I hope you don't mind...but I am using your little demo to test my models in the engine. I have no intentions of using your work for anything other than testing my ships in the engine.
The models are for an upcoming project that I am working on.But sadly I am no coder and my man coder is on vacation,But your demo has proved an invaluable tool in testing for me as an artiest.
Maybe you could make it a full blown tool for the engine for us non - coders.
Thank you very much.
If you don't want me to use this as such you just have to ask me not to use it.
thanks.
SpaceFlightDemo
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Mr_Bloodworth
- Posts: 11
- Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 4:26 am
Mr_Bloodworth >> sure I don't mind, in fact my intention is to make demo in a way anybody can easily add his own ships to it, not only models but also theyr characreristics.
I am just rewriting code to be build on class inheritance so it will be much more flexible.
Right now I work on generation of random star sistem (one star + few planets, moons) to form environment you can fly in.
By the way, engine fire is hard coded to the ship right now, that mean it apear at the same place regardles of your model shape...
I am just rewriting code to be build on class inheritance so it will be much more flexible.
Right now I work on generation of random star sistem (one star + few planets, moons) to form environment you can fly in.
By the way, engine fire is hard coded to the ship right now, that mean it apear at the same place regardles of your model shape...
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Guest
Hey,
I'm not sure how you did the coding for your ships, or how the models are put together, but heres my idealist suggestion.
Have it where the user can customize the ships: feuselage, wings, thrusters... have like 5 types of each. could make models for each one, and attach it to a certain point on the feuselage. So you would have to make the feuselages standard width and rear length for the thrusters, but would still allow for customization. also, allow to choose which textures to use, and its real easy to make variations of those. could assign things like health and speed boosters to each one, so that one ship loadout could be really fast but weaker or visa versa or whatever until they can get it the way they want. could save ship loadout data in XML (i would reccomend using tinyXML for any XML processing needs). The hardest part would be the model attachment, but would be cool for when ur ship is destroyed you could have each part fly away.
I'm not sure how you did the coding for your ships, or how the models are put together, but heres my idealist suggestion.
Have it where the user can customize the ships: feuselage, wings, thrusters... have like 5 types of each. could make models for each one, and attach it to a certain point on the feuselage. So you would have to make the feuselages standard width and rear length for the thrusters, but would still allow for customization. also, allow to choose which textures to use, and its real easy to make variations of those. could assign things like health and speed boosters to each one, so that one ship loadout could be really fast but weaker or visa versa or whatever until they can get it the way they want. could save ship loadout data in XML (i would reccomend using tinyXML for any XML processing needs). The hardest part would be the model attachment, but would be cool for when ur ship is destroyed you could have each part fly away.
Well, I was considering already something similar, except that my ship would consist of this main parts: cockpit, power source, fuel store, cargo store (optional), truster arms, trusters, senzors, comunication device and small wings for weapons (sort like helicopters use).
Then there would be some range of each to choose from, while each will have diferent characteristics. This would alowe for nice customization.
There are many disadvantages of such a concept hovewer:
1. its much more work to code and model.
2. there would be limited look of ships since each part will be diferent but there have to be the same scheme for each ship.
3. it would be dificult to have diferent classes of ships, basicly I would need to make parts for each class separately.
I don't want project to become too big and too complicated ...since I code and model it alone in my free time, and since I have several years of experience at hobby coding I am looking realisticly at what I may reach. Basicly my motto is: "Less is More" ...I prefere to have somethin simple finished than having big and abitious project never finished.
Becouse of this I am considering to not alowe such a customization which would result to much easier way howe to load and handle ships, since I can load and handle them in one piece. It would be also easy to put inside totaly diferent ships ...diferent in concept, not only in details.
To load data about diferent ships I plan simply to make structure or class which would store them and save/load it to file as structure/class from buffer. That would make whole process easy ...I dont need make any conversions from character strings to floats, ints, and any other data types I will need. Of course, you can't edit/read them using just notepad but I plan to make separate tool which would alowe user to display and edit those data directly together with wieving model in one interface.
Anyway, thanks for suggestions. I welcome every idea or discusion about it and I will consider each
Then there would be some range of each to choose from, while each will have diferent characteristics. This would alowe for nice customization.
