Config "visability"

[willrob]

I've noticed while scripting for Darkroom that certain combinations of Color Map, Wave Shape and Flow Field don't interact fully. The color appears, but because the Wave Shape and the Flow Field aren't interacting correctly, nothing appears on screen (except the color). I assume there is a relationship between the shape and field: perhaps some shapes require a dark color to appear, or some shapes are overwhelmed by the flow field.

Often I write down, from the verbose mode info, combinations I see while playing in random mode (in iTunes on a Mac), but when I attempt to script those settings in Darkroom I never seem to get the same results. So I am thinking that some effects appear because of the proceeding config—either the field, shape or color — that they flow out of.

Can anyone confirm this, or comment?

[Roger Bigod]

I can't speak to the problem of configs not appearing, but if you play configs from a script, they won't look the same every time. The reason is that many of the configs choose random parameters when they start up and plug the parameters into calculating the screen. For example, in the wallpaper flow fields, there's a parameter that determines the apparent tilt in 3D relative to the viewer. The appearance can vary from a flat surface to a plane that recedes off into the distance on one side of the screen. The only way to get the same appearance every time would be to change the config program so that the tilt parameter is constant rather than being determined by a random number generater for each startup event.