put up some more stuff and got the "pinky" like thing i created, or at least created upon as much of the original pinky as i could remember and quite frankly there arent that many classic doom pictures available now that the new one is out.


http://buckmontgomery.tripod.com/models 

I went ahead a sent some pinky pics that may help you. They are actually the in game sprites.

I've been replaying Rouge lately (thanks Tronyn!), and I can't help but think that the monsters on the first two pages in particular would look good for a Hell Fortress styled episode. 

Not too sure about that pinky. It'd be better if you based him off the Doom3 pinky, but without the silly "cyber" bits. 

I really like it. I don't know if it suits the project, but if it's completely animated then I wouldn't mind fiddling around with it!

... not that I have any time these days, but it still looks cool. 

i checked out cyberquake, its pretty cool concept. i sent you an .mdl of a player model i had laying around that might fit that mod, and i currently have no use for. 

I still have some issues with the alt-weapons (Rogue stuff, chaingun etc.) Not only that, but I still have to implement explosive shells too, but that shouldn't take long once I find Painkeep and some other ammo model for the slugs - one that works.

Trigger_read is causing me to scratch my head. What the hell was I thinking when I coded it!?

I'm also preparing some prefabs for the rebuilding of Tower of Yoth in a more outre style, but until I figure out why FitzQuake is going all psychedelic, I'm going to concentrate on preparing the graveyard map. Depending on how complex the "topside" turns out, I might break it into two.

(Both the library/start map and the graveyard are "contemporary", so I'll use radiosity lighting. For some reason FQ renders those sorts of lightmaps properly. Sigh... I'd rather be modding in Morrowind.) 

can you send me the drone animations again, i cant remember where i saved them to. 

I can get that to you tommorow afternoon.

Cheers, 

tomorrow. 

And shoot me out into the sea.
You got me there, Captain! 

I still don't understand what exactly trigger_read is.
Does it simply display some text to the player or is there anything more? 

trigger_read entities, when touched, allow the player to "open" books (or any other object bearing gobs of textual information) and "page through" them.

The trigger itself is actually a point entity about the size of an info_player_start, which the player has to not only touch, but be facing in the right direction to use.

The text itself is held in multiple info_page entities with the same targetname as the trigger's target, with the sequence marked by the count key.

The overall effect is: player sees an open book, or plaque on the wall, and goes over to it. He should at first hear a beep and see a message top left; "Reading matter here" or somesuch. Impulse XXX presents the first page, which is persistent until either he moves away (which closes the "book") or impulses again to go to the next page.

This has been causing me some grief to get working, but I think I may have cracked it by having the trigger be far more pro-active now. 

sounds hard on edicts...

would it not be better to store all the strings in the same entity via say, message1, message2, message3, message4, etc... up to maybe 20 (surely no book can have more than 20 pages...) or whatever... otherwise, a 10 page book will use up 11 edicts, one info_page for each page plus the trigger itself...

just a 0.02$ contribution... :) 

sounds good. I have a perfect place in my map to use it.
But as necros said, will edicts be a problem then? 

You might have a good point there, but then every entity would have twenty strings allocated to it. Wouldn't that bloat the in-game data enormously?

(I have to admit it would make paging much easier though...) 

would be to use existing string fields that are either unreferenced in the C code, or would have no side-effects anyway - .message, .netname, .noise, .noise1, .noise2, .noise3, .noise4, .wad, .map, .deathtype...to name just ten.

It might look a bit ugly, but it's better than declaring new entity variables. 

it might have mattered on a 486.

as far as i know, there aren't any hard limits in qc that prevent one from making tons of new variables.

god knows i must have added at least 3 times the amount of vars into this one project.

sadly, one cannot use arrays... :\ 

This sounds really cool.. One could make a somewhat deeper plot than usual for Quake ;)

How is the actual text displayed on the screen? Is it just using the centerprint function?
I guess the only other way would be using a modified engine with fancier a 'book' background and nicer font. 

just spawn a sprite which behaves like the weapon model in that it tracks the player's viewpoint. i'm not sure exactly how to do this, but i know it's possible.

it could be as simple as temporarily replacing the player's viewweap with the book sprite then putting it back when the trigger is turned off. 

sprites can't be used as weapon models. Crashes the game (at least, it crashes glquake.) 

i hadn't know that.

hm... well, you could do this instead:
restrict the player's movement and viewpoint until the player presses a certain key (send a impulse) to quit from reading.
spawn the book sprite in front of the player at the appropriate distance.

i think there'd be problems with this method though, because the sprite might get spawned too near to walls and get clipped inside...

you could make the entity turn the player to an exact angle to get rid of that though... this would need a lot of fine tuning, i suspect... probably more work that it's worth...

oh wait! you could just have a .mdl which was a flat polygon with the skin of the book on it... then just load up different skins on the same model and cycle through them as you 'read'. 

The original idea was to use good ol' centerprint, while the player stayed more or less still and impulsed as required, and could just turn/back away at any time. After all, if something decides that reading player is the dish of the day, you want to be able to run away.

Besides, how many 'pages' of text is a player willing to page through? My personal suspicion is about eight. What do the rest of you think? 

1 or 2.

depending on how much text there was. quake is all about action, so unless the book was fairly interesting, i doubt i would read more than a couple of pages. 

for the mod. If it is a Quake based Action\Adventure game, the way The Demon King was, fairly detailed text may be necessary to fullfill sequences of quest and such.

I tend to lean to the position that you can have narative driven episodes that donot take volumes of text to accomplish the goal like in the Rune of the Space God.

The most brilliant example I have seen of this is in a Half-Life map called Someplace Else where the player is directed on his mission located on a remote Xen based floating isle by a hyper intelligent alien hiding from the Xen creatures.

(I would also recommend it for its map design -- it is an interesting mixture of Sock_tech and Xen.) 

and heavily inspired by Aliens, not that that's a bad thing. 

my work has begun to slow down due to taking on duel employment. i was curious how much longer i have, to try to minimalize the allnighters if possible. 

I've been pulling all nighters with school alone lately. But thankfully I have December basically off, so I hope to get some done. I think the spring/summer ish period is still a good release date.

As for the concept, I don't think it will be really ultra-coherent, but it would be fun to tell a simple but dramatic story through the project. Still not sure how many maps I'll have (1, 2, or 3). How's everyone else's stuff going? 

The trigger_read still won't work properly, I'm getting sick of my Arcane map, the goddamn fargnaxing Library is still too damn dark, and the Graveyard just isn't cohering at all.

What I might do over the weekend is release a version of the resource set without a few things. At the very least it'll give you lowlives something to play with while I fix up the rest of it. 

While I said I would release a version this weekend, bear in mind that there's still a lot of stuff that doesn't work properly. However, it should be enough to help build/populate your maps with guns and things to test 'em on. Damn this fine weather!

http://www.planetquake.com/fatty/smile/betas/arcane_v0-9.zip 

2500 brushes, 410 entities... still going. Can't send a sample yet, as my floppy drive shat itself (and I'm not "connected" at home). I'll get a new one sometime soon. Are standard ogres and zombies staying in? 

