Random Thoughts

Entry posted by Josh · June 13, 2012

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I don't have a clear and obvious subject for this blog, but I haven't posted in a while, so I wanted to write something. I've been getting in a lot of hours of development. My schedule on most days is wake up around 7, answer emails or test code on my Mac at home, then head over to the office at 10. Chris usually comes in right around then (we aren't too strict on schedules) and usually hangs around until around 6. I leave anywhere from 6-9 (and totally miss the rush hour traffic), go home, make some dinner, do some light coding until about 10, then play Left 4 Dead 2 for about 30 minutes and go to sleep.

I'm having a blast with the editor features. The similarity to 3D World Studio puts us in better touch with our roots and core values, as a company, because 3D World Studio is where it all started. It was an editor borne out of a problem I had as a level designer. I'm picking and choosing the aspects I liked from that program, as well as the overall feel and philosophy behind it.

For example, I decided the Leadwerks3D scene file format needs to be binary, not ASCII, because load times are important, both for high-end machines loading complex scenes, and low-end mobile devices loading simpler scenes. It's funny how optimization works both ways like that. The Leadwerks3D scene file format is very similar to the 3D World Studio map file format, with an object and string table. There's no complicated chunk structure designed to account for data types the loader doesn't recognize (which I have never ended up using). There's just a defined file structure, and if anything ever needs to be changed, a simple version number stored in the file will do it.

On the other hand, we're calling scenes in Leadwerks3D "scenes" and not "maps". I feel like "maps" is an old-timey term applicable to first and second-generation FPS engines. These systems, while groundbreaking and awesome, didn't put the emphasis on tools that Leadwerks3D does, so I think it's important to get away from the old terminology associated with those programs.

If you haven't seen it, there's some really cool work being done with Leadwerks Engine by a few community members. In particular, check out Klepto2's atmospheric scattering and Shadmar's ocean water.

The possibility of a Leadwerks Engine graphics module for the Leadwerks3D beta has been suggested, and while I can't promise anything before trying it out to make sure, it is an intriguing possibility.

Chris has some really cool particle effects on the way. Working as a team is a new experience for me, and the benefits became apparent to me last Friday. Chris was having trouble with code that makes billboarded particles rotate in the direction of the velocity, relative to the camera. He asked me for help and I tried a few times, then took a guess with a couple of transformation calls that turned out to be right. As a result, we now have an awesome particle system running, and it only took about 15 minutes of my attention to solve on particularly difficult problem. If I had to do that whole thing myself, it just wouldn't have gotten done, but we were able to leverage my skills to get that last piece in place, while Chris is doing a fantastic job with the overall system.

However, we will not be going with the slogan I saw on his board the other day.