Another GG mistery, after run GG via steam>steam download 2 files, ignore whats files are or what they does>verify files integrety, I've got it.
In my case it is a pain since I do not want to go up the stairs with the civilians, I want to go down with them.
This forces me to place the main node on the top floor of the building and from there begin to place the others until it reaches ground level.
among so many items, decals, and so on, is a pain to place the wp, anyway I can get it now.

Float mountain was a different story, since I did not want to go up with soldiers, but with a platform, as you can see in my float mountain video, for that reason I was force to use scripts.
Well now I'm too, due I want the civilians going thru the wp just when player gets the door open, and in a limited time.

Thanks Defy 4 the tip. Nice vid, love the music.

I took a few hours out to answer many of your questions and concerns. Here they are in some kind of rough order:

@Argent Arts : The sort of NDA was to do with the semi-silence, not the bug fixing. The work done in the last few months includes bug fixes, but as they are tied closely with the new features you will not get them right away. It's any consolation, the fixes did not affect the lighting or memory issues. For these fixes, watch out for news in June.

@rolfy : When one cannot reveal what one is working on, all one has is smoke The work has mostly been on VR and Multiplayer. Bug fixes have been incidental rather than primary. You will get most of the bug fixes applied to the current public build, not this 'new featured' version.

@Bored of the Rings : I am not assigned to the AppGameKit project, that's Paul I am assigned to GameGuru. I remember similar rumours that GameGuru was dying around the start of 2018 but then we seem to have found the time to code an Improved Weapon System, Support for FBX and Importing, Improved Scripting System, Improved Particles, New Physics Shapes, Improved AI, Improved Custom Projectile System, Shadow Improvements, Visual and Memory Improvements, Underwater System and New LUA Commands. You will know when I am no longer working on GameGuru - it will no longer be for sale

@Honkeyboy : Thanks for your words! I have been running forums since the beginning of time it feels, so I am used to having small chunks ripped out of me when justifiable frustrations are on the rise. It can get a little demoralising at times, but after reflection, it's an honest picture of the state of things and at least this way I can see what needs to be done, even if I have no time to do much about it right away.

@Ertlov & Tarkus1971 : I think these would be features more than bugs, but like all things in life we could argue everything is a bug by the simple fact its available as standard in other engines and not in GameGuru. All cars have steering wheels, if yours does not, it's a defect. But steering is a critical feature - mandatory functionality, so its absense is definately a bug. But what about a radio. Your car does not have it, is it a bug or a missing feature. Your car still gets you from A to B, so maybe its just a missing feature. If every other car in the world has a radio, but yours does not, is it still a missing feature or a critically missing component of what is known as what you get in a modern car. Your game does not cast dynamic shadows from a moving light source, does this mean you cannot make a game. No, but every other engine can do it, so is it a defect or a missing feature. Are defects simply the absense of something that was expected, or something that is broken. I personally would prefer to think of bugs as 'broken things' (shattered, fragmented, splintered, crushed, snapped, torn, ruptured, separated) and everything that leans towards the 'missing feature' as more towards tweak, improvement and new feature. Interested to get your views on this as literally any post I start with the theme of 'bugs' always ends up attracting what I would consider an element above 'bug' and below 'new feature'. Thoughts welcome!

@MooKai : Those scenes heavily rely on pre-processed lighting information. Not ideal for real-time rendering. If you are looking for this level of graphical quality in real-time I am pretty sure GameGuru will never achieve this (my team 'well me' is just too small and underfunded). You are best looking at more established AAA engines who already have this 'out of the box'. Definately check out the latest Unreal as it's now offering some very attractive options for game authors on their new store!

@Belidos : The Finger; nothing so crude, just letting you know as much as I can reveal for the moment. Bug fixes are on the way, as promised! It would be better to say "TGC have been terrible at communication this last year" rather than "TGC always have been terrible at communication". We used to have daily dev blogs before they where deemed too informal, and we have recently resurrected the newsletter so do want to find solutions to this communications gap. I would really like to run weekly YouTube and Twitch broadcasts just ranting on about dev stuff and what you can do with GameGuru but as I'm the only code monkey around here, I don't have the time left to write responses (like this one).

