LEGO Island REDUX

[Fluffy Cupcake]

  On 3/21/2016 at 8:04 AM, bphillips09 said:

Does anyone who knows about 3d modelling know if it's possible to remove the water mesh from the Island OBJ without messing up the material order? I tried removing the water face in Meshlab but when I reimported it back into Unity all the materials were assigned to the wrong objects. If I manually edit the MTL file and remove the WATER2X entry, everything gets even more screwed up. I ended up having to revert to a backup yesterday because I would have had to go in and manually assign each material again.

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Does this do anything for you? I just moved all water vertices to one point so the water is still existent but not really (you will notice water is sill in the mtl).

I left the materials applied as is, meaning you'll have to change the .mtl to point to the HD ones yourself.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sfeck8z66nkl9az/IsleNoWaterButStillWater.zip?dl=0

[bphillips09]

  On 3/21/2016 at 10:42 AM, Xiron said:

Does this do anything for you? I just moved all water vertices to one point so the water is still existent but not really (you will notice water is sill in the mtl).

I left the materials applied as is, meaning you'll have to change the .mtl to point to the HD ones yourself.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sfeck8z66nkl9az/IsleNoWaterButStillWater.zip?dl=0

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I'm going to back up the Unity project before I try again, and that usually takes about 10-15 minutes, so I'll try this out later today and let you know.

[McJobless]

Diving through the code was fascinating. While there were many things I could learn from, what terrified me was the amount of Invoke() and InvokeRepeating() calls. I'm not the best programmer in the world, but presumably if you need to use many of these calls across many scripts, that might be a design issue rather than good flow. Could be entirely wrong, though.

 

I have a question regarding the code you posted;

Spawn (plants.transform.GetChild (i).name.Substring (0, plants.transform.GetChild (i).name.Length - 5));

I had a look at the spawn function, and it's an absolute mess. Out of curiosity, why are you using strings? There are data structures such as Lists and Dictionaries that allow you to use compile-time constants, which would reduce overhead and the complexity of the spawn code, and it would make the code easier to read since you're not doing complex string operations. Furthermore, what's the reasoning for reversing normals? I'm intrigued because I've never seen that before.

 

I also noticed that you use GameObject.Find() in at least one Update() [TurnOffListener]. From what I learnt, GameObject.Find() is even slower than GameObject.GetComponent<>(), and so you should be avoiding using it in Update() at all costs.

Edited March 21, 2016 by Ben2x4

[bphillips09]

  On 3/21/2016 at 11:24 AM, Ben2x4 said:

Diving through the code was fascinating. While there were many things I could learn from, what terrified me was the amount of Invoke() and InvokeRepeating() calls. I'm not the best programmer in the world, but presumably if you need to use many of these calls across many scripts, that might be a design issue rather than good flow. Could be entirely wrong, though.

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I started out using Coroutines that yielded after a certain amount of time, but that ended up not giving me the result that I wanted. I'm going to eventually replace most uses of InvokeRepeating or Invoke with Coroutines since they don't use reflection and have much less of an overhead, especially in cases where there needs to be a lot of processing or calculations done.

 

  On 3/21/2016 at 11:24 AM, Ben2x4 said:

 

Spawn (plants.transform.GetChild (i).name.Substring (0, plants.transform.GetChild (i).name.Length - 5));

I had a look at the spawn function, and it's an absolute mess. Out of curiosity, why are you using strings? There are data structures such as Lists and Dictionaries that allow you to use compile-time constants, which would reduce overhead and the complexity of the spawn code, and it would make the code easier to read since you're not doing complex string operations.

 

 

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The only reason I'm using strings here is because the DevConsole asset that I'm using only takes in string parameters. It would be much easier to use almost any kind of collections, but I didn't write the Console code so I don't have a way to get around it without rewriting it. 

 

Since spawning objects likely won't be an integral part of the game, I'm not too worried about the spawn function, but it definitely is a little messy. 

 

  On 3/21/2016 at 11:24 AM, Ben2x4 said:

Furthermore, what's the reasoning for reversing normals? I'm intrigued because I've never seen that before.

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All of the objects on the island (including the island itself) were extracted from the original game's World.wdb file. On conversion to Obj, almost all of the faces were inverted. Instead of going into blender and reversing the faces of 50+ objects, I'm just doing it right before runtime. Down the road, however, I'll probably have inverted enough faces to where I won't have to reverse the faces in Unity.

