Universal Character Scripting Helper (UCSH) [In Development]

[Konnor88]

Hi all, I figured I should post my progress on Actor Toolkit's 4.0 version, otherwise codenamed the Universal Character Scripting Helper (unless you all have suggestions for a better name!) This is probably the most ambitious project that I have worked on so far for the community in terms of software, so I cannot for certain provide a release date, but I would like to have a beta out sometime this month for people to test and find bugs.

Just like MASH, it features a multi-document interface with a listbox on the side with choices for various sub windows, and my main goal is to at improve some things over MASH, including full-Microsoft Agent Character Editor integration into the program itself (as long as you have it installed that is) for one.

Below is a video demonstration, featuring Genie.acs, Merlin.acs, AgentBlue.acs, Rover.act, Scribble.act, and KNOKNOK.ani.


This program will support the following:
- Microsoft Agent 1.5 characters (.ACS)
- Microsoft Agent 2.0 characters (.ACS/.ACG/etc)
- Microsoft Actor 1.0 characters (.ACT)
- Most Microsoft Actor 2.0 characters (.ACT, excluding those with compressed BMPs, though thankfully most of those have an agent form)
- Utopia Animation Files (.ANI) [These goes in the PROPS folder]

If you have any feedback on what you saw in the demonstration, feel free to leave it here! Additionally, I have attached a poll for where ACT files and ANI files should go when the program is out and has a proper EXE installer!

Since you came back online, how's the progress?

Going pretty good with the majority of original MASH features re-implemented into UCSH. Here's a feature preview of the new Speak to Wave menu, where you can now put a YouTube link instead of having to download the video manually and converting to WAV. I hope to have a testable build out soon where the majority of features are available to use.

[united123]

Hi all, I figured I should post my progress on Actor Toolkit's 4.0 version, otherwise codenamed the Universal Character Scripting Helper (unless you all have suggestions for a better name!) This is probably the most ambitious project that I have worked on so far for the community in terms of software, so I cannot for certain provide a release date, but I would like to have a beta out sometime this month for people to test and find bugs.

Just like MASH, it features a multi-document interface with a listbox on the side with choices for various sub windows, and my main goal is to at improve some things over MASH, including full-Microsoft Agent Character Editor integration into the program itself (as long as you have it installed that is) for one.

Below is a video demonstration, featuring Genie.acs, Merlin.acs, AgentBlue.acs, Rover.act, Scribble.act, and KNOKNOK.ani.


This program will support the following:
- Microsoft Agent 1.5 characters (.ACS)
- Microsoft Agent 2.0 characters (.ACS/.ACG/etc)
- Microsoft Actor 1.0 characters (.ACT)
- Most Microsoft Actor 2.0 characters (.ACT, excluding those with compressed BMPs, though thankfully most of those have an agent form)
- Utopia Animation Files (.ANI) [These goes in the PROPS folder]

If you have any feedback on what you saw in the demonstration, feel free to leave it here! Additionally, I have attached a poll for where ACT files and ANI files should go when the program is out and has a proper EXE installer!

Since you came back online, how's the progress?

Going pretty good with the majority of original MASH features re-implemented into UCSH. Here's a feature preview of the new Speak to Wave menu, where you can now put a YouTube link instead of having to download the video manually and converting to WAV. I hope to have a testable build out soon where the majority of features are available to use.

Mhm.

[Konnor88]

Public beta 1 available now: https://tmafe.com/downloads/UCSH_BETA1_Installer.exe

Highlights:
+ Auto recovery - If the program ever crashes, it has a an auto-recovery feature to load your previous progress!
+ Improved Speak to Wave - You can now use a YouTube link for a character to speak!
+ Improved Sing - You can now utilize a piano to make a character sing syllables!
+ Majority of MASH features re-implemented so far!
... and more!



Known bugs:
+ Update check won't work on Windows XP
+ To run the decompiler module, you will need to start the program as admin, then run the module, and then you can close it and use it without admin if you'd like

[MadCreeper7611]

Public beta 1 available now: https://tmafe.com/downloads/UCSH_BETA1_Installer.exe

Highlights:
+ Auto recovery - If the program ever crashes, it has a an auto-recovery feature to load your previous progress!
+ Improved Speak to Wave - You can now use a YouTube link for a character to speak!
+ Improved Sing - You can now utilize a piano to make a character sing syllables!
+ Majority of MASH features re-implemented so far!
... and more!



Known bugs:
+ Update check won't work on Windows XP
+ To run the decompiler module, you will need to start the program as admin, then run the module, and then you can close it and use it without admin if you'd like

Ngl I'm imagining a "help topics" button that opens a .chm file in the menu bar similar to MASH

[Triston Klocke]

Although that would be cool, that would be a bit tedious to have it implemented.

[united123]

Public beta 1 available now: https://tmafe.com/downloads/UCSH_BETA1_Installer.exe

Highlights:
+ Auto recovery - If the program ever crashes, it has a an auto-recovery feature to load your previous progress!
+ Improved Speak to Wave - You can now use a YouTube link for a character to speak!
+ Improved Sing - You can now utilize a piano to make a character sing syllables!
+ Majority of MASH features re-implemented so far!
... and more!



