MikeClarke

Yup sign me up as Level Designer - more info in pm

Yougroove re your post, yes the FPS aspect of that game was there but as stated at the start of the video, 2 developers 1 for music, 1 for code/assets. Alot of custom code went into that project. The stock stuff avaliable on UDK obviously saves time for an fps developer but not if you want an old fashioned fps like I plan or one that comes with ADS since they just use zoom. I would too like a fps "shell" but I am not expecting it lol

I may be wrong but in Leadwerks, if you go to Game > Debug, instead of Game > Run it may work. I get a "failed to run C:\.... " error whenever I try Game > Run, but it run's with Game > Debug. I haven't investigated resolving the game > run issue to much though. It's worth noting the popup box doesn't display any errors/warnings even when failing to load.

I have a tendency to write random thoughts which appear on facebook or randomly to a friend on skype. So I decided to make use of the blog system here since most of my thoughts are somewhat game related. The blog is called 'Inside the mind of eternal insomniac' which isn't far from the truth, I am an insomniac and have been for a v.long time and even if I wasn't my mind tends to function in overdrive at times and see very odd connections. So 'Welcome to the rabbit hole', my current thoughts are on three large topics. A hat of all shapes & sizes, as most indie developers will know any project on the Indie level requires you to handle various roles you wouldn't need to as an AAA developer. You fill every team spot you can. This is something that I must admit concerns me. I have a history with code (web mostly) so that should be my main focus since I've done it for 10years as a career but old fashioned level design is my passion when it comes to Game Dev that I've so far neglected to stick my head in the C++ or LUA arena' I have tinkered with some blender stuff though. The second thought im tinkering with is Operation Mosquito which is my main project, although slow going whilst I get used to things and learn it's always on my mind. I play CoD Black Ops (Original not 2) at night with family and between almost every map (and often during) my mind will wonder and I'll find myself hunting for lines of sight figuring and calculating the likely hood of a real life use trying to find that "seam" between the game and reality from a gamer perspective. - Strange, yes - Crazy, yet to be confirmed Finally my thoughts are on a post by Josh, wanting to blur gap between Indie & Modders. I got my game dev start with mods and they were great fun, but regardless of Indie or Mod finding reliable team members is never easy. I can understand why, it's a big commitment and time is a factor - not everyone can walk away from a decent job hell it took me several years to kick myself into it and my job wasn't great lol If you put your time into an indie or mod project, you need to consider the time factor, for a good rate of turnaround 10-15hrs would seem like a fair amount, obviously more or less depending on task load and availability of other developers assets. That's a part time job in itself, and I think alot of people would rather put that time into a project they want made. The game they want to play, not necessarily someone else's. I understand and appreciate this, I don't know if anyone out there is reading this but would be good if there were - or if you followed my ramblings this far in. There was a "Community project" for LE2 the zombie game. I would be in full support of a community LE3 project. Something that we provided as a framework to other people. Incase there is interest in another game, maybe fps or remake of the original LE2 project then count me in as a Level Designer I'm willing to put in the hours mentioned above and more if needed. After all would be a good learning opportunity to learn from other people here and maybe find people to work with down the line. Until next time, don't leave the rabbit hole, dont feed the shadow, tip the waitress.

Mine took a day I guess it depends on where they are about to distribute them, I think it's a manual process to reduce people re-distributing it.

Using the barbarian to scale a non-fantasy game is somewhat trivial. A) He is hunched over. B) He has horns on his helmet. So each time you use it to "scale" you have to figure out how much he is bent over and weather his horns account towards height. It's tedious and if there was just a "base unit" life would be easier. Yes we could just import one but I assume what Rick is looking for isn't something for release into games but as a developmental asset and seeing joints is a handy asset. Especially if your looking to get the model to animate cleanly.

Not to detract from the value of networking in LE but if your looking for an instant fix for mmorpg that requires less coding then check out RealmCrafter, I had a license there when it was pre-release and I hadn't used the language before and could handle anything an mmorpg required via there editors.

