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  • Why are textures always square powers of two? What if they aren't?

    - by Keavon
    Why are the resolution of textures in games always a power of two (128x128, 256x256, 512x512, 1024x1024, etc.)? Wouldn't it be smart to save on the game's file size and make the texture exactly fit the UV unwrapped model? What would happen if there was a texture that was not a power of two? Would it be incorrect to have a texture be something like 256x512, or 512x1024? Or would this cause the problems that non-power-of-two textures may cause?

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  • Is AGS outdated for Point & Click Adventures?

    - by Aidan Moore
    Is Adventure Game Studio (AGS) outdated? I am working on a Point and Click Adventure game being coded on the AGS engine, and just recently, the question of 'is this outdated?' has come up. I'll admit, AGS is a rather old, and kind of went out of style with the P&C genre itself, but I have not found anything quite like it that specializes in this specific format of games. So my big question is not only 'is this outdated?' but also 'Is there a better alternative?'

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  • XNA clip plane effect makes models black

    - by user1990950
    When using this effect file: float4x4 World; float4x4 View; float4x4 Projection; float4 ClipPlane0; void vs(inout float4 position : POSITION0, out float4 clipDistances : TEXCOORD0) { clipDistances.x = dot(position, ClipPlane0); clipDistances.y = 0; clipDistances.z = 0; clipDistances.w = 0; position = mul(mul(mul(position, World), View), Projection); } float4 ps(float4 clipDistances : TEXCOORD0) : COLOR0 { clip(clipDistances); return float4(0, 0, 0, 0); } technique { pass { VertexShader = compile vs_2_0 vs(); PixelShader = compile ps_2_0 ps(); } } all models using this are rendered black. Is it possible to render them correctly?

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  • Multiplayer Network Game - Interpolation and Frame Rate

    - by J.C.
    Consider the following scenario: Let's say, for sake of example and simplicity, that you have an authoritative game server that sends state to its clients every 45ms. The clients are interpolating state with an interpolation delay of 100 ms. Finally, the clients are rendering a new frame every 15ms. When state is updated on the client, the client time is set from the incoming state update. Each time a frame renders, we take the render time (client time - interpolation delay) and identify a previous and target state to interpolate from. To calculate the interpolation amount/factor, we take the difference of the render time and previous state time and divide by the difference of the target state and previous state times: var factor = ((renderTime - previousStateTime) / (targetStateTime - previousStateTime)) Problem: In the example above, we are effectively displaying the same interpolated state for 3 frames before we collected the next server update and a new client (render) time is set. The rendering is mostly smooth, but there is a dash of jaggedness to it. Question: Given the example above, I'd like to think that the interpolation amount/factor should increase with each frame render to smooth out the movement. Should this be considered and, if so, what is the best way to achieve this given the information from above?

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  • Physics-based dynamic audio generation in games

    - by alexc
    I wonder if it is possible to generate audio dynamically without any (!) audio assets, using pure mathematics/physics and some input values like material properties and spatial distribution of content in scene space. What I have in mind is something like a scene, with concrete floor, wooden table and glass on it. Now let's assume force pushes the glass towards the edge of table and then the glass falls onto the floor and shatters. The near-realistic glass destruction itself would be possible using voxels and good physics engine, but what about the sound the glass makes while shattering? I believe there is a way to generate that sound, because physics of sound is fairly known these days, but how computationaly costy that would be? Consumer hardware or supercomputers? Do any of you know some good resources/videos of such an experiment?

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  • Finding shapes in 2D Array, then optimising

    - by assemblism
    I'm new so I can't do an image, but below is a diagram for a game I am working on, moving bricks into patterns, and I currently have my code checking for rotated instances of a "T" shape of any colour. The X and O blocks would be the same colour, and my last batch of code would find the "T" shape where the X's are, but what I wanted was more like the second diagram, with two "T"s Current result      Desired Result [X][O][O]                [1][1][1] [X][X][_]                [2][1][_] [X][O][_]                [2][2][_] [O][_][_]                [2][_][_] My code loops through x/y, marks blocks as used, rotates the shape, repeats, changes colour, repeats. I have started trying to fix this checking with great trepidation. The current idea is to: loop through the grid and make note of all pattern occurrences (NOT marking blocks as used), and putting these to an array loop through the grid again, this time noting which blocks are occupied by which patterns, and therefore which are occupied by multiple patterns. looping through the grid again, this time noting which patterns obstruct which patterns That much feels right... What do I do now? I think I would have to try various combinations of conflicting shapes, starting with those that obstruct the most other patterns first.How do I approach this one? use the rational that says I have 3 conflicting shapes occupying 8 blocks, and the shapes are 4 blocks each, therefore I can only have a maximum of two shapes. (I also intend to incorporate other shapes, and there will probably be score weighting which will need to be considered when going through the conflicting shapes, but that can be another day) I don't think it's a bin packing problem, but I'm not sure what to look for. Hope that makes sense, thanks for your help

