GSh.Development.Blog

JustCrush 1.1 Released

2009-05-14T02:48:00.000-07:00

I've whipped up a much more useful version of the PNG crushing script I whacked together. Multiple file support is on its way, but here's the single-file version for now. Simply extract and drag your PNG files onto the .BAT file to make 'em as small as possible without going nuts with it.

[Download JustCrush from GSh@ii.net (138KB)]

Includes PNGCrush Windows binary.

BlastOff! 1.1 Re-Uploaded

2009-05-14T02:42:00.000-07:00

After goodness knows how long with a broken download link, I've tracked down the original .zip file for BlastOff! 1.1, and uploaded it. Those of you whove missed out, you can now grab it from here:

[Download BlastOff! 1.1 from GSh@ii.net]

Enjoy!

Tiny footnote: There is a new version in the works. I'll just need to test it. If you've got a large drive with lots of data on it, you may wish to hold off for the new version, which will allow for MUCH easier updating and more customization.

Coming soon - More randomness!

2008-11-11T02:09:00.000-08:00

As you may be aware (The 0.25 people who read this, anyway...) i tend to randomly develop something and then let it rot. Or give up halfway. This is probably no different and i'm only kinda interested at the moment, but i thought i'd share.

I'm working on a simple .NET-based profile manager for Oblivion which will enable you to have as many characters with separate savegames as you want. Sadly, this will require you to exit the game to switch, but will work well nonetheless. Loading's not slow on my machine anyway. Due to my current habit of playing Fallout 3, too, i will be modifying it slightly to accommodate both your Fantasy and Post-Apocalyptic Role-Playing characters.

You may or may not also be aware of my other project, BlastOff! - This project is still being developed, and version 1.3 is well on its way. 1.3 includes some major revisions to the code, self-update capability and some other swell addons. All still in several small, easy-to-swallow .BAT files.

So anyway, stay tuned. Or subscribed. Something'll happen eventually.

BlastOff! - A U3 USB Key Menu Utility

2008-03-14T04:42:00.000-07:00

BlastOff is a new project i've started, basically, it's a series of Batch files which replace any U3-enabled flash drive's default LaunchPad and allow you to not only start the default LaunchPAd, but also start ANY other program from the data drive of your stick.

Some examples include Geek.menu [http://sourceforge.net/projects/geek-menu/] and the PortableAppsMenu [http://www.portableapps.com/]

Usage is reasonably simple. First you'll need to get the zip file i've provided and extract it to a suitable location. Not on your USB Key.

Once there, open the U3CUSTOM folder and copy "LAUNCHU3.EXE' and "LAUNCHPAD.ZIP" from your flash drive's CD-ROM partition into the folder.

Once complete, hit Up and execute the ISOCreate script. Check for any errors, as if any occur you'll need to restart the process.

If no errors occur, eject your USB key and open the Universal Customizer application. When the splash screen appears, plug your USB key in again. You can hold SHIFT until it is recognised by the universal customizer to make sure the LaunchPad doesn't load. Follow the prompts.

Once your USB key is plugged back in (Universal Customizer asks you to unplug it once it finishes)
you'll notice a command prompt window appears, telling you there's an error. Dismiss it by pressing a key, then, keeping the window with the universal customizer application in it open, open your Memory Key's data partition.

Back in the Universal Customizer's explorer window, open "copy_contents_to_data_drive" and copy the "System" folder to your data drive, selecting "Yes" to any overwrite dialogs (This only installs a configuration file. You can check, too!)

Once this is done, it will automatically start "StartGeekMenu.exe" on the root of your USB key. You should install Geek.menu now, or if you wish to install another launcher, such as portableapps, navigate to the "System" folder on your USB key's Data partition, and open LaunchPadConfig.bat in Notepad (Or another text editor) - The settings are explained there.

Okay. That wraps up the explanation. One final word, though, YOU USE THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK. The applications used are not supported by U3, Sandisk or anyone, and may break your USB key or void its warranty. If you're willing to take that risk, you may proceed to download the file - remembering I take no responsibility for any damage or loss of data incurred. (All data SHOULD be re-written to your USB key after formatting - but it is possible it could fail)

Anyway, Download below:
[Download BlastOff! 1.1 from GSh@ii.net (1,924 KB)]

Enjoy!

Any bugs or comments shoudl be posted below. Also, the Universal Customizer is included without the author's permission, and the potentially dangerous "Switchblade" script is not present. If you are the author, and you do not want the application to be included here, please let me know and i will remove it with an appropriate link to your site.

