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JS arrays in squiffy

2021-01-04T02:27:22Z

[[Start]]:
    var Arr1 = [];
    set ("Arr1", JSON.stringify(Arr1));
    var Arr2 = [];
    set ("Arr2", JSON.stringify(Arr2));
    Arr1[1]=5;
    Arr2[1]=42;
    set("Arr2_1",JSON.stringify(Arr2));
    
The attribute Arr1 has been set to the string: '{Arr1}'.

The attribute Arr2 has been set to the string: '{Arr2}'.

The attribute Arr2_1 has been set to the string: '{Arr2_1}'.

OK, now try [[Next]].

[[Next]]:
    var Arr1 = JSON.parse(get("Arr1"))
    set("test2", Arr1[1])
    var Arr2 = JSON.parse(get("Arr2"))
    set("test3", Arr2[1])
    var Arr2_1 = JSON.parse(get("Arr2_1"))
    set("test3", Arr2[1])
    set("test4", Arr2_1[1])

The middle element of that array is {test2}.

The middle element of that array is {test3}.

The middle element of that array is {test4}.

JS arrays in squiffy

2021-01-04T01:40:40Z

doesn't seem to like leaving the array open

Not sure what you mean there.

does it need to be allocated

No; javascript is a high level language. An array is created by using [], whether or not you put values in them.

In this case, I get back true, not 5.

When you do set ("Arr1", JSON.stringify(Arr1));, you're setting the squiffy attribute to the string "[]" - the current values in that array. You can then add an element to the array, but the array is just a local variable.

The line in the second function, Arr1 = JSON.parse(get("Arr1")), restores that variable to the exact values it had when set ("Arr1", JSON.stringify(Arr1)) was called. In this example, an empty array.

So your second section, you look at Arr1[1] and get back undefined because the array is empty. I'm not sure what weirdness of Squiffy's text processor causes this to render as "true", but I think I've come across that quirk before.

If you want to add values to the array, you need to do that before the call to JSON.stringify.

That's one of the reasons I prefer the second option. 8 lines of script at the start of your game, and then you can trust Squiffy to save the values after each section.

JS arrays in squiffy

2021-01-03T20:54:21Z

I think that might do it. I'm going to have to play with it a bit. One thing I did see - I'm expecting it to be pretty large (800+). It (your first example) doesn't seem to like leaving the array open - does it need to be allocated?

[[Start]]:
    var Arr1 = [];
    set ("Arr1", JSON.stringify(Arr1));

    Arr1[1]=5;
    
The attribute Arr1 has been set to the string: '{Arr1}'.

OK, now try [[Next]].

[[Next]]:
    var Arr1 = JSON.parse(get("Arr1"))
    set("test2", Arr1[1])

The middle element of that array is {test2}.

In this case, I get back true, not 5.

JS arrays in squiffy

2021-01-03T19:34:17Z

Actually, last night I poked around some more and found a conversation where someone talked about the same thing - JS variables and arrays do not cross into new sections - they are local to that section.

Technically, undeclared variables aren't even variables; they're properties.

If you just do Arr1 = [] without the var, it doesn't declare a local variable. It assumes Arr1 is shorthand for this.Arr1. But Squiffy does something a little odd (which I'd forgotten about), so even though this refers to something like squiffy.story.sections['Start'], setting an attribute on it doesn't work as expected.

The usual way of handling global variables in cases like this is to use an object you know to be global. For example, you can refer to window.Arr1, and know that it's the same variable everywhere. That's the easy way to use global JS variables in Squiffy.

But there's a downside. Squiffy attributes are stored in LocalStorage, so they're still there when the player closes the browser and opens it again. The same isn't true for JS variables, which only last as long as the window exists. So in this case, it still might be helpful to use a Squiffy attribute.

Which means arrays are out.

I don't see why it should be.

How about:

[[Start]]:
    var Arr1 = [0, 1, "foo"];
    set ("Arr1", JSON.stringify(Arr1));

The attribute Arr1 has been set to the string: '{Arr1}'.

OK, now try [[Next]].

