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

by Aardappel_ on 07/22/2006 23:56, 191 messages, last message: 09/11/2006 07:36, 197548 views, last view: 05/17/2024 03:51

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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#125: Re: ..

by Aardappel_ on 08/08/2006 09:25, refers to #124

I don't agree. It has always been my philosophy to prefer superior solutions above familiar ones. Just because someone will need to learn something new is no reason to stick with an old method... that way you never make progress.

Weapon switching by cycling is unusable in a fast paced game. The current system allows you to reach more weapons faster and more deterministically.

As to documentation... yes, we need more of that. You can help by adding to the wiki.

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#126: Re: ..

by Pxtl on 08/08/2006 19:47, refers to #119

Animated mapmodels would be nice - spinning rotors in cages, trees blowing in the wind, etc.

A variable on this that might be nice would be "ontouch" mapmodels. That is, a map model that runs through it's animation when any player touches it. Since it is graphical-only and works on any player, it could be done all-client-side. Then you could have bushes that crush when stepped on, sensors that open up when somebody runs by, etc.

Could be neato.

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#127: Re: ..

by shadow,516 on 08/08/2006 19:49, refers to #125

Ive been playing sauer/cube for years, and I STILL have trouble with the weapon switching. Its just not intuitive... especially not being able to select the pistol when you have two other weapons. Imagine this scenario: you are in a tight alley with 10 rockets, 15 grenades, and 40 pistol rounds. All of a sudden, someone is on top of you, what do you do?

You either get fragged, or suicide and hope it takes the other person out too. There is no other choice. Even though you HAVE an appropriate weapon, you just cant get at it.

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#128: Re: ..

by Pxtl on 08/08/2006 19:53, refers to #127

The default controls are unfortunate to say the least. While "one key per weapon" works well in Sauer since it has such a short weaponlist (only 7 weapons), the default number keys aren't really sensible. Because of (very useful) cyclic functionality, I've never actually gotten an intuitive memory of which default keys correspond to which weapon - as a result I'm always fiddling with the keybindings.

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#129: Re: ..

by PFL on 08/08/2006 21:07, refers to #128

Is it possible to leave the mouse wheel binding as is but set the number keys to individual weapons, at all? I've tried messing with the bindings but the weapon allocations seem to stay the same. I'm happy enough to stick with the mouse wheel setup but like you say it would be nice to occasionally pick a specific weapon. :)

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#130: ..

by apflstrudl on 08/08/2006 21:28

What about walljumps?
I love them, but i miss them in Sauerbraten

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#131: Re: ..

by MeatROme on 08/08/2006 22:51, refers to #126

animating models is already possible!
Look at "md3anim" command!
You can use the new trigger-mapmodel paradigm to create almost everything you wrote (as far as I could make out).

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#132: Re: Weapon Control

by MeatROme on 08/08/2006 23:00, refers to #129

Well, actually the weapon command just takes three arguments to enable the auto-cycle command.
This results in mousewheel selecting the highest ranking weapon in melee or long-range combat weapons (depending on you scrolling down or up).

If you look at what the number keys are bound to, you will see they are seperate lists to switch between certain subsets.
If you modify this to just carry one argument it will still switch to another (strong) weapon with ammo if the desired weapon doesn't have any, though.

I usually only need to access the GL per keybinding, which is 5 by default.
All 1-6 keys should actually select the corresponding gun ... if it has ammo ...

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#133: Re: Weapon Control

by shadow,516 on 08/09/2006 00:12, refers to #132

hmm

interesting

Thanks MeatROme

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#134: idea

by CCmachine_firefox2 on 08/09/2006 00:54

a simple solution would be to give the user an option on their first startup of sauer as to which mousewheel bindings they want to use (and have it in the options menu if they ever want to change it after that)

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#135: Wow

by Sauceofallevils on 08/09/2006 19:46

I have been gone from the community for awhile, and I would just like to say I\\\'m impressed with what you have all accomplished. This game is a marvelous evolution from the original. When I started playing back in 2000 I never expected Cube to amount to this! I have been acting Shakespear alot, so I\\\'m low on time, but when I have free time I would love to contribute to his community anywhay I can. I think this game will also encourage me to keep studying C++, maybe even more thoroughly then I have been:) lol


PS: Keep up the great work, I love what has become of your great engine, and Aard, any coder should look up to, you have shown true dedication to your art and I love it. You have accomplished great things, be proud!

