DayOfWar: Tech Demo release.
by Bill Vee · 02/24/2009 (3:45 am) · 22 comments
It's been a while since I posted some progress on my game so I thought I would release a tech demo of the some of the features of the game play.
This demo simple shows the spherical terrain and gravity zones I created to allow the game to take place on a sphere with vehicles and standard FPS character control.
This demo uses a highly modified atlas concept and as such is based on the atlas system.
I was a little disheartened when I found out that GG was no longer going to pursue the atlas system for Torque3D.
I hope I can supply some sort of addon for Torque3D that will return support for atlas and by extension my AtlasSphere system.
There is no polish to the demo.
Some of the assets used are from GG and of course there copyrights are in effect.
This demo has 2 missions that you can load.
One is a single atlas file wrapped into a sphere.
This one is just for you to get the idea of the evolution that my AtlasSpheres went though, and still evolving.
The second is the new AtlasSphere class.
The AtlasSpheres contain 6 geometry sets and six texture sets.
You will start as the spacesuit player and there will be a couple of simple SpaceFlying vehicles and a wheeled vehicle for you to play with.
A couple of notes.
I tested the flight controls with a xbox360 controller and it worked fine for me.
If you prefer to remap the controls simply hit "ctl + O" to bring up the standard option dialog box.
You can press "alt + C" to switch to the standard camera and back to the player.
You can also press "alt + V" to switch to the new 6DOF(6 degrees of freedom) camera.
There are still some bugs I am working on but for the most part you should get an idea of the mechanics.
There are a couple of things I didn't put in the release as I am not happy with them yet , WaterSphere and the atmosphere shader to name 2.
Give it a try and let me know what you think.
DOW_DEMO
This demo simple shows the spherical terrain and gravity zones I created to allow the game to take place on a sphere with vehicles and standard FPS character control.
This demo uses a highly modified atlas concept and as such is based on the atlas system.
I was a little disheartened when I found out that GG was no longer going to pursue the atlas system for Torque3D.
I hope I can supply some sort of addon for Torque3D that will return support for atlas and by extension my AtlasSphere system.
There is no polish to the demo.
Some of the assets used are from GG and of course there copyrights are in effect.
This demo has 2 missions that you can load.
One is a single atlas file wrapped into a sphere.
This one is just for you to get the idea of the evolution that my AtlasSpheres went though, and still evolving.
The second is the new AtlasSphere class.
The AtlasSpheres contain 6 geometry sets and six texture sets.
You will start as the spacesuit player and there will be a couple of simple SpaceFlying vehicles and a wheeled vehicle for you to play with.
A couple of notes.
I tested the flight controls with a xbox360 controller and it worked fine for me.
If you prefer to remap the controls simply hit "ctl + O" to bring up the standard option dialog box.
You can press "alt + C" to switch to the standard camera and back to the player.
You can also press "alt + V" to switch to the new 6DOF(6 degrees of freedom) camera.
There are still some bugs I am working on but for the most part you should get an idea of the mechanics.
There are a couple of things I didn't put in the release as I am not happy with them yet , WaterSphere and the atmosphere shader to name 2.
Give it a try and let me know what you think.
DOW_DEMO
About the author
#3
The scrolling materials for the cloud layer effect for Jupiter was simple but effectively amazing, I kept finding myself looking at it.
I did find it a little disorienting to eject from the flyer (while in space) and then fall head first back towards the moon -- did you know that you can skid faster on your head than you can actually walk/run!? I was able to re-orient the camera but not the player. Oh, and the 6 DOF camera was nice too!
Single most impressive "tech-demo" for Torque that I've seen. With the addition of the watersphere and atmosphere that you've mentioned you'll really have something unique, and yes, even GODLIKE.
I would much rather have your spherical terrains than any of the new shader features mentioned in the Torque 3D development blogs lately. In fact, I still haven't seen anything worthy of replacing Atlas or even compensating for the loss of it.
