WadC 3.1 released: now with tweakable knobs

[Jon]

WadC 3.1 is finally done: https://github.com/jmtd/wadc/releases/tag/v3.1

 

this was hard to write. https://jmtd.net/log/wadc_3.1/

 

Quote

This release of WadC is dedicated to the memory of Kayvan Walker (1983-2022). Kayvan was a childhood friend who committed suicide in March this year. Back in the nineties, Kayvan was responsible for introducing me to Doom in the first place: I used to visit his house on the way home to mine, as it was on the walk back. His mum works in IT and always encouraged us into it. Doom was so far ahead, in technical terms, of any other computer game I'd ever seen, and was the closest thing we had to virtual reality: we could create our own worlds. It's in no small part thanks to Kayvan — and his Mum — that I'm still creating worlds, nearly thirty years later. I owe my career and most of my hobbies to those pivotal moments. Thank you both.

 

Kayvan did a lot more for me than just introduce me to Doom, or computing. He was one of a set of friends that I had every confidence that, no matter what, we would always be friends, through thick and thin. I miss him terribly.

 

----

 

I'm hoping to release WadC 3.1 very soon. I've prepared a first release candidate:

https://redmars.org/wadc/wadc-3.1-rc1-bin.zip

 

A brief note of what's new (fuller list here):

• vanilla_conveyor library to support vanilla scripting with mikaveyors, and brexit.wl demo map using it
• Knobs: any variable in a WadC map can be marked as a tuneable "knob", and the WadC UI now exposes those on a Knob panel, so you can tweak values and see what happens without editing any code

 

It's still distributed as a Java JAR, requiring you to install a Java runtime environment (as they used to be called) or simply "Java" as it is now. If you haven't got it and want to try out WadC, I recommend Adoptium for simplicity: https://adoptium.net/?variant=openjdk11. WadC should work fine with JDK versions 8 or newer.

 

Attached is a screenshot showing off the Knob panel for the example program "birds.wl" (basis of a map in the Heretic Upstart Mapper's Project)

 

Feedback welcome!

Edited June 28, 2022 by Jon
wadc 3.1 released

[oPless]

Awesome news. Keep up the good work!

[Redneckerz]

Having a ready to go Mikoveyor library is instant-win for WadC and should win some folks over to try something differently.

[Redneckerz]

A primary bump, but @Jon i have updated the WadC wiki page with a link to Brutal Extinction Tournament as a WadC example and highlighted that version 3.1 will feature built-in support for vanilla conveyors. I also added The Last Sanctuary, as it utilizes WadC to simulate a day/night system using dozens of linedefs/sidedefs.

 

Side-question: The source code for that day/night system is available. Perhaps, similar to vanilla conveyors, it could be pushed to stove as a part of WadC? The feature might be costly, but the effect is definitely quite unique - TLS is the only wad i know that uses it at this moment.

[Jon]

On 2/5/2022 at 6:54 PM, Redneckerz said:

A primary bump, but @Jon i have updated the WadC wiki page with a link to Brutal Extinction Tournament as a WadC example and highlighted that version 3.1 will feature built-in support for vanilla conveyors. I also added The Last Sanctuary, as it utilizes WadC to simulate a day/night system using dozens of linedefs/sidedefs.

 

Thanks. I'm surprised I hadn't put TLC in there already. Thanks for catching that

 

On 2/5/2022 at 6:54 PM, Redneckerz said:

 

Side-question: The source code for that day/night system is available. Perhaps, similar to vanilla conveyors, it could be pushed to stove as a part of WadC? The feature might be costly, but the effect is definitely quite unique - TLS is the only wad i know that uses it at this moment.

 

What the TLC author did was write some C++ to encapsulate their logic that generated as output some relatively "dumb" wadc, since C++ is what they were familiar with. There's nothing wrong with that, for what they did it for: I'm all in favour of "get the job done by any means possible" and that works very well for WADs which are generally speaking "release once and done". But the C++ generator itself is not easy to integrate into WadC (which is written in Java). The logic could be reworked into native WadC (mostly implementing the equivalent of iterative loops), it's something I had considered doing once but never got around to it.

[Jon]

I've finally released WadC 3.1. Edited the top post to this thread accordingly. This is my sole bump. I think I'm done now. Thank you.

[holaareola]

25 minutes ago, Jon said:

I've finally released WadC 3.1. Edited the top post to this thread accordingly. This is my sole bump. I think I'm done now. Thank you.

So sorry to hear about your friend. I had one like that, we were so close and comfortable we could be in the same room and it was like being alone - no pretences. Could catch up after months of not even a word and it would be like yesterday. All the cliches. Even though the grief's long past, I still miss her a lot.  When you love someone and see that friendship stretching out as long as you live, you lose a part of yourself with that future when they go.

 

It's tough with something like suicide or in her case accidentally ODing. I mean, it makes no sense to feel guilty, you can't do living or healing for other people, but you also can't help but wonder if there was anything.

 

WadC looks very cool, cheers for you work on it.

[Jon]

1 hour ago, holaareola said:

So sorry to hear about your friend. I had one like that, we were so close and comfortable we could be in the same room and it was like being alone - no pretences. Could catch up after months of not even a word and it would be like yesterday. All the cliches. Even though the grief's long past, I still miss her a lot.  When you love someone and see that friendship stretching out as long as you live, you lose a part of yourself with that future when they go.

 

It's tough with something like suicide or in her case accidentally ODing. I mean, it makes no sense to feel guilty, you can't do living or healing for other people, but you also can't help but wonder if there was anything.

 

Thank you, this was a lovely thing for you to write, I appreciate it.

 

[Dusty_Rhodes]

My condolences, I've been through the same. It's incredibly rough but just hang in there. 

 

Anyway, love to see the update to WadC. I've fiddled with it before and liked it. I am terminally stupid though, so coding and what not is a little out of my depth. I'm going to give it another shot, as the update looks like it will help dumb brain get a map going. I love the idea typing out a map. Nice and fast. 

[Redneckerz]

4 hours ago, Jon said:

I've finally released WadC 3.1. Edited the top post to this thread accordingly. This is my sole bump. I think I'm done now. Thank you.

Thanks for releasing WadC 3.1.

And whilst that is the body of your announcement (We are in the WadC thread after all) i'd like to address the dedication to your friendship in long standing.

 

What you describe is the kind of friend people are damn lucky to have - And i am glad you were damn lucky in that regard, too. The feelings and emotions are readily apparent. I have a friend that perhaps fits this way. Known for 28 years, we were always there whenever someone had something big, but we can not speak for months on end. Yet when you reunite, everything is all the same.

 

In a way, despite having this semi-fixed connection influences more than meets the eye. I was there on his wedding, marrying a truly lovely Chinese microbiologist and enjoying Asian culture in general. Yet, despite keeping such things to myself, i find myself enjoying said culture equally the same in various ways.

 

Its that tangible connection that does not keep our lives tight, but rather, flexible - Connected by wire, we still end up meeting from time to time in a life's journey. So i get that feeling you had.

 

In regards to your friend's demise (Demise, i feel is too strong a word here, but the word i look for, i cannot find): Know that the road you traveled with him was the same one as his. But, like that aforementioned wire, you had to stop for gas. Your friend traveled onward. Questions may always remain, but solitude yourself with the knowledge that in the time your friend was among the physical life, he enjoyed your company as much as you enjoyed his. It never is your fault, and although i can't speak for his family,  i am sure they were grateful you were part of his life.

 

And frankly, that says more about you as a person than any one of us on the internet can say. My condolences, Jon.