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Re: Star Explorers
[Re: Dooley]
#456777
12/09/15 08:25
12/09/15 08:25
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 968
EpsiloN
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User
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 968
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I just noticed your post and all this looks amazing  with a boost in graphics it'll become a gem. On your issue with entities, I made a game with A6, so imagine the limitations... One way of dealing with this is to have no functions for your entities, I mean no while loops in them. If you need to animate them or something, just use one big function to iterate over each env model. You could also use models composed of two sprites arranged like "X" from top, for distant objects... On the issue on loading/saving, I made my own level format arranging each object on a new line followed by pos/ang/properties and simply read or write it. It uses a function that goes through all the entities currently existing and saves them to a file. PS.: Don't give up, it looks too interesting
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Re: Star Explorers
[Re: Reconnoiter]
#456849
12/12/15 16:15
12/12/15 16:15
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 868
Chicago, IL
Dooley
OP
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OP
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 868
Chicago, IL
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Thanks for the feedback! Here is the final hallway (for now). I'm not 100% happy with this, but it looks good enough for me to move on to the next part. I will probably have to redo the textures a bit, because the UVs seem to distort the image in some places. Also, I can't quite figure out why the normal/specular maps don't work the way I want them to. They are working, but you really have to pay attention to actually see them. It would be nice if they were more pronounced...  Epsilon: If you're talking about my problem with adding a lot of plant-life to my levels, it's not an issue of while loops. Currently, they are just models placed on the level, with no running function, and no interaction with the player. I can get up to about 10,000 objects, but above that I can't load saved levels. I was thinking of writing a function to rebuild the levels based on a saved text file, like you mentioned. I think that would be the best option and would allow future updates of the game to run older saved games, which would be nice. I tried writing this function once, and it seemed to record the data correctly, but I could not get it to rebuild the level. I'd love to see your function, if you'd be willing to share it. I'd really like to be able to have jungle like planets with tons of trees/grass etc... Right now everything looks like a desert.
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Re: Star Explorers
[Re: Dooley]
#456850
12/12/15 17:08
12/12/15 17:08
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Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 1,823
Netherlands
Reconnoiter
Serious User
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Serious User
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 1,823
Netherlands
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I like it Dooley. It could be a bit higher reso but I personally dont mind that. Also might be a good idea to either bake your textures in e.g. Blender or add more shadows. Also, I can't quite figure out why the normal/specular maps don't work the way I want them to. They are working, but you really have to pay attention to actually see them. It would be nice if they were more pronounced... , try editing the shader you are using. Or use a different normal map shader.
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Re: Star Explorers
[Re: Dooley]
#456854
12/12/15 21:21
12/12/15 21:21
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 968
EpsiloN
User
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User
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 968
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Yes, you can boost the effect somewhere in the shader, where you multiply the rgb and normal together?... The function just loops through every model available (that's part of the player's path, not speckles, dust and decoration like that) and saves the info about it line by line in a txt file. After I click load, it just reads line by line and ent_creates with the given parameters. If you're having problems with this one, I'll show you my code and help you build yours... And, for the vegetation, I'd suggest you don't save it at all...And to have it the same each time, create it the first time with random positions/models, but set the seed first! Save this seed to the save file and after you try to load it, just use the seed that you saved to generate the vegetation again... This would produce the same vegetation always, and you only save a small number Instead of all your vegetation... If you're having problems with something, don't hesitate to ask We're here to support each other. PS.: Here's how it works: I have an "object type" variable saved in a skill for each object. If its 1, for example, its a regular static platform. If its 2, its an elevator, 3 for torch (just an example) My function goes through all the entities in a level, and if it encounters an object type different from environment effects or player or energy balls or characters... it saves it to a text file in the format: "modelName.mdl object_type X Y Z PAN TILT ROLL 5 General parameters" After opening a saved game, it reads line by line and ent_creates the objects based on the object_type with model name as "modelName.mdl" for example, and based on the object type assigns the general parameters to different skills for each object. For example, the general parameters for an elevator go from skill10 to skill14. For a moving platform, they go from skill8 to skill12, for a torch there are none... Its not complicated. You just have to keep it free of semantic errors, or you can get yourself in a loop looking for an error that is so well hidden, it can take you days! Just take your time to review each object being saved correctly on its own line and with full parameters list. And, last but not least, it can get tedious for your CPU to do all this work in half a second... The game will seem to freeze for a while or be laggy... You can counter this with a loop counter for up to 8 ,for example (or 4), objects at a time (per frame) and this will keep the game running. But, it will take a while to save, so make sure the player isn't quitting or changing the level while saving or you'll get an empty level saved! Took me a while to fix this one. I hope this gives you some ideas.
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