AngelLoader 1.4.8 (upd. 2021/01/25)

[caqo]

Yep, you're right, I forgot to put on the see all characters on the editor. Now it works as intended.

Thanks to you.

[goldwell]

Hey Fen,

Thank you very much for putting so much work and effort into this program, it's my daily driver when it comes to playing Thief missions and love everything about it.

I do have one request though, would it be possible to get a darkmode version of the program?

Thief as you know is typically best played in a dark room with the curtains drawn and the lights turned off, but everytime I finish a mission and go back to AngelLoader i'm blinded by the brightness of a thousand suns.

I don't know how simple this request is, maybe there's a reason why it's not implemented, but I thought I would put it forward as a request if possible please.

Thanks,
Goldwell.

[FenPhoenix]

Actually I would love to implement a dark mode, but for a couple reasons it's not feasible, see here for a longform explanation: https://youtu.be/48DLb4p4n9Q?t=1256

tldr:

The main issue is that displaying .rtf files in dark mode is basically impossible because they're designed with specific colored text and when you make the background dark the text often becomes unreadable (and sometimes images too, if they have transparency). Trying to automatically adjust colors to be readable is beyond my level of understanding how one would even begin. Even big apps like Mozilla Thunderbird don't attempt to do it, making dark mode rather pointless for them (half the screen is dark and half is blinding white).

The other, not-as-big-but-still-a-consideration issue is that WinForms is very rigid and not designed to be able to change its theme. Most of its controls can be coerced into being themeable manually with a lot of work, but some simply can't (eg. calendars, scroll bars), so the UI would end up looking janky with bits and pieces not quite matching the dark color scheme. I mean it would still solve the "blind you on alt-tab" problem at basic functional level, but would not really look professional. But if you had an .rtf readme up, it you would still have half the window being blinding white anyway, so...

[Stefan_Key]

Thief as you know is typically best played in a dark room with the curtains drawn and the lights turned off, but everytime I finish a mission and go back to AngelLoader i'm blinded by the brightness of a thousand suns.

Thanks for your explanation Fen!

Goldwell : I suppose your desktop background is dark too? Here's a trick that i use myself : Just before beginning an FM (I mean you're in the main menu and just before you hit start mission), do an ALT-Tab and reduce the Angelloader window to the taskbar. After completing a mission, you'll return to your desktop screen. (sunscreen not needed anymore)

[FenPhoenix]

AngelLoader v1.4.8 is out.

Changelog:

-Added optional Exit button at the bottom-right of the main window: one user had a case where AngelLoader was displaying in "fullscreen" so the normal Windows close button was inaccesible. The new Exit button is hidden by default; it can be enabled in Settings -> Other -> Show or hide interface elements. Also added Exit item to the main menu.
-Fixed: Whitespace around header lines in language ini files (ie. "[MainMenu]") was not being handled properly, resulting in the section being incorrectly skipped if there was whitespace around said header.
-Fixed: When scanning for authors but not titles (eg. when clicking the "Rescan for author" button), in rare cases the author would not be detected and would end up blank.

[LeatherMan]

-Added optional Exit button

Thanks Fen!

[Dahenjo]

AngelLoader v1.4.8 is out.

Thanks Claude!

[ctarl]

Not sure if this is a bug. When "all files" is selected for FM backups, AngelLoader always backs up any converted audio files as well.

The backup archive will contain all converted audio and a "fmsel.inf" that lists:
"RemoveFile=snd\somefolder\somefile.mp3"
"RemoveFile=snd\somefolder\someotherfile.ogg"
and so on.

To me the presence and content of the .inf suggests the files are not actually supposed to be backed up.
But the .inf lists the original file extensions, not the converted (.wav).

Example missions where this happens would be
Les Paolis (.ogg files)
The Burrick's Head Inn v2.0 (.mp3)


I only recently re-discovered Thief and fan missions, partially thanks to stumbling onto your Youtube videos and AngelLoader itself. So big thanks for you work.

[caqo]

@Fen

Spanish Language Updated to 1.4.8.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XhL...ew?usp=sharing

[FenPhoenix]

@ctarl:

You're right, I've known about that quirk for some time but wasn't sure what to do about it. Technically it's behaving as designed, backing up "all changed files" (new, deleted, modified). The mp3/ogg files were deleted and replaced with wav files, so it's backing up the new wav files and telling it to remove the mp3 files on the next install because they were removed before. But ideally what it should be doing is trying to detect if the change was merely due to an automatic audio conversion, and then excluding that from the backup/restore. I'll put this on the todo list to have a look at.

@caqo: Thanks

[Stingm]

I have a question. Why is that angel loader can scan 99% of a mission lightening fast and then take so long for that last 1%? I'm just curious.
Thanks for all your work Fen.

[FenPhoenix]

That happens when it's scanning a .7z mission. There are two parts to the answer:

1. Why it takes forever after getting to "100%":
The progress bar is really designed for when you're scanning multiple missions, because it only updates between missions. So if you're only scanning one, I guess it just goes to 100% right away because it's on mission 1 of 1. That's sort of weird though, it should stay at 0% until it's done in that case. I'll look into it.

2. Why it takes forever in the first place:
.7z files are very, very slow to scan due to the nature of the format. And because people often use .7z for large FMs in order to squeeze a bit more compression, scanning these files often takes horrendous amounts of time. It's my opinion that you don't save enough space going from zip to 7z to justify the glacial performance of doing anything with them in a loader (if you're downloading 450 megs already, what's another 50?), but then I'm a loader author so I'm biased.