PNG Auto-Crush Batch Script

2007-12-04T01:28:00.000-08:00

This is the first release of a new useful batch file I've thrown together.

What it does is automate the process of "Crushing" your PNG images, attempting to make them as small as possible.

This batch file allows you to simply drag and drop as many files as you want and have them all automatically converted in the most efficient way. It does NOT cover the more advanced options available in pngcrush. That is likely to appear in the future.

It does, however, automate the process and make it a heck of a lot easier to use for newbies.

Download includes pngcrush 1.6.4 windows binary, and is all ready to go.

Enjoy!
Download: [4Shared]

GSh PONG for the CASIO fx-98X0 Graphing Calculator

2007-09-04T04:39:00.000-07:00

UPDATED!! Version 1.5 is now here.
Updates include:

Re-Jigged Engine! No flicker and better gameplay!
0-2 player action. Challenge a friend, the Calculator (Which is average skilled - will add a skill level changer in a later version) or watch the computer battle it out with itself (Note about 0-player mode: If you notice, COM1's score is usually about double that of COM2 - interesting...)
Fixed up and modified the menus.New buttons (You can cheat and change player mode - i won't tell you which buttons, but it's pretty simple to find =P)

---

Okay, i know Pong has been done to death, but i was bored and so decided to throw it together.This is a reasonably simple, text-based rendition of it. The gameplay is good, i think all the bugs are ironed out, and it's got the oldschool charm of Pong.

The instructions on how to play are included in the game, so just read them. You should know how to play pong, i mean, you're alive, right? =P

Again, with any bugs - let me know.

Download & Rate:

Download from Casio Kingdom

Rockbox Font Convertor Hybrid Mode - My first attempt.

2007-02-28T04:40:00.000-08:00

This is probalby not goign to work AT ALL, but i'll post it here in case someone can check it out and figure out hwo to get it working... not sure if it even does anything anymore.

@echo off
rem # Creates some whitespace between the command and the progress box.
echo.
echo.
rem # Progress Box Header
echo ROCKbox Font Convertor v1.1 (Hybrid Mode Test)
echo \----------------------------------------------------------------------------/
rem # Check if the user requests help or provides no input...
IF [%1] EQU [?] (goto Help) else (IF [%1] EQU [help] (goto Help) else (IF [%1] EQU [] (goto Help))
rem # check for font size argument present: (Wrong - disables multifile support if there's a size - needs fixing)
if %1 LEQ a (goto SetFont) else (goto ManualMode)
:ManualMode
rem # ManualMode is what should be called multifont mode... i need to work on this.
set MANUALMODE=1
set /p FONTSIZE=Enter required font size or 'help' for help:
if [%FONTSIZE%] EQU [help] goto Help
if [%FONTSIZE%] EQU [] set FONTSIZE=8
set AppPath=%~dp1
cd /d %AppPath%
goto :CarryOn
:SetFont
set MANUALMODE=0
set FONTSIZE=%1
set FONTFILE=%2
shift
:FilenameLoop
if [%2] == [] goto CarryOn
set FONTFILE=%FONTFILE% %2
shift
goto FilenameLoop
:CarryOn
if [MANUALMODE] EQU [1] (set FONTFILE=%~nx1)
echo Font Size: %FONTSIZE%pt Input File: "%FONTFILE%"
echo Output File: "%FONTSIZE%-%FONTFILE%.fnt"
echo ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
echo Converting TTF/OTF to BDF...
rem # Syntax: otf2bdf [-p Font Size (pt)] [destination] [source]
otf2bdf -p %FONTSIZE% -o "%FONTSIZE%-%FONTFILE%.bdf" "%FONTFILE%"
echo Done.
echo ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
echo Converting BDF to ROCKbox FNT...
rem # Syntax: convbdf -f [source]
convbdf -f "%FONTSIZE%-%FONTFILE%.bdf"
echo Done.
echo ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
echo Deleting temporary file(s) ("%FONTSIZE%-%FONTFILE%.bdf")...
del "%FONTSIZE%-%FONTFILE%.bdf"
echo Done.
if [MANUALMODE] EQU [1] (if [%2] == [] (goto end) else (shift & goto MultiInputLoopStart)) else (goto end)
:Help
echo Help/About Mode
echo Version 1.1 (Hybrid Mode Test - HELP DETAIL IS OLD)
echo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
echo.
echo syntax: makefont [fontsize] [filename]
echo.
echo Fontsize: Set the size of the converted font. 8 is recommended for most, and
echo is the default if you do not specify a value.
echo Filename: Set the file to be converted. Can have as many words as you want.
echo *Doesn't like filenames with a number as the first word*
echo **This has been tested with a filename of 10 words, and worked.**
echo.
echo --DRAG 'N DROP FUNCTIONALITY WAS NOT TESTED--
echo.
echo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
echo You can copy, modify and redistribute this file as you wish.
echo All I ask is that if you make an update (i.e, add one of the features listed
echo on the forum as a priority), that you upload the updated file and add your
echo name to the contributor section so I can update the posts about it with
echo credit to you. That's all!
echo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
echo Contributors:
echo Geoff Stokes (Original Coding, Maintainer)
echo bascule (New [v1.1] font size setting and multi-word filename support)
echo JustJohnny (Also helped with font size setting and multi-word filenames)
echo.
:end
rem # Finishing up code.
echo Press any key to exit.
echo --------------------------------------ROCKbox - Open Source Jukebox Firmware-
rem # wait for any key... To allow the user to check the process worked.
pause>nul

