Search Results

Search found 31839 results on 1274 pages for 'plugin development'.

Page 520/1274 | < Previous Page | 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527  | Next Page >

  • In an Entity/Component system, can component data be implemented as a simple array of key-value pairs? [on hold]

    - by 010110110101
    I'm trying to wrap my head around how to organize components in an Entity Component Systems once everything in the current scene/level is loaded in memory. (I'm a hobbyist BTW) Some people seem to implement the Entity as an object that contains a list of of "Component" objects. Components contain data organized as an array of key-value pairs. Where the value is serialized "somehow". (pseudocode is loosely in C# for brevity) class Entity { Guid _id; List<Component> _components; } class Component { List<ComponentAttributeValue> _attributes; } class ComponentAttributeValue { string AttributeName; object AttributeValue; } Others describe Components as an in-memory "table". An entity acquires the component by having its key placed in a table. The attributes of the component-entity instance are like the columns in a table class Renderable_Component { List<RenderableComponentAttributeValue> _entities; } class RenderableComponentAttributeValue { Guid entityId; matrix4 transformation; // other stuff for rendering // everything is strongly typed } Others describe this actually as a table. (and such tables sound like an EAV database schema BTW) (and the value is serialized "somehow") Render_Component_Table ---------------- Entity Id Attribute Name Attribute Value and when brought into running code: class Entity { Guid _id; Dictionary<string, object> _attributes; } My specific question is: Given various components, (Renderable, Positionable, Explodeable, Hideable, etc) and given that each component has an attribute with a particular name, (TRANSLATION_MATRIX, PARTICLE_EMISSION_VELOCITY, CAN_HIDE, FAVORITE_COLOR, etc) should: an entity contain a list of components where each component, in turn, has their own array of named attributes with values serialized somehow or should components exist as in-memory tables of entity references and associated with each "row" there are "columns" representing the attribute with values that are specific to each entity instance and are strongly typed or all attributes be stored in an entity as a singular array of named attributes with values serialized somehow (could have name collisions) or something else???

    Read the article

  • Entity Component System for HUD and GUI

    - by Jason L.
    This is a very rough sketch of how I currently have things designed. It should, at least, give an idea of how my ECS is currently designed. If you notice in that diagram, I have basically split the HUD out of the ECS. They have their own set of things (HudLayer, HudComponent, etc) and are handled differently. This is where I'm struggling, though. There are many different instances in which the HUD will need to know about entities. Not just data changing (I have an event dispatcher for that), but the actual entity and all it encompasses. There are also situations where entities will need to be able to query the HUD for data. Let's take a couple examples: First, my equipment screen. On here I can change the equipment on a character (Entity). In order for this to happen, I need to know about the entity. At least I think I do? How can I handle this? The second scenario involves my Systems needing to query a HudComponent for data. A specific example would be my battle system. Each "team" is given a 3x3 grid they can move around in. See here: Skills target these cells, and not the player, so I would need a way for my systems to determine which cells are occupied and which are not. Basically I need a way for two way communication between Systems and my HUD. I know it's recommended (by some people, anyways) to take your HUD out of the ECS. Is that appropriate in my case?

    Read the article

  • Making a Background Scrolling in Stacking Game

    - by David Dimalanta
    Hmmm...Is it a good idea to use a LibGDX parallax background for making a stacking game (i.e. PAPA STACKer Lite)? For example, I'm starting to use the blocks to drag-n-drop it. Next, when the next piece reaches the top of the screen, it automatically scrolls to the next one where the available space left. Aside from that, is it also involved with the camera code (Orthographic Camera) that the screen size appeared like 720x1280 but actually it's 1440x2560 for example? And another thing, does the background scrolling have the option to scroll from start to finish and infinite?

    Read the article

  • Collision detection via adjacent tiles - sprite too big

    - by BlackMamba
    I have managed to create a collision detection system for my tile-based jump'n'run game (written in C++/SFML), where I check on each update what values the surrounding tiles of the player contain and then I let the player move accordingly (i. e. move left when there is an obstacle on the right side). This works fine when the player sprite is not too big: Given a tile size of 5x5 pixels, my solution worked quite fine with a spritesize of 3x4 and 5x5 pixels. My problem is that I actually need the player to be quite gigantic (34x70 pixels given the same tilesize). When I try this, there seems to be an invisible, notably smaller boundingbox where the player collides with obstacles, the player also seems to shake strongly. Here some images to explain what I mean: Works: http://tinypic.com/r/207lvfr/8 Doesn't work: http://tinypic.com/r/2yuk02q/8 Another example of non-functioning: http://tinypic.com/r/kexbwl/8 (the player isn't falling, he stays there in the corner) My code for getting the surrounding tiles looks like this (I removed some parts to make it better readable): std::vector<std::map<std::string, int> > Game::getSurroundingTiles(sf::Vector2f position) { // converting the pixel coordinates to tilemap coordinates sf::Vector2u pPos(static_cast<int>(position.x/tileSize.x), static_cast<int>(position.y/tileSize.y)); std::vector<std::map<std::string, int> > surroundingTiles; for(int i = 0; i < 9; ++i) { // calculating the relative position of the surrounding tile(s) int c = i % 3; int r = static_cast<int>(i/3); // we subtract 1 to place the player in the middle of the 3x3 grid sf::Vector2u tilePos(pPos.x + (c - 1), pPos.y + (r - 1)); // this tells us what kind of block this tile is int tGid = levelMap[tilePos.y][tilePos.x]; // converts the coords from tile to world coords sf::Vector2u tileRect(tilePos.x*5, tilePos.y*5); // storing all the information std::map<std::string, int> tileDict; tileDict.insert(std::make_pair("gid", tGid)); tileDict.insert(std::make_pair("x", tileRect.x)); tileDict.insert(std::make_pair("y", tileRect.y)); // adding the stored information to our vector surroundingTiles.push_back(tileDict); } // I organise the map so that it is arranged like the following: /* * 4 | 1 | 5 * -- -- -- * 2 | / | 3 * -- -- -- * 6 | 0 | 7 * */ return surroundingTiles; } I then check in a loop through the surrounding tiles, if there is a 1 as gid (indicates obstacle) and then check for intersections with that adjacent tile. The problem I just can't overcome is that I think that I need to store the values of all the adjacent tiles and then check for them. How? And may there be a better solution? Any help is appreciated. P.S.: My implementation derives from this blog entry, I mostly just translated it from Objective-C/Cocos2d.

