Empires on UE4 (A collaborative project)

Discussion in 'Off Topic' started by Kylegar, Nov 1, 2014.

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  1. BigTeef

    BigTeef Bootleg Headshot master

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    Um, because for reasons I wasent able to say before.

    Are you guys using what Jeipher left over? or a different repository?

    I don't have the link but I think trickster posted it at some point saying anyone is free to continue where he left off.

    And is this going to be an actual finished thing or just a hobby?
    Because if it is, what about candles and source 2?

    I read the first post, but from everyones tone it seems like you guys want to finish it rather than it being a passing interest.
    So I guess ill be the first to say it, what about us?

    Like I advocated for trying other engines, but I sided with candles on Source 2 because of the map conversion issue.
    I don't think cyberkiller or anyone else would be willing to re-create all the default empire maps into unreal.
     
    Last edited: Nov 5, 2014
  2. f1r3w4rr10r

    f1r3w4rr10r Modeler

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    What Jephir did was on UDK, not on UE4. I think that's not compatible.

    If we can get it to completion it would be neat. But this also gives me some exercise and I can use the engine to make presentation renders of my models.
     
  3. BigTeef

    BigTeef Bootleg Headshot master

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    Oh okay, nevermind then.
     
  4. Kylegar

    Kylegar Specstax Rule

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    right now I don't have it capable of firing multiple shots. It's on my todo list. The data exists for it, it's just not written

    I was thinking about it. Post Infantry combat proto maybe.

    Yeah, we are steam friends. I'm RoyAwesome on steam.

    As for not being able to open it... That's odd. Check Empires2.uproject and make sure "EngineAssociation" is "4.5"

    Try resubmitting. Or check your spam filters.

    Nah. Factions was done with Unrealscript, which UE4 doesn't have. All of that code is useless.

    I would like to have a playable infantry combat prototype by the end of the month.

    I have low expectations that Valve will release a code SDK for Source 2. I was actually super surprised that they released Src2013, as they've said multiple times they don't like supporting their engine. Valve is more about UGC on platforms they control, not creating an engine and releasing it like Epic or Unity.

    That being said, I don't know what the plans are for Empires team. I'm doing this on my own and I think the rest of the empires team is watching and seeing if I make progress (We've all tried stuff like this before, and it's always failed). If I get a working infantry combat proto... then they might think this is a viable path forward. It's all about getting it to a point where it is playable before comitting to a future vision.
     
  5. Candles

    Candles CAPTAIN CANDLES, DUN DUN DUN, DUN DUN DUN DUN.

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    My personal view was to wait on Source 2, mostly because by the time I actually have enough time to do something as intensive as remaking a game, I figured it'd be out by then; that and I'm not in a particular rush to do it. However, I've no qualms if someone wants to take a crack at doing it under a different engine. I'd participate but I simply lack free time to do it.

    There are multiple questions concerning content reuse, map porting, some core game mechanics, direction and whatnot that'll have to eventually be settled one way or another, but in the meantime the very basic stuff is perfectly fine.
     
  6. Kylegar

    Kylegar Specstax Rule

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    Ok, it looks like you do need Visual Studio to run the project. However, you need it only for the compiler, so express edition works. When you start the project for the first time, it asks to rebuild the binaries and it will do it automatically... So you only need it installed, you don't need to run it.
     
  7. Beerdude26

    Beerdude26 OnThink(){ IsDownYet(); }

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    I'm watching mostly because I find it amusing how much interest there always is in creating a port. If this ever gets so far as to be viable to port everything over, I'm quite certain it won't be appreciated that we bring over all of Empires' quirks and gameplay nuances. Already, people are discussing vastly different feature sets. Perhaps a common code base (it is an RTS/FPS after all).
     
  8. flasche

    flasche Member Staff Member Moderator

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    because why not learn from empires shortcomings? noone could have be so forsighted to predict all the, as you call it, quirks and nuances - thats why its good with empires, ive learned to accept that over the years - but why make the same mistakes twice? especially since now, "its burried under spaghettig-code" is no excuse anymore.
     
    Last edited: Nov 5, 2014
  9. Kylegar

    Kylegar Specstax Rule

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    Yeah. I'm improving as I go. I'm doing a projectile sim instead of a hitscan weapon system and a better recoil model, just to start.

