Sauerbraten release 2006-06-11 out!

by Aardappel_ on 06/12/2006 07:21, 322 messages, last message: 07/31/2007 16:33, 376089 views, last view: 11/01/2024 19:01

http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=102911

As usual, feedback SPECIFIC TO THIS RELEASE in this thread! thanks!

* scripting language: every command/block/exp can now return string values (no more use of variable "s", much cleaner code)
* scripting language: reduced allocations a great deal, should execute faster now
* scripting language: can now write X = Y instead of alias X Y for more readable code
* If sauer crashes on a non-programmer machine on Windows, it will now output a stacktrace (both in a popup and the console window) which can be copy-pasted and sent to the developers (do this before you press "OK" to close the program, from the console windows menu).
* added provisional "sendmap"/"getmap" commands for coopedit mode
* explicit sky polies are now outlined in editmode (toggled by "showsky" var)
* now shows names of entities floating in edit mode (in green, closest = red)
* any non-multiplayer games can now be paused (variable "paused", default key F1)
* fixed rockets exploding mid-air if they were aimed at a moving target
* copy/paste now work in coop-edit
* moved all mapmodels into the menus
* new SP respawning system! read "SP Respawning" in game.html
* console language macros now allow code generation (see config.html)
* added customizable file completion (via "complete" command)
* aliases and vars set in map cfgs are now sandboxed (don't persist)
* world shaders can now work with any number of textures (see "texture" command).
* support for specularity maps and glow maps on md2/md3 models (see md2.txt/md3_sauer_howto.txt)
* new "editbind" works like "bind", only the key is only available in edit mode. cleaned up keymap/default cfg files (no more bindings in keymap)
* added triggerable mapmodels (see editref.html for more info)
* removed the z-offset attribute from mapmodel info and ents and moved mapmodel ent skin attribute to mapmodel info (see editref.html)
* added support for full screen pixel shader effects (see setfullscreenshader, and the "option" menu)
* removed obsolete editheight command
* added powerful new heightmap mode! use getheightmap command [default H key] when there is a selection box to activate (see editref.html for more info)
* added selectbrush modifier [default J key] that switches between brushes defined in data/brush.cfg
* added copybrush [default K key] to use current heightmap as brush. see data/brush.cfg for more info.
* editable brushes for heightmap mode. see data/brush.cfg for more info.
* capture gameplay mode fixes
* ip address lookups now use the concurrent resolver
* added redo command [default I key]
* made importcube remip while importing to save memory
* removed some lighting/physics bottlenecks in SP mode
* removed 256 textures per map limit (is now 64k)
* fixed incorrect mapmodel shadows on Windows
* fixed invincibility bug

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#196: SP respawning

by da-old-mitaman on 07/02/2006 19:04

I finally played some sp maps in this version, and I like how the "sp repawning" works. But is it possible to quit a map at some point, and then "reload" your last "sp respawn point"? If so, how? I did not find any mention of it in the manual.

The sp maps presently in sauer are not too big so it's easy to finish "in one sitting". But larger maps could be a pain if you always need to start from the beginning after quitting the game mid-point. (I'm working on a rather large sp map, that's why I'm "concerned".)

MitaMAN

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#197: Re: SP respawning

by MeatROme on 07/02/2006 19:26, refers to #196

Currently there are only the "respawn points" and no saving of the last one activated.

But if you noticed - the best score isn't saved yet either (although this is already fixed in CVS).

Since Eisenstern will really have big maps this issue must be addressed at some time.

Sooner or later ...

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#198: Compiles for x86-64; Ideas for Monster AI

by Morosoph on 07/02/2006 19:34

Cube also compiles for the Opteron, if you change a couple of (int *) casts to (long *) [int is 32 bits on both CPUs, but long is the same length as the pointer size].

Just a couple of ideas; feel free to ignore:

1: Monsters show more (+2?) loyalty to their own species than others (consider how humans treat other primates, eg. in labs).

