Not the End...

fortunately for you guys - this isnt a conclusion to minitanks. Its just a Pause. Later i will look at areas we can publish the game and would be happy to have any of you tag along.

And unfortunately for you programmers being the type that you are, you wont be able to leave the code along - always wanting to tweak and go back and see if it can be improved.

:D

The End

Yesterday Tim had those of us who where in Mark's classroom sign the assessment sign-off form, thus bringing an official end to the Project class.
It's certainly been a very interesting class, in particular the way it showed how the skills we have learnt throughout our courses may be used in a real world working environment. Also impressive was the results that can be produced through a group effort, the results of which seems to me at least to have been more than the constituent individual efforts would lead you to expect.

I wish to thank: all the lecturers who gave advice on the technical aspects of the project; the attendees of both of our milestone 1 presentation and the final presentation; and an extra special thank you to Tim who gave us the initial concept, constant encouragement, and kept us on track when we started to lose focus on the end goal.
Finally I want to thank the entire MiniTanks team, both the programming & networking halves, we couldn't have achieved what we have without your dedication, skill, and hard work.

gw team. wtfhaxlolroflcopters.

R.I.P Minitanks.

Those Chickens

Finally, we can all start counting those chickens....

1,2,3,4,5,6...


Well done to us all

Worth it

Well done everyone with today's presentation yes some of us were nervous and shaky, mentioning no names...(TERENCE)

lol dont worry i was nervous as much as you if not more but yeah glad presentation over and good stuff networkers and programmers.

Wasnt easy but was all worth it at the end.

Dizzy

Final Presentation

I wish everyone the best of luck with the preperation for tomorrow, the networking documentation is finished and the presentation is ready to go, see you all tomorrow around 8:30 to organise all the little bits and peices and have a few practice run throughs to boost the confidence. All the hard work will be worth it in the end.

Update on GUI

Most of the GUI has been done.

The gui now has the "character Select GUI", there the players can pick what body and turret they want. The "Team select GUI" has also been done.

So players can pick what colour they want to choose, then they will be spawned at their base.

Just saying thanks to Brett for the help. THANKS! :D

I am now working on my presentation for wednesday.

Dhiren

HUD

I had some free time so I added a HUD, I think I remember Tim making one but I don't where that is. The HUD does not work yet, I plan to do that tomorrow when the programming side of the team meet to practice our speech.

Also, I have an older version of the game so the sky box is actually a different image thanks to Tim and Brett.

The End is Nigh

Tomorrow (Wed 26/11/08) we have our practice run, and next week is the Final Presentation. On the Programming side we still need to finalise our documentation and merge the changes we've each made into the final build. We haven't even started on the actual presentation itself.

Since my last post I've continued working on the documentation, started a Microsoft Office Project document, implemented Matt's changes he posted here, fixed the mounting of a player in a tank, and fixed the pink screen of death.

Counting the Chickens

We attempted loading another DirectX to avoid the runtime error we were having when the .bat file loads up, but with no luck, it would not load at all.

After going back to the original form of the cluster, we tried a script with the runtime error line commented out, no luck, it error still appeared.

Still waiting to count those chickens....

Running Cluster

We got a two node cluster running with the minitanks game with about 7 players. There is just one error we are trying to fix so that the cluster runs smoothly without intervention.

No news is good news!

No news to report here captain. Just done some documentation work today, and pretty much completed my slideshow presentation.

Changes

Hey guys, I can't make it in today but I've compiled my changes into a text file in case you want to add them to the demo.

http://bur.st/~ripe/changes.txt

• Fix: Terrain alignment issues
• Added: Bases
• Added: Player controlled tank (node 0 still needs to be moved)

I'll be in tomorrow so if you want me stay behind to do anything that's fine.

The Exciting News

We have finally got the .bat file loading fully in the Vm-Ware cluster. We have had it running a couple of times, ( & made backups), but have not try it with the game running on a number of clients.

Hopefully come Wednesday, everyone will be blowing each other up, but until we see it happening, I'm not going to start counting our chickens....

Some Exciting News?

Hey guys, i do believe Mark and Terry have some exciting news for us. I wont steal the joy away from them and i do hope they post it.

Progress Report

Work on the programming side of the MiniTanks project continues to progress as we near Milestone 2.
Code for the bases is now ready to be implemented in the main version of the game thanks to Matt's hard work.
The team selection GUI has been refined further and now offers the functionality we desire for the end product.
Interim models have been successfully implemented in one build and mysteriously failed in another copy of the same build. Due to time constraints we do not have time to investigate the cause of the failure and as such we will use the successful build as the main version adding elements from other builds to it. The final models continue to cause great pain due to their complexity.
Documentation is moving forward with in depth Technical Documentation of the Random Terrain system being completed and some very small progress on the Game Design Documentation.

As of next week we will formally be stopping all code work to focus solely on documentation and the presentation. It is our intent to use the milestone 2 presentation as a practice run for the final presentation and as such the time between Milestone 2 and the Final Presentation will be used to refine or revise what we present at Milestone 2.

Presentation and Documentation

I have made some good progress on the presentation today and fixed up the documentation a little as i have gone through it slowly. The presentation is going to be divived between us as disscussed in class. Its up to each of us to write our own talk and add our own information for our own slides. For those who want to do work at home, theres a copy of the presentation and documentation on the shared drive. Next week we will add in the prepared stuff.

