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Messages - John.d.h

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51
Off topic / Re: Cryengine is announcing Linux support!
« on: 21 March 2014, 01:19:21 »
Name one anti-feature that Cryengine has(that doesn't have a reason for existing, such as anti-piracy)?
You can never know.  That's the point.  They could have ANY anti-feature.  Considering the extensiveness of illegal spying by organizations like the NSA (it may have been a conspiracy theory, but this time they were right) and how many companies and developers they've coerced into harming their customers, it would be silly to assume any piece of proprietary software (especially made in the USA) wasn't involved in some kind of unethical behavior unless you yourself have seen the code.

52
Off topic / Re: Cryengine is announcing Linux support!
« on: 19 March 2014, 23:37:42 »
Open source is about a lot more than being able to modify it.  Hell, the NSA has approached Linux developers and asked them to install a backdoor in the operating system for their illegal surveillance, but the beauty of open source means that they simply can't include anti-features like that.  However, anti-features seem to be the norm now with AAA titles, from restrictive DRM like SecuROM, to "phoning home" constantly, to spyware and adware, or the ability to delete things that you purchased like on the Amazon Kindle.  Closed source is all too often broken on purpose by the developers.  A love of freedom and open source is not just a philosophical stance; it's a practical one.  Using closed source software means trusting a company with your privacy, security, and dignity.  Even if you "have nothing to hide", companies make money by selling your private information.  Closed source allows the developers to hide whatever malicious and harmful code they want, and you put it on the same machine that contains boundless personal information about yourself.  I'm not against developers making money, but I am against them abusing their customers.

http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/proprietary-surveillance.html
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/proprietary-back-doors.html
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/proprietary-insecurity.html
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/proprietary-sabotage.html

If given a choice of two burritos, would you rather eat the one that had a full list of its ingredients, or the one that specifically forbade you from ever trying to figure out what was in it?  Would the latter not make you really suspicious?  What don't they want you to know, and why?

53
I liked it so much that I'm using your panzerwagen for a game I've been working on this past week and I used the texture for some related things I've been working on. :)

http://opengameart.org/content/military-van

54
Off topic / Re: Cryengine is announcing Linux support!
« on: 18 March 2014, 00:28:39 »
Because this engine is closed source and costs money.

Furthermore some people like to hack around with the sources and learn C++, OpenGL etc.

I would rather use SpringRTS or pyrogenesis than making the game closed source freeware.

There is also a philosophy behind free software https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
^ Quoted for truth.

However, any time a piece of software is ported to Linux, that's a good thing.  People have been running Crysis on Wine for some time now, but native support is a heck of a lot simpler for the end-user.

55
Mods / Re: Techtree Barillion
« on: 6 March 2014, 22:26:33 »
Bugs have guns in their tails? I didn't know that...
Not scorpions, but... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardier_beetle

56
Off topic / Procedural Death Jam, anyone?
« on: 5 March 2014, 00:08:29 »
There's a game jam going on soon, starting on March 8!  I've been creating 3D art in Blender since about 2006 so I've got that part covered but I need a programmer (or a few) to join me.  The idea of the jam is to create a Procedural Death Labyrinth game in seven days.  The details can be found here: http://proceduraldeathjam.com/ If you're not familiar with PDLs, they're basically all of the games people refer to as Rogue-likes that aren't actually very Rogue-like but contain some similar elements, like procedural content, permadeath, and some sort of branching or labyrinthine progression.  Examples include FTL and The Binding of Isaac.  Rogue-likes themselves also fit into the category of PDLs, but not all PDLs are Rogue-likes.  My idea actually diverges a lot from the Rogue-like blueprint on purpose, to take the ideas of a PDL and synthesize them into something unexpected.  Since cross-posting is generally frowned upon in a lot of forums, I'll link to my post on OGA rather than copying and pasting it here.

http://opengameart.org/forumtopic/ground-assault-pdj-project-proposal-artist-seeking-programmer-et-al

The above proposal is negotiable and we can rework whatever needs to be changed.  It's really just one possibility out of the infinite, but it's one that I would find easy because I've been on a vehicle kick lately and a lot of resources for it are already available under licenses compatible with CC-By-SA.  I'm willing to handle all of the 3D assets if someone else can handle the code.  The project proposal above contains a list of extant resources that would be useful, and I can model anything else we need.  I can also set up a Github page.  The engine license can be whatever.  GPL would be nice, but I operate by the policy "I ain't making it, so that's not my call." :) Of course, if I'm making the art, then that is my call (CC-By-SA), so there. :P

Anyway, I'd love to have one of you fine programmers join me in this endeavour, and potentially anybody else who can offer some skills.  There's no monetary prize or anything, just bragging rights of "hey, I made a game!" and the enjoyment and accomplishment, but that is plenty enough motivation for me and hopefully it will be for one or a few of y'all.

