I like idea of F2P. At this time we are seeing maybe what 500 avg players? the most recent patch/dlc was nice to see something new, albeit some of it to be paid for. But there are two sides to F2P: 1) how much will it really boost player base? and if it does, for how long? 2) if people are still paying for NS2 is it the right move financially for UWE to drop the cash source? I'm not saying I know the answer to either, but at the end of the day we dont have all the facts and so maybe one day UWE will decide to change up how they sell the game, but thats their decision.
@fsfod@SteveRock So I guess it's safe to assume anything that calls the functions defined in the 'docs' folder ( all those json files ) is a callback to the engine?
I may be remembering wrong, but I'm pretty sure it's even more than that...like every entity field access, like every entity field access, like ent.health, hits C++ and probably does some network-variable-decoding stuff. Most of the explicit API functions we were able to convert to FFI, which LuaJIT can actually work with, but yeah, it's more.
Entity field access from lua has a custom hand written jit code generation path that produces something better than what could you get out of a compiler. Its mostly just the Shared.Trace functions that can't have there calls jit'ed. There also other stuff thats not called as a much like sound,entity creating/destroying. LuaJIT also doesn't jit for pairs loops and function closure creation
@fsfod@SteveRock So I guess it's safe to assume anything that calls the functions defined in the 'docs' folder ( all those json files ) is a callback to the engine?
I may be remembering wrong, but I'm pretty sure it's even more than that...like every entity field access, like every entity field access, like ent.health, hits C++ and probably does some network-variable-decoding stuff. Most of the explicit API functions we were able to convert to FFI, which LuaJIT can actually work with, but yeah, it's more.
Entity field access from lua has a custom hand written jit code generation path that produces something better than what could you get out of a compiler. Its mostly just the Shared.Trace functions that can't have there calls jit'ed. There also other stuff thats not called as a much like sound,entity creating/destroying. LuaJIT also doesn't jit for pairs loops and function closure creation
Wow OK i didn't even know about the for-pair and closure limitations. Yeah...it would not be fun to rework that code...we do that kinda thing all over the place.
@fsfod & @SteveRock One thing I've never quite determined is if Entities are Lua tables acting as an alias to a C struct/class. Is that the case?
@SteveRock Thanks a lot for all the technical info! I do have one question, has UWE at least considered making all of the Spark tools open sourced? I know decoda is, but I'm curious if the others have been considered as well (Viewer, CompileModel, Builder, etc). Or is there too much tight-coupling between the renderer and existing tools to release a buildable public version?
I must be blessed, I don't see any problems with NS2, runs as smooth as BF4 on ULTRA.
The big problem with PC development, too many variations of machine.
Biggest problem I find with NS2 still is the armchair commanders and the blame game when losing, that "trolling" puts people off. Yes the game gets passionate at times but some people are plain old nasty. I play as part of a lovely community, the same people most nights and that really helps keep people coming back.
Back to the original topic, Reinforced, I though it was a great way of helping raise funds without going all EA about it. I personally though it was a little pricey for something you couldn't see at the time, but each to their own, I do like the new third person viewer in game now. >:D<
@fsfod & @SteveRock One thing I've never quite determined is if Entities are Lua tables acting as an alias to a C struct/class. Is that the case?
@SteveRock Thanks a lot for all the technical info! I do have one question, has UWE at least considered making all of the Spark tools open sourced? I know decoda is, but I'm curious if the others have been considered as well (Viewer, CompileModel, Builder, etc). Or is there too much tight-coupling between the renderer and existing tools to release a buildable public version?
I did suggest at some pt open sourcing the level editor. It's possible in theory, but in practice may be kind of complicated. We have some source-code that is header-only, etc. etc. Would probably take a day or two of work to figure out how exactly we would do it.