Bases

Bases have been added. Each base is represented either by a blue or red smoke effect. Positions are completely random every time the map is reloaded. It also keeps a set distance between the two points to make sure the bases don't spawn right next to each other.

Documentation

This week I've continued writing the Technical Design Documentation for the Random Terrain function. Since my memory of how I developed the function and how works isn't that great I've had to figure it out by redeveloping the function. I've learnt the hard way that it would have been better to do the documentation at the same time as working on the function.
Next I hope to finish the Game Design Documentation, create the TDD for the attempt at Dynamic Terrain Texturing, create references section, create a table of contents, and finally compile all our documentation into a printed document.

Networking Documentation

I have almost completed the cluster documentation. If some of you could please go through it and make notes on what you think should be change i would be greatful. Its starting to come together nicely, i would also like to ask those of you networkers to start thinking about which topics that you would like to talk on for the presentation and maybe write in some speech note on the presentation on the shared drive. You can also find the documentation i have done so far on the shared drive.

Web Web Web

Done a bit more work on the website today. Done some PHP coding towards the ranking system on the website, and also completed some more documentation. I have pretty much achieved my goal today.

Look forward to next week...

Vmware and Clustering

Although Terry managed to get the dedicated.bat file running in a win2k3 image in vmware, we are still having the same problem after uninstalling vmware tools and replacing the direct x files. We now need to see if we can not build a cluster off of Terrys image. I have also tried to use a clean install and that didnt work either.
As for the documentation, we are about 35% and there is still lots to do. With the deadline coming up very fast and with all the other added pressure with all the other assignments we need to seriously get this done and working over the next two weeks. This will allow us time in case of any problems arising.

Gui Character Select Gui

I have got the start of the character Select gui, so when you click on start game the new gui (Character Select Gui) displays which will have the model selection, weapon mounted on the tank selection and the server button.

Cheers for some of the help Brett!!

It will then go to the StartMissionGui .......

Will update you more on the gui next week.

Documentation and Progress

Today I've continued work on our documentation, attempting to document how exactly I managed to create the Random Terrain function. So far I've managed to several decent paragraphs. Other than working on the documentation I also created a flow chart on how the menu system should progress, and I also attempted to help other members with various problems.
The other members of the programming team have been respectively working on getting the tank models into Torque, setting up the menu system, and the base spawn code. As such there are currently three different versions of the game being worked on, meaning that in the end we will need to merge the three different versions.

it working

the game is working in server 2003 vmware image . we found out the problem was when you had vmware tools installed that the dedicated bat file would get stuck . and also the other was a problem was with the direct x system 32 files . so we have fixed those problems and now we cane play the game.

Site Update

Today I spent the day modifying the website graphics to fit my needs. I fully changed the fonts on all the images site wide to a type writer font, to try and be a bit reminiscent of back in WWII days when everything was typed with typewriters. I also added a few graphics to some of the site graphics, such as stars in the "The Objective" background, and removing a few other graphics. Next week I will do a bit of work on coding a rank reader for the website, so you can see the top how ever many players in the game. I will also do more work on my documentation and possibly start preparing my powerpoint presentation.

On a parting note, here is a new screenshot of the website to have a goosey gander.

Wheels keep on rollin' rollin' rollin'...

What a flurry of activity for the past few weeks!

All the tank models have been finished and successfully exported into the engine.

Exporting caused a lot of grief so thank goodness we are over that hill now.

The next step now is to fully skin the models (as much as I like the fluoro orange it doesn’t camouflage with much...)


Also looking to create a custom datablock to allow the tank to use wheels instead of tracks.


Tried in scripts but it looks to me as it will be an engine change, so looking forward to coding again :)


That’s all for this week,

J-

Citrix Cluster

I have spent Thursday / Friday build in up a Citrix server. It has successfully ran the game from within a Windows Server 2003. We had the dedicated server batch file running & were able to play the game in multi-play form on 2 separate computers, not within images (Mark Buttsworth blew me up).
Unfortunatly, I was unable to find a way for the Citrix (Xenserver5.0.0), to run a shared disk, iSCSI or other. which is needed in a cluster format.

Been Robbed

Hi Every one

Yesterdays the house im staying at just got broken in to, the thives took afew things and amongst the thing was my laptop and my 2 External Hard Drive one i used for tafe, and the 2nd as a backup.

the Police areinvestigating atm, and hopefuly they catch these vokkops.

ill keep you posted on any up dates

---what iv been doing---

With the work, i had finished my part of the doc, and i had too implement the firewall to the cluster to test it, and with the nagios server i had to reinstall it, coz the image of the v-pc was corrupted

. so hopefuly i can get my laptop back with all my work fingures X

cheerz

Networking

I have been working on some documentation today and have managed to get quiet a bit covered. The topics covered so far are:

The different types of clusters.
Requirements of clusters.
Benifits of clusters.
Our task.

Theres still much to be coverd, and i'm hoping to get the main documentation done so i can put the presentation together with some talking notes.

teams select

Can now select the team you want to be in. Took a while to sort out but brett helped me sort out a problem I was having with it.

Now i am going to try and work on mission preview image. So you can see a image of the mission you select before you start the game.

Will add an update once ive started it and once its got going.

