September 16, 2005
Up In Smoke
I got some good feedback from a team member to try a darker smoke. After playing with the blending modes, I went back to an older method that seems to give good results :
The idea is that it darkens more than it brightens. This is a sort-indepen…
I got some good feedback from a team member to try a darker smoke. After playing with the blending modes, I went back to an older method that seems to give good results :
SRCBLEND = SRCCOLOR
DESTBLEND = INVSRCOOLOR
The idea is that it darkens more than it brightens. This is a sort-indepen…
September 15, 2005
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
Well, the host is back up, so the pictures are back as well.
Today I spent a few hours fixing up the smoke effect. It's been in there for over a year, but only recently have we decided to
really emphasize the particle effects more, so I started bringing the particles up to da…
Well, the host is back up, so the pictures are back as well.
Today I spent a few hours fixing up the smoke effect. It's been in there for over a year, but only recently have we decided to
really emphasize the particle effects more, so I started bringing the particles up to da…
September 14, 2005
I apologize for the lack of pictures - looks like I am having a registrar issue right now with my spies.net domain.
There doesn't seem to be a simple way for me to search & replace my old updates, so I can't easily redirect them elsewhere.
Good progress is being made on many fronts, from art, to …
There doesn't seem to be a simple way for me to search & replace my old updates, so I can't easily redirect them elsewhere.
Good progress is being made on many fronts, from art, to …
September 12, 2005
Silver & Gold
Many months ago I spent several days coming up with a decent way to do specular materials. My old lighting scheme was diffuse only, and things looked quite flat, so I decided to update the material system to support specular, and more specifically, metallic shading.
One interesting…
Many months ago I spent several days coming up with a decent way to do specular materials. My old lighting scheme was diffuse only, and things looked quite flat, so I decided to update the material system to support specular, and more specifically, metallic shading.
One interesting…
September 12, 2005
Small Update
Just some small tweaks and fixes today. I fixed the entity ambient so it doesn't blink anymore. Turns out I was using one of the functions normally used for the ambient occlusion calculation. Because that function randomized the normal direction for occlusion hemisphere sampling, and…
Just some small tweaks and fixes today. I fixed the entity ambient so it doesn't blink anymore. Turns out I was using one of the functions normally used for the ambient occlusion calculation. Because that function randomized the normal direction for occlusion hemisphere sampling, and…
September 10, 2005
Sound Sources
Yesterday I added static sound sources to the game. The first step was to add them to the editor. I originall had in mind
a fairly complex scheme where each sound was represented by an OOBB. Within the OOBB, a character would hear the sound at
full volume, but outside it, it would hea…
Yesterday I added static sound sources to the game. The first step was to add them to the editor. I originall had in mind
a fairly complex scheme where each sound was represented by an OOBB. Within the OOBB, a character would hear the sound at
full volume, but outside it, it would hea…
September 09, 2005
Lately I've been working on many different aspects of the engine. I tested the new navigation system on the tower level,
to ensure that it could handle the over and under problem. At first it couldn't, but after a few small changes, it started
to work very well.
Here's a shot of my first tower level…
to ensure that it could handle the over and under problem. At first it couldn't, but after a few small changes, it started
to work very well.
Here's a shot of my first tower level…
September 06, 2005
Yet More Navigation Fixes
Well, I keep saying it's fixed, and now I'm more sure, but I'm not yet really sure. I did re-write the navigation grid last night ( again ). This time I'm not using a 2d grid, but a std::set of navigation::nodes. This was designed to fix the over-under problem, which whi…
Well, I keep saying it's fixed, and now I'm more sure, but I'm not yet really sure. I did re-write the navigation grid last night ( again ). This time I'm not using a 2d grid, but a std::set of navigation::nodes. This was designed to fix the over-under problem, which whi…
September 04, 2005
AI & Inventory
I spent yesterday cleaning up some more gameplay issues, and working out some of the AI a bit more. One nice fix is that I made the laser weapon that you carry into the game a real inventory item. That fixed the bug where you would pick up an axe, and then when you threw the axe…
I spent yesterday cleaning up some more gameplay issues, and working out some of the AI a bit more. One nice fix is that I made the laser weapon that you carry into the game a real inventory item. That fixed the bug where you would pick up an axe, and then when you threw the axe…
September 01, 2005
I've been working on AI navigation and intelligence over the past few days, as well as item and inventory fixes. Parts of the code have been scattered around various files for quite a while, as I put in stubs for some systems in order to test and perfect others.