02/24/2009 (9:45 am)
That demo is beyond awesome! The videos I had seen before just don't portray the actual experience of jumping over a cliff edge and seeing the "horizon" curve away from you in the distance, or even the sheer awesomeness of flying around a moon. The scale and awesome majesty of space was very apparent.The scrolling materials for the cloud layer effect for Jupiter was simple but effectively amazing, I kept finding myself looking at it.
I did find it a little disorienting to eject from the flyer (while in space) and then fall head first back towards the moon -- did you know that you can skid faster on your head than you can actually walk/run!? I was able to re-orient the camera but not the player. Oh, and the 6 DOF camera was nice too!
Single most impressive "tech-demo" for Torque that I've seen. With the addition of the watersphere and atmosphere that you've mentioned you'll really have something unique, and yes, even GODLIKE.
I would much rather have your spherical terrains than any of the new shader features mentioned in the Torque 3D development blogs lately. In fact, I still haven't seen anything worthy of replacing Atlas or even compensating for the loss of it.
#4
02/24/2009 (10:11 am)
That was good, running over a spherical terrain. It had a bit of a seam but still really impressive. And I loved the revolving gas giant, it gave a real sense of scale.
#5
I just recently switched over to Daniel Buckmaster's Players using quaternions resource. I was using a different method that remove all the standard collision code from the player class and replaced it with a rigid body type configuration. When I seen Daniel's resource I liked how simple it made the process. Unfortunately the head sliding issue still needs to be figured out. It only happens when the players orientation is greater than 180 degrees past the gravity vector. Right now the only times this happens is when the player is moved via the "drop player at camera" function or if you unmount from a vehicle.
02/24/2009 (10:18 am)
@Michael Hall - The skidding on the head is one of the bugs I mentioned.I just recently switched over to Daniel Buckmaster's Players using quaternions resource. I was using a different method that remove all the standard collision code from the player class and replaced it with a rigid body type configuration. When I seen Daniel's resource I liked how simple it made the process. Unfortunately the head sliding issue still needs to be figured out. It only happens when the players orientation is greater than 180 degrees past the gravity vector. Right now the only times this happens is when the player is moved via the "drop player at camera" function or if you unmount from a vehicle.
#6
The multi geometry atlas mission is my current system.
While there are "holes" in the sphere at certain points I have pretty much eliminated them in the generation process I currently have.
It basically takes all six hieghtmaps and smooths the seams out removing the "holes". I should have more "planets" that can be downloaded soon to showoff.
02/24/2009 (10:29 am)
@Steve- The seam is on the single geometry atlas mission. This was my first concept at a atlas turned into a sphere. The multi geometry atlas mission is my current system.
While there are "holes" in the sphere at certain points I have pretty much eliminated them in the generation process I currently have.
It basically takes all six hieghtmaps and smooths the seams out removing the "holes". I should have more "planets" that can be downloaded soon to showoff.
#7
Seems like your vehicles aren't updating very smoothly... Kinda jars the experience for me. But the actual worlds are cool.
02/24/2009 (11:38 am)
Checked it out. Pretty cool!Seems like your vehicles aren't updating very smoothly... Kinda jars the experience for me. But the actual worlds are cool.
#8
Michael
02/24/2009 (11:39 am)
Simply Amazing Work Bill, complete Awesomeness. Simply the best thing Ive seen done with Torque yet.Michael
#9
Right now I think the flying vehicle is on the verge of crashing the vehicle code out right. You can modify its datablock to slow it down to give it a more stable flight.
02/24/2009 (11:52 am)
@Ben - I turned up the speed of the vehicles to allow you to explore much faster but as you know with the vehicle code it's a balancing act between speed and stability. Right now I think the flying vehicle is on the verge of crashing the vehicle code out right. You can modify its datablock to slow it down to give it a more stable flight.
