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lucius DarkXL Developer

Joined: 17 Feb 2008
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Posted: Nov 27, 2008 17:18 Post subject: Delays |
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There have been a couple of weeks where little has been done with DarkXL due to work related deadlines and holiday preparation. So the Thanksgiving and Beta milestones will have to be delayed by a couple of weeks. I just wanted you guys to know that while there are delays, the project will continue in full force in the near future.
_________________ DarkXL....http://darkxl.wordpress.com |
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Burning Gundam Kell Dragon
Joined: 28 Sep 2003
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Posted: Nov 27, 2008 19:12 Post subject: |
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Eh, there's always christmas 
_________________ I don't think outside the box... I customize it. |
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lucius DarkXL Developer

Joined: 17 Feb 2008
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Posted: Dec 11, 2008 18:06 Post subject: An update |
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My deadline is almost up so you will be seeing me more active and see much more progress within the next couple of days. I still won't make my original schedule, the beta should be done by the end of January (the beta is all levels complete and playable, you can start the game and play through to the end). I expect to have the "geometry complete" (the geometry renders correctly in all levels) and the initial editor preview build out at the end of next week.
Thanks for sticking around and being patient. 
_________________ DarkXL....http://darkxl.wordpress.com |
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Gez Gamorrean
Joined: 05 May 2008
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Posted: Dec 11, 2008 19:11 Post subject: |
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We are. 
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Marley Gamorrean
Joined: 30 Sep 2003
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Posted: Dec 12, 2008 00:06 Post subject: |
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Yay! Good news. Don't think because I'm not posting that I've forgotten this - waiting with baited breath for the release 
_________________ *ZaP* |
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Burning Gundam Kell Dragon
Joined: 28 Sep 2003
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Posted: Dec 12, 2008 05:31 Post subject: |
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I'm just glad progress IS being made. Keep at it 
_________________ I don't think outside the box... I customize it. |
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NightFright Dianoga
Joined: 01 Nov 2004
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Posted: Dec 14, 2008 12:38 Post subject: |
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Current alpha already shows this is going to be great. What I am missing most right now is
- secondary fire (I know, known issue)
- mousewheel mapping
- more filtering options (anti-aliasing maybe, could be good for sprites)
But all in all, this port could be what I have been waiting for since Windows XP was released. I can only beg you will have the kindness of completing this. We won't need a highres pack like for other shooters like Doom or Duke3D right away, I just want to be able to play it with mouselook support and decent graphics.
BTW, I have also opened up a thread about this over at
http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/showthread.php_t=33942
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sheepandshepherd Trandoshan
Joined: 01 Apr 2008
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Posted: Dec 14, 2008 22:53 Post subject: |
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Oooh, advertising for DarkXL, thanks!!
It's been a while since the last build, but I'm staying patient. There's a lot being jammed into this upcoming release, it's gonna be simply amazing. It'll be perfect timing, too, for those people that decide to check out the project after seeing it on other forums. Good job and good luck, lucius.
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NightFright Dianoga
Joined: 01 Nov 2004
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Posted: Dec 15, 2008 13:31 Post subject: |
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Yeah, I thought more people should know about it. Dark Forces is still a great shooter, and the possibility to play it again in all its glory after all these years is very pleasant.
For a project that seems to be not that old (less than a year), lucius has come far, and I am confident he is able to finish it.
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lucius DarkXL Developer

Joined: 17 Feb 2008
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Posted: Dec 15, 2008 18:43 Post subject: |
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Thanks for trying it out NightFright and posting in the 3drealms forums.
As for more filtering options, I have plans for some pretty cool texture/sprite filtering that should sharpen up the sprite edges (when enabled) and make the textures higher resolution automatically (although obvious no more detailed, just cleaner and sharper). And of course anti-aliasing options will be enabled at some point too. Mousewheel mapping is a good idea. As for secondary fire, that will be in for the beta obviously.
_________________ DarkXL....http://darkxl.wordpress.com |
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Burning Gundam Kell Dragon
Joined: 28 Sep 2003
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Posted: Dec 16, 2008 06:03 Post subject: |
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Call me strange, but I miss the way the Mac version was filtered. It was still blocky, but it didn't get progressively worse with distance. I don't remember what the correct term for that is (bi-linear?), but I loved the way that looked.
....Possible? 
_________________ I don't think outside the box... I customize it. |
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NightFright Dianoga
Joined: 01 Nov 2004
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Posted: Dec 16, 2008 11:51 Post subject: |
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Bilinear filtering is basically for surfaces. Trilinear filtering also improves distant graphics, so you probably mean that. I am sure this will be provided with the port as well.
BTW, does this use DirectX or OpenGL? For possible ports for other systems, it might be wise to go for OpenGL.
Additionally, I know a member of the DF mod for JA personally. If you need any resources, e.g. the MP3 soundtrack for replacing MIDI music, let me know and I will see what I can do for you! 
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The MAZZTer Death Star

Joined: 25 Sep 2003
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Posted: Dec 16, 2008 17:17 Post subject: |
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lol Gundam, modern games FORCE bilinear filtering AT LEAST.
TF2 and L4D are two such games. You can pick bilinear, trilinear, or go for more expensive AA or AF (I get the two mixed up so I'm not sure which one it is).
_________________ http://www.mzzt.net/ | I am a respectable admin with a respectable sig. |
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lucius DarkXL Developer

