FW: [CF-Devel] CFEditor cleaning up

[Michael Toennies]

Hi
As some know, i am the original author of the java editor.

I had written the editor in 2 weeks, using the Gridder editor as the base
source. Its from here:

     
     http://www.gamedev.net/hosted/javanerd/
     
     

The today form of the source and object comes from this package as base.
I don't know why these guy don't use the structures it was posted here - but
it
seems to me he has some knowledge about what he is doing.

I don't want add me to this thread because i am not an active part of the cf
team anymore - but there is something you all please should think about it.

I had written this editor now about 18 month ago or so. It was wanted from
many ppl
to have a system running on windows and mac too. It is a MUST HAVE for a
project like
crossfire. Much more important as most of the other things done in the last
2 years for
the project. If you don't believe it, you should look in the full
application world.
Games like NWN or Morrorwind are explicit desinged to make user mods
possible - in fact NWN
has his focus on the editor part. The original mod which comes with the game
is counted in
the community only as startup adventurer.

It is THE main key for a successful project, for increasing content and a
growing user base.

The point is that since the editor is in cvs no one (except AV) has done any
work in it.

I mean work in the way to add some useful functions, remove some bugs or
even include html docs.
Or even do some request to AV or me. Nothing. Nadda. Nix.

This is the fact: there is no co-developer beside me and AV. Not even a
co-assist or somewhat.

Not we don't want one. we want. we want really. But there is none.

Face it: No one else has done any coding for it. Added any html docs, any
new idea, any source
lifting (changing and optimizing the objects is some we both really want.
And the gfx drawing parts
needs really a java guru to rework). We asked about this alot of times ago.
Nothing, Nadda...

And then bob comes and does all the package changes. Let me explain, why AV
has go mad about it.

(my point of view.)

We had done ALOT of time to make the editor working as it is now.
The main problem with the java system is - that it don't work 100%.

We had needed about 8 month and more to fix all the png problems. The
original png library of the java system is still not able to handle all the
different pngs in the arches. We had done about 2 month extensive testing
with
the sixleg png lib coder to fix his library. That the main reason whe have
the
sixleg lib as source included in the editor. Because the library has still 2
known
problems with older png types, we had not removed it.

Another problem is, that the java runtime seems to have a memory leak in the
icon or
bitmap functions. We had alot of problems to reduce the memory use. It needs
still about 150%-250%
more memory to load the png with sixlegs lib as with the original png
functions.

The sixleg library works fine with some hundred pngs. But loading the big
amount of pngs
we have in CF, will kill some runtime versions of java badly. In the good
way you see no loaded png,
in the bad way you can reboot your system.

We had testing about dozens of different way to load and free the objects,
converting them, etc.
We and the sixleg coder has still no idea, why this not works in the way it
should.

If you go to the wyvern game, which is a full java cf clone (ok, the wyvern
team has different
thought about this), you will see they face the same problems.

There is a big gap between the reality and what some java coder think about
java itself. To make
the things really running in small bigger application like the editor is not
as easy as it should.

Well, perhaps now you can understand why AV becomes a bit mad when he read
that someone has
removed the sixleg source or played around with other base parts.

We have done ALOT OF DAMN TIME to make this running, to read dozens of docs
why this is running fine
on this OS with that runtime and not on others. Why the png loader works
fine with 350 pngs, but not with
more as 500. Why the GIMP pngs with alpha information are not loaded right,
but the paint shop one
with and without fine.

Why on windows the source compiles fine and runes fine - but when you use it
with changed directory tree
the jar /class files not run fine under linux . But the different way works
fine (1.3 runtime).
And so on and so on.

And then you come on and changed the whole setup. And funny - on my system
the pngs are not loaded (no
gfx information). I can't remember all the effects, but some of the windows
tools has some problems
with the linux optimized setup.

AV and i had to retry all the testings for the new setup. And thats was the
point AV has go mad.

IF you want change this very sensible heart of the editor - then please do
this with the coders who
has done all the fucking work. Let make it step by step and let test in on
all the systems.

But when you do the changes, break the package and say: "hey, thats the way
it goes because it it
written that this is the way" - then AV and also i have some problems with
it.

The last point is, that not for cf but for Daimonin, i use the same editor.
There, the java parts has
to fit in a bigger package with c, c++ and python - AND on different OS. The
java source has to follow
the rules of the package - not the package the coding language. The conding
language (and thats
whats java is for me) and the runtime has to fit the problems and structures
i define for my
project. If they don't can, they are not usable for the real world. dot.
That means also the
folder structure, make files or initialization. But thats a different point.

Michael