#10
The head sliding is an issue I have as well, and I'm not sure how to solve it :P. I'm thinking that in code will need to be added in Player::updatePos where collisions are dealt with. Simply, if we have a collision, and we're oriented the wrong way, set the hit normal as our conform normal so we can start rotating towards it. Then when you've swung far enough upright, the normal conform code will take over again.
I was experiencing some control problems with the buggy - but the flying vehicles were a lot of fun!
02/24/2009 (12:47 pm)
That's a very cool demo you got there! I liked the first level a lot more - it seemed that the lighting was better there - in the second level, each terrain block seemed to be lit differently, so there were big lighting 'seams' where it suddenly went from dark to light.The head sliding is an issue I have as well, and I'm not sure how to solve it :P. I'm thinking that in code will need to be added in Player::updatePos where collisions are dealt with. Simply, if we have a collision, and we're oriented the wrong way, set the hit normal as our conform normal so we can start rotating towards it. Then when you've swung far enough upright, the normal conform code will take over again.
I was experiencing some control problems with the buggy - but the flying vehicles were a lot of fun!
#11
Quite frankly I just wanted to get this into the community and see if it was worth continuing with my AtlasSphere project.
The loose sliding of the buggy is most likely to a recent change I made to my GravityZone code. I was using a Vector to indicate the gravity direction as well as the force but I changed it to a normalized Vector and split the gravity force out into another variable. This may be causing the buggy to become a little light and slide around.
As for the head sliding any assistance would be great.
02/24/2009 (1:24 pm)
@Daniel - The second mission uses the new AtlasSphere class and I am not quite done with it yet. Right now it uses one shadow map for all six sides which explains the seams you have seen.Quite frankly I just wanted to get this into the community and see if it was worth continuing with my AtlasSphere project.
The loose sliding of the buggy is most likely to a recent change I made to my GravityZone code. I was using a Vector to indicate the gravity direction as well as the force but I changed it to a normalized Vector and split the gravity force out into another variable. This may be causing the buggy to become a little light and slide around.
As for the head sliding any assistance would be great.
#12
Actually, I've gone back and couldn't reproduce the problem. Oh well... maybe it had something to do with me trying to use WASD instead of the mouse ;P.
I think if your game needs a moon, then you sure as heck should keep working on it. It's a pretty brilliant concept, and your implementation looks to be shaping up well.
I'll look into the head sliding when I can - probably some time this week, but no promises ;P. I'm currently half way through a river of blood in my changes to the Player animation system - it's too late to turn back now :P.
02/24/2009 (1:38 pm)
By control issues, I meant I couldn't control it at all - for a while, I could drive the thing around fine, but eventually the wheels sort of locked up and I was stuck going straight ahead.Actually, I've gone back and couldn't reproduce the problem. Oh well... maybe it had something to do with me trying to use WASD instead of the mouse ;P.
I think if your game needs a moon, then you sure as heck should keep working on it. It's a pretty brilliant concept, and your implementation looks to be shaping up well.
I'll look into the head sliding when I can - probably some time this week, but no promises ;P. I'm currently half way through a river of blood in my changes to the Player animation system - it's too late to turn back now :P.
#14
Looking forward to seeing more from you!
02/24/2009 (6:47 pm)
Haven't tested it yet, but from what I've seen in the videos your AtlasShperes simply are amazing! Would so love to have that in my game.Looking forward to seeing more from you!
#15
EDIT: Well I'm glad God saw fit to create Free Download Manager. I was able to successfully download it with that. :)
Your demo is pretty awesome.
02/24/2009 (9:48 pm)
Every time I try to download your demo, the download dies at about 70 MB.EDIT: Well I'm glad God saw fit to create Free Download Manager. I was able to successfully download it with that. :)
Your demo is pretty awesome.
#16
the first time it messed up where i could only go forward the second it worked fine till i messed with other camera buttons and it was hard kind of good playing but the ship turned way to fast in that camera mode i tried to edit it but i could not and in that mode if i want back to first person i would be in the middle of the ship instead of on top. i should be able to reproduce what i did it was fairly easy i would just have to mess around again.
