Once again, perseverance is the winning key to success. [smile]
I fully changed the network code over from HawkNL to Winsock in one day alone, which is 5 times faster than I had (grudgingly) predicted. Not only that, but I've fixed up virtually every bug in the game. Here's what I did today and yesterday:
More bugs {*} Rework login sequence {*} Players not seeing other players' bullets (really fast?) {*} Server dropping all players when any one player drops Remove all mines/claymores/projectiles/grenades belonging to a player that exits {*} Claymores aren't blending based on power/charge-up {*} InactiveTime on bullets preventing game object collision <*> Lower inactive-time on hardpistol; increase range; lower recoil Have recoil recovery occur irregardless of shootcount Change 'recovery' to 'physical recoil' (so the push-back force of firing is seperate from the gun's recoil) {*} When you have two medkits, one doesn't work (o.O) {*} Multiple joinings per player (due to multiple login data sends) {*} MG and Pistol ammunition not recv'ing properly for clients (44 always?) {*} Make players with respawn counter left invisible until respawn {*} Players not acknowledging death notifications for other players (sometimes) Display shots left on HUD based on #-of-bullets per-shot {*} Turn off all utilities upon respawn {*} Turn off collisions on non-visible players Network rewrite (to Winsock) Backup source :P Network init (server and client) nlWrite and nlRead to send() and recv() Main loop (server and client)Progress feels great! Not only that, but now everyone is having zero trouble connecting. Previous Draffurd was unable to connect from home with his (wacky?) router system, but no problems now. And the previous issues with multiple login retries being needed are very seldom. Login request, notification, login data, boom: you're in. Very clean, very fast. And I'm gloating. Sorry. [smile] You guys know how accomplishment feels!
Additionally, as a strange bonus, player pings seem to be a LOT lower now. 40ms or so doesn't sound like much, but that's a big difference when you're going down from 100ms to 60ms on average.
The last item on my v0.05 Roadmap is fixing up grenade physics, since nades sometimes still get stuck in walls or on top of an object like the crates. I also have to change the grenade 'height shadow' to appear shorter when the grenade is on an object to give the illusion of height.
Skirmish Online Website
..is down at the moment. I had a fun chat with GoDaddy.com about some problems I've been having with the site. Long distance. As in, Canada to Arizona. No toll-free number. Arg.
Anyways, the first guy who 'helped' me didn't solve anything but tell me that it must be the scripts on my website that's doing it. Yeah right. Silly goose. So I called again and got another tech guy. This fellow really knew his beans and I wish we had more knowledgable folks like him on technical service. Anyways, he helped me get the settings I needed and within 48 hours it should propogate and be fully functional again. The forum will have a nice subdomain at http://forum.skirmishonline.com.
Oh, and Skirmish Online is now the 4th item on Google when searched for. Soon I'll topple that peculiar UK band of the same name and take over! Bwahaha.
j/k =Þ
Geez, thats a lot of progress. Between yesterday and today I wrote down a bunch of crappy ideas and implemented the base of my shader system =/ (base meaning it works to a minimal.)
Keep up the good work and good luck with the site (GoDaddy.com is giving me problems too in the form of not letting me sign into my FTP sometimes.)