I'm not sure if people don't know about the performance disadvantages of 7z files or if they just feel the extra compression is worth it, but let it be known to all that if you do package your FM in 7z format, then scanning, readme caching, and even installing will be substantially slower than with a zip. Them's the tradeoffs.

[Psych0sis]

.7z also has the benefit of helping make some garbage like darkloader be outdated as it can't even recognize them. We're doing our part to get rid of it, you know!

[baeuchlein]

I think it would rather be helpful to stop this holy crusade against an outdated FM loader. Using 7zip archives for this purpose means that a lot of people have to wait ridiculously long until they can play missions although they have already switched to FMSel or AngelLoader. I therefore hope that this was just a joke.

[R Soul]

FM authors can help with .7z files by creating the archives in two stages: 1 - strings folder and readme, 2 - everything else. The order of those two stages doesn't matter. However, with AngelLoader scanning the mission (or .gam?) files to determine which game the FM is for, authors may have to put them separately in as a third step.

some garbage like darkloader

That's a terrible attitude.


Fen, a feature for you to copy if you want:
https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthre...=1#post2465747

[Psych0sis]

It's not a terrible attitude, it's a terrible program that really, really shouldn't be used by anyone this late into either games' lives. This is why programs like AngelLoader and such were made, to outdate it.

I think it would rather be helpful to stop this holy crusade against an outdated FM loader. Using 7zip archives for this purpose means that a lot of people have to wait ridiculously long until they can play missions although they have already switched to FMSel or AngelLoader. I therefore hope that this was just a joke.

Yes, I was merely making a joke. However now I am the one hoping you are joking... Because if waiting an extra few seconds to unzip a .7z is "ridiculously long" then I'm extremely perplexed. As an example I just unzipped Ascend the Dim Valley (a .7z file at 80mb) and it took about 8 seconds whereas a similarly sized file, Endless Rain (a regular .zip file at 72mb) took about 3-4 seconds. Is this really as painful as you're making it out to be? Is this another "Impatience is a virtue of a modern gamer" situation?

[baeuchlein]

if waiting an extra few seconds to unzip a .7z is "ridiculously long" then I'm extremely perplexed. As an example I just unzipped Ascend the Dim Valley (a .7z file at 80mb) and it took about 8 seconds whereas a similarly sized file, Endless Rain (a regular .zip file at 72mb) took about 3-4 seconds.

Depending on the loader (FMSel, AngelLoader, NewDarkLoader) and file size, it can be more than a few seconds. And sometimes, the loaders need more time to just show the FM list if a new .7z file is added to the archives. In some cases I even suspected that a loader had crashed/freezed. If the only reason for using .7z files was that some people tried to force DarkLoader go into retirement at all costs, then my comment on that would include some words depicting feces and similar things. I have seen some people getting close to telling lies just because they appear to hate DarkLoader so much, so I'm ready to believe some guys are ready to do other questionable things just to get rid of a loader which they don't like any more.

Forcing Thief players to do what someone else wants them to do is usually not a good idea.

[Stingm]

I never meant to start all this. I was just asking a question and not complaining. I have no issues waiting the extra time for a 7z file. I actually got the new rabenbach by christine and thats when I noticed it. Not a big deal. Sorry for the trouble. Thanks a bunch for answering.

[Psych0sis]

Yeah, I'm not quite sure Baeuchlein really understands I was joking and that the couple of seconds isn't a big deal. At least, it really shouldn't be one, as you seem to agree.

[Aged Raver]

Hi Fen
Couple of questions. I'm sure this is answered elsewhere and I haven't found it.

(a) Is there a recommended way to update AngelLoader?

Last June I downloaded it for first time (version 1.4.4) and think it's very good. Thank you.
I've now downloaded Version 1.4.8, unzipped it in a new folder and then ran it and entered the Settings. One or two fields in the AngelLoader display of FMs were blank (e.g. Comments) so I copied across the DATA folder from the earlier version and everything looks good.

(b) Is there anything else I should do?

Many thanks.

EDIT: As is always the way after posting. I've just read the start of this thread.
Updates will not overwrite your user data (settings, FM data, etc). You can safely extract new versions to your AngelLoader folder, as only application files will be overwritten.
DOH!

[FenPhoenix]

Recommended way is just to extract the new version directly into the existing folder. Your config settings and FM data will not be overwritten, only the app itself will be updated. Having said that, what you did is (mostly) fine: all settings and FM data are stored in the Data folder. But you will have overwritten the latest English.ini file with your older one from 1.4.4. You should copy v1.4.8's Data\Languages\English.ini to the same path in your 1.4.8 folder on disk, just in case. Or just re-extract the 1.4.8 zip directly over your 1.4.4 folder and it'll all be sorted.

In hindsight, I shouldn't have put the Languages directory inside the Data folder. I should have put it outside so that Data would be fully portable. Oh well...

Edit: Ninja'd

[Aged Raver]

Thanks Fen!

[cavador_8]

I am really enjoying Angelloader but I've encountered a problem. I have the FM Builder's Paradise zip in my fan mission directory but it is not showing up at all in Angelloader. Why would this be?

[Psych0sis]

https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=151074

if you downloaded it from Taffers Paradise, this is probably what happened.

[cavador_8]

Thanks Psych0sis! That's exactly what it was. I downloaded the 7zip file and now it works. Thanks again!