[[Next]]:
    var Arr1 = JSON.parse(get("Arr1"))
    set("test2", Arr1[1])

The middle element of that array is {test2}.

JSON lets you turn a javascript data type into a string and back again. It's normally used when stuff like arrays and objects needs to be sent between a client and server; but it works just fine for storing arrays or other data in a Squiffy attribute. This method works fine whether it's arrays or plain objects you're dealing with. Or even arrays of objects.

An alternative I've used, to avoid having to explicitly use JSON everywhere, is to store them in a javascript variable, and put that into an attribute when saving. Something like (off the top of my head):

[[Start]]:
    // Redefining the save function, so that it will save our custom variable
    squiffy.story.save = function () {
        // This is what 'save' does by default:
        squiffy.set('_output', squiffy.ui.output.html());

        // Save our custom variable
        squiffy.set('myvariable', JSON.stringify(window.myvariable))

        // And abuse the 'transition' mechanism to make sure it's loaded again
        // by causing the javascript in a particular section to to be run as soon as this saved game is loaded
        squiffy.set('_transition', "squiffy.story.sections['load variables'].js")
    }
    window.myvariable = [];
    // Now we've guaranteed that window.myvariable exists, it will be accessible because it's in the context chain
    // so we don't need to look at it again

Now, take a look at the [[first section]].

[[load variables]]:
    window.myvariable = JSON.parse(get("myvariable"))

This section should never actually be visited, so it doesn't need text. It just makes sure that the variable is saved correctly.

[[first section]]:
    myvariable = ["apple", "banana"];

So what next?
Do you  like [more bananas], [cherries], or [peaches]?
Or would you like to see [[what the variable contains]]?

[more bananas]:
    myvariable.push("all the bananas")

Okay! Now what?

[cherries]:
    myvariable.push("cherry")

Okay! Now what?

[peaches]:
    myvariable.push("peaches")

Okay! Now what?

[[what the variable contains]]:
    set ('testvariable', myvariable.join(', '))

That variable contains: {testvariable}.

This means you have all the flexibility of a JS variable, which is accessible anywhere as long as you explicitly refer to it as window.myvariable the first time. And it persists into a saved game as well.

JS arrays in squiffy

2021-01-03T15:47:35Z

Taking Var out of this code causes it to crash in Squiffy.

Actually, last night I poked around some more and found a conversation where someone talked about the same thing - JS variables and arrays do not cross into new sections - they are local to that section.

If you want to jump a variable to another section, you have to carry it across in a squiffy variable, using Set and Get commands. Which means arrays are out.

Which is okay. Last night in bed, I thought about it and figured a way to do it with just squiffy variables. I'm not sure how keen I am with this -an array would have been perfect. But you do what you can do with this application, I guess.

JS arrays in squiffy

2021-01-03T06:34:39Z

Declaring a variable with var is optional, and makes it local to the current function.

JS arrays in squiffy

2021-01-03T03:06:17Z

According to what I'm reading, variables (and arrays) in JS are all global in nature. However, I'm not having a lot of luck seeing arrays in functions. An example:

[[Start]]:

    var Arr1 = [];
    Arr1[0]=50;

    set("test1",Arr1[0]); //works
test1={test1}

[[Next]]

[[Next]]:
    set("test2",Arr1[0]); //fails
test2={test2}

Any ideas on how to use an array in other places (either JS functions or other squiffy sections)?

Interplanitary flight

2021-01-01T01:23:35Z

One funny story about the game (this was from a decade ago). A friend and I were writing our various pieces. When it came time to actually do your mental and physical states, I combined them. I figured that if you were injured or going mad, the affect would be pretty much the same on your effectiveness. So why quibble about open wounds and mental disturbance?

Since you had your mental state to worry about - long burns and the emptiness of space would make morale problematic - I added things you could buy and take in your ship. Booze, drugs, a bible, video games, even pornography. Each would give you a boost using them if you "got the blues".

