119 replies to this topic

[Supreme Cmdr]

quote:

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Originally posted by Remo Williams:
I'll take one of those drool cups please!

Wow there outstanding now how could you make them any better?

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1. Increasing the number of polys on the 3D sphere itself (this will make it smoother and less blocky)

2. Increasing the map resolution (which is now 1024x512)

With the increased system requirements for XP1, these and other graphical enhancements are now more possible and plausible than they were two years ago when development on BCM started.

[Supreme Cmdr]

quote:

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Originally posted by Jaguar:
I think the SC is just trying to make sure that AMD and Intel stay in business, because I know for a fact that XP-1 is going to take my computer to it's knees, it will be begging for mercy!!

I think I will put it out of it's agony before then and upgrade before this summer!!

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heh, I think they said that the cheque is in the mail. Lying bastards.

[ 01-09-2002: Message edited by: Supreme Cmdr ]

[Supreme Cmdr]

Hellbinder sent me a private message about a mp question he had. I think it must have been one of those XP1 threads I deleted. I can't remember what the question was, but I think it was about whether the BCM mp patch will be out before XP1.

The answer is yes. XP1 is not due out until Summer. The mp patch is WIP and has been for quite some time. There is no firm date for sending it out to the Beta testers, but when that happens, I will post about it.

Also, once the Beta testers have given it the once over, I will release it as an RC candidate so that everyone can get their hands on it, take it apart, stress test it etc (the same thing we have been doing with some critical BCM patches).

And yes, I am going to allow people to setup their own internet (and LAN) servers but the 3000AD run fleet servers will be for dev, beta testers, fleet leaders and their *invited* fleet members only.

Make NO mistake about it, you will NOT be able to run an mp server on anything short of the following MINIMUM specs :

[*]Pentium III 1Ghz or AMD Athlon processor
[*]WIN 2K/XP (with all service packs)
[*]256 MB RAM
[*]16MB DirectX 8 compliant 3D graphics card
[*]16Bit DirectX 8 compliant sound card
[*]CD-ROM
[*]500MB uncompressed hard drive disk space
[*]Microsoft compatible mouse
[*]Broadband (cable or xDSL) connection
[/list]

The server won't be doing any graphics processing, so a 16MB graphics card is just fine.

And if you decide to play (as a client) on the same server you are running, well then, you need to ensure that your server can handle the load.

[ 01-10-2002: Message edited by: Supreme Cmdr ]

[Jerold Keenan]

Christ, I won't be hosting any servers for some time!

I guess I'll just have to settle for being occasionally let into the Fleet server or joining others.

I think the only system req I have met is the 16mb 3D card to join a server as a client... thank god I have a Geforce 3 Titanium 500... the rest of my computer is ****. Except maybe the 21 inch monitor... WIDE SCREEN!

[Supreme Cmdr]

hehe. I won't worry about getting on fleet servers if I were you. Then again, thats up to the fleet leaders.

[CommanderJohnson]

Those server hosting requirements of 1GHZ P3, etc, is that with or without playing it as a client?

I guess it's time to beg for fleet admission....

[spaceadmiralx]

SC, are you worried that those kinda minimum specs may scare off potential buyers? BCM goes into widespread release next month, and thousands of new gamers all over the world will be coming into the fold, many with underpowered systems. Won't this put BCO and XP effectively out of their reach?

[Joel Schultz]

All I can say is: "Can't wait for XP1!"

And I second that thought: when do we preorder? LOL...

Question: if you can't view the entire planet from orbit at once (the conical projection thingy) what do you do if you want to mess with some stuff thats outside the cone? E.g. set waypoints for a shuttle to go by a base outside the cone. Or set waypoints to retrieve mining drones outside this cone?

[Commander Jamont]

Ok everyone sent me a check so that you can play on the servers ill give you permission cause im a FC muahahhaaa

(a man graps jamont and trows him back in the insane house)

[ 01-10-2002: Message edited by: Commander Jamont ]

[Epsilon 5]

You can be on a server as an indie. The mp world wouldn't be as fun without hang-arounds and targets

[Supreme Cmdr]

quote:

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Originally posted by Captain Dread:
Those server hosting requirements of 1GHZ P3, etc, is that with or without playing it as a client?

I guess it's time to beg for fleet admission....

