"normalmap" edition released! (2006-07-22)

by Aardappel_ on 07/22/2006 23:56, 191 messages, last message: 09/11/2006 07:36, 196607 views, last view: 04/24/2024 00:12

As always, here are the new features, any feedback or bugs specific to this version in this thread, please.

* added support for "dot3 lightmap / radiosity lightmap" mode that works well with normalmaps & per pixel light, various shaders supporting bump/parallax mapping, glow/specmaps etc.
* added lots of normalmapped textures
* many new maps using normalmapping
* extended Fanatic's amazing soundtrack with 8 new tracks!
* added dbghelp.dll to the bin folder that win98 users need to rename...
* clearer color coding in the console: green: player talk, blue: "echo" command, yellow: gameplay messages, red: important errors, white: everything else
* added -z (z-buffer precision), -b (bits per pixel), -a (FSAA), and -f (shader precision) command-line settings (see config.html)
* added "trigger" command for opening/closing doors
* added entity selection by left mouse button.
* added entity copy and paste
* added entity undo / redo support
* added entity support to flip and rotate
* added editmove command
* added replaceents command
* made sure that textures of 'new cubes' are appropriate. Maps need to be remipped for this to fully work.
* added outline mode for showing geom boundaries (toggled by "outline" var)
* added -p (admin password) and -c (maxclients, default 4) command-line options for servers
* added setmaster command
* added voice announcer for certain gameplay events
* quad & boost powerups are now randomized in spawn times, but their spawn is announced 10 seconds before (so everyone will have to fight for it :)
* added showcharacterboundingbox var (useful when creating new models)
* increased rhino bounding box size

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#1: voices still suck

by shadow,516 on 07/23/2006 00:13

Well, no surprise, the voices :still: suck in the release. So, just to make it easier for everyone (and to bump my own work ^_^)... http://www.quadropolis.us/node/264

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#2: Normal maps - wow!

by PFL on 07/23/2006 03:05

This is so much nicer looking than I expected. The default map and deathtek are just gorgeous. it really is a next gen Quake beater (at least graphically!). If only it had ZDooM style crosshair effects and some audio notification of a chat message this would be near perfect (for me!) :)

Mighty impressed!

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#3: ..

by makkE on 07/23/2006 12:32

Nice :D

Thanks a lot for those new command line options regarding performance ! (especially coulor depth and z-buffer)
Very useful.

I now run -b16 -z24 -f1 -a0, and it performs sweet while looking fine, even in the normalmapped maps. :D
That´s for gaming though, for editing I run 32-bit and other stuff of course. ;)

For everyone: If you change colour depth to 16bpp (wich can mean a big performance improvement), make sure to set your z-buffer to 24bits.
On nvidia cards, z-buffer would change to 16 bits automatically if you lower the colour depth, but 16-bit depth buffering leads to ugly artefacts especially in sauer, so make sure to set it to 24bit. Dunno bout ati, but simply setting it (sauer) like this should be easiest.

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#4: ..

by Max of S2D [Fr] on 07/23/2006 15:40

Are there a way to got ONLY shaders without the Bump Mapping ?

You're fantastic, guys, FullScreen Shaders work now on my comp (but @ 6 fps xD)

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#5: Re: ..

by Passa on 07/23/2006 15:53, refers to #4

-f1 I believe..

From my understanding the -f parameter now is adjustable, with -f3 being the highest quality.

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#6: ..

by Passa on 07/23/2006 16:20

Wow, actually got off my lazy ass and installed the new version on my laptop (even though I expected it not to work)

It works! While the sp edition didn't work, this one does, on my old Radeon 7500 notebook :)
Got 2FPS on deathtek, but I intend to use this for mapping basic stuff then filling in the details on my desktop pc :P

Nothing really shocked me, I had seen most of this in CVS stuff, must commend the new server admin features as well though :)

I will update my server tomorrow, mainly because (again) my router has assigned it the wrong IP address and my port forwards are outta wack, and I cbf going to fix it when its so late..

Now to convince my ISP to host a server (now that there are admin features)
Shoulden't be too hard, they host alot of crap like a Tremelous server and an unranked BF2 server (who plays on unranked servers? No-one!)

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#7: entproperty command?

by da-old-mitaman on 07/23/2006 20:09

Just wondering what happened to the "entproperty" command? In the console it says "unknown command" (or something similar). I used to have my numberpad keys bound to entproperty (0-3) so i could rotate models, scroll thru models, etc..
It seems in this version of sauer this is no longer possible? Never had a problem in earlier versions of sauer with my autoexec config.

bind kp8 "entproperty 0 1"
bind kp9 "entproperty 0 -1"

bind kp5 "entproperty 1 1"
bind kp6 "entproperty 1 -1"

bind kp2 "entproperty 2 1"
bind kp3 "entproperty 2 -1"

bind kp_minus "entproperty 3 1"
bind kp_plus "entproperty 3 -1"

Anything I can do to get my "old way of editing" working again?

BTW, this version looks really nice with the normal maps. Great job on the engine guys, sooo sweet looking!

