Greetings, Adventurers!

ACSG version 1.1.4 brings exciting new features for interface customization, small fixes, and three brand-new tutorials fresh out of the oven (Links at the end of this changelog). 

PS: This changelog is quite thorough and can also serve as support material for the mentioned tutorials, alongside the updated Manual itself.

CUSTOM INTERFACE SYSTEM VIA M.D. (MESSAGE DISPLAY)

🚀 Interface Evolution: The M.D. as a Functional Script Area

To keep the page editing area clean and intuitive, I decided not to overload the editor with an excess of buttons and menus. Instead, I chose to evolve the Message Display (M.D.), which can become the heart of your narrative depending on your project.

The M.D. remains the dedicated space for your texts, dialogues, and descriptions. However, what started as an implementation of simple commands to enrich your narratives and provide more options for those wishing to create text-based games has grown. I realized I could expand these capabilities, transforming the Display into an area for basic yet extremely functional scripts.

Don't be alarmed: ACSG is and always will be RAD (Rapid Application Development). I created these commands to be simpler than basic HTML, but they allow you to considerably expand control over your game's interface. Through simple command lines, it is now possible to create interactive elements and new navigation options.

See more below...

🛠️ NEW COMMANDS

The creation of fully interactive interface elements via M.D. commands allows you to expand the number of buttons for various purposes: from creating dialogues with even more options (beyond the system's standard 4) and clickable menus in any area of the screen, to World Map systems, Bestiaries, or whatever else you can imagine integrated into your main interface.

Additional buttons on the standard interface:

An interactive World Map, with buttons detailing locations and player positioning.

1. Creation Command: $$$CREATEBTN 

Syntax: $$$CREATEBTN:File, X, Y, Width, Height, Map, Page

This command generates a visual button (floating button) in real-time on the game screen.

• File: Image name with extension (e.g., button.bmp or icon.jpg). Using BMP or JPG is recommended to ensure compatibility. This image must be in your project's IMG folder.

• X / Y: Exact position on the screen where the button should appear.

• Width / Height: Size of the button. The image will be automatically adjusted to fill these dimensions.

• Map / Page: The destination (location) where the player will be sent upon clicking the button.

EX: $$$CREATEBTN:Mybtn.bmp,10,25,30,30,1,6 

PS: No spaces between commas

What will happen: The button will be created at screen positions X:10 and Y:25, with a width and height of 30. Upon clicking it, the player will be redirected to Page 6 of Map 1.

2. Persistence Command: $$$FIXUI 

Syntax: $$$FIXUI

Insert this into the M.D. text area, preferably at the top along with your $$$CREATEBTN commands on all pages where you want the UI to persist.

• "Fixed" HUD Effect: If the destination page contains the same $$$CREATEBTN command in the same position, the button will appear static and native to the interface, remaining on the screen without any visual interruption or "flicker" during the transition.

• Ideal for: Global navigation buttons and menus that follow the player across multiple screens (must be implemented on each desired page).

3. Anchoring Command: $$$ANCHOR 

Syntax: $$$ANCHOR

Defines the current page as a Fixed Return Point (Anchor), allowing an exact return through the Link command @backanchor:, regardless of subsequent navigation (More on this below).

• Note: You can create dynamic buttons ($$$CREATEBTN) with the tagged text effect, so the buttons will emerge according to the defined text speed. You can create cool effects with this. Use your imagination!

4. Intelligent Navigation: @back vs @backbtn vs @backanchor: 

Syntax: Use the prefix in the page's Link/Destination field 

Ex: @back:Return or @backanchor:Exit

Notes: These are Link Commands (Page Editing) that complement the M.D. buttons. More details in the Manual.

• @back: Returns to the last page visited before the current one. Ideal for single information screens or simple confirmations.

• @backbtn: Returns to the source page where the last floating button ($$$CREATEBTN) was triggered.

• @backanchor: Returns to the last page that contained the $$$ANCHOR command. It is the definitive command for exiting complex systems and returning exactly to the location where the anchor was defined.

Usage Tip: Prefer @backbtn: or @back for simple query systems (like a single help page). Use @backanchor: for complex systems with multiple clicks, combined with the $$$ANCHOR command on the source page (where the complex Submenu you created is called from).

Why use it?: Imagine the player opens a Bestiary via a floating button and navigates through several monster files; @back: will only try to return to the last monster file viewed. @backbtn: ignores these swaps, but if another floating button is clicked in the meantime, it replaces the first button's anchor with the current one, which you might not want. @backanchor: guarantees the return to the system's origin (where you defined $$$ANCHOR) even if you navigate through various maps and different buttons within it.

>>> HEADS UP <<<

The Link commands (@back:, @backanchor:, @web:, and @rnd:) also work within the "Page" parameter of the $$$CREATEBTN command.

• "backbtn:" DOES NOT work here!

EX: $$$CREATEBTN:Mybtn.bmp,10,25,30,30,0,@web:http://www.serpagames.com.br

The Map value here could be anything; I used zero because the field must be filled. When clicked, the button opens the specified address in your default browser.

EX: $$$CREATEBTN:Mybtn.bmp,10,25,30,30,0,@backanchor: 

The Map value here could be anything; I used zero because the field must be filled. Returns to the page previously anchored via the $$$ANCHOR command.

EX: $$$CREATEBTN:Mybtn.bmp,10,25,30,30,6,@rnd: 

The Map value here defines where the randomized pages will come from. When clicking this button, one of the pages (any of them) existing in Map 006 will be opened.