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#136: ..

by SanHolo on 08/09/2006 21:39

I must admit, I like the way weapons are switched. Getting used to it is not too hard, and the choice of "wheelup for 1-Rocket and 2-MG" or "wheeldown for 1-shotgun and 2-rifle" is a good one.

The numbering of the weapons is quite odd, though. Why is the pistol on the 6? 0 for the fist, 1 for pistol and so on is logical and has been a good choice in FPS for years.

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#137: Re: ..

by MeatROme on 08/09/2006 21:58, refers to #136

This is due to historical reasons ...
... the pistol is new ... so it went to the end of the list ;)

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#138: Re: ..

by CrazyTB on 08/11/2006 00:57, refers to #131

But you can't use triggers on multiplayer.

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#139: Re: ..

by CrazyTB on 08/11/2006 01:22, refers to #125

> It has always been my philosophy to prefer superior solutions above familiar ones.

I agree. But who said your solution is superior? And who said it isn't?

Don't get personal, I myself like it (but not the default bindings), but I would also like to have the cycling method. I've remapped all weapon switch keys, because current method for switching them with mouse is not good.

> Just because someone will need to learn something new is no reason to
> stick with an old method... that way you never make progress.

Most times it can be true, but cube/sauerbraten is a game. People want games to have fun. People usually play games occasionally.

People don't want to read a big manual just to discover how to change the nickname (just look at how many "unnamed" people play cube/sauer).

In addition, people can't read manual while in game, so most thing read will be forgotten. This is why I suggested more in-game documentation (like shortcuts).

> Weapon switching by cycling is unusable in a fast paced game.

As is current system with current "default" bindings. (mainly, bindings for wheel and E key)

> The current system allows you to reach more weapons faster and more
> deterministically.

I disagree. Weapon cycling is deterministic and intuitive. You know scrolling one way will get you to the next weapon, and the other way to the previous one.

Current way, scrolling either way could change to different weapons depending what is current weapon and if the "next weapon in list" has ammo or not.

I never undertood well what was the meaning of those defaults. How the heck could I select hand (fist) or pistol, once I got all other weapons? Sometimes fist is more appropriate (and more fun).

With current method, you just can't do that. In weapon cycling, it may take at most a few (two at most?) seconds, but you can. (well, you can use number keys, but they are far from fingers; also, it is confusing how a number can select different weapons, you never know for sure what weapon each key will select)


As I said before, I use modified key bindings. Q and E select shotgun, chaingun and rifle. Shift or Z select rockets or grenades. F selects fist or pistol.


Aard, don't get me wrong, I like cube/sauer, I like the fast game it is, how easy to edit they are and how funny it is to play them. But I haven't asked you to *remove* current system. Just *add* another system. Give the people the choice between them. "Superior controls" for some people are not the same for other people.


> As to documentation... yes, we need more of that. You can help by adding to the wiki.

What wiki? Is there any wiki link at cube/sauer homepage? (no, there isn't)

But I've added the code to those bindings here, someday. They just got forgotten.

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#140: Write less

by CrazyTB on 08/11/2006 02:08

I should learn to write less... :P I usually write long messages. :)

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#141: Re: Wow

by Aardappel_ on 08/11/2006 05:39, refers to #135

Thanks Sauce. And we're not remotely done yet. Expect sauer to continue kicking everyone elses ass as we move forward.

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#142: Re: ..

by Aardappel_ on 08/11/2006 05:46, refers to #139

"But who said your solution is superior?"

I do. It is one of those perks that comes with actually designing and implementing large new systems, like an engine or game.

But enough of this. If you don't like the default weapon binds, write your own. Most "pro" players have a bind per weapon. If you don't like the service of switching to the most suitable weapon you have ammo for if you have no ammo, just set it to switch to the fist or pistol.

Since switching is instant, it is easy to see what weapon you have before you fire. Personally, I have never killed myself accidentally because I got the RL unexpectedly.

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#143: Weapon Cycling

by Quin on 08/11/2006 11:54

As I used the idea when I read it, I decided I'd provide backports of ideas I've come up with or implemented from those in here.

http://qreeves.googlepages.com/sauerbraten_2006_07_22_normalmap_edition_tesseract_backport_2006_08_11.zip

Simply put, Sauerbraten with optional weapon cycling. Plus a version of the source that compiles in Dev-C++, more may come if there's interest. Please feel free to apply any of it to Sauerbraten.

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#144: Re: Weapon Cycling

by PFL on 08/11/2006 20:23, refers to #143

Sorry man, I can't seem to get this to work. I've placed the folders in the right places, preserving structure but when I load the game it just plays as normal - no new weapon selection... :(

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