DF-21 Forums

[lucius]

The Regularly Scheduled Iterative Builds Are Back…

View the original post here and download Build 9.02 here.

So it’s been a while since the last build after all the talk about iterative builds… It turns out that I’ve had a weird bug in the collision code for a while that just wouldn’t get squashed. But like many bugs, the answer turned out to be simple and obvious in hind-sight. So the collision code has now been worked out, getting stuck on adjoins (where the screen turns black) should be an issue of the past. The sliding is occasionally a little rough and object (sprite) collision might need some more tweaking and the system could use a fair amount of optimization but it should be good enough for now. So I will now return to the iterative builds that I promised!

In addition to the big collision issues, I also added support for all keys and all key based officers. And finally the Phrik metal key item is properly supported as well.

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DarkXL....http://darkxl.wordpress.com

[Mark Saffrey]

Hello Lucius,

Just to let you know I am having exactly the same problem with this build as I was with 9.01. Tried the safe command to no avail. The log shows a similar possibly the same problem as before, I will put it in though just in case there are any differences:

<Driver3D_DX9::LoadShaders 992> LoadShader "ps_texmask8" failed.
<Driver3D_DX9::LoadShaders 995> LoadShader "ps_texmask12" failed.
<Driver3D_DX9::LoadShaders 998> LoadShader "ps_texmask16" failed.
<Driver3D_DX9::LoadShaders 1001> LoadShader "ps_texmask24" failed.
<Driver3D_DX9::LoadShaders 1004> LoadShader "ps_texmask32" failed.
<Driver3D_DX9::LoadShaders 1007> LoadShader "ps_texmask48" failed.
<Driver3D_DX9::LoadShaders 1010> LoadShader "ps_texmask64" failed.
<Driver3D_DX9::LoadShaders 1013> LoadShader "ps_texmask96" failed.
<Driver3D_DX9::LoadShaders 1016> LoadShader "ps_texmask128" failed.

If you need to know anything else just let me know.

Thanks,

Mark

[dinohog]

Hi Lucius,

I played through the Secret Base level with version 9.02 this morning and there were no adjoin errors. I did notice two things:

1: I seemed to get stuck on walls a lot more than I remember from the previous version. That is, I didn't slide along the wall but got snagged.

2: Around the first level are a number of small rocks on the ground. The player can not run over them. They act as a complete barrier.

Otherwise, things are looking up. Keep up the good work.

Dino.

[lucius]

Hmmm, I wonder why the rocks are flagged to have collision...

As for getting snagged on walls, are you truly stuck (i.e. cannot move away from the wall) or is it just the sliding not being smooth but you can still move away from the wall?

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DarkXL....http://darkxl.wordpress.com

[Marley]

I'm also getting stuck on walls alot more than previous builds. Like completely stuck when glancing against them. Is quite annoying - other wise nice build, not getting the ajoin issues

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*ZaP*

[lucius]

I'm pretty sure I know what the sliding issue is, so I'll get that fix in when 9.03 is released. That will take a couple of days so I can get the launcher online and cleanup the in-game options menu (as well as a few bugs). So this build (9.02) is the last to require editing of the DXL_Settings file as well as the last to have the spaces in the path problem.

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DarkXL....http://darkxl.wordpress.com

[BPzeBanshee]

Hello Lucius,
I've been looking at DarkXL ever since I came across this place by accident, and have been trying each release. Now in this 9.02 build I find that the HUD is significantly smaller than what it was before.
Is it just me? And if it's not, is there something I can do to change it?

[lucius]

Yes, I must have left the hud scale in. I'll fix it for the next release. Thanks for trying it out.

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DarkXL....http://darkxl.wordpress.com

[waxonator]

Yay! Keys.
Still no bloom for me.

[lucius]

So there are three major issues that came up because of this build that will be dealt with in the next (hopefully tonight):

* Sliding along walls and enemies - right now this doesn't work correctly but I've figured out why (simple bone-headed thing unfortunately).
* Triggers when crossing adjoins may not work correctly in some cases.
* UI is small right now, I accidentally put in the wrong default HUD scale value (rather forgot to reset it after testing).
* I'll also fix the night vision effect since it's annoying me.

So this should, finally, fix the collision issues. Funny I implemented a full 3D polygonal collision system not long ago that didn't have as much trouble... argh sometimes the simplest things *groans*.

Once that is done I'll get back to the original plan.

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DarkXL....http://darkxl.wordpress.com

[lucius]

In the process of fixing the problems above, I also discovered why the enemies where aiming so poorly. It turns out that they were aiming at the player's feet, which was then modified by the "cone of fire." While the Stormtroopers are supposed to be inaccurate, this made them even more inaccurate the longer the distance - resulting in the player rarely getting hit. So, while DarkXL will still be easier then Dark Forces due to mouse look and potentially higher framerates (not being locked to 30 or 35) - it does bring the challenge more inline with the original. This is already fixed and going into the next build. More AI refinements will happen in a later build, as discussed previously.

A optional mode with more challenging AI is still planned for those that will still find playing DarkXL too easy (faster fire rate, faster reactions, greater accuracy).

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DarkXL....http://darkxl.wordpress.com

[BPzeBanshee]

Wow, lucius, you weren't kidding about getting this stuff done quickly.
Most other developers I know of would actually not dare to release such a thing until it was either completely finished or completely and utterly ironed out of bugs.
One question I have though - just how extensive is moddability for this going to be? Will it be possible to say, have 3D models for weapons in front of you like Quake or are you keeping it on original game style as much as possible?

[Jimmy Chicken]