@Corno_1 : I've been angling for freelancers for over a year now but I did not get many takers, so it was really just me having to do most of the coding. As the freelancer appeal failed, one of my goals for 2019 with this other 'soon to be completed' work was to create a new revenue stream that would allow TGC to expand the team on GameGuru, and grow the engine that way, so fingers crossed that works out (again more details when I am allowed to talk more about it).

@Loretta : You got it in one. Your existing GameGuru games will run in Microsoft Mixed Reality VR initially, and eventually port over to OpenXR which is a cross-fragmentation solution to support all mainstream VR hardware on the PC. It's actually pretty cool using your Motion Controller laser to pick up an entity in your GameGuru level and throw it across the scene

@devlin : Certainly post your issue on the GitHub issues tracker. It may already be there, but better have it recorded twice than not at all. I agree this clipping issue really gets in the way of a good TPP experience.

@Defy : I often use in my replies that most of the 'story/narrative/adventure/conversation/items' logic can be done with scripting, but I have come to learn this last year or so that most users do not want to script in any serious way and its especially a bridge too far for users who prefer GameGuru's other 'rapid development' features. Would it not be a good stop gap to provide a library of simple scripts that can be chained together to create the specific logic you need (i.e. (a) talk to character, (b) find item, (c) return item to character, (d) door is opened, (e) character guides player through door, (f) character freezes player, (g) character gives evil plan speech to player, etc). I am warming to the idea this would allow scripters who can code to create these blocks, but they are accessible in a generic way to users who just want to click them together in a long chain and see the result in their game when triggered. Of course, this is a feature, not the subject of this bug thread, but you started it

@3com : One of the bugs I snagged while working on my secret NDA flavoured new GameGuru features was a fix for the AI floorzone navigation which allowed characters to walk up and down a complex interconnected structure. If you can repeat your issue in the issues tracker with pictures and step by step, and remind me of my AI floorzone fix, I can combine them for a fix in the June update if you like.

@reliquia : I agree it has been a bit of a black-hole adding these new 'sort of NDA' features, but at least this time I've kept them away from the core build which means less 'new' bugs in 2019 Hopefully I can start talking about the work I have been doing real soon to the community, and reveal more of the plans to squash those pesky bugs. Sorry to see you go, and best of luck for the future Reliquia! You are always welcome

I am looking forward to sharing news of bug fixes soon, and in the meantime, my sincere apologies for the delay in getting a new update out to you, and moreover, for keeping you in the dark for so long. I could end with 'the best things are worth waiting for', but I don't want to chance my arm (and neck), so I will instead finish with thank you for your remarkable patience and loyalty, and I hope to offer up a small morsel of news flavored hope later this week.

@Lee, erm well thanks for the mention, I can honestly say I did not expect that my comments would even be noticed, let alone replied to, that alone is enough for me to hang around. Hence the re-commencement of work on Toonland media

The absence of communication is never a good thing in my opinion. I guess my real beef started when numerous emails concerning access to the beta builds went unanswered (still are) and then this deafening silence engulfed the community from the master.

I appreciate that you took the time to answer many concerns in this thread, and I am sure others do as well.

For what it is worth I really do like GameGuru, I just feel that we are not getting anywhere near the goals of the original Kick-Starter campaign. Now I know that was quashed, but in my mind I at least hoped we would still aim for that - because it would simply make GG awesome, and unique.

So thanks for the input - in the end it really is all we want from you.....

Reliquia....

Now, this is the Lee I remember from long ago.

Thanks Lee.

Nice one Lee, great to hear from you. I get your point on the lighting being a feature or extra, but to the average person looking for a good and cheap game engine which is easy to use, a good lighting system might encourage them to buy or not buy Game Guru.

Thanks for the lengthy reply here...... I am sure it's a big boost to everyone.

„Those scenes heavily rely on pre-processed lighting information“
Ok Lee, then prebake, if the output is like this scene
But at the moment prebake isn’t working very well...

Thank you, Thank you Thank you Lee! I am so excited I can't wait !!
I love Game Guru and had my fingers crossed hoping that this would happen!
I really appreciate your taking the time to answer my post... means a lot.