MitaMAN

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#8: ..

by makkE on 07/23/2006 20:14

Oh, if that´d be gone, that would be a shame. Best way to tweak entities, I use that too, pushplay once told me.
Is there a replacement for it?

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#9: How?

by Water-Marine on 07/23/2006 20:40

How do I enable this normal in my maps, though?

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#10: Re: entproperty command?

by Gilt on 07/23/2006 23:04, refers to #7

entproperty is a script in the defaults.cfg now. you'll have to ditch your old config.cfg, or just copy it over to your autoexec.cfg.

I also put in two new scripts in the default.cfg. They bind to the period <.> and comma <,>.

They both bring up the console with a command (editent/replaceents) that can modify entity values. They are prefilled with the values of the selected entity.

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#11: Re: entproperty command?

by da-old-mitaman on 07/24/2006 00:02, refers to #10

Thanks for the info, all is well again.
MitaMAN

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#12: warning 9600 and similar cards users

by Aardappel_ on 07/24/2006 06:27

I had the displeasure of running the new sauer on a 9600 today, and with old drivers, it gives major shader errors and doesn't render anything at all.. and at 7 or less fps. After updating drivers it all rendered wonderfully.

If you're on ATI, its doubly important to have the latest drivers.

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#13: btw

by Aardappel_ on 07/24/2006 06:41

Seeing as there are no showstopper bugs in this release, feel free to post news of this release to your favourite website... I prefer to have the community do the promotion :)

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#14: Re: warning 9600 and similar cards users

by Passa on 07/24/2006 07:50, refers to #12

Correct there on the ATI lag, my 7500 was getting 5 FPS on aard3, I didn't realise that the lag extended beyond the newer maps, I used to get 80 FPS on aard3 with older releases.

I have had to update to the latest Omega drivers (because stupid ATI do not have drivers for the Radeon 7500 on their page..) and while I still have not tested Sauerbraten, it seems Cube does not work with any new ATI drivers. So its either Sauerbraten or Cube people ;)

On the community promotion Aardappel, I have been trying to convince my ISP to host a server for Sauerbraten.. unfortunately the general community say its just a Quake 3 clone, yet they all jumped on the Tremolous bandwagon (yeah, stupid, now my ISP hosts a Tremolous server.. :( )

Now with the admin features, professional hosters such as ISPs might actually think about hosting.. but I believe my ISP is held down by two problems, which they have told me..

1. No power over limiting the gametype and maps of the server.
2. No ability to admin the server remotely and ban remotely.

I understand number 2, they need admins who do not have to connect to ban people (they get told who to ban on IRC for CS and stuff..) but I don't see whats with number 1, but from what I have seen, ISPs are very fussy on game-servers, my ISP has gone and modded BF1942 maps to their liking on their server..

Wow, what a long rant. I'm done :)

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#15: ..

by Max of S2D [Fr] on 07/24/2006 12:56

The team of Sauerbraten does a splendid work, i want say it.

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#16: Comments

by Xerxes on 07/24/2006 13:08

A new release! Normal maps! But sadly, my Radeon 8500 is not suppored. It is a pity, since I know it *does* support shaders and it even *has* dot3 extension employable for normal mapping. Oh well.

But I must say the maps that are supposed to be normal mapped but aren’t look *ugly*. So I suggest this: instead of two versions of the texture there would be three of them; the third one would be used as a fallback in case the normal mapping is not supported, and would be shaded properly. Aard3c is a good example – each of its textures would have configured a link to the old version of the texture from original Aard3. How about that?

Also, I have been working on a stand-alone server modification for about two weeks now. I have basically rewritten the "server.cpp" stand-alone server to integrate "igameserver" structure with Lua and I have also rewritten the game part (fpsserver.h) to Lua, adding various features on the way. Admin password to steal master and "setmaster" command to appoint a new master were one of these features, along with better map sequencing (including rotation list), UT-like scoring and other improvements.

So I'm off now finding out what has changed on the server side in this version, and adapting the mod to these changes (I want it to be fully compatible with the latest unmodified client). If all goes well, I might start a thread regarding the mod sometimes...

Oh, and the announcer voice is... well... a bit too deep and slow. But good idea there.

Finally, I *must* say that Sauerbraten rocks! There are two things I adore: net code allowing to play with a high ping, and level design. Kudos to authors!

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#17: ..

by Osbios on 07/24/2006 13:21

Just a small gfx "bug". Look at the sky texture during strafe:

[IMG]http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/4857/1hk3.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/5307/2fg8.jpg[/IMG]

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#18: ..

by Osbios on 07/24/2006 13:41

I know it is possible to insert images in the forum but how?

A Gif version of the "skystrafefeature":
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/2605/skysc7.gif

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#19: ..

by makkE on 07/24/2006 14:53

Not a bug, it´s a feature. If you don´t like it, do
/maxroll 0

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#20: Re: ..

by Passa on 07/24/2006 15:00, refers to #19

I think he is saying that the skybox should move along with the roll..

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