    Read the article

  • Spritebatch drawing sprite with jagged borders

    - by Mutoh
    Alright, I've been on the making of a sprite class and a sprite sheet manager, but have come across this problem. Pretty much, the project is acting like so; for example: Let's take this .png image, with a transparent background. Note how it has alpha-transparent pixels around it in the lineart. Now, in the latter link's image, in the left (with CornflowerBlue background) it is shown the image drawn in another project (let's call it "Project1") with a simpler sprite class - there, it works. The right (with Purple background for differentiating) shows it drawn with a different class in "Project2" - where the problem manifests itself. This is the Sprite class of Project1: using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; using System.Text; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Content; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Graphics; namespace WindowsGame2 { class Sprite { Vector2 pos = new Vector2(0, 0); Texture2D image; Rectangle size; float scale = 1.0f; // --- public float X { get { return pos.X; } set { pos.X = value; } } public float Y { get { return pos.Y; } set { pos.Y = value; } } public float Width { get { return size.Width; } } public float Height { get { return size.Height; } } public float Scale { get { return scale; } set { if (value < 0) value = 0; scale = value; if (image != null) { size.Width = (int)(image.Width * scale); size.Height = (int)(image.Height * scale); } } } // --- public void Load(ContentManager Man, string filename) { image = Man.Load<Texture2D>(filename); size = new Rectangle( 0, 0, (int)(image.Width * scale), (int)(image.Height * scale) ); } public void Become(Texture2D frame) { image = frame; size = new Rectangle( 0, 0, (int)(image.Width * scale), (int)(image.Height * scale) ); } public void Draw(SpriteBatch Desenhista) { // Desenhista.Draw(image, pos, Color.White); Desenhista.Draw( image, pos, new Rectangle( 0, 0, image.Width, image.Height ), Color.White, 0.0f, Vector2.Zero, scale, SpriteEffects.None, 0 ); } } } And this is the code in Project2, a rewritten, pretty much, version of the previous class. In this one I added sprite sheet managing and, in particular, removed Load and Become, to allow for static resources and only actual Sprites to be instantiated. using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; using System.Text; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Content; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Graphics; namespace Mobby_s_Adventure { // Actually, I might desconsider this, and instead use static AnimationLocation[] and instanciated ID and Frame; // For determining the starting frame of an animation in a sheet and being able to iterate through // the Rectangles vector of the Sheet; class AnimationLocation { public int Location; public int FrameCount; // --- public AnimationLocation(int StartingRow, int StartingColumn, int SheetWidth, int NumberOfFrames) { Location = (StartingRow * SheetWidth) + StartingColumn; FrameCount = NumberOfFrames; } public AnimationLocation(int PositionInSheet, int NumberOfFrames) { Location = PositionInSheet; FrameCount = NumberOfFrames; } public static int CalculatePosition(int StartingRow, int StartingColumn, SheetManager Sheet) { return ((StartingRow * Sheet.Width) + StartingColumn); } } class Sprite { // The general stuff; protected SheetManager Sheet; protected Vector2 Position; public Vector2 Axis; protected Color _Tint; public float Angle; public float Scale; protected SpriteEffects _Effect; // --- // protected AnimationManager Animation; // For managing the animations; protected AnimationLocation[] Animation; public int AnimationID; protected int Frame; // --- // Properties for easy accessing of the position of the sprite; public float X { get { return Position.X; } set { Position.X = Axis.X + value; } } public float Y { get { return Position.Y; } set { Position.Y = Axis.Y + value; } } // --- // Properties for knowing the size of the sprite's frames public float Width { get { return Sheet.FrameWidth * Scale; } } public float Height { get { return Sheet.FrameHeight * Scale; } } // --- // Properties for more stuff; public Color Tint { set { _Tint = value; } } public SpriteEffects Effect { set { _Effect = value; } } public int FrameID { get { return Frame; } set { if (value >= (Animation[AnimationID].FrameCount)) value = 0; Frame = value; } } // --- // The only things that will be constantly modified will be AnimationID and FrameID, anything else only // occasionally; public Sprite(SheetManager SpriteSheet, AnimationLocation[] Animations, Vector2 Location, Nullable<Vector2> Origin = null) { // Assign the sprite's sprite sheet; // (Passed by reference! To allow STATIC sheets!) Sheet = SpriteSheet; // Define the animations that the sprite has available; // (Passed by reference! To allow STATIC animation boundaries!) Animation = Animations; // Defaulting some numerical values; Angle = 0.0f; Scale = 1.0f; _Tint = Color.White; _Effect = SpriteEffects.None; // If the user wants a default Axis, it is set in the middle of the frame; if (Origin != null) Axis = Origin.Value; else Axis = new Vector2( Sheet.FrameWidth / 2, Sheet.FrameHeight / 2 ); // Now that we have the axis, we can set the position with no worries; X = Location.X; Y = Location.Y; } // Simply put, draw the sprite with all its characteristics; public void Draw(SpriteBatch Drafter) { Drafter.Draw( Sheet.Texture, Position, Sheet.Rectangles[Animation[AnimationID].Location + FrameID], // Find the rectangle which frames the wanted image; _Tint, Angle, Axis, Scale, _Effect, 0.0f ); } } } And, in any case, this is the SheetManager class found in the previous code: using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; using System.Text; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Content; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Graphics; namespace Mobby_s_Adventure { class SheetManager { protected Texture2D SpriteSheet; // For storing the sprite sheet; // Number of rows and frames in each row in the SpriteSheet; protected int NumberOfRows; protected int NumberOfColumns; // Size of a single frame; protected int _FrameWidth; protected int _FrameHeight; public Rectangle[] Rectangles; // For storing each frame; // --- public int Width { get { return NumberOfColumns; } } public int Height { get { return NumberOfRows; } } // --- public int FrameWidth { get { return _FrameWidth; } } public int FrameHeight { get { return _FrameHeight; } } // --- public Texture2D Texture { get { return SpriteSheet; } } // --- public SheetManager (Texture2D Texture, int Rows, int FramesInEachRow) { // Normal assigning SpriteSheet = Texture; NumberOfRows = Rows; NumberOfColumns = FramesInEachRow; _FrameHeight = Texture.Height / NumberOfRows; _FrameWidth = Texture.Width / NumberOfColumns; // Framing everything Rectangles = new Rectangle[NumberOfRows * NumberOfColumns]; int ID = 0; for (int i = 0; i < NumberOfRows; i++) { for (int j = 0; j < NumberOfColumns; j++) { Rectangles[ID] = new Rectangle ( _FrameWidth * j, _FrameHeight * i, _FrameWidth, _FrameHeight ); ID++; } } } public SheetManager (Texture2D Texture, int NumberOfFrames): this(Texture, 1, NumberOfFrames) { } } } For even more comprehending, if needed, here is how the main code looks like (it's just messing with the class' capacities, nothing actually; the result is a disembodied feet walking in place animation on the top-left of the screen and a static axe nearby): using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Audio; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Content; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.GamerServices; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Graphics; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Input; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Media; using System.Threading; namespace Mobby_s_Adventure { /// <summary> /// This is the main type for your game /// </summary> public class Game1 : Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game { GraphicsDeviceManager graphics; SpriteBatch spriteBatch; static List<Sprite> ToDraw; static Texture2D AxeSheet; static Texture2D FeetSheet; static SheetManager Axe; static Sprite Jojora; static AnimationLocation[] Hack = new AnimationLocation[1]; static SheetManager Feet; static Sprite Mutoh; static AnimationLocation[] FeetAnimations = new AnimationLocation[2]; public Game1() { graphics = new GraphicsDeviceManager(this); Content.RootDirectory = "Content"; this.TargetElapsedTime = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(100); this.IsFixedTimeStep = true; } /// <summary> /// Allows the game to perform any initialization it needs to before starting to run. /// This is where it can query for any required services and load any non-graphic /// related content. Calling base.Initialize will enumerate through any components /// and initialize them as well. /// </summary> protected override void Initialize() { // TODO: Add your initialization logic here base.Initialize(); } /// <summary> /// LoadContent will be called once per game and is the place to load /// all of your content. /// </summary> protected override void LoadContent() { // Create a new SpriteBatch, which can be used to draw textures. spriteBatch = new SpriteBatch(GraphicsDevice); // Loading logic ToDraw = new List<Sprite>(); AxeSheet = Content.Load<Texture2D>("Sheet"); FeetSheet = Content.Load<Texture2D>("Feet Sheet"); Axe = new SheetManager(AxeSheet, 1); Hack[0] = new AnimationLocation(0, 1); Jojora = new Sprite(Axe, Hack, new Vector2(100, 100), new Vector2(5, 55)); Jojora.AnimationID = 0; Jojora.FrameID = 0; Feet = new SheetManager(FeetSheet, 8); FeetAnimations[0] = new AnimationLocation(1, 7); FeetAnimations[1] = new AnimationLocation(0, 1); Mutoh = new Sprite(Feet, FeetAnimations, new Vector2(0, 0)); Mutoh.AnimationID = 0; Mutoh.FrameID = 0; } /// <summary> /// UnloadContent will be called once per game and is the place to unload /// all content. /// </summary> protected override void UnloadContent() { // TODO: Unload any non ContentManager content here } /// <summary> /// Allows the game to run logic such as updating the world, /// checking for collisions, gathering input, and playing audio. /// </summary> /// <param name="gameTime">Provides a snapshot of timing values.</param> protected override void Update(GameTime gameTime) { // Allows the game to exit if (GamePad.GetState(PlayerIndex.One).Buttons.Back == ButtonState.Pressed) this.Exit(); // Update logic Mutoh.FrameID++; ToDraw.Add(Mutoh); ToDraw.Add(Jojora); base.Update(gameTime); } /// <summary> /// This is called when the game should draw itself. /// </summary> /// <param name="gameTime">Provides a snapshot of timing values.</param> protected override void Draw(GameTime gameTime) { GraphicsDevice.Clear(Color.Purple); // Drawing logic spriteBatch.Begin(); foreach (Sprite Element in ToDraw) { Element.Draw(spriteBatch); } spriteBatch.Draw(Content.Load<Texture2D>("Sheet"), new Rectangle(50, 50, 55, 60), Color.White); spriteBatch.End(); base.Draw(gameTime); } } } Please help me find out what I'm overlooking! One thing that I have noticed and could aid is that, if inserted the equivalent of this code spriteBatch.Draw( Content.Load<Texture2D>("Image Location"), new Rectangle(X, Y, images width, height), Color.White ); in Project2's Draw(GameTime) of the main loop, it works. EDIT Ok, even if the matter remains unsolved, I have made some more progress! As you see, I managed to get the two kinds of rendering in the same project (the aforementioned Project2, with the more complex Sprite class). This was achieved by adding the following code to Draw(GameTime): protected override void Draw(GameTime gameTime) { GraphicsDevice.Clear(Color.Purple); // Drawing logic spriteBatch.Begin(); foreach (Sprite Element in ToDraw) { Element.Draw(spriteBatch); } // Starting here spriteBatch.Draw( Axe.Texture, new Vector2(65, 100), new Rectangle ( 0, 0, Axe.FrameWidth, Axe.FrameHeight ), Color.White, 0.0f, new Vector2(0, 0), 1.0f, SpriteEffects.None, 0.0f ); // Ending here spriteBatch.End(); base.Draw(gameTime); } (Supposing that Axe is the SheetManager containing the texture, sorry if the "jargons" of my code confuse you :s) Thus, I have noticed that the problem is within the Sprite class. But I only get more clueless, because even after modifying its Draw function to this: public void Draw(SpriteBatch Drafter) { /*Drafter.Draw( Sheet.Texture, Position, Sheet.Rectangles[Animation[AnimationID].Location + FrameID], // Find the rectangle which frames the wanted image; _Tint, Angle, Axis, Scale, _Effect, 0.0f );*/ Drafter.Draw( Sheet.Texture, Position, new Rectangle( 0, 0, Sheet.FrameWidth, Sheet.FrameHeight ), Color.White, 0.0f, Vector2.Zero, Scale, SpriteEffects.None, 0 ); } to make it as simple as the patch of code that works, it still draws the sprite jaggedly!