I haven't removed any monsters.

I've also decided to dike the directional part of the trigger_read for convenience; now I have to figure out how to make the impulse detection less scattershot.

/me peers at reference to figure out what needs doing next 

...didn't the Demon King (TDK) mod have a working "read" function? 

I'll see if I have it, or can find it, or something. I was disk-diving just before trying to find a suitable ammo model for the chaingun's slugs. I just hope any decompiled code is easy to understand.

(Incidentally, the reading stuff actually works fine, I think. I just have to tweak my test sample first...) 

I just came up with a random idea the other day that might be neat. I've been looking into how one could make it possible to pick up objects the map... a la half-life 2. An impulse command would trigger the closest object the player is facing to lift up.. and be 'carried' by the player until the object is set down. The difficulty might be preventing the object from clipping through walls? I dont know.. my quake c is pretty weak ;)

Say, the player would have to find some objects such as candelabras or other magic items around the map and arrange them to perform some sort of ritual, perhaps something they could read about in a book using the 'trigger_read' :)
There could be triggers to detect if the objects were placed in the correct places.. 

wouldn't work with quake.

theoretically, you could continuously set the object's velocity to the player's velocity, but you'd need to do it almost constantly. if a player got bad framerate (say 10-20fps) the velocity updating wouldn't be smooth, and the object would get out of sync. so you'd also need a check to reset the position in relation to the player every so often or if the object moves to far out of sync.

overly complicated for very little returns... i wouldn't bother with it.

'course, it ain't my mod. :D 

on the other hand, you could just keep setting the object's origin in relation to the player's taking into account the player's angles as well, but that would still succumb to unsmooth movement... 

I'm still waiting for more screenies!! Update the screenies plz! 

I reckon you'd only notice the jumping if it was a networked game, in a single player game it should be smooth if updated every frame(like using playerprethink to update it, not the player animation frame macros). Of course, if you're updating the origin directly you'd have serious collision checking issues, so it'd probably be best for the object to be non solid as you go. It'd be easier to have the item act like a key, with a little bit of the hud lit up when you carry it, and then when you enter the trigger to just respawn the item in the correct place. Less aesthetically pleasing but a load simpler.

Personally I reckon a good ritual would be a blood ritual, where you needed to 'sacrifice' a certain number of monsters in some kind of ceremonial chamber to perform the magic. You could even have a fake blood brush(just make it non solid with water texture)that rose a bit with each kill/damage. ALthough that might look tacky, especially if it rose loads for each wound. Once the required level was achieved you'd be able to progess - the ritual would open the portal/summon the boss monster/etc. Then again it sounds kinda simple, so it's possible someone's done it and I'm just remembering the idea...In fact I do remember this in a map, but not as a combat where you fought monsters for the sacrifice. Ah well... 

 

 

there are your phantom posts. For some reason there were like 8 posts in the database that had invalid icons, so when i cross-referenced them with the icon table, they would vanish. The good news is that no real posts were lost; they were all blank posts. The bad news is, where are they coming from? 

What happens if you submit a post and then hit stop really quickly? Will the browser tell the server "here I have some stuff to give you" and then not give it anything? 

if it's possible for the browser to send half an http request, the server probably ignores it. 

possible certain unstandard browsers are sending empty data rather than someone's post? 

one encouraging thing is that nobody has actually complained about their own posts being missing... so hopefully no data is being lost. 

maybe they go missing with their posts. that would explain why they don't complain. 

Then who's next??


/me hopes it's Scampie. 

 

 

If i made my own external php script (for a new post) and POST'ed it it to your handling script, but with invalid icon id, would it give the same results? (cross site scripting, i guess would be the term) 

I have some server-side validation, but not enough. One of those "to do someday" items. 

That's hardly what people usually mean by cross site scripting. 

Just trying to help. Go piss on someone else, smartass. 

Just for a post here that's actually to do with this project, here's what's up with me:

One map 65% done, another 30% done.
I guess FC, you're still doing the pack and the start map?
Pulsar and Dylan, are still involved right?
Right now I'm projecting 3 maps plus the start, is that correct? 

 

 

just slowed due to computer difficulties 

:o 

:o 

this thread is CURSED!!!!! 

The thread title is "Arcane Wizard" after all. 

 

http://celephais.net/board/view_thread.php?id=11715&start=392 

 

Damn, another one. 

 

 

I blame ninjas. Or perhaps pirates of some variety other than butt. 

:/ 

 

i am still working my progress is just sloooow, my computer is f*cking up on me and i need to format and reinstall, but it is difficult when you work 80 hours a week....
i will have everything done tho so all entities will have replacements and i have made the custom monsters as well will send em soon hopefully 

got your email, don't worry about it. For half of november and most of december I was too busy with school and then work to even touch Worldcraft. The models can be done whenever you have a chance. I've always considered this a "when it's done" project.

PS: FC, if you're still around, you could post here or send me a mail about what stuff has made it into the QC? If I survive writing this paper and a few other things, I just might think about starting to put monsters and such into my map...

cheers all around. 

i am still working my progress is just sloooow

I can say the same thing. My map is about 50% ready (maybe 40%, it depends on how complex gameplay part will be). 

I think I will need some more time to finish my map, I think of mid/late summer as a date of completion. Is that fine?

That's because I study in athother city atm and don't have pc there. Probably I will get it there, it will be clear in a few weeks. I'll let you know if it happens, then I could finish my map much earlier.

btw here's one screenshot of it:
http://quakemaps.nm.ru/screens/arc_1.jpg 

Yeah that's ok. If you're going to take that long, then I'll definately be able to finish a second map for this project (no screenshots yet). It's the one inspired by Rogue's Towers of Wrath (as opposed to the one I've put shots of on on the site, which is a knave/ikblue textured thing). 

checked out the shot and it looks really nice!

I'll try to shoot for an update on the site within another month or two, with some more shots and info etc. 

 

I didn't have 'net access for the last week or so, but this sounds great! Thanks a lot FC! 

i was thinking that a way to make them useful would be to make them use a different type of explosion than normal.

i'm thinking an explosion that deals very little damage over the same radius with less fall off than regular explosions.
so, something like
damage = 15*(100/dist);
if (dist < 100)
damage = 15;

anyway, the result of this is that it would be useful for groups of weaker monsters, but useless against more powerful monsters (which makes sense since these are shells after all) and won't overpower the weapon.

just some random idea. :) 

Here's the source code and the start map sources and wad:

http://www.planetquake.com/fatty/smile/betas/arcane_source.zip

I have far too much to do right now with work driving me insane and other matters, and I do not see the situation improving any time soon. If anyone wants to try fixing up my loose ends, more power to you. (Tools included.)

More to the point, I simply have no interest in Quake modding any more. I have other infants to fry, and matters to pursue, and I'd best cut my losses where I can. 

That's sad.

I put the frowny face icon to indicate the sadness. 

but good job on releasing the source. Hopefully someone will pick it up and finish it. 

you know it's time to give up.

