Messages

3631

Off Topic / Re: Programming Megathread

« on: March 15, 2016, 10:38:00 PM »

if you've never touched a programming language, all those comments are definitely gonna make it look more complex

These guys have done a programming class with C# so they know what's up; it's the logic they're struggling with.

since you're using C#, I'd suggest Nocco. in this case, the comments are still in the source, but when you show it to them, they'll be to the side instead

Oh jeeze, that thing is beautiful. Thanks for the heads-up.

3632

Off Topic / Re: What's your favorite airlines?

« on: March 15, 2016, 10:35:56 PM »

Qantas. Worlds best safety record and an Australian company. Very comfortable seats too.

Only issue would be the constant strikes and layoffs for their ground staff, but their pilots are treated like the best of the best.

3633

Off Topic / Re: real talk: is college education worth it?

« on: March 15, 2016, 10:33:27 PM »

so you're saying i do not need a website portfolio?
im a character artist/game artist

Artist is different. Programmers/Designers deal with implementation so their stuff needs to be playable.

For artist, you need to show your work as a presentation, which is where an online gallery/portfolio can really come in handy because it also shows your design skills (in terms of the web design).

3634

Off Topic / Re: Which forumers would you hang out with IRL?

« on: March 15, 2016, 10:31:19 PM »

Alright then, I'll stay on my forgetin' island and be angry with myself.

3635

Off Topic / Re: real talk: is college education worth it?

« on: March 15, 2016, 07:20:22 PM »

If you're going to specifically games programming or game design, you generally don't need to make a website; the important things are to create a showreel with highlights of your games and include the games which are playable on a CD/USB drive. Only include your best work, because devs thrive on making fun of stuffty work.

3636

Off Topic / Re: Programming Megathread

« on: March 15, 2016, 07:12:34 PM »

You've got more comments than you've got code, bro.

I'm demoing this code to my college of people who want but cannot program, so I need to really intricately explain every little detail.

I think the point here is that AI is really simple once you get the logic down.

3637

Off Topic / Re: Programming Megathread

« on: March 15, 2016, 07:01:20 PM »

Code: [Select]

/********************** AI SYSTEM - PARENT CLASS - v0.01 **********************/
 
//Made By: Ben "McJobless" Steenson
//Date: 2016-03-15T12:50:00+11:00
 
//This parent class for the AI System holds the basic functionality that all AI systems will utilise.
//Most of the things inside this parent class should be overriden (including the Data struct using the "new" keyword to hide the default).
//Anything that is core to this system and cannot be overriden is marked as private; everything else is protected (as only derived classes should need access).
 
//AI FRAME UPDATE PHASES:
//1) Initialisation: Methods are assigned to delegates, default behaviour lists are filled and the default state of the AI unit is all filled in the Awake() method.
//2) StateController() is run, and any state-specific behaviour (such as assigning timers) can be run.
//3) At any pointer, using the CurrentState accessor will run StateSwitcher(), which handles transitions between states.
//4) Once States are dealt with, TaskController() runs and will attempt to fill an empty taskStack or run the top task in the stack and then read it if required by the task conditions.
 
//Changes to make:
//0) Need a way to disable AI thinking; would be great if AI outside of rendering distance are automatically disabled.
//1) AI system has no clean way to handle task INTERRUPTIONS (especially for things like gravity-defying rotations).
//2) Need to verify data accessibility (such as adding accessors for the data containers) and also make certain parts easier to extend.
//3) Integrate the Seeker task-generation system in whatever form that may come.
//4) Node-Based Pathfinding.
//5) Make a simple demo of an AI-driven unit following an object which moves randomly around the world.
 
using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
 
public class ParentAI : MonoBehaviour
{
    /* VARIABLE DEFINITIONS */
 
    //Data-Type Definitions
    protected enum AIStates { IDLE, MOVEMENT };                                                             //All states that an AI can exist in; I'd like to make this extendible so no edits need to be made to this file by a user.
    protected delegate bool Task();                                                                         //An AI-specific function that can return true if it needs to be replaced on the stack.
    protected struct AIData                                                                                 //A struct which holds AI-specific data (such as health and speed). Will likely be replaced with another form down the track.
    {                                                                                                       //The struct is designed to be overriden/hidden with the "new" keyword in derived classes.
        public float sightDistance;
        public AIData(float sD) { sightDistance = sD; }
    }
 
    //Data Containers - THESE SHOULD HAVE ACCESSORS TO PREVENT UNAUTHORISED ACCESS!!!
    protected Dictionary<AIStates, List<Task>> defaultTasks = new Dictionary<AIStates, List<Task>>();        //Defines which tasks should be returned on the stack if it's empty based on current state; allows multiple tasks to be imported at one time.
    protected Stack<Task> taskStack = new Stack<Task>();                                                    //This stack holds the tasks that the AI will attempt to complete in order from top priority (last in, first out) to lowest.
 
    //Variables: State Accessor
    private AIStates currentState = AIStates.IDLE;                                                          //Holds the current state of the AI, which can change certain behaviours and conditions.
    protected AIStates CurrentState                                                                         //Accessor is used to clear the task list (interrupts should go here) and run the transition manager (StateSwitcher()) before directly changing the state.
    {
        get { return currentState; }
        set
        {
            taskStack.Clear();
            StateSwitcher(value);
            currentState = value;
        }
    }
 
    /* METHOD DECLARATIONS */
 
    //Technically these are method definitions, but they're empty in this parent class and must be filled out in derived classes.
    protected virtual void StateController() { }
    protected virtual void StateSwitcher(AIStates toState) { }    
 
    /* METHOD DEFINITIONS */
 
    //Run once per frame; user should call this base version before/after their update code to run the task controller.
    protected virtual void Update()
    {
        StateController();
        TaskController();
    }
 
    //Handles all Task-related processing; this should never need to be modified and so it private and only handled in this base class.
    private void TaskController()
    {
        //Temporarily save the current task in case it needs to be repeated later.
        Task tempTask = null;
        if (taskStack.Count > 0) tempTask = taskStack.Peek();
 
        //If we haven't completed any relevant goals (and therefore aren't just sitting idle), run the task checks.
        if (taskStack.Count == 0) { foreach (Task item in defaultTasks[currentState]) if (item != null) taskStack.Push(item); }     //If the task stack is empty, fill the stack with the default tasks based on the current state of the AI unit (ignore any null tasks).
        else if (taskStack.Pop()()) taskStack.Push(tempTask);                                                                       //Run the top task; if it returns true it needs to be repeated, so read task to the stack.
    }
}

My AI system is taking shape.

