[Mike Norvak]

Hey DT!

What 'bout the next release of DukePlus?

[Spiker]

Norvak, on Jun 30 2010, 06:54 PM, said:

Hey DT!

What 'bout the next release of DukePlus?

He's on vacation till July 7th.

[Sobek]

Ahh, didn't realise he was on holiday (ironically, he's on holiday until my birthday ).

Ninety-Six, how are you with installing new videocard drivers? Because what you have installed at the moment is fairly outdated (it's a build from 2003). Obviously the card is also pretty old, but there are many newer drivers for it that had been released since then, the most recent being;

http://www.nvidia.co...2k_93.71_2.html

I'd recommend upgrading to those - it may provide benefits all around - not just in EDuke32 / Duke Plus.

I think you'll also find that DukePlus will hit your CPU a LOT harder than most mods, as there's just so much additional overhead involved with all the new code... Quite frankly, with that old CPU there may not be a lot you can do. I have a P4 1.8ghz machine with an FX5200 here at work, and I did try running DukePlus on it at one stage but it was unbearably slow and did take quite some time to navigate menus and even just get into the game.

Sorry, but you're probably shit out of luck in this case. EDuke32 + HRP may be fine as it is, but DukePlus could simply be putting too much load on your CPU to run smoothly. Nature of the beast and all that.

[Ninety-Six]

Sobek, on Jun 30 2010, 05:30 PM, said:

Ahh, didn't realise he was on holiday (ironically, he's on holiday until my birthday ).

Ninety-Six, how are you with installing new videocard drivers? Because what you have installed at the moment is fairly outdated (it's a build from 2003). Obviously the card is also pretty old, but there are many newer drivers for it that had been released since then, the most recent being;

http://www.nvidia.co...2k_93.71_2.html

I'd recommend upgrading to those - it may provide benefits all around - not just in EDuke32 / Duke Plus.

I think you'll also find that DukePlus will hit your CPU a LOT harder than most mods, as there's just so much additional overhead involved with all the new code... Quite frankly, with that old CPU there may not be a lot you can do. I have a P4 1.8ghz machine with an FX5200 here at work, and I did try running DukePlus on it at one stage but it was unbearably slow and did take quite some time to navigate menus and even just get into the game.

Sorry, but you're probably shit out of luck in this case. EDuke32 + HRP may be fine as it is, but DukePlus could simply be putting too much load on your CPU to run smoothly. Nature of the beast and all that.

I figured it would be the CPU...

I had a better video/sound/Processor before, and they were all on the same motherboard. However, there were some errors in designe; namely a power surge blew out the entire thing. Couldn't afford anything new, so it had to be downgraded.

Still can't afford upgrades.


Anyway, thanks for the driver. I did install one less than a year ago, but the fact it came from 2003 is...odd.

[t800]

Sorry for partially repeating my previous post but I really cant understand why DeeperThought changed shape of hall with selectable maps. He could make it longer. For me new hall looks ugly compared to older one

[Danukem]

t800, on Jul 1 2010, 08:35 AM, said:

Sorry for partially repeating my previous post but I really cant understand why DeeperThought changed shape of hall with selectable maps. He could make it longer. For me new hall looks ugly compared to older one

I didn't change the map myself, Gambini did (who also made the map in the first place). I can guess his reason: if the map is one long hallway, then the maps near the ends take longer to get to and so are in effect discriminated against. With the current setup, all the doors are roughly equidistant from the start point. The next version of DP will have even more doors in the hallway, with the additions of NightShade Army by Norvak, and Have Fun Storming the Castle by Salacious Crumb, which would only accentuate the problem if the hallway still had the long skinny format. I do admit that it looked better before, though.

What I would like to see in the future is a more elaborate hub with some fun things to do and look at. Perhaps the various map authors could each take a crack at it and build personalized entrances to their own levels and add details. You know the stars on the doors that appear when the corresponding level has been complete? At some point I would like the stars to actually mean something. Perhaps when the player has completed all or most of the maps, an elevator unlocks and the player can go to a different floor of the hub that has bonus materials.

[Spiker]

Quote

What I would like to see in the future is a more elaborate hub with some fun things to do and look at. Perhaps the various map authors could each take a crack at it and build personalized entrances to their own levels and add details. You know the stars on the doors that appear when the corresponding level has been complete? At some point I would like the stars to actually mean something. Perhaps when the player has completed all or most of the maps, an elevator unlocks and the player can go to a different floor of the hub that has bonus materials.

Sounds cool

[Micky C]

I think there might be a flaw with the activation-by-death-of-a-group-of-monsters feature. It seems that when monsters of different difficulty settings are given the appropriate tags, and an easy difficulty is chosen and some of the higher monsters aren't spawned, the activation won't occur when the spawned monsters are killed.

If that was too hard to understand, I'll put it this way: the activation only happens when all the monsters are killed when the hardest difficulty is selected for monsters with difficulty settings. I hope I got my point accross

It's a problem because in the map I'm going to release in the near future, there's a large area in which you have to kill all the monsters before a cutscene plays showing a door open, so this feature is necessary to finish my level. And if I make it that I only have to kill the easy set monsters, then there's a good chance a bunch of them are going to eat away at your health while the cutscene plays, not to mention I still want the play to kill everything at harder difficulties.

