Reading the UDN documentation feels like reading the spark engine documentation(that currently doe..

Ironsoul

s not exist.

It's really weird. I'm not a very experienced game developer/programmer, so I am sure that this fact stems from the fact that multiplayer oriented game engines tend to utilise similar techniques.

But man is the unreal engine 3 specifically very similar to how I've seen NS2's source code... although I will jab UWE with one of these statements: Unreal Engine 3 feels smooth and responsive at 30fps and looks great while doing it.

Anyway, I feel as though I'm learning how to mod NS2 when I learn how the Unreal Engine 3 works. So if there's any other beginner modders out there who can't figure out this darned spark engine, read the UDN Unreal Engine 3 documentation and it might help quite a lot until UWE gets some proper documentation done.

WoollySammoth

Can anyone who's used UDN and spark confirm this?  If the ideas are close enough to actually transfer this may be some great news for ways to fill my days.  

ScardyBob

Spark doesn't need as much documentation because Lua is a really easy language to read. That being said, there was a NS2Docs mod for a while. Some enterprising modder could update it for the latest build.

Imbalanxd

ScardyBob wrote: »

Spark doesn't need as much documentation because Lua is a really easy language to read. That being said, there was a NS2Docs mod for a while. Some enterprising modder could update it for the latest build.

For me (formally educated computer science graduate) the issue with learning how to mod the spark engine is not the language. Any language can be learned, and most of them, scripted or not, are pretty much the same.
The issue is how impenetrable some of the code is.

Like, I was looking at that example of the fire shotgun, and I swear there was a line of code that was like "shotgun.setinonfirewhenyoushoot(flames.resources)". Obviously I'm using hyperbole, but the function names are just so convoluted that I just give up after looking at it for a while. I hope that auto correct hasn't made me soft, but honestly even without it, I need to be able to quickly look up function calls somewhere, otherwise I'm just trial and erroring through the entire codebase.

ScardyBob

Imbalanxd wrote: »

ScardyBob wrote: »

Spark doesn't need as much documentation because Lua is a really easy language to read. That being said, there was a NS2Docs mod for a while. Some enterprising modder could update it for the latest build.

For me (formally educated computer science graduate) the issue with learning how to mod the spark engine is not the language. Any language can be learned, and most of them, scripted or not, are pretty much the same.
The issue is how impenetrable some of the code is.

Like, I was looking at that example of the fire shotgun, and I swear there was a line of code that was like "shotgun.setinonfirewhenyoushoot(flames.resources)". Obviously I'm using hyperbole, but the function names are just so convoluted that I just give up after looking at it for a while. I hope that auto correct hasn't made me soft, but honestly even without it, I need to be able to quickly look up function calls somewhere, otherwise I'm just trial and erroring through the entire codebase.

Yeah, you're a bit limited to the naming conventions and logic of the UWE devs who wrote the code, but I've generally found the names to be somewhat related to what the code does. Another method I've found handy is using Decoda's 'find in files' search function. Its a roundabout way to trace functions, but it works.

Ironsoul

My point is for people who have some experience with game engines, the Spark engine Lua code is not all that difficult because it is in fact very similar to other first person shooter multiplayer game engines. But for people who are essentially beginners, such as myself, the spark engine lua code is terrifying without any serious documentation.

So the UDN, which I am reading so I can make a UDK game, is startlingly similar to what I've seen in the spark engine code setup (obviously it's different but the concepts seem identical). So yeah, as @WollySammoth said, it would be awesome if someone confirmed this.

Res

I thought the spark engine code was written in C , not LUA? or did you mean the game logic?

DC_Darkling

Think he means the game logic as the game is lua.
Engine is C or C+ or something like that.

CrushaK

I've been using the Unreal Engine for ages already and am quite familiar with the UDN. However, since I haven't taken a look at NS2's code yet (and find Lua a bit alien compared to more traditional languages like Java, UnrealScript, C and VB.NET which I usually work with) I can't really comment on how many similarities it bears, especially given that Spark takes an entirely different approach to the network architecture and also uses funky stuff like Mixins.

While some general logic aspects may be similar between all game engines (main loop, entities/actors), most of the stuff on the UDN is pretty specific to the Unreal Engine and I doubt that it helps all that much when learning spark. However, it is often cited that learning some other language like Java first can often be a good start for people who are completely new to programming to get into modding, rather than starting right away with the complexity of UnrealScript or Lua and their respective existing framework.