Microbe Stage Development

Subject: Microbe Stage Development Sun Jan 20, 2013 4:35 pm

Okay, so although I was reluctant to start this thread myself, there wasn't much initiative from anyone else, so here I go.

This thread will serve as a discussion thread, a thread for tracking the progress of the programming, a task list, and a list of who's doing what. Let me tell you right off the bat that as I am not a programmer myself I need you coders out there to help me out and contribute for this thread.

A list of our programmers can be found here. If you are a programmer and your name isn't there, its not mandatory, but its recommended, since it will make organizing easier. Some of you who posted recently on that thread aren't on the list yet. That's because some of you need more experience and for the others I have just been too lazy to update the OP. I will get to that soon.

There is a wonderful thread by Seregon here that shows the resources for the coding.

------------------------------------------------------

So here will be the list of programming tasks at hand. Fill me in as we go along on what needs doing.

-Finishing the entity framework (nicer code, making it faster, removing unnecessary lines...)
-Start adding systems to controll the entities (colision system, controll system (Keyboard, AI), compounds,...)
-Setting up a GUI.

------------------------------------------------------

So our current goal is to create the game from scratch. We don't want anything at the moment other than a basic .exe that starts up and shows one of the created backgrounds, as shown in the spoiler.

Spoiler:

Then, from there, we will come back and add a menu, and then add some cells, and build our way up. If you have the time, read this thread. Its still in progress, and currently stalled, but it basically elaborates the point I am making right now, to build our way up from scratch and do it simple.

So guys, what do we need to do to get such an executable finished? What tasks should I add to the list? Who is wants to get started on what?

Also, is there anything I am missing from this thread? Anything you guys suggest I add?

Subject: Re: Microbe Stage Development Mon Jan 21, 2013 7:05 am

High priority stuff:
-Ogre, SDL and MyGUI initilazation.
-Simple SDL input.
Medium priority:
-Full input.
-Simple AI.
-Simple GUI.
-Simple Population dynamics.
Low priority:
-Pretty GUI.
-Learning AI (Maybe).
-Compound system.
-Full population dynamics.

Subject: Re: Microbe Stage Development Mon Jan 21, 2013 9:34 am

I would say sdl and mygui are medium priority. Ogre alredy has input handling (i dont know how good it is, but it probably is sufficient for the basic stuf). And unless you want pretty interface from the start, MyGUI is also not so important. Also because it is the one that gives the most problems.

Subject: Re: Microbe Stage Development Mon Jan 21, 2013 11:47 am

NickTheNick wrote:: If you have the time, read thread.

Was that supposed to be a link?

I agree with Dani, MyGUI has caused me nothing but headaches, so it can be skipped for now, and is definately not needed for the basic setup we want done now. OIS (included with Ogre) seems a reasonably good IO system, though I've not looked into the details, so we may want to look at SDL later, though we don't need either just yet.

In the long run, all of those Ido mentioned are important, but what we need now is an Ogre window with a textured plane in it, nothing more. I have the ogre window, for some reason I got stuck trying to load a texture when I had a quick go at this on Friday, but I'll have another attempt today. If anyone else already has that much working, could you create a pull request into the repo?

Subject: Re: Microbe Stage Development Mon Jan 21, 2013 5:50 pm

Seregon wrote:

NickTheNick wrote:: If you have the time, read thread.

Was that supposed to be a link?

I agree with Dani, MyGUI has caused me nothing but headaches, so it can be skipped for now, and is definately not needed for the basic setup we want done now. OIS (included with Ogre) seems a reasonably good IO system, though I've not looked into the details, so we may want to look at SDL later, though we don't need either just yet.

In the long run, all of those Ido mentioned are important, but what we need now is an Ogre window with a textured plane in it, nothing more. I have the ogre window, for some reason I got stuck trying to load a texture when I had a quick go at this on Friday, but I'll have another attempt today. If anyone else already has that much working, could you create a pull request into the repo?

I have code that just loads a window, but not with a texture, don't bother making your own.
I will add background and place the camra in a from top to down view.

Also, it will help us if we actually chose "Constant" libs, we don't want this mess later on, it can be a pain converting code from one lib to another, so I suggest chosing one and going with it all the way.

P.S.
Add "Cell class" in "High priorety".

Subject: Re: Microbe Stage Development Mon Jan 21, 2013 6:07 pm

Looking at SDL, it adds a whole bunch of stuff we dont really need. And unless SDL has something we realy need, i would vote on going with OIS, as it is alredy inside Ogre, and doesen't need any extra work for it wo work.

