Looking At Adrift Code.
Sam
unable to read the code. When I try `Debugger' while playing, or try to
access program in Generator, I get a window asking me to enter password.
Is there a way to study code in Adrift games??
Sam
Political correctness? A foreign concept,
reserved for those too unprincipled to say
it like it is.
Rachel Gerber, Portland Tribune, June 13, 2003
Jonathan Penton
news:ialYa.915$Ps.7...@newsread2.prod.itd.earthlink.net...
> O. K., I have downloaded Adrift, and played a couple of games. But I
am
> unable to read the code. When I try `Debugger' while playing, or try to
> access program in Generator, I get a window asking me to enter password.
>
> Is there a way to study code in Adrift games??
>
> Sam
Those authors have specifically created a password for their games in order
to provent players from "cheating" by looking at the code. Not all ADRIFT
games have this, and those authors might give you their passwords when you
tell them you're studying ADRIFT, not cheating at their game.
--
Jonathan Penton
http://www.unlikelystories.org
Enforced Exile
"Is there a way to study code in Adrift games?"
If a game is passworded then, you're best bet is to email the author
and request the password from them; most are obliging.
The only problem is, when trying to follow what the author has done,
is that
very few authors, as far as I know, give a modicum of structure to
their games meaning that trying to find tasks in a list becomes a
nightmare as many are repetitive to look at (at face value) but come
with their varying restrictions.
Enforced Exile
davidw
You can't look at the code in the Runner - you can only play games in
it. You need to open the game in the Generator. However, if the
debugger won't work in the Runner that means the game is password
protected and so you won't be able to open it in the Generator without
knowing the password.
In which case you'll need to download an unpassworded game and open
that in the Generator. My most recent game on the main Adrift page -
"Cowboy Blues" - is unpassworded.
Simon Baldwin
> unable to read the code. When I try `Debugger' while playing, or try to
> access program in Generator, I get a window asking me to enter password.
>
> Is there a way to study code in Adrift games??
There is, although not with standard Adrift tools.
If you can run the game with Jasea, you should be able to use Jasea's
debug windows to poke about and see what the game is doing. Jasea also
has a way to dump out the complete game as a sort of "disassembly"; the
result is a large and often largely impenetrable text dump, but it does
contain the complete game logic and text.
Jasea bypasses Adrift passwords because they're really only there as a
convention. The TAF file, necessarily, contains the complete game text
and logic. Adrift's Generator just won't load it if passworded, and
Adrift's Runner won't permit debugging options. Jasea ignores passwords
(that is, it doesn't break Adrift passwording; rather, it does nothing
special to implement them).
Using Jasea requires the ability to run Java. Getting the disassembly
may also require some familiarity with the Java language.
Best regards.