Brother Argos Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 This will be an occasional series of posts with regard to my work on the Space Marine Painter and Wargear. For the last few months I have been making changes to the structure of both, improving performance and also adding more features. Last time we did an update was with the new painter engine (which allowed much more flexibility with regard to the colour gamut and shading in general). Unfortunately the real world called me away before I could complete my work on the Wargear app. With the general downturn in the economy, I have had more chances to work on the Wargear. In the past the wargear app was a mess, it had grown from the original idea of "lets stick a Bolter on the marine" to encompass various marks of armour, multiple weapons, insignia etc. Its weakness was that organic growth and a lack of control over the "height/Layering" of objects, which meant it was completely messed up at a programming / logical level. In the end it was almost impossible for me to add something new, without it affecting half a dozen other things that also needed changing. It didn't take much to work out that I would not be able to keep adding things without a complete overhaul. In the end we did indeed do a complete overhaul and added a layering concept to deal with all the wargear "collisions". Here is the layer list, to show just how many layers we are dealing with. Background (0) Cloaks (1) Cloaks Accessories (2) Backpacks (3) Backpacks Accessories (4) Left Leg (5) Left Leg Accessories (6) Left Foot (7) Left Foot Accessories (8) Right Leg (9) Right Leg Accessories (10) Right Foot (11) Right Foot Accessories (12) Left Hand (13) Left Hand Accessories (14) Right Hand (15) Right Hand Accessories (16) Left Arm (17) Left Arm Accessories (18) Right Arm (19) Right Arm Accessories (20) Loins (21) Loins Accessories (22) Torso (23) Torso Emblem (24) Torso Accessories (25) Heads (26) Heads Accessories (27) Jumpack Straps and Collars (28) Jumpack Straps and Collars Accessories (29) Dresses and Loincloths (30) Dresses and Loincloths Accessories (31) Belt Accessories (32) Left Shoulderpads (33) Left Shoulderpads Accessories (34) Left Shoulderpads emblems (35) Left Shoulderpads emblems 2 (36) Right Shoulderpads (37) Right Shoulderpads Accessories (38) Right Shoulderpads emblems (39) Right Shoulderpads emblems 2 (40) Weapons (41) Weapons Accessories (42) Shields (43) Shields Accessories (44) As you can see we now build each marine from the "Background" all the way through to the accessories on the Shields. Part of the overhaul introduced a limit of 255 potential items per layer, which is why we have multiple Shoulderpad emblem layers (so we can have 510 different chapter emblems for example). This allows a lot of growth of items, and with the "layering" built in means each one is quicker to implement and should have NO collisions with other wargear, which makes things easier. Sadly the only downside is a slightly slower render/compositing time. Once this "schema" was in place I needed to write a front end for people to use it. It was going to be more complex in many ways than the previous wargear app, because we had to be able to "Paint" each piece of wargear before adding it to the marine. You can see below the addition and painting of a Bolter, with over 6 different colours for that item and a maximum per item of 15, we effectively now have a painting app built into wargear. It is now possible to paint your marine directly in wargear and bypass the painter altogether. The buttons at the bottom give you the option to bring up a previously added piece of wargear (or delete it with the little red X in a box), in addition you can click on the item on the painted marine to reload it / edit it again. You will also see a lot of reference to Mk.7 armour, the painter default, hopefully by release we will have mk4, mk6 and mk8 available. At the moment I am working on the interface still, trying to simplify it and ensure it works on multiple browsers and tablets. Hope you enjoyed the taster ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Foes Remain Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Wow... Just wow. Loving this, can't wait to test it out. Your work on the SM painter is proberly why I collect so damn many Space Marines, good job. I take it that there will be more chapter icons than just the current few then? /Ventris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkchild130 Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Look forward to using this, thanks for the post. Darkchild Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zincite Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Oooo, interesting. Cheers for the update. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Debonair Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 That looks awesome. :P I already spend hours playing with the painter and making up chapters - this update is probably going to replace the hobby itself for me! ;) EDIT: Damnable typos! They follow me like phantom thieves, striking only at those sentences where I have lowered my guard! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dosjetka Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Ta for the teaser Brother Argos ;) And good luck with the rest of the development! Ludovic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Tyler Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 I take it that there will be more chapter icons than just the current few then? Nope. Since everybody aspires to be Ultramarines we figured the agemo is all that is necessary. The Salamanders badge is just to keep Argos happy since he somehow became their Master of the Forge, but that will be gone once the full painter is released. :P j/k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Argos Posted October 12, 2011 Author Share Posted October 12, 2011 I should take the time out to mention Brother Tyler is my current wargear helper / tester / co-conspirator. Most of the item mapping (sensing where you click etc) is down to his hard work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Furyou Miko Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 That looks awesome, Argos. ^^ (I don't suppose you can do the same thing for the Sisters one? >>) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Apostle Thirst Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Mk. 7 loins? :) :ermm: The update is awesome though, no doubt about that :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkapostle222 Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 I take it that there will be more chapter icons than just the current few then? Nope. Since everybody aspires to be Ultramarines we figured the agemo is all that is necessary. Words cannot accurately describe how amazing this quote was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splicer407 Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 Its great to hear that things are still moving, and 255 parts for each layer times 44 layers... :jaw: that's 11220 possible parts! (and space for 255 backgrounds!) (yes I know there probably won't be that many actual parts, but think of the possibilities!