The Hull has been taking shape:

A couple shots from space to show the whole station:




This is as far as I got with the Hull so far. Still needs gizmos all over the place, and the texture space allows for quite some variety, but kinda thinking of killing space flight so not sure where this will go atm...

OldFlak....

Current thoughts and road map for Naelurec:

Upfront after much thought, Naelurec is off the table at least for GG Classic.
This is not really what I wanted - there is a LOT of work gone into this already - but comes a time when you just have to be realistic in your endeavors.

From the outset, I wanted to create a game that was not dependent on a dark environment, and Racha largely depends on lights to achieve that.

At the moment there are some 30 zones controlling around 90 lights, but only 4 or 5 are ever on at one time, usually just 1 or 2 ( a testimony to AM's lightcontrol script), and it all works fine in both Test-Game and Standalone, getting a solid 60 fps on my system.

The current problem I have come up against is one that I found in an early test level that I thought had gone away. After a while when adding lights, some will just stop working at a random location. Once that happens, you can replace them to your hearts content, and delete as many as you want from other locations, but they will not work again at that exact location.

I thought it was the light limit (which I have increased in settings) but it is not that at all since I can add more lights on the map, just so long as it is in another location.

Maybe GG can't handle so many zones in close proximity, or maybe there isn't any engine that could handle the concept for Racha (surely it be possible lol).

Even if it is a Bug in GG, It is pointless presenting it for the current bug squash, since you will not be able to produce it in a typical simple map, and having so many lights would likely be marked as an enhancement anyway - lol.

This is where a decent Light Mapper would come in handy, but GG's Light Mapper has never worked for me, it simply destroys light coloured models, always has somewhere on the map where it does not look right, and creates a ridiculously huge fpm. For me the current build just crashes the light mapper immediately anyway, even on a completely blank map....

Racha is central to the Naelurec universe. But the more I work on Racha the more I keep thinking GG Classic just can't handle the concept I want to pursue. Or more likely I just don't have the skill set to pull it off

I will keep creating props for now, and see if MAX can handle it.
But I have a feeling MAX may just look better, but not perform any better - kinda the GG legacy really......

Sorry to disappoint any who have been following this thread.

Stay out of Covids way

OldFlak....

Extraordinarily Fantabulous Art!
These clean, sci-fi stuff is more of my interest.
Yeah, I think (maybe) a lot of people are kinda holding back now, and hoping
that GGMAX will be the key to endowing these projects with the ooomph!
That they need.

I gotta keep plugging along with mine, it's just a simple scripted resource
collecting project, and I want to (If luck smiles) get Beta release done by May.

"thinking of killing space flight"...

I know what you're saying with the tiny map, and the limits
on rigid sun position, shadows, lights, etc. Hopefully Max will
have more give than junior. But maybe keep thinking about it,
and we could arrive at a way to "fake it" or something?!

Thanks for the feedback

Yeah, not finished with it yet, may even reconsider the layout of the Racha level - at this stage just not going to happen in Classic.

The map for the first level is Planet-Side and was created prior to DX11.
In this level I had ongoing problems with grass doing the weird pop-in\pop-out thing when standing right next to it, and also rendering at super weird angles here and there.

Now this problem has been present with the engine since way before DX11, and although they did some work to improve the grass, it did not fix the issue for me at all but just made painting grass where you want it more difficult lol

I figured it may be due to the fact that it was such an old map, but because it was near on a completed level, aside from some scripting, I really didn't want to redo it.

Unfortunately the grass issue is not acceptable, so I spent some time earlier last week making new Planet-Side maps using HM2GG, and some new skyboxes to go with it. In doing that, it reinforced that open world maps in GG just do not impress me at all. So that was sort of putting me off using Classic for that level as well. Couple that with issues in space levels I just feel it is kinda pointless relying on Classic to work for anything unless it is darker kind of game. I simply don't want to make a zombie shooter

I have settled in my own mind that Naelurec will only happen in Game Guru, so yeah I really do hope MAX will fix all these issues.

In the mean time.......

Stay out of Covids way....

OldFlak....

Hi all

So the lighting issue is still proving to be problematic. Added 4 more lights for reactors and all work fine, except another of the existing lights now refuses to show at all, so now three lights in the same area are not functioning - simply weird

On a sad note the issue still exists in the just released Bug Fix, I kinda hoped it would have been sorted inadvertently, but no such luck.

Out of interest I will try the light mapper again and see if it, 1) works at all, and 2) has been sorted.

But looking solidly dependent on MAX now. But I guess as already stated I had already resigned to that anyway.

OldFlak....

This is a truly beautiful looking game OldFlak, keep it up

@Tarkus1971. Thanks for the feedback - much appreciated

I have to say the update seams even smoother than before, and Preben has given some insight into my lighting issue. It is to do with mesh sizes apparently - AE touched on it previously - but I thought my models were broken up enough already.

I wanted to try and keep draw calls down, but maybe my meshes are still too large, (largest is 600x600 GG units), so tomorrow will see a further reduction in mesh sizes to see if I can sort that out.

With terrain now able to cast shadows, perhaps planet-side won't look so bad as well.....

Sorta getting my hopes up here, but maybe there is some life in the GG after all.....

OldFlak....

