Space Year 2024 Is Go

 

DIY gambeson, with padded arming cap (not visible) to stop sallet wobbling on head - it's everything you need to keep warm on a cold winter's night ... or possible prepare for the GREAT HAPPENING when modernity crumbles and all is returned to the ashes ... 

Monsters Loot Swag has received it's 24th Early Access Update, available here.

Speaking of which, I ran some of the game engine's internal debugging tools - which I have previously been unfamiliar with - to see what was happening with networking. Alas these debugging options were not as helpful as I had hoped ... 

TORQUE_DEBUG_NET for NetConnection packet logging, DebugChecksum guards to detect mismatched pack/unpacks, and Detection of invalid destination ghosts. Link to PacketDataChecksum disagree code.

TORQUE_DEBUG_NET_MOVES for detailed console logging of net moves. Link to moveChecksum disagree code.

What I got was kind of annoying and much less useful than I had hoped ...

Test1:

Spawning into a loaded level, with the randomized gameplay assets unbuilt (the Swag), I got 6 packetData and 17 moveChecksum disagrees, all from loading the level to the client and then spawning the player object.

Shooting 6 times gave me 3 packetData and 3 moveChecksum calls.

Moving around in a small circle had no effect.

Test 2:

Spawning into a loaded level which had then been populated with the randomized gameplay assets (the Swag), gave 4 packetData and 38 moveChecksum calls.

Shooting 6 times have the same 3 calls for each.

Moving around in a small circle for a few seconds gave 57 calls for both packetData and moveChecksum.

Conclusion; everything that gets loaded AFTER the level has been loaded is going to throw checksum disagree calls with every update of the client's position just because it wasn't in the original level file. Now add hordes of monsters, explosions, projectiles, etc and there is a huge amount of console spam with very little debugging value for networking ... :/

The good news would be no packet dropping showed up.

Anyhow, we perserve.

That Was The Year That Was: Space Year 2023

 

2023 comes to an end ... and if I am honest, it was kinda non-descript ...

So what actually happened? I have no idea, but it did include me porting Monsters Loot Swag to the latest version of the game engine - available here for FREE under MIT license - and all it's glorious new fangled stuff like asset systems and Physical Based Rendering (PBR).

Have you seen this PBR'd catgirl?

You have now!

So, anyhow, the latest engine version of Monsters Loot Swag got a BETA, whilst I fixed a few things up on that version to bring it more into line with the default v.3.x which I had initially uploaded to Steam - not that I got the feedback and testing which I was hoping for, but hey, that's just one of those things. The v.4.x Beat build did come with it's own script compiler which was invaluable to finding scripting issues which the the default version would not. I will probably retire the default Steam version and replace it with the Beta as standard moving forwards. 

Have you seen how to opt into the Beta?

You have now!

 I also beat Micro$oft at it's own game when it locked me out of the source code for Airship Dragoon, and managed to finally put out a new update with the latest version of Steam.

Have you seen this Airship Dragoonette?

 You have now!

Have you seen this Sparrowhawk?

Well he spotted me first ... I mean what did he want? It's not like I can just feed him juicy blackbirds, which judging from the carnage near the veg patch, is his sole diet.

In other news I managed to survive five (5) whole decades on God's blessed earth, I think wearing a sallet for the whole time helped.

In other news I have made good progress with my GAMBESON which I have designed specifically to survive Winter with when heating prices go through the roof, or someone Kalibrates the UK gas pipeline, and yes, season should have caps. I am currently messing around with the edging at the moment and need to sort the arms out and some strapping for the front which is double layered in a slightly eastern fashion. No prizes for the sewing aesthetic but it will hold together. 

It's surprising how sore my finger and thumb has got just from holding a needle.

Once I get chance, I will return to my medieval hack-and-slash-cum-RPG idea which I have already coded combat up for, but really now need some 3D artwork and animations, and I'm thinking of a lowpoly aesthetic with that. 

I also intend to port my old aeronauticals air combat game demo to the latest version of the game engine and release it for testing. To be honest if I go back to that I might make it low-poly too as that seems to be faster with production. It's a style which certainly did not do Valheim et al any harm.

Another 365 days are gone, so you for the next 365 ... unless it's a leap year some time ...

Happy New Year!

Monsters Loot Swag Beta Available

 I have been stuck on this rock for 5 centuries - sorry 5 decades, feels like 5 centuries ... and more on medieval times later ...

Monsters Loot Swag has a new BETA version available on Steam. A BETA in Early Access? Well, yes.

The BETA branch is a whole new game engine ... well, actually it's kinda the same game engine with a whole new system. This system includes a fully function asset system, Physical Based Rendering (that's cool reflections of roughness and metal to normal folks), and HDR!

Want to try out the BETA branch? Go to your game library in Steam and click on Monster Loot Swag, click settings (circled in red) and bring up the drop-down menu, choose preferences and when the new window appears, go to Beta in the sidebar and select the new BETA version. You can opt-out of the BETA in the same way, by choosing default.

 
Don't want to play the BETA for the new game engine? No problems, the original version is still available.

Q: So why is it a BETA and not just the standard game branch?
A: Well because it's taken a fair bit of effort for updating and I need extra testing for various internal linkages that I may have missed, before I can set it to the master/default branch of the game.

Q: Is the default branch still getting updated?
A: YES! The default branch is still getting updated whilst I work on bringing the new game engine BETA version up to speed.

There have also been ~25 fixes and changes, including finalizing the models and effects for the remaining swag attacks and the special use items.

 Monsters Loot Swag now requires just 3 characters, 3 levels, 3 bosses and some extra stuff before Early Access is complete and it can be shipped. I am hoping for completion around April-May.

I've also been giving some thought about my next project to start sometime in 2024 and was thinking of making a third person medieval melee combat game, but not a Soulslike, more fighting against multiple opponents, but not a Musou-like either. Just a solid hack'n'slash.

I would like to make a massive single-player RPG but am actually thinking of something more manageable and bitesized. Something that might actually not require 5-8 years of work to finish ...

There has been quite a lot of this in the last 5 millenium ...

 

Behold, my new thinking cap!

Sallet. Why a sallet? Obvious really ...