Joined: 17 Feb 2008
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Posted: Dec 16, 2008 18:28 Post subject: |
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If you set the "texFilter" option to max. you should get anisotropic filtering (AF) which should provide a very clean image. At other settings you'll get atleast trilinear mipmapping. As for turning off bilinear altogether - it is possible and can certainly be an option. However with the planned texture enhancement features the amount of blurriness in the image should be greatly reduced without having to resort to the "blocky" look. The hardware can still do point sampling, so I'll add that option in the future if people want.
_________________ DarkXL....http://darkxl.wordpress.com |
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lucius DarkXL Developer

Joined: 17 Feb 2008
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Posted: Dec 16, 2008 18:44 Post subject: |
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NightFright wrote:
BTW, does this use DirectX or OpenGL? For possible ports for other systems, it might be wise to go for OpenGL.
Additionally, I know a member of the DF mod for JA personally. If you need any resources, e.g. the MP3 soundtrack for replacing MIDI music, let me know and I will see what I can do for you! 
This project uses DirectX. The reason is simple: it's the API I prefer using. I realize that may not seem like a good reason but since this is a hobby project its what I went with. There are other things like having annoying OpenGL issues on ATI/AMD hardware in the past. Anyway this may not seem like a good reason and you may think that it limits portability. But the API usage is well encapsulated and OpenGL can replace DirectX pretty easily for ports.
Down the road when I'm ready to have the project ported, there is already someone who may do the Mac port, I'll write a OpenGL renderer for them to start from. This way I can iterate using the API I prefer, have it run well on ATI hardware on the PC (the Mac OpenGL drivers are MUCH better for ATI).
To give you an idea of what using the API I'm more comfortable does, I went from thinking of rendering Dark Forces levels to writing a simple DirectX engine rendering the walls and approximately triangulated floors (meaning simple triangulation with some errors) with textures (although the offsets were wrong at the time) that could render SecBase within a couple of hours - from scratch. I couldn't have done that with OpenGL because I'm not as comfortable with the API (although it wouldn't take that much longer, but this is a hobby project). Of course it took longer to get the kinks worked out, get sprites, models, lighting, INF and all that stuff working. I've never mentioned it before, but the initial post I made here about this project with screenshots was after less then 2 weeks of work. Of course I worked on it a little everyday, which I haven't been able to do lately.
So I think that even knowing I'll also write an OpenGL renderer down the line, I still think I made the right choice with DirectX.
As for other resources, I'm planning on sticking to the original data as much as possible (with a few exceptions such as the title screen). However there will be support for MP3 and/or OGG, wav, high resolution textures with alpha, etc.. This will allow others (the community) to do things like hi-res texture packs, model packs or whatever they want. 
_________________ DarkXL....http://darkxl.wordpress.com |
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NightFright Dianoga
Joined: 01 Nov 2004
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Posted: Dec 16, 2008 19:12 Post subject: |
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Sounds (or reads) plausible. Besides, before thinking about enhancements beyond what can be done with original data, the whole thing should be finished first, anyway. 
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Burning Gundam Kell Dragon
Joined: 28 Sep 2003
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Posted: Dec 17, 2008 03:49 Post subject: |
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The_Mega_ZZTer wrote:
lol Gundam, modern games FORCE bilinear filtering AT LEAST.
TF2 and L4D are two such games. You can pick bilinear, trilinear, or go for more expensive AA or AF (I get the two mixed up so I'm not sure which one it is).
I knew that already, I just wasn't sure what I was supposed to call it. Since the graphics card in my Mac is more a notebook graphic card, I have to play most my games in TriLinear.
I'm pretty sure it's more an antialiasing thing that I was asking about, now that I think about it.
Edit: Nevermind, it is bilinear. But My question, is can the bilinear filter be disabled? If you want to know what I'm talking about, load Doom in Doomsday and disable all tabs for bilinear filtering. It looks just like what I remember Dark Forces being on Mac.
_________________ I don't think outside the box... I customize it.
Last edited by Burning Gundam on Dec 17, 2008 03:58; edited 1 time in total |
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DF4GL4ever Gamorrean
Joined: 15 Apr 2004
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Posted: Dec 17, 2008 03:57 Post subject: |
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Here's hoping Apple's new buddy-buddy relationship with nVidia results in some better OGL drivers down the road... peformance under OS X vs. Win XP right now isn't even close on my frankenmac. Makes me wish ATI had the 4870 ready for OS X.
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Burning Gundam Kell Dragon
Joined: 28 Sep 2003
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Posted: Dec 17, 2008 03:59 Post subject: |
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Eh, as long as I can play Counter Strike, I'm okay.
I'm more a console gamer anyway.
_________________ I don't think outside the box... I customize it. |
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lucius DarkXL Developer

Joined: 17 Feb 2008
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Emon Ree-Yees
Joined: 10 Aug 2007
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Burning Gundam Kell Dragon
Joined: 28 Sep 2003
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lucius DarkXL Developer

Joined: 17 Feb 2008
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Posted: Dec 18, 2008 19:30 Post subject: |
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Burning Gundam wrote:
Thanks for clarifying. Pardon my lack of knowledge for specific terminology 
No problem, the previous post probably sounded harsher then I intended.
_________________ DarkXL....http://darkxl.wordpress.com |
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Burning Gundam Kell Dragon
Joined: 28 Sep 2003
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Posted: Dec 19, 2008 03:09 Post subject: |
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lucius wrote:
Burning Gundam wrote:
Thanks for clarifying. Pardon my lack of knowledge for specific terminology 
No problem, the previous post probably sounded harsher then I intended.
It happens.
_________________ I don't think outside the box... I customize it. |
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