McGlaspiewww.team156.comJoin Date: 2010-07-26Member: 73044Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, Squad Five Gold, Reinforced - Onos, WC 2013 - Gold, Subnautica Playtester
@SteveRock That would be pretty awesome, assuming enough time could be found to make it happen. I must admit, I'd be much more interested in the ModelCompile tool and Cinematic editor though. But hey, beggers can't be choosers
It's Super Effective!Join Date: 2012-08-28Member: 156625Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow
Oh man, if only the cinematic tool was working better... I had a dream to make a sci-fi thriller web series based in the NS2 world. Fan Fiction Motion it would have been, even wrote the screenplay for the first episode...sigh.
It's Super Effective!Join Date: 2012-08-28Member: 156625Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow
Yeah that was my inspiration, I SORT of could do it now, but it would be lame without some kinda of lip syncing. I was hoping to make a darker story that "explained" the lore of NS2 in the style of the Fade Reveal Trailer
Yeah that was my inspiration, I SORT of could do it now, but it would be lame without some kinda of lip syncing. I was hoping to make a darker story that "explained" the lore of NS2 in the style of the Fade Reveal Trailer
I would be all over that shit if you need voice actors. I have a radio-quality voice (ask @ironhorse, I could seduce him over the mic), can do good immitations, and I am very modest.
Edit - now how did that 'A' get up there. It'll stay.
Soul_RiderMod BeanJoin Date: 2004-06-19Member: 29388Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
@RapGod - Now you've got me wanting to redo the story of Edward ScissorHands as a fade trying to get along in human society. I will make this if the cinematic editor gets a massive user friendly overhaul. That is my commitment
Yeah that was my inspiration, I SORT of could do it now, but it would be lame without some kinda of lip syncing. I was hoping to make a darker story that "explained" the lore of NS2 in the style of the Fade Reveal Trailer
You don't need lip syncing when you have:
You could have a regular marine model too, and make him the unspeaking hero, or a mute (or perhaps even just too stupid to find the push-to-talk key).
Comments
Entity field access from lua has a custom hand written jit code generation path that produces something better than what could you get out of a compiler. Its mostly just the Shared.Trace functions that can't have there calls jit'ed. There also other stuff thats not called as a much like sound,entity creating/destroying. LuaJIT also doesn't jit for pairs loops and function closure creation
Wow OK i didn't even know about the for-pair and closure limitations. Yeah...it would not be fun to rework that code...we do that kinda thing all over the place.
Ns2 coding machine
@fsfod & @SteveRock One thing I've never quite determined is if Entities are Lua tables acting as an alias to a C struct/class. Is that the case?
@SteveRock Thanks a lot for all the technical info! I do have one question, has UWE at least considered making all of the Spark tools open sourced? I know decoda is, but I'm curious if the others have been considered as well (Viewer, CompileModel, Builder, etc). Or is there too much tight-coupling between the renderer and existing tools to release a buildable public version?
The big problem with PC development, too many variations of machine.
Biggest problem I find with NS2 still is the armchair commanders and the blame game when losing, that "trolling" puts people off. Yes the game gets passionate at times but some people are plain old nasty. I play as part of a lovely community, the same people most nights and that really helps keep people coming back.
Back to the original topic, Reinforced, I though it was a great way of helping raise funds without going all EA about it. I personally though it was a little pricey for something you couldn't see at the time, but each to their own, I do like the new third person viewer in game now. >:D<
I did suggest at some pt open sourcing the level editor. It's possible in theory, but in practice may be kind of complicated. We have some source-code that is header-only, etc. etc. Would probably take a day or two of work to figure out how exactly we would do it.
I would be all over that shit if you need voice actors. I have a radio-quality voice (ask @ironhorse, I could seduce him over the mic), can do good immitations, and I am very modest.
Edit - now how did that 'A' get up there. It'll stay.
You don't need lip syncing when you have:
You could have a regular marine model too, and make him the unspeaking hero, or a mute (or perhaps even just too stupid to find the push-to-talk key).