Tuesday 15 January 2013

Tuesday Arrivals

New Arrivals 1, 2 and 3

Wonderful things dropped onto my doormat today; Dead Space 1 and 2 and Fallout 3.  This keeps my FPS (probably TPS) collection stocked for continual research through the FPSC Reloaded project.  The last game I played was Call Of Duty MW3 which gave my brain enough material to work with, so I am not going to burn through too many games at once.  I will make a nice pile of them and pick them when my mind craves new FPS experiences.

Night Owl Hours

My day started around 1PM today which gave me a few emails to catch-up on, but managed to get a little of everything done today including a new update the DarkNET for DBP which is now up to V2.0.2. This update adds performance improvements to the original version, and if you have not downloaded this in some time I recommend grabbing it. I have added a new installer which is much smaller than the old one.  There is a though about using it to replace the Reloaded multiplayer system, but that's a HUGE AND DANGEROUS thought as multiplayer is not included in the Reloaded line-up.  Still, having an up to date and kick add networking solution for DBP is a great position to be in.

FPS Creator Final Update

It's not the first time I have uploaded what I believed would be the final FPSC update beta, but I think the one I uploaded today should be the one. It is V120 BETA9 and solves the last of the little tweaks that could be reasonably reproduced. If all goes well with this last final public beta test, it will be used as the final V120 official update and propagate to all FPSC users through the automatic update system in the software.

Signing Off

My working evening is not over yet, but I wanted to get this blog written before midnight so it 'technically' goes out on Tuesday (it's namesake), rather than Wednesday early hours.  On a personal note, I switched from playing Muse Unplugged to System Of A Down (nostalgia decision) but it's a bit heavier than I remember it when I did music concerts many 'many' years ago. Might have been the beer that cushioned the system of the ears :)  Probably find something more Muse like (but not Muse) as you can only listen to that one a few hundred times before you want a change.  Maybe some Sum 41...


7 comments:

  1. I know this comment has nothing to do with content of the blog above, but, if you don't already own it, please grab yourself a copy of Portal 2. I am making a puzzle game with X9 currently and i am enjoying making the game and creating the art and scripts, but, i would love to have a few more elements to add to it. A few extra puzzle elements will always be useful in any game.

    Unfamillia

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  2. Hello I have a very simple question.
    Concerning FPSC Reloaded,will the new engine still use segments?
    The reason I ask is I am currently making assets.
    And wonder if I should stop making segments and just focus on 3d models.
    Thank you for you time.

    Best Regards
    Kevin L

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  3. I have played Portal, so have an idea what you mean about strange right-angle puzzles! FPSC Reloaded should still use the segment system, but I will probably be assembling them a little differently at the back end for better build speeds. You can continue making segments no worries. Of course 3D models is also a good use of your time as they can also go on Game Creator Store, Turbo Squid and many other model reselling sites too!

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  4. On the matter of making media for FPSC: Reloaded, versus FPSC: Classic. Currently .X is the format that models are needing to be converted to, for use in the engine. You had hinted at changing the format for Reloaded (perhaps to .FBX, etc.)...

    Will media makers need to make two different versions of their media, in order to be available for each FPSC? There are actually quite a few media makers asking this question right now, with no response.

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  5. .X is simply the DirectX raw 3D model format, and as Reloaded is using DirectX and it all works, no sense scrapping that one. We will be looking at model importing (i.e. coverting XYZ to .X internally) so you can place large 3D structures around your level, but the formats of these imports has not been determined. It could be something as simple as .OBJ at this stage (for which we already have some code for). The Wavefront OBJ format supports geometry but none of the fancy stuff like multiple UVs (easily), animation, shaders, e.t.c. The reason I am in favour of OBJ is that the Reloaded engine has it's own shaders, attributes and elements to impose on the static structures that will be imported, and most modellers (all that I can think of) will export easily to OBJ without fuss. We will see when the import work begins :)

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  6. Lee, would we expect Touch Functionality to be implemented into
    FPSC:R?
    Or am I just getting ahead of myself in the development of the product?

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  7. Touch as in hardware touch screens, no. Touch as in pressing panels and buttons in the game world, yes.

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