Edit: I've teamed up with Silnarm, but I'm still open to assistance from others.  Follow the development here: https://github.com/johndh/PDJ

57
Mods / Re: Factions Download Center
« on: 23 February 2014, 20:47:08 »
I've fixed the link to Project Green.  Wow, I released that almost two and a half years ago!?  Yowza!  :o

http://www.moddb.com/mods/project-green/downloads/project-green-v03

58
Off topic / Re: Pyrogenesis vs. Glest/Megaglest (as an engine)
« on: 14 February 2014, 23:24:05 »
I've looked into the process of modding 0 A.D. and it does seem to be a little more complex.  That could just be because I'm more used to Glest's style, but that was my subjective experience.  There seems to be much more customizability within the engine, and that comes with a cost.  Glest is pretty straight-forward since there are a limited number of things your units can do.

Pyro's animation system is a huge plus when it comes to modding, though.  If you have two units who have some similar movements, you needn't double your animation workload or export each of them individually.  As it's been mentioned, performance is the biggest detriment for Pyro when compared to (Mega)Glest, as it slows down considerably with large armies.

If you want to see a really good-looking MegaGlest mod, look around the forum for "Annex".  I don't think any of us knew how good this engine could look before that came out.

59
MegaGlest / Re: Modify a faction
« on: 31 January 2014, 02:44:27 »
I haven't tried it myself, but I heard that mastering Blender, learning to rig, animate and texture models to a degree where it starts looking good can take quite a while and practice. But then that's the same for every game you work on. Modifying existing models should be easier and is the right way to get started. Luckily for you, that's also perfectly legal for at least all the models which come with MegaGlest by default, since they are under a pretty permissive license.
I have tried it quite extensively and this is correct in my experience.  Of course, Blender is free to download and use, so it won't hurt to give it a shot.  Just know that you won't be a master overnight.  Thankfully, newer versions of Blender seem to be easier to learn than back in 2008 when I started. :)

60
MegaGlest / Re: MG mock DVD case.
« on: 19 January 2014, 17:52:24 »
Ha!  I like it! :O Does the back actually say anything or is it filler text?

61
MegaGlest / Re: Mega Glest is a kind of "Cookie Clicker" actually
« on: 17 September 2013, 08:03:44 »
Now you are getting ressources, which one would be the first unit which is produced? Cheapest first, because you can effort it earlier?
Or one big list showing all orders in one single queue no matter which building/unit produces them?
This is not an impossible problem, as many games have already solved it in various ways.
Next thing is auto-repair,auto-let-new-produced-units-attack,auto-build-new-building-if-enough-resources,auto-heal,auto-attack-the-strongest-unit-first... in the end you only give the auto-commands once and then wait until you win or loose.
This is a slippery slope fallacy and a false dichotomy.  You don't have to choose between "games that practically play themselves" and "games in which you have to manage every tiny detail manually".  There's a large and fertile middle ground.  There are already some features in MG that reduce micromanaging, and the game would basically be unplayable without them.  If you really want to have absolute micro, then only select one unit at a time and see how fun that is. ;)  When your workers fill up on gold, they automatically return it to the castle.  When your units are attacked, they automatically fight back.  Your towers automatically shoot at enemies within range.  Is this all bad?  No, it's all good because it lets you spend your time conquering your enemy instead of tying your soldiers' shoes because they won't figure it out for themselves.

62
MegaGlest / Re: Mega Glest is a kind of "Cookie Clicker" actually
« on: 16 September 2013, 07:48:44 »
I'm not sure I follow, having players click over each building in a set order to produce one unit per building and to always have each building making its one unit is a behavior you WANTED to have? Eww. This whole idea that that qualifies as macro or skill is one of the banes of strategy gaming. And mainline strategy gamers wonder why LOL is so popular.

Being able to hotkey through a ton of buildings keeping one unit building per building at all times is not something to aspire to. It's something to be horrified by. There is literally ZERO strategy in doing that.
Games that lack excessive micromanagement and strategy are still better than games that have excessive micromanagement and lack strategy. Microing tons of barracks is not the same as microing units in combat who have situational abilities that you can apply tactically. Games are supposed to be about decisions. There is no decision in keeping one unit building in all building structures and doing it the same way every game.
Hear, hear!  I don't particularly want any game I play to feel like a chore.  The point of a strategy game is (by definition) strategy.  Having to check in on each of your barracks every 30 seconds to click on the "train the guy" button is not strategy; it's like harvesting your crops in FarmVille.

63
I second the motion to relocate to Github.  Not only is distributed version control a good idea, but the site is easy to navigate and makes the project easy* to contribute to.