    Read the article

  • How to simulate pressure with particles?

    - by BeachRunnerJoe
    I'm trying to simulate pressure with a collection of spherical particles in a Unity game I'm building. A couple notes about the problem: The goal is to fill a constantly changing 2d space/void with small, frictionless spheres. The game is trying to simulate the ever-growing pressure of more objects being shoved into this space. The level itself is constantly scrolling from left to right, meaning if the space's dimensions are not changed by the user it will automatically get smaller (the leftmost part of the space will continually scroll off-screen). I'm wondering what some approaches are that I can take to tackling these problems... Knowing when to detect when there is space to fill and then add spheres to the space. Removing spheres from the space when it is shrinking. Strategies to simulate pressure on the spheres such that they "explode outwards" when more space is created. The current approach I am contemplating is using a constantly moving wall, that is off screen and moves with the screen, as this image illustrates: . This moving wall will push and trap the spheres into the space. As for adding new spheres, I was going to have either (1) spheres replicate themselves upon detecting free space, OR (2) spawn them at the left side of the space (where the wall is) - pushing the rest of the spheres to fill the space. I foresee problems with idea #1 because this likely wouldn't really create/simulate pressure; idea #2 seems more promising, but raises the question of how to provide a location for these new sphere particles to spawn (and the ramifications of spawning them when there IS no space). Thanks so much in advance for your wisdom!

