Game Engine Demo

[sio2]

I've released my work-in-progress game engine for general review. Download it at http://sio2.g0dsoft.com

NOTE: PLEASE READ THE ENCLOSED README.TXT FILE AND ENSURE YOU HAVE THE REQUIRED SOUND AND GRAPHICS DRIVERS!







From the readme.txt file:

Game Engine Demo (Driving Simulation)
=====================================

** NOTE: This demo requires both OpenAL and DirectX drivers. See below for details. **

License
=======

Game Engine Demo

Copyright (C) 2007 Keith Harrison

This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or implied
warranty. In no event will the author be held liable for any damages
arising from the use of this software.

Description
===========
Email : sio2 'at' users.sourceforge.net
Website : http://sio2.g0dsoft.com

This is the initial release of my closed-source game engine. It is an "alpha" release and, as such, is Work In Progress. The game engine comprises the following components: 3D rendering (via the IrrSpintz 3D engine), physics (Newton Dynamics), sound (OpenAL) and user-definable controls.

This version of the game engine implements a driving simulator.

Usage
=====

Escape key toggles menu window on/off.

The Menu Window comprises the following sections:-
Game:
Select scene then click "Load". Click "Exit" to quit demo.
Controls:
To redefine a key click on it then press new key or mouse button. Click Reset to revert all keys to default assignments.
Graphics:
Graphics card settings. Disable shadows for more performance. NOTE: settings are applied when game is restarted.
Sound:
Use slider to alter Master Sound volume.

This is a driving simuation. Load a scene and then drive the vehicle around the course. To load a different scene bring up the menu (Escape key) and select a scene to load. Note that the SUV vehicle is prone to a little oversteer and may require some skill to control at speed!

Sample scenes are:
1) a racetrack. Someone appears to have left some items on the track...
2) rough terrain
3) a "driving school" type yard with cones to drive around and ramps to jump the car. See if you can get it on two wheels!

If the vehicle gets stuck you can press R (default key) to put the vehicle back on its wheels. If you get really stuck then bring up the Menu window (Escape key) and reload the scene.

The viewing distance behind the vehicle can be altered between near, mid and far using the V key. Left and Right side views are via Q and E (held down). Rear view is via the middle mouse button or by pressing Q (View Left) and E (View Right ) simultaneously.

Requirements
============
OS:
Windows XP/Vista.

Drivers:
Latest DirectX 9 drivers (August 2007 or later) [www.microsoft.com/directx].
Latest video drivers for your DirectX9 graphics hardware [from your HW vendor].
OpenAL Sound drivers [available to download from http://www.sio2.g0dsoft.com]

Graphics hardware with support for:
DirectX 9

Sound hardware with support for:
OpenAL (cross platform 3D audio),
EAX (optional)

Notes
=====
1. This demo may require the Visual Studio 2005 Redistributable Files installed on your machine. These can be obtained from http://www.sio2.g0dsoft.com in the "Misc" section of "Downloads" or from the Microsoft web site.
2. This is an initial release. Further releases will include enhanced functionality.
3. Automatic gear changes use a simple model and may change too frequently.
4. Nitro (nitrous oxide injection booster) is not yet implemented.

Credits
=======
1. IrrSpintz 3D Engine : http://irrspintz.sourceforge.net
2. Physics by Newton Dynamics library: www.newtondynamics.com
3. IrrEdit (scene editor): http://www.ambiera.com/irredit
4. OpenAL (Open Audio Library): http://www.openal.org
5. IrrNewt (Irrlicht to Newton wrapper) converted to IrrSpintz.
6. Racetrack: Public Domain; Author - Bruce (SuPeRTaRD) Hall ~ brgpug@ev1.net
7. Notice: The Irrlicht 3D Engine is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group, the zlib, and libpng.

[christianclavet]

Hi. Tried it.

Installed the OPENAL component, that I haven't.

I launch the application and it crash.

I tested it on Windows XP, and got 2Gb of ram.
Here is the output of the console:

Loading KeyCodes from keys.xml
CreationParameters:
AntiAlias = false
Bits = 32
DriverType = Direct3D 9.0c
Fullscreen = false
PreserveFPU = false
Stencilbuffer = true
StencilShadows = true
Vsync = false
WindowSize = 1024,768
WindowTitleBar = true
Font = data/media/fonts/gungshu14.bmp
Master Volume = 101

Irrlicht Engine version SVN97_Stable
Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
Using renderer: Direct3D 9.0
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS nv4_disp.dll 6.14.11.6218

The crash seem to come from this .DLL (Irrspintz)

AppName: main.exe AppVer: 0.0.0.0 ModName: irrspintz.dll
ModVer: 0.0.0.0 Offset: 0002bfb7

[sio2]

A few other people have reported this and, in their cases, it's because they haven't installed the latest DirectX (August 2007) from microsoft.com/directx.

[rogerborg]

Works For Me. Win2K Pro + SP4 + DX9 + OpenAL.

Very nice, thanks for sharing it with us. Just some observations:

1. The shadow detatches from the car quite readily. It's very apparent on the hill slopes on the terrain map.

2. Is the water scene node meant to be double sided? I can see the underside of it.

3. The car sounds like a Suzuki Mirthmobile.

[sio2]

Works For Me. Win2K Pro + SP4 + DX9 + OpenAL.

Very nice, thanks for sharing it with us. Just some observations:

1. The shadow detatches from the car quite readily. It's very apparent on the hill slopes on the terrain map.

2. Is the water scene node meant to be double sided? I can see the underside of it.

3. The car sounds like a Suzuki Mirthmobile.

As I say, it's work-in-progress and I have a long to-do list. My initial priority was to get all the components working together. I now have the basis of a game such as, say, a rally game or street-driving style game out of this. I guess I could adapt it to a FPS as well.

I use IrrEdit to put the scenes together. Once everything is setup it's real easy to make scenes.

The water is from one of my other demos and is designed to be translucent. I made it opaque for now just to hide the fact that the terrain doesn't extend to the horizon under the water.

Stencil in Irrlicht has some problems. When you come to really use it to shadow lots of dynamic objects you hit some issues. Spintz solved the GPF, so at least IrrSpintz doesn't crash now, but problems still remain.

The vehicle engine sound is meant to be more comical than, ahem, realistic.

[BlindSide]

Wow great work sio2, ill have to try this out ASAP

Beatiful models and scenery btw.

[christianclavet]

Thanks. The problem was there. I needed to update the DirectX to the August release.

I've played with it, it's very nice. The vehicle is somewhat hard to drive... But with the keyboard... Also the shadow look very weird, it look like it's adding the grey color over things, but a real shadow would darken the color. I've decided to remove it. (Also In the landscape terrain, I would see the shadow on another hill!)

After about 10 minutes playing in the yard doing jumps with the vehicle, the screen got black, then the CPU for MAIN.exe got to 100%. Something seem to have got in a loop somewhere...

This also have happened in the "landscape"... But this time, I think i've pushed it too far in the water and the vehicle "drowned" . But the same symptom, the screen got black (full screen), then the CPU got to 100% and got to kill the task. Could this be related to the physic engine?

[sio2]

I'm now working on the next phase and looking at things such as oversteer, shadows, etc. The black screen is something I have seen yet; it's difficult to guess what's causing it, but I'll try and reproduce it.

[christianclavet]

Hi, Sio.

The two times it appeared (black screen); was when the vehicle was in the air (Jumping or drowning). It seem to be related to some collision search or something.