The Dink Network

So, I'm just now starting another dmod. I wanted you to know that another is coming!

But, it will be some time before it is released, and it is too early even for much in the way of screen shots and the like. In fact it is too early even for me to make much of a prediction for when it might be completed. But I'm sure it will be sometime in next spring (or later) in 2021.

Well, at least I can quote this text from the dmod.diz description file:

THE STORY:
Dink is looking forward to a vacation, when he gets word from the king that he must come to the king's castle immediately. The good news is that the king will be sending Dink to a tropical paradise, named Periculo Island, where the "little people" live in an almost magical wonderland of joy. All that King Daniel needs Dink to do is check up on is why the fruit shipments from that island have stopped and while he is there he can enjoy the sun, the sand and the local culture. The bad news is that it may have something to do with the spy that is secretly communicating with someone from King Daniel's court.

Sounds interesting.
Looking forward to trying it!

poor dink
that does not bode well for him

i look forward to this!

A new D-Mod is always good. Amd I know I owe you an updated review, just my mood and life consistantly change, plus there's school... Hope Christmas Will be less time and energy consuming.

@RangerLord:
A new D-Mod is always good. And I know I owe you an updated review, just my mood and life consistently change, plus there's school... Hope Christmas Will be less time and energy consuming.

I look forward to the review! It would be a very nice Xmas present for me.

But, I also understand that RL comes first.

Progress continues on Periculo Island, working on the scripts, some mapping, some fun special effects and the general plot of the dmod! It is really too early for me to project when I will be done with it, but it will certainly be sometime well into next year.

BTW, who else is working on a dmod?

BTW, who else is working on a dmod?

I'm working on 4 dmods.

The Dark Avilan
The Bigerical Curse

The last two, I will not reveal their title.

i know what they're called. the third one is called "2nd dmod i'm starting to avoid the dark avilan" and the 4th one is called "the prequel avilan"

Im working on a Dmod called The Bigerical Curse

@Robj:
I'm working on 4 dmods.

The Dark Avilan
The Bigerical Curse

The last two, I will not reveal their title.

Please finish the long awaited "The Dark Avilan" first!

@SlipDink: You don't even know how completed his other projects are yet lol.

I'm surprised Bigerical curse was mentioned by Silberfarben, I vaguely remember Robj touching upon it's existence in a DSPT anniversary video and showing some footage of it there (around 5 minutes in).
Gods my voice in that is terrible.

Whoa
The Bigerical curse existed back in 2010?!?

A collaborative effort and other new D-Mods? That sounds cool.

I'm less than 20% done with the development effort behind this dmod, but I thought I'd let you know that I am making progress just about every day.

46M graphics
7.1M sound
3.7M tiles
134 scripts in story

sounds great. can't wait!

Progress continues... though I've MUCH to do that remains.

73M graphics
11M sound
3.7M tiles
152 scripts in story

again with the crazy numbers, but only 152 scripts.

@Skurn:
again with the crazy numbers, but only 152 scripts.

Well, I'll continue posting the "crazy numbers" here for months to come. When things are a little bit more advanced, I'll probably post some screen shots too.

As for the number of scripts being a bit low, rest assured that there will be many more. I have recently spent a lot of time debugging some of them. So, that has slowed down script production.

But ... onward!

More "crazy numbers" just to show I'm still making progress:

134M graphics
13M sound
3.7M tiles
177 scripts in story

Somehow, I feel I should apologize for doing almost nothing in the way of work on this dmod for a week. Or maybe, I'm just fishing for sympathy. Please forgive me.

Last Saturday, since we were now vaccinated, my wife and I traveled to see some old friends we have not seen in a year. They are a couple we have known for decades. She was in good spirits, and was a wonderful hostess during our visit. Unfortunately, he was not quite the man he has always been, as a bout with Covid-19 last year left him with some long term cognitive damage, and a mere shadow of his once perfectly physically fit self. Still, things went pretty well and we all had a great time.

