Hi All,

Here is the live broadcast from today:


And here are the answers I could not get to in the live chat:

Q> IIRC, scale animation based is unsupported in GG, is this going to happen in GGMax as well?
A> This was a question I could not answer in the live chat, can you expand on this a little, thanks!

Q> Will the foot planting work with none cc characters?
A> Unlikely, but if your character model uses a Bip01 parent frame that controls the whole model forward movement, then it might work, but I expect you will need some technical artist skills to get it working 100%.

Q> Will we be able to handle groups via LUA in GGMax?
A> There are no plans to handle groups in the LUA script. Groups are entirely a concept of the 3D Level Editor.

Q> ​Can you save ( or import ) the 3D characters for use in AGK code. I basically want to use it to help create 3D characters for my own coded games in AGK?
A> Ther characters are saved with DBO and DDS. As far as I know, AppGameKit Studio does not support the importing of DBO so you will not be able to use Characters created in MAX for AGK apps.

Q> How do you delete created entities?
A> You can highlight the object and press the DELETE key.

Q> If you add the UNDO History List, Would you be able to Skip some items and undo a mistake you made several items before, therefore not having to re add items you have already added?
A> We have no plans to allow selective undos from the undo list, it will simply undo from the top of the stack, all the way back to the beginning. Most undo systems work this way.

Q> ​Will you be able to link to Blender ( similar to MakeHuman plug-in) to help your creations etc?
A> There are no plans to link GameGuru MAX to Blender at the moment. We want to focus on the core of the main software first and make sure you can create basic characters and browse stock game-ready assets without needing to rely on a separate tool or advanced know-how. That is not to say we will never support Blender, and in fact, it can export FBX, GLTF, and X, all of which can be imported with our new model importer, but there will be no 'live link' for the foreseeable.

Q> ​Hey GG 40 dollars is a lot in India, can you do a give-away of GameGuru MAX because I don't want to pirate it?
A> There will be many ways to get GameGuru MAX after release, including some promotions for sure. My suggestion is to enter one of the post-release competitions as it is likely that when we release the free functional demo of MAX you will be able to win a copy of GameGuru MAX as one of the prizes Just for clarity, TheGameCreators does not support piracy of any kind, and piracy of software from small indie developers hurts them most of all. You can even email TheGameCreators and see if there is anything you can do as a small freelance contract in exchange for a copy of GameGuru MAX - that would be my recommendation

Thanks for the feedback on the questions of how to handle the infinite Undo System stack, and many of you suggest a user-editable value so you can set the size of your own stack. Nice one, consider it seriously considered.

Thanks for all your questions, see you next Wednesday 4 PM GMT.

Q> Will we be able to handle groups via LUA in GGMax?
A> There are no plans to handle groups in the LUA script. Groups are entirely a concept of the 3D Level Editor.

For me, I think the question means: can groups be made dynamic, be assigned a LUA script
and moved around, scaled, rotated maybe re-colored in etc via script? Let's hope so! The Classic EBE structure couldn't, too bad.

----------------------------------------------------------
Undo:
If we had even 30 undo's that would be 30x better than classic.
Properties undo? Hmmm.... I would probably save that for a later time. When many people have tried out MAX for a while and see a need for that- add it then if not too difficult later.
Now considering "infinite" undo and memory management;
If we chose infinite, wouldn't it be possible to undo 150 times and then reset memory with something like a level- reload? Lee kinda touched upon this... Of course there should be a pop-up warning to have the user verify before this activates.
I don't think the time frame undo makes much sense... like you I think it's wise that people acquire the habit of saving their level under new names every 10 minutes minimum!

@ Lee

I'll try to realize a bit, with one example using a ball, vertex animation, and using gizmo (3ds max 2015).

1- I move the ball from point A thru point B - Animation works fine in GGMax; therefore it is supported.
2- I rotate the ball, let's say 180 degrees - Animation works fine in GGMax; therefore it is supported.
3- I increase the size via gismo in every frame, so I end up with a bigger ball and/or vice-versa; here the question, is it going to be supported by GGMax?


As Gubby pointed out, I would like to be able to move, rotate, etc, the whole group via the LUA system.



Thanks for the reply.

You can if you want to test drive my latest version of DBOFastReader app, which reads in GGMAX, GG classic and legacy FPSC DBOs. This includes EBE and PBR DBOs and can convert them to both .X (animated and static) and .OBJ formats (along with MTL file). Feel free to PM me for a copy. In fact, I will test some converted chars from GGMAX in AGK and see how they display. All should be ok. Will post pic(s) here.

Curious do you have access to the latest version of the DBO format, it was recently closed, where previously you could use max DBO files in gameguru it is not longer the case.I think 3 or 4 max update ago the DBO format changed a fair bit, does it still work with the latest max DBO files created. I am pretty sure the latest MAX created DBO files crash classic completely

so here are a couple of pics showing directx converted GGMAX zombie in directx viewer and the other showing the zombie in AGK (only 1 converted texture to png format for now as there are 5 meshes that make up the zombie each with multiple textures). Not sure from top of my head whether AGK allows user to texture each mesh group individually, which I doubt. The last pic (which I will upload shortly, is the OBJ format in Fragmotion for now. OBJ is still in WIP, so more work needed on the MTL file
[update-28May21: seems like there is a command in AGK I've not used yet SetObjectMeshImage-must try it later to texture each mesh]

For the UNDO question I would say, have it configurable in the settings as to the max amount of undo levels. Have it set to a reasonable amount by default and allow you to increase if your system can handle it. I definitely wouldn't have it unlimited by default.

For the preferences for objects, the default option button sounds best for me. Unless there is some clarification on screen as to what you have undone. Then it could be more useful, but you are way more likely to want to undo a terrain change than a simple setting in the properties.

this is the GGMax char Tony Armed Response animating inside GG Classic.

That looks pretty nice Bored of the Rings. Might prove useful down the line, GG's importer is a little hit and miss at times for me.

thanks Dvader. AGK can texture multi meshes using separate png images using command SetObjectMeshImage. See pic below, just 1 mesh textured for now:



ok, fully textured now, all meshes.


and in AGK Studio, vulkan support:

Hey, BOTR, you get the trick to mess out the chars, that gives the chance to customize them. Well done.

thanks 3Com.

Here is the new Sue Survivalist character in AGK Classic. Works in AGK Studio also.


and Sue in FPSC for fun:


and...

Tony GG MAX char in FPSC classic for fun:

As a little hint, the Max DBOs have mesh fvf of 0 whereas previous versions store the mesh fvf as e.g. 274. Mesh Fvfsize(s) can vary depending on number of texture coords stored (8 being the maximum). Also the diffuse colour can be stored so have to check for that also. So my app checks for both fvf of 0 and above.

Are the "dynamic shadows" from the flashlight not real dynamic shadows? It looks like they're just 3D silhouettes offset with the model because they're not falling on the ground the way the shadows being cast by dynamic lights in the level are. Or did I find a bug?

EDIT:
Also, can a mod transfer my product history from this account to my Kraven W. account so I do not have two accounts? Had to make this one when I forgot the login info to my original account but recovered it and would prefer to stick with that one!