Messages

211

Add-Ons / Re: Heightmap Generator

« on: July 09, 2017, 12:42:19 AM »

Great! How do you use this again once compiled? You double-click the executable or drag-and-drop an image unto it?

212

Creativity / Re: Game Design Megathread

« on: July 09, 2017, 12:17:04 AM »

Right now I'm using 3 different methods to help optimize the brick system. Here's a quick test I did with 800 bricks on screen - I was running at 30-33 fps before I started building, and was at 29-32 fps after:



There are a few other options I can implement later on as well to further improve performance.

213

Creativity / Re: Game Design Megathread

« on: July 08, 2017, 10:10:55 PM »

Sure, everyone is welcome to test. I'll post an official topic in the Games forum soon, once I've made more progress.

214

Creativity / Re: Game Design Megathread

« on: July 08, 2017, 01:14:17 PM »

Iirc roblox is pretty much the same thing only you have to use the editor for the CAD like features.

I'm still experimenting with different ideas to see what would work best, so I'm not completely set on that concept. Right now, I'm testing how building with bricks will work, and am starting to like that mechanic even more:



I may end up combining them to where you can build with bricks, or draw custom geometry.

215

Add-Ons / Re: Heightmap Generator

« on: July 05, 2017, 05:16:41 PM »

enough nerd stuff let me generate slopes in modter >:(

:'-(

We're working on it lol.

216

Add-Ons / Re: Heightmap Generator

« on: July 05, 2017, 03:52:36 PM »

Generating ModTer terrain using a heightmap shouldn't be too difficult; PTG does this already, but using arrays of height value data relative to chunks. You would just need to check the height of the current cell you want to place a brick in, then check the height of surrounding cells, generate a string of boolean values via a marching cubes algorithm (i.e. 11110101), then choose one of the ModTer bricks and orientate it depending on the string value that was generated.

217

Games / Re: steam summer sale

« on: July 05, 2017, 10:54:31 AM »

in the other steam summer sale thread a long while ago i said i probably wouldn't get anything
well i lied i bought the crew ultimate addition and i love it for me it was worth $17 for the huge open-world free driving alone

i loved midtown madness 2 and burnout paradise back in the day and this kinda reminds me of them but like with a whole country (scaled down obviously but still it's rly big and u can drive anywhere on and off road) to drive in instead of a single city why have i not heard much about this game until now oh my gosh i'm getting the crew 2 when that comes out cus there's gonna be boats and planes too along with the revamped usa

I was considering buying The Crew; I haven't played Burnout Paradise, but I loved Burnout 3 and Burnout 4: Revenge.


Ended up with a decent haul during the sale:

• Planet Coaster
• Age of Empires 2: HD
• Portal 2
• Just Cause 3
• 3079
• Metro 2033 Redux (thanks to Cowboy Dude)
• Borderlands 2
• The Division
• Turok

218

Games / Re: steam summer sale

« on: July 05, 2017, 02:42:55 AM »

Awesome, thanks! Going to purchase Borderlands 2 last.

219

Games / Re: steam summer sale

« on: July 05, 2017, 02:33:53 AM »

Bought a few games and have about $5 left. I'm debating between buying Metro 2033 Redux and Borderlands 2 - any recommendations?

220

Add-Ons / Re: Heightmap Generator

« on: July 04, 2017, 10:52:33 PM »

How good would it be to use .tsv or .csv files by any chance?

I'm not too familiar with those types of files, does the engine support them?

just saw this, it doesn't sound too difficult
you just want a program to read an input file (.png?), and output its color as text (.csv? or just numbers separated by spaces?)

if you let me know what the input and output are/should be, I can create something quickly in java
(ie, if it's a black, white, yellow pixel as input, should it output as "0 255 170" on a line?)