Then we came home and found our dog was partially paralyzed, and apparently in great pain. Taking him to the veterinarian gave us sobering news. His chance of recovery was poor. Two days later, he was still in the vet-hospital and was unconscious, fully rigidly paralyzed, and apparently still in pain. We put him out of his misery and cried for most of the rest of the day. We still do not know what killed him, but can assume it was a genetic ailment, possibly "canine meningoencephalitis of unknown origin".

This dog was my nearly constant companion, and even helped me recover from surgery about 5 years ago (encouraging me to walk every day). Needless to say we took this loss rather hard.

Anyway, I'm back now and working on this dmod once again. It is a good distraction.

Wow, that sucks. (Always impressed by how much you get done btw)

Damn, my condolences. I legitimately care much more about my dog than some of the people in my life.

Sorry about your loss, SlipDink.

Mr. metatarsal:
You must be easily impressed (by how much I get done). Part of that is being forced into early retirement and still just wanting to write code.

Mr. scratcher:
Like you, I have found that my attachment to my various canine friends over the years is a very strong one.

Mr. Robj:
Thanks for recognizing my loss. My heart aches a bit every time I come into the house and am NOT greeted by someone rushing to see me while wagging his tail.

Thank you *all* for your kind words of encouragement. It really matters to me.

I don't exactly know what it means to loose a dog. It was a long time ago that a dog or cat which was ours died. What I remember that I missed the ones that had an exeptional personality. Like the cat I grew up with. She was the animal I loved the most out of all we had.
Back to a more positive topic, if you need testers, I'm available for Summer.

@RangerLord:
Thanks for your kind words.

Back to a more positive topic, if you need testers, I'm available for Summer.

Well, good! Thanks again. Now if I can just get it finished before summer is over! I'm working on it almost every day.

Good news! Progress continues!

I've added over 500 new graphics files, but also reduced the size of several large files without loosing any color information. I've also worked on a number of fun "special effects" and extended the story in what I hope are several interesting ways. This is getting exciting!

But, I've still got a lot more to do.

132M graphics
14M sound
3.7M tiles
185 scripts in story

Keep it up you legend!

Those special effects sound exciting

but are there ponies

@Zeddexx:
Keep it up you legend!

You are too kind.

Those special effects sound exciting

I hope so! There is still a lot left to do, but I'm trying to keep up with it, even when RL keeps intruding on my efforts.

@Skurn:
but are there ponies

Nope, not at this time, though it is possible that in the future, sometime near the end of the development cycle, I might make an addition of one or more ponies to this dmod not unlike the way that I made those kind of additions to "All that Glitters!". :-}

So, progress continues, despite the consistent and infuriating interruptions from RL. Last I thought about it, I hoped to get this dmod out (at least in beta form) by the end of summer. As July is about to come to a close, I may not make that deadline. But I'm pressing on!

Next time, I may include a few screen shots, though it is a bit early for that now.

168M graphics
26M sound
3.7M tiles
212 scripts in story

I continue to make progress, BUT the consistent and infuriating interruptions from RL are getting worse. I've got some medical things to tend to that I can't keep putting off. And sometime in the not too distant future I'll have to be away from this computer for about a week when I'll be heading south (into "stars and bars" flag country - yikes) to help out my pop.

I'm probably going to miss my end of summer beta-release date. But, I'm not going to give up!

If things don't happen too fast, I should be able to set up a few screen shots for fans to see, if anyone is interested.

195M graphics
30M sound
3.7M tiles
220 scripts in story

I'm still making progress, in part because some of my RL plans were cancelled during the current Delta Variant Surge. Hooray(?).

But, there are some RL things that will still pull me away from progress here in the not to distant future.

210M graphics
31M sound
3.7M tiles
233 scripts in story

Maybe I'll have a beta release ready before autumn (here in the northern hemisphere) is done. I won't give up!

Well, it is definite now. I'll be heading the the land of the "stars and bars" flag, covid-19 deniers and anti-maskers to help out my pop and my brother, departing for points south on the 10th.

I'll be away from this keyboard for as many as 3 weeks. But, I'll keep working on this dmod up to my day of departure and as soon as I get back.

Wish me luck.

