Davaris

I haven't started using LUA yet and I just downloaded and ran the latest update on a C++ program that was working fine last night and now I get an error. ERROR: unable to find DLL function: GetLuaState. When I hit 'enter', Vis C++ 2008 stops at CreateWorld() and gives this message: Unhandled exception at 0x10126838 in program.exe: 0xC0000005: Access violation. Is there something I should be doing with LUA to stop this error?

The comments in the roads section mention procedural cities. The Pompeii city in this link is stunning. Its a pity about the price of the software though. http://www.procedural.com/cityengine/provided-examples/pompeii.html

http://www.mahalo.com/fuel-game I also saw a video where they said you can drive anywhere at any point.

I see. The first video had me convinced it was all real, because it looked similar to Crysis quality. So how long do you think it will be before cars crumple and tear themselves up like that in games? This shows the MotorStorm crashes better: Looks like panels come off and wheels break off, but no crumples.

That's very sneaky. That video had me convinced the cars were tearing themselves apart when they crashed. EDIT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMjnXgRhiOA&feature=related Though at 8.50 this vid shows some destructible environs.

I heard someone say, who has both games, that MotorStorm is a lot better. I don't know what tech they use, but it might be interesting to compare if they are radically different. From what I saw on this video, MotorStorm has destructible cars and environs. I didn't see that in Fuel.

Fuel looks very impressive and it looks like they can sculpt the terrain (at the very least with roads). It would make for a great Mad Max kind of game.

Yes it is from a commercial standpoint. On their site they say they have been working on it for *5+* years. No pro indie would work on a game for that long, because the chances of making all that money back is very slim. It would be a fun hobby project though. As for no Leadwerks engine games yet, I can't see it being long now. I'm still new to this engine, but from what I have seen, I am amazed at how much work Josh has done for us. I only wish I had been born years later than I was, because game making today is so much easier than it used to be even 5 years ago.

The problem I see, is they have spent so long getting it to that stage and still haven't made a game they can sell. The other problem I see with procedural games, is they can create infinite worlds, but what you do when you go to any place, is pretty much the same as what you do in any other place. Of course some people like that kind of thing. I have a question for anyone that knows. If landscapes are procedurally generated, does that mean they cannot be edited?

This is probably not practical, but what if you did away with the inventory altogether? How about having slots on the player's game body where you can put things? So if he has a sword it is strapped to his side. If he has a quiver it is strapped to his back?

dbl post

Why not go further than the Stalker people and create a map system that can wrap around onto a planet or asteroid shape? If this could be put into orbit with other planets, it would be tres cool. I am joking because it sounds ridiculously difficult, but if you came out with an engine with that capability, it would blow the competition away.

No I didn't know about that. I'll do a search on it.