 

  On 3/21/2016 at 11:24 AM, Ben2x4 said:

I also noticed that you use GameObject.Find() in at least one Update() [TurnOffListener]. From what I learnt, GameObject.Find() is even slower than GameObject.GetComponent<>(), and so you should be avoiding using it in Update() at all costs.

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I don't even remember what I used that script for, but it's not attached to anything now so it isn't in use. I'm only using GameObject.Find() occasionally when I have static or private references or need to reference a parent object in the hierarchy.

 

[McJobless]

Alrighty, cool stuff. I'm still fairly new to coroutines (would probably help my AI system stuff) so it's reminded me to go back and research those. Keep up the good work

[bphillips09]

Does anyone have any suggestions for a loading video/animation? Now that all the interiors and everything are actually on the island and not in their own separate scenes (for real-time views), the game takes a few seconds to load after clicking the Run button. I think it would be cool to have a lego-themed loading video. Examples: 

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^I'd use one of these, but I didn't create them. Kinda wish I did, they're really cool.

 

 

Something like this would be cool, especially if we used the original faces from the World.wdb file:

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[ChangedUsername123]

[comment redacted]

[Wognif]

  On 3/21/2016 at 12:13 PM, bphillips09 said:

Does anyone have any suggestions for a loading video/animation? Now that all the interiors and everything are actually on the island and not in their own separate scenes (for real-time views), the game takes a few seconds to load after clicking the Run button. I think it would be cool to have a lego-themed loading video. Examples: 

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The last one gives me ideas. I'll see if I can whip up a good animation or two inspired by it (though they probably won't be finished tonight, I'm kinda slow at art, especially animations.)

[Ben24x7]

I'm working on a loading screen animation as well.

 

Just don't expect it to be brilliant or anything, its not much so far.

[Fluffy Cupcake]

On the subject of names, "Remastered" can also be a working title.

[mumboking]

  On 3/21/2016 at 9:22 AM, bphillips09 said:

That's really just a working title. I was originally thinking something like "LEGO Island v2" but I figured it would get confused with LEGO Island 2.

 

Maybe "LEGO Island HD"?

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How about what Valve did with Half-Life when they ported it to the Source engine?

 

LEGO Island: Unity

[ChangedUsername123]

[comment redacted]

[Yajmo]

  On 3/21/2016 at 12:13 PM, bphillips09 said:

Does anyone have any suggestions for a loading video/animation? -snip-

 

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Also, I just wanted to stop by and say that this project is awesome! Nice work. 

[bphillips09]

  On 3/21/2016 at 11:58 PM, Yajmo said:

Also, I just wanted to stop by and say that this project is awesome! Nice work. 

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I'd love something like this. I also want to use something original, too.

 

And thanks!

[Fluffy Cupcake]

Tobi, this is a non-profit fangame, I'm sure there wouldn't be any problem using the name Unity.

[Wognif]

Would something like this do?

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This is just a rough, thrown-together-in-4-hours animation of what I was thinking of, but with "Hello! Welcome to LEGO Island!"  replaced with trivia.

[bphillips09]

  On 3/22/2016 at 2:11 AM, Wognif said:

This is just a rough, thrown-together-in-4-hours animation of what I was thinking of, but with "Hello! Welcome to LEGO Island!"  replaced with trivia.

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I love this. This is great. Could you also possibly make a spinning wheel of bricks or something that moves to show that the game hasn't frozen or is still loading? If not, I could probably do it in Unity.

[Wognif]

  On 3/22/2016 at 2:15 AM, bphillips09 said:

I love this. This is great. Could you also possibly make a spinning wheel of bricks or something that moves to show that the game hasn't frozen or is still loading? If not, I could probably do it in Unity.

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I'll see what I can do. It will probably be a gif of a 3D model of a wheel of bricks spinning this time though, I'm not exactly well versed yet at drawing LEGO. (I had to trace the Infomaniac's body from an in-game screenshot, the the facial expressions and shirt however weren't traced.)