I've got a functioning child AI unit, but I won't show it until it's been cleaned up; it's using extremely messy pathfinding code which I'm not proud of yet.

3638

Creativity / Re: Game Design Megathread

« on: March 15, 2016, 06:58:00 PM »

if you beautiful people didnt know yet:

cryengine is now free, no royalties, directx12 implemented

This is likely been pushed them after Lumberyard (Amazon's game engine which is just CryEngine with source code and multiplayer code done for you) went free, and due to the success and popularity of Unreal 4 and Unity 5 with them being free.

3639

Off Topic / Re: Post real life pictures of yourself.

« on: March 15, 2016, 09:33:55 AM »

Ah, I see you've played knifey-spoony before.

3640

Suggestions & Requests / Re: Looking for Several Old Mods

« on: March 14, 2016, 11:37:16 PM »

http://forum.blockland.us/index.php?topic=291672.0

Different file, but thanks for trying anyway.

3641

Gallery / Re: [VIDEO] Kreon's Community Roleplay

« on: March 14, 2016, 11:16:26 PM »

RB2K just posted this video of Madmen Communications Inc. in full swing.

3642

Games / Re: Grand Theft Auto Megathread - OP 3.0

« on: March 14, 2016, 09:17:33 AM »

So, today I made a new character, did the tutorial, now that character is Rank 13.

There was no way to just launch solo missions, and my contacts would not call me to do missions, even after I was at the right rank prerequisite. I ended up using the phone to do Quick Contact Jobs. Thankfully, nobody left these missions and they usually involved huge amounts of RP and Cash.

Eventually I got a Gerald mission, and since then missions now appear in the Mission list under Settings>Online>Jobs>Rockstar Created>Missions.

That was pretty much the only thing I was super frustrated with, and had Rockstar bothered to put in 10 seconds to explain "hey you can do missions that people actually want to play with this button in the phone", maybe I'd be Level 50 by now.

3643

Games / Re: Grand Theft Auto Megathread - OP 3.0

« on: March 13, 2016, 07:34:55 PM »

in order to rank up a ton i just did a select few of jobs on hard difficulty and got like 5 - 10 ranks up a day or two

I can't stand doing missions with other people. I just do them alone.

Can you please loving point out which missions allow you to play solo? I haven't found a single one.

you have to work to get stuff, hard 2 understand right

I CAN'T loving UNLOCK BASIC GAMEPLAY ELEMENTS BECAUSE I CAN'T loving GET RP TO LEVEL UP. THAT'S THE POINT I'M MAKING IN 1-3.

3644

Off Topic / Re: real talk: is college education worth it?

« on: March 13, 2016, 07:23:33 PM »

film production and drawing is actually applicable to game dev?

Film Production is a yes and no; the film production that I learned was specifically things for film (the film process, history of film, not much on cinematic techniques). I worded it wrong, since production design is helpful, but most of what we learnt was irrelevant to game design and implementation.

I'm not trying to be an artist. I want to be a programmer/writer/designer (still not yet decided), and the art skills required for these people are comparatively low since they only need to use simple sketching to express basic visual concepts to the actual artists and other team-members. The description of the course and the answers to the questions I had during the college's Open Day implied we would be focusing heavily on implementation (programming and level design), but that's not what happened at all.

especially drawing. ever heard of concept art?

Concept Artist is a very specific position, and most study to be artists, not game designers. They only represent a small part of the game design process, and in many games they're not required (such as puzzle games or many indie games).

and on film production, ever heard of game trailers? it's entirely possible you could be making that as well.

We didn't learn composition techniques or shot design at all, so I still have to rely on my knowledge from High School. We only studied the film industry itself.

remember: you're learning, if you don't understand WHY they're teaching you some of the things you're being taught then maybe you should go look into why.

Every game teach I've had (5 in total) has left that college, and many tried to rewrite the entire game design course (its structure and the required classes/elective classes) during their time because they were unhappy (to say the least) about the way it was designed and felt like game design students were missing out. I saw one poor student get to major project and he got absolutely destroyed by the teacher because she wasn't aware he hadn't taken a programming class during his time, and therefore didn't know anything about MAKING games.

The college I went to just took the film production course and replaced a few classes with some new ones, but failed to compare to the competitor courses. I was kind of locked into this college because my scholarship program (money I needed) would only kick in if I did a 3 year course, and this was the only one.

3645

Off Topic / Re: what the forget is wrong with steam's download speeds

« on: March 13, 2016, 07:36:22 AM »

Steam should implement a seeder system. Would make downloads a million times faster.

This would create a potential security issue, however. Checksums can only verify that the size of the received item and the requested item are the same, so a crafty person could modify their distribution with packed viruses or other nasties. Even non-malicious cases of data corruption are something to worry about via seeding. You'd also have to watch out for leeches.

P2P can work fantastic, but it's not flawless. That's why I'm extremely sceptical of Microsoft's push towards P2P transfer of Windows updates.