#include "engine.h" int main(int argc, char** argv) { Initialize(); //Create a graphics context Graphics(800,600); //Create a world if (!CreateWorld()) { MessageBoxA(0,"Error","Failed to create world.",0); goto exitapp; } //Create a camera TEntity cam=CreateCamera(); CameraClearColor(cam,Vec4(0,0,1,1)); PositionEntity(cam,Vec3(10,15,-5)); RotateEntity(cam,Vec3(45,45,0)); //Load a model TModel scene=LoadModel("Character_Controllers_Files/scene.gmf"); if (scene==0) { MessageBoxA(0,"Error","Failed to load model.",0); goto exitapp; } //Create a light TLight light=CreatePointLight(); PositionEntity(light,Vec3(0,5,0)); //Create a render buffer TBuffer buffer=CreateBuffer(800,600,BUFFER_COLOR|BUFFER_DEPTH|BUFFER_NORMAL); EntityType(scene,2); Collisions(1,2,true); // TMesh cube=CreateCube(); // ScaleEntity(cube,Vec3(0.4, 1.8, 0.4)); float playerheight = 1.5;//1.8; TController player=CreateController(playerheight,0.4,0.5, 46); EntityType(player,1); PositionEntity(player,Vec3(0,5,0)); SetBodyMass(player,1); float move=0.0; float strafe=0.0; //DebugPhysics(1); TVec3 camrotation=Vec3(0); float mx=0; float my=0; HideMouse(); MoveMouse(GraphicsWidth()/2,GraphicsHeight()/2); SetBodyDamping(player,0.0); SetWorldGravity(Vec3(0,-20,0)); //Load the animated mesh TMesh mesh=LoadMesh("crawler.gmf"); TEntity head=FindChild(mesh,"Bip01 Head"); int sequence=1; float framebegin; float frameend; float frame; TVec3 currplayerpos, lastplayerpos; //Main loop while(!KeyHit(KEY_ESCAPE)) { if (KeyDown(KEY_LEFT)) { TurnEntity(head,Vec3(0,0.5,0));} if (KeyDown(KEY_RIGHT)) { TurnEntity(head,Vec3(0,-0.5,0));} if (KeyDown(KEY_UP)) { TurnEntity(head,Vec3(0.5,0,0));} if (KeyDown(KEY_DOWN)) { TurnEntity(head,Vec3(-0.5,0,0));} UpdateAppTime(); float jump=0.0; //Player movement move=3*(KeyDown(KEY_W)-KeyDown(KEY_S)); strafe=3*(KeyDown(KEY_D)-KeyDown(KEY_A)); if (KeyHit(KEY_SPACE)) { if (!ControllerAirborne(player)) { jump=4.0; } } if (KeyDown(KEY_LSHIFT)||KeyDown(KEY_RSHIFT)) { if (!ControllerAirborne(player)) { move*=2.0; strafe*=2.0; } } // SETTING ANIMATION CYCLE or MODE // walking if (move != 0 || strafe != 0)// || ControllerAirborne(player)) { framebegin=70.0; frameend=130.0; // running if (KeyDown(KEY_LSHIFT)||KeyDown(KEY_RSHIFT)) { framebegin=131.0; frameend=171.0; } } // idle else { framebegin=0.0; frameend=69.0; } //Animate the mesh frame=AppTime()/100.0; frame=fmodf(frame,frameend-framebegin)+framebegin; Animate(mesh,frame,1.0,0,true); //mx=Curve(MouseX()-GraphicsWidth()/2,mx,6); //my=Curve(MouseY()-GraphicsHeight()/2,my,6); //MoveMouse(GraphicsWidth()/2,GraphicsHeight()/2); //camrotation.X=camrotation.X+my/10.0; //camrotation.Y=camrotation.Y-mx/10.0; //RotateEntity(cam,camrotation); //Set controller input //UpdateController(player,0.0,move,strafe); UpdateController(player,camrotation.Y,move,strafe,jump, 100); //TVec3 playerpos=EntityPosition(player); //playerpos.Y+=1.75; //PositionEntity(cam,playerpos); TVec3 playerpos=EntityPosition(player); playerpos.Y -= 0.8; TVec3 camerapos=EntityPosition(cam); camerapos.Y=Curve(playerpos.Y+1.75,camerapos.Y,2.0); camerapos=Vec3(playerpos.X,camerapos.Y,playerpos.Z); // PositionEntity(cam,camerapos); // WHERE THE PLAYER IS PositionEntity(mesh,playerpos); // THE PLAYERS DIRECTION USING VECTOR SUBTRACTION /* //if (move != 0 || strafe != 0) { lastplayerpos = currplayerpos; currplayerpos = EntityPosition(player); TVec3 dir = currplayerpos - lastplayerpos; dir = EntityRotation(player);//Normalize(dir); RotateEntity(mesh,dir); } // RotateEntity(mesh,Vec3(45,45,0)); */ // THE PLAYERS DIRECTION USING strafe, move TVec3 dir = Vec3(strafe,0,move); dir=TFormVector(dir,0,player); //dir = Normalize(dir); RotateEntity(mesh,EntityRotation(player)); // ISOMETRIC CAMERA THAT PUTS THE PLAYER IN THE // CENTER OF THE SCREEN float multi = 1.0; TVec3 isopos = Vec3(5*multi,3*multi,-5*multi); PositionEntity(cam,camerapos + isopos); //Update the world UpdateWorld(); //Render the scene SetBuffer(buffer); RenderWorld(); //Render lighting SetBuffer(BackBuffer()); RenderLights(buffer); //Swap the front and back buffer Flip(); } exitapp: return Terminate(); }

