Joined: 11/13/2006
Posts: 2823
Location: Northern California
blackbombchu wrote:
Bizhawk should provide it's own tutorial on how to use it that's easy for anyone to understand.
It's literally the most user friendly emulator out there. I've given it to friends who knew nothing about emulation and they understood it immediately.
It should emulate all games properly and the emulation should not have glitches that the original game didn't have.
Yeah, this is definitely the easiest thing to do. Hey, emulator authors! Why can't you just be perfect already? What the hell's so difficult about just emulating all games properly, apart from the fact that you all have to basically reverse engineer consoles and program every little intricacy of every little hardware feature without having any knowledge of the original build, and even then there are going to be thousands of edge cases where you have to intentionally implement inaccuracies? I could do that in a day, maybe half if I give it a little effort!
Not only should it have the feature of being able to save or load a state. There should also be a way to suddenly switch to TAS mode in the middle of game play by opening TAS studio which already exists but TAS mode should work in a different way.
No it shouldn't.
There should be a way to start recording your gameplay when ever you want by clicking a certain option.
Oh, you mean movie recording? The feature that's been in literally every re-recording emulator for over a decade? Yeah, no, I'll forward that to the dev team right away. Critical overlook on their part, seriously.
You should be required to have your gameplay be in the middle of getting recorded in order to enter TAS mode.
Totally agree. You should already be TASing whenever you "enter TAS mode". Can't believe so many people are against this.
Once you enter TAS mode, it should list the entire sequence of controller inputs since you started recording and you should be able to see what the game looks like on a specific frame by clicking that frame making it be the only highlighted one.
Also agree, absolutely. I wonder why no one's done this yet, and why I haven't been using it for 20 TASes or something like that? I mean I can see it now, a piano roll of inputs where you can "paint" input by clicking and dragging the mouse, an infinite set of "branches" perhaps that act as savestates... We could call it TAStudio! How clever!
When you make an edit to the sequence of controller inputs, nothing should happen until you click "Save changes" and after you do so, the earliest frame that changed should be the one highlighted.
No, yeah, great idea, overwrite your entire work every time you want to make a change. Maybe I should jump at frame 20494? Okay, gotta wait 5 minutes while it saves. Oh, that's too early. What about 20495? Okay, gotta wait another 5 minutes while it saves. It's still too early, though.
There should also be a button to play the movie in the TAS studio, but if you haven't saved the changes you made to the sequence of controller inputs, a box should open up asking you if you'd like to save those changes and if you pick no, they should be lost.
I mean... Go back to your Frame 0 marker and just hit play? I can't even think of anything sarcastic here.
Exiting TAS studio should also make you play in real time from the highlighted frame but once you reenter TAS studio, the change in controller inputs as a result of exiting TAS studio should be treated like a single edit that can be undone.
what
Finally, TAS studio should also have a button for saving the video you're making and for closing it in a way that deletes the temporary record of what edits you made to the video and enables you to start making another video in the same way.
what
Clicking "Save changes " should really save changes in the sense of saving a video.
Nah, you're wrong, saving shouldn't save anything. Another critical oversight. When I save, I want the program to crash and wipe all my data.
It should just change the temporary record of what edits you made to the sequence of controller inputs.
Dude you just completely went off the rails here, what in literal Jesus are you talking about?
Once you open a video you already made, you should also be able to edit that video and save it with a different file name without deleting the video you already made.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down there, cowboy! I don't think any developer can pull off the option of "saving an edited file with a different file name"! You may as well ask BizHawk to print money and auto-create TASes for you!
The tutorial should give long instructions on how to use that version of Bizhawk that anyone can understand and actually learn how to do what ever they want to do in that program and there should be a clear warning to people before they download it that they will probably completely know how to use it if they take the time to read the big long tutorial and that they might even end up accidentally losing an edit that they regret losing if they don't read the whole thing.
Speaking of things I can't understand and taking the time to read a big long thing and something I regret...
They should also have tutorial on how to download it and there should be a simpler way to download it so that there won't have to be as long a tutorial on how to download it that peo ple who aren't computer experts can understand.
I'm not a computer expert and yeah, downloading two files is probably the hardest thing I've ever accomplished.
It should also be possible to load a gamecube controller profile just like in Project 64.
Um.
Bizhawk should provide a tutorial on how to create one and there should be a way to create one in Bizhawk so that the tutorial won't have to be as long and still be understandable to people who aren't computer experts.
You... You do realize that if there was an option to create whatever you're talking about, then the tutorial for it wouldn't be necessary, right?
There should also be a way to save a screenshot as a PNG image file.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that option is in BizHawk, and I think it's called "every screenshot is a PNG and it's been that way since 2012 how are you even getting non-PNG screenshots".
Also, also files that were a saved state that wasn't saved in Bizhawk itself should be able to be converted into a PNG image.