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  • Designing spawning system

    - by Vlad
    I played this game recently http://www.kongregate.com/games/JuicyBeast/knightmare-tower and I am amazed by the way how different monsters are beign spawned. I personally developed my own shooter game and I added time based but also count based spawing system. By count based I mean when there are 5 enemies on stage stop spawning. But this is one example. My question is how are these spawning mechanism built, is there some pattern or some theory how they are built? Are there some online materials/pages where I can improve my knowledge? To sumarize, let just say we have 6 types of monsters. I start the game and kill of monsters of type 1,2 and 3 all the time. Once I pass the first ceiling, like in the game above, monster type 4 appear. ANd so on. As I progress trough the game, the same system of 6 types of monsters stay, but they become more and more resilient and dangerous. So I must also improve to be able to destroy the same monsters but now stronger. My question is simple, are there some theories built or written for developing this type of inteligent systems? Note: This is a general question, not tied up with some game or how exactly should the game work. I am capable to program my own mechanisms but I think I need some help. Thanks.

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  • Why do we use Pythagoras in game physics?

    - by Starkers
    I've recently learned that we use Pythagoras a lot in our physics calculations and I'm afraid I don't really get the point. Here's an example from a book to make sure an object doesn't travel faster than a MAXIMUM_VELOCITY constant in the horizontal plane: MAXIMUM_VELOCITY = <any number>; SQUARED_MAXIMUM_VELOCITY = MAXIMUM_VELOCITY * MAXIMUM_VELOCITY; function animate(){ var squared_horizontal_velocity = (x_velocity * x_velocity) + (z_velocity * z_velocity); if( squared_horizontal_velocity <= SQUARED_MAXIMUM_VELOCITY ){ scalar = squared_horizontal_velocity / SQUARED_MAXIMUM_VELOCITY; x_velocity = x_velocity / scalar; z_velocity = x_velocity / scalar; } } Let's try this with some numbers: An object is attempting to move 5 units in x and 5 units in z. It should only be able to move 5 units horizontally in total! MAXIMUM_VELOCITY = 5; SQUARED_MAXIMUM_VELOCITY = 5 * 5; SQUARED_MAXIMUM_VELOCITY = 25; function animate(){ var x_velocity = 5; var z_velocity = 5; var squared_horizontal_velocity = (x_velocity * x_velocity) + (z_velocity * z_velocity); var squared_horizontal_velocity = 5 * 5 + 5 * 5; var squared_horizontal_velocity = 25 + 25; var squared_horizontal_velocity = 50; // if( squared_horizontal_velocity <= SQUARED_MAXIMUM_VELOCITY ){ if( 50 <= 25 ){ scalar = squared_horizontal_velocity / SQUARED_MAXIMUM_VELOCITY; scalar = 50 / 25; scalar = 2.0; x_velocity = x_velocity / scalar; x_velocity = 5 / 2.0; x_velocity = 2.5; z_velocity = z_velocity / scalar; z_velocity = 5 / 2.0; z_velocity = 2.5; // new_horizontal_velocity = x_velocity + z_velocity // new_horizontal_velocity = 2.5 + 2.5 // new_horizontal_velocity = 5 } } Now this works well, but we can do the same thing without Pythagoras: MAXIMUM_VELOCITY = 5; function animate(){ var x_velocity = 5; var z_velocity = 5; var horizontal_velocity = x_velocity + z_velocity; var horizontal_velocity = 5 + 5; var horizontal_velocity = 10; // if( horizontal_velocity >= MAXIMUM_VELOCITY ){ if( 10 >= 5 ){ scalar = horizontal_velocity / MAXIMUM_VELOCITY; scalar = 10 / 5; scalar = 2.0; x_velocity = x_velocity / scalar; x_velocity = 5 / 2.0; x_velocity = 2.5; z_velocity = z_velocity / scalar; z_velocity = 5 / 2.0; z_velocity = 2.5; // new_horizontal_velocity = x_velocity + z_velocity // new_horizontal_velocity = 2.5 + 2.5 // new_horizontal_velocity = 5 } } Benefits of doing it without Pythagoras: Less lines Within those lines, it's easier to read what's going on ...and it takes less time to compute, as there are less multiplications Seems to me like computers and humans get a better deal without Pythagoras! However, I'm sure I'm wrong as I've seen Pythagoras' theorem in a number of reputable places, so I'd like someone to explain me the benefit of using Pythagoras to a maths newbie. Does this have anything to do with unit vectors? To me a unit vector is when we normalize a vector and turn it into a fraction. We do this by dividing the vector by a larger constant. I'm not sure what constant it is. The total size of the graph? Anyway, because it's a fraction, I take it, a unit vector is basically a graph that can fit inside a 3D grid with the x-axis running from -1 to 1, z-axis running from -1 to 1, and the y-axis running from -1 to 1. That's literally everything I know about unit vectors... not much :P And I fail to see their usefulness. Also, we're not really creating a unit vector in the above examples. Should I be determining the scalar like this: // a mathematical work-around of my own invention. There may be a cleverer way to do this! I've also made up my own terms such as 'divisive_scalar' so don't bother googling var divisive_scalar = (squared_horizontal_velocity / SQUARED_MAXIMUM_VELOCITY); var divisive_scalar = ( 50 / 25 ); var divisive_scalar = 2; var multiplicative_scalar = (divisive_scalar / (2*divisive_scalar)); var multiplicative_scalar = (2 / (2*2)); var multiplicative_scalar = (2 / 4); var multiplicative_scalar = 0.5; x_velocity = x_velocity * multiplicative_scalar x_velocity = 5 * 0.5 x_velocity = 2.5 Again, I can't see why this is better, but it's more "unit-vector-y" because the multiplicative_scalar is a unit_vector? As you can see, I use words such as "unit-vector-y" so I'm really not a maths whiz! Also aware that unit vectors might have nothing to do with Pythagoras so ignore all of this if I'm barking up the wrong tree. I'm a very visual person (3D modeller and concept artist by trade!) and I find diagrams and graphs really, really helpful so as many as humanely possible please!