Now I have to knuckle down and start that fucking 3000-word essay. 

i just got set up to start finishing the shit 

exams are over within 2 weeks for me. After that I'll be getting into finishing this project, including seeing if I can get anyone to finish the code. Expect an update on my site early may.

Thanks for your work to this point FC, I appreciate the effort, not just on this but on other projects as well, and particularly SOE. Good luck in future endeavours, may they be more rewarding than just a bunch of anonymous guys on the internet thinking that you're cool a fleeting sense of personal accomplishment :) 

...should read "and a fleeting sense of personal accomplishment..."
(hopes recent essays didn't contain similar omissions) 

It's like your recent Feb 2004 site update ... 

How's this thing coming along? Still alive? D: 

Expect a site update (of the arcane site) by the end of the month.

Looking for someone to replace FC as code-dude. 

If the project is still going/alive/speeding along behind the scenes, you might like to know that the following code fixes the trigger_read problem


void() read_touch ={

local entity stemp;

if (other.classname != "player")
return;


if (other.impulse == IMP_READ)
{
if (self.axhitme == 1) {
return; // leggo the key, dumbass!

} else {

self.axhitme = 1; // edge detection
return;
}
}

if (self.axhitme == 1)
{


self.count = self.count + 1;
if ((self.count > 12) || (self.count > self.cnt))
self.count = 0;
self.axhitme = 0;
}


if ((self.attack_finished > time) && (self.count == 0))
return;


// FIXME: Close book if the string in question is null
if (self.count == 1) {
centerprint2 (other, "\n\n\n\n\n", self.message);
}
else if (self.count == 2) {
centerprint2 (other, "\n\n\n\n\n", self.noise);
}
else if (self.count == 3) {
centerprint2 (other, "\n\n\n\n\n", self.noise1);
}
else if (self.count == 4) {
centerprint2 (other, "\n\n\n\n\n", self.noise2);
}
else if (self.count == 5) {
centerprint2 (other, "\n\n\n\n\n", self.noise3);
}
else if (self.count == 6) {
centerprint2 (other, "\n\n\n\n\n", self.noise4);
}
else if (self.count == 7) {
centerprint2 (other, "\n\n\n\n\n", self.wad);
}
else if (self.count == 8) {
centerprint2 (other, "\n\n\n\n\n", self.map);
}
else if (self.count == 9) {
centerprint2 (other, "\n\n\n\n\n", self.deathtype);
}
else if (self.count == 10) {
centerprint2 (other, "\n\n\n\n\n", self.model);
}
else if (self.count == 11) {
centerprint2 (other, "\n\n\n\n\n", self.weaponmodel);
}
else if (self.count == 12) {
centerprint2 (other, "\n\n\n\n\n", self.netname);
}
if ((self.count == 0) && (self.attack_finished < time))
{
// alert player with sound cue
stemp = self;
self = other;
centerprint (self, " ");
bprint("Readable message\n");
self = stemp;
self.attack_finished = time + 3;
return;
}

else
self.attack_finished = time + 0.1;
};


Arrgh, the board swallows all the tabs, so it's an unindented mess. Should still work though, I have the qc file here in any case.

You will also need to add

void(entity client, string s1, string s2) centerprint2 = #73; // sprint, but in middle

to defs.qc just below the original centerprint function. Technically all the changes to the centerprint bits are cosmetic, they weren't the crucial fix. What they do mean is that the crosshair doesn't get in the way of the text. It's just possible that doing this will cut off the ends of long strings, if so, change it back.

So, anything else need doing? 

it's not the board's fault; HTML viewers are supposed to treat any sequence of tabs, spaces and carriage returns as generic 'whitespace' which gets collapsed into a single space. 

maybe you could be the coder of the project since fat controller has left it 

Yeah, I'd be up for that. I've got a lot of free time on my hands until term starts again in October.
So what needs doing coding wise? I know the trigger_read was causing problems for a while, but I'm not sure what else is needed for the pack. Is there anything in particular that the mappers need, like a monster that doesn't work right? Or is there a head mapper I should get in contact with who'll set me straight? 

the head mapper is Tronyn, you should contact him for more details.

As for what mappers need - it would be nice for me to include earthquake and lightning effects. 

Is progs.dat ready? The architectural part of my map is almost ready. I think it's time for me to place monsters. I have a marksurfaces problem in my map, so I'll probably make a final battle in a separated map.

But I also have an idea that it would be good if we make all maps in progression one after other. I'm not sure if it will work, but I need hear someone's opinion. 

I can't use my own computer to edit anything right now, but my map has been at monster-placing phase for a while now. I think having all the maps in sequence would be a good idea.

Preach: Sorry I haven't been in contact, while trying to fix my mess of a computer I lost all of my email. An address that works for me right now is djg164@mail.usask.ca. Once Pulsar and I get some entities into our maps it'll provide a lot more ability to test/fix/code whatever with the arcane progs.dat. 

What progs.dat do you use? I found that the one FC posted a long ago (v0.9) had a lot of unworking stuff. Some monsters don't work, my func_plats don't move etc. And there's no spawn fuctions there afais. And no earthquakes and corpse removal so far.

btw is it possible to make fgd file for these progs.dat? 

I'm placing entities (monsters etc) in my map right now, and I'll test how well it works with the 0.9 progs. I'll compile a list of things that don't work and then email it to Preach for fixing. Pulsar, you could do the same with the issues you mentioned.

An FGD probably isn't that difficult; I haven't made one before but I think I know how; I'll look into it. 

I'll compile a list of things that don't work and then email it to Preach for fixing. Pulsar, you could do the same with the issues you mentioned.

That sounds like a good idea. I'll do it.
So monsterspawning don't work? oh I plan a lot of spawning in monsters in my map.

And FGD would be great 

The Baron uses the DDZ base, with permissions, and EvilBastard is mentioned quite prominently in the Nehahra credits.

I must confess though I didn't have the experience with converting models in the skinmap department in 2000, so the skinmap was atrocious and the vertexes suffered degradation, which was a bit saddening as I'm a great admirer of Evilbastard's work.

I've already rectified that for the re-release and Ep4 though, and the baron looks great.

I had to comment because I took offense with the "rip-off" comment. I always give credit where credit is due and have no interest in taking the credit for other people's work, which is why there were so many names on the passive contributor's list. I am so conscientious of it that I am nearly anal about it and I see nothing wrong with using models that have free permissions if said models reflect what you envisioned in your head (though I am more often than not *inspired* by existing models, rather than inspired to create or find a model to match an image in my head). The alternative is trying to build a model just like it. Why rebuild something that already exists if you're free to use it? It would be silly to do so.

Anyhoo, pluck your turds out of my bubble bath :( 

That was in response to an old post #196.

But I couldn't let it go :p 

quality modeller, ratamahatta and hueteotl were another two of his I really liked. 

i hope you guys finish this project some time, i still play the odd q1sp, and this is something i really look forward to. good luck guys! 

Did you recieve my email? 

