What are you working on? v19

[Clavus]

Just found a link to a pretty great article called the [url=http://altdevblogaday.org/2011/06/22/6-challenges-to-the-hobbyist-game-developer-and-how-to-overcome-them/]6 Challenges to the Hobbyist Game Developer and How To Overcome Them[/url]. Written from the perspective of a programmer, so some of you guys might get some useful tips out of it. I wish I'd read it 6 years ago, you learn this stuff over many years of failed projects.

[h2ooooooo]

[QUOTE=Dlaor-guy;30629088]I'm pretty sure it wasn't in C# because I couldn't find the reference to add...

[img]http://i.imgur.com/TVgke.png[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/t5xd5.png[/img][/QUOTE]

Change target framework to something that isn't Client Profile, and include System.Web.Extensions..

[noctune9]

[QUOTE=Dlaor-guy;30629088]I'm pretty sure it wasn't in C# because I couldn't find the reference to add...

[img]http://i.imgur.com/TVgke.png[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/t5xd5.png[/img][/QUOTE]

You have to change the target framework in the projects properties from ".Net 4.0 Client profile" to ".Net 4.0".

Edit:
Gave myself a late rating. :v:

[Dlaor-guy]

Do you think it's worth it to switch over to the .NET 4.0 profile instead of the client profile? Because, according to what I'm reading [url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc656912.aspx]here[/url], the client profile is more optimized than the normal profile...

[tngr]

[QUOTE=Dlaor-guy;30629527]Do you think it's worth it to switch over to the .NET 4.0 profile instead of the client profile? Because, according to what I'm reading [url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc656912.aspx]here[/url], the client profile is more optimized than the normal profile...[/QUOTE]

the use of 'optimization' here most likely refers to install size

[editline]22nd June 2011[/editline]

[QUOTE=Dlaor-guy;30629088]I'm pretty sure it wasn't in C# because I couldn't find the reference to add...[/quote]

ASP.NET [i]is[/i] C#.

[sp]or vb if you swing that way[/sp]

[Wyzard]

[QUOTE=Dlaor-guy;30629527]Do you think it's worth it to switch over to the .NET 4.0 profile instead of the client profile? Because, according to what I'm reading [url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc656912.aspx]here[/url], the client profile is more optimized than the normal profile...[/QUOTE]
If you depend on the full profile, anyone using your program will need to have it installed. Many people have the client profile installed already since it's pushed through Windows Update, but they'll have to go out and manually install the full profile.

[CawldFussuian]

[QUOTE=Clavus;30629375]Just found a link to a pretty great article called the [url=http://altdevblogaday.org/2011/06/22/6-challenges-to-the-hobbyist-game-developer-and-how-to-overcome-them/]6 Challenges to the Hobbyist Game Developer and How To Overcome Them[/url]. Written from the perspective of a programmer, so some of you guys might get some useful tips out of it. I wish I'd read it 6 years ago, you learn this stuff over many years of failed projects.[/QUOTE]

Great Read, i have probably has all of these problems.

Especially Number 4 (The wheel) But the reason is more because i fucking hate everybody else there api's and engines, And end up write something else myself, Or since recently just write a layer class for every API or engine so i never have to touch it again.

[noctune9]

More geometry shader fun:
[img]http://i51.tinypic.com/2r5vk0g.png[/img]

I removed all but one hidden face on each cube, but that single face needs to be there or else I have to divide each cube up into two primitives.

[Map in a box]

Attach that shader to each of the cubes made from the shader

[Dlaor-guy]

[QUOTE=Wyzard;30629822]If you depend on the full profile, anyone using your program will need to have it installed. Many people have the client profile installed already since it's pushed through Windows Update, but they'll have to go out and manually install the full profile.[/QUOTE]
Hmm, that's a pretty big sacrifice just to use the build-in Json parser instead of an external library... I'll go with the library for now.

[editline]22nd June 2011[/editline]

Anyway, here's some more sexy normal mapping goodness:
[img]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4081391/normalmap/teasnot.gif[/img]
This is actually NOT a 3D model, but a 2D representation of one! It's created using these 3 images:
[quote]Color map:
[img]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4081391/normalmap/ColorMap.png[/img]
Normal map:
[img]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4081391/normalmap/NormalMap.png[/img]
Specular map:
[img]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4081391/normalmap/SpecularMap.png[/img]
[/quote]
(they are upside-down because for some reason my shader flips the textures vertically)

[neos300]

Hey guys, I'm new to pathfinding, and what would be a good algorithm/way to simply define objects on a map, and then have the AI look for the player? I'd rather not have to put AI nodes everywhere but if I have to I will.

The positions are pixel based not tile based by the way.

[AtomiCasd]

You're talking about mapping out nodes dynamically?

[ryandaniels]

[QUOTE=neos300;30631271]Hey guys, I'm new to pathfinding, and what would be a good algorithm/way to simply define objects on a map, and then have the AI look for the player? I'd rather not have to put AI nodes everywhere but if I have to I will.