Usually input handling is quite simple, so in case we need to change it, there won't be too much lines to fix

Subject: Re: Microbe Stage Development Mon Jan 21, 2013 9:48 pm

Thanks for pointing that out Seregon.

Ive added the tasks to the lists. Whose doing which?

Subject: Re: Microbe Stage Development Tue Jan 22, 2013 3:38 pm

NickTheNick wrote:: Thanks for pointing that out Seregon.

Ive added the tasks to the lists. Whose doing which?

I will do the initilazation process... I could do it with OIS or SDL, I already set up SDL.

Subject: Re: Microbe Stage Development Wed Jan 23, 2013 2:15 pm

Bump!

main.cpp:

Code:: #include "/home/ido66667/OgreProject/Headers/HelperHeader.h"

#include <OgreException.h>
#include <OgreConfigFile.h>
#include <OgreCamera.h>
#include <OgreViewport.h>
#include <OgreSceneManager.h>
#include <OgreRenderWindow.h>
#include <OgreEntity.h>
#include <OgreWindowEventUtilities.h>

bool OgreProject::go(void)
{
//----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

#ifdef _DEBUG
mPluginsCfg = "./ConfigFiles/Plugins/plugins_d.cfg";
#else
mPluginsCfg = "./ConfigFiles/Plugins/plugins.cfg";
#endif // _DEBUG

//----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

mCfgFile = "./ConfigFiles/Ogre.cfg";

//----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

mLog = "./Logs/Ogre.log";

//----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

mRoot = new Ogre::Root(mPluginsCfg, "./ConfigFiles/Ogre.cfg",mLog);

//----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

#ifdef _DEBUG
mResourcesCfg = "./ConfigFiles/Resources/Resources_d.cfg";
#else
mResourcesCfg = "./ConfigFiles/Resources/Resources.cfg";
#endif // _DEBUG

//----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

Ogre::ConfigFile cf;
cf.load(mResourcesCfg);

Ogre::ConfigFile::SectionIterator seci = cf.getSectionIterator();

Ogre::String secName, typeName, archName;
while(seci.hasMoreElements())
{
secName = seci.peekNextKey();
Ogre::ConfigFile::SettingsMultiMap *settings = seci.getNext();
Ogre::ConfigFile::SettingsMultiMap::iterator i;
for (i = settings->begin(); i != settings->end(); ++i)
{
typeName = i->first;
archName = i->second;
Ogre::ResourceGroupManager::getSingleton().addResourceLocation(archName, typeName, secName);
}
}

if(!(mRoot->restoreConfig() || mRoot->showConfigDialog()))
{
return false;
}

Ogre::ResourceGroupManager::getSingleton().initialiseAllResourceGroups();
Ogre::TextureManager::getSingleton().setDefaultNumMipmaps(5);

mWindow = mRoot->initialise(true, "OgreProject");

mSceneMgr = mRoot->createSceneManager("SceneManager1");

mCamera = mSceneMgr->createCamera("Player");

Ogre::Viewport* vp = mWindow->addViewport(mCamera);
vp->setBackgroundColour(Ogre::ColourValue(0, 0, 0));

mCamera->setPosition(Ogre::Vector3(0, 0, 80));
mCamera->lookAt(Ogre::Vector3(0, 0, -300));
mCamera->setNearClipDistance(5);
return true;

Ogre::Entity* ogreHead = mSceneMgr->createEntity("OgreHead", "ogrehead.mesh");

Ogre::SceneNode* headNode = mSceneMgr->getRootSceneNode()->createChildSceneNode();
headNode->attachObject(ogreHead);

mSceneMgr->setAmbientLight(Ogre::ColourValue(0.5, 0.5, 0.5));

Ogre::Light* Light1 = mSceneMgr->createLight("Light1");
Light1->setPosition(20, 80, 50);

Ogre::LogManager::getSingletonPtr()->logMessage("Initializing OIS...");
OIS::ParamList pl;
size_t windowHnd = 0;
std::ostringstream windowHndStr;

mWindow->getCustomAttribute("Window1", &windowHnd);
windowHndStr << windowHnd;
pl.insert(std::make_pair(std::string("Window1"), windowHndStr.str()));

mInputManager = OIS::InputManager::createInputSystem(pl);

mKeyboard = static_cast<OIS::Keyboard*>(mInputManager->createInputObject(OIS::OISKeyboard, false));
mMouse = static_cast<OIS::Mouse*>(mInputManager->createInputObject(OIS::OISMouse, false));

windowResized(mWindow);