217M graphics
31M sound
3.7M tiles
242 scripts in story

It's been quite a few months since I played Dink. Well, this seems to be another dead period in the forum. Anyway, if this comes out, I'll test it. Will likely not make a review for it (for a few years anyway, either I get a sudden urge to replay the D-Mod catalogue, or I run out of games to play.)
Well, good luck on your trip!

Phew!

I made it. It was not fun! But, I've done my filial and fraternal duties. I helped my pop move to a managed care facility and my brother move into a "new" (to him) home.

I avoided any ugly clashes with the locals too.

Hooray!

Now, I'm back in town, and will be returning to my latest "labor of love", Periculo Island tomorrow.

Progress continues!
237M graphics
31M sound
4.4M tiles
256 scripts in story

I'm almost finished with yet another "region" of the map!

246M graphics
36M sound
4.4M tiles
277 scripts in story

I decided to expand that region of the map that I was working on during October and November.

So, I've still got a lot to do for this region, and then one more region that I have not started yet. Then I'll be doing some testing and work on the walk-through file. I think this means that I will not be done with this dmod until end of first quarter in 2022. :-}

But I'm having a great deal of fun working on it, and coming up with many interesting effects and new ways for Dink to die.

250M graphics
36M sound
4.4M tiles
289 scripts in story

Good news: I've finished expanding "that region of the map that I was working on during October and November". I think it should be fun to play.

Now I'm working on the last major region of the game, where (among other things) Dink will either befriend some folks he meets or make enemies of them. The player needs to help Dink make the right choice in order to win the game.

So, I'm hoping to finish the dmod and perform programmer testing during the 1st quarter of the coming year. Then it will be open to the "beta testing team".

352M graphics
37M sound
4.4M tiles
300 scripts in story

The amount of dedication one man can have. I'm jealous.

@Bluedy:
The amount of dedication one man can have. I'm jealous.


Hey, its all for you Dinkers out there.

all 0 of them

@Skurn:
all 0 of them

Well, it is certainly true that the DN has been reduced in numbers to but a few that check in now and then.

But, I still see downloads that take place every day on https://www.dinknetwork.com/files/category_dmod/sort_date-desc/ .

It has been more than a year since I started. Of course I had many RL interruptions, but I really am making progress.

I think it should be fun! Perhaps I'll be ready to post some screen shots in January of next year.

Work continues and I'd say I'm about 70% done now.

526M graphics
38M sound
4.4M tiles
326 scripts in story

@SlipDink 526M graphics??? Seriously, half a gigabyte of graphics or is that a typo?

Anyway, looking forward to see the finished game. Thanks for your efforts and time.

@ghostknight:
@SlipDink 526M graphics??? Seriously, half a gigabyte of graphics or is that a typo?

Nope, that is how many actual bytes of .bmp files (admittedly one of the biggest image file formats) I have in the graphics directory for this game at this time!

Anyway, looking forward to see the finished game. Thanks for your efforts and time.

As I continue to work on the game at this point, I probably won't add much more in the way of graphics, but will be adding some more sound files (.wav and .mid) and definitely expanding some (and adding a few more) .c files in the story directory. I've still got a lot to do, but I'm having a lot of fun doing it. :-}

I appreciate your recognition of my efforts.

I'm still making progress... though I'm not sure if I'll have it ready for beta testers before spring now.

At the moment, I'm working on the final battle, and the outcomes of the game. The battle has several aspects to it that make it a fun challenge to code.

Then I'll need to finish decorating one area and will need to spread some .midi file assignments around. Then I'll begin some programmer testing in earnest and finally a beta release to those who want to help with testing.

542M graphics
42M sound
4.4M tiles
341 scripts in story

While I still have a good amount of work to do in the final areas of the game, I'm taking a break from that and am doing some programmer testing of the existing code.

Later, I've got to do some work on a (somewhat) special feature of the game.

I'm still making progress! Hang in there Dink fans!

542M graphics
43M sound
4.4M tiles
347 scripts in story

I've got to adjust some monsters, continue with some programmer testing, add some midi files here and there, and come up with the final "good ending" screen. But, I'm making good progress and might even be turning over the game for beta - testing before the end of March!