02/25/2009 (12:49 am)
wow good work so far but yes there's major problems with the camera. i also cant find a button to exit a ship. the vehicle don't work at all it works but it don't turn real good and the camera is all messed up i can hardly see where i am going even in 3rd person as in 3rd person the camera is on the side of the car at a angle. the ship fly's fine i fly to the moon both times and went all the way around the planet. i just messed up the camera when messing around with other buttons besides first/3rd person camera button.the first time it messed up where i could only go forward the second it worked fine till i messed with other camera buttons and it was hard kind of good playing but the ship turned way to fast in that camera mode i tried to edit it but i could not and in that mode if i want back to first person i would be in the middle of the ship instead of on top. i should be able to reproduce what i did it was fairly easy i would just have to mess around again.
#17
@Brandon - I am working on a patch for the demo. The new system I use for orienting the player caused more problems than I was aware of. I have it running on my laptop fine now, I just need to merge the changes back into my svn server and create the patch. Unfortunately I can't contact to my svn server right now for some reason. It will have to wait till I get off work and get home to see what the problem is.
I will alter the flying vehicles datablock to make it a little more realistic.
02/25/2009 (6:55 am)
@Joe - I haven't had any complaints before about not being able to download from my site. But I think this is the largest file I have made available from there so far. Glad to here you got it downloaded.@Brandon - I am working on a patch for the demo. The new system I use for orienting the player caused more problems than I was aware of. I have it running on my laptop fine now, I just need to merge the changes back into my svn server and create the patch. Unfortunately I can't contact to my svn server right now for some reason. It will have to wait till I get off work and get home to see what the problem is.
I will alter the flying vehicles datablock to make it a little more realistic.
#18
List of fixes
Most of the camera issues.
Altered the buggy so it won't skid all over the place.
Altered the flying vehicle to make it more stable.
Fixed the mounting/unmounting issue. Just press jump while in a vehicle to dismount it.
If you downloaded the original demo then download this patch zip and unzip it to the original demos location.
If you have not downloaded the demo then you can simply download it here. It now has the patch described above already applied to it.
02/25/2009 (5:41 pm)
I have updated the demo.List of fixes
Most of the camera issues.
Altered the buggy so it won't skid all over the place.
Altered the flying vehicle to make it more stable.
Fixed the mounting/unmounting issue. Just press jump while in a vehicle to dismount it.
If you downloaded the original demo then download this patch zip and unzip it to the original demos location.
If you have not downloaded the demo then you can simply download it here. It now has the patch described above already applied to it.
#19
I showed this to a friend of mine and it renewed our interest in creating a space based game that involved lots of moons and asteroids. Your Atlas Spheres would be perfect for that idea. Have you run into any limits on the number of "spheres" you could have in the mission at one time? If you develop this further as an addon for Atlas and/or Torque3D I for one would be interested.
02/25/2009 (9:56 pm)
Awesome Bill. That's more than great of you to put a patch for the demo. I had noticed the buggy skidding around but didn't really think much of it at the time -- I was more interested in the feel of a round world...I showed this to a friend of mine and it renewed our interest in creating a space based game that involved lots of moons and asteroids. Your Atlas Spheres would be perfect for that idea. Have you run into any limits on the number of "spheres" you could have in the mission at one time? If you develop this further as an addon for Atlas and/or Torque3D I for one would be interested.
#20
If you used a combination of both you could use 1 multi mesh Sphere for a highly detailed "planet" and a couple single mesh Spheres for "moons".
02/26/2009 (2:14 am)
@ Michael - The number of AtlasSpheres is only limited to the amount of memory you have. The single mesh Sphere uses one clipmap and the multi mesh Sphere uses 6 clipmaps. If you used a combination of both you could use 1 multi mesh Sphere for a highly detailed "planet" and a couple single mesh Spheres for "moons".
Associate Michael Hall
Distracted...