Dhiren Adatia

test the the torque engine and it gave diffrent errors than sever 2003 so i guess you could it mixter of problems between vmare and the operating system . well be looking more in to detail shortly

I'll take you to the candy shop...

I have pretty much finished skinning the web shop, although there may be some late altertaions, the shop will pretty much look like this.

Mock Menu

I needed something to post so here's a mock menu done in powerpoint; the real menu will flow like this.

Mock Menu for Minitanks

(Some fonts were missing so it doesn't look as nice viewing through the web)

Game SQL Implementation

After having a chat with Brett, and the rest of the programming team, we have come to a consensus on what the role of SQL is going to play in the game. After each game variables will be written to the database, and at the load of a new game the variables will be read and use ingame. Also they want to be able to register players using the website, so that will have to write to SQL too. More to come soon...

Programming Work

Today we worked on the Menu system, Teams Implementation, Tank Models, Save System, and the Documentation.
Teams implementation was completed today with two teams available at a present.
The Tank Models are complete and only need to be exported successfully, unfortunately it is proving to be difficult due to the complexity of the models.
The database was setup to hold the required information for the Save System.
Documentation of the project is progressing with significant work being done on the Technical Design Documentation.

Teams Implementation

I am working on the Teams Implementation at the moment.
Having a couple of problems but should be sorted soon hopefully.
Once done I will be changed it after or before milestone 2.
Just making sure it works first of all.

Dhiren

Milestone 2 and the Final Presentation Dates

Tim provided the dates for Milestone 2 and the Final Presentation today.

Milestone 2 will take place on the 26th of November and the
Final Presentation will take place on the 11th of December.

This leaves 6 weeks until Milestone 2 and one week between Milestone 2 & the Final Presentation in which to finish the Project. As the Programming team has decided to spend two weeks before the Final Presentation working on documentation and the actual presentation, we will need to finish work on the actual game before the 19th of November.
In the next 5 weeks the Programming team hopes implement the following features:

• Fixed tank models
• Team selection
• Interim HUD
• Player data save system
• Tank type selection
• Bases

We also hope to create documentation covering some of the following Game Design Documentation:

• Descriptions for: Tank types their abilities, customisation & upgrade options; Upgrades options for the Tanks; Power-ups and special weapons.
• Features of the engine
• Gameplay Mechanics: Pillars; Save/Load Scheme
• Level Layouts
• User Interface

In addition we will attempt to document the Technical Design of features we have implemented so far, such as:

• Random Terrain
• Random Terrain object placement
• The Tank

Finally we want to have a task list and a Gantt chart.

As things stand we should be on target to hopefully achieve most of our goals.

Cluster Documentation

The documentation is coming together slowly, with most of the information on hand, just a matter of designing the layout and filling it all it. Would one of the networkers please do a list of points linux vs microsoft clutsering, i have found quiet a useful website. I have saved this link in a txt file under the networking documentation folder. We also need to find a good exmaple of a High availability cluster and a Load Balancing cluster, so if any one stumbles across this it would be good.
The gantt chart is completed and looks good, Mark was working on the network diagrams and they were looking good. I have started on the presentation and Terry was working on some of the documentation.

Revised Plans

The uploaded image is the proposed final document template. I have uploaded the template to the share (in the Programming Documentation folder), unfortunately it is only compatible with Word 2007 (it uses all the shiny new stuff).
For our first class of the new term Dhiren and I have revised the tasks schedule (the new version of Milestone2_Tasks.xls is on the share in the Programming Documentation folder), and discussed future plans. We have also talked Tim into doing some graphics work for our in-game interface (the HUD) and clarified how much time remains before Milestone 2 & the Final Presentation.
Included in the new tasks schedule is a list of some potential documentation to be created. The list is divided into Game Design Documentation (GDD) and Technical Design Documentation (TDD). The new task schedule acknowledges completed work (multiplayer implementation - dedicated server functionality only), removes various unnecessary tasks, and formally adds documentation as a task for all members.
Finally in regards to my own first task of the base code I have been a bit uncertain on how to start as I do not recall if we defined the object that would be used as the base and the method the base will use to carry out it's functions (i.e. use a trigger object - though problems arise with drawing a trigger dynamically around a randomly positioned base). As such I would greatly appreciate being able to talk to the full programming team at the next Project class, if not before.

multiplayer

Brett and I tested multiplayer it works fine.

Only thing is when the tank is blown up a pink screen is displayed but thats ok because we are going to make a end game gui so when the tank is blown up a end game gui will pop up....

Dhiren

Project

Hi guys, i know we should have done this earlier, but i suppose better late than never. Its a gantt chart i have created, Lee will be adding to it later on and we'll be filling it in as we go along. This will allow us to follow some deadlines for getting work done. I saw some rough documentation Terrence has done, it looks good, the topics he has started on so far even though they may need some touching up are the following:

What is a cluster?
How a Cluster Works?
Cluster Requirments
Types of clusters
Why we chose a high availability cluster

I do know there is still a few topics that still need to be covered as far as documentation is concerned. We would appreciate the networking guys if they think of any topics to let us know and maybe even write up about that topic. We will be working together with the documentation to ensure that it comes out exaclty how we want it, after all 5 heads are better than 1.