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Argos Posted October 13, 2011 Author Share Posted October 13, 2011 One of the aims for this version is to work well in touch based environments such as iOS and Android. The biggest problem in that arena has always been the colour picker, you could not slide around the colour area, nor slide the colour slider up and down. Basically you were left with tapping the relevant controls and hoping you got it right, which for me defeated the purpose of using a touch device. I have been working on a solution for some time and it finally clicked into place last night, with pretty good translation of touch events into mouse clicks. I finally could use the touch interface in the colour picker on my iPad. I don't have an android tablet to test on, so I will have to cross fingers and hope it works as well! @ splicer407 : Yes, a lot .. although I suspect I will be capping the amount selected for any one marine ... otherwise someone will do something stupid. @ Dark Apostle Thirst : Mk. 7 loins ... I decided it was better than Mk7. Groin .. @ Furyou Miko : This time round ALL of the technology platform will work for any of the painters. However a lot of work would need to be done to generate wargear for the Sister so don't count on it being any time soon. @ Ace Debonair : This new Wargear can be more easily expanded that the previous version, hopefully it should keep you amused. Teaser ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Foes Remain Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 Oooooh yes. This may now give me a reason to go back and re-create my Roman-Astates chapter.... I take it that there will be more chapter icons than just the current few then? Nope. Since everybody aspires to be Ultramarines we figured the agemo is all that is necessary. The Salamanders badge is just to keep Argos happy since he somehow became their Master of the Forge, but that will be gone once the full painter is released. <_< j/k At first I wasn't bothered, but then I realised (before I scrolled down) that you were pulling my leg. I take it that there will be more chapter icons than just the current few then? Nope. Since everybody aspires to be Ultramarines we figured the agemo is all that is necessary. Words cannot accurately describe how amazing this quote was. And sig-ed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zincite Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 @ Dark Apostle Thirst : Mk. 7 loins ... I decided it was better than Mk7. Groin .. Mk. 7 area-between-the-hips? I like the teaser. Now I hope for such lovely things for all the lesser chapters that cannot aspire to follow the words of Guilliman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Foes Remain Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 @ Dark Apostle Thirst : Mk. 7 loins ... I decided it was better than Mk7. Groin .. Mk. 7 area-between-the-hips? I like the teaser. Now I hope for such lovely things for all the lesser chapters that cannot aspire to follow the words of Guilliman. Could be worse, Mk. 7 Ball protector, Mk. 7 Crotch plate, I could go on but you get my point... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inquisitor Kravin Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 Looks amazing. I can't begin to imagine how many hours you must have put / be putting into that. :devil: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Jobu Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 Well, you could have went with Mk 7 cod piece. :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega Striker Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 @ Dark Apostle Thirst : Mk. 7 loins ... I decided it was better than Mk7. Groin .. Mk. 7 area-between-the-hips? I like the teaser. Now I hope for such lovely things for all the lesser chapters that cannot aspire to follow the words of Guilliman. Could be worse, Mk. 7 Ball protector, Mk. 7 Crotch plate, I could go on but you get my point... I believe the technical term is "codpiece". Simpler than these multi-word descriptions, but to go back and edit all that. I'll forgive you for not changing it. Awesome work! I look forward to using this in the future! :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solid Zaku Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 Oooh. Shiny. Are heavy weapons going to be included in this? Also, be diligent on the 'hit' detection...many are the time I've tried to color a shoulder badge, when suddenly my background was rendered chartreuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Argos Posted October 13, 2011 Author Share Posted October 13, 2011 Well the one advantage here is that you cannot affect the background, only the active piece of wargear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solid Zaku Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 Ah, so each piece you click on brings up its own window that you can color the minute details on? Wow. Imagine what you could do if the economy completely tanked... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chapter Master Ignis Domus Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 Probably create a full scale and fully functional marine creator. And I think TEC may have cause to dispute your sig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scathainn Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 I'm just going to be the first one to point this out... What exactly is a "Loin Accessory"? EDIT: And why are there 22 of them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Apostle Thirst Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 @ Dark Apostle Thirst : Mk. 7 loins ... I decided it was better than Mk7. Groin .. Mk. 7 area-between-the-hips? Could be worse, Mk. 7 Ball protector, Mk. 7 Crotch plate, I could go on but you get my point... I believe the technical term is "codpiece". Simpler than these multi-word descriptions, but to go back and edit all that. I'll forgive you for not changing it. I'm just going to be the first one to point this out... What exactly is a "Loin Accessory"? EDIT: And why are there 22 of them? What have I done? :) I believe loin accessory is but the items that go on the belt and since power armour doesn't have an actual belt the closest thing would be the... codpeice :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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