Meanwhile, I could not resist coming up with another interesting way for Dink to die and some more "special effects".

547M graphics
43M sound
4.4M tiles
354 scripts in story

Wow.

I just realized that I started working on this dmod in late 2020.

Sorry for taking so long.

But I continue to make progress, despite the fact that RL keeps interfering with my efforts. It is coming soon!

Meanwhile, is anyone interested in some screen shots?

I am. There has been quite a lack of D-Mods for a long time now.

Okay then! Here they are... screenshots available for your viewing pleasure. Download the zip file and enjoy!

Oops. Ummm... my first effort to upload a set of screenshots to a google drive was not successful. But I fixed that. Sorry.

Periculo Island

Not sure how to download the zip file from a Google Drive? Look near the upper right corner of the browser window for the download gadget to click on.

Only 2020? Could be so much worse

I've (mostly) been adding some music and sound lately, and working on some gaming issues, adjusting monsters, etc.

I've still got a major feature to fix and some more programmer testing to complete. But, it won't be long now before it is time for beta testing.

547M graphics
45M sound
4.4M tiles
359 scripts in story

I admit, I never really liked the "converting web images to Dink" style approch - I just find that it doesn't feel in line with Dink's aesthetics.
To say something positive, the D-Mod does look more varied compared to many of your previous ones. And that's something I appreciate in D-Mods.

Well, I hope you get some fun out of it.

I tried to make it interesting.

As for my "converting web images to Dink" style, I really only do that because my own artistic skills are deplorable and I like to make my dmods visually entertaining and different.

As you can see, I've added quite a few scripts and a few more images.

I'm getting very close to being ready for beta testing! I just have to wrap up the final screen and fix a special feature of the game to work properly.

548M graphics
45M sound
4.4M tiles
373 scripts in story

I'm at the point where I am just running through the game a few more times, making a few corrections and patches (and adding a few more "points of interest" in the game), while I'm generating the walk through documentation.

If anyone is interested in beta testing this dmod, then I'll post the beta dmod on a google drive share point. If not, then, I may release it as a beta version onto the Dink Network and get feedback on needed fixes that way. I'd rather not do it that way though, because there are a few bugs that truly detract from game play.

552M graphics
45M sound
4.4M tiles
383 scripts in story

I'd like to test it. Will be a bit busy though. A small "vacation" in the weekend and learning for exams in the following weeks. I think I'll have time to test next week.

testing dmods > exams

@RangerLord:
I'd like to test it. Will be a bit busy though. A small "vacation" in the weekend and learning for exams in the following weeks. I think I'll have time to test next week.

Thanks! I'll do all I can to make it available next week. I'll probably post a private message to you on the DN with a link to download it, but I'll notify everyone here in this thread about entering into beta testing.

@RangerLord:

I'll be sending you a private message on the DN about where to download the periculo dmod, hopefully before this coming weekend is over. :-}

Sorry for the delay, there are two problems here:
1) RL keeps interfering with my efforts.
2) I keep expanding the game a bit here and there when I go through it in my final programmer testing efforts.

@All:
Any one else interested in beta testing, please let me know!

@RangerLord: I'll start that private message thread for testing in a few minutes. I'm going to install a beta dmod on my google drive. Sorry that I took so long.

@Everyone: Preliminary beta testing starts now! Let me know if you want to help.

I'm interested! Although I probably won't have much time to test anything until the next weekend, but shoot me a private message!

@ebilV:
Thanks! I'll be shooting you that PM in a few minutes. I need to upload the latest version (2nd beta release) of the dmod to my google drive first.

This is how things stand in terms of resources at this time. There should not be much more change by the time the official full release is made available.

554M graphics
45M sound
4.4M tiles
387 scripts in story

Beta testing is active.

I've released the 4th beta version of the dmod to beta testers.

If you're still accepting beta-bangers, I'm putting my hand up.

If you're still accepting beta-bangers, I'm putting my hand up.

