Jump to content

Paul Thomas

Members
  • Posts

    339
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Paul Thomas

  1. Great, I look forward to the overview.
  2. Thanks Pixel. I'm trying to have some time to work more on it tonight. I'm slacking behind but it was expected. I want to work more with Lua, expose more of the framework to Lua (anything that is useful) and continue doing what we're doing. Mack is basically building a framework out of Lua (using "engine.lua" [now configured in engine.ini]) while I'm hardcoding specific mechanics. We'll eventually see how well it meshes with Lua but it should be good. The "actors" idea is actually adopted from PhysX and it's just so it's easier to deal with objects in your scenes. Once you have easy access to any object in the scene you can begin flexibility and game-play mechanics. Overall it's just a helper though or a type of caching. I would be interested in learning the structure of your engine, Pixel. If you didn't mind sharing. Would be great to see a blog on it.
  3. lolol Well, I haven't had beer in a long time, I wouldn't mind having some myself. I don't mind sharing lol. Definitely is a great boost, both of them are what they would say "jack of all trades," they would also say "master of none" but I would say "master of some." A lot of skill from those two. Though, I think MG just gets lucky
  4. Over a GUI scheme, the GUI scheme will reflect the logo color scheme, or the logo is simply on a black screen?
  5. Balance your distance culling and you'll be fine. One of the major benefits of modular meshes is sadly lost in LE and that's scaling. Culling is your friend, clever culling makes it undetectable by the player, and have fun. Your project looks fun, let me know if you ever need help with something.
  6. I just finished uploading the framework so that some friends can help out with the content and scene. I already have the overall theme and game put together, I just have to make them, and in this case get help with converting models, creating materials, and so forth. The framework is going extremely well. I've been working on it more than I should be to be honest but I did spend most of the day on the important matters. Plus it's Sunday for crying out loud. Anyways, I've changed several things about the framework. Here is a brief overview: Configuration is now available in the engine. This provided the gateway to the rest of the features I had plan for the framework, such as key/mouse binds, and generic configuration information for both the "engine" and "game." The key/mouse bind configuration file looks similar to: forward=w backward=s left=a right=d jump=space leap=lshift+space crouch=c | toggle fire=leftmouse aim=rightmouse grenade_toss=middlemouse | release grenade_cook=middlemouse debugphysics=f6 | toggle use=e It's fairly straight forward but the configuration file can contain basic instructions, such as "release" and "toggle." The configuration class itself provides the rest of the support. Examine the following, which is now accessible to Lua: if input:hit("leftmouse") == 1 then -- fire logic end if input:hit(input.get("use")) == 1 then -- use logic end if input:toggle("crouch") == 1 then -- do crouch end The engine configuration is managed with: config.get("resx") The game configuration is managed with: game.get("difficulty") One last feature I've added is a way to change between behaviors. These behaviors are strictly Lua, a hybrid, and strictly C/C++/C#/BlitzMax. If you provide the file "engine.lua" into the root of the project, the framework will only execute that LUA file after creating the graphics context and managers (config, input, game, etc.). The "hybrid" is a mix of the two. The framework calls upon specific Lua files at specific times. They could be looked at like "hooks." The Lua files are located at: "/scripts/dice" Examples are "update.lua" and "flip.lua." The framework also now handles scenes. It allows Leadwerks to process the scenes at the moment but then each entity in the scene to turn into an actor by the framework. This way you can get any actor: local actor = engine:getactor("myEditorAddedActorName") actor:translate(vec3(0,0,0)) actor:setkey("health", 20) Actors have their own Lua files and due to the structure described above we should be able to swap Lua files on the fly. The plan I will be attempting is similar to the following: local actor = engine:getactor("myactor") actor:setscript("newscript.lua") actor:runscript() I assume it will work, but who knows. Since per entity/actor scripts work the flexibility with the framework is fairly polished. I'm starting on default controller mechanics, soon to get into third person characters, and so on. Once my buddies can help me out I'll have more to test mechanics. Everyone should also check out Scarlet Thread Studios work, it looks