Ogre::WindowEventUtilities::addWindowEventListener(mWindow, this);

mRoot->addFrameListener(this);

mRoot->startRendering();
};

void OgreProject::windowResized(Ogre::RenderWindow* rw)
{
unsigned int width, height, depth;
int left, top;
rw->getMetrics(width, height, depth, left, top);

const OIS::MouseState &ms = mMouse->getMouseState();
ms.width = width;
ms.height = height;
};

void OgreProject::windowClosed(Ogre::RenderWindow* rw)
{
if(rw == mWindow)
{
if(mInputManager)
{
mInputManager->destroyInputObject(mMouse);
mInputManager->destroyInputObject(mKeyboard);

OIS::InputManager::destroyInputSystem(mInputManager);
mInputManager = 0;
}
}
};

bool OgreProject::frameRenderingQueued(const Ogre::FrameEvent& evt)
{
if(mWindow->isClosed())
{
return false;
}

mKeyboard->capture();
mMouse->capture();

if(mKeyboard->isKeyDown(OIS::KC_ESCAPE))
{
return false;
}

return true;
}

#ifdef __cplusplus
extern "C"
{
#endif // __cplusplus

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
OgreProject app;

try
{
app.go();
}

catch (Ogre::Exception& e)
{
std::cerr << "An exception has been caught: " << e.getFullDescription().c_str() << std::endl;
}

return 0;
};

#ifdef __cplusplus
};
#endif // __cplusplus

HelperHeader:

Code:: #ifndef HELPERHEADER_INCLUDED
#define HELPERHEADER_INCLUDED

#include <OgreRoot.h>
#include <OIS/OISInputManager.h>
#include <OIS/OISKeyboard.h>
#include <OIS/OISMouse.h>
#include <OIS/OISEvents.h>
#include <OgreWindowEventUtilities.h>

class OgreProject : public Ogre::WindowEventListener, public Ogre::FrameListener
{
protected:
virtual void windowResized(Ogre::RenderWindow* rw);
virtual void windowClosed(Ogre::RenderWindow* rw);
virtual bool frameRenderingQueued(const Ogre::FrameEvent& evt);
private:
Ogre::Root* mRoot;
Ogre::String mPluginsCfg;
Ogre::String mCfgFile;
Ogre::String mLog;
Ogre::String mResourcesCfg;
Ogre::RenderWindow* mWindow;
Ogre::SceneManager* mSceneMgr;
Ogre::Camera* mCamera;

OIS::InputManager* mInputManager;
OIS::Mouse* mMouse;
OIS::Keyboard* mKeyboard;
public:
OgreProject(void) : mRoot(0), mPluginsCfg(Ogre::StringUtil::BLANK), mCfgFile(Ogre::StringUtil::BLANK),
mLog(Ogre::StringUtil::BLANK), mResourcesCfg(Ogre::StringUtil::BLANK)
{
};
virtual ~OgreProject(void)
{
Ogre::WindowEventUtilities::removeWindowEventListener(mWindow, this);
windowClosed(mWindow);
delete mRoot;
}

bool go(void);
};

#endif //HELPERHEADER_INCLUDED

input.h:

Code:: #ifndef INPUT_H
#define INPUT_H

#include <SDL.h>

class input
{
public:
//Constractur
input();

//Destractur.
virtual ~input();

//Events.
virtual void OnEvent(SDL_Event* Event);

//Keys.
virtual void OnKeyUp(SDLKey sym, SDLMod mod, Uint16 unicode);
virtual void OnKeyDown(SDLKey sym, SDLMod mod, Uint16 unicode);

//Mouse movment.
virtual void OnMouseMove(int mX, int mY, int relX, int relY, bool Left, bool Right, bool Middle);

//Left mouse button.
virtual void OnLeftButtonDown(int mX, int mY);
virtual void OnLeftButtonUp(int mX, int mY);

//Right mouse button.
virtual void OnRightButtonDown(int mX, int mY);
virtual void OnRightButtonUp(int mX, int mY);

//Middle mouse button.
virtual void OnMiddleButtonDown(int mX, int mY);
virtual void OnMiddleButtonUp(int mX, int mY);

virtual void OnMinimize();
virtual void
virtual void OnRestore();
virtual void OnResize(int w, int h);
virtual void OnExit();
protected:
private:
};

#endif // INPUT_H

That is SDL and Ogre init.