⚠️ NOTE: For the Dynamic HUD system and custom commands to work, the Message Display (M.D.) must be enabled on the page, as it acts as the interpreter for the $$$ scripts.

🚀 SPEEDING UP YOUR WORK:

Now that you understand how the commands above work, let’s explore the potential of the two highlighted buttons added in this version. 

WHAT DO THEY DO? 

Simply put, they replicate the current M.D. content across all pages of the map simultaneously. The first button performs the action exclusively on Interface Directions (I.D.) type pages, while the second focuses on Interface Buttons (I.B.) pages.

Imagine you created two new buttons strategically positioned on the navigation screen (I.D.) to open a Bestiary and a World Map. The standard procedure would be to copy this "script" individually into every page to ensure interface (UI) persistence. With the replication feature, you apply this same script to all pages of the map with just one click, ensuring speed and visual consistency.

Safety Note: Use this feature with caution. Since the M.D. is multipurpose—serving scripts, dialogues, descriptions, and narrative texts—ensure you do not overwrite specific content you wish to preserve on certain pages.

👁️ Real-Time Preview and M.D. Integration

There has been a considerable improvement in the PREVIEW specific to this area:

• Assertive Rendering: Unlike previous versions, which displayed only standard images for text testing, the new Preview loads the actual image of your map.

• PS: Standard images will still be displayed if no image has been defined for the page.

• Precision Adjustment: Visualize the exact execution of the $$$CREATEBTN command over the real scenery. This allows you to validate positioning, scale, and interface aesthetics without needing to open the game.

• I.D. (Interface Direction) Navigation: Now, in this preview, you can use the rotation buttons to check how the HUD elements behave in each of the four directions. Since these buttons always appear at the same coordinates regardless of compass orientation, it is recommended to position them over interface elements (frames or panels) to maintain immersion.
  

📊 STATISTICS COMPLEMENT (M.D.)

To complement the statistics from the last update (1.1.3), you can also use the new commands below to display them directly in the M.D. text, using the character INDEX:

• $$$DMG + INDEX: Displays Min and Max Damage (Ex: '1 - 30')
• $$$ACC + INDEX: Displays Accuracy Rank
• $$$DMR + INDEX: Displays Damage Reduction value
• $$$CRR + INDEX: Displays Critical Rate Rank
• $$$CRV + INDEX: Displays Critical Damage value
• $$$EVA + INDEX: Displays Evasion Rank
• $$$BCH + INDEX: Displays Block Chance (Ex: '25%')

🛠️ BUGFIXES & INTERFACE ADJUSTMENTS

Initial Stability: The Message Display (M.D.) now ignores specific commands on the startup page that could cause conflicts or instabilities during project launch.

• Support for $$$CREATEBTN: The command is also enabled on the startup screen, but be aware that buttons will remain inactive until party creation is complete. Since they are rendered above everything else, they should not overlap standard interface elements to avoid blocking system actions.

• Flicker Correction (Mini-map): Fixed a rendering error that caused an almost imperceptible flick when moving with zoom or rotation effects active while the mini-map was on. The bug incorrectly updated zoom coordinates for a brief moment, which could cause eye strain in long gaming sessions. Fixed.

• Standard Resources Update: In the last update, after renaming the Barbare class to Barbarian, I noticed that items were still referencing the old name, triggering a "class does not exist" warning. The verification system worked exactly as intended by flagging the mismatch, which was simply an update oversight in the base files. Everything is fixed in this version. :)

• DAMAGE ROUND Visual Glitch: Fixed an issue where damage animations (FOR DAMAGE ROUND) would still trigger briefly during the single-turn check with multiple active effects after a hero's death. The state-clearing logic has been optimized to ensure that all active EFFECTS are fully reset upon death, both internally and in the UI, preventing residual info on the status display.

🖥️ Interface Stability and Window Management

Minimization System Change: I internally altered how ACSG handles the minimize command to prevent an interface failure that hindered restoring (maximizing) the engine on certain system configurations. Now, the program returns to the foreground with a single click on the taskbar icon.

• Technical Note: This change is experimental. As Windows has different ways of handling linked windows, please let me know if you notice any unexpected behavior when switching or restoring the engine!

Submenu Hierarchy: ACSG uses integrated windows for submenus (such as CONFIG, INTERFACES, WORLD). To interact with or minimize the main screen correctly, ensure you close the currently active submenu window.

Execution Focus Refinement: I applied reinforcements to the game initialization code after using Compile and Run, to more consistently ensure the game window maintains foreground priority after compilation, preventing it from being overlapped by the engine interface under certain conditions.

• Observation: This focus occurs at the moment of opening; if you click the ACSG window after the game starts, the game window will return behind it normally. To prevent the game from minimizing along with the engine, use the "Restore" button to resize the ACSG and access the game window freely.

Routine Maintenance: Technical review of various modules to ensure stability and optimized performance during adventure execution.

⚙️ How to update your project

• Compatibility: Guaranteed for projects created with the immediately preceding version.

• Procedure: Uninstall the old version and install ACSG 1.1.4. Data migration occurs automatically when opening your old project for the first time.

• Important: It is recommended to accept the Manual update when prompted.

NEW TUTORIALS:

Both tutorials complement each other; I recommend watching them in order:

ACSG v1.1.4 TUTORIAL: Advanced UI (Part 1)

• ACSG v1.1.4 TUTORIAL: Advanced UI (Part 2)

• ACSG v1.1.4 TUTORIAL: Advanced UI (Part 3)

I hope you enjoy the new features, and I count on everyone's support! 👍