Stefan
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File: VerboseDemo.zip (12.9 KB)
Downloaded 126 times.
License: Other
From: Unspecified

Here's a small command-line utility for printing demos verbosely. I'm still improving it and adding features, so if you find any errors or strange behaviour (error handling is still very primitive), or if you have any suggestions, please reply to this thread.

I'll release the source code later (when it isn't as messy as it is now).

Unzip the archive to any folder and type

java VerboseDemo

for a quick help on how to use it. You need Java 1.4.2 or higher (it may work with earlier versions as well).

Here's an example output:

$ java VerboseDemo "KDD Tenth Level 1N1W Victory.demo"
Demo: 'KDD: Tenth Level: 1N1W: Victory!' by Stefan
Start at column 38, row 12. Sword orientation: NE
Moves: W W W NW SE CC CC CC CC NW CC CC W CC W W W W S SW SW SW SW E NW SE SE E 
W W CC W CC W W SW W SE W W SW SW S SW W W W SW S S S SW SW S S S S S

Enjoy!

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ErikH2000
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Hey, cool! Just curious: did you end up porting code from DRODLib over to Java, or was it more like you figured out the file format and wrote from scratch code?

-Erik

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Stefan
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Everything except the FlippedInputStream and Base64 classes are written from scratch. I did take a look at some files in DRODLib, but I mostly used the source of the DemoCount-tool to figure out how to get the moves (the rest of the file format is quite self-explanatory). However, my app processes the information a bit differently than DemoCount, so I basically wrote the whole thing from scratch.

By the way, DemoCount has a bug: it doesn't recognize the commands 15 (Yes) / 16 (No) (and thus it can't process some demos from level 25).

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patmo98
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Stefan wrote:
By the way, DemoCount has a bug: it doesn't recognize the commands 15 (Yes) / 16 (No) (and thus it can't process some demos from level 25).

Will it ignore them, hang, or crash? If it hits 15 or 16?

Stefan
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patmo98 wrote:

Stefan wrote:
By the way, DemoCount has a bug: it doesn't recognize the commands 15 (Yes) / 16 (No) (and thus it can't process some demos from level 25).

Will it ignore them, hang, or crash? If it hits 15 or 16?

From the Level Demos thread:

Hix wrote:
I did Level 25, and I think it's an improvement. DemoCount loads fine for me, but when I click "Count time & moves" I get "Annoying pop-up box!" telling me "org.xml.SAXParseException: 16"
This happens whether I've selected my own demo, or one I downloaded. Uh... I don't know anything about error messages, but if there's something simple I can do to possibly get it working, I'll try it.

In other words, it won't crash, but it can't parse the file correctly.

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disoriented
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This is a pretty nifty little utility, although it's unfortunate that Stefan never posted the source code. Luckily there are tools like Java decompilers that can help.

Using one such tool, I've got a copy of source for the VerboseDemo class, and I'm working on adding a few more cases so the program "understands" modern demos. Feel free to request a copy if this would help you out.

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[Last edited by disoriented at 09-02-2019 06:15 AM]

Dying Flutchman
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I'd love to have this on forum.carvelgames.com/demo_examiner.php or something like that

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disoriented
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So a .demo file is basically a compressed (gzipped) stream of bytes, indicating the moves that the player made.

I've got two Java classes in my Eclipse project: VerboseDemo and FlippedInputStream. The VerboseDemo class contains the main() method.

I've tested it on many .demo files, and it works pretty well for simple demos, outputting the move sequence to the console. But the .demo file format stores some things in a way I'm not sure how to parse. For example, taking potions and placing doubles.

Here are the byte values I know:

Byte   Player Input
---    ------------
 1       N
 2       NE
 3       W
 5       E
 6       SW
 7       S
 8       SE
 9       clockwise rotation
10       counterclockwise rotation
11       NW
12      (wait)
15      'Yes' option (in a dialog)
16      'No' option (in a dialog)

The value -1 seems to be used for time clones, and I've seen various values used for placing a double (17, 27, 30, 36, others?) Byte value 21 might be for drinking a potion and 23 might be Special Command.

Does anyone familiar with the DROD source care to help fill in the gaps? It would be nice if I could put together a utility for the community that properly parses all demo files into human readable form.


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[Last edited by disoriented at 01-06-2020 02:49 AM]

Rabscuttle
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https://github.com/EvidentlyCube/drod/blob/master/DRODLib/GameConstants.h

is probably what you want. From line 53.

Rabscuttle
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For placing doubles, I think what it actually does is do the "placing double" command, then the coordinates of where it actually goes - at least since 2.0 (in AE demos it records the keystrokes to get to the placement)
I think selecting a clone might be similar if you click instead of tab.

I'm guessing CMD_ANSWER does the same thing for multiple choice questions - the CMD, then a number signifying which choice.

Rabscuttle
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File: DemoCommands.pl (1.3 KB)
Downloaded 54 times.
License: Public Domain

Here's a perl script that converts a demo to a list of commands.

Re my last post, Tabbing to change clones is treated in the command list the same as clicking on the next clone.
Tabbing to finish a temporal recording is treated as selecting a clone at (255,255) so if DROD rooms get really big in the future that'll have to change.

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[Last edited by Rabscuttle at 01-14-2020 04:55 AM]

Rabscuttle
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File: democommandexamples.PNG (32.1 KB)
Downloaded 252 times.
License: Public Domain

Here's sample output.
First room starts with a cutscene and Beethro answers (or asks) a question.

Second Room is a ray gun room with special commands.

Third room is Chronocide from Arky's Revenge. Couple of potions, Couple of timeclones, couple of normal clones.

I haven't checked the script on any pre 5.0 demos, so maybe it'll fail on those.

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[Last edited by Rabscuttle at 01-14-2020 04:54 AM]

disoriented
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Ah thanks this helped. I was parsing the X/Y coordinates incorrectly.

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disoriented
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Rabscuttle wrote:
I haven't checked the script on any pre 5.0 demos, so maybe it'll fail on those.

Here's one where it fails: King Dugan's Dungeon 2.0, Sixth Level, 2N. Look at what the script outputs for michthro's #1 demo. At move 160 when he picks up the mimic potion, it outputs a series of 14 "west" commands and then a Z (wait) instead of understanding the action as a place double action (byte 21). Not sure why.

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Rabscuttle
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In 1.6 and 2.0, you couldn't place [mimics] by clicking, so it recorded the placement moves instead - the mimic in that case is placed 14 squares west of Beethro.

Later versions interpret the demo properly - when you watch it it'll skip ahead automatically. Although I think if you look at the demo on the demo select screen it'll show the placement moves.

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[Last edited by mrimer at 05-20-2020 10:48 PM]