    Read the article

  • How to Make Objects Fall Faster in a Physics Simulation

    - by David Dimalanta
    I used the collision physics (i.e. Box2d, Physics Body Editor) and implemented onto the java code. I'm trying to make the fall speed higher according to the examples: It falls slower if light object (i.e. feather). It falls faster depending on the object (i.e. pebble, rock, car). I decided to double its falling speed for more excitement. I tried adding the mass but the speed of falling is constant instead of gaining more speed. check my code that something I put under input processor's touchUp() return method under same roof of the class that implements InputProcessor and Screen: @Override public boolean touchUp(int screenX, int screenY, int pointer, int button) { // TODO Touch Up Event if(is_Next_Fruit_Touched) { BodyEditorLoader Fruit_Loader = new BodyEditorLoader(Gdx.files.internal("Shape_Physics/Fruity Physics.json")); Fruit_BD.type = BodyType.DynamicBody; Fruit_BD.position.set(x, y); FixtureDef Fruit_FD = new FixtureDef(); // --> Allows you to make the object's physics. Fruit_FD.density = 1.0f; Fruit_FD.friction = 0.7f; Fruit_FD.restitution = 0.2f; MassData mass = new MassData(); mass.mass = 5f; Fruit_Body[n] = world.createBody(Fruit_BD); Fruit_Body[n].setActive(true); // --> Let your dragon fall. Fruit_Body[n].setMassData(mass); Fruit_Body[n].setGravityScale(1.0f); System.out.println("Eggs... " + n); Fruit_Loader.attachFixture(Fruit_Body[n], Body, Fruit_FD, Fruit_IMG.getWidth()); Fruit_Origin = Fruit_Loader.getOrigin(Body, Fruit_IMG.getWidth()).cpy(); is_Next_Fruit_Touched = false; up = y; Gdx.app.log("Initial Y-coordinate", "Y at " + up); //Once it's touched, the next fruit will set to drag. if(n < 50) { n++; }else{ System.exit(0); } } return true; } And take note, at show() method , the view size from the camera is at 720x1280: camera_1 = new OrthographicCamera(); camera_1.viewportHeight = 1280; camera_1.viewportWidth = 720; camera_1.position.set(camera_1.viewportWidth * 0.5f, camera_1.viewportHeight * 0.5f, 0f); camera_1.update(); I know it's a good idea to add weight to make the falling object falls faster once I released the finger from the touchUp() after I picked the object from the upper right of the screen but the speed remains either constant or slow. How can I solve this? Can you help?

    Read the article

  • XNA Diffuse Shader Issue. Edge lighting problem. Image Attached

    - by adtither
    As you can see in this image the diffuse shading is working correctly in some places but in other places such as the the bottom of the sphere you can see the squares/triangles of the mesh. Any idea what would be causing this? Let me know if you need anymore information related to code. I can upload my normals calculations and shader effect if required. EDIT: Here's a link to the shader I'm using http://pastebin.com/gymVc7CP Link to normals calculations: http://pastebin.com/KnMGdzHP Seems to be an issue with edge lighting. Can't seem to see where I'm going wrong with the normals calculations though.

    Read the article

  • Rotate canvas along its center based on user touch - Android

    - by Ganapathy
    I want to rotate the canvas circularly on its center axis based on user touch. i want to rotate based on center but its rotating based on top left corner . so i am able to see only 1/4 for rotation of image. any idea.. Like a old phone dialer . I have tried like as follows onDraw(Canvas canvas){ canvas.save(); // do my rotation canvas.rotate(rotation,0,0); canvas.drawBitmap( ((BitmapDrawable)d).getBitmap(),0,0,p ); canvas.restore(); } @Override public boolean onTouchEvent(MotionEvent e) { float x = e.getX(); float y = e.getY(); updateRotation(x,y); mPreviousX = x; mPreviousY = y; invalidate(); } private void updateRotation(float x, float y) { double r = Math.atan2(x - centerX, centerY - y); rotation = (int) Math.toDegrees(r); }

    Read the article

  • The practical cost of swapping effects

    - by sebf
    I use XNA for my projects and on those forums I sometimes see references to the fact that swapping an effect for a mesh has a relatively high cost, which surprises me as I thought to swap an effect was simply a case of copying the replacement shader program to the GPU along with appropriate parameters. I wondered if someone could explain exactly what is costly about this process? And put, if possible, 'relatively' into context? For example say I wanted to use a short shader to help with picking, I would: Change the effect on every object, calculting a unique color to identify it and providing it to the shader. Draw all the objects to a render target in memory. Get the color from the target and use it to look up the selected object. What portion of the total time taken to complete that process would be spent swapping the shaders? My instincts would say that rendering the scene again, no matter how simple the shader, would be an order of magnitude slower than any other part of the process so why all the concern over effects?

    Read the article

  • 2D animations frames vs 3D animation for small indie project: timing considerations

    - by mm24
    pretty lame question but was wondering.. I am developing a 2D game using Cocos2D for iOS. The art work till now is all 2D (is a shooter game) but some of the characters would benefit of complex animations (eg. 20 frames). I feel a bit stupid because I came across only now that there is the chance to do 3D to 2D frames exporting and then to use them in Cocos2D. The thing that put me off on 3D gaming at first was that it takes more than one person in a team to do so properly (Illustrator, 3D modeller, 3D animator and programmer). Now I feel a bit stupid because having a 3D model I could do and modify the poses whenever I wanted (I should ask to the 3D animator which I guess would be time expensive). Instead now is me and two illustrators (as I require many frames per character). Is my impression that it would have been much longer right or not? Are there any other project management considerations that can be done on this? Sorry if for some this might be trivial but is my first "indie game developer experience".