Yes, it would need to read an image and export it as float values (between 0 and 1) within a text file; the value itself would be based on the greyscale value (i.e. 128 128 128 255 would be 0.5, or 128 / 255). Here is an example of how the heightmap generator saves a heightmap (it saves the grid size first at the top of the file):

Code: [Select]

16 x 16
 
0.308571 0.205714 0.205714 0.171429 0.342857 0.4 0.285714 0.32 0.331429 0.228571 0.297143 0.285714 0.125714 0.171429 0.251429 0.182857
0.365714 0.194286 0.217143 0.297143 0.377143 0.434286 0.388571 0.342857 0.32 0.217143 0.137143 0.171429 0.182857 0.205714 0.308571 0.297143
...

It would also be useful if the script can convert a .txt heightmap save into an image, relative to the grid size for the image. It would basically just take one of those float values, multiply it by 255 and use the result for the RGB value (i.e. 0.1 would result in 25 25 25 255, 0.5 would be 128 128 128 255, and 1 would be 255 255 255 255).

221

Add-Ons / Re: Heightmap Generator

« on: July 03, 2017, 12:04:42 AM »

i could probably write a heightmap to brick converter at some point if one doesnt exist

That would be great. Also, support for text-based heightmaps could easily be added to Simplex Gen in the near future, if it would be a useful feature.

222

Add-Ons / Re: Heightmap Generator

« on: July 01, 2017, 07:09:15 PM »

bump

223

Creativity / Re: Game Design Megathread

« on: July 01, 2017, 01:09:54 PM »

That sounds pretty cool.
Also, who's the other person making a sequel that you mentioned?

I'd rather not say just yet; I haven't seen them post about the project, so they probably want to keep it under wraps for now. I may end up helping them though, especially in regards to maps.

As for my game, I want to take it in a different direction - having it work possibly like a CAD program (similar to SketchUp or Blender). You would have to earn the geometry you build with, which would also be used as the game's currency. You could have a job or business to earn geometry (i.e. selling creations you've made), or harvest it from the environment around you.


By the way, made some progress with the game's building mechanics. I'm trying to make building be as easy and initiative as possible, and will add other shapes you can choose from over time. You'll eventually be able to carve into meshes (to create openings like windows and doorways), add pre-made objects, draw geometry by hand, manipulate objects (via position, rotation and scale), re-texture / recolor faces, etc.

By default, you'll walk around as a player - similar to Blockland, but will be able to move around freely when building.

224

Creativity / Re: Game Design Megathread

« on: June 29, 2017, 08:11:10 PM »

wow you're like the only person who has set out to do this who is actually capable of doing it.

looks good so far, loving the windows xp lol.

Yeah that prototype was from a few years ago haha. My new PC's operating system is much more up-to-date. =P

I would say keep the terrain but make it more-legolike. A true spiritual succesor would have lego-like models, but not ripping off lego, and lots of bricks, customizaablity and a stable FPS on toaster computers.

What would make it different than an already successful game such as Minecraft? How are you gonna get people to play it instead of Minecraft?

If it's just going to be the same game, no one is gonna care about it. Make sure to keep that in mind.

It turns out someone else is making a sequel to the game, and has some great ideas planned. I may end up taking the game in a slightly different direction (maybe more like a CAD program in which you can model your own weapons, buildings, vehicles, etc.). It'll still have maps, minigames, a procedural world, etc., however.

keep in mind that a game like blockland pretty much needs mods to survive for any period of time, so the game being robustly moddable should be pretty high priority. torque makes this pretty easy naturally, and i'm not sure you're gonna be able to match it, but a strong set of tools for modders is gonna be incredibly important for any serious successor project. also, if it isn't something you've considered yet, you're going to have to get a bit more clever with the way you approach bricks. blockland has a lot of unique optimizations for the brick system that you're gonna have to replicate or create reasonable substitutions for if you want to allow for a similar number of brick objects. probs looking at batching together brick rendering in some way

Modding will definitely be a big part of the game. I also have ideas on how to optimize performance, i.e.: culling, dynamic / static batching, reducing draw calls / combining meshes, etc.

225

Creativity / Re: Game Design Megathread

« on: June 28, 2017, 06:26:17 PM »

that's more roblox than blockland

It's still in very early pre-alpha; I'm trying to decide on the direction and theme for the game, which may be slightly different than Blockland. Any ideas are welcome though, I could definitely use feedback and suggestions.