Wish I knew OLE Automation in C++, then I would be able to use it =).
Z.
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Wish I knew OLE Automation in C++, then I would be able to use it =).
Z.
Well Zaei you can use the real thing =)
Yepper! Yeah, Im hittin' the Renaissance Festival today, so ill be back late.
Z.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Zaei!!
I'm back
Happy...:)
Next week, I'll be going to the hospital awfully lot. Don't wanna talk about it. Anyways... Good Work, Everyone!
Thanks, Igor. Hope everything is ok.
Z.
im not shur if this is late or early but happy birthday.
sas what do u need help with.
Right on time, wazup. Thanks =).
Through gifts, I have added 2 new books to my library, one of them being Code Complete. Just thought Id let everyone know =).
Oh, and Sas, will we be able to create directories, etc, on the web site?
Z.
Happy birthday, Zaei!
Zaei - I think it's best if I don't allow that -- could be abused. I wouldn't think there would be any need to do so, what were you planning on doing?
I was out for thanksgiving today so I haven't got much done. Heres the scoop on the website:
* We have the Administration sector, and from here you can upload a ZIP file or multiple files. Afterwards, if it isn't already zipped that is done on the server, and it is also encoded (decoded when being downloaded). This is to protect documents inside of it from being maliciously used.
There's also an ADD NEWS section - really easy to use. Just put in some HTML (doesn't have to be necessarily, just text if you want, and line breaks are automatically converted to <BR> statements) and click Post News.
* The add art section is the same -- only JPEGs and GIFs are the only types allowed. You also have to add a Title to the picture.
There's also a poll section - polls for developers. Don't get this confused with the Forum Polls, which are actually ON the fora. You can make polls, edit them if they're yours, and vote on them - once.
There's a Newsletter Dispatch station, where you can send a newsletter to everyone. You can also check previous newsletters to make sure you don't send something twice.
* I've made a forum that's specifically for us -- only VIP members (Psyvision you will be one of them) and Administrators (us) can post in it. This way we can have all of the different strands of ToW for discussion, not just in a huge thread.
The forums aren't complete yet, sorry!
* = Incomplete.
I was thinking about personal pages for us developers, but no matter =). I should be able to get some work done tomorrow after school, and possibly some done during first period. I am thinking of adding an OpenGL type interface to the rendering portion of the Engine. I think it will make some things easier.
Adding strings and function interfaces to DScript will require som minor rewrites, but, since there havent been any scripts written yet, this is ok =). Does anyone have a use for calling functions within scripts from another script? Once the string functions are written, I will finalize DScript, and finish the documentation. This sounds to be at most, two weeks of work.
From now on, I will try to give you guys a timeline for what I am doing. If at all possible, it would be great if people could drop in at least once a week, and let us all know what they are working on, updates, etc. I know stuff has been kinda slow for the past few weeks, at least for me, and I am still trying to get myself back in gear. Im sorry about that, but I really am trying my best to get some stuff done. This weekend was busy, as was last week, but I am really hoping to get some major work time in the coming weeks.
Anyway, I think that's everything for now, check you all later!
Z.
Well I don't see any point on calling things from other functions, unless their is a file size limit, or it is faster. And don't say sorry so much, you're doing a great job!! =)
I sketched a drawing today (in pen though, ack) of what ToW may look like when it's done... Thinking of that, would it be possible to have real "strands" of grass that can actually be processed in real-time? I don't know how we will do the it, but it'd be neat to see some grass swaying in the wind!
Anyways, onto phase #3 of the ToW forums -- the Thread view page!
If there's anything i can do for you guys, let me know, i'm not the type to go out and write 3d/script/sound/animation/ai engines on a whim. :)
Thanks for that Janus! Just got one question -- do you have 3DSMAX? If so, there are some models I'd like you to convert for me (from VRML). Zaei, what was the format you wanted them in again or were we going to create our own format?
Janus
Do you know OpenGL??
If so, could you write us the OpenGL engine, now that PsyVision is sort of... not available??
That's an excellent idea, Igor!
:D And there's more where they came from...!:D
I am going to have to write animation code (fortunately, its fairly easy). I have been planning an idea for a while that will require a higher quality animation. So, I will have to write a simple Bone system that just moves a vertex in direct relation to a bone (no weights), and a second that uses weights (smoother).
Sas, I was planning on adding grass into the game. Each strand will probably be perhaps 4, or 6 triangles (2 or 3 joints, respectivly). I will have to write a testbed app for that though, so it will be a later stage addition (like the animation).
Z.