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  • Breakout... Getting the ball reflection X angle when htitting paddle / bricks

    - by Steven Wilson
    Im currently creating a breakout clone for my first ever C# / XNA game. Currently Ive had little trouble creating the paddle object, ball object, and all the bricks. The issue im currently having is getting the ball to bounce off of the paddle and bricks correctly based off of where the ball touches the object. This is my forumala thus far: if (paddleLocation.Intersects(ballLocation)) { position.Y = paddleLocation.Y - texture.Height; motion.Y *= -1; // determine X motion.X = 1 - 2 * (ballLocation.X - paddleLocation.X) / (paddleLocation.Width / 2); } The problem is, the ball goes the opposite direction then its supposed to. When the ball hits the left side of the paddle, instead of bouncing back to the left, it bounces right, and vise versa. Does anyone know what the math equation is to fix this?

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  • Is it ok to initialize an RB_ConstraintActor in PostBeginPlay?

    - by Almo
    I have a KActorSpawnable subclass that acts weird. In PostBeginPlay, I initialize an RB_ConstraintActor; the default is not to allow rotation. If I create one in the editor, it's fine, and won't rotate. If I spawn one, it rotates. Here's the class: class QuadForceKActor extends KActorSpawnable placeable; var(Behavior) bool bConstrainRotation; var(Behavior) bool bConstrainX; var(Behavior) bool bConstrainY; var(Behavior) bool bConstrainZ; var RB_ConstraintActor PhysicsConstraintActor; simulated event PostBeginPlay() { Super.PostBeginPlay(); PhysicsConstraintActor = Spawn(class'RB_ConstraintActorSpawnable', self, '', Location, rot(0, 0, 0)); if(bConstrainRotation) { PhysicsConstraintActor.ConstraintSetup.bSwingLimited = true; PhysicsConstraintActor.ConstraintSetup.bTwistLimited = true; } SetLinearConstraints(bConstrainX, bConstrainY, bConstrainZ); PhysicsConstraintActor.InitConstraint(self, None); } function SetLinearConstraints(bool InConstrainX, bool InConstrainY, bool InConstrainZ) { if(InConstrainX) { PhysicsConstraintActor.ConstraintSetup.LinearXSetup.bLimited = 1; } else { PhysicsConstraintActor.ConstraintSetup.LinearXSetup.bLimited = 0; } if(InConstrainY) { PhysicsConstraintActor.ConstraintSetup.LinearYSetup.bLimited = 1; } else { PhysicsConstraintActor.ConstraintSetup.LinearYSetup.bLimited = 0; } if(InConstrainZ) { PhysicsConstraintActor.ConstraintSetup.LinearZSetup.bLimited = 1; } else { PhysicsConstraintActor.ConstraintSetup.LinearZSetup.bLimited = 0; } } DefaultProperties { bConstrainRotation=true bConstrainX=false bConstrainY=false bConstrainZ=false bSafeBaseIfAsleep=false bNoEncroachCheck=false } Here's the code I use to spawn one. It's a subclass of the one above, but it doesn't reference the constraint at all. local QuadForceKCreateBlock BlockActor; BlockActor = spawn(class'QuadForceKCreateBlock', none, 'PowerCreate_Block', BlockLocation(), m_PreparedRotation, , false); BlockActor.SetDuration(m_BlockDuration); BlockActor.StaticMeshComponent.SetNotifyRigidBodyCollision(true); BlockActor.StaticMeshComponent.ScriptRigidBodyCollisionThreshold = 0.001; BlockActor.StaticMeshComponent.SetStaticMesh(m_ValidCreationBlock.StaticMesh); BlockActor.StaticMeshComponent.AddImpulse(m_InitialVelocity); I used to initialize an RB_ConstraintActor where I spawned it from the outside. This worked, which is why I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with the other code in QuadForceKCreateBlock. I then added the internal constraint in QuadForceKActor for other purposes. When I realized I had two constraints on the CreateBlock doing the same thing, I removed the constraint code from the place where I spawn it. Then it started rotating. Is there a reason I should not be initializing an RB_ConstraintActor in PostBeginPlay? I feel like there's some basic thing about how the engine works that I'm missing.

