Ok so this bone is a few days early! I feel so damaged..Really I do! Details within..

[Sailor Malan]

Originally posted by Madmatt:

Puff, it doesnt and can't work that way, Your apporoach would require multi-layered texturing which the game code does not currently support.

As to critism or comments based on screenshots, nah at this point we pretty much just ignore you all and do what ever we want anyway.

Madmatt

Good for you BTS, I think there's way too many kids in the sweet shop (candy store for our new world bretheren), always wanting more. Now, about your decision to omit the additional supply effect of Italian troops needing extra water to cook their pasta.....

(Actually IIRC there was once a game that had that rule - might have been optional though. Anyone know the answer?)

[Phantom Rocker]

Originally posted by Madmatt:

Puff, it doesnt and can't work that way, Your apporoach would require multi-layered texturing which the game code does not currently support.

As I said : not the best engine...

[Wreck]

you are using about 800kb just for one 200kb building! Times that by about 25 buildings and you end up with a LOT of used VRAM

Well, that would be 20M per rendering. But what I don't understand here is, why does it have to be in VRAM? With AGP 2x (which should be a reasonable minimum), you have 566MB/s. That enough bandwidth to render that 20M worth of buildings 28 times/sec, which seems like it should be plenty fast.

Keep in mind that all of these textures have to be kept within VRAM during a battle, or you will end up with hard drive loading causing stuttering in game.

Hard drive? Again, why can't this data be loaded into main memory once and then AGPed onto the graphics card when needed?

[Puff the Magic Dragon]

Originally posted by Madmatt:

Puff, it doesnt and can't work that way, Your apporoach would require multi-layered texturing which the game code does not currently support.

As to critism or comments based on screenshots, nah at this point we pretty much just ignore you all and do what ever we want anyway.

Madmatt

Mh - I wonder how you add foxholes & carters...

[aka_tom_w]

Originally posted by Wreck:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />

you are using about 800kb just for one 200kb building! Times that by about 25 buildings and you end up with a LOT of used VRAM

Well, that would be 20M per rendering. But what I don't understand here is, why does it have to be in VRAM? With AGP 2x (which should be a reasonable minimum), you have 566MB/s. That enough bandwidth to render that 20M worth of buildings 28 times/sec, which seems like it should be plenty fast.

Keep in mind that all of these textures have to be kept within VRAM during a battle, or you will end up with hard drive loading causing stuttering in game.

Hard drive? Again, why can't this data be loaded into main memory once and then AGPed onto the graphics card when needed?</font>

[Madmatt]

The issue with the crown or damage mask or whatever you want to call it is that is in itself is not physical element. That's why it doesn't require VRAM. If I understand it properly Charles has it coded that when a building collapses the game only DRAWS a small portion of the outer walls.

That pattern is what I referred to before as a mask. Its not a texture at all, its just some mathematical game code that only displays chunks of walls instead of the full texture.

The game code handles these partially rubbled walls just like regular piles of collapsed rubble with the same LOS restrictions. Think of it in the same way as the tree abstraction.

This partially rubbled wall approach is purely for aesthetics. Its looks cool, was relatively easy to code and has no added overhead. As such it went in.

There is ONE person that fully understands the code, how it works and how to tweak every last once of power out of it and he don't need any help!

Madmatt

[Kwazydog]

Wreck/Tom, this is the way it origionally worked as I origionally explained but using the system ram in this way causes a framerate hit, and quite a significant one too. Its nothing to do with rave, but the speed at which textures can be swapped into and out of system ram via the bus, as I understand it..

Dan

[Phantom Rocker]

Originally posted by Madmatt:

There is ONE person that fully understands the code, how it works and how to tweak every last once of power out of it and he don't need any help!

Madmatt

If there is only one person that knows how it works, how can you know that he doesn't need help? To me it seems more like this person could use all help he can get.

BTW, someone said that there were rumours about the possible and dangerous big company concurrenz that BTS must fear already two years ago. Well, you should keep in mind that BTS makes a very big secret about the number of CM copies they have sold. It must be at least enough that 4 people can live from it, and still don't need to worry after two years about the release date of CM:BB

[ March 12, 2002, 04:12 PM: Message edited by: Phantom Rocker ]

[Kwazydog]

Phantom, just so you know multi-textureing plus *much* more will be looked at when we get to the rewrite of the engine. I am really looking forward to seeing what we can do with bump mapping on tanks

Dan

[M Hofbauer]

so, if I understand correctly, the damaged building graphics will be just a visual display, and LOS restrictions will not be based on whether or not the LOS goes through a visible remaining wall texture, but rather the damaged building will have sort of a generic LOS-block on a certain height, just like rubble has now in CMBO?

even then, it does look beautiful. the idea is commendable due to the nice visual effect it has for a minimum of messing with code.

[Madmatt]

Originally posted by M Hofbauer:

so, if I understand correctly, the damaged building graphics will be just a visual display, and LOS restrictions will not be based on whether or not the LOS goes through a visible remaining wall texture, but rather the damaged building will have sort of a generic LOS-block on a certain height, just like rubble has now in CMBO?

even then, it does look beautiful. the idea is commendable due to the nice visual effect it has for a minimum of messing with code.

Correct.

Madmatt

[M Hofbauer]

thanks for the answer - oh, and thanks for the bone!

[Phantom Rocker]

Madmatt Before I forget : whatever I have said, the new ruins are for sure better then nothing .

Kwazydog I don't expect less then this

[CMplayer]

Originally posted by Madmatt:

As to critism or comments based on screenshots, nah at this point we pretty much just ignore you all and do what ever we want anyway.

Think of it like this, we've been waiting for this game since we were kids, now it's here and it's so good that it opens our eyes to how much more is possible. And we go on and on suggesting things because the fantasies help us deal with our drab daily lives and....oh forget it. I'm just trying somehow to twist this around to make the whining and bitching into a kind of compliment.

The real compliment is that my USD 40 for CMBB are as good as in your pocket already, and I bet the same is true for a lot of other people around here.

[Dschugaschwili]

Originally posted by Wreck:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />

you are using about 800kb just for one 200kb building! Times that by about 25 buildings and you end up with a LOT of used VRAM

Well, that would be 20M per rendering. But what I don't understand here is, why does it have to be in VRAM? With AGP 2x (which should be a reasonable minimum), you have 566MB/s. That enough bandwidth to render that 20M worth of buildings 28 times/sec, which seems like it should be plenty fast.

</font>

[Barleyman]

Maybe they can even hire a 3D programmer or 2 with the money from CMBB.. Or maybe they'll just retire to southern pacific??

It would be a goodness to have different people concentrating on eye candy & game mechanics full-time.. So we'd get relative spotting & european sparrow instead of the north american one!