Category A3P
Networking and better particles
Network code is working reasonably well now. The server generates a unique MD5 hash (only six characters) for an entity, then broadcasts a packet to the clients instructing them to spawn an entity of the correct type, and assign the same hash as its ID. From then on, the server turns over the reigns to the entity's controller, which can send any information it wants in its own sandboxed data packet.
Done with art for a while
I've spent way too much time fooling with the Blender-Panda3D content pipeline, so I'm moving back to working on gameplay and coding.
That being said, the art was fun while it lasted. Here's a sample of the results:
All art in this screenshot was created by me. The arena geometry enclosing the map was created by extruding individual faces of an icosphere. The texture maps were drawn in the excellent Inkscape, then touched up in the lightweight-but-useful Paint.NET, then crunched by the incredibly flexible and powerful CrazyBump for the normal maps. The whole process is recorded here for posterity:
First major update
Mmm. Been a while, hasn't it.
Latest and greatest feature list:
- Nifty particle effects for bullet impacts
- Decent AI pathfinding
- Grenades don't go through walls any more :D
- New test map with spiffy baked lighting courtesy of Blender
Current project: revamping the orbital dock model seen on the front page screenshot. First up: my first shot at a rusty grungy metal texture. Made from scratch in Photoshop in about a half hour with four layers of noise, airbrushing, blurring, burning, and dodging.