This Week in GameGuru - 05/05/2019

GameGuru News

This week in GameGuru we have several 'info drops' of interest.  Firstly, if you missed it, on youtube was a recent video by Lee with respect to using GG Loader with GameGuru.  This could, perhaps, signal a shift towards a more formal cross platform pipeline between AGK and GG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcMrV7OqfeQ

Also recently a DLC pack deal was posted with this snippet of information:


"It's been a slow start to the year for official updates, but rest assured a lot of activity is happening in the background which we'll be able to reveal to you in the near future. What we can say for now is that we are working on aspects of the file management system for better compatibility with Windows 10, some multiplayer technology additions, a little code refactoring and upgrading the internal source code to Visual Studio 2017.
May will also see us tackle a few of the points you have posted to our issues tracker, so if you have something you would like to report and it's not yet recorded on GitHub, you can do so here:
https://github.com/TheGameCreators/GameGuruRepo/issues"

This lines up from what I've heard unofficially. If you take a look at the 'AlphaSite' code base, you'll notice a lot of recent moves towards adding Photon Multiplayer code and VR support.  While this is all very interesting and potentially game-changing it also is somewhat worrisome as an outside observer as there are nearly 265 outstanding issues on the issues tracker and I truly hope we see more than a 'few' bugfixes.  This engine's incredible potential is being hampered by a backlog of bugs and quality of life improvements for critical features such as a meta-searchable entitybank, better UI controls and improved terrain functionality.

I am, however, extremely hopeful that the new update will include at least a good chunk of fixes for outstanding issues such as the math error for the widget (where it slides exponentially if you are on the 'backside' of it.). Time will tell, but historically it's proven that every major update typically brings back a large number of old users to 'give it a whirl'. 

What's Good in The Store

This week it looks like Valentin321 has continued adding to his repository of Soviet themed assets.

Sula put in some last minute cars, old european cars that are oddly remniscient of the old American Chevy Nova (from the 80's). 

A few packs were added, notables are Graphix's beautiful picket fence kit and BSP's very impressive 2k skies pack volume 2. 

Also my Time of day and Weather kit + Skies pack is on sale this week for 12.95 until the 10th.  Make sure you get your copy if you haven't already gotten one! I will be adding the new 4k Space Skies to this kit shortly and increasing the price to reflect it, so if you want to get those skies for a bargain, this is the best time to do it!

Third Party Tools and Tutorials

BOTR continues to grind out work on his heightmap importation tool for GG.  He's now getting a split-loading system in where you can load multiple terrain types.  It's an interesting experiment, get more details here: https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/219806?page=3#msg2615271

AmenMoses posted a video of his highly impressive physics-based gear library that is a work in progress but will likely see release soon for those who don't mind getting their hands dirty with Lua code: https://vimeo.com/334314785

Wolf did a great write-up on '10 easy tips to make working with GG easier' which has some pretty high quality info in it, like how to make any plant into functional vegetation. Many of the these are covered in my book as well but it's nice to see the information making it's way through the public sphere!

Dvader has been breaking into the map file and digging around.  Interesting stuff, I remember trying the same thing about a year ago and eventually giving up after running out of time. 

Free Stuff

HarryWever(Dagored) put up a free windmill for those interested: https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/210761?page=6#msg2615188 - They look great with the dynamically cast shadows from the built-in sun. 

Amenmoses posted a script for Graphix's free piping that allows functional gauges: https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/217932?page=14#msg2615070

Amenmoses also put together a variation on his vehicle script to make a very cool little boat: https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/220055?page=1#msg2615182

Random Acts of Creativity (WIPs)

Recently Belidos showed a very interesting video of his recent work on an isometric RPG kit which included an inventory system: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FslhDHYSwHM

And because I inadvertently missed it, there was a fantastic piece of work demonstrated by Bod and Amenmoses showing multiple vehicles which can be driven via video.  I would recommend this highly as a must-watch: https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/220598?page=2#msg2614858

Teabone's recent work on his D&D inspired gelatinous cube has come a long way - I'm definitely liking the progress:

He's put a lot of time into trying to size it properly and get the 'jiggle' correct.

Ignite has some new interesting details on it's design philosophy and recent updates: https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/220722#msg2614998
Notably he's added:
Three light sources, each with different behaviours (actual weapons shown are placeholders atm).

•   Movement penalties based on light choice.
•   Death, respawning, and resetting of light source attributes.
•   Safezones.

