demagogue on 8/2/2013 at 05:57
I think I mentioned in my blurb above, I'm thinking about using code on my "apartment block" objects to sort of handle their surrounds including spawns, since their stats are the most relevant determiner of the character of their neighborhood I thought. That's a kind of hybrid approach.
I mean I'll get different spawns if there's a big cathedral nearby vs farms vs slums vs a palace. I don't know if that approach would be so useful to your context though.
Bakerman on 22/2/2013 at 17:15
Couple things I've been working on:
The startup I'm with, Brainworth, has just launched another (
www.varandthevikings.com/kickstarter) Kickstarter, this time for our new puzzle-platformer
Var and the Vikings. It's been a heck of a ride to get here. I've mostly been involved with our other project, only helping out the guys working on the game occasionally, but in such a small team, the creative process has been really shared. We just got a bunch of new art into the game, which I'm really pleased with. It looks like:
[center]
Inline Image:
http://www.brainworth.net/wp-content/uploads/gameplay2.jpgHuzzah! You can actually (
http://var.i.brainworth.net/main.html?level=introduction_to_actions_moveforward) play the alpha online now.[/center]
And in my spare time, I've been trying to (
https://github.com/eightyeight/netlang) design a programming language. I realised that we don't really have a good plaintext way of exchanging circuit designs, except netlists, which are kind of crappy. I don't know if anyone would actually have a use for this, but I reckon plaintext languages are great - they certainly beat sending around binary files saved out of a proprietary software package. A basic circuit might look like:
Code:
V1
model = dc_source,
potential = 10mV
R1
model = resistor,
value = 1kOhm
V1.plus -> V1.minus via R1
I do want to extend the syntax so you can draw simple stuff like this more concisely. So, for example,
Code:
set modelinference, inlinemodels
V1 10V
V1.plus -> V1.minus via 1kOhm
And, of course, once the language is specified, I need something to
do with it. My feeling is to try to host something like (
http://jsfiddle.net) JSFiddle where you can upload circuits, share them with a short URL, possibly run other tools on them like layout/visualisation. Hooking a full-on circuit simulator up to it is probably out of my league, but it might be cool to link it to (
http://www.falstad.com/circuit/) this little circuit sim app. Or provide exports to netlists or other file types.
Al_B on 22/2/2013 at 21:38
Quote Posted by Bakerman
And in my spare time, I've been trying to (
https://github.com/eightyeight/netlang) design a programming language. I realised that we don't really have a good plaintext way of exchanging circuit designs, except netlists, which are kind of crappy.
I don't want this to sound negative, but it'd be worth you checking out some spice tools before going too much further. Netlists were never intended as a way to share well laid out circuit designs - they're mainly there to allow CAD packages to see interconnections and process them, particularly PCB or Gerber tools where communicating circuit layout isn't the primary function.
I'd recommend having a look at a spice based tool - (
http://www.linear.com/designtools/software/) LTspice is free and saves its files in text format and you can simulate directly from it. It obviously has a bias towards LT components but it seems to share many of same goals.
Bakerman on 23/2/2013 at 03:12
I guess I should have gone into more detail - by exchange, I really meant share. LTSpice does save files in plaintext, but they're not exactly human-readable or understandable. And they're tied to LTSpice. Which isn't so bad - only in principle :P. Netlists are closer to what I want to achieve precisely because they don't have any layout information. They're easily version-controlled, and can be edited with whatever you have. They're compact, though they could be more efficient if they used more advanced syntax than defining nodes.
What I want to do is allow people to write textfiles that are easy to read and understand, because then they're easy to learn from, modify, and share in a context like forum posts. Images of circuits are great for understanding and learning from, but they're pretty much not modifiable at all (you'd need to recreate an image from scratch to make any more than a superficial change to the circuit), though they're pretty easy to share. CAD files are pretty much not able to be read by a human in any meaningful way, even LTSpice's fairly reasonable tex-based files, modifying them requires installing software, pulling down the shared file, editing, re-uploading, etc.
Sorry if I sound like I have a bone to pick - I really don't have a problem with CAD programs and so on for circuit design, they do a fantastic job. (I wouldn't expect a professional engineer working on a commercial circuit design to use netlang!) But I think they're overkill for sharing and modifying circuits, especially in a learning context.
Al_B on 23/2/2013 at 15:53
I like aspects of what you're trying to achieve. Easy revision control and a format that can easily be edited / searched without tools are admirable goals. Verilog (or VHDL) for design synthesis and simulation are much more manageable for digital logic design than the equivalent schematic particularly as things scale up (a soft-core processor for example would be frighteningly complex).
