Zelda Classic Æternal(2.55), Alpha 14 for Windows

Zelda Classic 2.55.0 Alpha 14 for Windows (57MB)
Includes ZLaunch, 2.6.12removing an extraneous option, and fixing the default ZQuest options tab.
Changelog for 2.55 on GitHub.




Highlights

1. Brings 2.55 In-Line with ALL 2.53 Fixes
   
   • See the changelog, or see the 2.53 change history for an extensive list of these changes.
   
   
2. Add and integrate Classic.zh, and all new Classic Tileset Features
3. Add demo and default npc and eweapon scripts, converting Daira Ghost script to npc.
   
   • Added daira npc script, bobomb npc script, and daira_axe eweapon script.
   
   
4. This build fixes a number of issues with the ZScript parser/compiler.
5. Reduced ZIP package size, and overhead to minimal size.
   
   • New ZIP file, so that we do not have compression fragmentation faults.
   
   
6. Cleaned up modules organisation.
   
   • Modules are now in a ./modules path, with each module and its files in a sub-path.
   
   
7. Merged 2.53 fixes and improvements to std.zh into 2.55.
8. Added some additional items to the Classic Tileset:
   
   • Magical Boss Key, Magical Compass, Magical Map (all scripted).
   
   
9. Fixed conflicts in ghost.zh header (included).

It does not fix other known issues, nor does it synchronise with the improvements made to 2.53 in Gamma; but we will close those gaps next.

Parser/Compiler Fixes and Improvements

1. You can now declare any type as constant.

• Previously, only int, and float were legal.

2. Enumerated Lists

• You can declare a C-Style enum, such as enum { A, B, C = 10, D, E = 20, F, G };

3. Prevent Crash Assigning to Constant from Function

• This is now illegal, unless the constant is itself, inside the scope of a function itself.

Just tested on an existing savegame, all the save entries had palette swapped 8-bit Link instead of the savegame icon.

I did notice the default config was DXAC windowed. If you encountered any flickering or slowdown with the framerate counter turned on using DXGL, that is a bug in DXGL and not ZC. In the meantime, you could try to mitigate that by drawing the framerate counter to the render buffer rather than the primary.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BFeely

Just tested on an existing savegame, all the save entries had palette swapped 8-bit Link instead of the savegame icon.

I did notice the default config was DXAC windowed. If you encountered any flickering or slowdown with the framerate counter turned on using DXGL, that is a bug in DXGL and not ZC. In the meantime, you could try to mitigate that by drawing the framerate counter to the render buffer rather than the primary.

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Aye, that is a bug in the modules format handling. It's loading the palette from the quest, but the game icon from the qst.dat file for the installed module. We'll address it in one of the upcoming Alpha builds.

DXAC is an Allegro video driver, and is not related to DGXL, which is an interpreter library file. I did try to put the framecount onto framebuf, instead of SCREEN, but that caused it to give wildly inaccurate values for the current FPS. Thus, I restricted it to draw every other frame, hence the flickery look, but the speed gain from it is enough to warrant that change.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ZoriaRPG

Aye, that is a bug in the modules format handling. It's loading the palette from the quest, but the game icon from the qst.dat file for the installed module. We'll address it in one of the upcoming Alpha builds.

DXAC is an Allegro video driver, and is not related to DGXL, which is an interpreter library file. I did try to put the framecount onto framebuf, instead of SCREEN, but that caused it to give wildly inaccurate values for the current FPS. Thus, I restricted it to draw every other frame, hence the flickery look, but the speed gain from it is enough to warrant that change.

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Thanks for the explanation regarding the FPS counter. I do know the "DXAC" setting means to use hardware accelerated DirectDraw, and that DXGL when installed to the game folder handles that functionality.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BFeely

Thanks for the explanation regarding the FPS counter. I do know the "DXAC" setting means to use hardware accelerated DirectDraw, and that DXGL when installed to the game folder handles that functionality.

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Aye. I'm not sure which DX mode is the fastest to DXGL to convert, though. DXAC is the default, to prevent Allegro from trying to latch onto to some other modes that are almost never going to work, which happened in 2.50.2 for some users. IIRC, it tried to use overlays, by default on chipsets that Allegro thought could use it, but it would fail to init.

GDIB is the most compatible driver, in my experience, but I personally had issues with it on some systems, too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ZoriaRPG

Aye. I'm not sure which DX mode is the fastest to DXGL to convert, though. DXAC is the default, to prevent Allegro from trying to latch onto to some other modes that are almost never going to work, which happened in 2.50.2 for some users. IIRC, it tried to use overlays, by default on chipsets that Allegro thought could use it, but it would fail to init.

GDIB is the most compatible driver, in my experience, but I personally had issues with it on some systems, too.

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I just did a few tests, all the DX modes seem about the same; DXOV is apparently falling back to another DX mode because DXGL doesn't currently support DirectDraw overlays (support will be appearing starting in DXGL 0.5.16).

Overlays won't work using native DirectDraw on Windows 8 or above, because it requires DWM to be disabled which Windows 8 and above cannot do.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BFeely

Thanks for the explanation regarding the FPS counter. I do know the "DXAC" setting means to use hardware accelerated DirectDraw, and that DXGL when installed to the game folder handles that functionality.

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2.55, Alpha 15, Preliminary 1

Fixes bugs with quest icons, and fixes issues with InitD on new script types.