The state of things.
Most of you that are in IRC already know this, for those that don’t I figured a new post is long overdue.
Currently I’m not doing any work on this project due to the uncertain future of ISXWarden / Glider. The point of this project was to create a navigation system that could be used by the public(ish) botting platforms out there. With both of the big ones on the edge of *poof* I have put everything on hold.
For anybody that wishes to pick up the project let me know and I’ll offer you any and all help that I can (knowledge wise, not much time for coding these days). Please understand also that some file formats have changed with the release of WOTLK and as such this project needs to be updated to work in it’s current form. The changes aren’t that major and should be simple enough to fix up.
Project is still alive, real life getting in the way lately.
I am writing this message of my own free will. I hereby declare I have not be threatened with a titanium poison tipped spork of epic proportions…
Joking aside the project is still alive and well, but real life has gotten in the way and bills must be paid (or so they keep telling me). With a few projects dragging on that should have been done and paid a while ago it means I get to work overtime yet again to make up for people being lazy. The good news is they eventually pay and then it’s almost like a bit of time off with pay.
The Latest
Many people have been curious when an update will be coming and the truth of the matter is I can’t really give a date. Working as hard as I can to get an update out there for everybody but it certainly won’t be this weekend (anniversary, wedding, then birthday). I’d really like to get one out there sometime this coming week or possibly next weekend.
Sorry for the delays!
Getting quadtrees up and running!
Well it’s been a while since there was a quality update, hopefully this will really be it. Quadtrees have been my main focus these days and we’re going to get them running come hell or high water. The first step in getting our quadtrees running is to figure out just how many we are going to need. This is actually a bit easier then it seems (at least in my opinion). At first I was trying to think of a proper algorithm to subdivide the space down to the most efficient level, after my brain started to hurt I decided to go the easier route (pick a number and hope it works).
I went with splitting the terrain all the way down to a 16 x 16 grid for some reason to start. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that MCNKs happen to be in a 16 x 16 fashion and I thought for some reason that the placement information for models was on a MCNK by MCNK basis (it isn’t if you forgot).
What’s happenin’ cappin’?
Well just a quick mini-update here. I’ve been working on both implementing the automatic MPQ streaming that was posted on the forums into the trunk (and spending a good amount of time reading up about the GPL to ensure I stay within the license of mpqtool) and more importantly I’ve been working on quadtrees. Right now I’d say I’m roughly 50% done with the quadtree setup and about 50% done with the mpqtool integration as well. The quadtrees are being done in a manner that ensures moving to an octree later on won’t be too difficult at all as I’m sure I’ll want to do it at some point. I’ve also been playing with the console a bit and integrating a “render OBB” type of command (for other items as well) which should make things a bit of fun.
Not much of an update but better then nothing!
Long awaited cleanup has arrived!
Well to those that keep an eye on IRC I posted a few updates to the SVN already that show the code cleanup (be aware it’s more or less a complete rewrite). The two biggest additions to this new code bank is the console (provided by arkwiw from IRC) and a new config file (named app.config) that is used to list where your maps are extracted to. Here’s a quick Youtube video showing the dynamic loading of maps:
How about a programming structure you can follow?
I have mentioned many times over the last handful of posts that the code is being refactored because it has turned into a spaghetti monster (not the flying one in the sky, the one that lives inside of all of us and we must defend against when writing anything useful). Well as I’ve been working out the kinks here or there and been playing with the code I thought a mini-preview might be of some value. So first I present to you what I call my world famous Photoshop skills on quickly drawing what I’m doing:
Silence for too long can make a grown man cry!
Too long without a post is never a good thing for a blog, so I decided to devote as little time as possible to this post as I have a long “To-do” list and not nearly enough time to do it today. Let’s see where we are:
- I see a lot of people in IRC and I appreciate you all stopping by and/or idling
Thanks to everybody that’s said a kind word about the project at hand, you freaking rock! - arkwiw has finished an XNAConsole wrapper for the project. Not only has he finished it, he documented how it’s setup, gave the source code, and it looks great. This will be the feature of the next blog post ASAP so all praise be to arkwiw!
- Most all of the code is refactored now (I’d say 90%) I just have some commenting that needs finishing and to re-write a few other bits and pieces properly instead of 1000 line methods.
I know this update sucks, and it’s not even much of an update, but at least it’s a post!
So redsector want’s to know the next chapter…
<redsector> its just like getting into a book
<redsector> but the book is not finished yet
<redsector> i enjoy your writing style
The problem is… this is about all I have:
Quadtrees… You’re doing it wrong!
In the previous post a member made a great comment suggesting the use of an existing structure for subdivision of space (also covered slightly in the previous post). The suggestion was the use of either a quadtree or an octree which are both very similar. I am the first to admit my knowledge of both is actually quite limited (or rather it was) which is why I went ahead and started reading up before I got too far into my own methods of subdividing the space. Upon further review I think a quadtree will truly work best for what I am trying to do.
Most of the following information is from GameDev.net which has tons of amazing articles / how-to’s / etc… on everything gaming related. Here’s the quick and dirty on what a quadtree is an how it’s going to help speed things up. First let’s look at my laughable 1 minute drawing of RedRidge in Photoshop:
