Sign up to revive Terrain Manager
by David Dougher · in Torque Game Engine · 05/21/2004 (7:07 am) · 59 replies
The Terrain Manager and Gorpe have pretty much gone away as a result of apathy on the part of the community. Lots of people wanted to the code but no one was willing to make improvements to it. If you are interested in reviving it AND you are willing to contribute to make it a viable base for further development sign up below so GG can see you are interested.
No guarantees here folks. I don't work for GG. But at least this will give them a place to guage customer interest. If nothing else, maybe it will encourage them to consider it as an add-on to TSE! ;)
No guarantees here folks. I don't work for GG. But at least this will give them a place to guage customer interest. If nothing else, maybe it will encourage them to consider it as an add-on to TSE! ;)
About the author
Owner - Pariah Games, Adjunct Professor - Bristol Community College, Mentor - Game Design - Met School Newport, Mentor - Game Design - Met School Providence
#2
05/21/2004 (11:42 am)
Lol...well, that does sound good Ben. If you are interested in an outside project to bounce ideas/implementations off of, let me know--we'd love to see what's planned and help flesh it out, since our model is very much structured around paging terrain. 
#3
Guess you're already bumped up with questions and email but - will the enhancement support multiple terrains, or at least a more detailed one? (vertices)
05/21/2004 (11:55 am)
Ben GarneyGuess you're already bumped up with questions and email but - will the enhancement support multiple terrains, or at least a more detailed one? (vertices)
#4
Expansive terrains isnt important now only because a lot of people dont need them thats what I read most of the time or dont want the expense of filling it up so what! heh. :)
I believe that sooner or later you are going to find yourself needing not wanting larger terrains.
Dont get me wrong Heh Ben may know something about TSE terrain that may make this a redundant issue. :)
John H.
05/21/2004 (12:39 pm)
I vote yes :)Expansive terrains isnt important now only because a lot of people dont need them thats what I read most of the time or dont want the expense of filling it up so what! heh. :)
I believe that sooner or later you are going to find yourself needing not wanting larger terrains.
Dont get me wrong Heh Ben may know something about TSE terrain that may make this a redundant issue. :)
John H.
#5
It is very well needed. If you set the TerrainSize down to 4 from 8, you'll notice that behind every corner of your world the terrain repeats and you can't do anything with a small world like that.
Let me rephrase; if you set it to lower than 8, it will get too small!
05/21/2004 (1:27 pm)
JohnnyIt is very well needed. If you set the TerrainSize down to 4 from 8, you'll notice that behind every corner of your world the terrain repeats and you can't do anything with a small world like that.
Let me rephrase; if you set it to lower than 8, it will get too small!
#7
05/21/2004 (1:38 pm)
I would even pay like the lighting pack to get this implemented. No fun flying fighter planes on small maps.
#8
I disagree. I was playing with a squaresize of 4 in my tactics content pack and it worked great...
05/21/2004 (8:19 pm)
Stefan,I disagree. I was playing with a squaresize of 4 in my tactics content pack and it worked great...
#10
Torque Terrain Manager Project.
FYI, he wound up moving on somewhere in the middle of the Terrain Manager Project, and currently only has up to Build 6 (rumor is there is up to build 19 if we can only find it) available. If you have any other questions, his email is above.
Edit: After just now testing the link, it appears his domain isn't currently available. I've sent him an e-mail to see if he has a status update, and will get back to folks when it's available.
05/24/2004 (3:24 pm)
I just got an e-mail back from Bryan Turner (bryan.turner@pobox.com) and got permission to post a link to his current Terrain Manager archive:Torque Terrain Manager Project.
FYI, he wound up moving on somewhere in the middle of the Terrain Manager Project, and currently only has up to Build 6 (rumor is there is up to build 19 if we can only find it) available. If you have any other questions, his email is above.
Edit: After just now testing the link, it appears his domain isn't currently available. I've sent him an e-mail to see if he has a status update, and will get back to folks when it's available.
#11
05/24/2004 (3:40 pm)
I had the latest builds not so long ago.. but couldnt get it implemented right so deleted it . :(
#12
However, I do not have a way to reliably screen out people who are not entitled to the code.
I have contacted GG about this but they have not decided if they will resurrect Gorpe or not. Not surprising, due to the lack of contributions to it while it was around.
At the time, I was hoping the GG might entertain a thought to create a new Terrain Manager Project, something not quite so large as Gorpe and focused more on the terrain and environment instead of a generalized Role Playing System. Part of the reason for the post was a thought that this would give GG an idea of the communities interest in such a project.