Okay! Look for a message in the private message section of the Forum with the latest download URL from my google drive.

Beta testing is proceeding well. Many potential problems have been solved and bugs have been swatted.

My last beta release included many fixes and another way for Dink to die that I could not resist adding.

I'll keep testing myself of course, but I expect some RL issues AND some software and hardware upgrades will crowd me out of dmod development soon... at least for a while But the good news is that I'll be moving to a newer version of Linux soon (if all goes well).

We are getting pretty close to a general release time!

I'm uploading the 1.00 version of this dmod to the DN in the next 10 minutes.

Thanks to all those on the beta test team who worked hard to help this happen.

Enjoy!

EDIT: Hmmm. This may not have worked. I got a "The file must be less than 100 MB." message after my upload attempt. I am not sure what to do about this.

The file is 107MB in size.

Message Redink on Discord or shoot him (or active staff) an email with the file, or find a way to reduce the file size without compromising the quality?
I assume you packaged it as a .dmod file using DFArc to compress it.

Message Redink on Discord or shoot him (or active staff) an email with the file,

I contacted him on Discord. Here is our conversation so far:

SlipDink — Today at 12:58 PM
I uploaded the 1.00 version of the Periculo Island dmod to the DN. But it may not have worked. I got a "The file must be less than 100 MB." message after my upload attempt. I am not sure what to do about this. The file is 107MB in size. I don't suppose you could lift the upload limit to 110MB, could you? I would not mind uploading it again if necessary.
RedRecondite — Today at 1:32 PM
Sure, I will increase the limit shortly
SlipDink — Today at 6:03 PM
GREAT ! Thanks. Do I need to upload it again?
RedRecondite — Today at 6:03 PM
Not quite yet, I'll let you know when the fix is in place
SlipDink — Today at 6:04 PM
Thanks, I'll check back here in a few hours. I really appreciate your help..

or find a way to reduce the file size without compromising the quality?

I'm hoping to avoid sifting through things to try to determine what to get rid of or (in the case of a few bitmaps) store as a file using fewer colors.

I assume you packaged it as a .dmod file using DFArc to compress it.

Yes, that is a valid assumption.

Thanks for your help, ExDeathevn.

Looks like all is well with the latest upload of Periculo Island. I got the "Your file was added successfully, and it will be reviewed by a staff member soon." message now that redink1 upped the file size limit.

555M graphics
45M sound
4.4M tiles
397 scripts in story

PLEASE NOTE:
I'll be offline sometime starting in the next few days and lasting into a time possibly as late as the end of next week.

So, I won't be ignoring any questions about "Periculo Island" that happen to come up in this time period, I just will unable to answer them for a while.

I have been adding a feature to this dmod that I meant to include in the original release which should make things a bit more fun.

As is frequently the case, I've added a few more ways for Dink to be injured, fail his mission and even die.

While I was at it, I also patched some possibly troublesome areas of code.

Is there anyone who would like to help me beta test the new release (which I hope to have ready before late March)?

Been a while since I played Dink. Since I actually have time (and have no idea what to do until September), I'm willing to test. Problems might arise from the different versions of Dink though - I guess I'm going to test on yeoldedink since FreeDink's version is quite outdated, and Dink HD is known to cause issues with your D-Mods.

Hey, I'd be down to play test some! Shoot me a private message whenever you want.

Edit: @RangerLord: I think DinkHD should be fine now with the latest changes Seth added last year, I did play through Charlies Legacy with it and it was fine!

@drone1400
I guess it could help a lot to test it in Dink HD too.
But, from my experience, it is entirely posible that it will only work in FreeDink. Some of SlipDink's D-Mods had this issue.
There was once even a bug that caused a freeze on Windows, making the D-Mod unplayable. But in Linux it worked just fine.
I'm absolutely certain this was a FreeDink bug, I just wrote it as an example that sometimes the game version matters.