The positions are pixel based not tile based by the way.[/QUOTE]

I'm assuming you have something sort of like this:

[img]http://i.cubeupload.com/6oxmbN.png[/img]

You have two options: probably the better one is defining major waypoints on the map, and for more local direction, relying on direct paths.

[img]http://i.cubeupload.com/J78sFo.png[/img]

The other, more procedural (ie programmer content) way would be to divide the map into a grid of waypoints. You of course would need to check if a move was possible before making it (node could be inside obstacle), however this check should actually be done in any scenario. Also note that before pathfinding, you still need to search to see if you have a direct path.

[img]http://i.cubeupload.com/Jmc6kZ.png[/img]

Note that this last image has a few optimizations; I treat the current position of the object trying to pathfind as it's own node, and when I'm finding nodes for the open set, I look over the entire map for possible paths.

Also note that in this last case there's no need to store all these "nodes", you could simply have a function that checks for possible paths every 20 pixels in x and y

[Gook Nukem]

[QUOTE=tngr;30627099]fuck off[/QUOTE]
Calm down.

[S!nclair]

[QUOTE=TVC;30627381]I am so damn glad to finally see that window, I've been scratching my head as to why it wasn't working for a week and I figured out the I was stupidly using the RootWindow ID as the Screen ID in glXChooseVisual. :pseudo:[/QUOTE]

Hey, we have the same names!
[sp]Thomas[/sp]

[neos300]

[QUOTE=ryandaniels;30631836]I'm assuming you have something sort of like this:

-snip-

You have two options: probably the better one is defining major waypoints on the map, and for more local direction, relying on direct paths.

-snip-

The other, more procedural (ie programmer content) way would be to divide the map into a grid of waypoints. You of course would need to check if a move was possible before making it (node could be inside obstacle), however this check should actually be done in any scenario. Also note that before pathfinding, you still need to search to see if you have a direct path.

-snip-

Note that this last image has a few optimizations; I treat the current position of the object trying to pathfind as it's own node, and when I'm finding nodes for the open set, I look over the entire map for possible paths.

Also note that in this last case there's no need to store all these "nodes", you could simply have a function that checks for possible paths every 20 pixels in x and y[/QUOTE]

Thanks, that was exactly what I needed.

[ryandaniels]

I was thinking: often, I will recognize the need for a method as I am writing another method, so I write up the definition, but leave it unimplemented for completion later. What's great is, you can define an entire, compilable solution to a problem without writing any real code.

What I'm wondering is, would it be feasible to simply spend a few days writing up all the method/ class definitions for a project, and then use that as an ultra-concrete specification? It would be amazing for group projects, because there would be almost no need for oversight, everyone would just attack an unimplemented method, and sign it with their name.

[icantread49]

only issue is when you start implementing a method, all of a sudden you realize you need X, which requires a change in method Y, which gets rid of the need for Z

[esalaka]

Write a low-level abstraction interface and then leave the implementations undefined?

That'd probably be a good idea if you can do it. You'd probably want to write a higher-level interface on top of it at the same time, though.

[RyanDv3]

[QUOTE=icantread49;30634616]only issue is when you start implementing a method, all of a sudden you realize you need X, which requires a change in method Y, which gets rid of the need for Z[/QUOTE]

That would happen in normal development; the difference here is that you wouldn't waste time writing code that you later delete.

I would also note that if this (having to delete/refactor) happens often, you development process might need improving.

Although it's true that you wouldn't want to go too deep with your method definitions; there is a level where you leave it up to the actually implementation programmer. (this is sorta directed at esalaka too)

btw, I'm ryandaniels

[Lord Ned]

[QUOTE=Dlaor-guy;30630035]

(they are upside-down because for some reason my shader flips the textures vertically)[/QUOTE]

input.texCoord.Y = -input.texCoord.Y;

[T3hGamerDK]

I'm working on a simple system for loading lua files, and to ensure that they haven't been loaded twice, I'm putting the UUID's of each file into some sort of array or something. The latter is a bit loose on what I want, but the UUID thing seems pretty solid. My only concern is this: How do I use the UUID from boost to do something like this?

boost::uuids::string_generator gen(some_string);
boost::uuid::uuid u(gen);
// TODO: std::cout the variable 'u' somehow.

But how do I output the u variable as a string?

Here's a preview of what happens so far: (the dist/Release/GNU-Linux* line is where the program starts running)
[img]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5579836/Pic/Engine/2011-06-22-211325_1024x600_scrot.png[/img]
[url=http://filesmelt.com/dl/Horizons_by_HKISGotMilk.png]background link[/url]

[Xerios]

[QUOTE=T3hGamerDK;30634771]
[img_thumb]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5579836/Pic/Engine/2011-06-22-211325_1024x600_scrot.png[/img_thumb][/QUOTE]

I want that background.

[T3hGamerDK]

[QUOTE=Xerios3;30634946]I want that background.[/QUOTE]

Added.
[url=http://filesmelt.com/dl/Horizons_by_HKISGotMilk.png]link[/url]

[Blade]

[QUOTE=Wyzard;30629822]If you depend on the full profile, anyone using your program will need to have it installed. Many people have the client profile installed already since it's pushed through Windows Update, but they'll have to go out and manually install the full profile.[/QUOTE]

For .net 4 it doesn't make that much of a difference. Although for 3.5 it does.