to me like an RTS/TPS style framework, similar to Diablo series. Slight modifications can turn that into an RTS, FPS/RTS, and so on. Same with Pixel Perfect's engine Neutrino, which utilizes EKI One, and is turning out fantastic. I've bugged him to lease it but he isn't budging. Sorry everyone, lol. Just playing, Pixel. MG, always awesome work. Thanks for joining up to help with the content. Macklebee, hoping you'll come aboard and help me out with Lua. I'm really not in the mood to fully learn Lua at the moment. I plan to stick with hard-coded mechanics, lol. Read the above, it explains how to force the framework to let Lua control the main loop. Figured that would be your expertise. Awesome hangout session. I never planned to make it, thought it was out of my schedule, so it was kind of unexpected, lol. I had to register with Google+ and everything. It was fun, meant to talk about more, and to everyone else instead of just Josh, but I had to go AFK; turned out to be too long. I hope I'm invited to the next hangout but I don't have a camera. Thanks for reading.
  7. Excellent, thank you for your donation. I was using Leadwerks before UDK had released. On rainy days or one of those days you want to break routine I work a bit on LE from time to time. For your bones issue, all there is left to do is import them into an application of some type, like Blender. You can evaluate the bones there. Other than that I'm not sure what your real motive is beyond bones and the reason of your original question.
  8. Weapons are skeletal meshes (skinned meshes/animated meshes/whatever) in UDK because they are animated and you use sockets to attach the weapon to other actors and to attach actors to weapons. Sockets are basically entities parented to a bone that can share the bones local translation/rotation or a global translation/rotation (plus an offset value if desired). We have provided a tutorial on weapons in UE3 but you may find the video modeling and animation tutorials useful: www.magicstonestudios.com/tutorials You should name your bones once and keep the same rig going so that it's consistent for multiple projects. This way a pistol will fit in in two separate meshes (as long as they too share consistent bone names), otherwise do as you please, it depends on your project and how many weapons you plan to have in your game. Hopefully that helps. I'm sure others can provide advice from an artists perspective.
  9. Depends on how important those beams are to the player. If they are expected to get in close then you should probably model them unless it's a shallow beam and is more flush to the wall, then you could get away with texture and bump mapping.
  10. Fantastic work and a great read. Would be awesome to play a demo.
  11. Actors are now in place and working correctly. I actually made a small mistake yesterday and made meshes part of the actor. This incorrect because a mesh should extend an object and be it's own actor type (i.e. class EMesh : public EActor{};). This is fixed and therefore the actor creation has slightly changed, but the shortcut (EActor::Add("ActorName", "mesh.gmf")) still works as expected. Timer I need to start adding actors so there are multiple in-game types of entities. First, I need a timer, because I just love timers. Even if it was just a single timer I'd be happy. They are extremely useful. ETimer::SetTimer(1.0f, TRUE, FUNCTION); A better example: // .. function to execute by the timer void TickSpecial(void) { printf("Tick Special\n"); } // .. looping timer Timers.SetTimer(1.0f, TRUE, TickSpecial); // .. void EGame::Unload(void) { Timers.StopTimers(); } There is still more I want to add to the timers but this is a good start. I'd also like to move them to threads to support multiple timer tasks. Cameras Cameras are interesting and always seems to be a topic around Werkspace. Cameras in this engine/framework are Actors and this should be interesting. Since cameras will extend actors I already have translation and rotation. // .. automatically done but an example[/i] - 0 is the framework camera layer to fetch Cameras.Add("Camera_1", 0); Cameras.Rotate("Camera_1", vec4(0.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f)); Next was to just add helper functions that are provided by LE, such as zoom, project, unproject, etc: // zoom with interp Cameras.SetZoom("Camera_1", 1.0f, 1.0f); // project vector project = Cameras.Project(vec3(MouseX(), MouseY(), 1000.0f); I shouldn't have a problem from here having any type of camera "mode" I would like to have. I will begin working on these once I get to detailed mechanics. Cameras are now working, along with timers, and now it's time to take a break. I may keep pushing forward but shortly I have to return to my other projects until I have time to return. Until next time, and thanks for reading.
  12. Paul Thomas

