February 23, 2007
Many fixes to report today.
I added distance & volume-based sound culling, so non-looping sounds that are too far for the player to hear are still sent to the AI as stimulus, but not sent to the sdl_mixer to actually play.
I also added a per-level sound distance, that controls how quickly sound f…
I added distance & volume-based sound culling, so non-looping sounds that are too far for the player to hear are still sent to the AI as stimulus, but not sent to the sdl_mixer to actually play.
I also added a per-level sound distance, that controls how quickly sound f…
February 22, 2007
Yesterday I fixed a problem with the character & enemy aiming code. The raise_weapon and lower_weapon animations bring the arm from the side up to pointing horizontally, which was causing visual jumps when the arm was aimed significantly higher or lower.
So, I added some code to tell me what % …
So, I added some code to tell me what % …
February 21, 2007
Had the parents in town for a few days, but still managed to get some coding done here and there.
For one, I fixed some more issues with the lightmap stuff.
Here is a shot of a lightmap texel visualization mode, where each point represents a lightmap texel center, and the color indicates if it was …
For one, I fixed some more issues with the lightmap stuff.
Here is a shot of a lightmap texel visualization mode, where each point represents a lightmap texel center, and the color indicates if it was …
February 17, 2007
My lightmap code has been working well for a long time. I haven't touched the chart generation or chart packing in forever, and haven't had any issues with them - until last Saturday.
I made a level with a couple of ramps that you could also walk under. When I went to light it, I got some very s…
I made a level with a couple of ramps that you could also walk under. When I went to light it, I got some very s…
February 15, 2007
Today I added a time-saving feature to the level editor, an auto-portal generator.
Before today, the process of portalization was only semi-automated. Basically, the designer wrapped her 'rooms' in one or more cells. Cells can overlap, and often do. Usually when cells overlap in an empty area, a …
Before today, the process of portalization was only semi-automated. Basically, the designer wrapped her 'rooms' in one or more cells. Cells can overlap, and often do. Usually when cells overlap in an empty area, a …
February 14, 2007
Sound Pathing
A few days ago I was testing my new industrial-themed level, and I noticed the elevator sound from a room quite a walking distance away, way too loud. When I went to wireframe, I understood why. In real space, it was right next to my character, just on the other side of a couple of m…
A few days ago I was testing my new industrial-themed level, and I noticed the elevator sound from a room quite a walking distance away, way too loud. When I went to wireframe, I understood why. In real space, it was right next to my character, just on the other side of a couple of m…
February 13, 2007
AI Boundaries
Made many changes to the AI over the past week or so.
The latest change was to make the AI respect its navgrid 'island', and not try to go off it in two cases that weren't previously handled : being out of range of the player, and finding no path to the player despite increasing the sea…
February 01, 2007
Well, got the camera code in there, so now the engine understands triggers with a 'cam_path' node. It looks through all cameras in the level for the specified camera path string to match.
Once it finds them, it sorts the paths by float ordinal, then goes into the camera path input state.
Right now I…
Once it finds them, it sorts the paths by float ordinal, then goes into the camera path input state.
Right now I…
January 31, 2007
Fixed some issues with the cameras, and got them loading in game, so designers can now place them in the levels, although they aren't used by the game engine right yet.
I also fixed a lingering bug with the level editor that was causing some issues on large levels with > 250k triangles.
Basically,…
I also fixed a lingering bug with the level editor that was causing some issues on large levels with > 250k triangles.
Basically,…
January 30, 2007
Well, now the level editor is working fairly well, and we are actually using it to make levels again.
Over the past few days I have addressed many issues, from lighting problems to new editor features.
I had two types of lighting issues - the first from the ambient occlusion. I had been using hemisp…
Over the past few days I have addressed many issues, from lighting problems to new editor features.
I had two types of lighting issues - the first from the ambient occlusion. I had been using hemisp…
January 23, 2007
Yesterday I put in the proper level selection mechanism, at least in the player's spaceship.
When you enter the teleporter, it checks your character's info to see which levels he knows about that are in the same hub he is currently in, and gives you those options to teleport to.
The main nav computer…
When you enter the teleporter, it checks your character's info to see which levels he knows about that are in the same hub he is currently in, and gives you those options to teleport to.
The main nav computer…
January 22, 2007
Hopefully this weekend represents the last major work on the editor. It was a pretty satisfying project, but I have to get back to gameplay-related things.
The one area that was better on the old editor was the texture coordinate adjustment. I'm not sure if I'll just add a button or two for offset…
The one area that was better on the old editor was the texture coordinate adjustment. I'm not sure if I'll just add a button or two for offset…
January 19, 2007
Been a productive couple of days.
Last night I got the AI island code in there. So, now, when an I looks for a spot, he restricts himself to the intersection of his normal search box and the island box of his closest nav point.
Now the enemy in the tunnel is able to find good hiding & shootin…
Last night I got the AI island code in there. So, now, when an I looks for a spot, he restricts himself to the intersection of his normal search box and the island box of his closest nav point.
Now the enemy in the tunnel is able to find good hiding & shootin…
January 18, 2007
More good progress on the level editor today.
I added a 'select seam vertices' button, that searches the whole level for problem vertices. Basically, for each vertex, i make a small bounding box around it, and look for nearby tris ( not necessarily connected tris ).