I just got it, my connection's been on the blink over the past few days. I'm looking into the problem, but not got anywhere yet. I don't think it's the problem mindcrime mentioned, it looks like there's already a second items field and all the flags look small enough. If you can come up with reproduction steps that produce this bug every time that would help me narrow it down. I've managed to reproduce it a few times when I run out of ammo with a weapon, but not reliably. 

using the zerstorer spawn64 qc instead of hipnotic func_spawn, since it is faster and lightens the load for the engine. Since FC's progs don't have a func_spawn anyway (right?) maybe we could just forget putting those in and put in the spawn64 instead?

Update on my map: I've got all the gameplay (doors, buttons, routes, etc) done and am just starting to place monsters and items.

Kona: Thanks, long time no see 

Nails are not collected at all. And weapons (NG and SG) dessapear when ammo is out. And not always disappear when I switch to another. 

I believe I've got the disappearing weapons bug, or at least one of them, there was a flag being subtracted from the wrong field that was corrupting the items list when you took damage exceeding the amount of armour you had. It's possible other bits of code will be doing the same thing, so I'll keep testing.

The nail thing was also pretty easy to fix, and I'm confident that'll be ok. The wrong ammo icons might take a little longer, FC changed all the values of the item flags around, and that has an impact on the HUD, which basically reads the items fields for what to display. Do make sure you're playing it with -rogue though, that improves some things.

Afraid I can't give out the progs with these fixes, I'm posting this from a public computer as the network here has failed again. Nor can I download any source, which would help me get some things sorted. So in the meantime, what is spawn64? Is it essentially adding a spawnflag to a monster to make it teleport in when triggered rather than spawn at the start? That was what I was planning on doing, func_spawn seems a bit too much for most purposes. 

well, the basic idea of the zerstorer spawn function is that it checks if you've checked the spawnflag for it (can be 64, can be whatever) and then stops the code before setting model, movetype and solid values and the call to walkmonster (or fly/swim) (but after setting the .th_ functions). it also sets the .use to a function that completes the monster setup. so when the monster is triggered, the model gets set and it becomes visible, plays the teleflash and then goes to the stand animation awaiting to be awakened. 

Update on my map: I've got all the gameplay (doors, buttons, routes, etc) done and am just starting to place monsters and items.

So we decided to make all maps in sequence? I remember you wanted my map to be the first one. Then you should keep in mind that player already has most of weapons when you place monsters. Right? 

Ok, I can get internet from my computer now, so I've uploaded the latest progs. Grab grab grab:
http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/ajd70/progs-11-10-05.zip

This is just a bug fix, weapons don't disappear randomly, and trigger_read works. Features like proper ammo icons and spawnflags for teleporting are on the way, but I figured getting something usuable quickly would be most beneficial. For best effect use the -rogue switch on the command line. 

that's great. downloading now 

so monster_eel, all magi (monster_acolyte, monster_sorceror and monster_warlock) and monster_wraith don't work. 

But when enforcers die, they stay solid, and they spew out lots of backpacks, each pack holding 5 cells...

Oh, and some bastard removed impulse 12 as well... 

Here we go, today's work.

http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/ajd70/progs-12-10-05.zip

You don't need rogue to get those monsters, all the -rogue switch does is turns on the new HUD graphics. I've included the updated gfx.wad from rogue in today's package, and since I'm so nice have even made custom icons for the chaingun and ammo : - ). The reason the monsters you listed didn't work was problems in the code. The wrath and eel had qc files all ready to go, but they weren't included in the build process. The mages didn't work because of a bug in the code, that occurred several times, but is an easy fix once you spot it.

Hadn't spotted the bug with enforcers, it comes about as a result of the rewrite FC did of all the monster spawning code. Gotta admit, the fountain of backpacks was lovely to watch. It's also been fixed in this build, enforcers now behave. What did impulse 12 do, was it cycle weapons backwards? Let me know and I'll fix it tomorrow. 

magi work now =)

I hope you'll add last monsters soon. Also make func_train start to work (I think there's something with that 'master/slave' fields bug). And the greatest feature will be spawnflag teleporters.

btw who cares about enforcers in medival mod? 

the enforcers do. think of the enforcers. :( 

If dylan sartain's around somewhere, I thought he was going to replace the enforcer models/themes with cultists. 

(btw, impulse 12 is cycle backwards, yes)

l_spike.mdl isn't precached.

Quake crashes when you try to cycle weapons while holding the lava NG.

There isn't a model for the chainsaw.

I get a multi-coloured blob instead of shell casings from the chaingun.

Sorry for listing so many bugs, but I tend to notice these things... If you need a fresh pair of eyes on the code then I can take a look for you. Feel free to contact me off-list.

LA

PS: Is there anything else I should get for testing this, apart from the progs.dat ? 

Don't stop sending me bug reports, it's useful, not annoying! Most of the fixes for these things are easy, but I don't have time at the moment to both playtest the hell out of the mod looking for bugs and to fix them. Once I know there's a problem I can get straight on it. Like the lava ng stuff passed me by as it doesn't get given to you with impulse 9 - which I suppose constitutes another bug : - ).

Also, pulsar, which monsters are missing? Let me know and I'll try and get em into today's build. 

Like the lava ng stuff passed me by as it doesn't get given to you with impulse 9 - which I suppose constitutes another bug : - )

I just assumed that that was a part of the weapon cycling bug...

The crash whe cycling from the Lava NG is a runaway loop - I have a crash screnshot if you want it.

I assume that the idea is to have the alternate ammo type show up on the status bar when using an alternate weapon, just like in DoE. I can't exactly remember how that is done, although poking around in the DoE source and DP engine source might help. But I think that you will need to pay attention to the variable names that you use. 

Monster_ell and monster_wraith.

Also a minor bug - I get a message the fiend's idle2.wav is not precached everytime I see fiend (tho it's not idling) 

Have you got a map that I can specifically test this with? 

what do you want to test? 

http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/ajd70/progs-13-10-05.zip
Now contains everything you need for monster_eel. Monster_wrath was actually working yesterday, make sure you spell it without an i...wraith looks more natural to me, but the files and QC all spell it wrath. Same goes for the idle.wav bug, nailed that one yesterday : -).

On the lava_nails, it's less good news. The problem is that the lava_nailgun really hasn't been implimented at all yet, it's more like a bug that you can get at it when you pick up lava nails. The precache is fixed, but things are not all well yet, don't report bugs with the lava nails yet, it's just not done.

The even worse news is that half the weapon code needs changing to make lava nails work and the right ammo, it's a matter of replacing ammo_shells with ammo_shells1 everywhere(and so on for the other ammo), then adding another function in several key places, so a big job. Once that's done the upper ammo totals with be right and the other lava ammo bugs will be fixed. Not today though...

There shouldn't be a model for the chainsaw on the ground, it replaces the axe by design. And I get shell casings from the chaingun as normal, so if you've got any more info about why that's happening it you it would be handy. You aren't testing it in darkplaces are you? 

If I open shootable doors with chainsaw the half of the way it opens with the speed I set in the 'speed' field and the after that it immediately drops into open position.

haven't checked the latest progs.dat yet, downloading 

There shouldn't be a model for the chainsaw on the ground, it replaces the axe by design. And I get shell casings from the chaingun as normal, so if you've got any more info about why that's happening it you it would be handy. You aren't testing it in darkplaces are you?