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  • Annoying flickering of vertices and edges (possible z-fighting)

    - by Belgin
    I'm trying to make a software z-buffer implementation, however, after I generate the z-buffer and proceed with the vertex culling, I get pretty severe discrepancies between the vertex depth and the depth of the buffer at their projected coordinates on the screen (i.e. zbuffer[v.xp][v.yp] != v.z, where xp and yp are the projected x and y coordinates of the vertex v), sometimes by a small fraction of a unit and sometimes by 2 or 3 units. Here's what I think is happening: Each triangle's data structure holds the plane's (that is defined by the triangle) coefficients (a, b, c, d) computed from its three vertices from their normal: void computeNormal(Vertex *v1, Vertex *v2, Vertex *v3, double *a, double *b, double *c) { double a1 = v1 -> x - v2 -> x; double a2 = v1 -> y - v2 -> y; double a3 = v1 -> z - v2 -> z; double b1 = v3 -> x - v2 -> x; double b2 = v3 -> y - v2 -> y; double b3 = v3 -> z - v2 -> z; *a = a2*b3 - a3*b2; *b = -(a1*b3 - a3*b1); *c = a1*b2 - a2*b1; } void computePlane(Poly *p) { double x = p -> verts[0] -> x; double y = p -> verts[0] -> y; double z = p -> verts[0] -> z; computeNormal(p -> verts[0], p -> verts[1], p -> verts[2], &p -> a, &p -> b, &p -> c); p -> d = p -> a * x + p -> b * y + p -> c * z; } The z-buffer just holds the smallest depth at the respective xy coordinate by somewhat casting rays to the polygon (I haven't quite got interpolation right yet so I'm using this slower method until I do) and determining the z coordinate from the reversed perspective projection formulas (which I got from here: double z = -(b*Ez*y + a*Ez*x - d*Ez)/(b*y + a*x + c*Ez - b*Ey - a*Ex); Where x and y are the pixel's coordinates on the screen; a, b, c, and d are the planes coefficients; Ex, Ey, and Ez are the eye's (camera's) coordinates. This last formula does not accurately give the exact vertices' z coordinate at their projected x and y coordinates on the screen, probably because of some floating point inaccuracy (i.e. I've seen it return something like 3.001 when the vertex's z-coordinate was actually 2.998). Here is the portion of code that hides the vertices that shouldn't be visible: for(i = 0; i < shape.nverts; ++i) { double dist = shape.verts[i].z; if(z_buffer[shape.verts[i].yp][shape.verts[i].xp].z < dist) shape.verts[i].visible = 0; else shape.verts[i].visible = 1; } How do I solve this issue? EDIT I've implemented the near and far planes of the frustum, with 24 bit accuracy, and now I have some questions: Is this what I have to do this in order to resolve the flickering? When I compare the z value of the vertex with the z value in the buffer, do I have to convert the z value of the vertex to z' using the formula, or do I convert the value in the buffer back to the original z, and how do I do that? What are some decent values for near and far? Thanks in advance.

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  • How to get warnings when compiling fx files

    - by jdv-Jan de Vaan
    When I compile DirectX shaders (.fx files), I dont see any compiler warnings unless there was an error in the effect. This happens both when using the offline FXC compiler, as well as calling SlimDx's CompileEffect (which is what we normally do). I could force warnings as errors (/WX), but if you enable that, you get an error that compilation failed, without the warning that caused the problem. So how can I output warnings for shaders that compile properly?

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  • Rotating wheel with touch adding velocity

