Blog for Matt "Mr. Pig" Razza at GarageGames.com

Ported Recoil System to the Engine

Matt "Mr. Pig" Razza — 2006-04-12T15:26:04+00:00

Yestarday I finished moving our advanced recoil system from script into the engine. As many people have been looking for this solution I will be posting a resource very soon. (working on it now)

Network Support Finished

Matt "Mr. Pig" Razza — 2006-04-06T23:31:33+00:00

I'd just like to let everyone know that we now have full network support! This means, no lag, no networking bugs, and full master server support! This means we are one step closer to the release. We also now have our first pistol in the game - a DE! The only problem is that we have no animations for it. Well, I'll be frank, we have no animations for anything as we have no animator.

Now to go over the "full network support", by full network support I mean-
*No more lag! - All versions of our game, before this one, would create some lag unless the server application was put on the the slower thread of my P4 w/ Hyper-threading, set to the lowest priority, and with another application using at least 50% CPU. This was because the problem with Torque's PrefPerformanceCounter (well - to my knowledge it's really a windows problem). The counter would loose accuracy when the CPU has many free cycles which it does when the computer is running just the server as Torque's server is very efficient. What I did was have the tick counter function check the global script var ($Pref::isDeticated - I think), if it's true it forces the timer to the old, GetTickCount, function which is more accurate but updates less frequently then PrefPerformanceCounter.
*Full Master Server Support - All that happened here was that I added support for a master server scan to our server browser GUI. This code was already in the starterkit, I just did a quick port to our game.

One more note, I added TLK to the game.

I'll be posting some screens of our textured weapons later also.

Recoil System

Matt "Mr. Pig" Razza — 2006-01-12T00:18:09+00:00

Well, just an update-

It seems we won't have a working multiplayer internal version by the 17th. There are still lag problems I need to look at. The rest of the game is moving along nicely. Our account system has been started which means we are moving closer to a public beta, I also have added a basic recoil system which I have yet to perfect. It is, and will be, a "full-physical", "force-feedback" system with no cone-fire! As you fire the weapon, the crosshair moves up, to the left, and to the right. The user is required to pull the mouse down to level the fire and control the weapon. As of now the crosshair pulls up and to the right (left support will be added in the next version). The rate is defined by the weapon allowing larger weapons to have more recoil. The system also gives a space of flux so that the recoil is not constant (set randomly). It may pull up more one shot then it will the next. I still need to add some other elements to the recoil to make it more dynamic. The weapon will pull more as you fire more, this factor will then decrease between shots at a set interval. The weapon will also pull more as you are running then standing still. Ducking will provide an even easier way to aim. The recoil system seems promising and is giving me the results I expected. I'm hoping I can have it perfected by the end of the week.

[EDIT]
As always - a programmers time-frame is way off.

Wednesday Dec 14 22:57

Matt "Mr. Pig" Razza — 2005-12-14T22:57:42+00:00

Hostile Engagement Progress -

I've been working on HE, and would like to update all of you on where I am, and where I need to go. As you all can see from my To-Do list, we are coming up to the next internal test version of HE. A basic HUD will be set-up, as well as one of the first weapon skins. The problem that has been with this project from the start is the multiplayer lag, it's crazy. We still do not have a cause but I have been told it is from a some code taking up "time". Last version we had our first custom object skinned and added to the game, I'm hoping all of our weapons will be skinned to this quality.

Pic:

We are aiming to have our first internal multi-player release within a month. By first multi-player release, I mean the first release that has the multi-player lag fixed. As I said I am not sure what is causing this and the time it will take to finish may change. We are also hoping to have a custom player model in soon after the multi-player release as well as hit-boxes. As we go farther along I will be able to give you more information, I hope that we can continue developing this pase, if not faster. If all goes well the game should be finished in 9 to 12 months.