The chainsaw doesn't appear at all... You just appear to be holding nothing. I am using DP, but I woulldn't know what sort of errors I'm looking for...

@PuLSaR: I'd be looking to test monsters next, because there's currently nothing else to be tested on teh weapons. I can't map for shit, otherwise I'd just add the monsters to a basic rooom and test that. I can also test maps for bugs and stuff if you think it might be useful... 

And I get shell casings from the chaingun as normal

shell casings coming out of chainsaws isn't normal. 

 

Well I actually don't want to fullvis my map so far. If you want I may sent you fastvised version, but if you need just to test monsters I have a testmap with mothing but 6 brushes and monsters/ammo. 

It sounds like you're missing all of the custom models for the game, do you have the zip file that FC posted long ago with all the models in it? The releases I've made are intended to be patches for that, not replacements. When DP can't find a model, rather than spit out a console error it replaces it with a default placeholder, which looks like a multicoloured diamond thing. I haven't done anything with bmodels yet, so I'll take a look at that door thing and the func_train while I'm at it. My connection is down though, so I might not be able to upload a patch today. 

http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/ajd70/progs-14-10-05.zip
Here we go, fixes: Ammo counts now work, and the lava nails are in. Cycling forward is fixed, although multi-rockets might still break it. I'll do backwards once the weapons list is locked. The problem with non mastered/triggered func_trains is sorted. A few other cosmetic changes like reducing the number of idle noises from the chainsaw. Haven't been able to reproduce the chainsaw door bug yet, so it's still at large.

The new ammo code is the thing most likely to cause problems, if you notice at any time that the ammo on the top doesn't update correctly, let me know what you did so I can fix it. Lava nails should also be considered fully featured, so let me know about any bugs encountered.

If I've got this right, this is the list of known things that still need doing:
Fix chainsaw door bug.
Add teleporter flag.
Improve moster reaction time when waking up.
Add multirockets and exploding shells?
Backwards weapon cycling.
Anything else? 

I think that backward weapon cycling has to be a priority now, if only so I don't have to listen to that bloody chainsaw starting up every time...

Forward cycling is fine, and it completely ignores the possibility of MR weapons. Ammo counts change correctly as well.

I have noticed a few issues with the chaingun, though. The weapon spins so fast that it looks to be convulsing when I hold down the trigger (I guess because of DP's model interpolation). The weapon is also far too powerful. It drops knights with 1 hit, and gibs eels with 1 hit as well. Also, it uses 2 ammo per shot, for some strange reason.

I am wondering if you are going to want reskinned lava guns, because they don't need those stupid warning arrows on... 

Now I understand why the Chaingun is so sick...

Preach, with your permission, I'd like to re-write the code for the chaingun to be less evil, less messy, and easier to balance once we get to that stage. If you've made updates to w_chaingun.qc, then I'd prefer to work from your copy. 

...and this here is the dangerous end... 

Only things I've changed in w_chaingun.qc are reducing the frequency of gibs spawned so it doesn't cause packet overloads when you unload on a zombie, and since the whole thing is a mess anyway, it might not be necessary once it's done. So yeah, just work from the FC version and that'll be fine. 

blasphemy! :o 

The chaingun was producing three gibs per shot, it just wasn't feasible. Most things died fast enough for it not to matter, but zombies you can blast a lot of chunks out of before they die. One thing I thought of which might be important for rewriting the chaingun; quake doesn't like things that occur faster than every 0.1 seconds. You can do it, and it'll work a lot of the time, but it runs the risk of being very framerate dependent. The quake engine will ensure that there are at least 10 frames per second of game time, and will effectivly slow down the game clock if the computer can't keep up. There might be small fluctuations in the rate of firing depending on how the frames line up with the times, but you should always get 10 nails fired between time and time + 1.

If you do something with a shorter delay, say 0.05 seconds, a person who's only getting 10fps would only get 10 shots per second when they should get 20. This might explain why the chaingun fires rounds 2 at a time and then does two sets of damage in a burst, besides the slight benefits to the network updates gained by doing this. So it's something to bear in mind if you rewrite it. Perhaps the best solution if you want such a high rate of fire would be to check frametime each time it fires - if the framerate is below 20 fps, fire two shots and set the delay to 0.1, otherwise set it to 0.05. Bit more work though.

The other thing about the chaingun and model interpolation is that it only uses two frames, which for non model interpolation suffices to give the illusion of a rotating barrel. With modern engines it'll be obvious it's rocking back and forth, might be worth fixing that. I've got a good idea about how I'd go about this so it would look smooth on interpolating engines, but still look like it rotates in older engines, so I'll put it into the rewritten chaingun once it's done.

Positive news - fixed the door bug, and I've put in spawning by a spawnflag - 64 makes monsters teleport when triggered, and 128 makes them teleport in the same way, but silently, for doing reinforcments that have "moved into place". Can't upload it yet though, connection issues. Do people want multirockets? I never found them that handy myself, but the code is half there if people so desire. 

idiocy, yeah, that's it. 

You Reduced Gibs?

blasphemy! :o

That is why I went ahead and built the gyro physics.qc patch into my basic Quake. The gibs are extra bouncy; the next step will be to get them to flop around and shake like jello. 

One thing I thought of which might be important for rewriting the chaingun; quake doesn't like things that occur faster than every 0.1 seconds.

Thought of that. It's averaging 20 for me when I test it.

The chaingun was producing three gibs per shot, it just wasn't feasible. Most things died fast enough for it not to matter, but zombies you can blast a lot of chunks out of before they die.

At 60 entities per second, I doubt even Darkplaces would be able to cope...

Perhaps the best solution if you want such a high rate of fire would be to check frametime each time it fires - if the framerate is below 20 fps, fire two shots and set the delay to 0.1, otherwise set it to 0.05. Bit more work though.

It's much easier and more consistent to fire 2 (or more) bullets every 0.1s so that's what I have planned...

The other thing about the chaingun and model interpolation is that it only uses two frames... I've got a good idea about how I'd go about this so it would look smooth on interpolating engines, but still look like it rotates in older engines, so I'll put it into the rewritten chaingun once it's done.

I noticed that as well. It's a shame really, because it's an otherwise nice model. If you're planning what I think you're planning, then it won't work, because there are other parts of the weapon visible, not just the barrels. I think that a model like the SNG would look best, but we don't simply want a reskinned model.

Do people want multirockets? I never found them that handy myself, but the code is half there if people so desire.

I will be able to comment on their usefulness a bit more after I actually complete DoE, but my early thoughts are that cluster bombs would be very useful (and more useful if they split up after hitting a monster). Multi rockets would probably be less useful, although they can clear rooms out very nicely. So yes, i want to see them. However, I think we need to limit the ammo on these. Maybe perhaps to 3/6 per box and maximum carrying of 50 ?

One last thought about the chaingun before I end this long post: Do people think that the knockback is too much? 

I've finished re-writing the chaingun, all I have to do is send it to you. I hope you got my previous e-mail. 