Good stuff. I always like to see people thinking outside of the box.

Solar's project, 'Resist: Revolution' is apparently still being worked on and some good screenshots were recently posted:

Not bad at all!  Keep up the good work guys.

In My Own Works

Recently I posted some teasers to Facebook and various areas of Discord of the weapons work I'm having done by an artist via Commission.  It's come along well.  We're about halfway through the list of proposed items and so far I'm really pleased with the results. I've also been working heavily with GameGuru's gunspec file and projectile files to help create some impressive effects for these guns ranging from flamethrowers to plasma launchers. I'd say I feel as if I have full mastery on this and will likely do a write-up on it in the near future or try to get a last-minute inclusion to the book.

In the meantime, enjoy the screenshots of some of the guns that are still works in progress but are nearing completion:

Once we're all done I'll release these for purchase on the TGCstore ahead of the book for those who don't intend to buy the book (which will include free versions with it).

Again, for those who are interested, the book's publication date is AUGUST 19th, 2019.  I hope to see you all soon with details about additional features I will be including with the book!

A few of Erart's more 'unusual' pieces.

So this is the review I was talking about.  The one where I have some things to say that may be considered somewhat negative.  Overall, I have good praise for Erart but a word of warning I do have some buyer's remorse over one object - specifically the coconut throwing weapon.

I'm usually very careful about what I purchase; I want to make sure I only buy the things I plan on actually using or I can use to some functional end.  This means a great many purchases I make are actually based around my Sci-Fi WIP. 

That said occasionally I purchase models for my son to use or objects I just plain find interesting.  I recently made a octonauts themed series of items for my son (nothing special, just some alpha masked 2-D decals he could place, along with a poorly made 3D model of the octopod).  I decided to splurge and purchase two items from Erart:

First was 'coral reef 2'.  This is the lower priced of the two coral reefs he offers.  It's a simple coral reef with some anemone and a starfish.  That said, it's really impressive what he's done - he managed to make a very functional dynamically moving object that adds a lot of life to your underwater scenes.

As you can see from this video, it's got a lot of really cool behavior to it.

In game, it looks like this:

Nevermind the coconut, that's for later. 

Now the reef itself is rather small but blends in well with grey or brown surroundings.  I for one was extremely happy with this piece.  It has a surprising amount going on and I'd reckon it's pretty much required if you want to run an underwater level of any kind.

The next piece was the 'underwater skybox'.  I've made a number of skies myself so it's not often I purchase other people's skies.  This was however a very unique offering giving an 'undersea' view of the surface water above and some jellyfish flying by.

Well.. Overall this is an excellent skybox. That said there are *SOME* complaints.   Nothing major here.  Primarily that the jellyfish appear very flat, are too frequent, and move way - way - WAY too fast.  I mean unless those Jellyfish are mounting jet engines, there's no way they should be moving so quickly.  It can be tuned, of course, manually via the skybox settings files but the end user shouldn't have to do that.  So buyer beware - it's a good skybox but you may find yourself tinkering with it.


So having purchased two separate items and being reasonably satisfied by his work - I decided to go for it and purchase what I felt was a 'must have' silly item - the coconut weapon.

So as you can see from the video, the weapon seems reasonable enough.  I want it specifically as a 'cheat code' silly weapon that will basically destroy anyone it hits.  That's easy enough for me to implement, of course.  The fact it's a coconut is perfectly ridiculous for me.  I feel that this has limited utility outside of a strictly 'survivalist' game, which there's really not a lot available in that respect weapon-wise so you may find yourself never quite in the situation I was in.

So let's start with the nitty gritty - first off, the modelling, method, and texturing is really well done.  What was done here was ambitious and I look forward to future weapons by Erart.

Behold the coconut, mighty in it's glorious power.

So the coconut is a hitscan weapon.  It's modeled very well.  The hands are a little... cartoonish but nothing game-ending for me.  What kills me though is actually the OFFHAND.  First of all - it serves NO function; it's just there. And second of all, it makes your character seem like they have Bell's Palsy or something.  You literally run around with your hand sticking out stuck in a sort of rigor.  Then when you toss the coconut, the hand comes up and comes down as if it's attached to a stick.  It's ... unfortunate.  I really can't find myself wanting to use this weapon simply because I can't stand the offhand.  I'd rather he just get rid of it altogether, if possible.  I may write him and ask this, I don't know. 

