Citadel - System Shock Fan Remake

[674302147465fJosiahJack]

Not much to report.  Been busy with issues at work and trips away from my main pc.  Been figuring out how to make the game more moddable as it makes the code for the systems, enemy behavior, etc different.  As with everything on this project, I've been developing it to be data driven and user customizable.

I believe xbox remote is supported currently (it's in my list of available inputs), but I don't have a wired controller to actually test it.

Teaser: when enemies behave more...well when they behave I'll do a short fight video.

[674302147489cJDoran]

OK mate, thanks for answering. And I too know what it's like to have work eat up your valuable time. If I had my life all over again, then the second time around I'd make sure I didn't get a job that involved moving around from place to place.

BTW, will it has a proper control-options frontend? I don't like the basic small-window options box that comes as default with many Unity games, where you have to scroll through the small Windows menu to see and set the controls. It's irritating, lists controls that aren't even needed in the particular game, and makes the controls very unmemorable, and of course you can't go back to it mid-game to see or alter the controls.

Given how powerful and popular the Unity engine is, you'd have thought that the company who make it would have written a full screen, well designed front end. Or failing that, that a modder would have done so, and made it available to all. But if the latter has happened, then it's not been used by any Unity game that I've seen.

[67430214749aaJosiahJack]

I've already disabled that useless popup box.  I already have the configuration page, remember?  You even gave me suggestions for it that I added.

[6743021474c5dJDoran]

I've already disabled that useless popup box.  I already have the configuration page, remember?  You even gave me suggestions for it that I added.

Do'h! Me brane is to stoopid to rememberr enyfing 

[6743021474ddaJoin2]

@JosiahJack Status report, soldier?

[6743021475050JosiahJack]

Working on AI and Performance:

Wrestling with the AI.  If it isn't fun it isn't ready, and if it isn't ready it isn't worth spreading the implementation to other enemies.  Still trying to get down a method that works right.  I almost need per frame logic which isn't exactly intended in Unity.  Having to write my own systems for it all.

Performance has improved considerably with recent work, doubled framefrate.  Still, on my beast of a rig it isn't as fast as I would like.  Ironically, the limiting factor -- overdraw -- is a result of originally having the level as one combined mesh model.  I found out the hard way that game engines can't do submesh occlusion yet (Come on people!  Make the engine do my work for me) so the level needs to be further broken down into individual models to prevent drawing the entire level.  Enabling occlusion culling on the objects that exist now is glitchy because the occlusion system that Unity uses DOES NOT WORK FROM INSIDE OBJECTS.  Since I currently have each room as am object (mostly), occlusion culling doesn't know what to do and hides the room(s) the player is within.

To fix occlusion so that framerate climbs up into 200 or 300fps (current 80fps with dips into 30fps - stupid old garbage collector), I've been making each wall it's own separate model object.  But wait there's more!  Each wall I have been carefully creating ro have details and geometry....the goal of this project has always been to take that which was 2D representations of 3D objects and turn them into 3D objects, now even the walls are starting to take shape.

Still, I need to place items and enemies in the levels.  I'm waiting to do that after the re-wall-ification process is complete since some walls will move around as I upgrade the level look and details.  Ironically this will increase performance at the same time.


P.S. Unity 2018 update will have an updated garbage collection with it's updated compiler.  This is HUGE people!

[6743021475312Olfred]

Unity is kind of optimized to have the same object placed repeatedly in the game. So basically you would need to do a wall model for each texture in the game and redo the whole level geometry.
And then there is the other thing with having several textures on one texture file alone which also increases performance.
I think you need to enable some render options to benefit from it. I could ask the programmer from an old project who probably still knows what's the trick.

[6743021475468icemann]

Considering that Unity uses C# for the scripting. Doesn't it all come down to the coding?

So say you have a draw function in there and tell it to only draw to screen what is viewable from the current camera. Even standard 2D tile map style levels do a similar thing of not drawing the entire level, but only of what is within the current screen radius.

[674302147558bOlfred]

I don't know to what degree you can influence Unity in the current version. But when I worked with it last time (somewhere between version 3 and 4 transition). No matter which language you choose, it basically boiled down to be just used for scripting. From which C# yielded the best performance.
You didn't have much influence on the actual computing done by the engine, you could only feed it with stuff and tweak around with some settings.

[674302147569eicemann]

I've had a bit of experience in Unity, having done some paid work a few years back for a project in that. In that we did everything 100% via scripting + nGui stuff.

Code wise was very similar to doing something in C++ except without the usual int main etc.

[67430214758bbJosiahJack]

Thanks Olfred but I've already read up on all that and the wall thing is basicallty what I'm doing in the abscence of Unity having an automatic way of doing it on a sub-mesh level like Quake engines do (e.g. Source).  I have to do the mesh separation myself to make all the individual walls and ceilings individual objects that can be culled.