    - by Lewis
    I have a wheel control in a game which is setup like so: - (void)ccTouchesMoved:(NSSet *)touches withEvent:(UIEvent *)event { UITouch *touch = [touches anyObject]; CGPoint location = [touch locationInView:[touch view]]; location = [[CCDirector sharedDirector] convertToGL:location]; if (CGRectContainsPoint(wheel.boundingBox, location)) { CGPoint firstLocation = [touch previousLocationInView:[touch view]]; CGPoint location = [touch locationInView:[touch view]]; CGPoint touchingPoint = [[CCDirector sharedDirector] convertToGL:location]; CGPoint firstTouchingPoint = [[CCDirector sharedDirector] convertToGL:firstLocation]; CGPoint firstVector = ccpSub(firstTouchingPoint, wheel.position); CGFloat firstRotateAngle = -ccpToAngle(firstVector); CGFloat previousTouch = CC_RADIANS_TO_DEGREES(firstRotateAngle); CGPoint vector = ccpSub(touchingPoint, wheel.position); CGFloat rotateAngle = -ccpToAngle(vector); CGFloat currentTouch = CC_RADIANS_TO_DEGREES(rotateAngle); wheelRotation += (currentTouch - previousTouch) * 0.6; //limit speed 0.6 } } I update the rotation of a the wheel in the update method by doing: wheel.rotation = wheelRotation; Now once the user lets go of the wheel I want it to rotate back to where it was before but not without taking into account the velocity of the swipe the user has done. This is the bit I really can't get my head around. So if the swipe generates a lot of velocity then the wheel will carry on moving slightly in that direction until the overall force which pulls the wheel back to the starting position kicks in. Any ideas/code snippets?

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  • Efficiently representing a dynamic transform hierarchy

    - by Mattia
    I'm looking for a way to represent a dynamic transform hierarchy (i.e. one where nodes can be inserted and removed arbitrarily) that's a bit more efficient than using a standard tree of pointers . I saw the answers to this question ( Efficient structure for representing a transform hierarchy. ), but as far as I can determine the tree-as-array approach only works for static hierarchies or dynamic ones where nodes have a fixed number of children (both deal-breakers for me). I'm probably wrong about that but could anyone point out how? If I'm not wrong are there other alternatives that work for dynamic hierarchies?

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  • Breakout ball collision detection, bouncing against the walls

    - by Sri Harsha Chilakapati
    I'm currently trying to program a breakout game to distribute it as an example game for my own game engine. http://game-engine-for-java.googlecode.com/ But the problem here is that I can't get the bouncing condition working properly. Here's what I'm using. public void collision(GObject other){ if (other instanceof Bat || other instanceof Block){ bounce(); } else if (other instanceof Stone){ other.destroy(); bounce(); } //Breakout.HIT.play(); } And here's by bounce() method public void bounce(){ boolean left = false; boolean right = false; boolean up = false; boolean down = false; if (dx < 0) { left = true; } else if (dx > 0) { right = true; } if (dy < 0) { up = true; } else if (dy > 0) { down = true; } if (left && up) { dx = -dx; } if (left && down) { dy = -dy; } if (right && up) { dx = -dx; } if (right && down) { dy = -dy; } } The ball bounces the bat and blocks but when the block is on top of the ball, it won't bounce and moves upwards out of the game. What I'm missing? Is there anything to implement? Please help me.. Thanks

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  • Using Appendbuffers in unity for terrain generation

    - by Wardy
    Like many others I figured I would try and make the most of the monster processing power of the GPU but I'm having trouble getting the basics in place. CPU code: using UnityEngine; using System.Collections; public class Test : MonoBehaviour { public ComputeShader Generator; public MeshTopology Topology; void OnEnable() { var computedMeshPoints = ComputeMesh(); CreateMeshFrom(computedMeshPoints); } private Vector3[] ComputeMesh() { var size = (32*32) * 4; // 4 points added for each x,z pos var buffer = new ComputeBuffer(size, 12, ComputeBufferType.Append); Generator.SetBuffer(0, "vertexBuffer", buffer); Generator.Dispatch(0, 1, 1, 1); var results = new Vector3[size]; buffer.GetData(results); buffer.Dispose(); return results; } private void CreateMeshFrom(Vector3[] generatedPoints) { var filter = GetComponent<MeshFilter>(); var renderer = GetComponent<MeshRenderer>(); if (generatedPoints.Length > 0) { var mesh = new Mesh { vertices = generatedPoints }; var colors = new Color[generatedPoints.Length]; var indices = new int[generatedPoints.Length]; //TODO: build this different based on topology of the mesh being generated for (int i = 0; i < indices.Length; i++) { indices[i] = i; colors[i] = Color.blue; } mesh.SetIndices(indices, Topology, 0); mesh.colors = colors; mesh.RecalculateNormals(); mesh.Optimize(); mesh.RecalculateBounds(); filter.sharedMesh = mesh; } else { filter.sharedMesh = null; } } } GPU code: #pragma kernel Generate AppendStructuredBuffer<float3> vertexBuffer : register(u0); void genVertsAt(uint2 xzPos) { //TODO: put some height generation code here. // could even run marching cubes / dual contouring code. float3 corner1 = float3( xzPos[0], 0, xzPos[1] ); float3 corner2 = float3( xzPos[0] + 1, 0, xzPos[1] ); float3 corner3 = float3( xzPos[0], 0, xzPos[1] + 1); float3 corner4 = float3( xzPos[0] + 1, 0, xzPos[1] + 1 ); vertexBuffer.Append(corner1); vertexBuffer.Append(corner2); vertexBuffer.Append(corner3); vertexBuffer.Append(corner4); } [numthreads(32, 1, 32)] void Generate (uint3 threadId : SV_GroupThreadID, uint3 groupId : SV_GroupID) { uint2 currentXZ = unint2( groupId.x * 32 + threadId.x, groupId.z * 32 + threadId.z); genVertsAt(currentXZ); } Can anyone explain why when I call "buffer.GetData(results);" on the CPU after the compute dispatch call my buffer is full of Vector3(0,0,0), I'm not expecting any y values yet but I would expect a bunch of thread indexes in the x,z values for the Vector3 array. I'm not getting any errors in any of this code which suggests it's correct syntax-wise but maybe the issue is a logical bug. Also: Yes, I know I'm generating 4,000 Vector3's and then basically round tripping them. However, the purpose of this code is purely to learn how round tripping works between CPU and GPU in Unity.