@ Lee
thank you 4 taking the time to reply me, I'm sure getting news from you might be positive, for everyone.


If you do so, there is not issue here. An easy way to walk up/ walk down let's say a stair, make the things easiest.

my branch seems to have been deleted, good luck all, I'm off.

Look closer BOTR..



there ya go...I found it....

UNIRD12B

Yep, it was merged into the master earlier today A belated thanks to BOTR for your contributions, feel free to pop back to visit the community any time, you will be missed!

@ALL : No worries on the replies, its something I enjoy when I can steal the time to post. We've now merged all the changes done so far to the master repository on GitHub and I will be preparing a beta build this week so they can be tested. If you would like to join the beta testing group (which requires some bug testing and reporting fun from you), email me at lee@thegamecreators.com and you will be the first test subjects to get the new builds in June. If you have submitted an issue before, you might want to revisit it and see if it's still a bug in the current public version, and if so, add more details so we can reproduce it quickly. Bugs that show themselves quickly get squashed even quicker!!

Testing a fix for this right now from Corno_1 .. Its late I just got in from work but hey I cant resist

Nice work Corno_1 looks like you nailed it
Brilliant work ..

Great fix @Corno_1 , that one will please a lot of people

Dave

Oh, I now have egg on my face, oops as usual I acted in haste.

awesme fix Corno_1.

not sure what other fixes to look at the moment as I'm not sure what is being worked on by TGC.

BOTR & Corno_1
Your great guys!!

The GameGuru github has been updated with a few fixes, great to see that things are on the move again.

Some important fixes too...... amazing work.

When will these new fixes be available to download?

No planned dates, but we will release the builds in the beta build first, followed quickly by the public preview and then the final public update sometime before the end of June. You will get the updates through the automatic update system provided by the Steam client.

Thank you Lee and every one who keeps GG alive , this is awesome.

Thank you for the info Lee.

Thanks for the update... ! Can't wait!

This element "in between" is probably caused by inconsistencies in features, and what the users expect the feature to be capable of.
For example, having shadows in the engine is a feature. When you go to the tab menu there is a shadows slider. Entities outside cast shadows from the sun. Yet if you are in a dark room and place a light or turn on the flashlight there are no shadows. So on the surface the shadows are not consistent, which makes it seem like the feature of having shadows is "fractured." So it is reported as a bug.

Here is another one off the top of my head. From my personal perspective.
PBR is implemented into GameGuru. Fantastic! We can use all the great texture maps out there for PBR. I personally make my own PBR textures and also purchase them. I use PBR maps in Unity and I almost always make use of the _height map slot. If you go to Textures.com and look at their PBR textures almost everyone has a _height map. That means the texture is made in mind that the user will use this map. If they don't the final texture will not look correct. So when I add my _height map to GameGuru and hit test game and it isn't there... well I would assume that is a bug.

It's like you buy a new car fresh off the lot, it comes with a Radio/CD Player like all new cars do. You can use the radio. It even has an AUX input for your ipod. It lets you put a CD into the player. But then after you put the CD into the player... it won't play the CD. I think any sane person would turn the car around drive right back to the dealership and tell them the CD player is broken. If you have the CD player(shadows) why cant it play the CD(cast shadows)?

Which I'm not trying to rip on GameGuru's shadows or PBR just giving examples of what causes this element you mentioned.

Also thank you for all the hard-work you do.

I have a way you can use your height map in your normal map and get really great results. Found this by accident a while ago.
Notice these two images. Why does this normal map look so good on the cobble stone texture.



Took a bit to figure it out, but here is why.
This is the normal map in WTV viewer. Shows me the compression and format of a .dds file and a few other things.

Purple indicates an alpha channel value. Say what?
Yes burning the height map into the normal map greatly boosts the normal effect. It is not displacement by any means, but the results are way better for the PBR shader.
High alpha for cracks or depressions and low alphas for bumps or rises.

Give it a try and see how you like it. Use the apbr_basic shader.

