Blogs - TheRealMit

Well, as its been a year since my last blog post here, i figure it about time.

A few different bits have kept my spare time hours occupied in the past year:

Since my last post i've done a chunk of general technology building, i.e.

• Added shadow maps to the graphics engine
• Integrated bullet physics into the world and vehicle systems
• Created a new, more modular landscape system
• Developing a bunch of cross-platform bits (via marmalade)
• Coded up new entity frameworks, networking APIs and UI libraries
• Added various bits of useful tech to the Model Editor/Converter

You may well wonder why I'm still building somewhat out-dated engine tech like that when UE, Unity etc are practically free.. For which there are 2 answers : 1) I just really enjoy building engines :] and 2) I'm not particularly bothered about making cutting-edge games n things, i just like making games n things - It's like amateur carpentry to me, as long as I've got a saw and a bit of wood I'm happy :). The particular framework I use (custom home-made engine using largely c structures with the occasional snippet of basic C++ ) isnt remotely as powerful as modern middleware, but I can do what I want with it without having to study too much!

I've used the above stuff to create a couple of mobile games (none of which are releasable yet, but maybe one day soon..). TheUniversal/A tractor has taken a back seat lately - it really needs more time and energy applied to it to get it all working right - but I'll probably get back to that eventually :)

Enough from me for another year.

Hullo. Just thought i'd drop down a few notes on what's been keeping me busy in the odd hours over the past few months. ( Theuniversal.net )

Mostly this season i have been Graphics Engine Coderman - I'm now almost up to speed with engine technology from the early 2000s (anyone who has seen earlier versions of The Universal will recognise that as a great leap forward! ). A lot of time has been spent playing with shaders and vertex buffers resulting in some nicer water, betterer fasterer landscapes, normal and specular map support, shiny bloom effects, dynamic grass, dust-storms and etc etc. Yes, I know you get all that (and more) for free in middleware these days but I aint got time for a conversion job and anyway, wheres the fun in it? :)

Beyond the shinies, I've also been working away at a whole bunch of new scripting and game-engine systems primarily aimed at supporting richer single-player experiences. (Server-Scriptable Entities now finally in use on a couple of worlds..). I've also been (quietly) refactoring the galaxy so it can be expanded and rebuilt per the layout described in the beta design doc. (Did i mention i actually wrote a design doc, too? Well there's a first! ). Last month also saw some proper webby stuff added in the form of the in-game asset browser (which makes selecting models for a world much easier than even copying files around in windows) and the Events & Prize Round systems that I intend to make use of sometime early in 2015.

The usual amount of background world building has resulted in a bunch of new templates for uninhabited worlds ( some of which are awesome! ;] ), a new 'social destruction' game called 'Demolition' (which I think might work well when things get finished up), more magical effects for the potions games on 'Magicthumb' and some further work getting a decent racetrack together.

Finally there have been lots of additions to the model converter (FBX support, more tools for materials & face editing etc).. we've also got a new cockpit in space (courtesy of Tanguy Dewavrin of Atom Republic fame.. thanks, Tanguy!) and oh.. thanks to a kindly gift of a DK2.. there's now a version that (mostly-)works on the Oculus Rift. (It's surprising how big some of those monkeys are when you're in VR land).

You can see some of the above in the latest public dev version at Theuniversal.net - and do check back in 2015 when there's likely to be some big changes afoot...

There are a few new things happening in The Universal this month making it worth a visit if you’re up for a bit of medieval civilization building.

Firstly, there’s a new introduction world for new players, which guides the player through the early stages of fire-making and the bronze age.

Next.. on the current ‘main world’ we’ve added Vinyards and Roast Hogs (amongst other things), and a new ‘Wellbeing’ system – you need to increase your wellbeing in order to live longer (and hence gain wisdom).. The world has also been enhanced with improved menus and information screens, highlighting opportunities for advancement and profit.

Finally, in the coming week we’ll be introducing the first player-built world, 'Xebec', which allows you to.. well… we’ll see :]

Latest client updates also include various bug-fixes and improvements, including a much simpler process for setting up your own world locally.

Coming soon : The Industrial Revolution (incl. Tractors!)

Mit
Theuniversal.net