The Dink Network

I just had an idea for a file we should try and put together that would break two of the submition rules. It's his own fault though, it was his hard.dat rewrite that gave me the idea. Okay, what am I talking about?

I think we should have a "DMod Author's Toolkit", something we could point new d-mod authors to and say, "Just get that and you're in business." The two rules it breaks of course are "variation of skeleton (since that would be part of it) and "packs", but in this case I think it's work making an exception.

What exactly it should include I'm not sure though, a skelaton (including the new hard tiles) would certainly be the most important part but documentation would also be a big part. Improved dinkc.txt should be in there, perhaps a tutorial of some kind, and some script samples for common tasks. Can anyone think of any other "must have" author files? How about the dinkc editors, I learned without having them available and now don't find them useful, but are any of them good ennough that all new authors should have them? Any other ideas? Objections?

: I just had an idea for a file we should try and put together that would break two of the submition rules. It's his own fault though, it was his hard.dat rewrite that gave me the idea. Okay, what am I talking about?

: I think we should have a "DMod Author's Toolkit", something we could point new d-mod authors to and say, "Just get that and you're in business." The two rules it breaks of course are "variation of skeleton (since that would be part of it) and "packs", but in this case I think it's work making an exception.

: What exactly it should include I'm not sure though, a skelaton (including the new hard tiles) would certainly be the most important part but documentation would also be a big part. Improved dinkc.txt should be in there, perhaps a tutorial of some kind, and some script samples for common tasks. Can anyone think of any other "must have" author files? How about the dinkc editors, I learned without having them available and now don't find them useful, but are any of them good ennough that all new authors should have them? Any other ideas? Objections?

Extra graphics already loaded in the INI file.

Haha! it sounded like a revolution! anyways... as a new author I manage just fine... I don't think a tool kit is needed, although it may be cool... The things that really helped me were the example D-mods, on how to make maovies and such... I am just to lazy some times to read the dinkc read me txt file and those D-mods make life easier.

RedInk is allready working on most of what you are saying, and I plan on contributing to it. Acctually, i hope we can send all of it to Seth and get it in the next Dink Release.

--WC

Sounds good in theory. If it were to be made, it'd have to include:

* Skeleton Rewrite, with no tiles, no sounds, and button/tile graphics from Skeleton B. Would include my Hard.dat and a rewritten Dink.ini.

* Sprite Replacer

* WDE

* DinkC Reference

I'm thinking of changing how files are listed and displayed in the near future... which might make this (a bit) of a moot point. Not sure.

: I just had an idea for a file we should try and put together that would break two of the submition rules. It's his own fault though, it was his hard.dat rewrite that gave me the idea. Okay, what am I talking about?

: I think we should have a "DMod Author's Toolkit", something we could point new d-mod authors to and say, "Just get that and you're in business." The two rules it breaks of course are "variation of skeleton (since that would be part of it) and "packs", but in this case I think it's work making an exception.

: What exactly it should include I'm not sure though, a skelaton (including the new hard tiles) would certainly be the most important part but documentation would also be a big part. Improved dinkc.txt should be in there, perhaps a tutorial of some kind, and some script samples for common tasks. Can anyone think of any other "must have" author files? How about the dinkc editors, I learned without having them available and now don't find them useful, but are any of them good ennough that all new authors should have them? Any other ideas? Objections?

That sounds similar to to what Ehasl was working on.(example dmod) For that I gave him a commented script called a-sample that can be attached to any sprite and demonstrates many basic commands.(a-sample is also included in the "bane" demo.)Does that sound like what you have in mind?

Close, but I wasn't thinking of going as far as a whole sample d-mod. Just some templates for NPCs and, weapons, stores and that kind of thing.

By tutorial, I mean something like Tut1.txt, only much less lame. Something with at least a few screens, and a tiny "quest".

And if it is a dmod then I can't see Redink minding posting it. As for Ehasls' example dmod, last I heard Ehasl was doing other things. ( hello? Ehasl? ) See if a-sample is what you had in mind. I'm willing to write more.

: Close, but I wasn't thinking of going as far as a whole sample d-mod. Just some templates for NPCs and, weapons, stores and that kind of thing.

: By tutorial, I mean something like Tut1.txt, only much less lame. Something with at least a few screens, and a tiny "quest".

--WC

Another thing well worth getting is the .bmp graphics for the game. But that would propably end up taking up more space than everything else in the kit combined.

: : Close, but I wasn't thinking of going as far as a whole sample d-mod. Just some templates for NPCs and, weapons, stores and that kind of thing.

: : By tutorial, I mean something like Tut1.txt, only much less lame. Something with at least a few screens, and a tiny "quest".

Dimage should be in it to.