Then for each of these, I see if …
I added a 'select seam vertices' button, that searches the whole level for problem vertices. Basically, for each vertex, i make a small bounding box around it, and look for nearby tris ( not necessarily connected tris ).
Then for each of these, I see if …
January 18, 2007
Due to the triangle-soup nature of the levels, it can be a pain to use the triangles themselves as the main modeling primitive. In retrospect, I think a voxel-type approach would have been better, at least to rough things out. It could use marching tetrahedra to create tris to draw.
Anyway, the si…
January 17, 2007
I have always hated my camera controls in the editor. Not sure why I didn't fix them before, but tonight I added a drag-button toolbar to allow you to move the camera around in a sane way. The old method left the cursor in the screen while moving the camera, which caused issues when it got outsid…
January 14, 2007
Well, got the vertex tab in there today, and added a couple of missing things to the atmosphere tab, like the skybox support.
Also fixed a nice lingering bug in my CSV parser where the 1st row couldn't be empty, or it would be skipped, allowing junky info into the sound file listings.
I added an 'All…
January 12, 2007
Made a bunch of fixes over the past few hours, and got the atmosphere tab working. Just need to add in the skybox selection, and it will be done.
This morning I fixed the object dragging, improving it beyond how it used to work in the old editor. The old editor supported view-space dragging, with …
January 11, 2007
Here is a shot of the sound sources up & running again, along with the options menu. The options allow you to tweak selection options for the triangle smart selection, as well as the extremely useful snap to grid commands.
This morning I got undo & redo both working well. Initially, I did …
January 11, 2007
By late today or tomorrow, the major surgery on the level editor will be done. I'm sure there will be other usability tweaks over time, but I have only 3 out of the dozen or so tabs to do - the vertex, decals and atmosphere tabs.
Over the past couple of days I put in a limited form of Undo, and las…
January 08, 2007
Below is a shot of the most complex piece of the user interface for the game. It allows you to browse the various entity types and create them.
It also lets you browse all existing entities and their facets, adding, deleting, changing and renaming them as well.
Here is a shot of the light user inter…
It also lets you browse all existing entities and their facets, adding, deleting, changing and renaming them as well.
Here is a shot of the light user inter…
January 06, 2007
Doing IMGUI programming is fun. Still a lot of work, but it's much better than wrestling with a bloated GUI library. That said, I understand why GUI libraries are bloated - there are so many options you want for various widgets.
For instance, a button can be implemented simply with an optional cap…
For instance, a button can be implemented simply with an optional cap…
January 04, 2007
Well, so far the level editor conversion is going well.
I have the levels up & running in the new system, with no .net anywhere to be found, and no windows form crap.
The downside is the amount of pretty simple gui controls that need to be recreated, although, I must admit, it's soooo nice having…
I have the levels up & running in the new system, with no .net anywhere to be found, and no windows form crap.
The downside is the amount of pretty simple gui controls that need to be recreated, although, I must admit, it's soooo nice having…
January 02, 2007
Well, looks like the old level editor has finally given up the ghost. I used the Managed C++ with Windows Forms included in Visual Studio .net 2003. Mainly I went with this instead of C# in order to avoid porting over most of my code to C#, like for geometry manipulation, etc.
It actually work…
It actually work…
December 11, 2006
A few days ago I added a per-level material for the lower menu section. I also had to tweak the various bars not to fade to complete black. Obviously it's still too sparse ( only about half the info is in there ), but it's more workable than before.
Today I added a trail particle system. It's…
Today I added a trail particle system. It's…
December 08, 2006
Been working on the gui & related things.
One of the new features yesterday was giving the player elements in certain situations. There are 9 total elements, including carbon, silicon, iron and 6 colored crystals that can be mined by the player during the game.
The 3 metals can be used in variou…
One of the new features yesterday was giving the player elements in certain situations. There are 9 total elements, including carbon, silicon, iron and 6 colored crystals that can be mined by the player during the game.
The 3 metals can be used in variou…
December 06, 2006
I spent yesterday making various fixes, including improving the gun UI display. My initial cut didn't light the guns, but just used their diffuse texture, which in some cases can make them look very different than in-game, ignoring gloss & emissive.
I went ahead and added some simple diffuse &a…
I went ahead and added some simple diffuse &a…
December 05, 2006
The ship level is coming along well. The artist has supplied some nice bump-mapped panels and some nice textures for the interior. I spent some time this morning tweaking the specularity and colors of the materials.
This morning I also got the player's gun inventory showing up on-screen. The uppe…
This morning I also got the player's gun inventory showing up on-screen. The uppe…
December 04, 2006
Here is an initial shot of the space ship. This will serve as the player's base in between levels, and is a level itself. The ship will feature stations at which the character can choose his destination, heal up, and research and modify equipment.
The textures are placeholders, and it's missing no…
The textures are placeholders, and it's missing no…
December 03, 2006
Made some more scanning fixes yesterday, including creating a new model for the scanner/pda.
One reason to change it was that the old pda looked like a palm pilot, and thus was asymmetrical in the left vs right hand. All other guns are symmetrical, so we changed it to make it have a gun-like handle…
One reason to change it was that the old pda looked like a palm pilot, and thus was asymmetrical in the left vs right hand. All other guns are symmetrical, so we changed it to make it have a gun-like handle…
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