[Help Wanted] - Realms of Forlorn Hope

devsh · Post by **devsh** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 9:26 pm

tex splatting is not hard, you only need to use the mix function

gl_FragColor = mix(texture2D(tex1,gl_TexCoord[0]),texture2D(tex2,gl_TexCoord[0]),texture2D(mixmap,gl_TexCoord[0]).a)

Lonesome Ducky · Post by **Lonesome Ducky** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 9:35 pm

Definitely not being picky, that looks great devsh

Insomniacp · Post by **Insomniacp** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 5:16 am

I think it would be better if it was done without shaders though, saves on gpu usage. Just making a texture file would probably be more efficient considering there are 30 something maps displayed at a time.

Lonesome Ducky · Post by **Lonesome Ducky** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 2:04 pm

Well you could use the shader to create the texture in the terrain editor and save it as one texture when you save the terrain

devsh · Post by **devsh** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 3:17 pm

yeah good thinking just run the terrain with the shader through once and save the ouput (well texture blending is not going to change dynamically)

Insomniacp · Post by **Insomniacp** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 4:07 pm

that was my second option

How many textures can you mix using the shader? I have been working on a way to allow for an infinite amount of them to be mixed, don't know how well it will update in real time but it shouldn't be too bad if i keep the image in active memory and just edit it in there then reapply it to the map. Would use a lot of memory though i think keeping all the maps images open, could make it just keep the primary ones around the camera open and open the others if they are edited and close them after 5 minutes of no editting. Any thoughts or comments?

lostclimategames · Post by **lostclimategames** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 3:48 am

not to sound cotradictory, but a shader would actually probably be faster, think of it this way, you have 30 maps (for example sake 2048x2048) which would still look bad but all with there own seperate terrains on them, or 30 of them with small placement maps (which could really be more like 512x512) and have very nice, high resolution tiles.

seems to be better option to me, but of course its your game.

Insomniacp · Post by **Insomniacp** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 4:43 pm

well, a shader would have to be applied each time the map is rendered, whereas i can just make the same texture once and save it the quality would be the same it just would not have to use a shader. So I could make all the textures with the same quality once, save them, and be able to load them without the need of a shader.

lostclimategames · Post by **lostclimategames** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 8:36 am

still around?

Insomniacp · Post by **Insomniacp** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:17 pm

aye, we are. I guess I should give an update here...

Large server and client recode is underway. The recode will allow for multiple servers to be used currently there is a gateway which all players log in to, all save data is here aswell. This server will direct players to a game server they should join. It will also keep track what areas each game server controls, hence the name gateway since it connects everything together.

There is also a chat server which is irc style, the chat server is fully functional though untested yet (on my todo list). Basically you will be able to create any channel you want to, password it have a message of the day, kick, ban people and add/remove channel controllers. First person to make a channel is the controller of it, inactive channels get removed after 5 days or so. There is also a restricted channel list, these can not be created. Basically the restricted channels is for clans or people that buy them or general global channels. As I said this is basically fully functional I will be making a standalone chat client this week or next.

Game servers are the main thing. They will control an area of the map keeping track of all data for that area. There can be an infinite amount of game servers allowing us to expand the game world indefinitely if we so choose to. Game servers will transfer player data once the player crosses the invisible server line. This keeps things completely seamless and infinitely large which is the goal of any online game. We will be able to change server lines around to make it so we can optimize performance by spreading the heavy load areas on different servers.

Thats about it for the server recode which is quite a lot yes. My two brothers have joined me in the programming realm, one is working on the server code the other the client code and I am filling in where needed and teaching them. Thats about all the news I have at the moment sorry for lack of keeping updates coming here