Yep, definitely a feature BizHawk should support. Turn non-BH savestates into PNGs. I think we have someone that specializes in useless features that would probably break the emulator further, but he's probably busy with TAStudio right now.
I think tasvideos.org should get help from a high level research group to figure out how to make an even better version of Bizhawk.
I think I need to get to Snoop Dogg's level of high to be able to research this post.
TASvideos Admin and acting Senior Judge 💙 Currently unable to dedicate a lot of time to the site, taking care of family.
Now infrequently posting on BlueskywarmCabin wrote:
You shouldn't need a degree in computer science to get into this hobby.
Wow, that's one of worst experiences with BizHawk I have ever seen. Did you even use it for longer than two minutes? Most of the things you described already exist, the rest is plain nonsense.
blackbombchu wrote:
Bizhawk should provide it's own tutorial on how to use it that's easy for anyone to understand.
The only one who has difficulties using BizHawk is you. The worst thing about it you didn't even try to search for documentation. Help.
It should emulate all games properly and the emulation should not have glitches that the original game didn't have.
No shit.
Not only should it have the feature of being able to save or load a state. There should also be a way to suddenly switch to TAS mode in the middle of game play by opening TAS studio which already exists but TAS mode should work in a different way.
You can't just write random terms without ever describing them.
There should be a way to start recording your gameplay when ever you want by clicking a certain option.
You can configure many hotkeys, including one for this.
You should be required to have your gameplay be in the middle of getting recorded in order to enter TAS mode. Once you enter TAS mode, it should list the entire sequence of controller inputs since you started recording and you should be able to see what the game looks like on a specific frame by clicking that frame making it be the only highlighted one.
That's exactly what TAStudio is doing.
When you make an edit to the sequence of controller inputs, nothing should happen until you click "Save changes" and after you do so, the earliest frame that changed should be the one highlighted.
What? There are ways to store your best attempt to branches.
There should also be a button to play the movie in the TAS studio, but if you haven't saved the changes you made to the sequence of controller inputs, a box should open up asking you if you'd like to save those changes and if you pick no, they should be lost.
I give up. You apparantely never opened TAStudio.
Exiting TAS studio should also make you play in real time from the highlighted frame but once you reenter TAS studio, the change in controller inputs as a result of exiting TAS studio should be treated like a single edit that can be undone.
Why would one ever close TAStudio to record inputs and then start TAStudio again when there is a record option inside TAStudio.
Finally, TAS studio should also have a button for saving the video you're making and for closing it in a way that deletes the temporary record of what edits you made to the video and enables you to start making another video in the same way.
Ctrl+S for saving tasproj files. And branching for storing best attempt/tests/etc.
Clicking "Save changes " should really save changes in the sense of saving a video. It should just change the temporary record of what edits you made to the sequence of controller inputs.
And yes, you never used BizHawk for longer than 2 minutes.
Once you open a video you already made, you should also be able to edit that video and save it with a different file name without deleting the video you already made.
Again already possible.
The tutorial should give long instructions on how to use that version of Bizhawk that anyone can understand and actually learn how to do what ever they want to do in that program and there should be a clear warning to people before they download it that they will probably completely know how to use it if they take the time to read the big long tutorial and that they might even end up accidentally losing an edit that they regret losing if they don't read the whole thing.
Is that program really that complicated. I used far more complicated software when I was 10 and I didn't mess anything up.
If you're not willing to search for documentation or get used to BizHawk before starting a serious TAS, then it's your fault. Only yours.
They should also have tutorial on how to download it and there should be a simpler way to download it so that there won't have to be as long a tutorial on how to download it that peo ple who aren't computer experts can understand.
My mom isn't a computer expert and she can download things from the internets.
It should also be possible to load a gamecube controller profile just like in Project 64. Bizhawk should provide a tutorial on how to create one and there should be a way to create one in Bizhawk so that the tutorial won't have to be as long and still be understandable to people who aren't computer experts.
You can save and load controller config files, nothing new.
There should also be a way to save a screenshot as a PNG image file. Also, also files that were a saved state that wasn't saved in Bizhawk itself should be able to be converted into a PNG image.
Ever used BizHawk?
I think tasvideos.org should get help from a high level research group to figure out how to make an even better version of Bizhawk.
How would that help? An outside research group wouldn't help, they're not familiar with what we do and what we want. The developers of TAStudio are the researchers already. They try to improve the usability depending on what users say. Along with that much research already happened in 2011/2012 when AnS created TAS Editor. And I recently did some research for more semi-automatic TASing. But we could get more good programmers from outside, but they then act as programmers only.
I think what you wanted to say is that you don't know the TASVideos community.
Does anyone else have the problem such that whenever you open the RAM Watch, then using that to open the hex editor and messing around with hotkeys in hex editor causes hotkeys (control P for instance) to never work on Ram Watch again until the emulator is restarted? This happens on the latest version and interim.
