@ perkint
I've got some free time so i have dug some links etc out for you.
=======================================
Single player only
Translated interview with Bernd - will dig links out
Krawall.de: A word: Multiplayer?
Bernd Lehan: No.
Krawall.de: No? Again?
Bernd Lehan: We have this thought always in the back of the head. We would do loving with pleasure a kind of MMO. But this is not up to now simply realizable.
Post link
=======================================
Changes to content tools.
Modding still available?
Will all the tools be released?
Can you answer more of our modding tool questions?
Apoch wrote:The "unannounced" script examples from the presentation were very heavily modified prior to posting on the web to use familiar terms from the old X games. Aside from a few syntax and style issues, very little of that code has any resemblance to what's actually in the game project mentioned. The point was to make it clear what kinds of things are going on for people familiar with the existing games, not to indicate what's going into future work.
As for modding, we've been committed for a long time to providing opportunities for people to mod and extend our games, and remain so going forward, as Bernd reiterated recently (sorry, no link handy, but a little search-fu should turn it up easily enough). It's way too early to be commenting on the mod support we plan for future games, but I think it's fair to say that you can expect some pretty cool toys to play with.
Just keep in mind that our focus is first and foremost on building the "primary" game experience, and that for a handful of reasons we can't always release all of the toys for general mass consumption. But we'll see what can be handed out in the future Wink
For the curious, I might be able to answer some questions on the new content creation tools we're using, although I can't promise much in the way of details.
=======================================
How many modding tools and what type?
Will there be better debugging tools?
How powerful are the modding tools?
Apoch wrote:As I've said before we're using three XML-based tools for content creation: one for MD-style mission/storyline control, one for cutscenes, and a new one for AI control which is very roughly analogous to the script editor in X2/X3. Can't say too much about the third yet but its existence is now officially revealed (post-GDC) so... speculate away Wink
We are internally using a fairly rich set of debugging functionality and such to make things easier, but it remains to be seen how much of that can be exposed for the modding community to play with. Stay tuned; once we're officially announced and such it should be possible to say a little bit more about that.
Last but not least... those of you concerned about the power of the new content tools need not be worried
. We've got several games worth of experience in building these tools and suffice it to say they're pretty powerful (full disclosure: a lot of them are my responsibility, so some bias may exist :Wink: )
Flexibility and control are always top priority for our content tools, so there should be no cause for alarm there. You'll be able to do some pretty sweet stuff with the new toys.
Documentation is also something we're trying hard to keep up to par, and it's again one of my personal areas of responsibility for the AI systems in particular; so hopefully we'll have a nice end-to-end detailed document on how to build your own goodies with the new tools and how to deploy them. It should be safe to say that anything we have internally in terms of documentation will be made available for the mod community at some point, and probably a fair amount of extra how-to guides and such as well. Of course the scripts shipping with the game can always be peeked at for inspiration and guidance, and thanks to the XML (and some deftly-placed schema files) we can also offer inline hints for each command as to how they work and how they should be used.
All in all, I am personally pretty excited about this one, and look forward to seeing what you lot can dream up Wink
=======================================
Apoch wrote:Observe wrote:What is the purpose for separate mission and cutscene content creation? Is it because of some performance reason?
Thanks
Missions and cutscenes require very different types of logic. Missions are all about controlling objects, checking for conditions (Is the bad guy dead yet? Did you sell all the Tuna Fish to the Zoo?), and responding to game situations. Cutscenes are more about displaying a particular event or sequence of events.
Just as in X3TC it is possible to link the cutscene and mission systems so that a mission-controlled event can be played as a cutscene, but the two are separate because they do fundamentally different jobs.
Samuel Creshal wrote:Performance? With interpreted XML-scripts? There is no performance... Razz
Much of X2, X3R, and X3TC's game logic is implemented using XML-based scripts. What do you think the MSCI is? Wink
In any case, softweir is correct - there's nothing saying the XML is loaded and interpreted on the fly. In reality it's actually compiled into an in-memory representation (similar but highly more performant than the solution used in X2/3) and executed from there directly.