I am also wanting to get someone on starting to create the presentation. time is running out and would like to have everything ready at least 2weeks before the deadline so we have some time for touching up and practice.
The cluster does not look like it is going to be able to run the game virtually which is a bit dissapointing but as Brett said the other day, its a project managment class and not a project class. We need to have the documentation and presentation of our stuff done even if the cluster wont manage to run the game.
We will also be creating a network diagram of how the proposed network would look and where the servers would be. It would be great if Lee and Matt could create a network diagram in viso to show the servers they have created and were they would be placed in the network. The diagram is going to be a bit complex so we will have multiple diagrams to show all the different angles.
Thats enough of a novel for now. Hopefully this term we can pull this off.

Who really likes shopping?

After wrestling with phpShop for the best part of 2 hours, and not even being able to post a product, I promptly gave up on using that system. Enter Quick.Cart.

Quick.Cart is 200% easier, quicker and better looking then phpShop, even before I edit it. It doesn't rely on a mySQL backend, just PHP, which I like. Thanks to this setup was a breeze, and I have had no notable errors as of yet. Here is a quick view of what the shop looks like at the moment, before any styling, etc. has been done.

documention

well i have been working on rough document of what we been doing for minitanks

Wednesdays

Just remember that we are switching to wednesdays

the actual time is
1:00 through till 5:00pm

NOT Tuesday anymore - so you can sleep in ;)

Term 2

Hi Guys, its term 2 now, tomorrow i'd like to discuss getting the documentation done and a gantt chart done and a layout of the presentation. I would like to get this rolling as time is running out very fast.

White Market Goods

I have been researching different web shops we could use for the shop front of the game, and have settled on using a piece of software called phpShop (found at www.phpshop.org). As the name suggests, the shop is PHP based, like the site, and should make it easy to use, manage and configure. I am configdent that I will be able to customize it to be able to use a custom created theme, so I can then make it look like the site.

On a side note; I have also incorproated a test forum onto the site using phpBB. Once again, if I have time I will try to make a custom theme that ties in with the site.

Until next time...
Lee

Milestone 2 - 18/11/08

Exactly what milestone 2 is and when it will take place have yet to be finalised. However it is known that the final presentation at the end of the semester is to be Milestone 3 and that a rough plan exists to use the two weeks before Milestone 3 as preparation time for the presentation. As such Milestone 2 should be expected sometime around the Eighteenth of November, 7 weeks into second term (assuming the presentation will take place on the Ninth of December in the second last week of semester; second last because the last week is usually reserved for catch up).
28 hours of class time minus 8 hours for planning, discussion, and other miscellaneous tasks leaves little time to achieve our goals. Before the term break the programming team assigned prioritised tasks, with estimated work time, to each member. Below is the working task list:

Jordan

1. Implement multiplayer - 1 hour
   
2. Light Tank Model - 6 hours
   
3. Light Tank Code - 3 hours

• Total: 10 hours

Brett

1. Base Code 3 hours
2. Power-up Code 6 hours
3. Power-up Model 3 hours
4. Upgrade Power-up Models 12 hours
5. Refine Power-up System 12 hours

• Total: 36 hours

Dhiren

1. Implement Multilayer 1 hour
2. HUD Graphics 6 hours
3. HUD code 6 hours

• Total: 13 hours

Matt

1. Base spawning code 12 hours
2. Scoring 12 hours

• Total: 24 hours

As seen above the time for assigned work is not completely balanced, however it is important to note that the estimations for the time required for most tasks was made optimistically and it there was an unspoken agreement to not place too much on the schedules of all members so as to allow those members to be able to deal with unexpected issues that may arise. Already since this plan was created a previously overlooked task has arisen; this task being the loading and saving of player data from an external database. Alternately it is notable that some of the above tasks are complete or nearing completion.

At the commencement of the new term it would be advisable to have a meeting involving the entire class in order to restate our goals, refine the tasks required to reach them, and give members a better understanding of what others are doing and how that may relate to their own work.

Milestone One Slides

Milestone One Presentation

Milestone One Presentation

Well we reached Milestone One, so a great big pat on the back for all those involved!

MiniTanks was well received and the team would like to thank those who have already provided very constructive feedback and welcome any form of input (however large or small) that people may have.

Now for an update on the all important!

Have spent the better part of Tuesday afternoon wrestling with a Slideshow hosting website. I am 80% sure that it is working now so should have the PowerPoint from the presentation up and running shortly for you viewing pleasure.

Tanks are coming along nicely, the light tank is now ready for export and most of the scripting is finished.
This brings us to a grand total of 3 tanks -and yes I still count my floating box as a tank. From what I have seen so far the Light will be a much easier beast to tame than the Heavy; those animated tracks are an absolute nightmare that make elm street looks like sesame street!


All going well (but when does that happen?) we will have a rather sizable chunk taken out of Milestone Two by the end of next week.


-J

Project Management

Yesterday during Mark's class we discussed the difficulties the networking had at the first milestone talk and how to avoid such problems in the future. The talk became quite heated and there was some finger pointing going on but in the end there emerged a re-newed focus and enthusiasm.
It was generally agreed that there had been problems with the teamwork within the group, with members working without a clear understanding of what other members of the team were doing and how it related to their own work. In order to make better use of the time remaining it was proposed that a greater focus be placed on the management of the project.

