old versions).

B) Another problem was my use of a custom switch. Suddenly all floor switches (not only the custom one) had white squares around them (see resp. thread with screenshot about that topic). I found out that - somewhere between the last 2 updates - Vern had apparently changed the "design method" for floor switches. Where they once used white background (which later appeared transparent) they now use that purpleish/blueish-colored background that is also used for other transparent backgrounds (e.g. ladders).
After I had changed my one custom floor switch, the white squares around ALL floor switches vanished too, bizarrely.

These are just 2 major examples, there was more....
As you see, it isn't always as straightforward as simply naming a folder XXX-mansion Data and throwing that ino the Custom Mansions folder.

I strongly recommend all designers that have used custom graphics in mansions that were designed with MM versions 1.0.7 or earlier to check if they still play as they should. Take a special look at those floor switches, BBB-texts etc.

BTW: I just played "House Of The Dead" again (it's so full of faults...I was sshocked) and there - amongst loads of other issues I also saw non-working BBBs (empty text-fields were displayed).
Although - given the general state of this mansion - it can very well be that this has nothing to do with "versions".... maybe the designer simply included a BBB without text ?!

2. My problems with Decorum were basically the same as those described by Toybox, although I haven't yet tried your new "packed" Dominator version. But I remember from when you released it, that I had problems to get it to work properly.
Like Toybox I admit I haven't been patient enough to try it longer or again......

Just launching the app gave you that error? If so, what version of Mac OS X are you running? I've not seen that.

Or did it happen when you clicked the "Play" button? If so, do you, by any chance, already have Dominator in your Custom Mansions folder? On my machine, this causes the error you're seeing when the "Play" button is clicked. Move BOTH Chase the Bots AND Dominator out of your Custom Mansions folder and it should work. (Decorum has a copy of the mansions inside its application bundle, and will move them into your Custom Mansions folder when you press "Play". If they're already there, you get an error.)

As for the rest...well...yeah, you do have to learn how to set it up, and I recognize that this isn't ideal. The whole thing is geared towards mansion developers packaging their mansions inside Decorum and distributing them that way, so the process is not as user-friendly as it would be if I expected "normal" users to do it. The program itself is dead simple to use, but there's that barrier to entry of learning to set it up.

What follows is a long account of how Decorum came to be and why it is as it is. Read on if you're curious.

Decorum actually began life as "Custom Asset Enabler", a program designed to enable developers of scenarios for Ambrosia Software's SketchFighter 4000 Alpha to use their own graphics. I wrote it then because SketchFighter's data files live inside the application's bundle, and the procedure for swapping them out is considerably more involved than it is for Midnight mansion. In fact, it's so onerous that it would be completely unreasonable to expect people to do it.

Unlike with MM, SketchFighter maps with custom assets would be pretty much untenable without a utility that performed the swapping for you, every time you wanted to play. This is where the developer-oriented mindset comes from; I knew that, in that case, mapmakers would need the utility to even consider making maps with custom graphics.

When I began beta testing Dominator for Joeb, I found the file swapping to be quite a headache. I soon realized that I had already solved the problem when I created the Custom Asset Enabler. The program's code only required a few simple changes in order to work with Midnight Mansion. And so Decorum was born.

However, the user/developer landscape was quite different for Midnight Mansion. Users were already accustomed to swapping files, and the barrier was low enough that many developers were requiring it. I guess people were confused by that configuration step that was required of normal users because no developers decided to distribute their mansions in a Decorum wrapper.

If I knew then what I know now, and if I had written Decorum from scratch for MM, I would have done things differently. I would have had a drop well in the GUI for users to drop mansion files and associated data into; this would build a library of mansions with custom graphics that could be swapped in by selecting them from a list and pressing a button.

Of course, that would also have been a lot more work, and the program may never have existed at all had I been that ambitious about it. It certainly will never happen now that its reason for existing has been almost entirely obviated by MM 1.0.8.

In its current form, Decorum provides a rather nice solution for those old mansions that have yet to make the jump to the 1.0.8 format (and for Dominator, which can't). It does just want I want it to do, and I'm satisfied with the way it works. So, when people complain about having to swap files and what a pain it is, I can't help but point out that it's a solved problem, at least in my eyes.

If you have any questions about the set-up process I'd be happy to answer them. It's really not that bad once you know how to do it.

ryos wrote on 27.01.2008 at 16:28:17:


I have OS X 10.3.9. However:

ryos wrote on 27.01.2008 at 16:28:17:


Hum, yes, both Chase The Bots and Dominator are still in the Custom Mansion folder  I will try to move them away and tell you what happened.

ryos wrote on 27.01.2008 at 16:28:17:


Ah, but fiddling with something which is *just a little bit* harder than what you are familiar with is a good way to learn: once I manage to set up Decorum following step-by-step instructions, it will be easier to understand retrospectively the underlying principles of how the installation works.

Moreover, there is the reward of playing that custom mansion afterwards, too! A little bit like cooking an elaborate dish for the first time.

Still, I'll make a safety copy of the MM folder, just in case....