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Selection advanced
#144473
07/30/07 18:40
07/30/07 18:40
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 390 Florida
oldschoolj
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Hi folks,
So setting up an enemy to do something, like glow, or whatever is easy in Lite-C. It's just as easy to make a image, or particles appear at the enemies feet, like a selection ring, or targeting ring.
Does anyone have some ideas on where I would begin looking to set up a selection ring that can change it's shape to match the shape of the surface the enemy is on? I thought maybe some kind of shader, but I don't know if thats even nessessary. I though maybe particles w/ collision wont go below the surface they are on?
Any tips woud be useful.
Jesse
you can find me with my face in the keyboard, unshaven, listening to some nameless techno tragedy, and hashing through code over a cold cup a stale joe.
__________________________________
yours truly
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Re: Selection advanced
[Re: oldschoolj]
#144474
07/31/07 03:35
07/31/07 03:35
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 3,538 WA, Australia
JibbSmart
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i think most games would tend to do a projection shader. it sounds ugly though because if a lot of entities are selected, things could get slow. projected textures tend not to be too bad if you know what you're projecting onto (like if you only want it projected onto terrain) and i assume you'd only need an orthographic top-down projection (no tricky matrix calculations necessary).
another idea (if you don't mind doing something a little different) is to have a coloured outline around selected units. this would easily be done in a similar fashion to a toon shader. if you only want to outline their silhouette (GRAW style) things are a little bit trickier.
i think particles would be tricky because to have enough of them that it doesn't look bad, especially if you want some sort of collision, would give you a decent performance hit.
julz
Formerly known as JulzMighty. I made KarBOOM!
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Re: Selection advanced
[Re: JibbSmart]
#144475
07/31/07 08:53
07/31/07 08:53
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 390 Florida
oldschoolj
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Well, based on my research ( I read several articles on texture projection, and how it's made), I've decided to leave it alone. I really don't see how there is any viable solution besides a shader, and given the amount of hours it would take to develope, it's not worth it.
However, is it possible to use c_trace to trace the point from the sprite to the enemys feet, so that it always stays in the riht spot, or should I just ent_create at a point near the enemies feet, and let the enemy move it around by setting the sprite vec, to the enemies vec?
thanks for the advice btw.
you can find me with my face in the keyboard, unshaven, listening to some nameless techno tragedy, and hashing through code over a cold cup a stale joe.
__________________________________
yours truly
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Re: Selection advanced
[Re: oldschoolj]
#144476
07/31/07 09:05
07/31/07 09:05
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 3,538 WA, Australia
JibbSmart
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yeh a sprite would be plenty  i think i'd go for the "near the character's feet" idea simply because it means less c_trace's (they tend to be slow). most games just use sprites -- my comment... Quote:
i think most games would tend to do a projection shader.
... was just addressing the goal to have the selection ring deform over the ground beneath them.
simply out of curiousity's sake i might write a simple selection shader that does the outline effect (basically a toon shader except without the toon shading and a different coloured outline) if i find enough spare time.
happy to help any time, or give any suggestions if i think they might help 
julz
Formerly known as JulzMighty. I made KarBOOM!
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Re: Selection advanced
[Re: JibbSmart]
#144477
07/31/07 10:20
07/31/07 10:20
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 390 Florida
oldschoolj
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thankyou julz, I relaly appreciate it. I'm trying so hard to learn lite-c, and I don't care what anyone says, it's alot different then C-Script, lol. I've been putting in double shifts on learning this for about a week now, and I havn't even gotten to the actual spell casting part. I dread the thought of thinking about how I'm going to get that down pat, once this is flawless  Oh, and I was thinking about the whole outline thing. That might be good for several other games, but my game has really big boss monsters in some areas, and it probably would take away from the visuals, if there was a huge selection ring around em'
Last edited by oldschoolj; 07/31/07 10:22.
you can find me with my face in the keyboard, unshaven, listening to some nameless techno tragedy, and hashing through code over a cold cup a stale joe.
__________________________________
yours truly
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Re: Selection advanced
[Re: oldschoolj]
#144478
07/31/07 10:37
07/31/07 10:37
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 3,538 WA, Australia
JibbSmart
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Quote:
and I don't care what anyone says, it's alot different then C-Script, lol.
i think i say that a lot but i only had very small projects to convert and i was already very proficient in C-script and know C++, so i can't see it from the perspective of people with big projects and differing past experiences.
Quote:
That might be good for several other games, but my game has really big boss monsters in some areas, and it probably would take away from the visuals, if there was a huge selection ring around em'
that's fair enough i was thinking of RTS games. are you doing an RPG?
good luck!
julz
Formerly known as JulzMighty. I made KarBOOM!