This proposal revealed the core problem the networking group had; a lack of understanding about the true purpose of the class. I believe that this class is about Project Management and as such the focus should be on working efficiently as a group and creating documentation; rather than producing results. Naturally I assume that by placing greater emphasis on management the work produced will be of a higher quality and more in line with the goals of the project.

cs 1.6 under vmware

Cluster Information

Just a quick link to information on how the cluster operates, the procedures to plan it and the hardware required. I'm sure this info will be helpful to everyone including the programmers who might wanna get a bit familiarized on how it works. This will also help the guys doing the documentation aswell as the rest who are trying to get the cluster to work now physically as virtually it seems impossible.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc805802.aspx

mongoose + vmware + games =

as you guys might have heard, the network team had problems in getting the game server running because it woundnt work with out some sort of 3d Acceleration.

but dont worry, i have manage to run CS 1.6 in vmware and it works really well, and its playable and i managed to make in to a dedicated server and it works well

so after that i thought i would test a slightly better game
so tried Q3A but wasn't successful in getting the single player to work, so i tried setting it to be a dedicated server, and it works.

ill chat Calvin and Mark about it later on this week

cheerz

Game Server 2003

After trying to set up a domain to run a gaming server & have clients run the game on their machine [faulty equipment, dodgy network cards, A++ computers prevented this], we ran a version of the torque game example, Stronghold, with the batch file, on the domain controller for Windows Server 2003.
It came up with the error of DirectX not being installed.
Upon installation & running the batch file again, the dos command interface went "crazy", showing Brett, Terry , Travis & myself that the game should run on Windows Server 2003.
We have now successfully ran a 4-node cluster but are unable to have the game operate due to the cluster being virtual & successfully ran the game on a physical Windows Server 2003.
The next step is to show that the game will be able to be played on client computer/s, then the cluster can implemented on physical nodes in a real network.

testing game

mark and I ( Terence) are were doing tests and saw that the game works on windows 2003 server after direct x9.0c was installed . this was done on a acctual machine running windows 2003 server so the problem we were having with vmware was because vmware doesnt support a good enough graphics cards or do graphics cards emulations .
More Info will be posted at a later stage .

Mongoose Update

Nagios Update--

Iv got Nagios up and running with out any problems.
iv fownd a few plugins for Nagios, to give us a better way to monitor our cluster
ill be attempting to install it over the holiday.


Firewall--
In order to protect out server ill be impementing a Firewall that will be based on IPCop.

its based on Linux, its been highly rated in the Linux world for its security.

Doc--

And with the documentation thats in note pad atm, over the holidays ill plan the structure of the document.

cheerz

Game on Cluster

To see if the game works on a Windows 2003 Server platform, we will try it with 2 physical machines, 1 a domain controller, 1 as a platform for the game to run. We have been trying to run it virtually, but the graphics card is unable to execute the game, even though a batch file had been created to run it.
From this, we shall try & run it in multiplayer. When we have got this work, we can transfer it onto a working cluster.

Milestone 1 Presentation

The presentation when well even though I had a minor part in it. I was alittle disappointed that the objects weren't aligning to the terrain correctly in the demo, I will be taking a look at that.

Presentation

To the games people, sorry about my talk so short and could of said alot more.
Next time i will make sure it a lot longer than what i did!! Good job to them who spoke well and showed our game and what it was really about etc!!

Dhiren Adatia 23/09/2008

First Milestone: Complete!

With today's presentation we have achieved our first milestone. The primary goals set by our programming group were all achieved and all but one of secondary goals were also reached. Multi-player implementation was the only goal we did not manage to realise.
Now that we have a firm base on which to build we will begin working on gameplay and server communication issues. Pending tasks will include the following:

• Creating models for the different types of tanks
• Writing code for the different types of tanks
  
• Creating models for power-ups
• Writing code for the power-ups
• Creating models for bases
• Writing code for bases
• Writing code so a game can be won
  
• Setting up different game types
  
• Multi-player implementation
• Assisting the networkers with issues for communication between the server, website, server game, and client game
• Finalisation of menus and load screens
• Implementation of a HUD
• Creation of mission files for each planned level (e.g. textures, objects, spawn points, weather conditions)
  
• Writing any necessary code for each level (e.g. traction physics, terrain generation settings)

That's all I can think of for the moment, but I'm sure there's some stuff I'm forgetting and that new issues will arise in future.

A final note regarding the networkers presentation:
From what I remember of the goals they set, all were achieved (even if their presentation of their achievements was somewhat lacking).

Presentation

Actually, Calvin is half right, The presentation was well received but there were definate points where it fell down. He is correct in the lack of networking documentation, but I will make sure that the programmers aspects are put online to show you all soon.

Part of the feedback received and part of what i noticed is that as with a lot of these showcases there is a lack of confidence in those that spoke. Being able to sell yourself with confidence, without resorting to 'blaming' others for mistakes, is a big part of public speaking.

A little bit more preperation, being a little positive, and noticing the acheivments and acknowledging the challenges you are facing will get you all there in the end.

Presentation

The presentation didnt go well at all! Next week i would like to see some documentation done for the networking side of things. The cluster is up and running and we are just waiting on the programmers for the dedicated server. Once we can verify that the cluster is working we can start to look at the next phase of the project, which includes getting the ISA proxy server going and the web server. Time is running out and we need to get stuff done...

Should be happening

The cluster should be up and runnig today by 09:59"59
calvin , mark , and Terence have been working on it.
more info to follow shortly

GUI update

This weekend with the GUI so far this is what it looks like...It's only a draft so obviously the final look will be different.

