LockJaw Skin and Setup Selector v4.0

[Rich Nagel]

Folks,


I created a small utility that makes it a bit easier to switch between any skins that you may have for LockJaw, as well as switching game setups and keyboard configurations for the game.


Directly from the included readme:


-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

LockJaw Skin and Setup Selector v4.0


The LockJaw Skin and Setup Selector is a utility to assist with selecting replacement skins for version 0.35 (or newer) of Damian Yerrick's EXCELLENT "LockJaw" Tetris-styled tetromino game. The utility also includes features to save and restore LockJaw's current game setup options (and also the game's current keyboard configuration), as well as several other handy features described below.


Find out more about Damian's great freeware Tetris game at http://www.pineight.com/lj on the Internet!


With previous versions of LockJaw (version 0.34a or older), one would have to manually edit the "Skin=" line contained in LockJaw's "LJ.ini" configuration file, or manually rename an existing skin's "SKIN" file to the filename "Default.skin" in order to use a replacement skin within the game (refer to the LockJaw's "Readme.html" file that is included with the game for more information about skin creation and usage). This was the purpose of the initial version of the LockJaw Skin and Setup Selector (the ability to easily switch skins for LockJaw without having to manually edit or rename files).


With the recent release of LockJaw version 0.35, LockJaw now has the ability to actually select skins from within the game itself. The skin selecting features of the LockJaw Skin and Setup Selector have not been removed though, but are simply left in place in this newer version of the utility for convenience and consistency.


Anyhow, the same still currently holds true if you wish to save your current LockJaw game setup options, as well as your current keyboard configuration for the game. Normally, one has to manually copy LockJaw's existing "LJ.ini" game setup file (as well as the game's "LJ-Keys.005" keyboard configuration file) to other filenames in order to save your current custom game setup and keyboard configuration for the game (and then at a later time, manually rename them back again to the original filenames in order to restore your previous settings).


Fret no more, as the LockJaw Skin and Setup Selector makes it extremely easy to switch between any skins that you may have for LockJaw, as well as your custom game setup options and keyboard configurations with nothing but a few simple mouse clicks!


In addition to the utility's save and restore features, the LockJaw Skin and Setup Selector also has features to view LockJaw's last saved screenshot, as well as the game's current scores.


Other features of the LockJaw Skin and Setup Selector include backing up, restoring, copying to another filename, and printing LockJaw's scores file ("LJ-Scores.txt"), copying LockJaw's last saved demo file ("Demo.ljm") or last saved screenshot file ("LJSnap.bmp") to another filename, viewing any image or text document file that may reside on your hard drive, changing LockJaw's in-game sound volume, viewing LockJaw's readme file and simulation settings guide, as well as directly running the game... all from within the utility with a few simple mouse clicks.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



Downloads (note that the URLs are case-sensitive):


Readme file (also included in the ZIP) -> http://tang.cmoo.com/~snor/weeds/LockJa ... lector.txt (http://tang.cmoo.com/~snor/weeds/LockJaw_Skin_and_Setup_Selector.txt)


Preview screenshot -> http://tang.cmoo.com/~snor/weeds/LockJa ... lector.jpg (http://tang.cmoo.com/~snor/weeds/LockJaw_Skin_and_Setup_Selector.jpg)


ZIP -> http://tang.cmoo.com/~snor/weeds/LockJa ... lector.zip (http://tang.cmoo.com/~snor/weeds/LockJaw_Skin_and_Setup_Selector.zip)


After downloading, read the included readme for complete installation (or upgrade) and usage instructions, and enjoy -:)



*EDIT* 5/28/2007 - NEW VERSION 4.0 AVAILABLE!


See files and links above, and the utility's readme for the version history (as well as complete installation and upgrade instructions).

[herc]

@richnagel: you seem to have alot knowledge in sound effects, modding etc.


my question: do you know halflife 2? do you know the gravity gun? i would like to have a free sound effect that sounds like the gravity gun... ( i would like to use that wav in www.gravytris.de (http://www.gravytris.de/default.htm) )


and .. maybe some sound effects like in tetris worlds, where a female voice says "single" (ok, single should be ommited, happens way to often) "double", "triple" and "tetris".. could that be made using a speech synthesizer? or do you know some good voice acting talent?

[tepples]

"double", "triple", "Tetris", 10 takes each (http://pinocchio.jk0.org/lj/10takeseach.ogg)

[herc]

@tepples: thanks! your voice?

