Game Design Geek

Ok, so as I compile my list….lol, j/k.  Had a talk with twentyseven, and it appears that there isnt a whole lot going to happen with getting a performance boost.  Im going to have to start ripping out detail in crenshaw if I want to release it.  I have to admit that Im not that happy about it, and that its going to totally suck to rape the level.

As for things at Spark, the gaping whole left by the departure of Kuo is really impossible to fill and I really worry as to whether we can stay on track.  I think that there is a tremendous amount of work to get done before alpha and at this point its anyones guess how that is going to play out.  I really hope this next sprint review coming up on the 4th will be a good one.  There is a lot riding on this one and a there are a lot of eyeballs that are going to be on our part of the project.  Im going to really put my nose to the grindstone and make sure that we hit the mark because I have plans that weekend…..at least for two hours.

One of the things we have been working on for Urban Terror is trying to get better performance from the Quake III Arena engine. Our resident programmer, twentyseven is currently working on some things that will hopefully improve performance so that the FPS woes that people are experiancing will lessen. There are a few levels in 4.0 that really do tax the engine, one of them is crenshaw. Crenshaw is probably the most detailed level in development currently and really does tax the engine quite a bit. If the level were still constructed of brushes, Im sure the level would seriously crash the game, if it would even compile.

Here are some examples of the kind of detail in the level. If you know the level well, you know that this section isnt really drawing much outside of the viewable area. Crenshaw’s VIS blocking is very rock solid, and with that its still drawing 65000 polys in the pool atrium section. The good news is that most of this detail has the most simple of collision with the exception of the pool at the terrain which is autoclipped. That means that the renderable mesh is running at T&L performance. Its the brush handling and collision at present that is really killing the games performance. Q3 is really long in the tooth and isnt up to the performance of Valvle’s Halflife2 engine.

Hopefully soon I can report that we have been able to solve this problem so that levels like this, docks, and provinggrounds can make it into the next release.

I have been delving into Proving Grounds trying to get it cleaned up for release with 4.1. The original level was built in 4 hours, but the new version was built in just about 4 days. I haven’t really spent a lot of time on it, but the time I have spent on it has been worth it. There were not a lot of details in the last version i gave to QA, but In the next version I am going to add all the stuff I didn’t put in before. The interior sections were not very flushed out, but in the next version I will have fully flushed out spawn areas and color coded spawns. It is easier then ever to get lost in the level because everything really looks the same.

As for Crenshaw, I’m not sure what the heck I’m going to do with it. I think that I have so much work in the lighting department, that I’m going to have to rethink MADD, or try and axe the MADD shaders in every location that’s not directly being lit. Needless to say that everyone loved the palm trees I made for that level, and they should as they are like 1600 polys a piece. I may have to limit them in some areas or replace them with some other prop. Also I would like to add in some of the detail in the open areas that I have to get rid of including a lot of the weeds that really added to the level. The Rustang is definitely making it back in, and I am going to do one more destructive pass on it so that it really looks messed up. There were some suggestions to remove the pool area balconies because hardly anyone was using them anyway. I may have to give that some serious consideration. I think if I made some of them jump-able, it might add to the flavor of the level, and give it a little more depth that it seems to be lacking. As for performance in that area, its pretty good considering the immense amount of detail it has.

Docks, I hate to say has got no love whatsoever. There is a part of me that would like to say F*** it and move on. I think Airport as a replacement would be awesome. Aiport’s bomb friendly setup is totally something I would like to see added to the game. As for docks, let the idiots in the community that will undoubtedly redo it anyway, have at it. I think that there are times were I think when we get levels that just arnt cutting it anymore, we should just totally ditch them. And this level is one of them, both from a gameplay standpoint, and a visual standpoint. Unfortunately some on the development team cave to community pressure and redo outmoded levels anyway. Uptown was a prime example of a level best left dead, and I’m sad to say that the current iteration doesn’t live up to the visual quality of the rest of the project. Scale on the level is just so totally unbelievable, then add things like only one window is open, and doesn’t match the rest of the windows on the building. Parking structure that isn’t large enough for a car to actually traverse it….etc etc etc. I could go on for days. It looks like ass, and I think that getting it to the visual quality of the rest of our product is a waste of time.

Ok, now that I have ranted on. Things at home are going good. My lease is coming up really soon on my place. Wow, where did all the time go? In July I will have been here for a year, its hard to believe that I have been back here that long, but its true. I have to admit that I miss the place Rudy and I had in the Marina, it was really sweet. Santa Clarita just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Last weeks review at work didn’t turn out as bad as I thought. We found out that we were losing one of my favorite guys. He is moving onto another company, I have to say that I’m going to really miss him, not just because he is someone I consider a friend, but because he is a consummate professional who inspires others to do better. Things here wont be the same without him, but as in life, people move in and out of it for a reason. I hope he does well where he is going next. Adios Kuo, hax0ring the game wont be as fun without you!

Today is the big day at work. Friday the 13….Ack!  Today we are going to stand up in front of the company CEO and have to tell him we didn’t hit our mark for this Sprint. We really tried to bite off more then we could chew, and we fell way short. As the Hawaiians would say, we got the makapia eye. I’m more worried about letting down the team then I am at getting kicked in the sack in front of the entire company. One thing we say at work is that its better to not take on a task then it is to take it on and fall short. They have told us this many times and we still seem to do it every time.

Lots of mistakes were made, and I think that every time we make them that I learn from it. One of the biggest things I have learned as the Sr Designer is that I really need to be more proactive with people and get involved with what the rest of my team are doing and make sure that they are not setting themselves up for failure. They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and in this case, its paved with gold. Hopefully I can come back from today with some good news, but I highly doubt it.

Ok, so on the Urban Terror front. I think that I can at least release one level for the 4.1 release in the next few weeks. I think I can get Proving Grounds to a state where it can at least be released to the community. Crenshaw I think will be another story altogether, and I highly doubt that it will get released with 4.1. There is going to be a 4.2 that will be a release of some maps that didnt make it into 4.0. In that release I hope add Docks and Airport along with Crenshaw.

How the death of Jesus got associated with furry bunnies and eggs is beyond me. Don’t they know its about bowling? OK, that didn’t sound quite right. So this was an interesting weekend for me. Sunday was very interesting. I went over to my brothers place to bug his children and my mother. Although I have found that I bug them less when I bring my Wii. We had some serious fun with Warioware, and bowling on the Wii. But we thought, hey, lets go bowling for real. Needless to say that it was really fun, and at the end of two hours we were all exhausted. I love spending time with my family, and Im trying to do as much of that as I can before they move to Arizona.