There are many disadvantages of such a concept hovewer:
1. its much more work to code and model.
2. there would be limited look of ships since each part will be diferent but there have to be the same scheme for each ship.
3. it would be dificult to have diferent classes of ships, basicly I would need to make parts for each class separately.
I don't want project to become too big and too complicated ...since I code and model it alone in my free time, and since I have several years of experience at hobby coding I am looking realisticly at what I may reach. Basicly my motto is: "Less is More" ...I prefere to have somethin simple finished than having big and abitious project never finished.
Becouse of this I am considering to not alowe such a customization which would result to much easier way howe to load and handle ships, since I can load and handle them in one piece. It would be also easy to put inside totaly diferent ships ...diferent in concept, not only in details.
In reality texture is making about 70-80% of final look of model, so I disagree in that its "real easy" to make several of them. But I plan to make some variants.allow to choose which textures to use, and its real easy to make variations of those
To load data about diferent ships I plan simply to make structure or class which would store them and save/load it to file as structure/class from buffer. That would make whole process easy ...I dont need make any conversions from character strings to floats, ints, and any other data types I will need. Of course, you can't edit/read them using just notepad but I plan to make separate tool which would alowe user to display and edit those data directly together with wieving model in one interface.
Anyway, thanks for suggestions. I welcome every idea or discusion about it and I will consider each
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Mr_Bloodworth
- Posts: 11
- Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 4:26 am
Yes im only using it to see my models in the engine itself. But you have provided the setting I needed to do so.arras wrote:Mr_Bloodworth >> sure I don't mind, in fact my intention is to make demo in a way anybody can easily add his own ships to it, not only models but also theyr characreristics.
I am just rewriting code to be build on class inheritance so it will be much more flexible.
Right now I work on generation of random star sistem (one star + few planets, moons) to form environment you can fly in.
By the way, engine fire is hard coded to the ship right now, that mean it apear at the same place regardles of your model shape...
I would be interested to see your stargeneration effect.Currently me and my group are just looking at engines and haven't settled on one we want to use yet.
The one major gripe I do have is the camera.As I am testing models I need to be able to see it. The chase camera isn't really good for that...and the cockpit view...doesn't show anything lol.
Would would be very cool is if you created 8 positions relative to the model inquestion all facing the model that can be toggled threw. This of it as if you put a box around the model...eachcorner of that box would be a camera position.All cameras would face the model and move with it..this way I could look at most angles of it while it was in motion.
Any way...lol I know that's not your current project but thanks for this "viewer"
PS: yes I noticed that about the engine flair that's ok im mostly concerned about polycounts and FPS and texturing.Its good that its just something for me to view in motion in the approximate scene in the engine.
Mr_Bloodworth >>
I plan to make one cammera mode where you can wiev model from outside ....sort of orbiting camera, you will be able to zoom and rotate camera around trget in any direction ...probably using mouse. Its even not dificult to code ...I am just now concentrating at diferent problems.
Here you can download file showing my progres with star sistem generation:
http://members.lycos.co.uk/arras1/download/stardemo.zip
Its very simple and it just demonstrate principle. I was creating Star and Planet classes jet, which you can see in action. I still need Moon class but that will be nearly identical to Planet one.
there are several atributes to be set:
diameter
mass
orbital radius (orbit is ciclic not eliptical for simplicity)
orbital speed
axis tilt
rotation speed
Only problem is size ...in example, star and planet have relatively small dimensions ...dozens of units. In my universe, 1 unit will be 1 meter. Real dimensions of stars or planets are huge and I dont know jet howe to handle that.
I plan to make one cammera mode where you can wiev model from outside ....sort of orbiting camera, you will be able to zoom and rotate camera around trget in any direction ...probably using mouse. Its even not dificult to code ...I am just now concentrating at diferent problems.
Here you can download file showing my progres with star sistem generation:
http://members.lycos.co.uk/arras1/download/stardemo.zip
Its very simple and it just demonstrate principle. I was creating Star and Planet classes jet, which you can see in action. I still need Moon class but that will be nearly identical to Planet one.
there are several atributes to be set:
diameter
mass
orbital radius (orbit is ciclic not eliptical for simplicity)
orbital speed
axis tilt
rotation speed
Only problem is size ...in example, star and planet have relatively small dimensions ...dozens of units. In my universe, 1 unit will be 1 meter. Real dimensions of stars or planets are huge and I dont know jet howe to handle that.