Texture atlasing is a pain and I don't see it having much benefit in most cases except for perhaps items and ammo since there isn't too high an amount of variety visible at any one time.  UI though could be helpful.

Unity still holds a lot of the cards such as compiler, C# version, etc.

As an interesting exercise, to answer "WHY AREN'T YOU DONE YET??":
========================
My main skill limitations currently are:
Soft body modeling and animations so enemies like mutants take me longer
Linking animation and game actions...OMG this is complicated!!

Time limitations:
Lots of 3D modeling to do, just me (had BastardRodent helping out with enemies for a while there but I haven't heard from him in a while, and a couple others helped with some base models that I used to make weapons and an ammo clip or two)...other than that it is just a high amount of objects, enemies, etc. to create.  Who knew this game had so much to it!
Lots of particle effects to do, just me...
Lots of coding/animation linking to do for enemies, again, just me.

I would appreciate someone helping with modeling or particle effects.  Particle effects take me forever...mostly because I'm picky about enhancing the original sprites in subtle yet effective ways without getting too terribly much higher resolution.

[67430214759a9icemann]

What I'd love to see is a show of progress video of some sort. Nothing shows what stage your at more than a video or demo.

[6743021475affJosiahJack]

Quick question/poll, in the original all lasers were the same mid to light blue color. Should I make the blaster and ion rifle's lasers different colors?

P.S. Working on putting together a short gameplay video over the next couple weekends.

[6743021475c57voodoo47]

I wouldn't mind.

[6743021475d7fOlfred]

Wouldn't hurt, so why not?

[6743021475ed4JosiahJack]

Just about over the hump of AI.  It's been a rather difficult learning curve and involved several code rewrites, but the AI is starting to behave.  I get very nitpicky since getting combat right is the most important gameplay aspect other than searching and controls.  Anyhow, AI is hard.  In case you were wondering why this is taking so long.    I'd rather get it right the first time than release a floppy combat system.

[6743021476000Join2]

I don't envy you. I've done AI coding before (Deus Ex mod) but if it ever had to be done from scratch I'd just rage quit. Well, at least without adequate pay.
So thumbs up to you 

Looking forward to playing this, hacker. And maybe even modding it.

[6743021476112JosiahJack]

Hey all, sorry I don't have a video ready yet. There were a few glaring things to add before I wanted to show some gameplay. Just some quick low-hanging fruit (e.g. reloading your weapon).  I'm going to try to get one done one of these nights this week.

[674302147625dJDoran]

Don't worry about it. It's thanks to your remake that I'm not too disappointed with the failure of the official remake (or I would be angry and a bit disgusted with how they've handled their time and changed their design decisions instead of just building a full game around the released demo). When we get to see your video, tomorrow or a month from now, we know it will be great, and we know the full game will be released one day. Instead of you abandoning it and moving up to a brand new engine (though who can blame Nightdive for doing this with System Shock Remake? After all, it worked so well for Daikatana, and Duke Nukem Forever...  ).

[6743021476373JosiahJack]

Thanks!  I agree too, though I can't exactly blame them for changing engines since I did that myself, though while I did it to have more support in Unity for the UI and collisions for crouching instead of Darkplaces.  Night dive I suspect had more "aesthetic" reasons.

[6743021476531JosiahJack]

Bounty!
Find all paper logs in the game and for each:
• Write down the date sent
• Write down the sender
• Write down the subject
• Write down the text
• Quick description of where it was found in the level

I currently only have the first log from #2-4601 found in the closet in the start room.  I already have all audio logs ( http://www.ttlg.com/ss1/voiceres/index.htm ), just need the paper logs.  I only know of 3. There should be one with a code on it in Science somewhere (library?), and another on that same level in a dark corner at the room at the end of the halls.

Anyhow, it would help a lot if someone found them all.

[67430214769cedertseha]

Find all paper logs in the game and for each:

I'm not entirely sure what you are asking for; Do you mean with "paper logs" those that you can pick up into inventory and show up in the multimedia reader in the "logs" section, yet don't have audio? (such as the personal note of hacker -- are there truly more than just this one? memories...)
Or do you mean "papers", that you can't store in the inventory, only pick up to read, and can be destroyed?

In any case I should be able to code a query on the resources ("quick description of where it was found" would resolve to exact X/Y positions), yet I didn't fully understand your query -- unless someone wants to have fun running around Citadel for the egg-hunt

[6743021476acaOlfred]

Let the people run around for the egg-hunt and later on you decide the winner.

[6743021476bbaicemann]

There's certainly more than 1. I remember finding 1 near the radioactive trenches in the medical level. Right near the secret door.