I'm Getting That Feeling Again...

ahhhhh... my time of the month...

after putting so much work into my project, i'm just so dissapointed with the outcome... while it doesn't look all that bad, it just aint what i want...

i want DOOM3 graphics (whine... whine...)

plus, i still got a lot more to code in, and my OO hack is getting heavier and heavier...

question... does BlitzMax allow for event passing and true inheritance... i ask because i've been doing some stuff with 3Impact in VB.net, sort of a replication of the OO hack i made in Blitz, and it really works great... and i'm wondering if BMax can do the same thing...

3Impact gives me built in physics and bumpmapping... which is the only thing that's gonna satisfy me, and while i'd really hate to go over to vb, if i BMax can't do this stuff i can't afford to license it right now...

--Mike

3Impact looks nice, there was even a thread about making it work with Blitz3D. If that ever happens I'll licence it in a split second! I want gfx-goodies too. Blitz3D is not going to get any, so I'm slowly starting to check out alternatives (BlitzMAX is not on my list).

Blitz as a language works really well, no need to learn any C-rap++... but Blitz is aging fast in gfx / eye candy department. Working normalmapping could save a lot though together with the other features we've been asking last two years.

i think gMan has a wrapper for 3Impact up already...

one key thing i'd like to know about BMAX... since i'm using the events the 3Impact engine throws up to signal init and run, and i'm using those to raise an event in vb which is handled by a class that has methods which, in turn can be inherited and overridden by derived classes (this is how i make em automatically update themselves)... can BMax also raise events which can be propogated down to ancestor classes... and can BMax create overridable methods and functions?

thx



--Mike

Red: I think we should put all the 3D engines in a big pile and burn them and then line you up against a wall and shoot you ;-) Defector!

Red,

Forgive me for asking, and it's probably none of my business, but do you actually have a game you are making?

I don't mean this to be a personal slight or anything so please don't take it that way, it's just that I see your endless pursuit of this, and I have no idea where you are going with it. The screenshots I see show nothing about how this would play.

Again,... I'm just curious, not trying to slight you. As long as you are enjoying it, that is all that really matters, right?

Well, some videos have been posted by Red - seems more simulation than game.

http://www.blitzbasic.com/Community/posts.php?topic=59642#665004

At least you are coding a game. I'm coding a bmx gui app.

And yeah it's VERY FRUSTRATING TOO!

This vid shows ones feelings when coding with bmx... ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdXTDovB9K8

Ahh,... thanks for the link, I missed that one.

Oh lord. You have my earnest sympathy.


I can imagine. I've only written a couple of small mini-apps with it and that was frustrating enough.

Could you at least include my technique and show off one big kick-ass screenshot? :)

hahahahahaaa... will do...gimme a few...

days... i'm burnt out...

pongo... you're right... i'm sooooo confused....


--Mike

Mike - I can understand totally your dilemma - mainly because 3d development in Blitz is at a bit of a "cross-roads of uncertainty" at the moment.
I would stick to the language I felt most comfortable with and not worry too much about the rendering side of things. I'm sure that using Blitz3d with your OO methodology you can get decent results. Perhaps invest a little in some professional artwork and you may be surprised at the results.
If you concentrate on the gameplay and make it fun then the graphics don't have to be cutting edge - just good - like your screenshots.

maybe that's the answer...

--Mike

I just wanted to know if you were actually making something beyond all the screenshots.

The best thing I can say (and maybe I should mind my own business instead), is to just pick an engine and go with it. Figure that your first shot isn't going to be the ultimate thing you are shooting for, but work with the limitations of whatever you have at the time. If you keep chasing the latest generation, you will never actually catch it, so it's probably better to just complete something with the stuff that's available to you now. You might be amazed at how far you can push "old tech" when you are forced to work within those bounds.

Ok, there,... I've said it. As I've stated repeatedly, I'm offering this as helpful advice, so don't take it wrong.

I enjoy just playing around with this stuff too, even if I'm not completing much of my own, so I guess that is what it all comes down to. (Having fun creating things) If you are enjoying it, then keep doing your thing. If you want to eventually complete it though, you may have to settle for some things.

I'll go hide under my rock now.

If you got money to burn Mike buy the damn Quest3d, it can do exactly what you want and you'd woudln't even have to do any coding... It has shaders and more specifically ocean shaders and it cost you 2000 Euros to license it. I bet you already have spent that much on your endless persuit of game engines...

I'd just wait for the 3D module. You know it's gonna be as good as doom3.

ROFLL.

Today I found another bug within the bmx gui.
Halleluja, wasted 2 or more hours of coding.

Now that is FUN! :/

I'm not touching the GUI stuff, I've got Delphi for that. I only use Max for games. That needed some fixes too! But at least it's OK now. In fact it's a blast!

@ Maximo... i took a look at Quest a while back... i didn't quite like that visual behavior lines linking to stuff way they did things... but the graphics did look good, though i felt it might be a lil heavy for most machines at the time...

hey, they got a demo out



made by VStep... take a quick look at it... it might encourage some people (like me) to see that their stuff isn't that much worse (in a lot of cases i've seen here better) than that of a company that has licensed an expensive, state of the art capable tool...

... i just did, and, keeping in mind what Smiff said about investing in some professional artwork, when i compared my subsim artwork to the ship art in here, mine aint much worse... as a matter of fact, the auxilliary ships in that sim look worse than mine :0)...

the water is the big thing there... eyecandy wise...

also... and lemme rant a bit... it's good to take a look at the 'competition'... helps me put stuff into perspective...
for one thing, i think i've been trying to do tooo much... all you get to do in this is steer the boat around from a fixed location (external or on the bridge)... and the controls are simple, straight forward gui affairs, not built into the actual sub model...

i've been trying to put the everything inside the sub... including the player... plus have him able to move around...

maybe a rethink might be in order... especially if i want to finish this thing anytime within this life time:)


anyways... this doesn't look like something that couldn't have been done in Blitz (except the quality of the shadered water, but the Blitz water as it is now works)... and surely could be done in Torque (there's a shadered water mod that seems to work)...

like i said... i might need to rethink things a bit... after looking at this, my focus may have been a lil toooo focused... if something like this can be released and selling, without shadered everything, maybe i should....
......

anyways... thanks guys for all the input... it's good to have some sympathetic shoulders to cry and whine on once in a while :)

it does help... i feel a lot better now... new energy has come from this discussion...

:)

--Mike

it's good idea that you release something really simple first mike, but if you can invest into some technology that gives you instant ocean eye candy you'd have something that fills the empty room :)

Sending some energy your way Big Red, rethink your strategy and make a simpler thing perhaps with another technology that allows you beautifull oceans :)

Btw new Quest3d has some kick ass ocean renderer but it also costs quiet some :)

nonono Red, just finish something. Then try again in the same or a different language, and finish that. That experience is worth more than all this fiddling. Better still, just go and look at the sea instead of your PC, that's the best eye (and ear) candy...