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Re: Selection advanced
[Re: JibbSmart]
#144479
07/31/07 11:21
07/31/07 11:21
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 390 Florida
oldschoolj
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ya, RPG w/ a strong possibilty for multiplayer, though based on what I know, I'm going to have either a company or team of individuals do that part, if the price is right.
My main problem is I decided to go in the direction that all newbs go, and I'm your typical newb.
Good at art, decent modeler, no programming knowledge, making a multiplayer rpg, etc. But there is one difference between me and a typical newb. I never start anything I don't finish, lol.
So about the game battle system, well it's basicly select your target, cast a spell or attack. But I'm making very slow progress w/ Lite-C, where when I had c-script, it was almost easy. I had a whole spell casting thing going on, with a cool particle effect, and now none of that is valid.
I really wish someone would give me 10 good reasons why I bought A7 Pro, and use Lite-C instead of C-Script, because I'm not sure if right now that 800 big ones was justified. Maybe I'll start gettting to a point in Lite-C with the game code, that C-script wasn't or will never be capable of.. dunno
Heh, I hope that I can rebuild what I had in a month, and try to get out the demo that I promised by OCT or NOV..
you can find me with my face in the keyboard, unshaven, listening to some nameless techno tragedy, and hashing through code over a cold cup a stale joe.
__________________________________
yours truly
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Re: Selection advanced
[Re: oldschoolj]
#144480
07/31/07 21:08
07/31/07 21:08
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 3,538 WA, Australia
JibbSmart
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Quote:
I never start anything I don't finish, lol.
believe me that's impressive. to cure my inability to finish anything i start, i chose to make a game for my major work in design and technology at school. i think i can finish in time but it's worrying i started almost a year ago and i have 4 weeks left.
there's a thread somewhere about converting from C-script to lite-C, but i can't remember where it is. it would be in one of the lite-C forums of course. i think the biggest thing that gets changed when converting is that the definition for materials, views, panels and particles gets changed. they're now (for example) MATERIAL* blah = {...} and it's basically the same for all of them.
i'm one of the big supporters of lite-C because i've done plenty that i couldn't do without it. for example, linked-lists were fantastic for writing my custom physics handling. also, the struct support made my implementation of quaternions so much easier than they would've been. structs (and linked-lists, which make big use of structs) are so helpful in lots of situations and can make code very simple.
and about the 10 good reasons to buy A7 Pro -- i have A7 Commercial and i think it's the best value for money, but as soon as i want to publish a game that resource packer in pro will be looking very tasty (there are third party tools for packing, but i think many of them unpack when the game executes). that's just one reason.
i hope things go well with your conversion and learning 
good luck,
julz
Formerly known as JulzMighty. I made KarBOOM!
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Re: Selection advanced
[Re: JibbSmart]
#144481
07/31/07 22:16
07/31/07 22:16
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 390 Florida
oldschoolj
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Thanks Julz, I think it's more difficult for me, because I'm not a programmer to begin with, and it seems that each new task is a major challenge. Almost nothing comes easy when setting things up, lol. I use a brute force method for finishing things, heres some of the things that help. 1- I surround myself with whatever my project is, tell everyone I can't be reached, and remove all distractions. 2- I plan every detail of my day, so I don't get sidetracked on my task. 3- I put up a daily reeminder on the wall, and my desktop (which probably sounds corny) that says: Concentrate on the moment, and don't think about the future or past. Let go of fears and concerns. Always remember what your goal is. Respect yourself. Trust yourself and others. Forget negativity and focus on the positive. Believe it or not, those simple reminders have helped me accomplish alot of things for one person. I'm sure you'll finish your project on time  Just stay focused! Jesse
you can find me with my face in the keyboard, unshaven, listening to some nameless techno tragedy, and hashing through code over a cold cup a stale joe.
__________________________________
yours truly
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Re: Selection advanced
[Re: oldschoolj]
#144482
08/01/07 10:43
08/01/07 10:43
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 3,538 WA, Australia
JibbSmart
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that's really helpful  a huge part of my lack of determination is that i keep slipping into this forum coz i enjoy trying to figure stuff out, and people asking questions gives plenty of problems for me to solve  yes, it does sound corny, but also helpful! i'm off the forum for the rest of the night, and probably for the rest of the week if i can make myself, because i've finished my last unfinished business (a shader discussion with Guitar in the shader forum) and no longer have to be distracted by it. julz
Formerly known as JulzMighty. I made KarBOOM!
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