Is this an easily fixable problem?

[Danukem]

Micky C, on Jul 1 2010, 06:24 PM, said:

Is this an easily fixable problem?

Yes, it's very easy to fix. If you want something to activate when a group of monsters is killed, then don't give those monsters difficulty tags that make members of the group not spawn. Because, as you've discovered, it's hard for the player to kill something that doesn't exist.

[williamjcm]

DeeperThought, on Jul 1 2010, 07:54 PM, said:

Perhaps when the player has completed all or most of the maps, an elevator unlocks and the player can go to a different floor of the hub that has bonus materials.

Bonus materials ? Can't wait for it.

And what about a training map for new Duke Plus players (I am not one of them, even if I am playing Doom 2 most of the time) ? Once completed, it could give access to the DPHub. And maybe include it in the hub so players can replay it.

[Micky C]

I was hoping not to have to resort to that due to the player's vulnerability in the freeze during the cutscene but I guess people playing harder difficulties will just have to wear it.

@ williamjcm: The DukePlus effects map is a good training map, is that the sort of thing you're talking about? I can't imagine any other type of training map for DukePlus.

[Danukem]

Micky C, on Jul 2 2010, 01:26 AM, said:

I was hoping not to have to resort to that due to the player's vulnerability in the freeze during the cutscene but I guess people playing harder difficulties will just have to wear it.

@ williamjcm: The DukePlus effects map is a good training map, is that the sort of thing you're talking about? I can't imagine any other type of training map for DukePlus.

Does the player actually take damage during the cutscene? If so, that's a bug. I do know that monsters continue to be active, and that's not a bug. If monsters are mobbing the player while the cutscene is going on, then you need to set it up differently. DP cutscenes do not pause the game, and you'll just have to work with that.

[williamjcm]

Micky C, on Jul 2 2010, 10:26 AM, said:

@ williamjcm: The DukePlus effects map is a good training map, is that the sort of thing you're talking about? I can't imagine any other type of training map for DukePlus.

No, I'm talking about a real training map. Think about a map where players could get familiar with every weapon and movement option.

Or maybe a training like in Team Fortress 2 (if you own it you may know what I'm talking about) : you have a small training on a playable map (let's say Hollywood Holocaust on Piece Of Cake) with tips (when you get to certain places or obtain weapons) on how to play.

[t800]

Hey DeeperThought, why dont you merge Dukebike mod with DukePlus?

[Mike Norvak]

DeeperThought, on Jul 1 2010, 12:54 PM, said:

I didn't change the map myself, Gambini did (who also made the map in the first place). I can guess his reason: if the map is one long hallway, then the maps near the ends take longer to get to and so are in effect discriminated against. With the current setup, all the doors are roughly equidistant from the start point. The next version of DP will have even more doors in the hallway, with the additions of NightShade Army by Norvak, and Have Fun Storming the Castle by Salacious Crumb, which would only accentuate the problem if the hallway still had the long skinny format. I do admit that it looked better before, though.

What I would like to see in the future is a more elaborate hub with some fun things to do and look at. Perhaps the various map authors could each take a crack at it and build personalized entrances to their own levels and add details. You know the stars on the doors that appear when the corresponding level has been complete? At some point I would like the stars to actually mean something. Perhaps when the player has completed all or most of the maps, an elevator unlocks and the player can go to a different floor of the hub that has bonus materials.

It sounds great.

When i included the new gates for these new maps, i wanted to respect the original Gambini´s hub design. I thought to make a second floor and stairs, but that would require more work and time than i had at that time (was in exams).

Also i included some cool surprises in the DPfx map. Hope the next DP release come soon.

Besides, i think the Skycar demo is old fashioned, maybe a new map to replace it.

[Stabs]

perhaps a modified cinema from e1l1 for the dp hub, and the levels can be the movie that are screening in it

[williamjcm]

DanM, on Jul 5 2010, 11:30 PM, said:

perhaps a modified cinema from e1l1 for the dp hub, and the levels can be the movie that are screening in it

I also thought of it.

There is a Half-Life 2 mod called "CSS SCI FI 3: Hardwired" which uses a special hub for maps. You start in a lobby that gives you access to (1) an episode hub, (2) an individual level hub and (3) a shooting range for weapons.

Maybe the DP hub could be like that one : The episode hub could launch one of the vanilla episodes, the individual level hub to launch one of the DP maps (with maybe a random map button), and a shooting range with every weapon (vanilla and DP).

