Messages

1891

Mapping / Re: Picking through the TODO list - what should my first project be?

« on: November 11, 2009, 02:02:04 pm »

Another thing, but maybe more a problem about the game engine.
We will have problem to move from the rail to the station, no?
Is the planning algorithm will work here? Can/must we add a jump animation?

The platform is accessible from the other side via a wheelchair-accessible ramp, and it is accessible from both sides of the street via an underground passageway with stairs.

But I envisioned the platform to be inaccessible from the right. There's even going to be a small railing fencing off the train tracks area (although it will still be accessible from the street level on the top and bottom). This is a) about realistic urban planning that would try to prevent people crossing the tracks and hopping up to the platform and b) meant to offer a tactical obstacle to both vision and movement for the player.

This, of course, brings up a bigger issue that bayo raises. Why should a meter-high platform stop a specially trained soldier? I'm new to UFOAI development, so I'm not going to be the one to make the call on these sorts of things. I'll just do my best to design around the problem whichever way it falls.

I think there are two ways for this to go: a) designing out these kinds of obstacles but reducing the tactical complexity of the map, or b) including them as realistically as possible but recognizing that sometimes the player may be annoyed that he can't access something he feels he ought to be able to.

My own feeling is that you can never design out everything like this, because at some point a player will think: why can't my sniper climb up to the roof of this shed/bus stop/etc? I think it's fair enough to prevent players from certain kinds of mobility, so long as the conditions of access and the visual cues used are consistent throughout the game.

1892

Mapping / Re: Picking through the TODO list - what should my first project be?

« on: November 11, 2009, 01:08:16 pm »

A few more options for the rail line. It's now only 4 units above the street level, an incline that will be fine for making a smooth road/rail transition.

Option 1



Option 2


Option 3

1893

Mapping / Re: Picking through the TODO list - what should my first project be?

« on: November 11, 2009, 12:05:27 pm »

Thanks for pointing that out, Kildor. I just had a scan of some monorails on Google Images and I'm not sure it will really fit here. It doesn't seem to play nice with streets. They all seem to be raised off the ground. Perhaps I could make a monorail for the eastern culture's RMA when the time comes.

1894

Mapping / Re: Picking through the TODO list - what should my first project be?

« on: November 11, 2009, 11:21:06 am »

Sure, I can make it a monorail. If I use the image Bartleby posted as a reference, I would probably embed the v-shaped rail into the ground, because the rail can't be too high off the street (cars still need to pass over it).

I don't want to get too crazy about future technologies, just because I think people often exaggerate the pace of change. In the U.S., we're still driving on road infrastructure laid down in the 1930s and the New York subway was first built in 1869. Though technology has improved both, cities are essentially spaces in which technology is pasted onto existing infrastructure. I'm planning to try and build the city as a mix of new and old building styles, as most cities are today.

1895

Mapping / Re: Picking through the TODO list - what should my first project be?

« on: November 10, 2009, 08:35:31 pm »

Ahh ok. Yeah, that's a fair point. I went back and forth on it. The more height there is the more noticeable the detail under the rail will be. But it is quite high and it presents a practical problem in terms of how the streets will cross the rail (not much space to the right of the rails for the road to rise).

I'll play around and see if I can come up with something else.

1896

Mapping / Re: Picking through the TODO list - what should my first project be?

« on: November 10, 2009, 12:02:16 pm »

Ahh, yes. It's 3x256 wide and 4x256 tall. But I don't see any way to do big city with little tiles.

This is the widest avenue I'm planning. I'll also be making street tiles that are just 1x256 wide, and possibly a tile with the rail and streets that are one lane wide, making the whole thing 2x256 wide.

Also, what you see here will eventually be two tiles, that can be matched together or not if they're on the edge of the map (the rail stop can be split in two vertically).

But I am planning city blocks to be about 4x256 squares, and if we're talking about tall buildings, that means that each block will probably be one tile, though I've thought of a few minor exceptions.

1897

Mapping / Re: Picking through the TODO list - what should my first project be?

« on: November 10, 2009, 12:44:54 am »

Bayo, thanks for the feedback, but I'm not sure what you mean "too much loud"...

1898

Mapping / Re: Picking through the TODO list - what should my first project be?

« on: November 07, 2009, 11:48:58 am »

Here are a couple of shots from Radiant on the street/rail section that I've been working on. I plan for it to be the base for a mid-to-large city street grid that we can then plug buildings into. The stairs in the middle of the rail platform descend to an underground street crossing.

The street lines are blended on using the material system, that's why they don't appear here. And the emergency sign will have a flashing ALL TRAINS STOPPED text over the red part.







Feedback and suggestions welcome.

1899

Discussion / Re: Poly count

« on: October 31, 2009, 11:10:29 am »

Email sent. The .map export is a plugin that came with one of the expansions for the game.

1900

Discussion / Re: Poly count

« on: October 30, 2009, 06:10:03 pm »

I mapped for the original Ghost Recon. It used 3DSM and it exported to a .map format. Would this be the same format just because it used the same extension, and could it be read by UFORadiant? If so, that would be big news for me. If it helps I can provide a .map file made for GR that someone can look at.

1901

Discussion / Re: Poly count

« on: October 30, 2009, 12:30:57 pm »

@mattn: Thanks, good to know.

1902

Discussion / Re: Poly count

« on: October 30, 2009, 10:34:54 am »

So, is there a rough r_speeds count we ought to be aiming for? Or is it always in flux? I think I read somewhere you (mattn) saying that there had been changes in the code allowing a lot more polys than in the past, but what's a general target? Obviously it would change for small, medium and large assemblies.

1903

Mapping / Re: Seams showing between brushes?

« on: October 27, 2009, 11:24:02 am »

Email sent.

And yeah I'm aware of texture lock. But the pieces of the street are built to tile around a 64x64 grid, so I build my brushwork with this in mind and never use any texture shift on the streets.

1904

Mapping / Seams showing between brushes?

« on: October 27, 2009, 10:38:35 am »

I'm working on a series of street textures that can be mixed and matched to blend seamless transitions for different street needs. I've got the texture itself blending well (mostly), but when I render it in-game, I can see the seam. And it doesn't appear to be the texture seam, but rather the seam between the brushes. See the attached photo.

Now, I've caulked all the faces of the brushes except the top faces. Is this a lighting issue between brushes and is there a workaround? Are vertices welded in this game, ie - do I need to match up all the vertices of adjoining brushes for seamless transitions?

Thanks.

1905

Mapping / Re: Picking through the TODO list - what should my first project be?

« on: October 25, 2009, 10:21:01 am »

More experienced hands can correct me if I'm wrong, but the animated textures for maps don't actually use videos. They just cycle through a series of image files. I'm basing that on this info though.