Some plans for 2020 uwu
Posted 4 years ago2020-04-02 22:43:54 UTC
You know something's up when I put the 
So, this has been mentioned on TWHL Discord, but it should be mentioned here as well, just in case.
I have 37 tutorials on GameBanana. 8 of them are HL-related and worthy of being ported to TWHL.
Tutorials following this one, I imagine, would involve stuff such as targeting other entities, having multiple different targets for each 'condition', checking certain entity properties, finding entities by name or by some other filters, and so on.
Generally, I'm mostly excited about the programming tutorials, not just the couple of ones I'll be porting, but new ones I'll be contributing too.
From general HL SDK tutorials about various parts of its API (engine functions, event API, Triangle API, entity functions, utilities etc.), using certain 3rd party libraries with HL SDK, even touching the VHLT code a bit, all the way to the delicate and fancy stuff like using OpenGL functions, dynamic skies, modifying map & model data in real-time, and a lot more.
Other than said tutorials, I'd of course work on ADM. There are several things I wanna do this summer, mainly working on the vehicle system as well as the FMOD integration. There are a couple of SoHL features and entities that will also be either ported or replicated. I'm really hoping to push out a release by the end of summer. >w<
Also, by that time, I'll probably create a new thread for Advanced Development Mod. Utopia at Stake, while using ADM as a base, shouldn't really have its thread be home to both ADM and itself IMO.
But I cannot do any of that right now. I got a game project to finish.
By the 15th of March, I should be done with my idTech 4 game demo, after which I'll try to release my high school map by June, maybe a bit earlier even. And then, I'll finally get back into GoldSrc business.
uwu in the title. So, this has been mentioned on TWHL Discord, but it should be mentioned here as well, just in case.
I have 37 tutorials on GameBanana. 8 of them are HL-related and worthy of being ported to TWHL.
Better view bobbing
A tutorial about view bobbing in the HL SDK, covering view.cpp and how stuff works there. Might be in 2 or even 3 parts.Creating new entities
Penguinboy told me this one could be a start of a new chapter for the programming tutorials. It covers creating a really simple new entity class (which prints stuff to the console) and editing the FGD to add the entity definition.Tutorials following this one, I imagine, would involve stuff such as targeting other entities, having multiple different targets for each 'condition', checking certain entity properties, finding entities by name or by some other filters, and so on.
About carving
The name says it. A mostly objective view on carving, covering various "manual carving" methods using the clipping tool.How to fix those leaks
Methods of finding leaks and what can cause them.Real-life photos to Half-Life textures
No explanation required.Complete music tutorial
Making music for Half-Life mods and placing it into maps. Can be expanded to an overall audio guide for GoldSrc, covering different uses of ambient_generic and whatnot.Manipulating light in GoldSrc
All about lighting, different lighting setups, toggling shadows etc.How to make sprites more flexible
Well, to be exact, this one's originally about sprite orientation, but I suppose it could be expanded to different ways of utilising sprites, e.g. for grass, smoke, light glows, videos even.Generally, I'm mostly excited about the programming tutorials, not just the couple of ones I'll be porting, but new ones I'll be contributing too.
From general HL SDK tutorials about various parts of its API (engine functions, event API, Triangle API, entity functions, utilities etc.), using certain 3rd party libraries with HL SDK, even touching the VHLT code a bit, all the way to the delicate and fancy stuff like using OpenGL functions, dynamic skies, modifying map & model data in real-time, and a lot more.
Other than said tutorials, I'd of course work on ADM. There are several things I wanna do this summer, mainly working on the vehicle system as well as the FMOD integration. There are a couple of SoHL features and entities that will also be either ported or replicated. I'm really hoping to push out a release by the end of summer. >w<
Also, by that time, I'll probably create a new thread for Advanced Development Mod. Utopia at Stake, while using ADM as a base, shouldn't really have its thread be home to both ADM and itself IMO.
But I cannot do any of that right now. I got a game project to finish.
By the 15th of March, I should be done with my idTech 4 game demo, after which I'll try to release my high school map by June, maybe a bit earlier even. And then, I'll finally get back into GoldSrc business.
2 Comments
You must log in to post a comment. You can login or register a new account.
He used to write some really nice articles on VERC before that place went down.
Bump mapping in Half-Life (2004)
Vertex and pixel shaders (2003)
Vectors: An introduction (2002)
Guess how old he was when he wrote the one about vectors.
14, you can find it in the Web Archive copy of the "Vectors: An introduction" page, in the comments
That's not the point though. It was a sort of a revolutionary time for HL modding IMO. People were discovering vertex and pixel shaders, some were already integrating Cg into their Half-Life mods, people were learning about new graphics techniques and concepts which new games were about to take advantage of (e.g. normal mapping), some folks were experimenting with integrating physics engines into HL, Paranoia started development, HL SDK 2.3 got released with a certain change that I really like about it, and so on.
His articles are a living documentation of that time period and every time I read "Vertex and pixel shaders", I'd imagine how it used to be back in 2003 when a lot of that was an alien concept among us modders. Now, a lot of people know about shaders and physics engines, for example. In fact, the Blinn-Phong shading model is old news by now. We got Physically Based Rendering.
The early 2000s also saw the development of vehicles for HL mods, such as this beautiful example:
And that's what I wanna change.
I want to bring back some golden times, to carry one of the torches of HL modding. Don't get me wrong, HL modding is amazing, especially in this day and age where we can compile maps in minutes and people are still interested. But, I got a vision that HL modding can be far better than it is now. Which is why I started the Advanced Development Mod project. There are countless things I wish I had done earlier too, to be honest.
5 years ago, I made the mistake of starting to make a total conversion mod instead of deciding to learn the skills first and whatnot. Though, I gotta say, it was a good mistake. I wouldn't be doing these projects otherwise.
I wish I started doing C++ stuff at least 2 years earlier, you know. But, when you think about it, maybe it's a good thing that I started it 2 years ago than 4 years ago. Cuz' those 2 years in between helped me improve my mapping skills, as well as texturing and music skills.
I think everything has its reason, even though when we think something should've been better done earlier. Sometimes, it's true, we SHOULD have done some things earlier, but at other times, maybe it was for the better, because something else happened and it was a good thing.
You get what I'm trying to say. Always gotta carry that torch. It's one of the reasons why I write tutorials.