Back Online Finally

Well, what can I say? I've been offline since shortly before Christmas, though not necessarily through any fault of my own. Actually, that's not strictly speaking true, since I was able to connect through Xubuntu, but not through Windows.

To cut a long and agonising story short, my computer died the day before Christmas Eve. If it wasn't the (lack of) memory, it was the DVD-ROM and the IDE cable...Let's face it, this beast is old and cranky - just like its owner! - because it was patched together intentionally as a temporary measure to get me online.

Before Christmas, I had it set up to dual-boot Ubuntu and Windows XP. And, after an initial battle of wills, we had reached a mutual agreement. Both OSes worked in tandem for awhile before the Beast decided to rebel again. This time I couldn't log into Windows, although Ubuntu worked fabulously. I was able to do all of the things I regularly do online and offline, except for one thing: RPG Maker. Withdrawals started setting in and I decided to do a fresh install of Windows. Ubuntu was having none of that, however, even after extensive GRUB tweaking and installing a secondary hard drive. It reached a certain point and decided to nosedive.

So, I decided to reinstall Windows, but it would reach a certain point and refuse to acknowledge the partition - even though it was there. I scratched my head baffling over this issue 'til I became practically bald. Various checks revealed that the hard drive was intact, both partitions were valid, GRUB was not corrupted and neither was the MBR. Yet installation ground to an abrupt halt.

After Christmas, and a nice, quiet family get-together, things would be much clearer. Or so I thought. Eventually even Ubuntu wouldn't load the way it should. The MBR had become corrupted and no amount of band-aids could fix it, then the secondary hard drive (where the second attempt of Windows was installed) had a boot sector headache. Not as much of a headache as mine though.

One new hard drive and a repartitioned old drive later, the whole caboodle was reinstalled, after backing everything up, of course (lessons have been learned), my computer is now successfully dual-booting Windows and Xubuntu this time. But, just like rival siblings, they've been separated and, as long as they don't conflict with one another, they won't fight.

I reinstalled RMVXA and have been going through the scripts. RGSS3 is way more complex-seeming than its predecessors, but given the limitations of script editing in the Trial version, the only thing I can do really is study it and continue with the Ruby classes I started beginning of last year.

I've warmed to RMVXA (from what I've seen so far) and will definitely be buying it, although if it's any anything above $75-$80, I will NOT be buying it at all. If it's around $60 for the English version I won't be able to afford it on or around release day, but will get around to saving up for it eventually.

A Few Quick Updates

The RPG Maker Times Newsletter

The Newsletter will no longer be published. This is for three main reasons:

1. It was something of an experiment, primarily to see if it was worthwhile. And, indeed it was, being able to boast 5 subscribers, all within a few months. Not bad considering I didn't actively promote it.
2. It's too difficult to maintain properly, since the time to update it seems very elusive these days.
3. There's not really enough content across the RPG Maker Times "Network" to justify it.

Therefore, as of the end of this week, it'll be shelved and archived. Thanks to those who did subscribe.

What Happened About The Layout Change?

This was a question I was asked recently in response to a poll I conducted a while ago. The short answer was that, in order to do this, I'd need to redesign the layout from scratch. And, while it is possible, it'd take too long to completely redesign one prototype layout, let alone three or four, for public review. And then porting the existing plugins, etc. I have with the current layout. Therefore, I decided to stick with the old one. That said, with Blogger's introduction of their "Dynamic Layouts" I may start experimenting again (to make life a bit easier).

Ubuntu Vs Windows

I'm gravitating more towards Ubuntu these days, only because it runs faster and smoother than Windows. It doesn't load the crap that Windows does when it starts up, initially lagging the system, nor does it hunger for more resources as time goes on. I don't have a hugely high-spec computer; it suffices for what I want it to do. Besides, money is tight, so I don't have too large a budget to play with.

The disadvantage of using Ubuntu is primarily compatibility with Windows-based software. WINE and other programs for running or emulating Windows programs are not that reliable, as the RMVX Ubuntu Test demonstrated.

Navigation Menu Change

It's about time the Flash nav menu at the top changed, as it lacks certain things, although I've not decided what to include there or how to redo it - whether to simply change its content and categories, to do away with the menu altogether and implement a more dynamic Table of Contents (including pages). Suggestions are always welcome, of course.

RPG Maker VX on Ubuntu (Test)

Introduction

RPG Maker XP and VX are designed to run on the Windows platform, so trying to get it to work on Ubuntu (fast becoming my preferred OS) is tricky and fickle. While it's easy enough to install in Windows, installing in Ubuntu can be a somewhat lengthy process. Furthermore, there are still some incompatibility issues to deal with, such as DirectX, sound issues and the RTP, and even with that there are no guarantees that it'll work for a particular system, if at all.

Note: This only applies to RMVX, as I couldn't get RMXP to run at all.

Installation

Caveat: Follow the instructions EXACTLY! Don't skip a step, as this may lead to instability. If you don't feel comfortable doing this, then don't. You do this at your own risk. I'm not held accountable for anything that might compromise your system. It's the procedure that I took (after prolonged study and experimentation) to get RMVX functional.

I'll assume that most Linux/Ubuntu users are confident enough with the system, so I'll go straight into the installation process:

1. Install Wine,
2. Install DirectX,
3. Install Timidity, and
4. Install RMVX.

Install Wine

Note that Wine is not an emulator, it's an open-source project that allows you to run software designed for Windows on other operating systems (such as Linux and Mac OS). It's worth visiting the Wine website to read up on it.

First, go to the Wine Download page and follow the instructions there or open up a Terminal window (Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal) and type:

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install wine

This will install the latest version of Wine and it'll be ready to use. Now, you can install and run many of your favorite Windows games and applications through Wine, just like you would normally. (There should be a shortcut in Applications; if there isn't, rebooting should do the trick or continue using the Terminal.)

Read more »

Finally Back Online

I finally got the Internet back, but have been busy specifically with coursework as well as volunteering at CHAD.

I'm currently using Ubuntu and warming up to it rapidly. I used a much earlier version while in Canada but, back then, it was a little less user-friendly. My computer's actually dual-booting Ubuntu/Windows XP, but the major problem is lack of memory (mine as well as the computer's) and, while RPG Maker XP/VX does run it doesn't run very well. When I built the computer I thought it had at least 500Mb of RAM, but instead it only has 256Mb. So the result is, well, slow! A snail on a cold day runs faster! Anyway, I'll be upgrading the RAM (hopefully) to at least a Gig.

I tried running RMVX on Ubuntu (under Wine) with very limited results. It can be done, but, unfortunately, there's more against this method than for. I'll write up a report in a future entry.

In the meantime, I'll be looking into updating the navigation menu, as well as working on a few tutorials soon, possibly a few scriptlets (I don't know yet), as well as researching some of the other RPG Makers, so RPG Maker Times can get back on track.