Can Blockland's rendering engine be expanded?

[Daenth]

So you are saying I can just crack open torque, modify it (Let's add shadows for lights) and it would work?

Badspot has the source code, and only the the engine Blockland is using now. Now, no one else has it(and it'd be illegal for Badspot to distribute) so only Badspot can do that. Now that's too much work for him and it wouldn't be worth it, plus he's usually lazy. :S

[Ad Bot]

[heedicalking]

Because bricks are snapped to the grid, lighting on other bricks sounds pretty simple and clean. If they were static shapes there could be problems with light seeping through cracks and stuff. The only thing that might be bad would be dynamic bricks. Would a fence cast a fence shadow or a box shadow?

[Xalos]

Honestly, I wouldn't care if it casted a box shadow, as long as it casted A shadow.

[Straton.]

Honestly, I wouldn't care if it casted a box shadow, as long as it casted A shadow.

Same.

[Nickelob Ultra]

I think the game's rendering engine is fine.  The graphics are just the way they should be.

[Straton.]

I think the game's rendering engine is fine.  The graphics are just the way they should be.

Caves and other dark places aren't supposed to be bright, even in day.

Its fine but it would be nice to have a way for bricks to cast on other bricks even though it would probably send everyones computer to hell and back.

[Nickelob Ultra]

Caves and other dark places aren't supposed to be bright, even in day.

Its fine but it would be nice to have a way for bricks to cast on other bricks even though it would probably send everyones computer to hell and back.

Maybe a separate version of Blockland that literally will check the user's specifications?

You download Blockland, right?  It checks your specs, and if it passes, it enables higher end graphics.  However if it does not pass, it will completely disallow any special graphics with no workarounds to prevent stupid people from trying anyway.  And by higher end graphics I mean ambient occlusion, dynamic shadows, etc.

[Straton.]

Maybe a separate version of Blockland that literally will check the user's specifications?

You download Blockland, right?  It checks your specs, and if it passes, it enables higher end graphics.  However if it does not pass, it will completely disallow any special graphics with no workarounds to prevent stupid people from trying anyway.  And by higher end graphics I mean ambient occlusion, dynamic shadows, etc.

It wouldn't necessarily need to be separate, but it would keep the complete idiots in check.
Just like ID's not being shown by default.

[Shocklink]

Badspot has the source code, and only the the engine Blockland is using now. Now, no one else has it(and it'd be illegal for Badspot to distribute) so only Badspot can do that. Now that's too much work for him and it wouldn't be worth it, plus he's usually lazy. :S

Badspot with a source code? What's that?

 Even if I bought a license to use torque engine he still can't give me the code?

[tails]

Not his highly edited one.

[TomTheGeek²]

Isn't the BL engine outdated than the current version of Torque?

[Shocklink]

To begin with what is a "source code"

[TomTheGeek²]

To begin with what is a "source code"

What you have is the "Binary" which is the compiled version of the game, and Badspot compiles it from the "Source Code" himself.

[Shocklink]

Pretty much the "key" to opening up the Binary but isn't it that we want to crack open Torque not Blockland?

[Headcrab Zombie]

Source code is the uncompiled (in this case C++) code to the engine, and Badspot can modify it however, and add any feature. But only if he wants to. So, to answer the question, "Can Blockland's rendering engine be expanded?" the question is yes. The question you should be asking, however, is does Badspot want to, and does he find the amount of work worth it, compared to any other features he might have planned?

Even if I bought a license to use torque engine he still can't give me the code?

Even if Badspot gave you the source code, you'd have to figure out your way around it, and probably code the changes yourself yourself, since I doubt exact resources exist for an outdated version. You'd then have to compile it, and distribute it to the entire community, a tricky task. Badspot has the auto updater to do this for him, you don't. And then when Badspot releases a new version, you'd have to do it all over again.

Plus I don't think you can even buy a license to the outdated version of TGE.