ENIGMA Development Environment

In the LINUX version of ENIGMA the function to create Dialog or Message boxes like those in Windows version is pretty much not working. So I decided to create my own starting with a Dialog Window Shell graphic and this is what I came up with.


I also did a series of Buttons to use with the frame which I will place in a sprite sheet.

You would need to use your package manager to get the gtk headers. But it's not really worth it at this point because I couldn't even get it to build. The whole GTK thing needs rewritten.

oK! then so what about the GUI Extension? When I try to use it runs but nothing comes up the output screen.

Quote from: hpg678 on September 25, 2017, 03:04:24 am

So i did install a 32-bit version of Maui and it still did not work. Tried Antergos 32bit(Arch LINUX), still did not work. Did a  a fresh install of MX LINUX and it worked,  no errors whatsoever.

Now this may not be of interest to most of you as the majority use WINDOWS as your main OS. At least that's the impression I get. However, at some point you may need to test or create on the LINUX platform and you would need to use a distro that works as far as ENIGMA is concerned.

The types of errors I received ranged from running the installation script, compilation errors, missing dependencies  to java errors, obsolete repositories and requests to install alternate versions of dependencies. All of which was dependent on what I was trying to install.

Yet for some reason i got no errors when  I use MX LINUX. I find this curious and interesting. Just what is about this particular distro that the others lack? it is indeed a mystery.

The install script is not designed for any distros other than Debian based ones, MX LINUX is Debian based

I  had also tried on other DEBIAN distros long before i came into contact with MX LINUX. I've even had some success with some of them namely TRESQUEL, DEBIAN 8, 9, and Ubuntu 14 to name a few. However on LINUX MINT and newer versions of UBUNTU and other DEBIAN-based distros, I've encounters all types of errors. Some were even quite strange quite frankly. take case where when I included 'string' in a statement an error occurred. In the Windows version , no such errors occurs. On other distro installations, I don't get that error but another one. Another time, LateralGM loaded fine, but when I tried to run, it shutdown prematurely.

HOWEVER, when it came to MX LINUX i received no such errors. Everything runs perfectly and that is what I find interesting. I didn't have to include, change any settings on the OS, or do anything to it. just update and go.

Its quite remarkable and mysterious, at least to me. Any why other popular DEBIAN distros fail so? I not asking anyone directly for an answer, but you must admit it is quite strange.

And by the way, All the distros I test are DEBIAN based. Even the version of OPENSUSE during the testing I do.

So i did install a 32-bit version of Maui and it still did not work. Tried Antergos 32bit(Arch LINUX), still did not work. Did a  a fresh install of MX LINUX and it worked,  no errors whatsoever.

Now this may not be of interest to most of you as the majority use WINDOWS as your main OS. At least that's the impression I get. However, at some point you may need to test or create on the LINUX platform and you would need to use a distro that works as far as ENIGMA is concerned.

The types of errors I received ranged from running the installation script, compilation errors, missing dependencies  to java errors, obsolete repositories and requests to install alternate versions of dependencies. All of which was dependent on what I was trying to install.

Yet for some reason i got no errors when  I use MX LINUX. I find this curious and interesting. Just what is about this particular distro that the others lack? it is indeed a mystery.

Some days ago during hurricane Maria's passing, my Windows computer died through a blackout caused by our Electric Utility Company.  they made up an excuse saying it was a lightning strike but I assure you it was not, since there was none during that day and as I live not to far from the facility.
Therefore I had to build another WINDOWS computer. Luckily I had one laying around so I put in some spare parts and now its up and running. I installed Windows 7 OS, Game Maker 6, 8 as well as Game Maker Studio 1.4 portable as well as a few other applications.........NeoPaint as my graphics editor, LibreOffice 5 as my productivity suite and ENIGMA portable.

A few days after my Linux Desktop computer began acting weird, lagging, certain project files not working properly on linux but working fine in Windows. So I decided it would be a good opportunity to test some other LINUX distros and see if ENIGMA would work on them.

The first on my list was LINUX Mint one the most popular. No luck there. I even tried an older version but the repositories did not exist anymore. the next on my list was OpenSuse which, failed miserably. There were no rpm packages for certain dependencies, so that also was a bust.

Next up was a much newer distro called FEREN Linux. It's a relatively new distro coming out with its latest version sometime in August this year. I downloaded the 64bit version and got no problems installing it. However when I ran ENIGMA, a familiar error message about not finding 'compileEGMf' popped up. Incidently, when I test ENIGMA on a 64bit OS, I get this error. However on a 32Bit OS, that error doesn't appear.

The one which I ended up is called MAUI LINUX. It is based on KDE NEON and UBUNTU with the PLASMA Desktop. In fact i am writing this on the same Maui Linux and so far it is impressive. I have yet to get any major errors on the 64bit version I am using. So for the next few days I will be testing this.

If you're interesting in checking it out, you can got to its homepage and have a look.

Like many users, I grew up in the Windows world. I was always interested in pulling things apart and putting it back together and that is what got me in Computer repairs. Back then there was the Commodore, Amiga, Apple II and so on.

there is no denying that LINUX is more stable WINDOWS and is probably more stable than any other operating system out there.  As far as user experience in general is concerned, that is where it lacks as well is misunderstood. by this I mean, because of the many misconceptions around using LINUX, a lot of potential users run towards Windows and a lot developers cater then to that platform.

I mean let's be honest. All of us wants to make money as a developer whether you create software or games for what platform you cater to. It's perhaps the most successful way to make money, short of getting involved in religion , but that's another thing altogether.

However, I think that it's quite dangerous to keep flooding the Windows market. Eventually it is going crash and burn and users are going to look for another platform. Which is where developing for LINUX can be the next money making platform as well as rewarding.

I have two computers on my network, one with Windows 7 and the other has LINUX. When I test a project, I have found that the one running on LINUX perform much better in terms of speed, execution and the graphics run smoother. Of course I am using ENIGMA on both computers. I want to deliver this type of experience to the users of my game/software. that is not to say that all Windows games don't give you that, but I watched videos where this type of thing do happen a lot.

Lastly I want to just say, and this just my opinion by the way, game development is hard, very hard. It's like its within a box where there's a set of rules and directions that is for you to follow. let's take two games for example, Candy Crush and Bejeweled. Both have the same concept, match-3 or more objects, yet one is more successful. Now let's look at another example.... Flappy Bird. Compared to the two previous ones that had many lines of code, Flappy bird had less than 50 and the owner became a millionaire.

The point to this is the author didn't follow the norm with a big story plot, lot of levels and so forth, he achieved all of that with one level and that was it. WE need to think/do things out of box and not be too constrained within the norm.

Just my opinion.

Here's a little utility I've been using that converts Drag and Drop actions to GML. It's been invaluable to me in learning GML so I thought I would just share with any newbies out there.

Upon writing this , I did a search on DND to GML utilies and I came many others. One can also do a search and try them out for oneself but I still prefer this one as you can perform an actually code segment and it will convert it for you, right there and then. Check it out.

here's the link http://www.stuffbydavid.com/dnd-to-gml