I'm learning to use the character controller and want to set the direction of a mesh to be the same direction the character controller is moving. Isubtracted last_position from current_position, to determine the direction vector and then used RotateEntity, but the mesh always faces the same direction. Is there a special function I should be using to get the direction vector that the character controller is facing?

I noticed when I was going through the tutorials, that different effects require very different things to be done at the render stage. This made me wonder if different areas can have only one kind of effect. So am I right in assuming that the framework helps with these issues?

From what you were describing, it sounds like it would be quite difficult for the end user (us) to manage. If it ever became fool proof and easy to use, I'd be for it because I don't want to spend a lot of time on technical issues, I want to use that time to make games.

The point I'm making is nifty features (like the AAA's have with all the resources they can bring to bear to solve cutting edge technical problems) do not a good game make. When you have completed your first game and try to sell it, you will understand what I am talking about. Also if you want to see an example of the only Indie RPG maker I know of that has made a living for 10+ years making and selling RPGs, look up Spiderweb Software and marvel at the high-tech engine he uses. The other thing you don't seem to understand is Josh is a one man company. The companies you are comparing LWE to spend 20+ million making and marketing their games - we are minnows by comparison and so have to think creatively to make games that will sell. Josh has explained the technical difficulties involved, which would be beyond the abilities of average programmers to solve, so for now I'd take him at his word and think of a way to make your game fun without this feature.

As Josh has explained, what you are asking for will make the game engine a lot harder to use and one of the reasons why I chose the LWE, is because it is so easy to use. As for your comment "I personally believe the days of corridor shooters is drawing to a close.", that is ridiculous. The best RPGs ever written used areas/levels that had to be loaded. See Fallout 1 & 2, Baldurs Gate series, any game made by Troika. Fallout 3 had open areas feature, but did not make the game better than the games that came before it.

This looks very interesting. Thanks for posting it Chris.

The thing about games, is when you're playing them you aren't making them. So there'll be no games on this machine, until I make at least one on it.

Not on the new PC. I have a couple of old PCs with CD burners and floppy drives, so I just created an image on the 8 GB USB. Hopefully USB will improve enough one day, to replace optical technology, because I prefer USB. >what motherboard did you get I got the cheapest machine money could buy. Once I've settled in with all this, I might try my hand at over clocking it. ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO Phenom II X3 720 9800GTX+

Thanks for your help everyone. I was a bit worried that I had fried it for a while, because the bios didn't kick over on the first few starts - I didn't bother buying a CD burner, so I had to put the install disk on a USB stick and plug it in before it would go. Anyhow its all working now and I'll be installing Leadwerks later tonight when I can hook it up to the net.

I have a question for the hardware gurus. I have a Cooler Master CM 690 case and I have hooked everything up, except for the front panel's HDD lights and the buttons. The problem I am having is I don't know which are the earth wires, because the manual doesn't mention colours. All of the pairs of wires with earths on them come in different colours from red, blue, yellow etc, but the commonality they all have is a white wire to go with a coloured one. So at this point I'm thinking the earth wire is the white wire. Am I right? What if I am wrong? Will I fry my lights and buttons if the wires are in the wrong slots, or will they just fail to work? BTW I just noticed the Hardware Discussion forum was missing, when I needed to ask a question about my PC, so I hope it comes back.

Thanks for the good wishes Pixel Perfect. I just got all the bits for my computer at long last and except for not being sure which are the 'earth' wires for the front panel lights and buttons, it is ready to be switched on for the first time!