Haven't been able to e-mail for a few day previously, but I've just checked them now and got the last message about the .meat field. So if you send it over today, I should be able to get it before the connection dies again. 

Sending now.

Btw: if you want a Gmail account, I can give you an invite... 

More screenies 

I'd prefer more talk, more screenies, more things to test, more of everything! These times where there's nothing that I can do to contribute to this project are making me think about everything else too much... 

http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/ajd70/progs-14-10-05.zip

Contained herein: The new improved chaingun code, thanks lardarse! Also, teleporting monsters, flag 64 for teleport when triggered, flag 128 for silent teleport. The troglodyte now no longer locks up when it casts the large explosion. Doors can now be opened by the chainsaw without jumping around. Maybe a few other fixes, I'm not sure.

So still to come is the enhanced chaingun animation and the multirockets. Maybe by Sunday... 

Hey, I just released a Q1SP. Thought that'd keep you people quiet for a while :) 

http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/ajd70/progs-19-10-05.zip

or just go to http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/ajd70/ and select the file with the latest date. 

If people release things that require stuff I don't have it doesn't tend to keep me happy =/ More screenies! 

another little buggy: i have a secret which is triggered by the the armor itself (it targets trigger_secret), I get the message and secret sound but the number of secrets I found doesn't change. It works in normal quake.

btw Tronyn: it's really a time to update the site with more info and screenies and maybe something more. 

how fucked up is the source code that basic features like secret counting don't work? 

normal trigger_secrets work as they should, while one secret with 'targetname' don't. I also wonder why. 

The main changes are:

- Instead of using 2 ammo per shot, it uses 2-4 ammo per shot, but the shots are now a consistent 0.1 seconds apart, instead of an inconsistent 0.05 seconds.

- Damage was reduced from 40 per bullet to 20ish. but I nerfed it too much, so it's back up to 25ish.

- FC had some weird MultiDamage hack in teh code (as used in the shotgun code) which I removed to make the code be handed haster, and also because the gun is supposed to be firing the bullets 1 at a time.

- Recoil has been recuded by about 30%, and recoil in the vertical direcion is significantly reduced. I don't think that this gun should be non-damaging RJ replacement weapon...

Other than that. it's just cleanup. I'm sending an updated version to Preach in a moment, because I nerfed it a bit too much, and also because it's not behaving exactly as expected. But I'm happy with it.

Onto the bugs I've noticed. The slug ammo no longer decreases when the chaingun is firing. This is likely to be because of a change that Preach made to make it work properly in the first place that I didn't know about. Also, it doesn't display when you are holding the gold or silver key.

I think that's everything... 

I kinda nerfed recoil but 60% instead of the desired 25% so I'm fixing that as well.

metlslime: lol 

I had to make a few changes to the chaingun to make it compile, and while I was at it I fixed the ammo, so the patch released today has chaingun working at full capacity. I'll try and merge the file you send me so all the changes come through without breaking things.

metlslime - quite a few things have been broken because a lot of the code was rewritten before I got it. About half of the monsters use some extra functions and fields to reduce the amount of duplication within the monster code. To my mind it's kinda a wierd thing to do, it reduces the progs size, but at the expense of adding fields that take up just as much memory if not more. But the baron monsters would have to be completely rewritten from scratch to change that, so I'm inclined to fix the code that's there rather than scrap it all.

On the other hand, ths secret issue could just be a small conflict oweing to the addition of the master field. That's caused problems in the past.

Key icons I was aware of, but I thought I'd consult about them first. The code now offers many additional keys, copper, bone, things like that. So one solution I was considering was to get rid of all the power up icons(to my mind they're not that useful) and use those slots for icons for the remaining keys. Otherwise I could make it so just silver/gold keys get icons like before, but it's not very consistent. Also, with all those keys, things might get confusing - would having the key icon blink until you got it be helpful or distracting? The trigger to start the blinknig would be trying a door that needed a key and getting the "you require the obsidian key" message. I'm kinda leaning away from it now I've though about it, but I'll put it out there anyway. Any thoughts? 

why on earth would you need that many keys? you'll need to code a keychain soon.


wow, that was terrible. o.o 

I hereby remove necros from the earth.
You're welcome. 

Part of the problem with making it compile was probably that you're using frikqcc to compile it, and I'm used to using fteqcc. I think I have everything sorted out in the version that I will send you tonight...

Key icon blinking would be distracting. I know that there are now 7 keys available, and bar engine changes, it's going to be tricky to display them all. I would be inclined to do it, so that you display 1 of the key icons if you have at least 1 key, and display bth of them if you have more than 1. Then, use an impulse to (centre)print the keys that are being held.

Speaking of powerups, how many will this project have? I assume that there will still be the quad, the pent, and the ring, but what else? 

I have a problem. It looks like spawflag64 teleporter has a bug - it crashes the map when I try to spawn an orge. I get a message:

EDICT 262:
modelindex 188.0
absmin '2079.0 -737.0 -1.0'
absmax '2145.0 -671.0 89.0'
movetype 4.0
solid 3.0
origin '2112.0 -704.0 24.0'
classname monster_ogre
model progs/ogre.mdl
frame 1.0
mins '-32.0 -32.0 -24.0'
maxs ' 32.0 32.0 64.0'
size ' 64.0 64.0 88.0'
use monster_use()
health 200.0
takedamage 2.0
view_ofs ' 0.0 0.0 25.0'
flags 544.0
waterlevel -1.0
watertype -1.0
yaw_speed 20.0
spawnflags 128.0
targetname door4t
noise ogre/ogwake.wav
th_stand ogre_stand1()
th_walk ogre_walk1()
th_run ogre_run1()
th_missile ogre_nail1()
th_melee ogre_melee()
th_pain ogre_pain()
th_die ogre_die()
mdl progs/ogre.mdl
pausetime 100000000.0
hmodel progs/h_ogre.mdl
Host_Error: PR_ExecuteProgram: NULL function

And I haven't checked it enough but it seems like func_wall's invisible mode (spawnflag 1 doesn't work properly).

Also I feel like this mode has really a deal with black magic: something strange happens to my editor, it goes crazy. Objects' properties change somehow without my help, entities turn from one to another... err I hope that's just a bug that won't return after I restart my editor. But if not..
Preach are you sure you didn't use voodoo or something working with your progs.dat? 

And I had a crash saving the game the other day, but I haven't tried to repeat it since. Can anyone else look into this? 

http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/ajd70/progs-20-10-05.zip

V2 of the chaingun is in, the code pretty much worked straight off, which is good. I also altered the model and the animation frame code so it works much better with interpolation, while maintaining the same good behaviour on normal engines. There's even a cooldown animation when you stop firing!

The teleporter crash is fixed, I thought I'd got it once before, but now I've got it figured out much better. I blame all the rewrites, with the normal ID code it's twice as easy to impliment the teleporting. Speaking of rewrites:
/*==================
T_SECRET: Secret Trigger

This file's an experiment to see if it's possible to split
the trigger_secret's code from the trigger_multiple.
====================*/
Yeah, I'd not seen that before, so now the secret trigger is fixed if you pick up an item that targets one.