@drone1400
@RangerLord

Despite my best efforts, it does seem that at times some of my dmods are unplayable (or at least problematic) on non-Linux versions of the Dink engine. I really don't want it to be that way. If you see some problems occur, you can try the user-tips in the dmod.diz description file. If freezups occur, please be sure to make the relevant save[n].dat file available to me along with any info about the operating system, the version of Dink, etc. I'll still try to resolve the issue. Worst case, maybe we can tell users what versions of the Dink Engine work with this dmod for each supported platform. Sigh...

Anyway, thank you both for "signing" up to help test. As always, I'll be grateful for the help. I'll let you know (right here in this Forum Thread) when I'm ready to beta test this upcoming version right here. Then we can switch to a private DN forum conversation for the test results and such.

Yeah, you did spend quite a bit of time fixing those freezes. That's why having testers is a good thing.
I tested an older version of Dink HD for this D-Mod back then, that time it broke the scene where you are supposed to help the little girl. AFAIR that locks you out from finishing it. I did not test the newest version, I think I might as well try again when the D-Mod's new beta version comes out.
The current version is fully playable on FreeDink.

To RangerLord and anyone else who's reading, if you are able to find reproducible bugs that cause crashes or errant behaviour in Freedink, I am more than willing to investigate and potentially rectify them in newer releases of Yeoldedink for the time being.

@drone1400
@RangerLord

Argh! RL is taking up too much of my time. I might miss that end-of-March deadline for the beta release.

@SlipDink Don't worry, take care of your RL stuff!

@drone1400 & RangerLord:

I think I may still be on track for a beta release before the end of March. Hooray!

There are many patches, and a new feature added that I think will make the game a bit more fun.

Nice! Looking forward to checking it out!

@drone1400
@RangerLord

558M graphics
47M sound
4.4M tiles
408 scripts in story

I have either added or edited about 60 scripts for this release so far.

I think I'm solidly on track for the beta release before March ends... though I admit I just barely made it.

I'll be providing details here in a day or so.

Thanks again to both of you for "signing" up to help test. As always, I'll be grateful for the help.

I'm still planning to switch to a private DN forum conversation(s) for the test results and such.

@drone1400:
@RangerLord:

Periculo1_10x beta testing has begun! Each of you have a message in the private message area of the forum that should allow you to download the dmod.

I look forward to reading of the results of your testing efforts.

Message received

In DinkHD, the purplestone flashes a single frame of the savebot machine.
I think this is due to a mistake in the dink.ini. Near the bottom of the dink.ini in Periculo:

set_frame_delay 455 6 135
set_frame_frame 455 6 455 4
set_frame_delay 455 7 135
set_frame_frame 455 7 455 3
set_frame_delay 455 8 135
set_frame_frame 455 8 449 2
set_frame_delay 455 9 135

specifically the: set_frame_frame 455 8 449 2
I believe it should be set_frame_frame 455 8 455 2

449 is the savebot sequence. For some reason in some situations, FreeDink ignores set frame lines that are trying to use a frame from another sequence in the set_frame_frame line, and this seems to be one of those times, that's why the mistake with this line doesn't show on FreeDink, and only on DinkHD.

Thought I'd let you know.

Thanks Robj!

I'll correct this error in the next beta release. I'm surprised this did not show up before now in earlier testing.

I'll make an official entry in the private message area to help you with any further testing you'd like to help out with.

One more bug that someone mentioned on discord that makes the game un-finishable in DinkHD, that I looked into for you.

In lilgirl.c the second if statement in the main procedure, is missing a bracket it's written as:

if &lilgirl_status == 1)

FreeDink somehow still treats it as a normal if statement in this situation, but DinkHD ignores the if statement, and runs the code anyway, which means you can't rescue the girl (she's always dead even if you get there quickly).

EDIT: I private messaged you a bunch of stuff I found.

Is this the largest D-Mod ever released, file-size-wise?

Is this the largest D-Mod ever released, file-size-wise?

It might be. I think it is the largest dmod I have produced. There are a number of large animations in it and plenty of music and sound effects.

But your question is really one for Redink1, our noble and glorious web master for the DN.

Hmmm, should add a "sort by size" in Martridge

Except I can't really do that, since it would require indexing each DMOD file individually, spamming the site with too many requests.