2. Monsters have variable skill, say +/- three levels difficulty. Spawning can autogenerate [level]+d4-d4; level designers can adjust difficulty offset to create eg. endlevel/endstage enemy. Perhaps skin-tone could cue the player as to the offset (or absolute level) of their opponent?

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#199: Re: Compiles for x86-64; Ideas for Monster AI

by MeatROme on 07/02/2006 19:57, refers to #198

@1: UTSL : the anger currently gets divided by 2 if it's the same monster-type. (src/fpsgame/monster.h [in monsterpain()]).

@2: do you know about the "/skill X" command? in sauerbraten it is the player who chooses his difficulty setting!

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#200: Re: Compiles for x86-64; Ideas for Monster AI

by MeatROme on 07/02/2006 20:03, refers to #199

Just assumed you meant Sauerbraten, but you did say Cube ...

If you were talking about Sauerbraten [Cube 2] it's alright, for Cube 1 it comes down to the same answers but for 1) it's src/monster.cpp [in monsterpain()] where to look for for the halving of anger.

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#201: Re: Pistol model missing; Falling bombs in Sauer

by Aardappel_ on 07/02/2006 20:29, refers to #186

the next release will include dbghelp.dll. It was my understanding its part of the OS, but I was underestimating the amount of people still torturing themselves with '98 :)

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#202: Re: ..

by Aardappel_ on 07/02/2006 20:32, refers to #192

a crash like that without a stacktrace is likely a crash in the driver... hard to tell what is going wrong.

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#203: Re: SP respawning

by Aardappel_ on 07/02/2006 20:35, refers to #196

Yeah, currently you need to finish playing an SP map within one run of sauer. We may fix that, we may not. Yes it would be nice to have, but its a bit a bit inelegant to maintain savegame code just for this (savegame code is notoriously error prone). I would advice people to not make epic 3hr SP maps, but make episodes where each maps takes 10-30 mins max for a beginner on first play.

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#204: Re: Gamma...

by Aardappel_ on 07/02/2006 20:35, refers to #194

We have no control over gamma implementation, its an SDL/driver/OS thing.

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#205: Re: Compiles for x86-64; Ideas for Monster AI

by dan454 on 07/02/2006 23:19, refers to #198

yea, you can count on ideas being ignored here!

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#206: Re: Compiles for x86-64; Ideas for Monster AI

by kurtis84 on 07/03/2006 00:04, refers to #205

"yea, you can count on ideas being ignored here!"

Good attitude...did it ever occur to you how many people have "ideas", and how many are actually worthy of being implemented? Theres one hell of a lot more shitty ideas, than usefull ones ;)

Also, I'm quite sure theres not much more room for ideas...but still, post them, they may or may not get ignored...it's that simple.

I can only imagine what this game would be like if every idea was used...it would be a POS for certain.

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#207: Follow-up

by Morosoph on 07/03/2006 00:38

@1: UTSL : the anger currently gets divided by 2 if it's the same monster-type.

Cool!

@2: do you know about the "/skill X" command? in sauerbraten it is the player who chooses his difficulty setting!

Hence the idea for an offset from basic skill, rather than an absolute. Obviously a decnt level designer wouldn't ramp up every monster's skill, but rather reserve it for "special" monsters.
---
Just assumed you meant Sauerbraten, but you did say Cube ...

Both compile fine; Cube requires a couple of fixes to the code base.
...

Also, I'm quite sure theres not much more room for ideas...but still, post them, they may or may not get ignored...it's that simple.

Indeed! Thanks, kurtis84.

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#208: Re: Follow-up

by MeatROme on 07/03/2006 01:38, refers to #207

@2 : as far as I understand the idea to up the difficulty is simply to place MORE monsters ;-)
... the Cube/Sauerbraten SP Games rely not on the AI for making life difficult for the player (although you can use it as a map designer) but more on their sheer numbers (see the docs, I'm sure I read something by aard about this approach somewhere).