[bphillips09]

  On 3/22/2016 at 2:26 AM, Wognif said:

I'll see what I can do. It will probably be a gif of a 3D model of a wheel of bricks spinning this time though, I'm not exactly well versed yet at drawing LEGO. (I had to trace the Infomaniac's body from an in-game screenshot, the the facial expressions and shirt however weren't traced.)

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That's good enough for me!

[bphillips09]

Updated to v0.8. The changes and link are in the initial post.

[bphillips09]

  On 3/21/2016 at 10:42 AM, Xiron said:

Does this do anything for you? I just moved all water vertices to one point so the water is still existent but not really (you will notice water is sill in the mtl).

I left the materials applied as is, meaning you'll have to change the .mtl to point to the HD ones yourself.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sfeck8z66nkl9az/IsleNoWaterButStillWater.zip?dl=0

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I tried selecting all the materials manually but it said it was still missing a lot even though I imported them. If I sent you the exact obj, mtl, and material assets could you do the same thing but with that?

[Ben24x7]

Did you remove the sprint function or something?

I'm trying to guess if I've encountered a bug...

 

...basically, I got onto the skateboard and pressed 'Esc' to send me to the Information center, screwed around with Paper Airplanes and sky colour and left the building only to find that I wasn't able to sprint.

Maybe disembarking the skateboard breaks the sprint function?

They were removed, apparently, thanks for clearing that up Xiron.

 

 

 

On a more light hearted note, right now would be an appropriate time for Pepper to break into a rendition of "F*** the Police";

 

 

[Fluffy Cupcake]

  On 3/22/2016 at 6:06 AM, bphillips09 said:

If I sent you the exact obj, mtl, and material assets could you do the same thing but with that?

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Hey man, try editing your post next time instead of triple posting within a short time period (4 hours can be considered short).

Anyway, I can attempt to do it with that, yes.

 

I really love how substantial and relatively quickly these updates are being pushed out!

 

  On 3/22/2016 at 6:36 AM, Ben24x7 said:

Did you remove the sprint function or something?

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It was removed two versions ago, the version where the skateboard was added in. The text stating the controls, however, was never removed.

[bphillips09]

  On 3/22/2016 at 6:40 AM, Xiron said:

Hey man, try editing your post next time instead of triple posting within a short time period (4 hours can be considered short).

Anyway, I can attempt to do it with that, yes.

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Sorry! and thanks, I'll PM you the files. 

 

  On 3/22/2016 at 6:40 AM, Xiron said:

The text stating the controls, however, was never removed.

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Forgot about that. I'll remove that for v0.9

 

  On 3/22/2016 at 6:36 AM, Ben24x7 said:

On a more light hearted note, right now would be an appropriate time for Pepper to break into a rendition of "F*** the Police";

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This is the best picture I've ever seen.

 

  On 3/21/2016 at 2:52 AM, Wognif said:

I do have a feature request, but its not of very high priority and might be best putting off until the other vehicles are finished.

Make the truck that normally appears in the gas station able to be driven.

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Just for you

 

[Fluffy Cupcake]

Suggestions for next update:

Move the Pepper model a few inches back from the camera so you aren't looking inside your own head.

For the airplane, try adding a decelerator, and maybe make the planes incapable of ground bouncing flawlessly (which would be part of the decelerator).

Any chance of going in the lifeguard tower at the beach, or at the very least able to walk over the base it is on?

 

When I did the "spawn too much" command, I suddenly felt the urge to pick up items with the "e" (use) key like you can in valve/source games. I'm not sure how appropriate it would be to add such a function in this game, but perhaps it would be something to think about.

 

The rideable skateboard needs physics like all other objects. By that I mean if you exit it mid-air currently, it stays mid-air.

 

---

Question: How do you scroll up in the console? Nevermind, I kept losing the mouse due clicking anywhere. Suggestion (or bug report?) Make it so when the console is open and you click the mouse it won't disappear. Oh, and one more note for console, I think Board should perhaps be called Skateboard, that was actually what I tried first before knowing the name

 

Since the spawn command is in now, I don't think it is really necessary to have the racetrack filled with garbage. Perhaps that can be tidied up in one of the near future updates.

 

 

Edit: Driving that car in third person looks awesome (there should perhaps be a key to toggle between first and third though).

 

  On 3/16/2016 at 3:27 AM, bphillips09 said:

• Fixed object shadows not appearing on the grass

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Great, now fix the gravel paths too.