I don't get what you're saying about the func_wall though. In the original ID code there's no spawnflag 1 behaviour written, and the code hasn't changed here. If it's a feature you need tell me what it's meant to do and I'll add it.

And I can't do anything about the editor or saving problems, both of those are out of my hands. Ah well, G'night all. 

from FC manual to this progs.dat:
The following brush entities have extra functionality added as described below.

3.3.1. func_wall

The following spawnflags have been added.

1: "Invisible": The brush model for the func_wall will not be drawn.
2: "Toggle": The func_wall can be toggled "on" (drawn and blocking) and "off" (not drawn and non-blocking). When used in conjunction with the "Invisible" flag, one can have something like a forcefield.

Donloading latest patch... 

Whoever invented Morrowind's scripting language will surely burn in hell. 

Now I want to see some maps to test... 

http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/ajd70/progs-21-10-05.zip

Stuff:
*Func_wall now has those spawnflags
*Cycling weapons backwards added
*Enforcers will now actually fire at you
*Big optimisation on the AI overhead - essentially when monsters weren't attacking they'd call walkmonster_start_go every frame, which would then call the stand/walk think function, along with resetting all the default settings in walkmonster_start_go needlessly. This has been corrected, now monsters think their function directly after the first walkmonster_start_go. Funnily enough, this would have fixed the teleporter crash from yesterday as well...go figure. I think it's also fixed a rare AI bug where monsters who were mad at other monsters would become trapped in a run cycle and never attack, but since it's hard to replicate I'm not sure of this. 

It sounds like a heroic effort.

Fat Controler -- come on back to Quake if Morrowwind is wigging you out. The new Nehahra when it is released will certainly give you some interesting things to play with. 

you guys have mail 

Some more bugs:

Spawflag64 somehow doesn't work for spawning custom monsters (at least monster_sorceror/alcolyte/warlock). I didn't check the others, but these ones definately don't want to teleport. They even don't disappear in the beginning.
Also scrags behave themself strange after spawning. They don't just hang where they were spawned, they begin to move in strange directions. I'll dig more about it sooner.

And invisible func_wall doesn't work for me even now. 

oh Preach

I've just found that i used not your latest patch. Func_wall works as it should. Thanks.

But:
The game now crashes again when i try to spawn fiends and scrags (and maybe orges) with the similar message. Tho everything worked fine it your previous patch.
Magi still don't spawn.

message:
EDICT 272:
modelindex 213.0
absmin '1535.0 -305.0 255.0'
absmax '1601.0 -239.0 345.0'
movetype 4.0
solid 3.0
origin '1568.0 -272.0 280.0'
angles ' 0.0 25.0 0.0'
classname monster_demon1
model progs/demon.mdl
frame 1.0
mins '-32.0 -32.0 -24.0'
maxs ' 32.0 32.0 64.0'
size ' 64.0 64.0 88.0'
use monster_use()
health 300.0
takedamage 2.0
view_ofs ' 0.0 0.0 25.0'
flags 544.0
waterlevel -1.0
watertype -1.0
ideal_yaw 225.0
yaw_speed 20.0
goalentity entity 274
spawnflags 65.0
target cou_trm_3
targetname mon_tel_trap_1_3
noise demon/sight2.wav
th_stand demon_stand()
th_walk demon1_walk1()
th_run demon_run()
th_missile demon1_jump1()
th_melee Demon_MeleeAttack()
th_pain demon1_pain()
th_die demon_die()
mdl progs/demon.mdl
pausetime 100000000.0
movetarget entity 274
hmodel progs/h_demon.mdl
Host_Error: PR_ExecuteProgram: NULL function 

I wanted post 500 

Can't connect my comp to the internet again, patch forthcoming as soon as it does(and I get this backlog of maths work done...)Mages didn't have the teleporting permitting code in, they do now. As for scrags, I've spawned them fine with the current patch, maybe the fix for ogres broke fiends. I'll look into it. 

Preach are you still alive? 

Finally got the connection back today, so here's the patch before it breaks again.
http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/ajd70/progs-27-10-05.zip
Fixes teleporting monsters, although I still don't see what's wrong with scrags, unless you're trying to make them patrol after they teleport in. Not sure how well that will work if you do. If you really need it, I'll look for a fix.

Also a few balance tweaks, tidied up the chaingun animations some more, key icons now work(or did they last patch?). Putting icons for the other keys in would take a rewrite of how the powerups are done, but since nobody seems to need the feature it's probably not worth investing time in. Ok, have fun! 

Who of these guys is the weakest: Acolytes, Sorcerors and Warlocks?

Biw is it possible to make something like "magic" visual effect? I mean kinda fluids in the air, permanent and temporary. For example I want to make the effect of magic crated bridge. When player presses a button the bridge moves from the space outside of the map to where it should be (with speed 1000), but plater doesn't see it. Then player teleports back (after a few seconds) and sees the bridge. I want this bridge to be covered with that 'magic' effect for 5-7 seconds.
Or another example. There's a place of rituals in my map. When player enters that room he sees that place surronded by mages (they are summoning someone there). There should appear that magic effect. Then player kills all those mages, but ritual as already made. Magic effect stays after their death. And after a few seconds a big bad monster spawns in that place.

Is it possible to make something like that? I remember forcefields in base maps. Maybe it could looks something like that but with different color and not plain. 

dunno what "fluids in the air" means and "magic" isn't very descriptive XD, but if you want, you can use the hip code that makes particles and simply make those flash for a bit. 

Did you recieve my emails? The only I replied you recently and the one I sent you a few weeks ago to your netgames address. 

only=one 

Even though my connection is technically broken, I've found a way round that to upload today.
http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/ajd70/progs-30-10-05.zip
Two changes. One is to do with acolytes and warlocks. The hierachy of mages is meant to go acolytes < sorceror < warlock. Unfortunatly a bug/feature meant all acolytes were being turned into warlocks anyway. Been fixed now, but it means monster_mage now defaults to acolyte rather than warlock.

The other change is a quickly hacked together entity you might find handy for that magic effect. It's called misc_magic, and it spawns the effect from the troglodyte magic. Parameters are:
count - duration in 10ths of a second
weapon - colour of the particles
lip - radius of the circle
Just target it to set it off. I dunno if it'll actually do what you're after, but on the plus side it was only 10 lines of code. 

Default for count is 0, but there was a lump of code that changed count to 2 any time it was 0 or greater than 2. presumably so that when you made a default monster_mage it became a monster_warlock. Which is well intentioned in itself, but the problem is monster_acolyte just calls sets it's own count to 0, then calls monster_mage, so you get in a mess. Only reason I mentioned it was if people had used a monster_mage already, expecting it to default to monster_warlock as it had been so far, they'd need to alter it to make it the correct level. 

Given the essentially infinite number of these entities you can use and the consequences of them firing at targets, any start/hub map type functionality can be implemented. You could even have the start map fill with monsters once the rest of the maps have been completed.
(From Quoth mapping tutorial, about info_endgate and info_mapgate)

Wasn't it our plan to have the stsrt map invaded by monsters once the other maps had been done? Do we still want to do this? If so, is there any chance that we can co-ordinate with Necros and Kell to have this as a feature? 