For instance, the firing code has be…
For instance, the firing code has be…
August 30, 2005
Well, looks like I finally nailed the navigation system. I re-wrote it last night to actuall sweep spheres through the level instead of trying to estimate walkability. It's times like these that make we wish I had restricted the game to be tile-based...
I had a bug that was driving me insane. Bas…
I had a bug that was driving me insane. Bas…
August 29, 2005
Yesterday I worked on the tower level. I created an ivy decal, which adds a nice touch and some variety. Later on I will have to break up some of the stone, add some scratches, etc. I also added a stairway to one of the towers and tweaked it until it lined up right and was navigable. Unfortunat…
August 27, 2005
Last night I added some more editor features and updated the help file.
The main feature was a version of box selction. I already have a sort of 2d rectangular selection, but wanted a fully 3d version. So, I added options to the Trigger tab so you can create a Trigger, which is just an arbitra…
The main feature was a version of box selction. I already have a sort of 2d rectangular selection, but wanted a fully 3d version. So, I added options to the Trigger tab so you can create a Trigger, which is just an arbitra…
August 26, 2005
Various Progress
Well, I made progress in many different areas since the last update. The Editor has seen some improvements, along with the camera zoom, and also some infrastructure and some collision fixes.
Last night I fixed the camera zoom to not be a pure linear move. I don't really zoom the ca…
Well, I made progress in many different areas since the last update. The Editor has seen some improvements, along with the camera zoom, and also some infrastructure and some collision fixes.
Last night I fixed the camera zoom to not be a pure linear move. I don't really zoom the ca…
August 26, 2005
I spent about half of today meeting with a former colleague at his new job, and might have found some interesting consulting work with his new firm.
Before I left, I tried to put together a build, and of course, had many last minute problems - including a strange inability for the game to import the…
Before I left, I tried to put together a build, and of course, had many last minute problems - including a strange inability for the game to import the…
August 24, 2005
Pathing Fix
Last night I decided to put some of the cool new physics-based weapons in something resembling a real game level, so I brought
up the editor and dropped some throwing knives and an axe into the level, saved it, then ran it through the game engine.
The good news is that the weapons worked v…
Last night I decided to put some of the cool new physics-based weapons in something resembling a real game level, so I brought
up the editor and dropped some throwing knives and an axe into the level, saved it, then ran it through the game engine.
The good news is that the weapons worked v…
August 23, 2005
Growing Radii
I spent all yesterday struggling with collision bugs. I was able to get spinning objects in the game, but then they kept leaving the world.
My bullets and particles are all handled with ray-casts, so they never tunnel. My characters are fairly large, and don't move that fast, so they …
I spent all yesterday struggling with collision bugs. I was able to get spinning objects in the game, but then they kept leaving the world.
My bullets and particles are all handled with ray-casts, so they never tunnel. My characters are fairly large, and don't move that fast, so they …
August 22, 2005
Well, despite being my day off yesterday, I spent about 5 hours working on the physics some more. I decided to try to integrate
some ideas from some of oliii's excellent sample code. His Cube3D demo does a fairly convincing job of cubes bouncing off each other and some triangles, including angular…
some ideas from some of oliii's excellent sample code. His Cube3D demo does a fairly convincing job of cubes bouncing off each other and some triangles, including angular…
August 21, 2005
Weapon Rollout
I fixed the last of the obvious collision bugs. No more objects flying out of the world, or getting stuck in each other.
Next I tackled rotation. My code was based on some stuff I derived to make rolling boulders a long time ago. Back then,
it was sort of a hack, since the boulders o…
I fixed the last of the obvious collision bugs. No more objects flying out of the world, or getting stuck in each other.
Next I tackled rotation. My code was based on some stuff I derived to make rolling boulders a long time ago. Back then,
it was sort of a hack, since the boulders o…
August 20, 2005
Let's Get Physical
I am working on improving the physics. I have rewritten it several times, and am finally happy with the code, and also
making good progress, and cleaning up quite a bit as well.
I have a Collidable interface that handles most of the interactions, with virtual overloaded methods giv…
I am working on improving the physics. I have rewritten it several times, and am finally happy with the code, and also
making good progress, and cleaning up quite a bit as well.
I have a Collidable interface that handles most of the interactions, with virtual overloaded methods giv…
August 19, 2005
Design & Reworked Collision
I spent 4.5 hours on the phone with my partner, and we accomplished quite a bit in terms of prioritizing & tightening up the design. This game is going to rock.
It's very important to us that the RPG elements of the game are very clearly identified to the player, …
I spent 4.5 hours on the phone with my partner, and we accomplished quite a bit in terms of prioritizing & tightening up the design. This game is going to rock.
