Hello!
I figured I´d throw a quick update on how this is rolling at the moment
For the last few months I´ve spend more hours trying to get SourceSDK tools running than actually working on the mod, so there hasnt been much of "physical" content. And this morning my SourceSDK computer decided to kill itself (I understand how it feels, poor bastard), and even my SVN account seems to be down. I HAVE all the files backed up, and safe, so nothing is lost, its just all my tools are rebelling. There´s crazy much of work already done on Scintilla, but...
..its the constant hickups with the tools, that really really REALLY suck all creative juice out of me. So, to do something drastic, I´ve started playing around with the free version of Unity, and if I can get that functional enough (Im not that good with scripting or such), I´ll port our work there, and publish it on Unity. And I dont mean a commercial product. From what I´ve played around with the tools so far, its ridicilously fast to work with, and I can do a bunch of stuff in minutes that would take days with SourceSDK.
1. All the work we have, IS safe, and backed up.
2. Im going to experiment with Unity for a while and evaluate how much faster (very very much) it is to do actual creative work.
3. Uh, I´ll update this space when there´s something to show, again.
4. Im very sorry about the constant delays, this goes to my development team as well.
But we´re getting there.
-Henri
PS.
I guess I could throw something positive here.. lets see.. I havent taken that many good screenshots, but I was just browsing thru the old pictures, and this one was pretty cool--
how good at modelling and all that do you have to be to map and create environments in unity? ??
I guess its the same on any modern engine. I do like brushes / bsp system tho, easy and fast to make prototypes.. but the further you go in development, the slower and more rigid it is, I think.
Yay, update! Nice to hear that finally somebody backed up their modstuff :p.. Another Source project heading over to Unity? It looked so good already man.. Didn't know that Unity is so much friendlier. As long as it doesn't hurt the creative side of this project. For me this is one of my most anticipated mods I follow here :).
Unity has no BSP modeling tools, it uses models made from 3D apps like blender, Modo, Maya, 3DMax, etc it's a totally different way of working compared to a BSP based engine like Source. If you aren't used to constructing entire levels on a 3D modelling tool, it will be strange and hard at first.
Second theres no modding support on Unity, it is easy to make games for it, because is a closed box and everything is made based on scripting exclusively, if modding is something you want for your game then stay away from it, third and more important in my opinion, if things didn't changed Unity FREE has no real time shadows support even simple characters shadows, and Beast, the light mapping tool, only bakes direct lighting on the free version of the engine, so you will be unable to make the lighting as rich has the one on the Source pics, you can of course go around that limitation by using your 3D modeling tool to bake the lighting, but dynamic objects like characters and physical objects will not interact with the baked light at all, they will be totally black. IMO if you don't want to give 1500 dollers to pay for the pro version of the engine where this would be totally possible, then just forget Unity Free and stay on Source or go for a much better engine on the free version, for example NeoAxis engine free version has everything that the paid version has minus the ability to sell games, and the tools are nice not Unity nice but near.
Couldn't agree more. I would rly suggest to move over to Source 2013, it's easy to port and offers support for MAC, linux and VR.
Other possibility may be even more interestting- How about Greenlight? If you pass through it, you can ask Valve for latest version of Source engine ;)
The thing is, Im impressed with the speed of the interface, importing and editing things, and the ability to just script anything anywhere that I want, its so fluid!
I still havent decided anything I guess, I just want to make a small demo and see if that works out ok on Unity, and if I have some bad restrictions to my plans, and whatnot..
Plus, its a matter of adapting. Clearly Source and Unity are designed for different uses, so I cant just go 1:1 with my original design.
Maybe you can take a look at this one? Haven't tried it myself, though it looks promising.
Facebook.com
Yes Unity is a awesome engine, but imo only the Pro version deserves any thought at all, the tools are also very good no doubt about it, but to be so easy to work with, the Unity engine developers add to close the engine source access and sacrifice one thing that to me is important on any engine and game, modding support. I will even say Unity is a danger for the future of modding if everyone starts making games on it.
But as i said above if You don't care about modding and you don't mind shelling 1500 dollars for the pro version then go for it, you sure will have a fantastic engine in your hands.
If you used Source SDK base 2013 singleplayer SDK, you wouldn't have these problems. Valve do not support Source SDK in your Steam library anymore.
Github.com
I think it's better than moving to completely different engine. And Unity is kinda unoptimized I think.
I was thinking of 2013, it would resolve the recent library changes.. but its still basically the same tools, being SourceSDK, even if it worked, its slow to use.
It is slow. It depends on how much have you done and if it's worth to port it to different engine?
Whatever you decide for, I just hope I will be able to play high quality mod in the end.
:( i rly hope that u'll port it to the latest sdk but in the end it's your choice and we will respect it
GL
I´ll throw updates here once I have something to show, or to PLAY, no worries
Any news except "This project is dead" are good news!
I have switched focus from Source to Unity too. Essentially it boils down to this:
-Mapping is completely different. Instead of working with brushes and such stuff, you either create your assets individually inside applications like Blender or 3DS Max, then do the placement in Unity or create the maps completely with your modeling software of choice.
-Coding is VERY easy, but a bit strange because doing clean OOP is not really what Unity is meant for. It's something you'll get the hang of rather quickly though. Just don't over-engineer your stuff.
-You need to do a lot more of the basic stuff like programming a player, whereas you already get a good one in Source.
-Unity looks like ****. To make a game with nice visuals you'll need Unity Pro. It is possible to make a nice looking game with Unity, but it'll require lots of time.
I hope this helps you a bit.
I personally prefer the look and feel of the source engine over every other engine, but I'll prefer a finished mod in an engine i hate (i don't like the look and feel of unity at all) over an unfinished mod, produced in the engine i love!
Black mesa hazard course mod has a solution in one of the commentaries in the last one of their news on how to get things the tools to work sgsin if I'm not mistaking.
Thanks, but the problem isnt that SourceSDK´s issues are unsolvable, the problem is that SourceSDK HAS issues.
Every now and then I reserve some time for myself, and decide that "today I´ll work on the mod for a few hours, really push in some content", almost each time I spend a few hours trying to get everything to run, and I google for solutions, and when everything is fixed ---again--- Im out of time, and I might make one prop or block out one small house or something. Rinse and repeat.
(I think lots of devs feel this way)
with Source SDK, these days, if I have less than 3 hours of free time, I refuse to even boot up my computer, because you simply cant do much in that time. The tools are SLOW and there´s insane amounts of file organizing.
with Unity, Im already feeling very different, I just randomly boot up my laptop and add a thing or two, like while I wait for the sauna to heat up or whatever. You can work real fast in small flashes, or focus for a few hours and do tons of content.
Your work is always AMAZING;)