    However, I want to keep the larger game systems similar to the mod. I'm improving as I go (like the weapon system), so it won't be 1 to 1. I'm just using the mod mechanics as a starting point.
     
  10. Deiform

    Deiform Member

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    The main difference I think this project has going for it compared to the previous ones is that it's all open source and built in a way that any dude with $20 can come in (once the project is in some sort of completed state) and modify a load of values to create their own FPS/RTS fork.

    This doesn't necessarily have to be 'the' port of Empires to a next-gen engine as everyone has their own ideas that don't fit together. At least this way we can attempt to make it easy for people to try out their own crazy ideas without needing to meet in the Empires dev dungeon and jizz on a biscuit (that's how you all got in, right?).
     
  11. ImSpartacus

    ImSpartacus nerf spec plz

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    I, erm, like to try out new things...

    [​IMG]

    This isn't as bad as it looks. The current Empires system is basically exactly this except there is a 4th state for "Jumping" (not super necessary) and it gets ADS bloom by multiplying the non-ADS parameters by an ADS scaler (less granular than this sytem). The only thing that you may want to consider are bloom multiplier "decrements" that determine how fast the accuracy returns to its pre-firing state. Generally you set them slightly higher than the "increments" (you called them "bloom multiplers" above) so manually controlling a full auto rifle has benefits.

    Also, how are you calculating the accuracy? Is it a random number between 0 degrees and the bloom parameter? If so, what's the probability distribution of the random number? Uniform?
     
  12. Kylegar

    Kylegar Specstax Rule

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    I was thinking about just resetting the cof after firing, instead of decrementing down. It might be worth looking into that.

    As for computation, -bloom to +bloom in all axis. And, yes, uniform. I'm open to ideas. I want to keep the cof down and do recoil as the main point.
     
  13. Grantrithor

    Grantrithor Member

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    So I haven't gotten a UE4 license yet so I've yet to see how the source code integrates with the engine, but I must ask, Why separate the fire modes into their own .cpp files instead of one file for all? Do you do it because you want to organize classes to have their own file or is there a practical reason? Another thing, what will you do as a means for switching fire modes, with weapons that may have only some of the fire modes and not all?

    btw for anyone who had a uni email that didn't end in .edu and who applied for the Git Hub Student pack, have you received confirmation?
     
  14. Kylegar

    Kylegar Specstax Rule

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    It's because they are seperate objects and classes based off UObject must be in their own file. UE4 has a special header tool that parses out the file and does things with it.
     
  15. Kylegar

    Kylegar Specstax Rule

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    Cone of fire is calculated. I spent about 4 hours today figuring out the math to transform a vector about a random angle to form a cone, and then during extensive testing discovered that Epic had a function that did that already. So, yeah... Couple of hours wasted but hey that's learning. Got a cool visualization going.


    Here is a single shot. Blue line is the view direction (non adjusted), red is the Cone value. This is taken from the far side of the shot, as it's a cone and the near side is boring.

    [​IMG]

    Here is a 3-round burst

    [​IMG]

    And here is a full auto 30 rounds of constant fire. Notice the increased cone bloom... There are more red lines inside the cone than on the extreme edges, indicating that the cone blooms out.

    [​IMG]
     
  16. f1r3w4rr10r

    f1r3w4rr10r Modeler

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    Really nice work. And I see my little fix to the ground material is working fine. ^^
     
  17. Deiform

    Deiform Member

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    Kylegar, isn't there a .proj file missing from the repo?
     
  18. f1r3w4rr10r

    f1r3w4rr10r Modeler

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    If you mean the vsxproj, you have to rebuild the files out of the Unreal Editor. It was the same for me.
     
  19. Deiform

    Deiform Member

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    Ah that's pretty weird that the proj file doesn't appear until doing stuff, but I guess it has the Engine referenced to it so you have to generate it yourself.
     
  20. Deiform

    Deiform Member

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    Well the 1 hour initial compile time is certainly great! :D

    Note for new devs in UE4 - set the process affinity for the Unreal Editor to not use all your CPU cores because it takes EVERYTHING.
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2014
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