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  • Low-level game engine renderer design

    - by Mark Ingram
    I'm piecing together the beginnings of an extremely basic engine which will let me draw arbitrary objects (SceneObject). I've got to the point where I'm creating a few sensible sounding classes, but as this is my first outing into game engines, I've got the feeling I'm overlooking things. I'm familiar with compartmentalising larger portions of the code so that individual sub-systems don't overly interact with each other, but I'm thinking more of the low-level stuff, starting from vertices working up. So if I have a Vertex class, I can combine that with a list of indices to make a Mesh class. How does the engine determine identical meshes for objects? Or is that left to the level designer? Once we have a Mesh, that can be contained in the SceneObject class. And a list of SceneObject can be placed into the Scene to be drawn. Right now I'm only using OpenGL, but I'm aware that I don't want to be tying OpenGL calls right in to base classes (such as updating the vertices in the Mesh, I don't want to be calling glBufferData etc). Are there any good resources that discuss these issues? Are there any "common" heirachies which should be used?

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  • How to implement smooth flocking

    - by Craig
    I'm working on a simple survival game, avoid the big guy and chase the the small guys to stay alive for as long as possible. I have taken the chase and evade example from MSDN create and drawn 20 mice on the screen. I want the small guys to flock when they arent evading. They are doing this, but it isnt as smooth as I would like it to be. How do i make the movement smoother? Its very jittery.# Below is what I have going at the moment, flocking code is within the IF statement, when it isnt set to evading. Any help would be greatly appreciated! :) namespace ChaseAndEvade { class MouseSprite { public enum MouseAiState { // evading the cat Evading, // the mouse can't see the "cat", and it's wandering around. Wander } // how fast can the mouse move? public float MaxMouseSpeed = 4.5f; // and how fast can it turn? public float MouseTurnSpeed = 0.20f; // MouseEvadeDistance controls the distance at which the mouse will flee from // cat. If the mouse is further than "MouseEvadeDistance" pixels away, he will // consider himself safe. public float MouseEvadeDistance = 100.0f; // this constant is similar to TankHysteresis. The value is larger than the // tank's hysteresis value because the mouse is faster than the tank: with a // higher velocity, small fluctuations are much more visible. public float MouseHysteresis = 60.0f; public Texture2D mouseTexture; public Vector2 mouseTextureCenter; public Vector2 mousePosition; public MouseAiState mouseState = MouseAiState.Wander; public float mouseOrientation; public Vector2 mouseWanderDirection; int separationImpact = 4; int cohesionImpact = 6; int alignmentImpact = 2; int sensorDistance = 50; public void UpdateMouse(Vector2 position, MouseSprite [] mice, int numberMice, int index) { Vector2 catPosition = position; int enemies = numberMice; // first, calculate how far away the mouse is from the cat, and use that // information to decide how to behave. If they are too close, the mouse // will switch to "active" mode - fleeing. if they are far apart, the mouse // will switch to "idle" mode, where it roams around the screen. // we use a hysteresis constant in the decision making process, as described // in the accompanying doc file. float distanceFromCat = Vector2.Distance(mousePosition, catPosition); // the cat is a safe distance away, so the mouse should idle: if (distanceFromCat > MouseEvadeDistance + MouseHysteresis) { mouseState = MouseAiState.Wander; } // the cat is too close; the mouse should run: else if (distanceFromCat < MouseEvadeDistance - MouseHysteresis) { mouseState = MouseAiState.Evading; } // if neither of those if blocks hit, we are in the "hysteresis" range, // and the mouse will continue doing whatever it is doing now. // the mouse will move at a different speed depending on what state it // is in. when idle it won't move at full speed, but when actively evading // it will move as fast as it can. this variable is used to track which // speed the mouse should be moving. float currentMouseSpeed; // the second step of the Update is to change the mouse's orientation based // on its current state. if (mouseState == MouseAiState.Evading) { // If the mouse is "active," it is trying to evade the cat. The evasion // behavior is accomplished by using the TurnToFace function to turn // towards a point on a straight line facing away from the cat. In other // words, if the cat is point A, and the mouse is point B, the "seek // point" is C. // C // B // A Vector2 seekPosition = 2 * mousePosition - catPosition; // Use the TurnToFace function, which we introduced in the AI Series 1: // Aiming sample, to turn the mouse towards the seekPosition. Now when // the mouse moves forward, it'll be trying to move in a straight line // away from the cat. mouseOrientation = ChaseAndEvadeGame.TurnToFace(mousePosition, seekPosition, mouseOrientation, MouseTurnSpeed); // set currentMouseSpeed to MaxMouseSpeed - the mouse should run as fast // as it can. currentMouseSpeed = MaxMouseSpeed; } else { // if the mouse isn't trying to evade the cat, it should just meander // around the screen. we'll use the Wander function, which the mouse and // tank share, to accomplish this. mouseWanderDirection and // mouseOrientation are passed by ref so that the wander function can // modify them. for more information on ref parameters, see // http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/14akc2c7(VS.80).aspx ChaseAndEvadeGame.Wander(mousePosition, ref mouseWanderDirection, ref mouseOrientation, MouseTurnSpeed); // if the mouse is wandering, it should only move at 25% of its maximum // speed. currentMouseSpeed = .25f * MaxMouseSpeed; Vector2 separate = Vector2.Zero; Vector2 moveCloser = Vector2.Zero; Vector2 moveAligned = Vector2.Zero; // What the AI does when it sees other AIs for (int j = 0; j < enemies; j++) { if (index != j) { // Calculate a vector towards another AI Vector2 separation = mice[index].mousePosition - mice[j].mousePosition; // Only react if other AI is within a certain distance if ((separation.Length() < this.sensorDistance) & (separation.Length()> 0) ) { moveAligned += mice[j].mouseWanderDirection; float distance = Math.Abs(separation.Length()); if (distance == 0) distance = 1; moveCloser += mice[j].mousePosition; separation.Normalize(); separate += separation / distance; } } } if (moveAligned.LengthSquared() != 0) { moveAligned.Normalize(); } if (moveCloser.LengthSquared() != 0) { moveCloser.Normalize(); } moveCloser /= enemies; mice[index].mousePosition += (separate * separationImpact) + (moveCloser * cohesionImpact) + (moveAligned * alignmentImpact); } // The final step is to move the mouse forward based on its current // orientation. First, we construct a "heading" vector from the orientation // angle. To do this, we'll use Cosine and Sine to tell us the x and y // components of the heading vector. See the accompanying doc for more // information. Vector2 heading = new Vector2( (float)Math.Cos(mouseOrientation), (float)Math.Sin(mouseOrientation)); // by multiplying the heading and speed, we can get a velocity vector. the // velocity vector is then added to the mouse's current position, moving him // forward. mousePosition += heading * currentMouseSpeed; } } }

