Update - abolishing ->

In the midst of a cleanup.  Decided that I don't have a use for a revamped module internals wordset yet, instead I added a couple needed features. 

1) Now you can jump to a method implementation in the source using the convention ":".  

2) A new kind of method, the "xmethod", or "external method", methods intended to face outside, complementing their non-method counterparts.  Work like normal methods but always requires the module to be on the stack.  I'm in the process of abolishing "->", so this is one step towards that goal.  The rule is, if a method is generally meant to be an interface to the OUTSIDE, make it external.  If it is used internally only, make it a normal one.  Once -> is gone though, { } clauses or AS will be the only ways to use normal methods.

3) Because you occasionally have to call external methods from a { } clause, I added a shorthand for THIS, the dollar sign ("$").

1.41.3.0 Build

What's new in this one is mainly the global sprite collision system.

Posted on the Downloads page.

Tidbits

I recently added the last feature of global bounding box collisions, making all the so-far planned features complete.

The interesting bit is this; I found that Plexi's module-related punctuation ( { }, -> ) made programming too un-Forth-like, and  created encumbrances in the system due to the one-size-fits-all nature.  My solution; let the user customize the system for every problem.  This is the way Forth does it from the ground up; I think that by keeping the module data structures as the "lingua franca" but allowing easy access to its internals will open up novel ways of using them that goes beyond what traditional OO systems let you do.

Project page update

I updated the copy on the project page

http://code.google.com/p/tengoku-engine/

Possibly transforming refactoring looming

I plan on taking the features of the module system, and "exploding" them.  That's a term I just came up with.  The best analogy is probably like toppling the tower of Babel.  Everything you need still exists, it's just going to be even MORE horizontal.  Actually in this case it's more like demolishing a 2-story house and making it more like a rancher.  Or a big basketball court.  OK I'm done with analogy-making tonight.

Fixed zip file

Uploaded a new build on the project page, thanks to William Yates for pointing out to me that the zip file was corrupt!

I also fixed an elusive problem with multitasking and the component system.

Grab it from Downloads.

1.40.4.0 Build

This build is pretty stable. I've recently added a form of multiple inheritance for modules. This includes the fixes for XP.

http://code.google.com/p/tengoku-engine/downloads/list

Full list of changes after the jump.

Early Game Build

I recently got .EXE-export working.

This is a very early build of a game I'm working on.

http://rogerlevy.net/games/kevin/bin.zip

DLL Issue Resolved?

I think that this problem has been fixed.  There was a DLL required by Allegro that was missing on presumably every computer but my Windows 7 desktop.  It doesn't make any sense to me, because I didn't know Allegro required this DLL, but I've already put it in the dev tree so it'll be in the next release.

DLL Issues

Due to what I think is a difference between the way DLL's are loaded by Windows 7 and Windows XP, the SDK doesn't run properly in XP.  I have gotten it to work in one or the other, but not both.  Will work on this before releasing the next build ...