Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2006 8:25 pm
Thanks, guys; I'm gonna try after work.
Open Source 3D Space Flight Sim: Trade, Fight, Explore
http://forums.vega-strike.org/
Truly horrible. But it might break lots of stuff...chuck_starchaser wrote:The concept of tuning AI to a deficient underlying simulation system, and then avoiding fixing the problems to avoid disturbing the ai, sounds horrible. That's like avoiding cleaning up code in order not to have the files marked as changed on svn...
I tried to use the mouse but it's too slow, so I was using the keyboard instead. Read my post again; I said I was pushing the down arrow key almost breaking the keyboard.spiritplumber wrote:Hmm... I had the opposite complaint also (ships being too maneuverable, and it being too easy to overshoot). Do you use joystick, mouse or keyboard?
Please don't make any more things difficulty setting adjustable. Real physics are NOT difficulty settings adjustable. They follow inexorable laws. What we should be doing is the exact opposite: Searching the entire source tree for any occurrrences of difficulty setting dependencies and deleting them. Once that's done, working on the physics until they are right. And then re-think what difficulty settings should do.What I do know is that, at least in WC1 and 2, internally the AI's maneuverability is cut down quite a bit. Maybe we should add a multiplier, and make it difficulty-setting-adjustable... that's like 3 lines of code, I want Daniel's permission to do it though.
Would you prefer a separate setting for that?chuck_starchaser wrote:Totally arbitrary, like just because I choose relaxed gameplay means I don't like to land my ship manually?
Think about it, Chuck. That's not a problem with physics, it's a problem with balancing. With the dataset fed to the physics system. I'm not saying the physics is perfect, but I don't see how any of the problems of the physics system (grainy simulation, discrete rather than continuous collision detection, rather incorrect stepping between atoms, etc...) could result in your problem. I do see, however, how an imbalanced dataset would.chuck_starchaser wrote:Anyways, I digress; the thing is that there is something terribly wrong with the physics if I have a small ship, supposed to be light and maneuverable, and yet I cannot turn it around to shoot at an enemy.
Why are you so fixed on that POV?chuck_starchaser wrote:It's a matter of there not being a functional physics system at all. If there was, you'd only have to enter the push power of the engines, and the ship's mass, and everything would be alright automatically, without tweaking this or that parameter.
I'd apply that comment to the AI, not the physics.chuck_starchaser wrote:Otherwise it's like with bad electrical engineers. You know, if I'm designing a DC motor drive, I calculate exactly how much gain I need for voltage feedback, so that 90 volts on the motor map to, say, 4.5 Volts at the A/D converter input. In the microcontroller program, I document the units and scaling of every variable. For the output, I calculate how much phase angle I need to produce 90 Volts on the motor's terminals, and when the design is finished, I can count on better than 5% accuracy over-all. But most engineers calculate nothing, document nothing, take wild guesses at everything, then they spend a month tweaking parameters, and when the thing starts to sort of work they look so proud; but if they need to make any changes, they have to spend a month tweaking again. Resistor here, capacitor there, increase this, decrease that, add a trim-pot...
If you play in windowed mode, I've encountered that: VS looses focus while you have the modifier keys pressed (ctrl-alt, not sure about shift). When you release it, the message doesn't get there (because it lost focus), and VS thinks you still have the modifier pressed when you go back to it. The quick solution: when the kb doesn't respond but it should, press and release both ctrl and alt keys in sequence (shift too, just in case).chuck_starchaser wrote:EDIT:
Oh, yeah, almost forgot; bug report: When I started the game, there was no response to keyboard. None whatsoever. The keyboard was dead; I couldn't set a speed; couldn't afterburn, nothing. I was about to 3-finger it, and then it occurred to me to press the right mouse button to afterburn. It worked, but more interestingly, after that, the keyboard worked.