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  • Where can I find "magic numbers" for classic game play mechanics?

    - by MrDatabase
    I'd like to find some "magic numbers" for the classic helicopter game. For example the numbers that determine how fast the helicopter accelerates up and down. Also perhaps the "randomness" of the obstacles (uniformly distributed? Gaussian?). Where can I find these numbers? p.s. I don't care about the particular platform... Flash on the desktop browser is just as good as some implementation on a mobile device.

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  • Sharing VBO with multiple objects and fixed size buffer data

    - by Mark Ingram
    I'm just messing around with OpenGL and getting some basic structures in place and my first attempt resulted in each SceneObject class (just contains vertex information right now) having it's own VBO inside it, however I've read that it might be better to share VBOs across multiple objects. Also, I read that you should avoid resizing a VBO (repeated calls to glBufferData with different size parameters), and instead choose a fixed size for a VBO, and just try a range from the buffer. I don't think changing the size of the buffer data would happen too often, but surely it would be better to only allocate the data you need? Choosing an arbitrary value seems risky. I'm looking for some advice on working with individual objects in a scene and their associated buffer data.

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  • Dynamic body implementation

    - by ArturoVM
    I am writing a 2D game where one of the characters has some very particular requirements. This character is a body with no particular shape (similar to a fluid, but not so much), it has to be able to grow and shrink (as in actually growing, not just scaling), and it has to have collision detection (even if it's basic). Because of this requirements, it obviously can't be based on a sprite, so direct rendering of the shape should be the logical thing to do. I assume this is no easy task, but I just couldn't find a good physics engine that covers these requirements (or at least no tutorial on how to do it; I particularly searched for Box2D tutorials). Is there a way of doing this with Box2D, SDL, or any other physics or game engine out there? If not, what's a good place to start? I am really clueless as far as soft-body physics are concerned.

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  • List of Open Source Java Games for Android

    - by BluFire
    I'm wondering if there are any more opensource games than the ones that you can plainly see when you search a list of open source games for android on google. Such as, is there a good website that has compiled open source games? I don't want an answer of "go google it" or "en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_open_source_Android_applications" it gets really annoying on posts when people just give lazy answers.

