(SSGX Origins) Let's make a Wipeout game! This time for real!

[feisar rocket]

Yeah, I'll try to add more details. I'll try starting another one also. Well, keyword <try>. School is coming into my way more often nowadays, so I'm playing with my time.

Hmm, what additions have I missed? Many? (got little homework this weekend, I'll be on more)

[zero3growlithe]

@Feisar: When do you have holidays? Mine's is coming in 29th June

btw. Subject of ship alignment is closed Hopefully you guys will see my new track and SSGX (with all track/ship updates) uploaded as demo in less than month xd

[feisar rocket]

Same the 29th!
Which one do I add detail to?

P.S. On the 4th picture, on a pillar there's japanese characters. Tatakai (fight, battle, war)A poster that says <HIGHER THAN THE SUN>
I'll add more... I hope
P.S.S. Shamar now has skype, he'll add people cause his list is pretty empty. shamarski.simon is the name

[Killercrusher232]

I'm back (with a vengeance). What's new?

[Rotational_aspect]

Just perfected my ship creation script! Now I can create buttons that generate ships and weapons together. Its a big step towards getting my UI done.

And Zero now hates the word 'orientation'. Any mention of it results in a Quake pulse being sent to the poster who writes it..... Er, hang on....I hear a rumbling sound....!

[zero3growlithe]

... that's just me running toward you with red eyes and head oriented like bull running toward his pray xd
Well, i've already resolved this issue so now just don't use word 'history' as i'm in danger from this subject... gotta pass it today for sure as I'm lock'n'loaded with knowledge :>

btw. I want to see how does your script works I'm really curious how it works

[Xpand]

Two more weeks... Just two more weeks.... HOLD ON

[Rotational_aspect]

Ok, here is the basics for the script:

There are buttons that when pressed send messages that create the object in the message: so for example, a message that says square will spawn a ship called square. This is done for all parts (i.e. one button will send several messages that generate the ship, weapons and other bits)- but to get around a 'design feature' I also create a 6dof joint between the ship and weapon (also done at creation time), so that the mass of the weapon is calculated when the ship races (so the weapons weigh down the ships until they are ejected).

At the same time, the button also sends a message to destroy any existing objects (so by pressing several times you do not get several copies of ships). This is done by assigning each ship an ID at creation time and when a ship receives a self destruct message with a number that matches its ID, it ends itself.

The best bit is that none of the script actually calls any objects directly (no dependencies), so I could in theory have an unlimited set of buttons that generate any combination of ship and weapon from the pool of available parts. All I need to do is type the ship / weapons name into a message sensor.

[feisar rocket]

I have today to do something, then im out till the 29th. Freedom! ... for a bit :/

[zero3growlithe]

The best bit is that none of the script actually calls any objects directly (no dependencies), so I could in theory have an unlimited set of buttons that generate any combination of ship and weapon from the pool of available parts. All I need to do is type the ship / weapons name into a message sensor.

Mmmm, i don't quite understand this bit, by 'none script is calling any objects directly' you mean every object created by this script is checking itself if its ID is selected in 'creation' script?

[Rotational_aspect]

Sorry, its a bit difficult to explain, but what I meant was that at no point in the script do I directly reference an object by its object name, e.g. ship_1. Instead, I use a type of list comprehension to sift through the scene and let the code do the object identification itself.

But yes, your guess is correct. Each object has a unique integer number assigned to it, and it self checks to make sure the code generated message matches its own ID: for example:

Button is pressed
Button assigns its property values to the message, generates a message with the syntax 'End' as a subject and '1' as the body of the message
Message End1 is sent; no previous object with this integer is present
Ship_1 is assigned integer 1 at creation
Ship_weapon is assigned

Button is pressed again
Button assigns its property values to the message, generates a message with the syntax 'End' as a subject and '1' as the body of the message
Message End1 is sent; the previous Ship_1 is present, since End1 has the integer 1 it matches its ID, ends itself.
Ship_1 is assigned integer 1 at creation
Ship_weapon is assigned

.....and so on.

It means the code is pretty much modular, and I could easily reuse it for future projects.

[Xpand]

Ok, here is the basics for the script:

There are buttons that when pressed send messages that create the object in the message: so for example, a message that says square will spawn a ship called square. This is done for all parts (i.e. one button will send several messages that generate the ship, weapons and other bits)
At the same time, the button also sends a message to destroy any existing objects (so by pressing several times you do not get several copies of ships). This is done by assigning each ship an ID at creation time and when a ship receives a self destruct message with a number that matches its ID, it ends itself.

The best bit is that none of the script actually calls any objects directly (no dependencies), so I could in theory have an unlimited set of buttons that generate any combination of ship and weapon from the pool of available parts. All I need to do is type the ship / weapons name into a message sensor.