An idea on the grass. Since it is a lot of triangles to be processed, I had an idea. Everyone likes the idea of a planet, correct? It is very easy to generate a planet from a fractal equation. Memory Requirements: 0. We will get a small speed hit, but that is ok.
Since we are generating the world from an equation, we can use the same one for the texture. So, where there is grass on the texture, we will put a swaying thing of grass. Now, the good part. Since we cannot see all of the world at once, we use a form of LOD on the grass. Only render grass if it is under x meters to the camera. Also, as the gras gets more distance, say past a threshold of y meters, the grass begins to fade into the ground, via alpha blending. This will make a smooth transition from grass to texture.
Z.
Zaei... you are in one word brilliant =)
That's a great idea for handling the grass!
Thanks much. You can build the option of to what distance does the player want grass shown to the graphics option thing =).
Z.
Thats a good idea as well :D
On a whim, I decided to make a program installer... it may be done in a day or two.. nothing special, but it's free and it's not the VB installer *shudder*
Sounds fine, Igor. I will jsut convert the bone stuff over to our own format at some point.
Z.
nd how r u planning to do that?
Zaei, happy birthday - sorry its late, had problems with my mail being hacked and didn't know who what was going on with ppl replying.
Psy, thanks =).
Igor, Ill just write a program to convert a .3ds into whatever format we end up using.
Z.
That site is looking good, Sas. I looked, and tried to touch the forums, but it didnt work =). Keep up that good work!
Z.
Well..fine, you just...do...that...:rolleyes:
Everything I've done since Friday is only on my personal machine.. it only takes a few minutes to upload, but I'd like to have the forums complete first.
Also, a requirement for visiting the site is Internet Explorer 4.0. I don't think this will be a problem seeing that 98SE2, NT4, 2k, ME, and XP all come with 4.0 or higher. I'm in the middle of creating the thread view page, with some luck I may be able to get past redirection (You know how here you can say post.php?postid=1815891 and then it will redirect you to the right thread? That's what I'm in the middle of right now :D)
I'm starting to implement the same code in Javascript in order to make it viewable in $NS$. I really don't see why I should go out of my way for those people, but since it's a professional website :rolleyes:...
It's just a good thing I can keep the ASP VBScript =)
Ok, what do you guys want me to do? I can get started on the planet thing (got a sphere up and running earlier at school), or whatever else you want.
Z.
Just make iot possible to input a model. Then, we'll toy around.
Sas, can't you just jump on the MSN Messenger every once in a while. Need to ask you so that you can answer right away. Tomorrow, I'm going back to the hospital, but I doubt I'll be stayting there any long. OKi? So Long then.
Yes, make us a planet =) Make it big enough so it doesn't actually LOOK spherical when you get up close... like earth!
Models will probably come after I get the planet working.
Z.
Ok, guys, I got the sphere to work with the engine. It's only points at the moment, but the sphere in the screen shot is larger the earth =) (sphere, radius = 5000km, earth radius, about 3500 miles). Hows that for ya, Sas =).
Z.
PS, sorry the pic is so bad, I had to scale it down to post it =(.
That's excellent! The pic isn't that bad... and you could have made it a gif with 10 colours and posted it, would have worked just fine =)
Okay, so basically you can just show how many points you need, and then you draw the stuff on top of those points, seems like it will make for easy visibility testing, Zaei.
Yeah, there isnt any LOD in that pic, bit it should be fairly easy. I have to increase the number of dots though, or there wont be much detail in our game =). But, hey, Im pretty happy, regardless =). I will most likely be using spherical coordinates for everything in the game, so I will immediately be able to cull off the other hemisphere out of the draw loop =).
Z.
That's excellent :D
Maybe you can cut of 3/4 if you're lucky =)
Big Round Planet :D
Only 3/4? I should be able to cull off 99% of it. Otherwise, we will have a pretty bland planet =).
Z.
Did you say at one time this would cut off the memory requirements? If so, how was that?
Simple. The reason we were taking up so much memory was because of the heightmap. With the sphere thing, the land is created using a function that returns the distance from the center of the sphere at the given theta and phi values. Basically, something like:
Then you have the point (have to convert from spherical to cartesian corrdinates, though). Everything is generated in real time, so you have to store nothing in memory. Textures will also be progressive (generated in real time), but I still have to figure out exactly how I am going to do it.Code:float r = GetRadFromThetaPhi(i, j);
Z.
But how are you going to store all the data? It cant be random!
Sas, why don't you just skip on to MSN?