[Rich Nagel]

@richnagel: you seem to have alot knowledge in sound effects, modding etc.

Hehe, you give me more credit for my so-called "knowledge" than I really deserve <G>.


my question: do you know halflife 2? do you know the gravity gun? i would like to have a free sound effect that sounds like the gravity gun... ( i would like to use that wav in www.gravytris.de (http://www.gravytris.de/default.htm) )

I know little (or rather nothing) about Halflife 2, but would assume that there are prolly some utilities that would allow one to extract the sound effects files from the game. Not sure, but does this help ya -> http://www.halflife2.net/forums/archive ... 99588.html (http://www.halflife2.net/forums/archive/index.php/t-99588.html) ?


and .. maybe some sound effects like in tetris worlds, where a female voice says "single" (ok, single should be ommited, happens way to often) "double", "triple" and "tetris".. could that be made using a speech synthesizer? or do you know some good voice acting talent?


A speech synth would sound too robotic <IMHO>, if you're going for a seductive female voice, and I don't know of anyone offhand that would be suitable as a voice actor. Teeples OGG sounds pretty good though -:)


Anyhow, do you have TW for PC? If so, have a gander at the "\Tetris Worlds\Assets\PC\Any_Lang\Sounds" subdirectory on your hard drive... namely the Vo_*.wav files -:)

[herc]

sure, but i would rather stay clean from copyrighted material... because i host my game right on my personal website. would be just a bit to risky using tetris world - wav's...

[Pineapple]

Anyhow, do you have TW for PC? If so, have a gander at the "\Tetris Worlds\Assets\PC\Any_Lang\Sounds" subdirectory on your hard drive... namely the Vo_*.wav files -:)

Trust me, that's not the most interesting folder to look in...

[Cubicz]

Could i request that you extend this to the other .ini as well? so we may easily swap setting and skins? or perhaps bundle them together, and have a preset for TA death skin and settings, 0g speed run skin and settings etc.

[Rich Nagel]

Could i request that you extend this to the other .ini as well? so we may easily swap setting and skins? or perhaps bundle them together, and have a preset for TA death skin and settings, 0G speed run skin and settings etc.


I'm assuming that you're refering to LockJaw's "LJ.ini" configuration file? If so, I'm afraid not.


My (crude) utility simply renames one of the selected skins' INI files to the filename Skin.ini (basically, it's an extremely simple file manager of sorts). Since the utility doesn't "parse" the various INI files, it has no idea what format/type of file that it actually is (i.e. it can't tell the difference between a skin INI file, or LockJaw's LJ.ini file). This could make a real mess of things if the utility (in it's ignorance), let's say, copied a LJ.ini format file to a Skin.ini format file (and vice-versa).





Hmm... Now, that DOES give me another idea though... maybe a utility (or adding features to the existing one), that would simply name the saved version of your different LJ.ini configurations/setups using another file extension (maybe ".CFG"?).


In other words, currently, all of the skins' INI files use a ".INI" file extension (i.e. "GameBoy Tetris DX.ini"). But, with my above idea the saved "LJ.ini" configuration/setup files could feesibly use a ".CFG" file extension (i.e. "TA Death Setup.cfg")... problem solved -:)





I'll see what I can come up with (after I finish a new release of my LJ Skin Pack). Anyhow, excellent suggestion -:)

[Rich Nagel]

Trust me, that's not the most interesting folder to look in...


But, it's the only one that contains the sound effects for the game, AFAIK http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif But... you are correct, there are many other cool things contained in the game's other subdirectories (such as the background images and such) -:)

[Pineapple]

But... you are correct, there are many other cool things contained in the game's other subdirectories (such as the background images and such) -:)

I was actually thinking of game logic files...

[Rich Nagel]

I was actually thinking of game logic files...


Please, do tell/share -:)

[Pineapple]

I haven't reinstalled it since reinstalling Windows, but from what I remember, there are some plain text files in there with a changed extension. They describe SRS and the game logic for each of the 12 modes (6 story and 6 arcade) as well as some other things...

[Rich Nagel]

I haven't reinstalled it since reinstalling Windows, but from what I remember, there are some plain text files in there with a changed extension. They describe SRS and the game logic for each of the 12 modes (6 story and 6 arcade) as well as some other things...


