Easiest way would be to add a group on steam and who ever wanted access would have to ask. Kind of like how Trickster did the Empires beta testing. Make it a requirement of joining that all people agree to all required agreements Like https://partner.steamgames.com/documentation/sdk_access_agreement Basically Instead of making code public make it open development. So anyone who wants it could have it but only with read access to the code for obvious reasons.
If Steamworks is the issue then any programmers that require access will have to be made Steamworks developers as well. That might not be so simple if the number of people grows large.
Not really. There will be a small group of core developers with steamwork access that will push the latest up to date version.
Any kind of a time frame for the new engine ? I like working in UE4 but current pc struggles. Will be updating around Feb-Mar and should be able to help out with some mapping, scripting, modeling if it's needed. looking forward to the changes and like the path that Empires is on.
So what happens if source 2 comes out before then ? I know in the past developers was kind of set on staying on source as it would be an easier port. I kind of think source 2 is too little to late. As UE4 has so much more potential. But that's just my opinion
Im not even sure what s2 is capable of, but damn those udk particles look good. [YOUTUBE]rqDyO1sjs8E[/YOUTUBE]
It's easier then it seems. Once you learn how to map in UE you will hate hammer. Knowing how to script helps. You can pop open the blueprint and auto generate parts of a map. "Or all of a map" Or it's as simple as drag and drop if you already have the things you want in your map. As far as needing to know how to model....it's no different then hammer.
There's support to convert brushes to meshes, it mostly works fine enough. But I've never worked in hammer so I can't compare the two that well.
Selection and manipulation of everything in Hammer is closer to an image processor than any modern level creator, and radically different than modelling. Obviously UE is more powerful and got way more potential but it's too different to feel like an upgrade from Hammer. It's arguably harder than starting from scratch, like writing with a non-dominant hand or learning a new keyboard layout. The skills don't translate and even when you're proficient in the new editor some projects or situations would be more comfortable in Hammer.
Hammer gives a lot more power for creating man made stuff like buildings and flat roads, but displacements are best left with other editors. As far as I know hammer can be used to export models made with brushes. Tribes 2 mappers used worldcraft (the old hammer) to do interiors and the like while the editor itself could only deal with models and one big displacement.
the biggest downside of UE4 is the lack of content. the rest is adapting to a different workflow. if there would be a library of material and props you could put together maps in days.
I could have sworn you can use stuff from epic's demos. So like all those trees, textures, rocks, particles, whatever are available to use. https://wiki.unrealengine.com/Common_Questions_and_Answers
Never mapped in UE and I already hate hammer. I've used other professional CAD tools and in comparison using hammer is like driving with your feet.
sure but thats barely enough to prototype a game, let alone release a "live" map. just as comparison, theres over 2500 textures in base hl2 (i know i exported them). sure a lot of them are interface related, but you dont have that in ue4 either - and thats only textures. now you dont need THAT many anymore because of reasons (f.e substance), but you still need a whole lot - and its not like ue4 materials create themselfs either. then theres props lacking. from rocks over trees (speedtree costs and also takes work ofc) over to human made objects. theres several hundred of that in hl2 too.
Speedtree and other places have free samples. But even the starting textures can be modded in the blueprints to make an unlimited amount of new textures. Then the free samples from speed tree can be modded to make an unlimited amount of trees / bushes. At first I was thinking the same as most people that it was hard to map in UE4 and their was a lack of props to use. But it's pretty simple when you start getting familiar with how things work. Also helped watching the tutorials and doing what is done in the video [YOUTUBE]57MxoF4sy84[/YOUTUBE]