* "easy" does not include the actual coding and/or content generation

64
Feature requests / Re: Remove the stupid linux hint
« on: 17 August 2013, 05:54:04 »
I'm a tremendous fan of Linux and even I think the message is kinda obnoxious. :P

Think about it this way: it's a very simple fix to change this hint to something more effectively promotional, and not arrogant and annoying, compared with what it is currently. In full consideration, clearly it's not really a major problem, but considering that a fix like this is so simple, it just makes good sense for it to be done!
Word.

65
Tools / Re: Optimising G3D tool
« on: 11 June 2013, 18:03:19 »
Why has not the megapack been run through this a billion times plz?
I'm sure the developers would be grateful if you did.

66
Mods / Re: Tech High Quality
« on: 29 April 2013, 02:37:02 »
I can't help but think the contrast seems a bit high, though.
My sentiments exactly.  I applaud the effort, though.  I hope you stick with it.

67
Tools / Re: Optimising G3D tool
« on: 25 April 2013, 23:47:15 »
I tip my hat on behalf of we outdated laptop users everywhere.

68
I also prefer the way it is now. I feel that a sudden "kaboom, you won!" would detract from the climax of the game.

69
Mods / Re: Source code management vs Dropbox vs Google Drive
« on: 19 January 2013, 03:00:17 »
Neither one is hands-down better than the other, as their differing benefits give them an edge for different purposes.  For a simple asset project between a couple people, a service like Dropbox (or presumably Google Drive) is much simpler and quicker, since it automatically backs up and synchronizes without the user having to even think about it.  It also requires virtually no learning and is easy to set up.  This speed and simplicity is not just a benefit for the lazy, but rather it creates a tangible advantage in that your time can be spent actually creating the project's assets instead of setting up a git repo and learning to use it.

For a project where everyone involved is already familiar with git, git is definitely the way to go in my opinion because there is so much more that it can do, but getting anyone new involved is a much bigger hassle because of the dramatic increase in difficulty.  They have to learn an entirely new system unlike anything else they've ever used, install an application that they probably won't use for anything else (as opposed to a service like DB/GD which you should already be using anyway), and most of its power will be lost on someone who isn't already familiar with version control systems.

If I can spend a week learning to use some new GypsumRipper 9000, or I can spend that week digging into some drywall with the regular crowbar that I already use, then I'm going to go with the latter option unless the former gives me a marked advantage that will be readily applied to what I'm doing.

70
Mods / Re: MegaGlest Refit - Norse
« on: 8 January 2013, 21:25:59 »
:thumbup:

Will you be joining our endeavor sometime? 8)
It depends on how much of my help the Hurricane Sandy recovery effort requires.

71
Mods / Re: Generic MG Refit Discussion (renamed)
« on: 7 January 2013, 01:37:34 »
The problem with the permanent change is that there is likely one correct answer to the problem so its not really a decision.
This.  Since we're dealing with raw numbers here, it's a little tricky to make this a choice rather than a problem to solve.  Of course, even if it is a problem, the solution may vary depending on the circumstances (e.g. what factions you're playing against), but the upgrade is either going to be worth it or not worth it based on the trade-off.  I'm inclined to agree that maybe making it temporary but beneficial would be the way to go (not unlike AoM's god powers) so you can give your units a boost when they desperately need it, but you need to make it count since it's only good once.  That still puts it firmly in the "problem" category, but it makes it a much trickier one because you have to predict when the best time to use it will be.

72
Mods / Re: MegaGlest Refit - Norse
« on: 7 January 2013, 01:23:12 »
Coding-related discussion has been split into another topic here to keep it more organized.  Have a nice day.

73
Mods / Re: MegaGlest Refit - Engine
« on: 6 January 2013, 17:25:22 »
Regardless, most people won't know everything and we don't want the upgrades sounding so funny to them do we?
I don't think we need to dumb everything down, though.

WHEN we get tooltips, it'll all make sense!
That sounds like somebody just volunteered! ;)

74
Mods / Re: MegaGlest Refit - Desert Nomads
« on: 28 December 2012, 20:39:52 »
Right now your market just looks mostly like a painted box.  If you put a frame around the door to give it some variety to the geometry, that would probably help.  Also, I agree with the angled walls, and maybe drape a cloth over those wooden pegs.  Making the colored part stick out is a step in the right direction, but I'd do more.  It looks like you've got a few hundred polygons to spare on adding some windows, and maybe some tables and jars if you've got the room.

75
Off topic / Re: Christmas 2012
« on: 25 December 2012, 21:06:22 »
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Kwanzaa (we have members that celebrate each) from FEMA Corps team Summit 5!



(I'm the guy with the beard.)

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