Ahhh... many thanks -:) Found 'em, they're in the "Tetris Worlds\Assets\Any_Plat\Any_Lang\Scripts" directory, with file extensions of ".tws" -:)


Time to fire up DOS-Edit <BG> -:)

[herc]

Time to fire up DOS-Edit <BG> -:)

i like www.notepad++ (http://www.notepad++/default.htm),

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notepad_Plus_Plus

a very nice text / code editor, fast loading.

[Rich Nagel]

Folks,


The new version is coming along nicely, should have a release ready (possibly) by tonight. Lots of new features (saving and restoring the LJ.ini file to various filenames, same for the LJ-Keys.005 keyboard config file, as well as viewing the last saved screenshot and scores file).



i like www.notepad++ (http://www.notepad++/default.htm), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notepad_Plus_Plus a very nice text / code editor, fast loading.


Thanks for the heads-up, I'll I have to check that one out. Quite honestly though, I'm rather simplistic in my preferences for text (as well as hex) editors. I use on a regular basis MS-DOS Edit and NotePad, as well as (my all-time favorite) the built-in text editor of (the old) Norton Commander v4.0/v5.0 for DOS... ahhh... the good 'ole days <G>. For hex editing, for me, nothing is as "clean" and simple as the old DOS "FED" (FileEdit) -:)



Hehe, then again, "real men" use Edlin and Debug <LOL>!

[herc]

Thanks for the heads-up, I'll I have to check that one out. Quite honestly though, I'm rather simplistic in my preferences for text (as well as hex) editors. I use on a regular basis MS-DOS Edit and NotePad, as well as (my all-time favorite) the built-in text editor of (the old) Norton Commander v4.0/v5.0 for DOS... ahhh... the good 'ole days <G>. For hex editing, for me, nothing is as "clean" and simple as the old DOS "FED" (FileEdit) -:) Hehe, then again, "real men" use Edlin and Debug <LOL>!

oh holy! these good old dos days http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif everything was so clear and logic. and how could one ever survive without norton commander ? or a good clone? i even today - lightyears away from my dos - times, cannot live without a norton commander clone -- http://www.totalcommander.com (http://www.totalcommander.com/default.htm) - the best one around i think. every single key config is the same as with norton.

is anyone else here using this great totalcommander?

[Rich Nagel]

oh holy! these good old dos days http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif everything was so clear and logic. and how could one ever survive without norton commander ?

Agreed 200%! -:) I myself STILL use NC... been using/owning it since the original version 1.0 (what was that, circa 1978?) -:) Purchased v2/v3/v4/v5, and eventually NC for Windows 95, only to find that the older DOS versions were better <G>.

I used to use the built-in terminal program of v5 to access the local BBS's with, and used it even when I first joined CompuServe back in '90 (I finally migrated to an old gem "BitCom for DOS") -:)


or a good clone? i even today - lightyears away from my dos - times, cannot live without a norton commander clone -- http://www.totalcommander.com (http://www.totalcommander.com/default.htm) - the best one around i think. every single key config is the same as with norton. is anyone else here using this great totalcommander?


Hehe, I've been a "Windows Commander" user/owner (I *REEEFUUSSE* to call it "Total Commander" <LOL>! - if you know the history of WC/TC, you know what I'm refering to <G>) since the original 16-bit Windows 3.x incarnations, and I LOVE it -:)


BTW, how do you like my WC/TC "skin" (or rather, color scheme) and menu system <BG>? -> http://tang.cmoo.com/~snor/weeds/norton ... mander.gif (http://tang.cmoo.com/~snor/weeds/norton_windows_commander.gif) Now... if I only had a *TRUE* EGA BIOS/ROM text font for Windows <LOL>!


P.S. Sorry, getting severely off-topic here, but -> http://tang.cmoo.com/~snor/weeds/Weeds_ ... _Large.jpg (http://tang.cmoo.com/~snor/weeds/Weeds_Backwoods_Homestead/Weeds_Homestead_99_Large.jpg) ... my old still-functional 486-DX100 (Intel), with a GIGANTIC 4 meg hard drive, 64 megs of RAM, 1 meg video card, running MSDOS 6.22 and Windows 3.11 <G> -:)

[Rich Nagel]

Folks,


I just uploaded version 2.0 of the utility. FYI, it's been renamed to the "LockJaw Skin and Setup Selector". Check my (edited) first message post in this thread for download links and info.


Hope y'all find it useful -:)

[Rich Nagel]

Just a-wondering what folks think of the update(?).

[cdsboy]

I have yet to try this program. The only reason i haven't used it yet is that i have limited access to a windows computer. I would however like to congratuate you on your acomplisment because this is the one feature i have been asking for for quite a while.