Joined: 4/7/2015
Posts: 331
Location: Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
When I use forms.newform in a lua script, the current active window is the form, not the emu. Is this preferable by most people or just no one didn't care as I do? Because when I use the script I wish that the emu window were the active, to quickly play the game without having to click its window. Maybe a lua function like client.setemuactive() (and/or a generic function like client.setwindowactive(string window_name) to all uses) would be nice.
Games are basically math with a visual representation of this math, that's why I make the scripts, to re-see games as math.
My things:
YouTube, GitHub, Pastebin, Twitter
Question: I wonder if Bizhawk ever plans to support Arcade games? Is it just a matter of time, or something nearly impossible? I'd like to know because FBA-rr has been unstable and very hard for TASers and encoders for a long time.
Recent projects: SMB warpless TAS (2018), SMB warpless walkathon (2019), SMB something never done before (2019), Extra Mario Bros. (best ending) (2020).
Joined: 4/7/2015
Posts: 331
Location: Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
When recording a movie, me and friends faced a delicated situation: misclicking "Stop Movie without Saving" instead of "Save Movie As...", losing work. This could be avoided with it had a separator before "Stop Movie without Saving" or just moving the "Import Movies..." down before it:
Games are basically math with a visual representation of this math, that's why I make the scripts, to re-see games as math.
My things:
YouTube, GitHub, Pastebin, Twitter
When recording a movie, me and friends faced a delicated situation: misclicking "Stop Movie without Saving" instead of "Save Movie As...", losing work. This could be avoided with it had a separator before "Stop Movie without Saving" or just moving the "Import Movies..." down before it:
I think an "are you sure?" dialog would be much more effective.
Joined: 4/7/2015
Posts: 331
Location: Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
ThunderAxe31 wrote:
I think an "are you sure?" dialog would be much more effective.
Oh yea I was thinking exactly this before I posted, but forgot to type. Just a pop up window would be perfect.
Games are basically math with a visual representation of this math, that's why I make the scripts, to re-see games as math.
My things:
YouTube, GitHub, Pastebin, Twitter
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11495
Location: Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg
Those dialogs might be handy, but they sound like they're a sloppy workaround in this case. There should be no way to misclick in the first place.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
Those dialogs might be handy, but they sound like they're a sloppy workaround in this case. There should be no way to misclick in the first place.
Are you impling that you don't want the dialog at all? If that's the case, sorry but I don't think the same. Even if you put the menu entries distant, someone could still misclick for other reasons. Also, TAStudio does always ask for comfirmation when you're about the close the window, despite being very hard to misclick the red X: it's just common sense to ask comfirmation when you select something that may give you a lose of work.
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11495
Location: Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg
TAStudio asks whether it should save the changes, and canceling the closing is a usual part of that.
I'm not opposed to having a warning window, I just don't want it to be the main (or the only) solution. Though I have endless confirmations too.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
Those dialogs might be handy, but they sound like they're a sloppy workaround in this case. There should be no way to misclick in the first place.
IMO any destructive action should be possible to undo. That doesn't necessarily mean adding a dialogue - it might mean saving backups whenever something otherwise irreversible happens, for example.
(I know it seems ironic to select 'Stop Movie without Saving' and have a save occur anyway, but the intent of 'Stop Movie without Saving' is that you don't care to preserve the movie long-term. If it saved a temporary backup, then if you made a mistake, you could go and find the temporary backup. Otherwise, you don't have to care about it.)
In the Lua Console window, if I go on File > Recent Scripts and select a moved/deleted file, instead of simply telling me that the file has not been found (like TAStudio does), it instead gives this confusing chuck of text:
As of the latest Dev Build, the Turbo Controller (steering wheel) is now functional for ColecoVision. This should allow playing (and TASing) of games requiring it, such as Turbo and Desctructor.
It seems to work, but I would appreciate any testing from anyone who has interest in this system/these games.
Joined: 4/7/2015
Posts: 331
Location: Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
Taking from the Adventures in Lua thread here, since it's a nice request:
CtrlAltDestroy wrote:
I'm wondering, is there any way to actually draw on a form made with forms.newform? I've created a script that draws a minimap of the currently loaded stage, about 800 tiles total, and it's a bit clunky trying to draw it on a side buffer.
I would love to have this feature, like a forms.drawImage(), and would be amazing to have this in the canvas list of functions (which is way too limited) too.[/quote]
Games are basically math with a visual representation of this math, that's why I make the scripts, to re-see games as math.
My things:
YouTube, GitHub, Pastebin, Twitter
For anyone who may be interested, I added support for the ColecoVision Super Action Controller in the latest Dev Build. The thumb wheel is broken though and I'm having a hard time finding enough info about it to make it work, but the rest of the controller works for anyone who wants to try it out.