Then my friend called while playing the game over the weekend. Right as he was about to do a critical final burn to enter an orbit (he HAD to be a the controls), there was a solar flare. So, his choice was to hide in his shielded sleep bunk or stay at the controls and manage orbital entry. He chose the latter and got a good dose of radiation, which dropped his health/morale.

So he calls me up after this and tells me the story and says, "You know, I used smut to heal radiation burns. Who would have thought..."

The next day, I was splitting morale from health.

Interplanitary flight

2021-01-01T01:17:04Z

Trust me, even on that scale, Pluto was way far away. Generally you had to fly the entire game and get every fuel tank, air tank and power battery you could get to make the run. You'd accelerate steady off one of the inner planets, boosting hard and shaking your ship and body apart (if you took it slow, you took it longer and might not make it). Usually I'd be going 12+ squares a turn, just coasting along. That was when I'd tune my ship and try to heal my injuries from the high gees. Meanwhile, I'd have to figure the factorial of my deceleration to figure when I needed to flip and burn hard. And there was nothing worse than an engine failure on those last few burns to not have you slip right by and die just off Pluto.

So...

While reading your response, it gave me the idea of how to do this. What I'll probably do is mock it up over the next few weeks and put a demo out there so people can fly the bare bones version (just flying, nothing else). Eventually I'll put in all the other things my old game had - gambling, bomb defusing, assassins, everything. So, coming soon...

Interplanitary flight

2020-12-31T22:23:58Z

(and Pluto, something like 285 or so)

I thought it would be more like 500 on that scale; but google says 355 (39.5 times farther than Earth)

need to know if there is some calculation to know how far each path square is from the 0,0 center.

You already know how to find a distance between two points using their (x,y) coords:
distance² = (x₁-x₂)² + (y₁-y₂)²

What you need here is probably distance², because the power generated by a solar cell is reduced according to distance squared from the sun. And with the sun at (0,0), the formula is even simpler: power gained per unit time is just your base power divided by (x²+y²).

Working out the average of all the squares they pass through in a day would be inaccurate; but probably close enough for a game

Interplanitary flight

2020-12-31T20:38:45Z

Working out and idea for a game based on solar system flight. Assume the sun is at 0,0 and planets are slowly walking around a grid, so many squares from the sun (like, Mercury =3, and Venus=5 and Earth=9 (and Pluto, something like 285 or so)).

It would work very easily if, before you fly to another planet, you file a flight plan. This would take into account where you are starting and where you are going and set up a path of squares you need to move across before making it (using good old A2 +B2=C2 stuff). Once you start out, you are moving 1 square each day. Burn fuel and now it's 2 a day. But you need to flip and start decelerating before you get to your destination.

All fine and good. Again, you aren't running across a messy grid (with all those weird diagonals), you are moving along a path (determined by the location of planets on a grid).

My only problem I'm facing is ... electricity. I'm wanting that you need to swing out your solar panels to pick up power from the sun. The further away you are, the less well your gain is (past Jupiter, it's pretty much rubbish).

But lets say you are making the long haul from Uranus to Pluto, and they happen to be in conjunction (opposite sides of the sun). If setting up a flight path from, lets say, +200,0 to -300, 0 (with 500 path squares to cover) is there a way to determine how close EACH square of that path is to the sun? Because, in conjunction like that, you'll be swinging right past the sun and can get that critical power boost.

If I knew this, I could also know when you are in the asteroid belt (from your range to the sun). But I need to know if there is some calculation to know how far each path square is from the 0,0 center.

On this hinges everything.

Future of squiffy

2020-12-30T02:24:33Z

Why doesn't it give us better Captchas, like maybe bikini girls at the beach, or hamburgers in a drive through?

I've said the exact same thing!

(Great minds think alike.)

Future of squiffy

2020-12-29T19:48:23Z

Why doesn't it give us better Captchas, like maybe bikini girls at the beach, or hamburgers in a drive through?

Future of squiffy

2020-12-29T19:07:04Z

I can't even get the traffic lights.

Oh, man!

The traffic lights and the crosswalks kick my butt. Sometimes, I give up trying to post stuff!

could you easily write a dungeon crawl that randomizes the dungeon? Or is it always going to be areas pointing at other areas in a fixed and static relationship?