[Stabs]

we could make little posters for each level and just pal stack them on tex #199 its nice and square and it wont be changed or have paralax stuff that could screw it up later

also i did some experimenting DT and have found the DP box made invisible makes a grand bounding box for models, I have included the code i used and the modified tiles005.art it uses, its tile #2080, if this could be permanent DP code that would be great

Quote

CON CODE

eventloadactor 2080
ifvare sprite[THISACTOR].lotag 1
{
cstator 33025
clipdist 100
setactor[THISACTOR].lotag 0
}

// BIGGER CLIPDIST FOR BIGGER VEHICLES LOTAG 2

ifvare sprite[THISACTOR].lotag 2
{
cstator 33025
clipdist 150
setactor[THISACTOR].lotag 0
}
enda

===========================================================

DEF CODE

// BOUNDING BOX
model "DUKEPLUS_RESOURCES/GRAPHICS/MAP_EFFECTS/crate1.MD2"
{
// scale 1.25
scale 5.00
skin { pal 0 file "DUKEPLUS_RESOURCES/GRAPHICS/MAP_EFFECTS/metalcrate.jpg" }
skin { pal 30 file "DUKEPLUS_RESOURCES/GRAPHICS/MAP_EFFECTS/0884crate.jpg" }
frame { name "idle01" tile 2080 }
frame { name "idle01" tile 2080 }
frame { name "idle01" tile 2080 }
frame { name "idle01" tile 2080 }
}

[Danukem]

I don't see the point in having def code to go with it. The blocking characterisitics are a function of the 8-bit tile, its size and its cstat -- the model makes no difference. In fact, you already have the ability to use any tile that doesn't have code and give it whatever size and cstat you want (including making it invisible). Maybe the advantage here is that you can see the blocking area in mapster?

[Stabs]

yup thats why i use it, i can see it

actually thinking of making some bright green / pink skin so its really easy to see, it kinda blends with vehicles and textures a bit atm

I did some more experimenting and have found i need 4 lotags one for cstat 100 , 150, 175, 200, they work so much nicer than the old system, mainly because duke wont run over the top of the cars and i only need 4 sprites on average rather than 10, and they are so easy to place and line up.

[Danukem]

DanM, on Jul 6 2010, 04:36 PM, said:

yup thats why i use it, i can see it

actually thinking of making some bright green / pink skin so its really easy to see, it kinda blends with vehicles and textures a bit atm

I did some more experimenting and have found i need 4 lotags one for cstat 100 , 150, 175, 200, they work so much nicer than the old system, mainly because duke wont run over the top of the cars and i only need 4 sprites on average rather than 10, and they are so easy to place and line up.

All right, I'll add it. But instead of having 4 different lotags, I'll make lotag == clipdist (for example set lotag to 200 if you want 200 clipdist). Keep in mind that the maximum possible clipdist is 255, though.

EDIT: On second thought, what you really want is for the size of the sprite to match the clipdist, then you can truly see in mapster how big the blocking radius is going to be (although a circular model would be more accurate for that). By the way, I don't understand why you attached tiles005.art Tile 2080 is not in that one.

[Stabs]

sounds good to me

Max clipdist i seem to need atm is 200 for the apc / bulldozer, damn i used alot of sprites on that bulldozer, proabbly 20 or so, now i doubt it will be more than 7, and rotating will be alot more viable, that really screwed up bounding boxes if i wanted a car in an odd angle.

i only included tiles005 (must of been the wrong one) cause i just imported that box art which is crucial for this to work (metal one) into it for a tile, ive only experimented with it atm so that tile is free to change

[Danukem]

Just uploaded a new version:


2.10 7-06-10
* 3 new maps added to the hallway: “Have Fun Storming the Castle” by Salacious Crumb, “Nightshade Army” by Norvak, and “Base to Base 2” by CarThief (replaces B2B in the hallway, but the old map is still present in dpmaps).
* Some bug fixes (sorry I’m too lazy to attempt listing them)
* Comes with new and improved version of EDuke32

It also has the new bounding box sprite, which is tile 6220 (don't put any tags on it, just make it the size you want and it should work). This is an interim release; I expect to make another one soon, but I've been sitting on those maps for too long.

[Stabs]

cool stuff thanks for that

ill try it out tonite

[Stabs]

bounding box works so well now, you have saved me much time with this

Just as an afterthought, could a sprite be coded to have a bunch of bounding boxes always follow it at certain offsets, cause that would be the icing on the cake for the commanders mods

[Mikko]

Is it some new EDuke32 thing that your old configs get fucked up when you install a new EDuke32 version?

I noticed this yesterday when I installed the new WGR2 version on top of the old one. Then today I installed the new DP version on top of the old one. Previously this hasn't fucked up the old configs.

Pretty much the most demoralizing thing that could happen and an instant reason to quit.

[Danukem]

Yes, there have been some big changes to EDuke32 since the last released versions of those mods, and as a result, cfgs get fucked up. Since it's an EDuke32 thing, it would happen with any mod or even vanilla Duke.

[Spirrwell]

Eh I don't really like Duke Plus, it's not my type of mod, but it has potential.

[djdori11]

i like the duke plus mod but i think you shuold make the autosave system like in your attrition mod to your duke plus mod! its will be awesome and will make duke nukem a really better game!

[Danukem]

djdori11, on Jul 8 2010, 07:20 AM, said:

i like the duke plus mod but i think you shuold make the autosave system like in your attrition mod to your duke plus mod! its will be awesome and will make duke nukem a really better game!

Eventually I will add a save point feature to DP, that will allow level designers to specify certain sectors as autosave points. Making it exactly like it is in Attrition would be a mistake, imo.