Known bugs:
+ Update check won't work on Windows XP
+ To run the decompiler module, you will need to start the program as admin, then run the module, and then you can close it and use it without admin if you'd like

I have a question: How can we add MS Agent Characters or MS Agent Actors on this software?

[united123]

Public beta 1 available now: https://tmafe.com/downloads/UCSH_BETA1_Installer.exe

Highlights:
+ Auto recovery - If the program ever crashes, it has a an auto-recovery feature to load your previous progress!
+ Improved Speak to Wave - You can now use a YouTube link for a character to speak!
+ Improved Sing - You can now utilize a piano to make a character sing syllables!
+ Majority of MASH features re-implemented so far!
... and more!



Known bugs:
+ Update check won't work on Windows XP
+ To run the decompiler module, you will need to start the program as admin, then run the module, and then you can close it and use it without admin if you'd like

I have a question: How can we add MS Agent Characters or MS Agent Actors on this software?

Nvm, Found it out.

[Yellow Hat Parappa]

Hi there
YH_PaRappa here and i love this aplication so much

[Konnor88]

A new public beta or perhaps pre-release will be dropping soon. I have fixed all the bugs that commenters have pointed out so far and have added some newer things as well. Here's a screenshot of the default view as of right now.

Some of the change log:
+ Basic MSH Script - The program now has an option to load existing basic MSH scripts and directly translates them into ATS scripts!
+ Script repair button - If you encounter a script error, the script repair button will attempt to fix the majority of common errors.
+ Delay script timer - You can now set a delay to the start script button or shortcut (F5). For example, if you set the delay to 3 seconds, all characters will hide immediately and the script will begin playing in 3 seconds. Pretty useful if you already use the timer feature in Bandicam before you start recording.
+ An actual icon that isn't re-used from the Actor Toolkit (of which most references of have been removed)
+ Scintilla support - The script textbox is now using the API that powers Notepad++, so now it supports things like line numbers!
+ The guide has been moved outside the main window into a separate optional window and disabled by default.
+ A welcome window has been added with options to do a new script, a new character (via the MACE module), opening an existing ATS script, opening an existing MSH script, or opening an auto-recovered script.
+ Clear cache button in settings if you ever need to clear the YouTube to Wave sounds
+ You can now open the ACTORS/CHARS folders from the File menu at the top.
+ The Frontier Actor Tip Service is now available on the "Main" form for Microsoft Agent, if you don't know what something does, right-click and click "What's this?" for an explanation.
+ The titlebar now has the filename up top.
+ The update checker no longer runs if you double-click a script to run it (to enable the double-click to run, click "Register file extension" in settings.
+ Added notice on the TTS engine form that if an engine doesn't work they will need to install it with a link to TMAFE's TTS center.
+ ... more!

Bug fixes:
+ Fixed whisper and monotone buttons not working properly due to a missing " (yes, that was the bug )
+ Fixed bug with Robosoft voices not appearing under TTS engines
+ Fixed bug where the decompiler module won't install unless the program is running as administrator
+ Fixed a bug with the hide button not immediately logging to script
+ Fixed a bug with the update checker running on unsupported operating systems (Windows XP has issues with the protocol it uses)
+ Fixed bugs with find and replace
... more!

[united123]

A new public beta or perhaps pre-release will be dropping soon. I have fixed all the bugs that commenters have pointed out so far and have added some newer things as well. Here's a screenshot of the default view as of right now.

Some of the change log:
+ Basic MSH Script - The program now has an option to load existing basic MSH scripts and directly translates them into ATS scripts!
+ Script repair button - If you encounter a script error, the script repair button will attempt to fix the majority of common errors.
+ Delay script timer - You can now set a delay to the start script button or shortcut (F5). For example, if you set the delay to 3 seconds, all characters will hide immediately and the script will begin playing in 3 seconds. Pretty useful if you already use the timer feature in Bandicam before you start recording.
+ An actual icon that isn't re-used from the Actor Toolkit (of which most references of have been removed)
+ Scintilla support - The script textbox is now using the API that powers Notepad++, so now it supports things like line numbers!
+ The guide has been moved outside the main window into a separate optional window and disabled by default.
+ A welcome window has been added with options to do a new script, a new character (via the MACE module), opening an existing ATS script, opening an existing MSH script, or opening an auto-recovered script.
+ Clear cache button in settings if you ever need to clear the YouTube to Wave sounds
+ You can now open the ACTORS/CHARS folders from the File menu at the top.
+ The Frontier Actor Tip Service is now available on the "Main" form for Microsoft Agent, if you don't know what something does, right-click and click "What's this?" for an explanation.
+ The titlebar now has the filename up top.
+ The update checker no longer runs if you double-click a script to run it (to enable the double-click to run, click "Register file extension" in settings.
+ Added notice on the TTS engine form that if an engine doesn't work they will need to install it with a link to TMAFE's TTS center.
+ ... more!

Bug fixes:
+ Fixed whisper and monotone buttons not working properly due to a missing " (yes, that was the bug )
+ Fixed bug with Robosoft voices not appearing under TTS engines
+ Fixed bug where the decompiler module won't install unless the program is running as administrator
+ Fixed a bug with the hide button not immediately logging to script
+ Fixed a bug with the update checker running on unsupported operating systems (Windows XP has issues with the protocol it uses)
+ Fixed bugs with find and replace
... more!

Releasing in Early May 2026?