Thanks I need to figure my way around things more. I didn't even look in the options panel :S

I think (am not 100%) the Steam Greenlight system is more a pre-request. IE They support the distribution of your system. That's not to say things such as the Terrain System wouldn't be implemented before steam distribution. I would like to think that the Steam sales would only help to increase the size of the community, which would in turn give Josh more funding and allow for increased support/development of the engine. Bring such features to us quicker.

Ok this is going to be a somewhat weird request. I've been working on making another building in the editor and I figured as I come across issues that sharing them here is the best place to maybe "grow" the editor over time. The levels I intend to make are hugely bsp based not just the base of the levels but 80% of them which will probably end up with a few thousand brushes so it's not a "small" facet of the development process I'll be going through. I like how we can change the grid size by using the wheel of my mouse, but it only changes the viewport I'm in as opposed to 3 of them. It's somewhat strange that I keep going through 1 viewpoint (say Top) then go into the Left viewpoint and I'm in a completely different scale I keep needing to go from viewpoint A then back to B to change it to ensure they are the exact same. I understand and appreciate the value of a quick method of changing the grid size, but the option somewhere to lock all 3 viewpoints so when you change 1 gridsize, you change them all would be very handy. To help explain the type of situation. This is a (hopefully less confusing) process I'm currently doing. I have a corridor, with half archways above, that come from a column to the left (connect to a building), each of these left columns is also linked by a full archway. Then above that I have a triangular to have a partial roof (picture attached) As you can see the editor has a different scale in each viewpoint which makes things more complicated as it grows. I'm not suggesting to remove the additional system, but maybe the option to hold Ctrl whilst scaling to affect multiple view ports. Or a simpler in the "View" have a Grid 8x8, 4x4, 2x2 that would sync all of the grid sizes. Sidenote - I know i have made a few suggestions and want to remind you I actually love the engine & the editors, just with a focus on workflow I came across a few bits that could make things easier over longterm development. Such as in bsp mapping having 2x,4x,8x allows for simpler scaling. Whilst im making this note is there the option anywhere in this editor to "stretch to fit" a texture, or position it? As I move a brush and the texture re-positions etc. http://i.imgur.com/f88gz7v.png

That would be v.handy, especially if for example first person display the arm's just so you can get a good idea for the players perspective during the level design process. I found this issue myself yesterday as I made a fence, and archway which would go infront of the building (kind of like a covered path) but when I went into spectator mode to have a look it was huge in comparison despite appearing the right size in the editor.

Much more enjoyable. My only other suggestion (besides the bounce factor posted earlier) is after a shot, the power bar doesn't reset automatically. Which I agree with whilst the ball is in motion as it gives the user time to see how hard they hit it and figure out a new strength but it's a good indicator its time for a new shot if it was to reset. Oh and slight glitch on one of the levels (not sure which i think it was 5 or 6) but the ramp can catch the ball, even full strength couldnt get it up that hill once it clips the edge.

2suggestions from me. 1) Fullscreen option. 2) Bigger response from boundary it seems to suck all the energy out of the ball.

By template do you mean like RPG, RTS, FPS etc? Then it provides you with the base stuff so when you first click Run your in the right style of game? Or do you mean like a copy of the Darkness Awaits or Blank?

It looks somewhat semi-transparent on both, maybe if you view at the same distance it might help show the issue.

I was aware of the method using the tube but it wont fit what im needed as I am I looking to put a trim around it in a bevel type fashion. Is there any eta on the feature being included?

Thanks If anyone is in the know on these matters is there an eta on the feature (also the terrain system). I can obviously work around until there ready but some rough idea would help me plan things better

My apologies as I think i asked this before but i can't for the life of me find the question and whether or not there was an answer. In the LE3 editor, I want to make a quarter of a circle. To do it i need to be able to move the vertices of other shapes (either a triangle or rectangle) but I cant find the option in the editor. Certain shapes allow me to select the part (ie torus etc) but not of them are suited to a rounded corner. I read in another thread you can do it by pressing Ctrl but I think this was before LE. Apologies if I asked before, i tried searching and going via my profile but can't find my old thread.