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Well, just think. If you're going to play on the server, don't you think you need a 32MB graphics card? The reason I quoted the 16MB version is because the server does not run any graphics whatsoever.

In fact, you can probably get away with a 256MB server also running a client. But as always, YMMV

And if you have the bandwidth, you can probably run several console servers on the same box.

I have started a BCM mp discussion thread since this thread is going off-topic.

[ 01-10-2002: Message edited by: Supreme Cmdr ]

[Supreme Cmdr]

quote:

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Originally posted by spaceadmiralx:
SC, are you worried that those kinda minimum specs may scare off potential buyers? BCM goes into widespread release next month, and thousands of new gamers all over the world will be coming into the fold, many with underpowered systems. Won't this put BCO and XP effectively out of their reach?

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I don't care. I don't develop my games for the lowest common denominator; or they would be for the mass market. Never have been. Never will be.

[ 01-10-2002: Message edited by: Supreme Cmdr ]

[Supreme Cmdr]

quote:

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Originally posted by Joel Schultz:
Question: if you can't view the entire planet from orbit at once (the conical projection thingy) what do you do if you want to mess with some stuff thats outside the cone? E.g. set waypoints for a shuttle to go by a base outside the cone. Or set waypoints to retrieve mining drones outside this cone?

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You can't; since they won't be on radar. You're going to have to find them.

However, I will probably add an IFF beacon to all your own units. This way, you can tell where they are on the planet at all times, without having to be directly over them. You can then just give them extract orders without having to scan their location.

[Supreme Cmdr]

quote:

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Originally posted by Commander Jamont:
Ok everyone sent me a check so that you can play on the servers ill give you permission cause im a FC muahahhaaa

(a man graps jamont and trows him back in the insane house)

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hehe

[jpprod]

- Volumetric fogging (for during snow and rain storms)
- Support for volumetric space weather areas (nebulae, space storms etc)

Wow, these two are damn hard to do well even on a limited environment of an FPS game; every single implementation I've seen has had loads of visual glitches (certain types of rendering not fogged etc., transparent surfaces are particulary tricky) or hasn't just been fast enough. And you're planning on rendering them in interplanetary scale? Any chance of revealing any of your ideas on the implementational side?

Originally posted by LordDavid:
...
Just curious, you mentioned quite a few graphical improvements, and if I recall correctly, you were planning on implimenting Environmental Bump Mapping into the game but did not because too few cards supported it or some other reason. Now that GF3's, etc support it, will it be here too?

Probably not. I don't want to get involved too much in card-specific features. If anything changes, I will update the feature list accordingly.

But isn't EMBM on a DX8 card, in essence, just a special case of the pixel shaders (specifically: heightmap + dependant texture read), which are on the list? Though gotta say that the pixel shaders themselves aren't too widely supported as of yet.

[Supreme Cmdr]

quote:

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Originally posted by Jukka T. Paajanen:
[quote]Wow, these two are damn hard to do well even on a limited environment of an FPS game; every single implementation I've seen has had loads of visual glitches (certain types of rendering not fogged etc., transparent surfaces are particulary tricky) or hasn't just been fast enough. And you're planning on rendering them in interplanetary scale?

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90% of the features in BCM are damn hard - which is why it is the only game of its type that supports them.

Damn hard != cannot be done

...it just takes talent and know all

quote:

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Any chance of revealing any of your ideas on the implementational side?

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uhm, no Trade secrets and all

quote:

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But isn't EMBM on a DX8 card, in essence, just a special case of the pixel shaders (specifically: heightmap + dependant texture read), which are on the list? Though gotta say that the pixel shaders themselves aren't too widely supported as of yet.

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It depends on the implementation. And I was not just refering to EMBM. Read the original post again. And then mine.

[url="http://www.3000ad.com/downloads/bcm/bcmXP1features.html"]BCM XP1 feature set updated[/url]

[ 01-10-2002: Message edited by: Supreme Cmdr ]

[Epsilon 5]

Well well seems I'll have to upgrade sooner than I thought

Not a bad thing Just more money down the drain... I should be working by then

[TARWMSRK]

so can we be expecting like--- weapon upgrades to make them more powerful?

[Outlaw]

After XP1 is in my hands it will truly feel like being in episodes of Cowboy Bebop and Outlaw Star!