[url]http://www.hanselman.com/blog/TowardsASmallerNET4DetailsOnTheClientProfileAndDownloadingNET.aspx[/url]

Does 4 download automatically from windows updater now or is it still an optional 'update'?

[Richy13]

Does anyone know of any python libraries/frameworks for interacting with images/video/webcam that isnt as complicated to install as OpenCV is?

[T3hGamerDK]

[QUOTE=Richy19;30637361]Does anyone know of any python libraries/frameworks for interacting with images/video/webcam that isnt as complicated to install as OpenCV is?[/QUOTE]

I don't know about video and webcam, but what about PIL/Python Image Lib? [url]http://www.pythonware.com/products/pil/[/url]

[rrkpp_]

[QUOTE=noctune9;30629895]More geometry shader fun:
[img]http://i51.tinypic.com/2r5vk0g.png[/img]

I removed all but one hidden face on each cube, but that single face needs to be there or else I have to divide each cube up into two primitives.[/QUOTE]

sorry if i'm late/braindamaged but what is the geometry shader doing here?
looks cool but i'm not quite sure what's going on.

also, been reading 3D Game Development with DirectX 9.0c, a Shader Approach
awesome book with great info, but i got to the matrix multiplication and my head popped
now i'm in heaven and jesus christ even the dialup is fast up here

[voodooattack]

[QUOTE=Clavus;30629375]Just found a link to a pretty great article called the [url=http://altdevblogaday.org/2011/06/22/6-challenges-to-the-hobbyist-game-developer-and-how-to-overcome-them/]6 Challenges to the Hobbyist Game Developer and How To Overcome Them[/url]. Written from the perspective of a programmer, so some of you guys might get some useful tips out of it. I wish I'd read it 6 years ago, you learn this stuff over many years of failed projects.[/QUOTE]

[quote]We find ourselves having to either put in hacks here and there to go around our initial design, or having to make significant changes to that design. In a way not only are we trying to solve the problem, but we are fighting against a monster (the design) which we created in the first place.[/quote]

Story of my life.. :argh:

[Vbitz]

The Current feture set of my game

helpers.convertTable   : (List<String> List) Converts a C# list into a lua table
ui.setNormalColor      : (Int32 r, Int32 g, Int32 b) Sets the color of normal messages
ui.setErrorColor       : (Int32 r, Int32 g, Int32 b) Sets the color of error messages
ui.setEntryColor       : (Int32 r, Int32 g, Int32 b) Sets the color of entry
ui.setOldEntryColor    : (Int32 r, Int32 g, Int32 b) Sets the color of old entry
ui.setBackground       : (Int32 r, Int32 g, Int32 b) Sets the color of the background
ui.setNetwork          : (Int32 r, Int32 g, Int32 b) Sets the color of a network message
ui.setWindow           : (Int32 r, Int32 g, Int32 b, Int32 a) Sets the background for windows
game.initWorld         : () Loads the world
game.downloadMap       : () Makes a request to the server to download the world, it will show after
csharp.compileCode     : (String code, String entry) Compiles a code from a string of csharp code
csharp.invokeFunction  : (LuaCSharpBinding binding, String args) Invokes a csharp function
database.set           : (String table, String key, String value) Sets a key in the database
database.get           : (String table, String key) Gets a key in the database
database.add           : (String table, String value) Add a key to the database using a auto generated number index
database.getAll        : (String table) Sends all keys in a database table
print                  : (Object obj) Prints any object using it's C# tostring method
printc                 : (Object obj, Int32 r, Int32 g, Int32 b) Same as the print function but allows you to pass the color
help                   : (String str) Lists help for one single function passed as a string
exit                   : () Exits the Game
toggle                 : () Toggles the console to be mini sized or full sized
file.read              : (String filename) Reads all text from a text file
file.write             : (String filename, String data) Writes the speciyed text to a text file
file.getLuaFiles       : (String dir) Gets all lua files stored in a directory
file.reloadLib         : () Reloads the bacic lua libary stored in the "lib" dir
luahelp.listAll        : () Lists all luahelp entrys, kinda useless unless you have a massive screen
luahelp.exportDatabase : () Exports the entire database
luahelp.list           : (Int32 page) Lists a single page of the database, much more useful
luahelp.add            : (String name, String description) Adds a item to the database via lua, good for lua libarys
luahelp.search         : (String term) Searchs the database for a term
net.connect            : (String nick, String host) Connects to a running server
net.say                : (String str) Sends Global Chat
net.test               : () Tests the network connection to the server
net.disconnect         : () Disconnects from the server
net.getToken           : () Returns your secure network token, do not share this!
net.createListen       : () Creates A listen server
entity.create          : (String name) Creates a new Entity
entity.spawn           : (String name, Int32 x, Int32 y) Spawns a created entity at a location, you can do this more then once
entity.move            : (String name, Int32 amount) Moves a entity in a pre specifyed direction
entity.turn            : (String name) Turns a entity by a angle in degrees

Next step is entity tinting and then the resource system