The Dink Network

Dink.ini Rewrite

March 1st, 2005
v3.0
Score : 3.0 tolerable
girl.gif
joshriot
Peasant They/Them United States
keep it real 
this .ini rewrite aspires to be an improved version of the already perfect .ini file that comes with skeleton_s which was created by a very likable and handsome individual.

so whats different between the skeleton whatever .ini and this one anyway?

1. load sequence lines are categorized by groups with similar characteristics of the graphics being loaded.

skeleton whatever .ini is categorized in groups of tens, and arranged in ascending numerical order, in the same order that they appear in the smart cache system in dink edit.

2. grouped in categories named "buildings, walls, doors, inside, outside, dink, people, men, females, fairies, knights, gnomes, dragons, boncas, slayers, puddles, goblins, stone giants, spikes, pillbugs, animals, plants, weapons, blood, rewards, paper, fire, damage, effects, misc, menu, unused slots"

3. perhaps the most fatal flaw, claims some used up slots to be unused.

its a shame that such time was put into such a worthless file. why is it worthless? its just not practical, helpful, or better than the unorganized heap that comes with skeleton b in any way.

what would be so better about having the load sequence lines in this order? can you find what graphic is what number faster? first of all.... if you are a dink author.... all you have to do is read the screen in dinkedit to get the sprite's sequence number. why would you want to scroll through the .ini for this information?

even if you dont know how to use dinkedit, it would be much more helpful to have these categories in a collapsible form, perhaps html. then all the groups are easily navigate able. how helpful is it to have the load sequence lines grouped if you need to scroll through the whole file just to find the category first (assuming the thing you want is listed in what you are assuming it to be listed as. i, for one, consider myself a person in addition to male) then you have to scroll through the category to find the right line you needed. it just doesnt make sense.

there is no improvement over skeleton s .ini as far as i could tell. perhaps the only fallacy was that the graphics are not loaded in an order that puts things in better proximity. this is an error with the original .ini order and cannot be changed without jeopardizing compatibility. the reason behind this is obviously that the dink rpg began production before all the graphics were completed and more where added at the end of the .ini as progress went along.

the final straw is errors with the unused slots. the bottom line: just DONT USE this file. the skeleton s .ini has them in the same order as they are in dinkedit. this is the correct order. if you need to know the sequence number, just look at the screen in dink edit. if you dont know how to use dink edit you dont need to know the sequence number anyway.

SO SHOULD I DOWNLOAD IT AND TRY IT OUT? answer: not if you want to use it in a dmod. if you want to find the sequence number of a sprite without dink edit so that you can tattoo it on your ass or something, go ahead and do it. you might get the right number, but the method wont be an better, easier, or faster.

VERDICT? simonk hit the nail on the head of the problems this file has. i will take it further to say that even with certain problems fixed, it still wont serve any purpose to put the load_sequence lines in this order. to beat a dead horse, theres just no reason to have the .ini file arranged in a different way than the graphics are loaded. for those reasons i subtract another point, and that leaves us with a solid 3.