I guess my problem is seeing how it would work and be as understandable for analogue circuits where layout can be as important for communicating how the circuit is supposed to function as the actual connections themselves. Grounding layouts for switching supplies is an example off the top of my head. It might be because I've been involved in electronics for so long but being able to look at a picture of a schematic is a far quicker way of understanding circuits than mentally decoding netlang to discover the intent.
Sorry for the negativity - and if you can find ways to tackle the problems I'm very interested.
Bakerman on 23/2/2013 at 23:57
I definitely understand where you're coming from. To some extent, I think that nicely designed syntax can help with understanding in the same way a diagram can, by conveying the logic of what's going on. But yes, scanning a text file will never be as conducive to understanding as seeing a diagram. Someone else (on an electronics forum) pointed out VHDL to me - I had heard of it but only in connection to Verilog. It looks great, but far more professional than what I had in mind ;P.
I'd be really interested to see an example of the kind of circuit you're talking about. (I should mention, to be absolutely clear, I'm only through third year of uni and don't have a ton of experience with electronics. So you should definitely take all my ideas with a brick of salt.) I had a Google for a couple of diagrams, and yes... they're complicated :P. I'd actually love to have a go converting one to netlang to see how it came out - the problem is, I don't have a good enough understanding of how the circuit works to be able to mark it up in a way that would best make use of netlang's syntax. Again, to give a trivial example,
Code:
V.plus -> V.minus via R1
is more meaningful than
Code:
V.plus -> R1.in
V.minus -> R1.out
And a larger circuit introduces more decisions of what to route where, etc.
I welcome the negativity! I started the idea on a bit of a whim, but I really need to see if it's practical or even useful. Which means getting feedback from actual electronics people. We should probably take further discussion to PMs, though - I feel like this thread maybe isn't totally appropriate for netlang actually...
Yakoob on 9/3/2013 at 17:36
(
http://postmortemgame.com/) Postmortem just reached third internal alpha milestone! Integrated (
http://bulletphysics.org) Bullet Physics, an awesome physics library for better collision detection and response - FINALLY, sliding instead of getting stuck on stuff! And finished generating Navigation Graph plus basic AI routines, meaning all the characters now walk and navigate around obstacles.
Inline Image:
http://postmortemgame.com/images/promo/postmortem-alpha-screenshot-navpaths.jpgThe hilarious side effect of that is that, being dynamic physics bodies, characters can now be “bumped” and pushed around by the player. Do I sense a
Postmortem: Soccer Edition coming soon?
Volitions Advocate on 10/3/2013 at 03:32
Awesome! lol
Renzatic on 11/3/2013 at 13:28
Yeah, I started another project. Yet something else to do while I leave my 50,000 other projects unfinished.
This time, I'm doing something I've been wanting to do for awhile now. For the longest time, I've had the UDK sitting on my drive staring at me, calling to me as I scroll through it's lush showcase maps. Tempting me with it's luscious speedtrees. "You don't have to spend a billion hours making bushes and trees", it coos, "I can do it all for you in 15 minutes. You just have to UUUSSSEEE MEEEEEE".
Then it spreads it's legs, and...and ping pong balls, and...holy crap, it's filthy. It's almost as bad as that time Mr. Duck got drunk with that goat. Almost.
So anyway, I've been watching some tutorials on how to bring stuff into UDK. It's all neat. The thing can handle a metric fuckton of polygons. I don't have to concern myself with anything other than being a tiny bit on the conservative side. It's wonderful. I don't have to spend hours futzing about, trying to get everything just right. I make it, and it goes right in.
At least that's what it did with that cube I brought in. Haven't imported anything super complicated yet.
...yet. That's what I'm working on right now, and what I'm here to show off. What is it?
THIS STUFF:
(
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3018396/Gas_Pump.jpg) It started out with gas pumps
And yes, I know the hose and handle are too small. That's on the to-do list.
Then I realized that a set of gas pumps by themselves are kinda stupid. Can't make a semi little mini game out of gas pumps. That'd be stupid.
(
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3018396/General_Store.jpg) So I started making this thing.
I want to make a fixed angle overhead exploration type game, mostly inspired by all this Shadowrun talk we've been having these last few days. I don't expect it to ever be a full game, but I want to see if I can get a little guy in there, running around at the click of a button.
If I can get that and the camera angle in, I'll be content. It'll make for a nice little project, and I might learn something in the process. Then it's back to New Dark stuff.
demagogue on 12/3/2013 at 04:47
That's cool. I like the rustic atmosphere of it. You could do a kind of point & click adventure or something. I like games like that.
