towards 0.1

[greenman]

I think it's time to start planning our first release. There are still things missing and other issues, so I would like to sum them up (also taken from ticket system):

(x) various packets needed for release (deb, rpm, ebuilds, windows installer?)
( ) further network traffic reduction
(-) console commands (maybe postpone this to after the release?)
(x) more levels & enhance existing levels
( ) maybe enhance AI ?
(-) pickup system ? (maybe too early though)
(-) quest system ? (same)
(x) LOD
some things from reto's todo list:
( ) IOConsole umlauts on windows & linux
( ) ditch gamestates
(x) mouse pointer issues (when resizing ogre window & other issues, incl. cegui)
(x) shaders on level reload
(-) spectator suicide possible
( ) camera instability below 7fps
(-) score board
( ) statistics screwed (fps & ticktime)
(x) sound device config problem & other sound problems

please add other missing issues / features

[1337]

As far as I can see things now, 0.1 is not going anywhere fast ^^
You pointed out the major issues (with my todo list being the least of our trouble).
I agree that disposing of the GameState isn't at all necessary for 0.1, but nevertheless I'm will be working on that primarily. So we could actually merge the branch after 0.1 if necessary.

Anyway, somebody has to look into CPack (shouldn't be that much work I suppose).
But, THE problem: Who's going to create levels? I'm certainly neither qualified nor motivated to get creative...

There is one thing I would like to add though:
- We need MAJOR performance boosts. I have seen orxonox run on an Alienware quad core SLI Laptop running at 35 fps for the presentation level (native resolution, probably with AA). And this level wasn't huge, it just had more space ships and asteroids than usual. Anyway less than in a normal level. I don't really know where to get that performance from, but I can guess that "Level of detail" would resolve problems. Apart from that, particle effects seem to make my own frame rate drop by about factor 20 (!!!) when in the near vicinity.

[greenman]

you are right about the performance... i think i will open a seperate thread for this topic (LOD will certainly be a requirement -> added it to my first post)

about creation of levels: we certainly need someone that creates levels for us
however i think we could also make our first release without actual "story-levels" and just have levels for different gametypes (->ut). later on if the attention and the interest of the community (hopefully) increases maybe we find more people willing to design & create some levels.

[x3n]

my suggestion is to build a level generator.
more work for coders, less for designers.

[1337]

I like that idea ^^

And I also fully agree that we don't need to have levels with a story for 0.1
Pure multiplayer release should do fine.

[greenman]

reto and I just looked at the cpack process and we realized that we do not really have a suiting and up-to-date description of orxonox (the page still describes it as a mix between spacecraft shooter and first person shooter ^^)

does anyone have a suggestion for a more adequate description?

[beni]

The level creator is of course a good idea, we talked about that earlier already and I think we can all agree it is easier for creative people to use our tool instead of having to write pure XML code. Also I believe that many people (like me for instance) are much more motivated when they have a good tool.
I myself believe that we have to do a lot to create a good community around our game. At the moment a lot of students never come back to development team and the Orxonox career (that cool graphic that x3n created some semesters ago) is just a theory for most people. For measures to make it easier for other people to find their place in the development community, I think we should start a different topic in the forum. At the moment I feel a lot is going on behind the scenes and it would be hard for somebody from (for instance) Australia to join the development team. One of those measures would be a up to date website.

About the description, Orxonox is still having a first person part in the future or did somebody decide against that? So maybe we can just focus the description on the space shooter as we did with the development, mentioning the first person shooter on the side.

As an end note: 0.1 does not have to be SO amazing, so I think there can still be some bugs or inconsistencies without totally devastating the game experience. Bad performance is of course bad and thus I agree that we should include the LOD. Besides that, I would rather tune down the goals for 0.1

[greenman]

the above list wasn't meant as a requirement / blocker for 0.1. I'd rather discuss about the points and mark the ones we wan't to include for 0.1

about the level editor: i think we all agree that this isn't a task for 0.1

i will mark the points i think would be important in order to start the selection process

[beni]

I see, I like the list and as far as I can judge, I agree with the selection of blocker and not important elements for the release.
It would be of course be cool to be able to show off with something. So the user must be able to have fun at least a little bit, I guess at least one really solid gametype would be enough for a first release and to show some potential.
I think the 7fps bug can be allowed as long as it is listed somewhere as a known issue. Same about the umlauts. I don't know enough about the rest...

[greenman]

i think we have the following good working and playable gametypes:
- Deathmatch
- Team Deathmatch
- Team Basematch (only 1 level however)
- Attack the Transporter (also just 1 level)
did i miss something?

all 4 depend quite a lot on the AI (if we neglect the network for a moment) but i think playing them is already quite funny

having more levels for the 3. and 4. gametype however would be nice

[x3n]

asteroid race too, but i think the level needs some adjustments because the asteroids are randomly placed and sometimes cover a checkpoint. also the enemies are too hard and you have no time to kill them anyway.