I’ve got the new data structure in place now and finally am able to save and load it to a file.
Until yesterday, I was having a problem loading my data back in. I’m using XStream to write out the Adventure structure as XML. Writing it out was no problem, but when I loaded the data back in I kep getting a ClassCastException. Doing a Google search for “xstream classcastexception” took me on journey through many forums and email lists with no clear solution in sight. Did I need to write a custom ClassLoader? Was something wrong with my Classpath? I was starting to get bummed.
I asked a co-worker if he had ever used XStream. He hadn’t, but offered to look at the problem with me sometime. In preparation for that I decided to simplify the example so we could focus on the problem. I whipped up a quick example class that created an Adventure, saved it and then loaded it. I ran the program and it didn’t generate the ClassCastException!
After comparing the code between the two apps I noticed one thing I was doing in the real app that I wasn’t doing in the example after the data loaded - I was trying to assign the newly loaded data object as the input to a JFace TreeViewer, when I should been sending the object’s children. That’s what was causing the ClassCastException.
So I never actually talked to my co-worker about the problem but was able to solve it. I was explaining to my girlfriend who is called Rubber Ducking.
And I suspect that if I was using Unit Testing, I would’ve solved this problem a lot faster…
Thanks to “munki” on the forums, we’ve hit the motherload of free soundtracks for video games including games like Lord of the Rings, Arcanum, Empire Earth and Men of Valor. I didn’t get to check every single directory, but got through the majority of them. Some are zipped up and some are individual links, but here are the URLs:
- ftp://ftp.sierra.com/pub/sierra/hobbit/other/
- ftp://ftp.sierra.com/pub/sierra/empireearth2/other/
- ftp://ftp.sierra.com/pub/sierra/lotr/other/
- ftp://ftp.sierra.com/pub/sierra/arcanum/other/
- ftp://ftp.sierra.com/pub/sierra/menofvalor/other/
- ftp://ftp.sierra.com/pub/sierra/pharaoh/other/
- ftp://ftp.sierra.com/pub/sierra/warofthering/other/
- ftp://ftp.sierra.com/pub/vug/riddick/other/
- ftp://ftp.sierra.com/pub/ppg/hunter/other/
If you find any others, feel free to post about it in the forum!
Previously RPGAM stored its Playlists and Effects Playlists separately, but a number of people have asked to be able to store the data with their own organizational structure. So I started working on moving them into a tree structure that allows you to make your own folders in which you can store other folders or any number of Playlists and Effects Palettes.
I’m currently working on getting drag and drop working within the tree view.
Including a handy ZIP file of all the tracks, you can get the complete Longest Journey soundtrack for free in MP3 format. This is a nice mix of styles, including some long and very short tracks. The short ones can help accent those interesting, exciting or tense moments in a game.
You can get a ton of free MP3s from Eve Online from the Eve Online web site. These are great for any space or apocalyptic setting.
While poking around various MMORPG sites I came across Vanguard: Saga of Heroes and their site has 11 MP3s available for download from the game. Just click on Media and the Music.