If it's needed, it'd probably be easiest to add it directly. The ammount of rewritten code in the arcane progs means merging things from other mods is often just as involved as writing them from scratch. I'd probably just go with adding another spawnflag like the teleport flags, which removes the monster if a value isn't set, and a corresponding option to set that value on trigger_changelevel. Seems easier, since it's just a single monsters on/monsters off situation. 

Monsters in the start map is basically what I wanted.

The thing is though, we could just use two different BSPS - as the maps will be played in a linear order, the final map could just link back to a different version of the start, containing monsters etc. 

That's not how I imagined this to go...

My idea was that you have a start map which is a hub to 3 arcane-themed maps. Once you have done those, a door opens to a more evil area that willl lead back to the variant base map.

Of course, you are the project leader, so it's your call... 

Originally, Fat Controller wanted the start map as a sort of a "hub" to several other maps.

But lately Pulsar suggested having the maps in a linear order, which I now think might be better. We are kind of thinking of having a thematic progression in the maps, which would make more sense if they were in a set order.

But it's not set in stone.

Btw if I don't have a beta of my first map ready by December then someone shoot me. 

if I haven't updated the project's web site within a week then give me the same treatment. 

 

make it have some kind of structure, not just a hub where you can do maps in random order and start with shotty in each. That isn't so great imo. 

I have to leave tomorrow. Not to leave the project but leave my home and pc until february.

My knave map is about 1-2 weeks to be finished (beta) but I was called today and told that I must go tomorrow. In fact I should have left in august-september but (fortunally for this project, unfortunatelly for me) I'm leaving only now.

I'll come back soon and finish my map and make a new one. I hope Tronyn will finish something when I return :)

See ya, guys. 

make it have some kind of structure, not just a hub where you can do maps in random order and start with shotty in each. That isn't so great imo.
Who said anything about resetting the weapons between the maps ???

PuLSaR: Good luck, whatever it is you have to do... 

have luck balancing combat if you don't know what weapons the player'll have. 

IMHO:
linear order > hub.

bye! 

So we have a start map, 3 arcane maps, an evil map, and a final map where your library gets invaded. Sounds good... 

 

Your time is up...

Btw if I don't have a beta of my first map ready by December then someone shoot me. ... Oh, And if I haven't updated the project's web site within a week then give me the same treatment.

I'm coming for you with my chaingun... 

It's up! It's up!

as usual, http://www.planetquake.com/tronyn/arcane

Main thing on the page is that I'm looking for *one more mapper.*

My beta will be ready in december; maybe two beta maps, actually.

Then I can start building the library/cathedral/mansion/university or whatever setting it is on earth. 

... and the humorously named Lardarse ...

That's one way of looking at it... 

That header graphic makes the page wider than 1024. 

well the entire page is shit, so I think I'll keep it that way on principle :) 

FYI

There are broken links in the Development, Textures and Prefabs page. They are:

- Contract Revoked Textures and Others link
- Prefabs related link

;) 

is there any progress with this project?
I'm back with pc, but I'm in another city right now and i don't have the source of my map atm.

but i'm ready for betatesting or anything so feel free to e-mail me

btw i'm i'm drunk right now because i've past my last exam 

And grats on finishing your exams. Go enjoy getting being drunk :-)

I'll send an e-mail out to Tronyn and Preach to see if they still remember this project. I think the coding side is done, it's the mapping that needs doing :-/ 

is now djg164@mail.usask.ca
in case either of you is still using my old one
expect an email frome me soon also
I'm about to start exams too, so the drunkenness for me is coming in a couple weeks, heh 

Where's Preach?

And more importantly, Tronyn...

My beta will be ready in december; maybe two beta maps, actually.

Where the fuck are your map betas? 

However, next term I have a ton of exams to revise for. So if there's anything that urgently needs coding it'd be best if you said in the next two weeks or so. 

I used aguire's engine for testing my non-fullvised map and I missed the fact that I got over the edicts limit. I think corpse revomal should be employed to these progs.dat 

Are yoU stiLl aLivE? 

his drunkenness lasted longer than expected 

hows the arcane project going fellas? i feel like having a game :) i need my annual quake-fix 

project is going fine. slow but fine. 

Then send me something to test... 

Just an update to explain what's going on. I'm in graduate school right now and just got my PC working again a few weeks ago, I had to replace the video card, which sucked. I had hoped to finish and release _something_ in August, but the month just flew by with me being in a few different cities and then moving. September also flew with getting into school and starting work marking papers and etc. Anyway, I'm set up again.

I have a beta of map 1, but I want to try out a storm effect in it. I did this a long time ago in my map Storm Dungeon, but that was so long ago (5 years or more) that I can't remember exactly how I did it, and the example Storm map that I used (on the Forge) doesn't seem to be there anymore. Does anyone have that map, or know how to do this?

I just need to fix that up and fullvis it. Gameplay is really hard, and using the chaingun is fun. 

By that, do you mean the light levels occasionally flickering like lightning flashes? Because that can be done relatively easily with a bit of custom code. The one technical snag you may encounter is if you want light cast from skybrushes( _sunlight etc) to flicker - kinda natural desire when you think about it. The problem is that sky cast light is always lightstyle 0, so you have to flicker all lights that don't have a style set.

The simple workaround is to define a new style with the same light level as style 0, and then use that style for any indoor lights that you don't want to flicker. You can then make style 0 change light levels at random with some code in StartFrame. The code should also be opt-in based on some worldspawn key so that all the id maps etc. don't start flickering indoors. 

all I want is a bunch of randomly triggered lights, with thunder either simultaneously or following shortly afterwards.

I'm not using skylight in this map. Although I usually do use skylight, and like the effect greatly, this is a mostly indoor map. I've just placed really bright point lights inside all the windows. 

I'm still alive too. I spent previous 3 years moving from one city to another every 2-3 months and had no permanent internet access. And yesterday I finally returned back home. So everything's fine. I have a third beta of my map almost ready. 

You could try a lightstyle applied to a local minlight - standard point light with delay 4 (aguirRe's light tool). Which makes it without falloff.

For the custom flicker I'm not sure if any of the basic ones would look any good for occassional lightning, so you might need a progs change for that, since you'd want it to be dark / off 95% of the time.

It was a cool effect in Storm Dungeon, even though the Shambler Baron was a pain in the nuts. 

Is there a code entity that randomly triggers its target keys? I'm pretty sure that's how it was done in Hipnotic. It could just toggle the lights on and off.

Also, Preach I noticed while playtesting that in the progs there's an occasional bug with projectiles, where they get "stuck" at a stationary point and don't explode. Have you seen this, or have any idea what causes it? 

Can't say I've encountered that, no. E-mail me the details and I'll look into it, especially helpful if you can save a game with the bug reproduced and send it to me. I'll fix that and add the lightning code at the same time. 

That soudns like a bug I'd only see when playing online...