If you're willing to wait a while I guess the capabilities of Eisenstern - respectively what we will be able to script for the NPCs (non-player characters) - will probably come close to your idea ... maybe even surpass them.

Let's see what we get ;-)

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#209: Re: Follow-up

by TentusResurrect on 07/03/2006 07:13, refers to #208

I'm in favor of Sauer using the age-old RPG trick, where we just reskin the monsters and make them a bit tougher, but treat them as new monsters altogether, therefore allowing the mapper to add in a bit of progression. There are tons of techniques which follow this basic premise, ranging from reskinning to resizing to adding some extra meshes and effects. All let us reuse our models and same code.

Another solution would be to make "favorable" areas for monsters, in which the monster gets a little tougher, so by luring them out you could make your life easier. I can't think of a ready example, but we all know how it is (fire monsters getting extra "hit points" or whatever in a fire area, etc). A simple entity would suffice for this, by have a radius value, an alignment value (which monster it applies to), and a bonus value (plus 2 or maybe even minus 10, so that there could be "safe" areas.)

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#210: ..

by Max of S2D [Fr] on 07/03/2006 09:21

It's weird, i've all the time the "0 score" in Sauerbraten Episode 1...
Also if i play by two different ways ; good or bad.

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#211: Re: Gamma...

by SanHolo on 07/04/2006 00:40, refers to #204

I have to state more precisely about the gamma-issue:

I _can_ set the gamma below 100, but I _cannot_ set it to higher than 100, it will just stay at the 100-setting. This was possible in earlier versions of sauer as I am used to play with a gamma of 160.

No matter if I use shaders or hardware-occlusion or both or nothing.

I didn't touch the config.cfg, my settings are all in the autoexec-file. Any ideas?

Mac OS X 10.4.7, Radeon 9000M 64MB.

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#212: send/getmap corrupted lightmaps

by rpointon on 07/04/2006 10:57

In using getmap I've noticed that most of the maps appear to have corrupted lightmaps, i.e. the shading it totally mad - checkboard, stripes, etc...

Then yesterday I did a send followed by a get and it came back mostly fine, but then everyone else was seeing corrupted lightmaps. I'm now wondering if it could be an Endian issue - I'm on a Mac (PPC), whereas I expect the majority of people are using x86.

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#213: Re: Gamma...

by 2Cents on 07/04/2006 12:07, refers to #211

Even if _you_ didn't touch config.cfg (as you shouldn't, it's the auto-save-file) ,.... sometimes it gets corrupted entries.
Since it is loaded at next engine start (and written just before /really/ quitting) it might botch up your configuration.
But as aard said a couple of posts above - there might be an OS issue here ... but you keep insisting it used to work.
Just move config.sys somewhere out of the way; don't delete, just rename to "maybe_botched_config.cfg" or something.

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#214: Let's see what we get ;-)

by Morosoph on 07/04/2006 15:24

Sounds pretty good to me.

I just like the idea of (say) an end level with two ordinary Bauuls and a tan Bauul (more skilled) that is also larger (more HP proportional to volume of the beast); somehow it just seems more interesting and fun to me than having five ordinary Bauuls.

A game mode that mixes monsters and players might also be cool; I'm just floating this one. They'd have to keep spawning, but maybe "skill" would control the rate, and they'd spawn faster when they were fewer (proportional to [1/existing_monsters])?

That said, I'm glad for whatever the devs give us. Sauerbraten is a dead cool game.

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#215: activate fullscreen shader question

by da-old-mitaman on 07/04/2006 20:15

OK, so how do I activate full screen shaders (bloom, for example) to see all that eye candy?

I've tried from the options menu and typing in the following command at the console:

setfullscreenshader bloom

I only see the "normal" shader effect on map models.

x1300 256mg ATI vid card
newest ATI driver
directX 9.0c

Thanks in advance for any insight.

MitaMAN

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