I was looking through alot of the screenshots people have shared of there work and there is alot of nice terrain that people have included. Since there is currently a lack of a terrain editor in LE3 I was wondering what external app people were using the generate there terrain. I was looking at using blender following some amazing tutorials on youtube. However, my issue came with it creating a small portion. I have been on their irc asking how once I create this huge landscape I can split it appear (or join several small pieces to ensure edges match) but not getting much joy. I'm basically looking to create a long river a path and hills on each side I just need the land itself as all the extra detail (rocks, trees, grass etc) will be done seperately. So it's not a random generation thing im after.

The auto-completion systems i've used in the past literally finish of your sentence so to speak. When I type { it puts in the }, when I put " it added another " and your typing in the space. Really quite frustrating when your working through a train of thought. Haven't had the dropdown variations before. The syntax highlighting can help at a glance especially when they use the red bug issue so you can spot the part where your missing a semi-colon but for general reading I have issues (its a weird habit thing lol). The line numbers are a god send though I do really wish Notepad had that option in there. I'll be using the inbuilt editors with LE3 which have it though so always happy I support adding the syntax highlighter and auto-completion features as I know most developers prefer to have them, I just hope they come with a toggle option so they aren't forced upon those that don't want them. I'm sure some point down the line I will adjust my old fashioned ways but it's been about 10years since using my first ac & sh and I haven't adjusted yet.

I appreciate that but my issue with auto completion (the versions i've used) is I have to spend more time deleting incorrect suggestions than I do typing the correct code myself. Not really stuck in the 80's though, I started coding in the 90's Syntax highlighting I've never seen a point in, not because it's not useful as I'm sure it is to people who learnt using it. For me it just distracts my mind from focusing on things as opposed to making it easier to see things. Proper formatting always makes life easy.

I semi-agree/disagree with this one. Whenever I've done coding in the past (not primarily c++) I've always disabled auto-completion & syntax highlighting. 9 times out of 10 I would just use stock notepad for my editing purposes anyway. In the past I did use phpdesigner (05 i think) but that was so I had quick access to multiple files & click to go to a function but never for syntax highlighting & auto-complete. No pre-coded system on the planet can know what I'm doing with my code better than my own flow of thought. Although, alot of new coders (primarily web developers) I've met over the years can't grasp using notepad for tasks and always go with the highlighted stuff. Perhaps the functionality should be included with an enable/disable to satisfy all people. My issue is going to be more on the design as I'm fairly new to 3d-modelling most of my game will be bsp comprised due to past experience in the early cod series of level design.

I was around a little while ago and realized I suddenly disappeared, I had intended to buy the engine but was closing out my Web Dev business at the same time. Finally after a long drawn out process web dev is done with (1 straggling client to clear out this weekend). I just purchased my copy of LE3 and look forward to beginning on my first project. Just wanted see if the #Leadwerks (freenode irc) was still be using as I checked in today & yesterday with no-one about.

I must admit despite my v.odd query initially that last post was just awesome lol Not to discredit the others as they were all helpful I look forward to sharing some previews of the project in the coming weeks

Its not so much how to transition, I have found methods & reference to cover my own personal issues i'm just trying to see where I fall on the scale of "too much" or "too little" in the lines of realism in comparison to other developers here. Do other developers here look into such depth as scematics/layouts for sewer systems despite the average joe probably not knowing how they would look. I have this issue that when I release the product, I don't want people sitting there complaining going "This type of tree wouldn't be here" etc and as strange as that sounds back when I did a level for Call of Duty I was working v.closely from reference of a specific location, when I finished I went through an added some minor things like extra foilage and got a few people whining about them not being around in Italy. Something so minor that would just add a little extra cover for the player (which suited its purpose) got a players back up. Since then i've been a heavy research/detail kind of person when it comes to designing environments to the point of checking the types & layout of pipes lol So I was just wondering how much other people would sacrifice in factual layout for improved gameplay. Or would they go as realistic as possible with the formatting on solid structures/landscape then improve gameplay by the addition of models which would be more transient in nature (cars, trucks with cargo etc)