That's it. Have fun playing if you find this.

I'll be posting a link to the proper version and deleting this later, but i'm in the middle of updating, so bear with me for a while.

TrayPinger 0.6 Release Roadmap

2006-12-14T03:33:00.000-08:00

The currently planned improvements and updates for the next release (0.6) are as follows. These are not yet complete, but are those features which will be implemented by the time an 0.6 release is made. I will post progress releases where appropriate.

- [Definite] All-New ping engine (As mentioned in previous posts)
- [Definite]Restyled interface (The settings window will no longer be the startup window, and numerous design changes approach)
- [Possible]At least release worthy log (The current log is faulty and does not include many specific details. I also plan to allow saving of the log)
- [Possible]Uptime percentage calculator (Could be useful for game or web server checking, giving you an overall uptime percentage based upon the time TrayPinger has been running, and the past results)
- [Possible]I may end up deleting the current version and creating 0.6 from scratch. Implementing the new pinging code is a big task, which will probably take time, and there will be new options and interfaces to add, as well as naming conventions to put in place and keep for later versions which i don't think are in 0.5.

Thanks for the support, guys. I hope that i will be able to make this release before the new year hits.

[Copied From Sourceforge News Page]

Casio projects coming soon to Casio Kingdom!

2006-11-11T07:50:00.000-08:00

MY projects for Casio Calculators (Those which aren't already uploaded there) are beign uploaded to Casio Kingdom soon. The projects which i will be uploading are:

AFL 2006 [2.5c] (My AFL Goalkicking game with not-too-bad graphics and many features.
CFX Paint (REnamed because CASPAINT was taken, this is a full-function paint program for the FX/CFX and still has features which need implementing. Colour is one of them, as i use a black & white Casio (9860G AU) and so cannot program with colour, but the facility is there, just needs activating.)
BigMap (An unfinished project which aimed to allow for maps bigger than the casio screen. Kind of given up on because it was too slow even when usign small maps as it draws every character on it's own. This is just for people to look at and draw inspiration from)
GSh Engine (A project which is now depreciated. I attempted to make a program which could streamline other programs by keeping common actions in a single file, rather than having the same thing over and over. Given up on becauuse i don't have the distribution power of Microsoft)
Ultimate Getkey (Basically, a program which is useful for programmers, showing both the key pressed and it's keycode in a simple, compact manner)

These are the ones which work good now. Updates will be posted at the casio kingdom website, and if i deem them large enough additions, here as well.

Link later. Must sleep.

TrayPinger 0.5.1.2 Released

2006-10-21T05:02:00.000-07:00

I have released the latest version of my open source project, TrayPinger to SourceForge.

Note: This release is a bugfix for 0.5.1.1, which did not save settings (And I'm not sure if this one does, either. Please test it and post a bug report at the project page on SourceForege.)

TrayPinger pings a selected host at a set interval, telling you it's on/offline status. (I do wish to implement response time, but the way i had implemented the pinging means that it'll be a bit of work sadly) so please visit, download and let me know if anything's amiss.

TrayPinger - A GSh Development project
Website: http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/TrayPinger/
Status: Early Beta
Price: Free
Source: Open (GNU GPL)
Coders: Me
Help Wanted: Bug reports.