Subject: Re: Microbe Stage Development Wed Jan 23, 2013 3:08 pm

Wouldn't it be better to make a pull request into the github? That way we will have all the code centralized.

Also, the request thing is in order to avoid things like so:

Code:: #include "/home/ido66667/OgreProject/Headers/HelperHeader.h"

This will only work in you computer.

Also, the resources file and all that other stuff is needed. Althrough looking at your code, i assume that you used the ones from the tutorials.

Subject: Re: Microbe Stage Development Wed Jan 23, 2013 9:46 pm

To the other coders out there, including you Dani, what will you guys work on?

Also, do you have any corrections or suggestions for the task list above?

EDIT: ido, how are you doing with the initialization?

Subject: Re: Microbe Stage Development Fri Jan 25, 2013 10:11 am

Daniferrito wrote:

Wouldn't it be better to make a pull request into the github? That way we will have all the code centralized.

Also, the request thing is in order to avoid things like so:

Code:: #include "/home/ido66667/OgreProject/Headers/HelperHeader.h"

This will only work in you computer.

Also, the resources file and all that other stuff is needed. Althrough looking at your code, i assume that you used the ones from the tutorials.

1. I could change it to a line this, "/usr/include/..." and use #ifdef for 64... etc.
2. Much like seregon did, but I tinkered with it, like adding SDL init and changing the odd spacing, also removed unnecessary stuff, also, most Ogre init code will look like that, as the average programmer won't change the rendering loop or Ogre::Root... The engine is the same, so the init is basicly the same everywhere (Mostly)... What makes a game unique is what is really in it, not how the code looks.
3. I really don't get along with GitHub...

Subject: Re: Microbe Stage Development Fri Jan 25, 2013 12:22 pm

Well, i meant that the resources are the ones from the tutorials. The code will look the same, of course.

Yes, it is solvable, but what i meant was that that was a reason for the code checking, solving errors like that.

Subject: Re: Microbe Stage Development Sat Jan 26, 2013 3:48 pm

I'm sorry if I sound impatient, but how is the coding coming along? When can we expect an executable up and running?

Subject: Re: Microbe Stage Development Sat Jan 26, 2013 6:38 pm

Ido was working on it. Or Seregon, he was trying it too. And Andrews, whose username here i dont know was on it too. One of them should be able to tell us how close to done the first executable is. Ido's code seems done, just compiling (with the right resources) and uploading the executable should do it.

Subject: Re: Microbe Stage Development Sat Jan 26, 2013 9:52 pm

Awesome! Could we get a status update from one of you guys? Don't feel pressured to respond, take your time if you are busy with other things.

Newcomer Posts : 20 Reputation : 1 Join date : 2012-10-25

Daniferrito wrote:: Ido was working on it. Or Seregon, he was trying it too. And Andrews, whose username here i dont know was on it too. One of them should be able to tell us how close to done the first executable is. Ido's code seems done, just compiling (with the right resources) and uploading the executable should do it.

Unfortunately I am still getting the same boost error when trying to compile any of the demo code from the orge tutorials.
It's strange cmake works just fine, but mingw32-make is giving this error:

C:/Users/Andrew/Downloads/OgreSDK_MinGW_v1-8-1/include/OGRE/Threading/OgreThread
HeadersBoost.h:37:32: fatal error: boost/thread/tss.hpp: No such file or directo
ry

I posted about it before, but unfortunately a quick fix didn't seem to be available.
I tried the solution from the ogre forums of replacing ogre's boost with my compiled boost 1.5.1,
but that also didn't work. Apparently I have to specify the boost dir for mingw32-make
despite it already being specficied in CMakeLists.

going to recompile boost from c:\boost
and then set paths as such. problem might be that my path variables are
set for directories in my Downloads folder and ogre seems to assume boost is in c:\boost

Subject: Re: Microbe Stage Development Sun Jan 27, 2013 8:15 am

Daniferrito wrote:: Ido was working on it. Or Seregon, he was trying it too. And Andrews, whose username here i dont know was on it too. One of them should be able to tell us how close to done the first executable is. Ido's code seems done, just compiling (with the right resources) and uploading the executable should do it.

Ammm... About the executable... It is almost done, but it might take some time, I suggest you to fix it yourself, If you want it quick, also, if you really want you can make it to work on windows with precompiler statements.

Subject: Re: Microbe Stage Development Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:26 pm

Excuse the absence... I've had a busy week. I've just completed the basic setup including just a background texture, no input handling (though OIS is partially setup, and 'Esc' quits the window), and fairly little else. It's mainly the code I had before, but I culled everything we weren't using, as well as removing all the tutorial media from the commit.

