Krieg, Frieden und Zombies

[[MiA]Sweety]

[Snipe34]

Terrific thanks.

And as I mentioned the character hair atm is only base hair and other Apex hair (Nvidia, so the hair moves) will be added.

[Snipe34]

Had a rest from KFZ.

I have little problems with models, meshes and anims but only code.  So I've been concentrating on code and the weapon raise/aim/lower has been improving - well improved in 2 minutes - errr  but only after months of testing, wondering, figuring  and in the 2 minutes I changed some code and the raise/aim/lower has dramatically improved.  IE: previously: right click raise/aim is ok, but after fire, and then release fire the gun position jumps to lowered position.  Then to raise position again.
Now it only jumps from aim to lowered sometimes and I haven't looked at all the code, soon I could fix that problem entirely I hope!

And did I say... I was also working on the skull Vanico requested.

[Vanico]

I requested a skull? What skull?
Can't... remember... ANYTHING!

Is it MY skull?!
WILL I DIE?!

[Snipe34]

I requested a skull? What skull?
Can't... remember... ANYTHING!

Is it MY skull?!
WILL I DIE?!

tbh i'm glad you forgot since I only made a half-arse attempt
Unfinished...

[Vanico]

Lol, yeah, this is a human skull after he got squashed by several blue whales.

[Hicks]

Holy sh... so much progress you've done here, Snipe! I'm impressed.

[Snipe34]

Holy sh... so much progress you've done here, Snipe! I'm impressed.

Hi Hicks!  Thanks!

Hard part now, coding.  Also animtrees... I do not understand them yet.  (UDK AnimTree is mainly for 3p character view).  There is a little coding involved but not much.  An Australian, Wraiyth, is the expert on animtrees - his tutorials anyway.

Vanico, the skull will be fine after I finish it and from a distance and if you wear dark sunglasses :p

[Snipe34]

Better?

and some black bucket fill helps the imagination 
(it's a low res pic and low poly skull for least lag)

And in-game


Some news... coding still problematic but gradually improving.  I'll give it a rest again and work on other aspects.  There's plenty 

[Snipe34]

UDK is very different to UT2004 optimization-wise.  There's no Zones like UT2004 where you section off areas.  UDK you start with an open area that looks infinite, and is pretty much.  With UDK the cpu can see thru BSP so LOD swapping / cache distance and Level Streaming are the alternatives.

LOD or (detail level) is you make 1 mesh for close up with hi detail and another low poly, low detail mesh for distance viewing.  I think about 3 or 4 LODs are allowed.  So by LOD 4 (I'd mainly only use 2 LODS) the player will be a long distance from the mesh so its details can be very, very low.  UT2004 also has LOD options and particularly for anim characters.
LOD-wise in one of my UDK maps I have a whole mesh for an interior which is over 1000 polys.  But soon as you step outside then that mesh swaps for a 17 poly exterior-only mesh.  KFZ maps are ideal for LOD swapping since they're mainly dark or foggy maps and you can't see very far.

Cache Distance means you set the mesh to disappear after whatever distance you specify - i haven't found it effective. The frame rate at the specified invisible distance doesn't change, so something isn't working as expected or maybe I'm doing it wrong.

Level Streaming is several maps joined together which to the player may seem like 1 huge map.  GOW uses that method.  The map change pause can be minimal, but I've yet to try it properly with a huge map with smaller attached maps I'm working on.

Other fyi:  By default in UDK for mapping only BSP has collision.  There are 3 ways around no collision.  Switch on collision ^^ if you can find the switches :p  Or, build a collision volume into your mesh.  Or, use blocking volumes.  For mappers who can't make meshes, in UDK it's easy to duplicate meshes and make any changes you want to the mesh collision for your maps.  UDK also comes with a collision maker but it's basic and wouldn't work well on something with many shapes - steps for example.
Light maps:  I don't fully understand why they're good - but anyway each mesh has UV channels, Channel 0 is for the pic you see on the mesh and Channel 1 is for the light map.  The light map is the whole pic layed out again but in no particular order except it has no over-lap.  UDK DX9 makes light maps for you, but lately it often crashes in the process, dammit.

I am talking UDK but other games use these or very similar methods to try for max gaming speed.

Pic shows a Normal Mapped wall on the right - the floor also but less apparent.  So it's flat meshes but the torch shows the raised bricks made that way by a normal map  (You've probably seen normal maps around, they're blueish purple colour - so that wall pic is: what you see, also a normal map parallel but hidden with the height information).  The wall pic is 256x256.  Some textures work well with normal maps, others fail.  I dunno why.  The wall pic was a shit pixely texture but I thought I'd try it anyway.
btw the bot in the pic below is the 1st soldier mesh.  He runs around so I can check how good his animations are.  I am still working on the Sweety character finishing the hair, but it's many many pieces of hair.  I only do a few sections before I fall into a coma.

full size: http://i.imgur.com/1TDBsN9.jpg

The sand - only a flat mesh.  The torch hi lights the ridges in the sand as you move across it.

full size: http://i.imgur.com/Z11WjdS.jpg

[Snipe34]

Hmmm, no replies and Raj reminded me this is a UT2004 forum, although I thought Miasma has sections but I'm obviously wrong.
I won't give anymore KFZ updates.

[poompoom500]

 :ohno:

I won't give anymore KFZ updates.

Oh, don't do that! Then I won't be inspired anymore. And as far as Raj, don't mind him. Just keep posting. Tell him I said so. You're posts are always a welcome news.

[Jyrki]

Hmmm, no replies and Raj reminded me this is a UT2004 forum, although I thought Miasma has sections but I'm obviously wrong.
I won't give anymore KFZ updates.

Oh come on Snipe... That bump mapping effect is really nice! Makes the maps look so much more detailed.

[[MiA]Raj]

that is a nice wall

[Snipe34]

Yes it's a lovely wall.

Have a coder last i heard... but he has an old machine and has taken part time work to get a new 1.

atm I'm learning interior mapping.  I dl the attachment on the page and copy/paste the material but it also involves an MIC or Material Instant Constant which I have to learn about.

Interior mapping is an optical illusion similar to parallax skies of UT2004 and other games where you place a skybox and it gives the illusion of distance and sky.  Joost van Dongen took parallax mapping a step further, which UDK have made available.  The buildings below are just flat boxes but when you're in the map below you can look in the windows and see the walls and floors of each room.  Interior walls and floors can be randomized so they don't all look the same.  Also in the map, the windows are shiny with bump maps and look realistic.

I definitely need to learn this because it offers so many other options - even a view out of a window for example.  And course, the obvious, saving the CPU.  With some square meshes and 4 textures minimum you could have a whole city.

http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DevelopmentKitGemsInteriorMapping.html