Scott Richmond

There is a fair bit to it, but basically I have figured out that you do your LoadScene as usual, but include the code I've pasted below beforehand: SetGlobalObject ("world_main", fw.GetMain().GetWorld()); SetGlobalObject ("world_transparency", fw.GetTransparency().GetWorld()); SetGlobalObject ("world_background", fw.GetBackground().GetWorld()); SetGlobalObject ("camera_main", fw.GetMain().GetCamera()); SetGlobalObject ("camera_transparency", fw.GetTransparency().GetCamera()); SetGlobalObject ("camera_background", fw.GetBackground().GetCamera()); That allows LUA to properly execute some commands. So far everything works for me except sound, which I have no idea why its not working.

Hrm. Its a bit messy. Ah well.

Ah. Found out what was wrong - I have my scripts under /Data/Scripts/... This does not work out well as all the scripts are hard coded to be located under Scripts/... There any reason why the abstract file-system was left out for the dofile command in LUA?

Ah well thats good news. Prey tell. My level does not appear to load the light I have in there.

Hrm, this is interesting, as its one of the big gripes I have at the moment. I love the editor but there seems to be so much rigmaroll around loading a scene. So, in C++, one does a LoadScene and everything should load providing that there is a script associated with each model? Right now lights don't seem to load for me.

You get lights with LoadScene in C++?

With the new sandbox the expectation is set to be able to easily create and run levels in LE. But these is this huge gap between making the level and then loading it. For all intensive purposes, LoadScene is broken. I know is a known issue, but we shouldn't have to do a 'processScene' after the load scene in an attempt to load lights and whatnot. Either depreciate LoadScene or fix it up to be able to load everything a scene might have.

Thats a question I wouldn't mind having answered as well. To be honest I think the whole scene loading system in LE 2.3 is very shoddy. As far as I know it doesn't load lights, emitters, physics bodies (Thus, no colision), etc. Its a mess. Can anyone clear this up for us?

Wow nice. Chris you should chuck up a bit of a blog entry on what you've done thus far - It sounds very interesting!

haha, nice video. Josh I think that is great idea - The software license certainly permits it. It would be a fantastic addition to the engine.

One thing to keep in mind here is that this is a game and you'll need to take into account what feels right. Just because you get the numbers right doesn't mean that when its played your 6 tonne plane will feel like a 6 tonne plane. By all means get the numbers close, but I would definitely spend some time seeing how things feel in-game as well.

I just assumed 'Graphics' was part of Framewerk. But running in 800, 600 put me into full-screen, where are you delimiting windowed/full-screen?

I think the simplest answer would be to make it all relative. For example, if you have a 200KG iron ball and a 2KG book in a scene. Whatever you make the book in LE, lets say a mass of 4, then make the iron ball have a mass of 400.

In my opinion the HDR and Bloom has been way over-blown in a number of scenes I've seen. I prefer a more subtle effect. Its a subjective thing I realise. Just a quick one - How do you get Framewerk to run windowed?

I think you just create an ultra basic boot strap exe via C++. The video above shows that you can load LUA scripts from a C++ environment, so I'll bet its as simple as a line of code. With Framewerk, yeah I dunno. It cuts the rendering up into 3 layers, or phases, I think. It looks nice but I think I'd rather have some control over stuff like Bloom and HDR. EDIT: That said, looking at some of the render code in Framewerk. It looks rather complex. I think I'd ruin myself if I tried to implement my own solution to that at this point hah.

I'd say pick LUA. I think what Josh is saying is that his implementation is going to grow and change pretty rapidly so getting stuck into some serious project wouldn't be a best of ideas. But I think you'd be fine with it. As for Framewerk. I'm checking it out now. Its looking like you can just plug her right in. Though, it does change the way you render so it may require a rewrite of your render code in the game loop.

That sounds fantastic Chris. I'd love to see a bit of a guide and your C++ code integrating it.

hehe, indeed. Any plans to expand of the Framewerk feature set. IE give the functions the ability to modify bloom, HDR, etc variable? Maybe I'll take Framewerk and do it myself, depending on how complex it turns out to be. Aye, I won't pretend, I am only a year or so into C++ and I have little game development experience other than modding. But I think I'll stick to C++. I want to learn it because I want to apply it to other programming fields. And I think It'll be more rewarding in the long run. That said, I'll still continue to dabble in LUA, but C++ looks to me my choice language. Thanks for replying Josh.

Aye I did see that in the Wiki. Though I worries me a bit that there is in fact just an on/off switch. How does one modify the features? For example, bloom/HDR appear to be a little too over-bright by default. I understand the idea is to simplify the whole process, but I do think I'll require at least a little customization. Ah I see. So for now it is a bit of a all or nothing affair unless you feel like digging into unknown territory. How do you see things evolving though Josh? Do you have a 'perfect world' design paradigm or have you included LUA primarily as another language to use such as BlitzMax or C++?

I'm trying to get my head around all the modules LE now uses, and what role they could play in my game. LEO I'm loving LEO. All nice a OO and modular. So I'll keep using that as much as I can. Framewerk I'm not entirely sure I get Framewerk. What is its purpose? It looks like its a bunch of classes that help simplify the rendering aspect of the engine. But it also looks like it locks you into a pretty specific design philosophy. Why are some of you using Framewerk? LUA I've been reading most of the LUA threads that have popped up on the forum thus far and I really like the sound of it. I think I could have a good use for it. How does it integrate with a C++ codebase though? I did like the sound of models having an attached LUA script that can have classes such as Update() that is automatically run at every tick. How does that work? Please excuse the non-specific questions, I am just trying to gain a grasp of the bigger picture here so I can make sure I am following a decent design for my programming.

I tend to agree with Rick - Garrys Mod is very adhoc and so Hooks were no doubt a very useful tool. But in LE its usefulness is considerably less. That said, it fits right into the whole speedy programming and ease of use that LUA brings to the party.

Well in his example there you could run x code whenever a number of Updatexxx functions are run. IMO I guess it has a use, but surely its a sign of bad design?

Well yeah it kind of does. The items are readily available in the editor, so one fully expects to be able to use them. Instead you get some abstract error and crash because LE can't find the one or two files that are locked away. Only after digging through the logs and searching out the offending models do you find this locked pak file and a document stating that they're shareware. Thats shady business for a product you pay good money for.

Wait, so we've got shareware in our SDK?

Actually Josh one thing I realised not 2 minutes ago, and I'm not yet sure sure if this is related, is that the models and materials under /Private/ won't work in anything but the editor. Why? Because you've password protected the .pak files, which contain all the files for those models. It looks like you've got copies of most of the files in the directory there, but a few (texture for the Spruce tree for example) aren't. If you try to load ANY of the included maps via LUA, and I presume C++ as well, they fail because they cannot find a file here or there. Trying to load the train map causes the skybox and terrain to fail to load and you only get the train and tracks.