    And, Hello

    Blog Update: I've been spending time organizing the classes, preparing to share with LUA, and DLL. Figured now while it's early. It may be too early to provide much to LUA or DLL. In any case, soon it's time to move on to actual actors (camera, terrain, volumes/triggers, etc.), after I finish with meshes.
  13. That made my morning man, lol. I love this stage when you're throwing a concept together, you end up with the most hilarious results but you have the feeling of AWESOME going on, like you just made the next blockbuster. That aside, you were asked, you delivered; next. Good job.
  14. Paul Thomas

    And, Hello

    lol Awesome, it's now fancy. The last time I made a new avatar you said it was emo. I guess this is an improvement. Granted, I stole the overall style from Assassin's Creed. I can't help it, fantastic storyline, awesome era, great art, beautiful mechanics and AI.
  15. Paul Thomas

    And, Hello

    There are several here who already know me, but for those who don't, my name is Paul Thomas. I've been programming for a long time now; I started when I was 16 (I'm now 30) with HTML, CSS, Javascript, and CGI/Perl. Hell back then there wasn't a lot of people who even used the internet at home, lol. At least in my area, I'm sure others, especially in California, were a lot further ahead at that time in terms of technology and the interest in the technology. Through the years I've learned multiple languages from strictly web-based to software based. My interest in computers when I was 16 was to make a game, but at the time I thought it would have been much easier to prototype the whole idea in a web-based browser game. I had completed the browser game, which was the original "Eternal Crisis," and worked nicely. My plan was to update the entire web-based system, polish everything, and officially advertise (I had invited friends to play the game). That's when I learned about a "fried hard drive" and eventually learned about "backup" and how to install a hard drive. Those whom already know me, know what Eternal Crisis is, and my Blogger shows some of the history on that project. I had taken that project, along with another, over to Unreal Engine 3 because it best suit the project. Along the years of learning that engine I was using LE for prototyping ideas and so forth. While I'm not working on my own engine (temporarily titled "3D Dice"), FPS/RPG framework for UE3, or R.A.T.S., I work on my framework for Leadwerks Engine 2.5. I've never shared this framework before, in fact it always felt like I had to pull it out of a shallow grave each time I added to the framework design and programming. I'm a notebook junkie, I plan out mechanics, structures, and so forth on paper, before going over to digital. Old habbits that die hard I guess. Now I felt like sharing the progress, which isn't a lot, but it's a great start to me. It's a great start to me because it actually runs, lol. The state of the framework isn't even close to the final planned and written design, but progress is progress. Always move forward until it's finished, even if you can only pick that project up once every two weeks (by then I/you should probably take a look at your workload and fix it instead of attempting such project schedules; however this isn't vital to me and rates low on my importance scale), if it's updated then progress is moving forward. This is also harder to work with if you don't plan your software before actually programming (unless it's routine for you with available libraries for shortcuts in development). As most programmers should know, the programmers "update" isn't as glamorous as an artists "update" as it's not about visual stimulation but overall program/software flow. In the case of my LE framework (obviously untitled) it's all about providing mechanics and how that is achieved is important especially in the case of LUA access and how everything works together; from configuration/data management, to input binding, and all the way down to AI. Until occupied again by my other tasks I will eventually share the entire framework structure and I will always be showing examples of syntax; cause that's what programmers do. Just to clear the obvious questions that may come from the community: Q) Do I plan to give away code, the framework, and be an open source kind of person? A) No, not really. First of all, you would have to wait, to anyone else at the moment the framework is as useful is a partially finished library. How long you would have to wait would depend on how much time I can spend on the framework and in all honestly it's not much at all (read above, and actually read). Q) Do I plan to sell or lease the framework? A) No, don't think so. I even think that's against Leadwerks terms since it could be deemed an "FPS Creator," which is definitely in the terms. Q) Is my framework really that great? A) Nah, I mostly ramble, and I'm actually writing this to share with long time friends here at Leadwerks. Some won't even visit anywhere else to communicate because they are so used to using Leadwerks for that; it is indeed where we all met. Q) Who are my friends? A) I have none, it was a lie. Now, about this framework. This "framework" isn't the same, exactly, as the framework that comes with LE. The framework that comes with LE handles some dirty work for you when it comes to creating the worlds, cameras for those worlds, shader effects, and helper functions. The framework I'm designing is technically similar to a game engine. I personally consider Leadwerks Engine as a rendering API with physics and this framework uses that rendering API and provides mechanics. The mechanics the framework provides is what makes up the detail of the framework. INI SQL Application Graphics Game The above are considered "managers" in that they only handle what they should be managing. The "INI" only works with INI files, such as a configuration manager. The "SQL" only works with SQLite3, providing helper functions for easier SQL management, and so forth. There are more planned managers than the above, but these are what are completed in terms of programming. The only real interesting portion to discuss about the framework is within the "Game" manager itself. The game manager provides two special classes/managers; "Object" and "Actor." Actor inherits everything about an Object. What defines an Object is a game entity that is never