Today I have been working through more of my GDC tick-list, which for the most part is about more performance, more predictability and a little common sense. The characters now 'mostly' behave in close quarters combat but the more I work with it, the more I want to press the reset button and start simpler. I think the AI is thinking a little too much right now :) Performance found in other areas and I have also identified a HUGE drain when MANY characters are animating at the same time. I have posted a Challenge to the Reloaded Forums to see if anyone has a good solution to the problem. It's nor rocket science, but it will be interesting to see what solutions are presented.
It's already past 1 AM and despite a full day of coding, there is still plenty to do from my list and some things that are not even on the list. Right now I am making a small level using the new Veg Plus Pack to create a nice looking scene that runs fast, looks good and presents the main ingredients of what Reloaded can do so far (admittedly it could be more).
There are a few issues I need to solve on Friday such as the low resolution shadow could be a higher, the gun needs some shadowing from the cheap dynamic terrain shadow, the entities could use the same, objects in the distance do not need to animate as much as those in the foreground, some collision issues with the branches of larger trees, maybe add some normals to the terrain shader when in closer range and experiment with some specular without costing performance. In truth the list is insanely huge, but I need to select the ones that either improve (or don't cost) performance, and make the visuals better.
Not really too much time left. I fly out Monday, and drive to the airport Sunday so I only really have FRI and SAT to do my thing before packing my stuff and ensuring my head is screwed on for the trip.
I visited the forum today and made some feedback posts, and it is my intention (trips permitting) to visit the forum twice a week and respond to everything on the first page so hopefully this will feed some extra information while I keep the next version close to my chest.
OTHER NEWS: We will have an announcement on Day One of GDC, so keep checking the social feeds for this as you may be able to benefit from GDC fever and pick up some freebie goodness.
I replied to the challenge. Here's hoping my code works for you :)
ReplyDeletehttp://fpscrforum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=208099&b=1&p=0
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ReplyDeleteIf speed is critical, why not expand the anim sequences to precomputed time tables??
ReplyDeleteEach index represent a fixed time step
Ex with small values:
Table index, time, key value
Key=Table(int(ftime*4))
0 0 0
1 0.25 0
2 0.5 0
3 0.75 1
4 1 1
5 1.25 1
6 1.5 2
7 1.75 3
8 2 3
9 2.25 4
10 2.5 4
11 2.75 4
12 3 5
13 3.25 6
14 3.5 6
15 3.75 7
That's another option, sure. It was pretty much my immediate thought when I saw Lee's code, but I dismissed it almost as quickly because it either uses a fair amount more memory or results in inaccurate animations. Also it requires a lot more work. If my solution is not fast enough, then I would recommend looking into this.
Delete*re-reads* Oh, that sounds like I'm calling you dumb or something - I'm not, I'm just pointing out why I don't believe this is an ideal solution.
good luck at gdc lee m8, hope it works out well for you and reloaded :).
ReplyDeleteAlso that screenshot is looking great! I'm beginning to imagine how, with higher-quality media, we could actually create really awesome open-world games along the lines of Far Cry 1-3.
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ReplyDeleteif you are looking for a great lvl design for the GDC please shoot me a line with
ReplyDeleteyour latest work and I should be able to whip up a awesome demo lvl before you
go.
Cheers DL
Thanks for the freebie, purely by accident that I found it, Was actually more curious about the GDC and what you will be doing and happened upon the gift of awesomeness :p Lee you awesome :D
ReplyDelete