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Mr_Bloodworth
- Posts: 11
- Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 4:26 am
I dont think i understand the problem..all i see is one moon going around the other..arras wrote:Mr_Bloodworth >>
I plan to make one cammera mode where you can wiev model from outside ....sort of orbiting camera, you will be able to zoom and rotate camera around trget in any direction ...probably using mouse. Its even not dificult to code ...I am just now concentrating at diferent problems.
Here you can download file showing my progres with star sistem generation:
http://members.lycos.co.uk/arras1/download/stardemo.zip
Its very simple and it just demonstrate principle. I was creating Star and Planet classes jet, which you can see in action. I still need Moon class but that will be nearly identical to Planet one.
there are several atributes to be set:
diameter
mass
orbital radius (orbit is ciclic not eliptical for simplicity)
orbital speed
axis tilt
rotation speed
Only problem is size ...in example, star and planet have relatively small dimensions ...dozens of units. In my universe, 1 unit will be 1 meter. Real dimensions of stars or planets are huge and I dont know jet howe to handle that.
But the last part about size..i dont quite follow...
If you are woried about the size of your "planets" compared to the size of the ships...just make shure the ships can only go but so close before they "burn up" lol..then you can make them massave with a buffer zone so that the texture dosnt realy get seen up close by "wall bumpers". Also keeping them at bay...you will create the illusian that the world is larger than it is becouse of the precived distance from the ship to world....if that makes any sence...
1 problem is with maximum number int or float can strore. For example diameter of Earth is 12756 km and its distance from Sun aproximately 149 600 000 km. Sun itself is 1,4 million kilometers in diameter. And I want to work with meters. 1km = 1000m. Thats problem itself.
+ there seems to be problem with irrlicht camera and its far plane ...in other word maximum distance it can display. I was experimenting a little bit and over 999999 units I need to adjust near plane (closest distance camera can dislay). Default walue for near plane is 1 unit (=1m in my world) to make it higher is unnaceptable.
+ there seems to be problem with irrlicht camera and its far plane ...in other word maximum distance it can display. I was experimenting a little bit and over 999999 units I need to adjust near plane (closest distance camera can dislay). Default walue for near plane is 1 unit (=1m in my world) to make it higher is unnaceptable.
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Robomaniac
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Robomaniac
- Posts: 602
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it's not so easy ...I can adjust it further but... as I sad, 1 unit = 1 meter means that anything flying les than 1 meter in front of you is not displayed ...thats still acceptabe ...but like that I can have far plane only 9999999 units far, thats absolutly not enought. To adjust near plane to be let say 10 units means that you cant see any object les than 10 meters in front of your cockpit. That something can't do to player, it would be unplayable.
If I let near plane 1 and adjust far one beyond 9999999 Irrlicht camera will dysplay empty black screen.
If I let near plane 1 and adjust far one beyond 9999999 Irrlicht camera will dysplay empty black screen.
We are trying the same thing, but we also don't have a solution yet. First problem was, that movement got choppy at far distances from irrlicht origin because of float accuracy. With help on this forum we managed it to have the camera always in irrlicht origin and everything else is moving around it accordingly. That looks very smooth.
But now we have a big problem with the z buffer, because the accuracy of the z buffer is too small at some distance. I asked in the forum about the implementation of a w buffer, which should fit our needs a lot better (I hope so), but didn't get any reply.
I would love to have 1 irrlicht unit = 1 meter, now we have 1 unit = 1 km and are able to show earth and moon in proper relations, but with a lot of ugly z fighting. I really hope, we can get this thing working, but by now I have no idea how.
But now we have a big problem with the z buffer, because the accuracy of the z buffer is too small at some distance. I asked in the forum about the implementation of a w buffer, which should fit our needs a lot better (I hope so), but didn't get any reply.
I would love to have 1 irrlicht unit = 1 meter, now we have 1 unit = 1 km and are able to show earth and moon in proper relations, but with a lot of ugly z fighting. I really hope, we can get this thing working, but by now I have no idea how.
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Robomaniac
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