Pull request here - noone accept this until it's been checked over by others. Assuming you have Ogre, Boost, MinGW and CMake installed (and can succesfully compile the Ogre tutorials), you should be able to compile this code by running CMake followed by mingw32-make install (should work equally well on Unix using gnu make)

Download the binary here - it should work on Win32, could atleast one person confirm this works for them, and anyone who can't get it to work let me know any errors you get.

I'm not 100% happy with this code as is, the main class is doing more than it should, and I'm not sure if camera and scenemanager control should go to the World class or elsewhere. In the interest of progress though, I'll submit it as is, and continue working on it.

Subject: Re: Microbe Stage Development Mon Jan 28, 2013 5:16 am

I'll try to compile it and so later today, for now i can only tell you the error i get when trying to launch the exe:

Spoiler:

I believe you are linking it wrongly.

Subject: Re: Microbe Stage Development Mon Jan 28, 2013 10:42 am

Ah, I spotted that a few hours after posting - resources.cfg still contained that path to MyGUI, which I've now removed. You can fix this yourself in the dist/bin/resources.cfg file of the dist, just remove the very last line (which starts with C:/...). I've done quite a bit more work since last night, and will post another binary later today.

EDIT:
Oops, read your error wrong Dani, the mistake is actually in the plugins.cfg file, line 4. I'll look at fixing that now...

Completed a new build (binary here). Changes:
- Switched the background to a mesh plane, rather than a skyplane (which moved with the camera).
- Four background planes are moved into place ahead of the camera, so that the player should never reach the edge (though you can currently see the edge by zooming out). I've given the planes different textures to make this effect obvious for now.
- Added two 'cells', which move around randomly (no collisions detection yet)
- Added crude camera controls for testing. WASD for movement, R/F to zoom in/out.

EDIT:
Fixed the plugin loading error, it should work now. I've tried to update both the dist in this post, and the one from last night, with the fix.

Also, the background textures we have right now don't tile properly. It looks like the images I have (which I got from a link Nick posted somewhere), are meant to be examples of the tiling, and not the actual tilable texture. Except for "Background Brown #2.png", none of the images are square, and each consists of multiple tiles of a smaller image. Does someone (scio?) have the original tilable textures?

Subject: Re: Microbe Stage Development Mon Jan 28, 2013 1:12 pm

I created this as tilable, though it's not square, it's in a 3:4 aspect ratio.
link

Subject: Re: Microbe Stage Development Mon Jan 28, 2013 2:10 pm

Thanks Scio. The textures I have right now are the five posted here (I can't find the original source?), and the one you linked above. Of those, only the texture you linked is tilable at 1:1. The other textures appear to be tilable at 1:1, but have been tiled multiple times to make up the total resolution, and then cropped to 4:3, so that the tiling no longer works.

I know you asked for 4:3 resolution background textures before, but programming wise it would be a fair bit simpler if all background were 1:1 (or consistently 4:3 - right now most are 1:1) - especially if we ever start blending multiple textures for the transition between biomes.

I can work round this, by having the plane textures are shown on be 4:3, but it may cause issues later, when we switch to a better background system. I can also provide a binary for testing various background images if that would help.

EDIT - you can see how the textures tile in this release. Click the left button to cycle textures (it's very finicky, as I haven't got proper input handling setup yet, this is just for testing). Your clay texture looks like it should tile nicely, but there are visible seams, possibly becuase it's been stretched onto a 1:1 plane.

[also, noone's told me they can succesfully run any of these builds yet, could someone please confirm if they are working?]

EDIT - just tested using a 4:3 plane for the background. It works, but apart from the texture linked above, all the others still have visible seams, so it doesn't fix the issue. I could possibly fix this by processing the textures to crop out the tilable area, but that's a lot more work than having the original artist provide just that section of the texture, so I won't work on it now. Instead I'm going to get input working properly.

Subject: Re: Microbe Stage Development Mon Jan 28, 2013 2:29 pm

The last link is broken, dropbox just says that the file doesen't exist. The previous one works great. I suppose the updated code is in the github, i'll fork it again and try to compile it myself. If i'm successfull, i'll try to make the colisions (at least to a basic level, without fancy formulas). Or the player's cell, with the camera centered always on it.

Subject: Re: Microbe Stage Development Mon Jan 28, 2013 2:40 pm

I'll make all textures 1:1 from now on. Is there any optimum resolution for them?

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