For those in the beta group, all the latest fixes from yesterday's repo are now in the beta build. If you have a bug languishing in the issues tracker, its a good idea to revisit it and see if there is any more information you can add to your report. We are working through them and if we find we cannot reproduce the issue, or it works with the latest build, we will be marking them as FIXED. If you have a handful of issues close to your heart, best to pre-empt us and provide lots of evidence and step guides on how to reproduce and any solution suggestions you might have. We are avoiding enhancement issues, for now, we're on a bug hunt

The latest june update has change something with animations... the explosion bridges i have keeps playing the animation by themself
if you walk away the anim piece is gone... and when closer the anim piece is back.. so there is something weird now
Harry

yes ,
my animated door/gates now go up and down all the time
even tho they are meant to be triggered by the players distance to them....

UNIRD12B

Animation problems has been fixed and are ready for the next update

Excellent .. Thanks Preben

Great to see things picking up again, thanks to all helping out with fixes we appreciate it

Dave

Another beta build update planned for today I won't have too many hours though as I am shortly off to the 8-Bit Symphony (https://www.8-bit-symphony.com) to meet some old old friends. I suspect there won't be too many of these, so glad to be able to attend this concert before times move on and the term 8-bit fades into mythology.

Now the machinery has been launched again, I'm glad to see it.

I saw that on the news … ( Rob Hubbard ) that's going to be fantastic im sure .. Have a great time

I miss the 4-bit days, ahh the memories (or lack of it, IIRC 4 x 512 bits in my first 'PC' ).

@ Preben

I'm wondering why the logic is now to play an animation in game if no lua and playanimineditor = 0?

I'm getting items that have animations (but are not supposed to play in game or editor, these have fpe playanimineditor = 0 & default.lua) that are now not animating in the editor (as original behavior before any fixes) but are starting up in game immediately.

Cheers.

cybernescence: Its about making the editor faster , specially cpu anims can drain the editor , so a option to disable them in editor but have them automatic animated in game. but yes i can see that playanimineditor is a bit to used for this, i will change it into a new one

Before:

Now:


Any idea which change may have caused this?


(btw ignore the lack of flame, that's not the issue, it's the weird rendering of the entity that's the problem)

First picture is from a month ago which was probably the 'March Fixer' build, video is from todays build.

@LeeBamber:
Thanx galore for the updates and energizing words, Lee!


I'd like to throw in two (probably dumb) questions :

- As being a VR-noob: Am I understanding this right, that we are going to be able to design our games while being immersed in a VR-mode of the 3D-editor?

- Will the audio-system consequently be adjusted / optimised or even redesigned, since VR is tied to binaural?


Personally speaking any tweaks / optimisations or enhancements on the audio-system of GG in the near future would permanently install an hysterical smile on my face. So if VR is going to consequently deliver us this to us users... BRING IT ON!

Cheers /.-)

Hi AmenMoses that is a transparency issue what is transparency level in the fpe try setting it to 6

Thinking about it though it maybe an alphaclip change preben may of made in the shaders I will take a look when at my PC

still have strange problems with animations..
i made a door that can be exploded(animation). if i place it in the editor now, it is allready exploded..
also in game allready exploded without the script..

harry

@HarryWeaver
I know this is maybe a silly question..but...did you verify all files before trying the updated Beta.
I had to do this to see all the changes.

UNIRD12B

The models belong to Avenging Eagle.


I deleted all the .blob files to force them all to be rebuilt but that didn't fix it, the model uses apbr_basic.fx and the transparency = 0 in the fpe file.

Here are before and after pics of another model that doesn't work now either:



Notice how the hand and candle holder are no longer even touching!

If you really do miss those days -- -- you can always build your own 4-bit computer using just transistors Build 4-bit computer My memories come from the TRS-80 days beginning with the Model 1. Wrote software for businesses who used the Radio Shack computers.

Setting transparency to 6 gives me this:


Which fixes one part of the problem at least but the rest of the model still looks awful.

I miss the 2-bit days, they were so simple Computers counted to 3 and that was it What else did you need?

AmenMoses: There is some problems with chars and z depth that im trying to fix , so just ignore that for now

AmenMoses: Edit forgot: if you could email me the .fpe of the model it would really help plemsoft@plemsoft.com , thanks

I'm sure AE wouldn't mind me putting them here.