It's very important to us that the RPG elements of the game are very clearly identified to the player, …
August 18, 2005
Capsule Fever
Well, I finally put the capsule code in. It was quite a struggle, due to the messiness of the physics code, which has gone through more revisions than I care to remember. First, I had to rid myself of ellipsoids ( which worked ok until you want to do ellipsoid vs ellipsoid collision …
Well, I finally put the capsule code in. It was quite a struggle, due to the messiness of the physics code, which has gone through more revisions than I care to remember. First, I had to rid myself of ellipsoids ( which worked ok until you want to do ellipsoid vs ellipsoid collision …
August 17, 2005
Beauty of Symmetry
Well, I got the swept navigation testing working last night. I'm actually still using spheres right now, but will switch to
capsules once I integrate that code in more fully. It's not urgent, b/c the bottom of a capsule is simply a hemisphere, so
as long as the radii of the two ma…
Well, I got the swept navigation testing working last night. I'm actually still using spheres right now, but will switch to
capsules once I integrate that code in more fully. It's not urgent, b/c the bottom of a capsule is simply a hemisphere, so
as long as the radii of the two ma…
August 16, 2005
Grids and Capsules
One of the things going through my mind lately was how to properly handle the over->under problem with the AI waypoints.
I don't need to support navigating over-under, but I do need to automatically place the waypoints such that two points with
the same x & z coords, one poss…
One of the things going through my mind lately was how to properly handle the over->under problem with the AI waypoints.
I don't need to support navigating over-under, but I do need to automatically place the waypoints such that two points with
the same x & z coords, one poss…
August 14, 2005
Improved A* Paths
Last night I added & tested the code to have each ai agent only able to check 10 new nodes at a time during the A* path search. This works very well, and seems to completely eliminate any a star spikes in the frame rate. I also added line of sight checks to tell when the AI n…
Last night I added & tested the code to have each ai agent only able to check 10 new nodes at a time during the A* path search. This works very well, and seems to completely eliminate any a star spikes in the frame rate. I also added line of sight checks to tell when the AI n…
August 13, 2005
A Star and AI
Today I've been working on the a star, as well as the AI code. I made the enemies only attempt to look at 10 nodes per Think() call when planning a path. The A star object keeps the current progress so it can be resumed or aborted at any time. This definitely improves the framerate …
Today I've been working on the a star, as well as the AI code. I made the enemies only attempt to look at 10 nodes per Think() call when planning a path. The A star object keeps the current progress so it can be resumed or aborted at any time. This definitely improves the framerate …
August 13, 2005
A Star Update
Well, I've been working on AStar this week. Last time I talked about switching to a dense waypoint mesh. This seems like a good choice so far.
I've been using some free AStar code from the net, which keeps crashing on me at certain points, so I've been reading numerous good tutorials …
Well, I've been working on AStar this week. Last time I talked about switching to a dense waypoint mesh. This seems like a good choice so far.
I've been using some free AStar code from the net, which keeps crashing on me at certain points, so I've been reading numerous good tutorials …
August 09, 2005
Back to the A Star
Well, after doing research all weekend on steering algorithms, I have given up on the large rectangular area approach to storing nodes for a star.
It didn't offer enough benefits over a simpler dense mesh of waypoints. For instance, figuring out which 12x8 meter 'room' your charac…
Well, after doing research all weekend on steering algorithms, I have given up on the large rectangular area approach to storing nodes for a star.
It didn't offer enough benefits over a simpler dense mesh of waypoints. For instance, figuring out which 12x8 meter 'room' your charac…
August 06, 2005
I'm on my way out the door, but wanted to add some updates about the water.
First, a screenshot of my latest level. I love the bridge model, which I bought off renderosity.com with some other high-quality, very reasonably priced artwork.
Here is another shot, showing off the water receiving sunlight…
First, a screenshot of my latest level. I love the bridge model, which I bought off renderosity.com with some other high-quality, very reasonably priced artwork.
Here is another shot, showing off the water receiving sunlight…
August 05, 2005
Navigation Woes
Well, I fixed some more bugs in the navigation system yesterday, and successfully got an enemy to follow my character down some stairs. Unfortunately, he wouldn't follow the player up the stairs.
I believe the problem comes from the fact that, although the new technique of using ph…
Well, I fixed some more bugs in the navigation system yesterday, and successfully got an enemy to follow my character down some stairs. Unfortunately, he wouldn't follow the player up the stairs.
I believe the problem comes from the fact that, although the new technique of using ph…
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