    Read the article

  • Actually utilizing relational databases for entity systems

    - by Marc Müller
    Recently I was researching several entity systems and obviously I came across T=Machine's fantastic articles on the subject. In Part 5 of the series the author uses a relational schema to explain how an entity system is built and works. Since reading this, I have been wondering whether or not actually using a compact SQL library would be fast enough for real-time usage in video games. Performance seems to be the main issue with a full blown SQL database for management of all entities and components. However, as mentioned in T=Machine's post, basically all access to data inside the SQLDB is done sequentlially by each system over each component. Additionally, using a library like SQLite, one could easily improve performance by storing the entity data exclusively in RAM to increase access speeds. Disregarding possible performance issues, using a SQL database, in my opinion, would allow for a very intuitive implementation of entity systems and bring a long certain other benefits like easy de/serialization of game states and consistency checks like the uniqueness of entity IDs. Edit for clarification: The main question was whether using a SQL database for the actual entity management (not just storing the game state on the disk) in a real-time game would still yield a framerate appropriate for a game or even if someone is aware of projects that demonstrate SQL in a video game.

    Read the article

  • Dynamic Dijkstra

    - by Dani
    I need dynamic dijkstra algorithm that can update itself when edge's cost is changed without a full recalculation. Full recalculation is not an option. I've tryed to "brew" my own implemantion with no success. I've also tryed to find on the Internet but found nothing. A link to an article explaining the algorithm or even it's name will be good. Edit: Thanks everyone for answering. I managed to make algorithm of my own that runs in O(V+E) time, if anyone wishes to know the algorithm just say so and I will post it.

    Read the article

  • Is it possible to calculate or mathematically prove if a game is balanced / fair?

    - by Lurca
    This question is not focussed on video games but games in general. I went to a boardgame trade fair yesterday and asked myself if there is a way to calculate the fairness of a game. Sure, some of them require a good portion of luck, but it might be possible to calculate if some character is overpowered. Especially in role-playing games and trading card games. How, for example, can the creators of "Magic: The Gathering" make sure that there isn't the "one card that beats them all", given the impressive number of available cards?

    Read the article

  • Voice artist for a game for kids

    - by devmiles.com
    We're making a game for kids which should include about 50 spoken phrases. I'm asking for help in finding the right voice artist / studio for this. I've tried searching the web but couldn't find anything that would make me sure that it would work for us or games in general. So I'm looking for references from those of you who had a successful collaboration with artists or studios. Any help would be appreciated.

    Read the article

  • Light mask map and camera for static lights in XNA Platformer

    - by JiminyCricket
    Using the example for some basic light maps found here : http://blog.josack.com/2011/07/xna-2d-dynamic-lighting.html, I've managed to create a lightmap texture using individual lightmaps and display it over a 2D tiled world as in the Platformer example. I'm using the very basic 2D camera example as found here : http://www.david-amador.com/2009/10/xna-camera-2d-with-zoom-and-rotation/, and the problem is that the lightmap texture scrolls with the player sprite. This looks pretty good and would be excellent for lighting the player sprite as it moves. But, I also want to be able to place static lights (or some initial position for the lights) that do not move with the player or camera. When I turn off the camera or give it a static position, it works as a series of static lights so I believe it's probably caused by the camera transformation matrix following the player around. I'm using RenderTarget2Ds, one for the main game screen after all the backgrounds and tiles are rendered, and one for the "lightmap" which consists of a black background and a bunch of lighting textures which are merged with it using additive blending. For now, I'm doing all of this in PlatformerGame.cs where the camera transformation and position is set and the level.Draw() call is made. I can't figure out how to separate the drawing of the lightmap and the camera following the player. I was thinking it would be better to render the shadows and lighting directly in the drawing of the level itself, but I'm not sure how to do that either because this technique requires RenderTarget2Ds and calling SpriteBatch.Begin()/End().

    Read the article

  • How AlphaBlend Blendstate works in XNA 4 when accumulighting light into a RenderTarget?

    - by cubrman
    I am using a Deferred Rendering engine from Catalin Zima's tutorial: His lighting shader returns the color of the light in the rgb channels and the specular component in the alpha channel. Here is how light gets accumulated: Game.GraphicsDevice.SetRenderTarget(LightRT); Game.GraphicsDevice.Clear(Color.Transparent); Game.GraphicsDevice.BlendState = BlendState.AlphaBlend; // Continuously draw 3d spheres with lighting pixel shader. ... Game.GraphicsDevice.BlendState = BlendState.Opaque; MSDN states that AlphaBlend field of the BlendState class uses the next formula for alphablending: (source × Blend.SourceAlpha) + (destination × Blend.InvSourceAlpha), where "source" is the color of the pixel returned by the shader and "destination" is the color of the pixel in the rendertarget. My question is why do my colors are accumulated correctly in the Light rendertarget even when the new pixels' alphas equal zero? As a quick sanity check I ran the following code in the light's pixel shader: float specularLight = 0; float4 light4 = attenuation * lightIntensity * float4(diffuseLight.rgb,specularLight); if (light4.a == 0) light4 = 0; return light4; This prevents lighting from getting accumulated and, subsequently, drawn on the screen. But when I do the following: float specularLight = 0; float4 light4 = attenuation * lightIntensity * float4(diffuseLight.rgb,specularLight); return light4; The light is accumulated and drawn exactly where it needs to be. What am I missing? According to the formula above: (source x 0) + (destination x 1) should equal destination, so the "LightRT" rendertarget must not change when I draw light spheres into it! It feels like the GPU is using the Additive blend instead: (source × Blend.One) + (destination × Blend.One)

    Read the article

  • How do I check on non-transparent pixels in a bitmapdata?