Err . . .

I'm pretty sure you can. The Pixie is the author of Quest 6, and he already has a dungeon-crawler in Quest 5. So, I'm betting he probably made Quest 6 capable of handling all that and more.

Also, Quest 6 is pure JS. So, you should be able to make it do whatever you like.

Maybe I'll stick with squiffy or see what else is out there. It's just that I've got years invested on this platform.

I haven't heard any plans to drop Squiffy, but that doesn't really mean anything. I don't "work here", or anything. I just bother The Pixie and manowar quite frequently and pick up little pieces of information here and there. I'm pretty sure I read (somewhere in all the Quest 6 documentation) that it wasn't going to do gamebooks because we already have Squiffy.

Now, if we're wondering if Squiffy will continue to be maintained or something like that, it's on GitHub. So, I'm thinking the worst case scenario would be some of us pushing our own updates to that repo. This is total conjecture, though. Plus, to be repetitive, and to be repetitive, I haven't seen any sign that Squiffy might be going the way of the dodo.

Me? I'm pretty sure I'm about to use Squiffy to make a HELP "section" in the Quest 6 game ~~I'm working on~~ on which I am currently working.

I did something similar with Twine in an Inform 7 game before.

Has there been a decrease in Squiffy usage?

(I really only check out the Squiffy forum when the title of a thread jumps out and grabs my attention.)

Oh! It hit me with the cursed traffic lights this time! (It's listening to us!)

Future of squiffy

2020-12-29T18:09:49Z

I can't even get the traffic lights.

I appreciate this. So tell me, even though Quest does not support CYOA games, does it allow for a fully randomized set up? In other words, could you easily write a dungeon crawl that randomizes the dungeon? Or is it always going to be areas pointing at other areas in a fixed and static relationship?

I tend to write games with replayibility in them. In essence, I don't want to write a came I can't enjoy over and over.

Maybe I'll stick with squiffy or see what else is out there. It's just that I've got years invested on this platform.

Future of squiffy

2020-12-29T16:14:22Z

Hello, Bluevoss!

~~This probably isn't exactly what you're fishing for~~

~~This probably isn't exactly for what you're fishing~~

This probably isn't the exact response for which you were fishing, but I do know two things:

Quest 6 is currently in development.

Okay . . . So, I know one thing! (Hehehe.)

...but I've also heard that Quest 6 will not have a gamebook mode. So, Squiffy will be the de facto gamebook authoring system on this site.

...and I assume that 'they' assume the site will be around for a while (along with Squiffy), otherwise:

Quest 6 probably wouldn't be in development
I wouldn't have read that Quest 6 won't have a gamebook mode because people can just use Squiffy

Having said all that, I'm thinking you're probably talking about the liveliness of the site?

The only way I know how to judge that is by the forum, which is not very lively. Maybe that only means fewer authors are currently needing help?

If you're wondering if CYOA games are less in-demand, I'm of no help at all, because:

I'm more of a parser person
I don't really know anyone else who plays Interactive Fiction

I'm not much help. I know. But I'm on a break, and I thought maybe the info concerning Quest 6 might be a little relevant.

Also, I'm not a robot. I can click on all the chimneys. Can robots click on all the chimneys? I think not!

Future of squiffy

2020-12-28T23:43:09Z

Having been a faithful Atari owner as PCs rose to dominate, I gotta ask what people on this forum think of the future of squiffy.

I'm not asking solely out of curiosity - I've been thinking of a major space trading game, one I wrote in Excel a number of years ago, one with trading about our own solar system. It was a lot of fun but I could see places I could have improved it.

So now I'm thinking of redoing it in squiffy. I'm comfortable with it and have a number of major games out (one of which has a pretty good private following). Also, this site gives me a good platform for players. But if it's drying up and who knows, maybe the squiffy side of things might drop off the site, should I bother with it?

Curious about what people think about squiffy and what it's survival chances are.

Squiffy OR

2020-12-28T22:03:58Z

Of course, should bave remembered de Morgan's laws.

Good solution :)