As I've said elsewhere, our performance issues are basically never related to the scripting tools in the game. They're plenty fast, and easy enough to make even faster if it becomes necessary.
X2-Eliah wrote:I might be in a minority here, but I do hope you guys are also focusing towards the game's content and not just the tools Razz Sure, modding is great, but the vanilla experience also matters a lot Wink
As Ketraar pointed out, the tools are useful for a lot more than just mods. In fact, the tools we're developing and using now are designed primarily with the "vanilla" experience in mind, and mod support basically nothing more than a nice bonus. We're keen on getting that bonus maximized for you guys, of course, but it's not like mod support is the driving goal of the project. We're making a game, not a tech demo Wink
=======================================
modeling program?
cat/dat compression format?
Apoch wrote:Observe wrote:1. Does 3DS Max remain the modeling program?
2. Are you keeping the cat/dat compression format?
1. Yes.
2. No. We're using a compression/light encryption system of course but it differs from that in X3.
=======================================
Do you expect release of modding tools (encrypt/decrypt) near/simultaneous with release?
Will the decrypted model files be compatible with existing .bod format?
Are you using the same collision avoidance/detection/hitbox methods for your models as in X3, or is there a new way?
New AI Autopilot
The MSCI is dead, and no longer being used, is this correct?
Other info re tools etc.
Apoch wrote:Observe wrote:1. Do you expect release of modding tools (encrypt/decrypt) near/simultaneous with release?
2. Will the decrypted model files be compatible with existing .bod format?
1. Can't say at this point.
2. No.
X2-Eliah wrote:Another question.. *Are you using the same collision avoidance/detection/hitbox methods for your models as in X3, or is there a new way?
Without saying too much, there's... vanishingly little technology shared between X3 and our current project.
Alien ND wrote:Have you got an auto pillock that works properly ?
*runs and hides from Egosoft*
I should hope so, as good AI control is one of my responsibilities
mark_a_condren wrote:Question for Apoch
It has been said that you are using 3 XML based tools for various aspects, AI control and cutscenes are 2. AI control being much like MD. The third is a little more unclear atm.
So from this info i am lead to believe the MSCI is dead, and no longer being used, is this correct?
I am going to cry if it is so, i don't think i have enough hair left to go through the process of learning a new format. And the cost in keyboards due to forehead on desk. I have NO programming skills in anything other the MSCI so i had to learn that from scratch and don't think i can do it again, *sad*.
MarCon
Not quite - the
mission and storyline system is similar to the MD. The AI control system is again separate and very different from any other technology we've used in the past.
Again without saying too much, we're doing a lot of things in new ways now, and that includes areas that the MSCI formerly controlled.
The bad news is that the MSCI is, more or less, totally replaced now.
The good news is that the replacement is much more powerful, much easier to understand, and substantially more productive once you get used to it. I recommend checking out the
AI script example from GDC 2011 if you're curious what the new AI systems look like from a script perspective. It's different, and will have a learning curve all its own, but again as I said earlier in the thread we're going to try and really do the documentation thing right this time, so with any luck it should be pretty quick to pick up. Certainly anyone with MSCI experience should find it accessible enough.
While I certainly sympathize with the wish to not have to relearn a lot of things to do scripting/modding, the fact of the matter is that times change and things are moving forwards, and we have to evolve and adapt as a studio or risk becoming irrelevant. Part of the cost of that is that we occasionally need to do things in totally new ways, and pay the price of re-education.
But... suffice it to say, I think on the whole everyone should like where things are going in terms of the tools we're working on
=======================================
Can the new modding tools talk to each other?
Apoch wrote:Ketraar wrote:3 xml based ways to control the game, does that mean interactivity between them? Unlike now where MD <-> MSCI (SE) hated each others guts.
They can cross-communicate where needed, yes.
=======================================
=======================================
I think i got them all from
Apoch, and I tried to keep them in the correct order, as one question often led to another.
I have tried to put at the top of each section the questions they relate to,
kinda!
Links to the quote are supplied in Apoch's name.
I will let you format them how you like.
MarCon
Especially any facts from the O:T thread in which Apoch has posted a few things...
Same here.
.