Programming help needed for the Source engine

[Ross Scott]

This is another post I've been meaning to make for a while. In the last episode of Civil Protection, I encountered major, major bugs that would have prevented the episode from being made if I hadn't received help with modifying the code for the game. Since then, there are still some significant bugs that I could really use help with. I've already sent this information to four programmers in the Source engine, but haven't heard back from any of them. Thus, I'm trying to expand the number of eyes that can look at this. You'll need some experience working with the Source engine to be of much help.

 

HIGH PRIORITY BUGS:

 

-Animation playback in recorded demos in the game is flawed. I'm not sure what's happening, but the behavior between what's seen in-game and what's played back via demo is clearly different. I've included 2 examples of where this happens and can be reproduced reliably. While these examples are relatively subtle, I'm encountering this bug EVERYWHERE in small doses and has resulted in me having to do a lot of workarounds or redo entire scenes because of it. This bug appears to be present in Episode 1 as well, but I definitely find it more drastic in the Episode 2 engine. You will need a copy of Half-Life 2: Episode 2 in order to test out the files.

 

Example 1 (download): Involves a book moving as a prop_physics object.

 

Example 2 (download): Involves a NPC turning via a scene file.

 

All instructions and details are included within the downloads.

 

 

 

BUGS I DOUBT WILL EVER GET FIXED, BUT I CAN DREAM:

 

 

-Fix the AVI output function so that it can handle files greater than 2GB before corrupting and greater than 4GB, period.

 

-Fix demo smoother so that it doesn't feel compelled to reset the viewing position almost randomly when a mouse button is clicked

 

-Fix demo smoother so that listing a specific tick number on the timeline actually results in that tick being selected and not a semi-random larger number.

 

-Fix demo smoother so that the camera path shown in preview mode is actually the end result once the demo is modified (and not slightly higher or lower)

 

-Fix demo smoother so setting keyframes and targets actually appear in the position your camera shows at the time

 

-Fix demo smoother so that when paused and moving the camera, it doesn't cause the camera to move up or down after moving forward or backward by a certain amount.

 

-Find a way to apply high quality engine motion blur to the entire scene, not just based on player movement, AND be capable of exporting the effect to AVI or raw frames.

 

 

If you're able to solve any of these bugs, please contact me at [email protected]. If a reliable fix is produced to any of these problems, it means there's a real chance your name could appear in the credits for every future episode of Civil Protection.

[The Giant Napkin]

.avi will never be greater than 4GB, it'll get split up in smaller parts. I looked it up some time ago, but there's pretty much no chance of it ever getting changed in the near future.

 

Edit: This post is actually quite useless, because I should have added 'but you probably knew that already'.

Edited August 3, 2011 by Guest (see edit history)

[Mes gots its]

I'd love to help but I have basically no programming experience whatsoever :/

[Sn1pe]

I actually haven't used demo smoother much but that's only for camera override right?

 

You can try using 3ds max to import the map's base geometry and animating a camera *this is used in game as an attachment and is easier than it sounds, it'll just involve some trial and error related to the timing of the scenes but nothing too difficult*

 

I could do this for you, I haven't been on AIM in a while but I'm always here to help with anything.

[CB1993]

I actually haven't used demo smoother much but that's only for camera override right?

 

You can try using 3ds max to import the map's base geometry and animating a camera *this is used in game as an attachment and is easier than it sounds, it'll just involve some trial and error related to the timing of the scenes but nothing too difficult*

 

I could do this for you, I haven't been on AIM in a while but I'm always here to help with anything.

 

 

Here's a video explaining exactly this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VSj_4UXNnA0

 

And yes it does involve 3dsMax, though I'm pretty sure this technique will work with most animation programs. Using this technique will give you A LOT more control over the cameras than demo smoothing, and likely has less errors. It also allows you to keep the camera movement if you edit a map.

 

That said, I really have no idea how to solve the animation playback problem, but that doesn't mean others don't.

[Ross Scott]

Well 90% of my demosmoother shots will have to be in sync with the animation of the scene, so unless the faceposer scene can be playing back inside 3ds max, then it becomes even more of a trial and error process than demosmoother is, I don't think there are any concrete advantages then if I have to guess with my imagination where the characters will be or we're they're facing for each shot in 3ds max.