I still need to include the minitanks logo i have will do that tomorow in class. Also get more screenshots of the game and the tank models when they're all done to get a better background for the gui.

Dhiren

Cluster D-day

We should be testing the cluster tomorrow, the dedicated server we used last week didnt work as it was trying to load a map from the web and not locally. Jordan and Brett were working to rectify this problem so we can carry on with the testing, we are hoping this will be done tomorrow.
Hold on guys we'r almost there. I can see good progress with the networkers and the programmers seem to be on a role....!!!
Keep it up guys!

gui

Hopefully by tuesday ill have the gui draft done.

I just need to get a hold of the mini-tank logo and a picture of the tank or maybe a screenshot of game during gameplay.

Dynamic Terrain Textures

I've spent today building a function from the map of the functions that are required to run in order to add a texture to Torque and apply it. After 500 hundred lines I have a function that I believe will work as we want. An attempt to break the function up into multiple functions was derailed due to calls to functions from the C++ source code.
I will attempt to test the function later this week and hopefully will be able to integrate Dynamic Terrain Texturing using a single texture into the Alpha Demo later this week. Once Dynamic Terrain Texturing using a single texture is working modifications will have to be made to apply however many textures are required for a mission using necessary filters (e.g. Apply by Height).

Sickness

Sorry, I won't be in today. I'm currently laid up in bed sick. On a side note I need to discuss with the gamers about the SQL database. What databases/tables they need created, if they need to be a special format, or anything else that they may need, so I can then start doing some PHP to read the tables and format them etc. for the website.

See you next week,
Lee

logo

Trees!

I have been able to get trees to randomly appear over the terrain in different sized groups each time the level is loaded. I'll be using the same method for any object randomly scattered over the terrain. The models and textures are by Tim.

A realistic screenshot with 2000 trees.



A unrealistic screenshot with 15000 trees.


Close up

Terrain Texturing

After my initial approach to handling dynamic terrain texturing failed to produce results, as such I have spent today working on a new method.
The new method required that I map the functions run when terrain textures are applied manually. There are two major actions that must be carried out in order for textures to be applied, first the texture must be loaded and then it must be applied. By stepping through the script as the game runs I have determined the functions run, the important lines of script they run, and the expected formats for variables.
Using what I have found I should be able to create a function to run at Mission Start that applies a texture to the terrain. Once this is achieved it should be relatively simple to add fucntionality to apply multiple textures at different locations.

No Tanks I'm Full

Well unfortunately the tank pack model structure is quite complex and contains a myriad of control objects... A minor setback, but just requiring a little more time than first expected.

Will be using the tank pack as a proxy model until I can get this sorted out :S


-J

Website Development

I have been doing some work on the website. I found a nice template in which I'm going to edit, I still have to add the PHP code, and edit the graphics in Photoshop. Below are some screenshots of the website as stands at the moment.

Good News???

Both the domain controllers are up and running, One main one and a secondary one for Active Directory and DNS backup. The cluster seems to be running now and the nodes take over from each other in the event of a failure. We are currently trying to test the cluster with a dedicated server we were given from the programmers. We shall let you know when we get it working.

test-web-Server

Hi all

Just letting you know that Lee and i have build a test Webserver software specs:

MySQL
Apache2
PHP
PhpmyAdmin - (this sofware is to monitor the server)

Tank Pack Update

Well it looks like the good folks who sign the checks like the look of Mini-Tanks, as we have just acquired the Brave Tree Tank Pack!

Currently implementing the changes, which in itself is a laborious task, as our engine is vastly different to the one the Tank Pack was designed for.

I will be looking at the models to see what changes need to be made to ours in order to use this awesome resource.

-J

Tank Pack

The programmers have been looking at getting TAFE to purchase the Tank Pack by BraveTree. It will provide important engine source code for turret and turret base control.

Server

Im building up a Server that will monitor the Minitank-CLuster,
ill be using :

Ubuntu Server 8.04
Nagio 3.x


cheerz

Models into Torque

Today I started adding models to torque, bowing to the games students in their knowledge of the game engine. It seems the process is fairly straightforward but laborious, creating dummy nodes and boxes to represent bounds and collision meshes.

With This step acheived it becomes a series of steps; model, texture, set-up, export, engine. Which makes it a little easier for the Art-Folks like myself to create a pipeline of work.

Gui splash screens

I have added the "We Aint Real" Logo into the start up gui so before the game menu loads the garagegames logo, the west coast tafe logo and then the company logo will appear.

This was done by looking on www.garagegames.com searching for SplashScreens.

Dhiren

Terrain Texturing

By examining the Torque script that runs when a texture is applied to terrain using the 'Terrain Texture Editor' I have come to understand how it may be possible to apply textures dynamically using scripts at Mission Start.
Unfortunately the method used for storing information in variables is similar to that used in the 'Terraform Editor' which prevented me from using more than one algorithm to modifiy the terrain. This problem is further compounded by the fact that the first line values accepted by variable in question is simply the path to the texture and its identifier. There is a possibility that this information is passed as bitmasked data structured in such a way that binary addition of different data results in a unique number. I will carry out some tests to determine if this is true, if not the only possible work around will be to have a single terrain texture per map and for each map to be a different mission.