interacted with by the player. Objects are useful as it can be used for multiple purposes without consuming a lot of resources for each "component" or "plugin" I'd like to add onto the framework. For example, a Timer would be an Object. You don't interact with a Timer in a game, but there is a timer running in the background. Example: class ETimer : public EObject { public: ETimer(void); virtual ~ETimer(void); void Initialize(void); void SetTimer(float StartTime); void StopTimer(); }; While working with the framework you would do something similar to: // EGame::EObject // EGame::Objects EObject Objects; // .. ETimer Timer; Objects.Add("Timer", Timer); // .. ETimer Timer = Objects.Get("Timer"); Timer.StartTimer(0.0); // .. Timer.StopTimer(); // inherited by EObject Timer.Unload(); An Actor inherits everything that defines an Object. The difference between the two is that an Actor is something that a player could see, hear, interact with, or can move, rotate, and so forth. If you can see how this is all going, everything starts extending the Actor, such as the character, weapon, or items. Here are some examples of working with Actors in the framework: // EGame::Actors Actors.Add("oilbarrel", "oilbarrel.gmf"); // .. Actors.Rotate("oilbarrel", vec3(10.0f, 0.0f, 10.0f)); // .. Actors.Translate("oilbarrel", vec3(10.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f)); // .. EActor barrel = Actors.Get("oilbarrel"); // rotate with interpolation barrel.Rotate(vec3(1.0f), 0.1f); barrel.Translate(vec3(0.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f), 0.1f); // .. EActor Barrel; // new name Barrel.Name = "barrel01"; // new mesh Barrel.LoadMesh("oildrum.gmf"); Actors.Edit("oilbarrel", Barrel); A quick overview of an Actor: //EActor ID Name Tag Parent Location Rotation Mesh Sounds Particles Each Actor can also have children which are also Actors. This provides another version of parent/child relationships but also provides additional benefits which will be discussed in later blogs. The ID and Name variables are provided by Object and the Object provides more variables, but is listed for importance. When creating an Actor it is automatically tagged for unique identification. In the above example "oilbarrel" is actually stored as "oilbarrel_0" and simply incremented for each Actor that is created. This is identified by the Actors "Tag". The "Name" variable is a forced name, therefore searching for an Actor by the name, with more than one Actor having the same name, the first result is returned. Actors will be automatically created properly for each entity in a scene. The framework will be using a custom scene manager and handles initial Actor creation. Programmers/Scripters can then add to the Actors list with C++ or LUA like the above examples. class MyGame : public EGame { public: void Load(void); void Update(float DeltaTime); // .. void MyGame::Load(void) { Actors.Add("custom_actor", "mymesh.gmf", "force_tag_name"); EActor actor = Actors.Get("custom_actor"); EActor actorCopy = Actors.GetTag("force_tag_name"); actor.Translate(vec3(0.0f)); } void MyGame::Update(float DeltaTime) { EActor actor = Actors.Get("custom_actor"); // interp move with speed and threshold option actor.Move(vec3(10.0f), 1.0f, 1.0f, 0.35f); } }; In upcoming blogs, when I do get the time, I'll post up some videos. Those selected for the invite only alpha testing will get their information on how to use the framework. Friends of mine that didn't get an invite and are interested in alpha testing please private message me; I most likely didn't send you the information because I figured you were busy with your own project(s). Well, out of time. Thanks for reading.
  16. Very nice scenes indeed. Good job.
  17. Just use the water that came with LE, it always looked like pool water to me.
  18. 1) Not inherit, you have to do the work yourself. 2) Only one terrain is supported (4096 height map). If you need larger or more, you'll have to use meshes. 3) You will always have a draw call limit no matter what engine. Most engines use distance culling for this reason. I would say 1k objects/entities at once is safe, possibly up to 5k, but that's not good design behavior. 4) Haven't seen an engine yet that you couldn't change simple options such as paths. To an extent, yes, LE lets you customize. 5) No 6) It does the job but it's missing some features. One feature it's missing is an undo/redo. A lot of LE2 members have built their own editors and/or tools, but not everyone needs more than what the editor provides. Depends on your project. Last I checked the demo is outdated by several minor versions but there are bugs that still exist, mostly ignored since LE3 started development, and I wouldn't count on any major LE2 updates.
  19. That night town looks great. Nothing bad to say about that scene at all, even the sky has it's own taste with a bit of humor. Great job, I like it a lot. Definitely an improvement in quality compared to EP1 (tweaked shaders all around?), great job on that. EP2 in three months? That's quick for a second episode to release, good luck to you and your team man. Let me know if you ever need a hand with something.
  20. Sorry Josh, was that a reply to me? If so, which company are you talking about?
  21. 13. Works on onboard intel GPU chip Hopefully you know you can't have all of those features working with this part of your list because that isn't possible. Otherwise, besides I think APEX, you're describing CE3. If you plan on all of these GPU intensive features then I wouldn't even worry over Intel. It honestly sounds like you're only looking for what you've read about or you don't have your project completely flushed out and ready to be built. You need to base your engine around your project/game, not the other way around, and then shop for the right engine. The other part of the decision, besides what's based on your project and platform, is if you can afford royalty as that will drastically change which engines to decide on. It also, obviously, depends on your experience level and skills on everything as a whole. If you're trying to learn then I would definitely say LE is worth the money if you have it. If you're looking for a one shot deal into commercial, without any experience or skills, I'd say drop the dreams for the now and start with a mobile game, work your way up, and see where you stand from there. Good luck.
×
×
  • Create New...