Hi all
So with some input from Preben the issue with lights seams to be sorted - turns out it was the and setting drawcalloptimizer=0 fixed it. So super happy about that

Haven't heard back from Preben yet whether the optimizer is tweakable to sort that but for now 'Off' is good enough for me.

The light issue left me pretty halfhearted about working on Naelurec at all, but with that concern out of the way I am more enthused to keep working on the Racha level.

With the new update having shadows on terrain, I started rebuilding the first level from scratch and the terrain looks better for sure. But still hesitant because of expectations for MAX terrain.

So plenty work to get on with now. Expect some more Naelurec update news soon

Stay out of Covids way

OldFlak....

Hi all, been a while, but still plugging away.

Cerulean Crystal is the life blood of all technology in the Naelurec Universe. There are of course many ways to extract this substance using traditional mining techniques.

One of the more proficient ways is to park your space station where there are copious supplies of rocks that contain CC:







OldFlak....

Then simply harvest this precious substance directly from the rocks using a CCPLE Unit:





Best to play video full screen to see more detail


OldFlak....

Looks kinda underwater to me, why is the space blue?

Thanks for dropping by


* It is Naelurec
* The clue is in the name
* Artistic license


Above Picture Art Not Mine



OldFlak....

Thats not what i mean
the art picture do it right blue stars in a dark space, but your screens look like underwater
Iam just saying, u should try to make it more believable, play around with tab settings, shadows ect.

Yeah, I tend to agree with you - thanks for the feedback.

Will see what eventuates

OldFlak....

Maybe Naelurec is set I a universe where space us fluidic and it's meant to look underwater

Regardless of the space colour, which I honestly think matches the aesthetic, this seems like an awesome project so far. The animation and materials on the CCPLE Unit really help bring the scene to life. Keep up the great work!

So been a while since posting.

Have not made huge advances due to real life stuff, but have been doing bits here and there.
Currently messing with adding clutter to interior and adding greeble to hull.

Came up against another light issue, so been side tracked trying to fix that (again lol).

Made some changes to the skybox and here be vid that gives a look see.



Starting to really think the Racha level is not doable due to the lights required for it, so may even ditch those models and work on another set with less lights required - hmm perish the thought......

But with MAX on the horizon - and looking real nice - may just wait and see how they look in that when all the lighting and illumination textures are working nicely.

In the mean time drop back to working on models for the Planet-Side maps.

OldFlak....

Yes, this game could be a little masterpiece within max

This Data Server is one of the latest models for Naelurec. They look great in MAX, but quite ugly in Classic.



MAX has a long way to go before it is ready for serious development use, but at this point I find working in Classic pretty uninspiring, so will likely be moving this project to MAX.

That however depends on two features I use a lot in Classic:
1) effect = effectbank\reloaded\effect_scroll.fx
- This is a simple and effective way to give animation life to a level.
- I use this everywhere in this project but it is a crucial part of the Racha level

2) effect = effectbank\reloaded\decal_animate4_slow.fx (my edited version)
- Used extensively for animating computer screens and portal textures
- This is used on every map for Naelurec

Due to the sheer number of times these effects are employed in the project it would be pointless to continue with it if they are not available in MAX - or something that can replace them - in that case I will more than likely cancel the project in GG, and move it to another engine.

OldFlak....

Hi all
So just a heads-up on Naelurec development.

Recently I have built a new machine, and with a nice clean SSD and nice new install of Windows I am reluctant to put GG Classic - or Steam for that matter - on my system.

While most of the media in the game is my own custom content, I do use a few models from the store in the game, but I can download these directly and plonk them in the right spot in Max file system.

This means that I am now only planning future development of Naelurec in GG Max. Max by the way is looking awesome, but since the software is not yet ready for serious game development, it obviously means a delay in the project being completed.

I will carry on developing models for the Naelurec universe, in the hope that Max will end up being the game dev tool we all want it to be. Expect model updates from time to time and some Max test level screenies.

If Max happens to fail then it will have been a fun ride

OldFlak...

Looking forward to looking at your new models

Dave

Fingers crossed

Hopefully GG Max will be OK for you eventually, look forward to seeing the new assets in the meantime.

Cheers.

Wow. The models and animation are amazing. Flying looks really smooth to. There's a lot of potential for this game.

Naelurec will never happen in Classic and there is now a new MAX Forum Category - so this project is Cancelled.

MAX has much work to be done yet, and also has a few features missing that still make GGc shine above his big brother.
For example MAX still needs:
- proper Decal support
- scrolling textures
- ability to turn terrain off (space doesn't have a ground plane)

While MAX scenes can look great, they are still a tad lifeless without those features, which are kind of essential to Naelurec so the project may eventually be reopened in the MAX WIP Forum - but it is likely to be quite a while.

Thanks to all who followed the project and gave feedback

Stay safe
OldFlak....

Hello oldflak.

This is unfortunate news but I would be lying if I said I couldn't understand why you chose to discontinue your project in classic.

Would you like me to lock this thread or just let it sit here?

Given the lack of engagement in the work in progress section, its not that important either way but I figured I'd ask.



-Wolf

Hey Wolf

Just wasn't getting the look I was after is the main reason I left of developing in Classic. There are times when I wonder if it would have been best to continue persevering with it tho.

Still working at it in MAX - but yeah will be while likely. Really missing proper decal support and scrolling textures that's for sure.

I don't mind just letting the thread run it's course, others may want to add some input.

Thanks for reply

OldFlak....