    - by Opoe
    I'm still working on my window cleaning game from one of my previous questions I marked a contribution as my answer, but after all this time I can't get it to work and I have to many questions about this so I decided to ask some more about it. As a sequel on my mentioned previous question, my question to you is: How can I check whether or not a bitmapData contains non transparent pixels? Subquestion: Is this possible when the masked image is a movieclip? Shouldn't I use graphics instead? Information I have: A dirtywindow movieclip on the bottom layer and a clean window movieclip on layer 2(mc1) on the layer above. To hide the top layer(the dirty window) I assign a mask to it. Code // this creates a mask that hides the movieclip on top var mask_mc:MovieClip = new MovieClip(); addChild(mask_mc) //assign the mask to the movieclip it should 'cover' mc1.mask = mask_mc; With a brush(cursor) the player wipes of the dirt ( actualy setting the fill from the mask to transparent so the clean window appears) //add event listeners for the 'brush' brush_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN,brushDown); brush_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP,brushUp); //function to drag the brush over the mask function brushDown(dragging:MouseEvent):void{ dragging.currentTarget.startDrag(); MovieClip(dragging.currentTarget).addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME,erase) ; mask_mc.graphics.moveTo(brush_mc.x,brush_mc.y); } //function to stop dragging the brush over the mask function brushUp(dragging:MouseEvent):void{ dragging.currentTarget.stopDrag(); MovieClip(dragging.currentTarget).removeEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME,erase); } //fill the mask with transparant pixels so the movieclip turns visible function erase(e:Event):void{ with(mask_mc.graphics){ beginFill(0x000000); drawRect(brush_mc.x,brush_mc.y,brush_mc.width,brush_mc.height); endFill(); } }

    Read the article

  • Need help with a complex 3d scene (using Ogre and bullet)

    - by Matthias
    In my setup there is a box with a hole on one side, and a freely movable "stick" (or bar, tube). This stick can be inserted/moved through the hole into the box. This hole is exactly as wide as the diameter of the stick. In reality, when you would now hold the end of the stick in your hand and move the hand left/right or up/down, the other end of the stick, which is inside the box, would move into the opposite direction of your hand movement (because the stick is affixed at the pivot point where it is entering the box through the hole). (I hope you understand what I mean so far.) Now I need to simulate such a setup in a 3d program. I have already successfully developed an Ogre3d framework for this application, including bullet. But what I don't know is how I can implement in my program what I have described above. This application must include two more features: The scene camera is attached to the end of the stick that is inserted into the box. So when the user would move the mouse (to control "his" end of the stick outside the box), then the camera attached to the stick would move in the opposite direction, as described above. The stick has some length, and the user can push it further into the box, or pull it closer to him again. That means of course that the max. radius on which the end of the stick inside the box can move depends on how far the stick is pushed into the box. Thus, the more the stick is pushed into the box, the larger the max. radius of this end of the stick with the camera will be. I understand this is maybe quite a complex thing, so I don't expect any real source code here. I already have the Ogre and bullet part as said up and running, as well as a camera attached to the stick. This works fine. What I don't know though is how I can simulate the setup described above. Especially the requirement that the stick is affixed at the position of the hole on the box, where it is inserted into the box. Any ideas how I could approach to implement the described setup?

    Read the article

  • text extraction from video game dialogue files [on hold]

    - by wdwvt1
    As part of an academic project, I am trying to access the dialogue files (whether audio or text) from a variety of sports video games (Madden or NBA 2kX would be fantastic). I have searched extensively on other sites (scholarly text-mining publications, r/gaming, r/madden, modding sites, etc.) for guidance in how to extract dialogue files, but have been unsuccessful. Given that I don't have even the domain specific language to ask the right question (i.e. the resources I am seeking are out there, I just can't find them) I am asking the SE game dev community for help with the 2 following questions: Is there a canonical resource that I should study that would get me started with how to extract text or audio files from games? I am very fluent in python, which usually excels at mining information from sources, but I struggle with knowing where to start with a video game (as opposed to a more familiar database with a defined API). Is this even feasible, or are protections included with newer games (e.g. NBA 2k13) going to make extraction of these resources in a programmatic way impossible? Thank you for your help!