It's not random. It's a fractal. Fractal functions ALWAYS give the same pattern. Even if we DID make it use the rand() function, it doesnt have to be random. If you seed the random number generator with a certain number, it will always produce the same series, so it isnt random.
Z.
Yeah! Zaei, you really know your stuff =)
I gotta =). I am trying to figure out spherical coordinates, then work on actual terrain, and colors, triangles, etc.
Z.
We will be able to use our existing map that Jorj has cooked up, won't we?
No, but I will try my best to see that the equation i come up with will be close, at least. Remember, since we went to the planet scheme, we can now have polar ice cap regions, and more continents. So, get those barins in gear, guys =).
Z.
That would be excellent =)
The campaign would be really cool :D
Don't worry, Zaei! All I need to know is what format you need the new map in, as in what projection?
Hmm... why don't you map it out in first however you'd like it and once Zaei responds you won't have much to convert..?
iGoR -- Could you work on another piece of music for us? Remember the list posted on the page before this one (or maybe 2, I'm in 100 view), maybe you could pick out something from there to try.
Zaei -- How's the world going? Have you got it to look... well... like a planet? And another thing, will we be able to have texture blending and stuff like that? You know, make the world out of tiles and such? One more Q: I'm thinking of having this world thing only for the campaign -- but not for the actual maps and scenarios and user-made maps. What do you guys think?
At the moment I am working out clipping. If you look at the shot I posted, youll see how it looks like squares? Each of those squares is probably something like 1k x 1k. So, I have to clip, so i can make each one somthing like 1 x 1.
If we are going to support texture blending, I have to get a new video card. I have enough money for a GeForce2, but I have other things to consider. So, at the moment, blending isnt an option, but in a few months, i can get a new card, and add it in.
I have been mulling maps over in my head for a while, and have yet another elegan solution. Since the world is being generated progressivly, maps can be DLLs (with a different extension =), that expose a Function to get a point, etc. Further, expose a function to get a number of maps, names of maps, and function names for each map, so one DLL can be a map collection. This is all very easy to implement. Let me know what you think.
So far, the engine is going well. Once I have the sphere clipped, I will move that code into a class, and then move just about everything into a package, which is how the game will be set up (you will run TOW like: "c:\tow\system\divloader.exe tow" or "divloader.exe tow.package", or another mod like: "divloader.exe somemod", etc). The loader simply extracts all files from the package specified, loads up the dll with the correct name, and runs it. If a package is not specified, it defaults to "tow.package". If it only gets "tow", it appends ".package" to the end, and continues.
Anyway, any questions, just let me know.
Z.
How easy is it for you to make your own DLLs when people ask you to make them (eg. the map editor creates a DLL that is a level). Also, what about the textures? We will be able to have whatever we want for each location, etc, right? If you wait long enough, get the Radeon 7500, which is the value edition of the 8500. It'll be like $250 MSRP, but GeForce 2 is like $150 MSRP for MX 400... Well in short (these are US$ BTW) it would be better to wait for a Radeon 7500...
And what do you think about single maps being just a normal map, not a sphere?
I will probably use progressive textures, generated using latitude values, slope of terrain, etc, and blend from several other textures (snow, grass, rock, sand , etc).
Z.
Third time =)Quote:
I'm thinking of having this world thing only for the campaign -- but not for the actual maps and scenarios and user-made maps. What do you guys think? -- And what do you think about single maps being just a normal map, not a sphere?
Sorry, guess I havent addressed that =). Sure, we can do that.
Z.
Great, I'd like everyone elses' input on this too.
I've really got nothing to say about that. I suppose what you find better is the best choice, generally. Afterall, it's your game :). But, Sas, I'm sorry if I'm being such a bore, but can't you please Sign into the MSN messenger thing. It's so difficult to ask you stuff through this forum, because it takes so long until you answer, and I basicly wat to ask you there and then. And there is very often a question...:D
BTW, how's the homepage doing?
Yeah, Sas, where are my forums =)? Igor, Dont worry about a thing. Things have been kinda slow around here as far as posting is concerned, but, hey, it happens. Things should start to pick up as things move along.
How does everyone feel about releasing a Multiplayer version of TOW, and then the single player mode? This would allow us to focus our resources, so we will be able to get a product out the door (completion is the biggest thing in the game development comunity), and then be able to lay back for a while, then focus on the single player part. I feel that this would allow us to create a better game on the whole, as well as getting a user base, people to get our bugs out, etc. Feelings, comments, etc, please post!
Z.
I'm all for it, but how will we implement multiplay?