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  • libgdx arrays onTouch() method and delays for objects

    - by johnny-b
    i am trying to create random bullets but it is not working for some reason. also how can i make a delay so the bullets come every 30 seconds or 1 minute???? also the onTouch method does not work and it is not taking the bullet away???? shall i put the array in the GameRender class? thanks public class GameWorld { public static Ball ball; private Bullet bullet1; private ScrollHandler scroller; private Array<Bullet> bullets = new Array<Bullet>(); public GameWorld() { ball = new Ball(280, 273, 32, 32); bullet = new Bullet(-300, 200); scroller = new ScrollHandler(0); bullets.add(new Bullet(bullet.getX(), bullet.getY())); bullets = new Array<Bullet>(); Bullet bullet = null; float bulletX = 0.0f; float bulletY = 0.0f; for (int i=0; i < 10; i++) { bulletX = MathUtils.random(-10, 10); bulletY = MathUtils.random(-10, 10); bullet = new Bullet(bulletX, bulletY); bullets.add(bullet); } } public void update(float delta) { ball.update(delta); bullet.update(delta); scroller.update(delta); } public static Ball getBall() { return ball; } public ScrollHandler getScroller() { return scroller; } public Bullet getBullet1() { return bullet1; } } i also tried this and it is not working, i used this in the GameRender class Array<Bullet> enemies=new Array<Bullet>(); //in the constructor of the class enemies.add(new Bullet(bullet.getX(), bullet.getY())); // this throws an exception for some reason??? this is in the render method for(int i=0; i<bullet.size; i++) bullet.get(i).draw(batcher); //this i am using in any method that will allow me from the constructor to update to render for(int i=0; i<bullet.size; i++) bullet.get(i).update(delta); this is not taking the bullet out @Override public boolean touchDown(int screenX, int screenY, int pointer, int button) { for(int i=0; i<bullet.size; i++) if(bullet.get(i).getBounds().contains(screenX,screenY)) bullet.removeIndex(i--); return false; } thanks for the help anyone.

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  • Designing rules to fight smallpox in Civ-style TBS games

    - by Williham Totland
    TL;DR: How do you design a ruleset for a Civ-style TBS game that prevents city smallpox from being a profitable or viable strategy? Long version: Civ-style games are pretty great. Bringing a civilization from cradle to grave is a great endeavor, and practicing diplomacy with hard-line human players is fun and challenging. In theory. In practice, however, many of these games has, especially in multiplayer, exactly one viable strategy: City smallpox, a.k.a. infinite city spread, a.k.a. covering all available space with 1-citizen cities, packed as tight as they will go. I suppose this could count as emergent gameplay, but still; it could hardly be considered to be in the spirit of the class of game. The Civilization series, of course, is stuck in their more or less fixed rule sets, established with Civilization. Yes, there have been major changes in some respects, but the rules pertaining to city building and maintenance have stayed pretty similar. So the question, then: If you build a ruleset for a TBS from the ground up; what rules should be in place to prevent Infinite City Sprawl from being a viable strategy? Or should ICS be a viable strategy?

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  • Would someone please explain Octree Collisions to me?

    - by A-Type
    I've been reading everything I can find on the subject and I feel like the pieces are just about to fall into place, but I just can't quite get it. I'm making a space game, where collisions will occur between planets, ships, asteroids, and the sun. Each of these objects can be subdivided into 'chunks', which I have implemented to speed up rendering (the vertices can and will change often at runtime, so I've separated the buffers). These subdivisions also have bounding primitives to test for collision. All of these objects are made of blocks (yeah, it's that kind of game). Blocks can also be tested for rough collisions, though they do not have individual bounding primitives for memory reasons. I think the rough testing seems to be sufficient, though. So, collision needs to be fairly precise; at block resolution. Some functions rely on two blocks colliding. And, of course, attacking specific blocks is important. Now what I am struggling with is filtering my collision pairs. As I said, I've read a lot about Octrees, but I'm having trouble applying it to my situation as many tutorials are vague with very little code. My main issues are: Are Octrees recalculated each frame, or are they stored in memory and objects are shuffled into different divisions as they move? Despite all my reading I still am not clear on this... the vagueness of it all has been frustrating. How far do Octrees subdivide? Planets in my game are quite large, while asteroids are smaller. Do I subdivide to the size of the planet, or asteroid (where planet is in multiple divisions)? Or is the limit something else entirely, like number of elements in the division? Should I load objects into the octrees as 'chunks' or in the whole, then break into chunks later? This could be specific to my implementation, I suppose. I was going to ask about how big my root needed to be, but I did manage to find this question, and the second answer seems sufficient for me. I'm afraid I don't really get what he means by adding new nodes and doing subdivisions upon adding new objects, probably because I'm confused about whether the tree is maintained in memory or recalculated per-frame.

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