Perking up the AI

[Ballbarian]

SemiRandom is written in Yabasic, which should work in Linux. The RanDom front end that builds the command line for dom3 is written in VB6. SemiRandom is where most of the work was done and is manipulated through an external text/cfg file.

I really wish that I was able to utilize a more advanced cross-platform gui solution, but I get very frustrated with not immediately knowing how to perform simple tasks.

Can anyone recommend the direction of least resistance for an old windows user who started programming in basic on an TRS80 back in the early 80's and now is stuck in VB6 for his GUI needs? Don't get me wrong, I love VB as it is much more powerful than it gets credit for and allows me to generate fairly complex solutions quickly and painlessly for work. I just wish I could compile my work as a functional web page or something along those lines. Guess I should take the time to do some more research. Anybody familiar with VB6's web programming features?

[Gandalf Parker]

Originally Posted by Ballbarian

SemiRandom is written in Yabasic, which should work in Linux.

SemiRand works fine for me on my linux. I did have to make one small fix (one line didnt recognize \ vs / on a path) but I think you fixed that in later versions. That was with the source-code version which I prefer. I havent tried the exe version yet.

I really wish that I was able to utilize a more advanced cross-platform gui solution, but I get very frustrated with not immediately knowing how to perform simple tasks.

Perl and Python are often recommended as step-ups from Basic.

If you want to stick with Basic there are plenty of options. Check out
http://www.thefreecountry.com/compilers/basic.shtml
There are quite a few that offer simpler and more cross-platform guis than vb.

Also there exist many cross-converters for source code. Bas to C, or bas to php, or bas to java script. And there are also compilers for VB to linux. They can be handy to write in one and convert to another. Especially if you are trying to learn the other language its handy to see how your old code would be written in the new one.

If you feel like switching, here is a fun first-stop site for checking out new languages.
http://www.99-bottles-of-beer.net/
Its the same program (99 bottles of beer on the wall) done in over 2000 programming languages. A great way to get a quick feel for how far off it is from what you already know.

Can anyone recommend the direction of least resistance for an old windows user who started programming in basic on an TRS80 back in the early 80's and now is stuck in VB6 for his GUI needs?

Anything thats been around awhile has versions for each need. If you need it, someone has probably done it. There are many excellent basics still in active development. And many of them have simplified gui's using libraries that are more portable than windows dll's.

Gandalf Parker
--
For programmers: 42 = "Hello World"

[das123]

Originally Posted by Ballbarian

Can anyone recommend the direction of least resistance for an old windows user who started programming in basic on an TRS80 back in the early 80's and now is stuck in VB6 for his GUI needs? Don't get me wrong, I love VB as it is much more powerful than it gets credit for and allows me to generate fairly complex solutions quickly and painlessly for work. I just wish I could compile my work as a functional web page or something along those lines. Guess I should take the time to do some more research. Anybody familiar with VB6's web programming features?

Man, you're kidding! That's exactly how I started. The old TRS80. Progressed from basic to machine language (or whatever it was called). Ever since Object Oriented Programming came out I've had a difficult time working with classes and thinking in a non-linear way.

I split away from the MicroSoft programming languages in the late 90's when the power of PHP blew ASP out of the water. Never dabbled much in VB, .NET, ASPX etc since then.

The Dom3Bak utility I wrote was in Python because I wanted to see the power and ease of it. I'd certainly recommend it as an easy way to program. I'm guessing Java is closest to VB and C++ but I never spent much time with that language. Most of my coding work is still PHP.

I'm guessing that if you are wanting to bring your VB code to the web you would need to construct the GUI in ASPX with .NET and then use your VB code to power it.

As far as adding to this discussion about bringing programs like SemiRandom to the web, the hardest aspect will be to build the maps through Dominions3 and distribute them. Needs a lot of grunt and then the distribution files will be large. It seems that the rest of the process is essentially manipulating and compiling text-based data - which would be the easier part to build.

There could even be randomising rules built into the config files to help mix things up a bit. Eg. Percentage chance for a certain sorcerer to be in the province or random number of troops between a designated min and max.

[pyg]

Originally Posted by Ballbarian

SemiRandom is written in Yabasic, which should work in Linux. The RanDom front end that builds the command line for dom3 is written in VB6. SemiRandom is where most of the work was done and is manipulated through an external text/cfg file.

I really wish that I was able to utilize a more advanced cross-platform gui solution, but I get very frustrated with not immediately knowing how to perform simple tasks.

Can anyone recommend the direction of least resistance for an old windows user who started programming in basic on an TRS80 back in the early 80's and now is stuck in VB6 for his GUI needs? Don't get me wrong, I love VB as it is much more powerful than it gets credit for and allows me to generate fairly complex solutions quickly and painlessly for work. I just wish I could compile my work as a functional web page or something along those lines. Guess I should take the time to do some more research. Anybody familiar with VB6's web programming features?

I started with the built in BASIC interpreter on a 3k Commodore Vic-20. Since then I've dabbled in most common languages out there and ended up preferring Python for most tasks. I must have take a different path than you as I don't (if possible) write gui interfaces; preferring the command line instead. I use emacs for an editor so I can't advise you about a Python IDE although there are several out there. They won't be as nice as MS Visual tools though; MS does some things very well.

Anyway, most of my Dom3 experience has been SP and my favorite map is the SemiRand version of AoMOgre although it hosts slow for me because it is so big. Beautiful map, fun and exciting things to run into! I tried a little to get SemiRand to run in Wine but gave up easy. I'm interested in porting it to Python (command line, someone else can gui it) and adding it to dmg although it just changes the .map file right? Like a previous poster said it might be fun to add SemiRand stuff on the fly to MP games and/or make it more accessible. [Un]fortunately winter is nearing the end and I will soon be too busy to fool around on computers as much. Is SemiRand open and can I look at it, port it, etc.?

[Ballbarian]

Originally Posted by pyg

I started with the built in BASIC interpreter on a 3k Commodore Vic-20. Since then I've dabbled in most common languages out there and ended up preferring Python for most tasks. I must have take a different path than you as I don't (if possible) write gui interfaces; preferring the command line instead. I use emacs for an editor so I can't advise you about a Python IDE although there are several out there. They won't be as nice as MS Visual tools though; MS does some things very well.

Anyway, most of my Dom3 experience has been SP and my favorite map is the SemiRand version of AoMOgre although it hosts slow for me because it is so big. Beautiful map, fun and exciting things to run into! I tried a little to get SemiRand to run in Wine but gave up easy. I'm interested in porting it to Python (command line, someone else can gui it) and adding it to dmg although it just changes the .map file right? Like a previous poster said it might be fun to add SemiRand stuff on the fly to MP games and/or make it more accessible. [Un]fortunately winter is nearing the end and I will soon be too busy to fool around on computers as much. Is SemiRand open and can I look at it, port it, etc.?

You are correct. SemiRandom does just change the ".map" file, and yes it is open to viewing, porting and modifying as you see fit. I wouldn't mind some credit and remind anyone interested in using any of the concepts/ideas/etc to remember that the inspiration for the project started with one of Gandalf's brainstorming pages and many of the features added were suggested by the big G as well.

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the source for SemiRandom was included in the RanDom zip. What you are looking for is "SemiRandom.yab". This file can be opened in any text editor and was written in Yabasic. I will attach the latest released version of the source to this post.

(Really glad to read that you got some enjoyment from AoMOgre! I still want to do more maps in that style, but they are very time consuming projects.)