05/24/2004 (4:10 pm)
I have an original CVS of the current Gorpe as well as the earlier patch builds 17 through 19. However, I do not have a way to reliably screen out people who are not entitled to the code.
I have contacted GG about this but they have not decided if they will resurrect Gorpe or not. Not surprising, due to the lack of contributions to it while it was around.
At the time, I was hoping the GG might entertain a thought to create a new Terrain Manager Project, something not quite so large as Gorpe and focused more on the terrain and environment instead of a generalized Role Playing System. Part of the reason for the post was a thought that this would give GG an idea of the communities interest in such a project.
#13
05/24/2004 (6:56 pm)
TSE will have better terrain support. Specifically, it will have a basic terrain manager built in.
#14
05/24/2004 (7:08 pm)
Ben, you working on this dedicatedly for EA, or will it roll in as TSE matures after EA?
#15
MMO inclined minds want to know...
05/24/2004 (7:08 pm)
Ok. then one fundamental question. Since you are supplying a basic terrain manager I am sure everyone here will assume that it will also be supported in the editor, but will it also support at least client side paging - or be easily extensible so it will be possible to do so?MMO inclined minds want to know...
#16
05/24/2004 (8:08 pm)
...hehe..are we back on the confusion between terms again? Last time we chatted on this Ben, the "terrain manager" you are working on was client->graphic card specific. I still think this thread is about the pipeline from server db->server instantiation->network->client for very large worlds... 
#17
-J
05/24/2004 (8:55 pm)
Our terrain system has no hard size constraint... Though, we use terrains about the size of Torque's. Terrain is really boring unless there is other content. Good content is much slower to make than giant heightmaps.-J
#18
Ok, clearly there is a lot of confusion here. :)
I was looking at the start of this thread where David says:
I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure GORPE never had the pipeline you guys are mentioning. It had a terrain manager that let you load multiple TerrainBlocks at a time and stich them together - this involved changes to every aspect of Torque.
You make it sound like TSE's terrain manager is just a rendering tweak. :)
It's not. It's a major change to how the whole engine does terrain. But it's NOT a MMO-in-a-box, and I've never seen the words "terrain manager" used in conjunction with that specific feature set on these forums! I've certainly seen people say "a terrain manager AND dynamic paging/server splitting/etc." but never "a terrain manager IS dynamic paging/server splitting/etc."
So I hope that all is clear now.
@Westy:
It will roll in.
@Josh:
Right on. :)
05/24/2004 (9:56 pm)
@David, Stephen:Ok, clearly there is a lot of confusion here. :)
I was looking at the start of this thread where David says:
Quote:
The Terrain Manager and Gorpe have pretty much gone away as a result of apathy on the part of the community. Lots of people wanted to the code but no one was willing to make improvements to it. If you are interested in reviving it AND you are willing to contribute to make it a viable base for further development sign up below so GG can see you are interested.
I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure GORPE never had the pipeline you guys are mentioning. It had a terrain manager that let you load multiple TerrainBlocks at a time and stich them together - this involved changes to every aspect of Torque.
You make it sound like TSE's terrain manager is just a rendering tweak. :)
It's not. It's a major change to how the whole engine does terrain. But it's NOT a MMO-in-a-box, and I've never seen the words "terrain manager" used in conjunction with that specific feature set on these forums! I've certainly seen people say "a terrain manager AND dynamic paging/server splitting/etc." but never "a terrain manager IS dynamic paging/server splitting/etc."
So I hope that all is clear now.
@Westy:
It will roll in.
@Josh:
Right on. :)
#19
One other question about TSE. Could you clarify the Early Adopter price. Does Early adopter mean people that have bought TGE and have had it for a while or is it the early birds who buy TSE? Either way i'm sure I'm buying. Just curious.
Thanks,
Coz
05/25/2004 (3:56 am)
Ben just wondering if you could elaborate on the TSE terrain manager. I was not aware that TSE was really going to drastically change how terrain is done. Unless I misunderstood. I understand if you can't say anything. One other question about TSE. Could you clarify the Early Adopter price. Does Early adopter mean people that have bought TGE and have had it for a while or is it the early birds who buy TSE? Either way i'm sure I'm buying. Just curious.
Thanks,
Coz
#20
05/25/2004 (6:34 am)
@Ben: fair enough, and thanks for the clarification! You are correct, no one has actually tied the two terms together and then said "that's what I mean by Terrain Manager", I've just been both reading everything I can on the forums about the topic, plus having full knowledge of our design, this (dynamic paging from server to client) is what we are implementing, and it sounds like it's what most mean as well. All, the perils of assumptions, lol.
Associate Ben Garney