    Read the article

  • Libgdx ParallaxScrolling and TiledMaps

    - by kirchhoff
    I implemented ParallaxScrolling for my SideScroller project, everything is working but the tiled map (the most important part!). I've been trying out everything but it doesn't work (see the code below). I'm using ParallaxCamera from GdxTests, it's working perfectly for the background layers. I can't explain myself properly in english, so I recorded 2 videos: Before parallaxScrolling After parallaxScrolling As you can see, now the platforms appear in the middle of the Y-axis. I've got a Map class with 2 tiled maps, so I need two renderers too: private TiledMapRenderer renderer1; private TiledMapRenderer renderer2; public void update(GameCamera camera) { renderer1.setView(camera.calculateParallaxMatrix(1f, 0f), camera.position.x - camera.viewportWidth / 2, **camera.position.y - camera.viewportHeight/2**, camera.viewportWidth, camera.viewportHeight); renderer2.setView(camera.calculateParallaxMatrix(1f, 0f), camera.position.x - camera.viewportWidth / 2, **camera.position.y - camera.viewportHeight/2**, camera.viewportWidth, camera.viewportHeight); } In bold, the code I think I should change. I've tried changing parameters, even adding hardcoded values, etc, but one of two: 1. Nothing happens. 2. Platforms disappear. Here is some aditional code. The render method: world.update(delta); parallaxBackground.update(camera); clear(0.5f, 0.7f, 1.0f, 1); batch.setProjectionMatrix(camera.calculateParallaxMatrix(0, 0)); batch.disableBlending(); batch.begin(); batch.draw(background, -(int)background.getRegionWidth()/2, -(int)background.getRegionHeight()/2); batch.end(); batch.enableBlending(); parallaxBackground.draw(batch, camera); renderer.render(batch);

    Read the article

  • effect and model vertex declaration compatibility

    - by Vodácek
    I have normal model drawing code. When I try to draw model without UV coordinates I got this exception: System.InvalidOperationException: The current vertex declaration does not include all the elements required by the current vertex shader. TextureCoordinate0 is missing. at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Graphics.GraphicsDevice.VerifyCanDraw( Boolean bUserPrimitives, Boolean bIndexedPrimitives) at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Graphics.GraphicsDevice.DrawIndexedPrimitives( PrimitiveType primitiveType, Int32 baseVertex, Int32 minVertexIndex, Int32 numVertices, Int32 startIndex, Int32 primitiveCount) at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Graphics.ModelMeshPart.Draw() at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Graphics.ModelMesh.Draw() ... I know what cause the exception, but is possible to avoid it? Is possible to check model before drawing it with current shader for vertex declaration compatibility?

    Read the article

  • Errors happen when using World.destroyBody( Body body )

    - by minami
    on Android application using libgdx, when I use World.destroyBody( Body body ) method, once in a while the application suddenly shuts down. Is there some setting I need to do with body collision or Box2DDebugRenderer before I destroy bodies? Below is the source I use for destroying bodies. private void deleteUnusedObject( ) { for( Iterator<Body> iter = mWorld.getBodies() ; iter.hasNext() ; ){ Body body = iter.next( ) ; if( body.getUserData( ) != null ) { Box2DUserData data = (Box2DUserData) body.getUserData( ) ; if( ! data.getActFlag() ) { if( body != null ) { mWorld.destroyBody( body ) ; } } } } } Thanks

    Read the article

  • geomipmapping using displacement mapping (and glVertexAttribDivisor)

    - by Will
    I wake up with a clear vision, but sadly my laptop card doesn't do displacement mapping nor glVertexAttribDivisor so I can't test it out; I'm left sharing here: With geomipmapping, the grid at any factor is transposable - if you pass in an offset - say as a uniform - you can reuse the same vertex and index array again and again. If you also pass in the offset into the heightmap as a uniform, the vertex shader can do displacement mapping. If the displacement map is mipmapped, you get the advantages of trilinear filtering for distant maps. And, if the scenery is closer, rather than exposing that the you have a world made out of quads, you can use your transposable grid vertex array and indices to do vertex-shader interpolation (fancy splines) to do super-smooth infinite zoom? So I have some questions: does it work? In theory, in practice? does anyone do it? Does this technique have a name? Papers, demos, anything I can look at? does glVertexAttribDivisor mean that you can have a single glMultiDrawElementsEXT or similar approach to draw all your terrain tiles in one call rather than setting up the uniforms and emitting each tile? Would this offer any noticeable gains? does a heightmap that is GL_LUMINANCE take just one byte per pixel(=vertex)? (On mainstream cards, obviously. Does storage vary in practice?) Does going to the effort of reusing the same vertices and indices mean that you can basically fill the GPU RAM with heightmap and not a lot else, giving you either bigger landscapes or more detailed landscapes/meshes for the same bang? is mipmapping the displacement map going to work? On future cards? Is it going to introduce unsurmountable inaccuracies if it is enabled?

    Read the article

  • Music Rhythm Game Difficulty Question

    - by David Dimalanta
    I have curious question about music rhythm based genre while I'm making a code for the game. Is it really better if I set a random pattern encountered on every music played or there is a specific pattern depending on the music and the difficulty? I have observed the Guitar Hero 3 game for the game console where the difficulty is set on the number of strings used and possible number of combo (e.g. two-string combo). Compared to the Tap Tap Revenge for the Android and iPhone, the difficulty based on the number of BPM (Beat per Minute), meaning, number of targets spawn and must be hit.

    Read the article

< Previous Page | 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527  | Next Page >