sNeaksieGarrett on 29/7/2013 at 00:47
Indeed, Larry, indeed.;)
sNeaksieGarrett on 9/8/2013 at 00:43
Just curious, since part of the title of this thread has "beta," does this mean you're going to release another version again sometime down the road?
The Watcher on 9/8/2013 at 10:25
That depends on what you mean by "new version".
From a strictly pedantic point of view, yes there will be new versions; I've got work-in-progress implementations of TWTrapAIEcology and TWTrigVersion to go into a release soon.
If you mean "will there be a new version with the same functionality without the 'beta' label", no there won't be. The beta label is there as an indicator that it "works for me, seems to work for others, may still have problems in there", and because there are situations where the script has not been as thoroughly tested as I'd prefer (and probably won't be for months, if ever). It also applies to all the scripts in the .osm, not just the breath one, so if you're sat waiting on a non-beta version before you release your mission, don't - it seems to be good enough to do the job.
sNeaksieGarrett on 9/8/2013 at 15:08
Yes, I was wondering if there was going to be a non "beta" version of the script. When I think of beta I think of incomplete software that is still being worked on, so I wanted to see if you were indeed still working on it, or if it was just going to sit as a beta. And no, I'm not waiting for a non beta version (although thanks for the reassurance) but if a new version of the script came out that improved anything (such as the problem in which the AI breath doesn't follow his or her mouth properly when turning sometimes) then I'd jump right on it.
Interesting, as for the new things you just mentioned, I assume ecology has to do with respawning but I'm not sure what TrigVersion is about.
The Watcher on 9/8/2013 at 16:07
Quote Posted by sNeaksieGarrett
And no, I'm not waiting for a non beta version (although thanks for the reassurance) but if a new version of the script came out that improved anything (such as the problem in which the AI breath doesn't follow his or her mouth properly when turning sometimes) then I'd jump right on it.
Yeah, there's really pretty much nothing I can do about that unfortunately: unless you have the particle group set to "trailing object", the particle locations are simulated relative to the particle group. Rotate the particle group, and all the currently emitted particles all move with it, rather than remaining where they are. "Trailing object" appears to simulate the particles in world space rather than relative to the particle group, but the emitter does not appear to change its orientation (at least, not as far as I can tell). Unless there are some significant changes to the way the particle system works, I've done all I can.
Quote Posted by sNeaksieGarrett
Interesting, as for the new things you just mentioned, I assume ecology has to do with respawning but I'm not sure what TrigVersion is about.
TWTrigVersion is a new version of the 'VersionCheck' script in version.osm (partly because I want something easier to use/actually documented, partly so I have an impetus to get my TWBaseTrigger class done, which it nearly is now). TWTrapAIEcology is a script for respawns, yes. Does things like:
* Maintain count of number of AIs currently spawned
* (Re)spawn one AI every X seconds (where X is set by the author) until the desired population has been reached.
* The AI archetype to spawn is set using a script params link. If multiple AI archetypes are linked to, each time an AI is spawned the script chooses which archetype to use at random (and if you set integer weights in the script params link data, you can can control how often a given AI archetype is chosen rather than the others).
* Multiple spawn locations can be used by linking the controller to the spawn points via script params links. They can either be used in order, or a spawn point chosen at random (with optional weighting using the data in the script params link data). AIs are only spawned at points that are off-screen at the time.
* Allow for in-place respawns (in which case, dead AIs are despawned and replaced with a new copy of the AI, or a replacement AI archetype - so if you kill a guard, the script can replace the guard with new copy of the guard... or a zombie guard). Despawm/respawn only happens off-screen, probably, unless I can work out a good effect to hide it.
* A bunch of other things I'm keeping under wraps until I confirm they work properly.
LarryG on 9/8/2013 at 16:24
TWTrapAIEcology sounds very cool. I have a setup with teleportation portals where the AIs spawn from one and "teleports out" of another with a patrol path in between. The way I have it arranged, the AIs walk out of the shimmery portal so the player never sees the AI created except as stepping out of the portal. Would that count as off-screen? Is it possible to have a param to turn off the on-screen detection, just in case?
sNeaksieGarrett on 9/8/2013 at 16:48
Agreed. I especially like your implementation such that you can have a different AI spawn at the same spot and randomly spawn different AIs to boot.
The Watcher on 9/8/2013 at 21:53
Quote Posted by LarryG
Would that count as off-screen? Is it possible to have a param to turn off the on-screen detection, just in case?
It almost certainly wouldn't count as off-screen, but I can easily add a flag, yes.