Clustering

The clusters domain controller and back up domain controller are activated and ready to go! I'm currently also trying to get the latest updates for server 03 so they can be as secure as possible.

what been happening

I Terence McCarthy have been helping Mark and Calvin With the cluster and also just for fun been messing around in 3d max. all the problems have been noted by Mark and Calvin

Document -

Sorry for that lateness of this blog.

I've been looking up for some, applications/Software that would be sufficient to the Cluster
Later on too night ill be setting them up and testing them with a test cluster the next day.

cheerz

Clustering Decision

I had a chat with one of the programmers on Thursday last week & they were saying that the torque engine could be run on a Linux OS using OpenGL [ I think], but it would be not up to standard, so we are going with Windows Server 2003 Enterprise.
Windows 2008 Server in very heavy in the use of hardware so we are not going with this OS.

Cluster

I am looking into setting up a cluster using Fedora 9. The OS comes with an option to set one up in its configuration.
I will let you know of any luck with this.

GUI

I have made a document just drafting the GUI layout. It's only a draft for the demo we are creating. It will have three splash screens, first one will be the West Coast Tafe logo, the second will display the Torgue Game Engine Advanced logo and the last will be the menu which has the Mini-Tanks heading with a picture of a tank and the buttons which will allow you to start the game, join multiplayer, go into options, have a read about mini-tanks and also a quit game button.

(Dhiren Adatia)...Dizzy

Milestone Approaching

The date of the First project milestone is 10:30am, 23rd of september 2008. Make a note in your diaries and pay attention as a location will be announced before then.

I'll let the guys talk about what goals they are aiming for for the milestone. Make it in your calander and come by and take a look.

Terrain, The First Milestone and Game Structure

Terrain
We have random terrain being generated at the start of a mission, although it only uses the simplest methods of the Terraformer since there appears to be no information on how to format the variable information when using multiple terraforming methods. This isn't really a problem though as there is very little noticable difference when the extra methods are used to terraform the terrain.
Placing objects on the map such as bases, foliage, rocks, etc. is my next task. Placing non-interactive objects should be easily assomplished using the shape replicator and using a suggestion from Jordan bases and other interactive objects will be placed at markers scattered around the map.

The First Milestone
The generation of random terrain at mission start has been my primary goal for the first milestone. Since this has been achieved I can focus on attempting to place objects on the and to texture the terrain appropriately. I will approach the remaining tasks for the random generation of maps by firstly dealing with texturing the terrain, then placing static shapes, and finally placing interactive shapes.

Game Structure
We've decided that levels will be run on the server and at mission start a new terrain with objects will be created. This means that several copies of Torque will have to run on the server as the multiplayer host for each level we are running. These copies should be suitably customised for there purpose so as to not waste resources on the server.

Clustering

I have decided just to go with Windows Server 03 Enterprise for the clustering, as server 08 requires to much resources which we simply do not have due to the increase in the number of servers needed.

Terraformer Script

I've managed to run the Terraformer tool through script, meaning now we have a method to generate terrain when a mission loads. So now I just need to provide random values for the variables that musst be passed.

Terrain Modelling

Here are some renders of the Desert Terrain pack (Untextured).

Cluster

This is how our network diagram is looking so far. If anyone has any comments or corrections please let me know your ideas.

Maximus 2009

We now have two tanks made... Well when I say we I mean me... Ok Tim Helped a little... a lot...

Tim now has two tanks made, I helped by adding a grunt, snort and cough of encouragement every so often.

And really there are three tanks if you count my super hovering box of doom and of course you would; so we have three tanks! Hooray!

The next step is to get these bad boys ready to export. I may have renders ready for the models, but that greatly depends on how much I want to see screenshots in game.

Oh and we have upgraded to Max 2009, some neat new features from 9 that can be seen at a glance so most likely many more.

Terrain

Through analysis of the functions run by Torque's built-in terraformer tool I have found a way in which settings for random terrain generation may be passed. In an annoying twist variables must be passed in a different format than normal, meaning whilst I can pass values in I cannot yet pass them in them in a format that does not result in errors and does what we want it to.

More on upgrades

I have added more to the interface and upgrades documentation.

I have made a small table of the tanks and how the points system are. This is only a rough table as the documentation isn't finished yet. The final ratings/points system will be updated towards the end of the project once the game is completed.

small outline of the points system...

When the tanks accomplish their missions, their ratings will then increase above 10 giving them a higher advantage in the game. Winning the medals and working their way up to the highest will increase the tanks ammo, speed, manoeuvre, and damage levels.

Cluster

We seem to have got the cluster to work with vmware server and windows server 03 enterprise. We still need to do some testing to make 100% sure its doing wat it is supposed to do. We are also going to experiment with Window Server 08 enterprise. The documentation should now be able to start being done and research on which applications that need to be installed on the server.

Minitanks Art

I've started turning my sketches into low poly models, for the terrain and plants. My big problem is probably the level of detail to work at. I'd like to keep it really low poly to get the fun, fast and furious gameplay happening, but i dont want to compromise the design

Oh the pain! Oh the humanity!

Hi Everyone,

Letting you know that I am bed bound with a head cold, but will try to make it a little later today.