This is what I wanted to achieve in order to make the game moddable: Make a script that links a selected ship in the position of a certain controlable object (be it an empty object or even a cube). The ships would be saved as separate folders with all the needed data inside: Performance, Textures and 3D model. Then having a menu list that refreshes everytime we add a new ship. That is, it searches inside the ship's folder for that .txt or .cfg file that tells the ship's properties.
Here's the example of FS:
Attachment 6236

I already did something similar that reads the performance statuses of the ships:
Attachment 6237

Here's the code:

#include <sstream>
#include <fstream>
#include <stdio.h>

using namespace std;

int main()
{

   int speed;
   int shield;
   int thrust;
   int turning;
   char name[80];
FILE *fp;
fp=fopen("performance.txt", "r");
fscanf(fp, "%s\n%d\n%d\n%d\n%d", name, &speed, &shield, &thrust, &turning);

  fclose(fp);
printf("name=%s\nspeed=%d\nshield=%d\nthrust=%d\nturning=%d\n", name, speed, shield, thrust, turning);
 

    
    
    
getchar();
    
    
}

[Amaroq Dricaldari]

Any teams still need someone to write a history for them?

[TypeProton]

Any teams still need someone to write a history for them?

Search Takul/END Racing Initiative in the forum then.
Takul : Offspring of Goteki45. Ex-employee going under different names. Retaining high-thrust heavy-shielding.
END : Another fan turned pro. They're similar to Fusion's Van-Uber but not too far from using weapons. (Retaining old AG racing wipes, they said.) Stats are balanced. (Was going for Harimau but since we have it's expy, might just go for AG-SYS or Mirage instead.)

[docfo4r]

Am back from another week of school.

First of all, I could go crazy as I saw your code, Xpand. Nothing about your code, of course But at work I am also programming with C and actually I can read your code and know what's going on. So I could possibly help you guys out coding aswell. But I don't have that much experience in C. You guys are all way ahead of me, ARGH!!! I guess I am no help in that one^^

While I was at school [my friends and I are always talking about Wipeout^^] I got an idea for another weapon. Well, it's more like a pick-up and might be not so easy to code but maybe it's a cool idea...
I call it the "Phantomizer".
It's main function is to work like a shield. But instead of shielding your ship, the Phantomizer creates a visual copy of your ship on the track travelling along like being on autopilot. The enemies will think that this is your ship and aim for it. But in reality, your real ship turned invisible for AI & other players for a moment and can't be found by aiming systems [aiming systems aim for the hologram]. Of course this effect lasts only for a little while [maybe as long as a shield would last].

I think this needs some coding work, I know. But I personally like this idea, what do you guys think?

[Xpand]

Maybe this makes it more clear:

#include <sstream>
#include <fstream>
#include <stdio.h>

using namespace std;

int main()
{
  //variables to be read
   int speed;
   int shield;
   int thrust;
   int turning;
   char name[80];

FILE *fp; //fp is a file

fp=fopen("performance.txt", "r"); //Open text file called "performance" for reading only ("r")

fscanf(fp, "%s\n%d\n%d\n%d\n%d", name, &speed, &shield, &thrust, &turning); //scan text file for values and save them in the predefined variables name, speed, shield, thrust and turning

  fclose(fp);  //close text file


printf("name=%s\nspeed=%d\nshield=%d\nthrust=%d\nturning=%d\n", name, speed, shield, thrust, turning); //print retrieved data on screen

getchar(); //wait for user input to close the program
    
    
}

The performace text file looks like this:

Solaris_C062 //name

10 //speed

6 //shield

4 //thrust

9 //turning

Those comment parts aren't really there because the program can't ignore them.
Of course it can have way more variables, such as weight, CG position, MOI, etc... To use in simulator mode.

[zero3growlithe]

I've just spend some time to learn: how to read/write files in Unity after I saw posts above, so probably we will see mentioned some pages back "Save" feature in SSGX in near future (I expected it to be harder I must say xd)

btw. My "HUD Design fight" is still in progress xD
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink (it's not finished yet)

[docfo4r]

Wohoooo that looks awesome!!! I'd just use another font for the yellow numbers, one that makes them look more digital.

Keep up the good work!

@Xpand, thx for the comments! I think we should also have some kind of coding conventions, like creating comments about whats going on in the SSGX code so it's easier for the coders to patch/mod in the future.

[zero3growlithe]

Mmmm, digital font would look a bit childish imo so I'll keep this one as this HUD was made to fit it almost perfectly
btw. Here's completed one although "selected weapon" indicator is missing cos we don't have weapon list ready so I'll add it later: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink (zoom in to see all details I've put xD)

[docfo4r]

Hmmm alright, convinced me. Looks awesome anyway!