Take a look:

This is the start of the throw. 

As you can see above, the initial part of the throw seems ok - though that second hand really never touches the coconut at all.  And the main hand is ... awkwardly angled but that's less of an issue than it might seem.

The problem is the left hand remains locked in that posture and simply ... goes down.  It looks absurd.

Apparently you have really bad arthritis from years of coconut throwing.

So .. yeah.  That's the meat of it.  If the hand movement was less rigid, it'd be a top shelf gimmick item.

As it is, it's relegated to my 'maybe one day' bin.  Overall, I applaud Erart's absolutely unique offerings.  Almost everything he sells has some unique edge to it that can't be found by any other vendor.  I'm shocked at some of the genuinely impressive things he's done.  If he can just improve his model animations a smidgen he'll easily best some of the Game-Guru community's top authors.

BSP's SCI-FI weapons pack

My original BSP weapons (pack 1) review is here.

I have been waiting a long time for something like this.  I've had a Sci-Fi project on the back burner which I have wanted to do for a long... LONG time.  Years before even doing anything with FPSC:R.

So without hesitation, I purchased the kit.

  Hot damn.  Sci-Fi always gets the blood pumping.

 I was not disappointed.

This kit cost a meager 8 dollars; that's a pittance for what you get:

5 guns, one low price.

Lets review the 5 weapons given:

You get the IronFist Shotgun.  I have to say as a firearms owner and enthusiast - this thing is awesome.  It behaves EXACTLY as I want a "Space Shotgun" to behave.  It fires out of an eight round drum magazine and the animation is smooth as butter.  It's easy to handle and frankly just feels good.  

Next up is the Quasar Gun; this is a full-auto carbine which has a good bit of recoil.  Of the bunch, its my least favorite aesthetically though it does have a pretty nice alien feel.  I really enjoy watching the drum rotate as it fires.  It features a thirty-two round box magazine which then feeds into some kind of accumulator drum that rotates.  There's one minor flaw and really my only complaint here.  If you really go frame by frame on the box magazine it shows some pretty gigantic bullets.  I don't really care honestly because it happens too fast for the user to notice but it is a fault and bears mentioning.  That said, ejected shell casings are PERFECT on all weapons - no more full cartridge ejections! 

The S4-VC6 pistol is a fantastic weapon; it's a nice all around weapon with good visibility of the gloved hand.  Now normally I'd complain about how you can see the hands but honestly I don't plan on using non-standard weapons and if I do, I will simply reduce the weapon's visibility via configuration files.

 

A pre-alpha WIP screenshot of my upcoming space-shooter.

The Sniper R400 Panther is a well rounded sniping weapon.  I have a confession to make - I hate sniping weapons in this game engine.  They are quite simply too strong.  They make the game exceptionally easy on a number of levels.  This gun, however, feels balanced and decent with it's twelve round stick magazine- unlike the base level 'remington hunting rifle' that comes with gameguru.  It's a good weapon in most circumstances and basically acts as a long range 'upgrade' to the pistol.  It's also gorgeous in the right lighting.

The Typhoon is straight out awesome.  At first I thought "oh great, another full auto gun."  But in truth, it's a weapon unto itself with a fifty round magazine of what are effectively pistol rounds.  It does less damage than the Quasar but slams out the rounds so fast and cleanly it is my preferred weapon of the bunch.  This little monster feels fantastic and is right at home in any Sci-Fi game.

One important note: All of these guns actually come with an alt-fire mode.  Literally press left-alt and you get a melee attack animation that's not shown in the video or really documented at all.  Your character lowers his gun and throws out a quick right hook.  It's a nice freebie and makes the 'what do I do if I have no ammo' situation less difficult to work around.

Overall opinion and observations: This pack is extremely well priced.  You get 6 weapons for the price of 4, effectively, which is a helluva deal.  The weapons all feel unique enough and their respective weapon boxes/ammo boxes look great too.  The muzzle flash on all of these guns is SPOT on and looks fantastic.  The minor flaws of the other weapon packs (recoil, gun feel, ejected weapon cartridges, etc) have all been clearly lessons that were learned from.  BSP has outdone himself.

If I had to buy just one: It's 8 dollars.  Just buy the pack.  There's really no reason not to.  But if you are absolutely trying to be as cheap as possible - get the Typhoon.  It's too fun not to have.