-J

I've spent the last week looking at how random terrain can be generated in Torque and it appears it can be done either with the C++ engine code or through Torque Script.
Generating the terrain through C++ is a more efficient method, however it would require more time than we have to implement the code in a manner that does not cause fatal errors in the engine.
Torque Script on the other hand is less efficient but may be implemented in usable form with little likelihood of fatal errors occurring. There is also the added benefit of providing access to the Torque Terrain Editor’s random terrain generation system.
As such I will attempt to implement random terrain generation through Torque Script. Hopefully this will be an easy task, thus allowing more time to focus on the more difficult aspect of generating passable terrain with level areas for the placement of bases.

Terrain

an extra bit of terrain.

Tank Designs & Desert Terrain Details

Hi - a bit of drawing being done for the first two tanks and the desert terrain set.
We aim to get the one terrain set working and at least 4 tanks and 4 weapons.

The Games Crew will spend time developing the gameplay balance.
Look out for future posts.

Starting the webpage

Looks like I might be waiting a while before I can start coding the PHP backend of the site, so I may have to start with the graphics side of it. I guess I'll have to use photoshop for that, or maybe GIMP if I'm adventurous.

Clustering -

The sites that supposed to have had a way in adding additional nodes in vmware has go

so at this point it doesn't look like is possible to have a 4 node cluster

Clustering In The Unknown

I Think iv found a good website that might help us setup 4 nodes with vmware.

I shell atempt it over the weekend.

Clustering

Just a quick update with the clustering. It seems clustering is possible with Virtual Server 2005 but it will only allow two nodes as it only has 2 SCSI channels. I will continue trying to figure out a way to get this done virtually as to do it physicall would prove rather costly.

Things that make you go... BOOOM!

Will start work on weapons tonight so stay tuned for some shiny renders of explosive goodness.



J-

Hover Tank Render

Hi All,

Just got a basic low polly render for our hover tank base.

-J

apps

if we have linux sever conected to the the cluster then we can use one of two monitoring programs Nagios or Webmin and promgram to have access at all time from any computer
is log me in .

So far.....

I have started a documentation on the interface and upgrades looking at various websites. It includes details about the health bar and useability. The Documentation has a few images of
different health bars which can be used.

There will be more added to the documentation....

Dhiren

Here is a copy of the draft Game Concept document.

Game Concept
Introduction
Mini Tanks is a third person vehicle combat game for the PC that uses the powerful Torque Game Engine Advanced to allow players to battle it out in different ways in an open environment using cartoon tanks.

Background
Mini Tanks features a variety of multiplayer game types similar to those found in games like Halo, Unreal Tournament 2003, & Battlefield 2 with Mario Cart type vehicle combat. Mini Tanks is built using the latest version of the powerful and flexible Torque Game Engine Advanced which has produced games such as Think Tanks, Minigolf Mania, and Marble Blast Gold.

Description
Playing Mini Tanks you start out by choosing the default heavy tank from the built-in tanks. Selecting the deathmatch map you and your team set out from your base towards the enemy with the intent of destroying all members on the opposing team.
As you move across the battlefield power-ups parachute in from planes flying overhead. Collecting a speed power-up you head towards the enemy base in order to wipe them out. Suddenly a group of 3 enemies appear on your radar, they must have been using a jamming power-up. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to go off on your own. Running isn’t an option they’re using light tanks and are much quicker than you are; time to fight.
Picking the lead enemy you fire your heavy canon. Direct hit the lead enemy has taken heavy damage and the explosion caused by your projectile has caused light damage to the other two enemies. No time to relax though they’re in firing range and have split up. Their light guns aren’t doing much damage per hit but their high rate of fire from three enemies is quickly chipping away at your health. Backing up you fire a second shot destroying the heavily damaged enemy, half your health is gone, and you’re moving slower all the time. You might not survive this fight.
Taking cover behind a rock formation you briefly avoid taking fire from one of the enemies as you line up the other enemy and fire another shot. NO, you’ve missed and the second enemy is back raining fire down upon you. It looks like your not making it out of here, time to go down in a blaze of glory.
Charging forward you ram one tank while firing another shot at the other. Now it’s one-on-one but you’re almost out of health, you can barely move so ramming your nimble opponent is out of the question, and your heavy canon won’t reload in time.
Suddenly a missile streaks past you headed straight for the enemy. The enemy tank dodges sideways but the missile matches the movement and collides in a spectacular explosion that completely destroys the enemy.
You’ve been saved. Turning around you see a group of your allies headed past your position. You offer your thanks before limping back to base for repairs.

Key Features
• Exciting multiplayer vehicular combat: Fun combat between cartoonish tanks with surprising depth.
• A variety of game types -
o Deathmatch: Players fight it out to the last tank standing.
o Team Deathmatch: Teams of players battle to be the last team alive.
o Capture the flag: Players battle in teams to capture a flag and return it to their base.
o Take and hold: Player teams battle to take over and hold on to a base.
o Combat racing: Players race and fight to be the fastest around a track.
o Assault: Players attempt to hold onto their base or take the enemies base.
• Randomly generated terrain: Before each battle begins the map terrain is randomly generated.
• Player created guilds: Players can band together to form their own group
• Exciting unlockables: Players earn points for winning games and kills scored, which can be used to unlock new tank parts.
• Awards: By achieving certain goals players can receive awards such as medals and special tank parts.

Genre
Vehicular combat.

Platform
Primarily Mini Tanks will target the PC but if time allows a port of the game to Xbox 360 will be attempted. Mini Tanks is a multiplayer only game so a network connection (e.g. internet) will be essential.