RPG Kit Series New Post

[Winin]

Awesome, thanks!

[ThunderZ]

Exellent work as always

Some things for the next release :
-> AI mob move could only need to target X and Z axis (if you create AI mob an cube on jump on it the AI will never found the target location and you AI mob will turn around)
-> AI Mob need to follow gravity (if you create an moving plateforme and mob on it, if you fall, the mob will follow you but walking in the air

[dpharaoh]

Good suggestions! I also need to implement some kind of collision detection and obstacle avoidance. I'm trying to avoid path finding and dynamics for the AI, but AI is a fresh area for me so I have a long way to go yet. We shall see! If you have some code improvements there, please share

[ThunderZ]

AI is the most fun part for me

I've only old C++ code but the same concept coupt be adapted easily on shiva

Some tricks for the next time :
-> one more external circle : http://www.stonetrip.com/developer/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=22472&p=30488#p30497
-> for AI move for an MMORPG type i think it's like you're AI move (aka the terminator mode that follow is target) but you could add some trick :
---> add an other ancor (large one) in front of the AI mob
---> target the player anchor
---> move in the direction of your target but you coordonate will be an x and z value under your ancor.
---> update you direction and next move as the same.
it will result that your AI mob will go on the same goal but don't have a direct patch like zombie (well it's perfect for zombie monster or robot).

[dpharaoh]

I've done a whole lot since the last code drop, will need to stop and refactor, clean up, document, and get out a new release. Here in this video you can see a few new features, the most prominent of which is the server menu!

http://screencast.com/t/XUJoIZ4a

Some of the additions:
XML inheritance, for template-driven data definition
Revamped stats
Added more logic to ServerAI to handle game logic decisions
XML game menus
New Server Menu, allows object creation and modification
Improved camera controls
Prototype wall stick function (something silly)

[ThunderZ]

Really clean server menu, and well you could add more entity test with it more easily

[emachala]

Dave, Looking very nice... been following your other vid posts. xml game menus look great.

woot way to go!

eric

[dpharaoh]

A test tonight with about 90-100 AI monsters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV_W1wvWeKk

[Winin]

Impressive! So they only notice you if you are in range during the once/3 s check? Or does a flag get set when you go by and then at the check, they say "hey, someone walked past in the last 3 s, so I'm going to go beat on them."?

[dpharaoh]

Right now they only check the nearest target when the server tells them to, on a fixed interval. So if you run completely by and are out of attention range when their logic window opens, they won't see you. I'll be making this more granular so that their attention span increases as someone draws nearer. The idea is to decrease the number of frame dependent operations as much as possible. I may also do something with a scent trail or logical footprints they can pick up on, as well as line of sight calculations so it's harder to approach from the rear. This means sone vector math which I'm not too good at yet.

AI are going to be a lot of fun to work on, so many varieties and possibilities! Once I get into the game creation I will probably budget 2 or 3 days to them. My goal right now is to finish and stabilize the framework within the next week so I can begin working on a game with it all. Then I will spend a few weeks on a game, one week on polish, a few days on release engineering, and ship it out as a proof of concept/early release. Then watch and let the bug/wish list fill up as I plan out 6 months for a 'big game'

That's the plan, anyway!

[Winin]

Sounds like a good plan! Just remember, cross product returns a vector, dot product returns a single number.

[dpharaoh]

Tonight I moved all my art outside the framework, so it's pretty tiny
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z522Gmm-06M

Also did a quick pass on weapon equipping
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJFOXTIRoXg

Things are really getting interesting!

[Winin]

Nice! Can you have multiple versions of each art pack and have it choose the appropriate one at runtime? I.e. low rez for phone, high rez for pad or PC? I assume you can, but I haven't looked into how to check platform in the script.

[dpharaoh]

Excellent idea. Short answer is yes. The harder version would be to create two sets of XML files, which you might want to do if you also wish to alter object properties based on platform.

The easier version would be an additional attribute in the <source> which handles either specific platform or quality level. I will work that into the data frame work. Probably will do a platform attribute.

I also need to do some more with platform detection

[Winin]

Dave,

By the way, there are so many golden nuggets of goodness in your code, I'm making great strides just by going through it.