[Rich Nagel]

'Twas thinking about an update for the utility: Would the ability to backup and restore your LJ-Scores.txt scores file, as well as being able to (text) search through it, be handy features?

[Cubicz]

Yeh, that'd be good. just some features off the top of my head


- back's up scores.txt

- highscore table

- a graph even? showing your scores/vs time, or tpm/vs time?


some of this stuff may be things that should be in lockjaw rather than a skin selector, but whatever. It'll just blur the line between the uses of the two.

[Rich Nagel]

Thanks for the suggestions -:)


back's up scores.txt

Cool -:)


- highscore table - a graph even? showing your scores/vs time, or tpm/vs time?


Sorry, that would be a no-go. Too much work involved (using NeoBook - that is, if it actually could) parsing the LJ-Scores.txt file. I'm not even sure if NeoBook's file I/O and parsing capabilities are advanced enough to do this (although unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that it can't).


That's why I was thinking of a simple free-text search sort of a thing (maybe using NeoBook's internal search/find command, or possibly simply loading the file into Windows Notepad and using it to search through the file).

[Cubicz]

That's cool. I have nil experience with this sort of thing, so I generally have no idea if anything i say is possible to be implemented. just chuckin' ideas around.

[tepples]

Too much work involved (using NeoBook - that is, if it actually could) parsing the LJ-Scores.txt file.

So should LJ write a log in a more machine-readable format such as JSON (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSON)?

[Rich Nagel]

So should LJ write a log in a more machine-readable format such as JSON (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSON)?


Actually, the current format of the log is fine. The limitiation is with NeoBook... advanced parsing of files using NeoBook's various commands is unfortunately beyond it's scope.

[Rich Nagel]

Just a preview of the upcoming version -> http://tang.cmoo.com/~snor/weeds/LockJa ... lector.jpg (http://tang.cmoo.com/~snor/weeds/LockJaw_Skin_and_Setup_Selector.jpg) . Have to change a few things here and there for support for the new version of LJ -:)

[Rich Nagel]

Folks,


I just released the new version of the utility (v3.0). New features/changes include:


- Copying LockJaw's last saved screenshot file to another file.


- Copying LockJaw's last saved demo file to another file.


- Display any image file on your hard drive.


- Print LockJaw's scores file.


- Backing up LockJaw's scores file to the another file.


- Restoring LockJaw's scores file from the backup.


- Compatability with LockJaw version 0.35 changed filename extension for skin files.


- Viewing LockJaw's scores file now uses Windows Wordpad so that it can be easily searched through ("CTRL+F" in Wordpad).


Check the included readme for upgrade/installation/usage instructions, as well as complete version history.


Anyhow, (updated) download links are in my first message post in this thread, hope this proves useful to someone -:)

[Rich Nagel]

Folks,


I just released a new version of the utility (v4.0). New features/changes include:


- Added feature to change LockJaw's in-game sound volume.


- Added feature to view any text document file on your hard drive.


- Added feature to copy LockJaw's current game scores file ("LJ-Scores.txt") to another file.


- Added feature to view LockJaw's help and readme file ("Readme.html").


- Added feature to view the "LockJaw Simulation Settings (http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/../wiki/index.php?title=Lockjaw_Simulation_Settings)" guide ("Lockjaw_Simulation_Settings.html") from the Tetris Concept Wiki (http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/../wiki) on the Internet, or locally from your hard drive.


- Included several saved LockJaw game setup "CFG" files, based on data obtained from the "LockJaw Simulation Settings (http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/../wiki/index.php?title=Lockjaw_Simulation_Settings)" guide from the Tetris Concept Wiki (http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/../wiki) (current as of May 25, 2007 11:06am).


Check the included readme for upgrade/installation/usage instructions, as well as complete version history.


Anyhow, (updated) download links are in my first message post in this thread, have fun -:)

[Cubicz]

Folks,
...
- Included several saved LockJaw game setup "CFG" files, based on data obtained from the "LockJaw Simulation Settings (http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/../wiki/index.php?title=Lockjaw_Simulation_Settings)" guide from the Tetris Concept Wiki (http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/../wiki) (current as of May 25, 2007 11:06am).



That's a really good feature. good stuff!

[Rich Nagel]

Glad ya found it useful -:) Yep, the ability to load in previously saved LJ game settings is really handy, especially when using the data from the LJ Simulation Settings Guide at the Wiki -:)