Abiathar: What's next?

Utilities for editing Keen:Galaxy and Keen:Dreams levels.
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What should I focus on next in Abiathar development?

Stop! It's great!
0
No votes
Collaborative editing
1
20%
Expansion to MAPTEMP/MAPTHEAD format
2
40%
Expansion to Vorticons
0
No votes
Something else (please specify)
2
40%
 
Total votes: 5

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Fleexy
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Abiathar: What's next?

Post by Fleexy »

With Abiathar v1.4 out, adding the ability to generate patch files, I'm not really sure what direction to take the program next. Other than bug fixes (which haven't come in yet), there doesn't immediately seem to be anything more to do with it. I could polish the interface, snazz up the documentation, remove the version number, and seal it forever as simply "Abiathar", but I don't want to kill its development. I learned a lot about programming (especially the world of graphics and rendering) creating it, and I think it's friendly enough to build around.

So, what's next? I don't really know. I've been fantasizing about cooperative editing, Google Drive style, and v1.4 added infrastructure that could be used to make that a real thing (I couldn't help it). The Keen community is small enough that such a feature probably wouldn't get too much use, and it probably a waste of my time. People would be amazed, and it might get used once or twice after the release, but the *.aslev (single level file) system is fine for putting together group projects.

Then there's expansion to other similar games. Bio Menace is one that still has a little bit of interest, but its file format is difficult to get back onto disk correctly. I can load the TED5 not-so-temporary file, stripping out the parts that don't matter for level editing, but saving it and putting all that junk back in the right place would be difficult. I could go all-out and make it compatible with everything TED5 can do, but that would require so much reworking of a lot of the concepts. Abiathar would lose its power as an adapted-to-Keen superpowered, focused program.

Finally, there's expansion to Vorticon levels. This might be the craziest idea. It wouldn't be hard to get a Vorticons editor going, but merging it with Abiathar and its attachment to the Galaxy way would be very difficult. Then again, it would go a long way towards satisfying my vision of one program for all Keen modding ever.

What do you think I should do? Vote in the poll above and voice your opinions below!

Fleexy
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Gridlock
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Post by Gridlock »

I plan on transitioning my Keen files to a Windows 7 computer very soon, so hopefully I will be able to use Abiathar.

I would like to see some more modding-related capabilities added to Abiathar, making it more of a catch-all Galaxy modding program. It can become increasingly complicated working with all the little modding programs (especially when there are several versions, some buggy), and having something like them packaged into Abiathar would be very helpful.

For example, I would love to see music and sound effect editors in Abiathar. I know we have programs like Keenwave and WDC, but trying to keep track of all that stuff is just a convoluted, complex task. Imagine if Abiathar allowed you to import IMF tracks and assign them to levels and other screens, then generated the necessary patches to get it working. Adding additional music slots to Keen Galaxy is one of the biggest pains I have ever encountered, and it would be wonderful to have Abiathar do the hard work. The biggest challenge would be figuring out how to integrate this with patching that varies from mod to mod (for example, some mods might change how text boxes work and what music/sound effects play with them). These features would really help me with Atroxian Realm.

It would also be nice to have features that make editing other stuff easier as well. For example, why not a better editor for CK4LOAD.BIN and the help/end texts? I think WDC may have had some functionality with that, but I've never used it.

Co-op would be a neat feature for sure, and I know Mink had tried to do it in the beta of Omegamatic 2. I'd agree though that the community is too small and inactive right now to need co-op. It doesn't seem like we have many cooperative projects active at the moment.

I'm not interested in support for Vorticons or other games, but maybe some people are.

There is a danger of making Abiathar usage too convoluted, but if the program could be made into an all-purpose Keen editor, it might simplify the process by consolidating everything.
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MoffD
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Post by MoffD »

I agree with gridlock. If you can make abiathar more versatile, integrating several more features from other tools than that would be great!
@Gridlock I use Abiathar in windows 7 just fine, so you shouldn't have any problems transitioning
levellass
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Post by levellass »

This is how I would rank the various options and why:

1: Maptemp stuff; this is a small thing; the format is not too different
2: Graphics importing; again minor-ish; you can already convert from files to graphics so going in reverse should be simple(ish, I know how issues arise...)
3: Collaborative editing capability (A more solid issue)
4: Vorticons; a simpleish issue since we have the format of all stuff this would create the first total Keen level editing program
5: Expansion to other Keen engine games (Dangerous Dave 2-4, Biomenace, Catacomb 3D...) the formats are the same across such games and should require little tweaking
6: Total modding ability (Sounds, music, etc.) This is a big, difficult thing to do.
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Fleexy
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Post by Fleexy »

Alright, everybody! v2.0 is coming out (hopefully) soon, with support for MAPTEMP/MAPHEAD and MAPTEMP/MAPTHEAD files, making modification of Bio Menace (confirmed) and related games (untested) possible.

Now, I have a proposition for a minor feature. Would it be useful to allow Abiathar to circumvent the 16 character limit on internal level names? I could do it fairly easily and even allow non-ASCII characters, but the names would get bungled if you saved it with another editor.

And, of course, if you have suggestions for other features, tell me quickly before I finalize the v2.0 code base and start writing documentation!
levellass
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Post by levellass »

I don't think level names are that important to most people.

Will it bundle the xxPatch utilities? BMxPatch is hard to come by for many people.
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