Blackhole: chill. be patient, a programmer will come along at some point. just have to be patient. just start working out the pre-production stage of the project

There is a way to break down the actual creation of this behemoth: and those who are committed to the project will stand by it. But this will take a long time to get fully operational.

But anyway, I thought i' djust suggest this idea for the actual timeline of developing the game, working from my experiences working with short films.

Pre-Production: From the working of the script right up to initial coding, This period of time would include all research, writing, and concept development. This is where you really start to pick out the people who want to stick with this to the end, and those who just thought it was a good idea at the time.

Main Development and Production: This is where the majority of your engine and game framework will be coded, as well as the majority of the modelling and sound production will take place. Possibly the longest stage, and the most gruelling and time consuming.

Post-Production: Final touches and updates to a full release which contains everything set out in the design brief. Other small details would be added in here, like music and menu interfaces, icons and installers would be finalised here.

just trying to help here =D

Burn: ****.


I mean ****.

God damn. Comprehensive. Just going to read over it again.

-:-
I'm Rick James, *****.

aegis666,
Right, thats in my suggested framework and the GDK documentation but its vague. Data format (INI, XML, ZIP, etc...) abstraction isn't hard to setup and needs to be developed when the INI system is implemented. Data access (DB, dynamic systems, carrier pigeons) abstraction doesn't appear to be supported in the GDK and database support would require more middle ware level systems.

I still use Vim, kind of a love/hate thing.


Blackhole,
You just described the second problem with the framework I wrote. Its all theoretical, not practical. The first being it has major technical flaws because I didn't understand the scope of Realm Forge GDK. That is why I'm rewriting it, from scratch. The third reason being that I think a practical example of how this project could work will be very helpful. (and fourth, something I'm hesitent to even mention, my suggestions are being taken as literal direction for the project, something a theoretical text cannot be used for).

This is complicated stuff -but- less complicated than creating the game engine from scratch, less complicated than using the TV3D SDK, and less complicated than becoming an expert at C# programming. Switching back to the TV3D would take far more work because it doesn't include network/MP support, limited 3D audio engine, very limited physics engine, no AI system, and very little existing infrastructure to interconnect those middle ware systems. Its also closed source so you can't build on it much or do any tweaking and the free license displays a lame watermark. Learning to use Realm Forge GDK will take some understanding of C#, theres no way around it but you don't have to be an expert. Understanding what the code means and actually being able to write the same code from scratch are two very different things.

You can use the GDK tutorials, demos, general code base, and samples on their site as examples. You can also ask for help on the Realm Forge forums, ask around on TLR, use general C# references, and maybe get a professional to volunteer to help long term. Learning how to use any middle ware system takes a little time no matter what your skill level. The GDK is a huge package that would take a professional programmer days to learn. So if someone volunteers to help you they need to know how the GDK works. The same is true of TV3D's scripting systems.

Also, there are a large number of VB.net references in the GDK documentation so you might be able to do a large part of the coding with VB and then leave most of the rest to easier to use scripting system. You'll have to ask on the Realm Forge forums for details about using VB in the GDK.

Setting up the IDE (VS) projects is done by .NET Prebuild, the wiki says it generates the project files based on a XML file. You run one of the batch files in the /src folder to use it. I know there is a lot more to it than that but without an IDE I can't use it, yet.

I'm not sure how much I need to post to explain this stuff or really how much I can post, I don't fully understand it myself. Give me a little while to finish this new framework thread and maybe that'll help. I'm having problems writing it but it will be finished before I go back to working on my clan's mods.

How much of the documentation, wiki, forums, and source code have you read?


Jask,
You pretty much said it. This is a huge project and there is a lot of work left to do before any code is written no matter which middle ware systems are used or who actually does the coding. Thats basically what I'm working on with the framework rewrite. This thread was theoretical with some practical notes but its being taken as literal direction, something not really possible with a straight theoretical text (and something I didn't intend). So I'm completely changing the framework structure to something more oriented towards linear development.


-Burn

"Only the dead have seen the end of war"-Plato

Blackhole,
Have you looked at the Realm Forge GDK - Winter VB.NET Tutorial?

Looks like a lot of VB code and you might be able to write everything in VB and then slowly replace it with C# later on. Also, heres a Visio GDK Class Diagram. Hope that helps and makes this a little less painful...


-Burn

"Only the dead have seen the end of war"-Plato

Now thats more like it i'll take a look at it. Anyhoo, i'm taking something of a break right now, and god knows i need it. I will start reading up on that, but remember that my primary goal is to create a development environment that can grow on its own without me being there to help. I am working with Orillion on getting a sort of "Openlancer Wiki" going so that we have an easy way for people to pop in, contribute a little code, and run off. That is possible, however, only with a framework to go with it.

Cool. Wiki's are good for text management. Get a CVS server or a Source Forge account to manage source code. There are some CVS servers available on Source Forge and Freshmeat. Source Forge project sites come with file hosting, bug tracking, various other tools, and might bring in extra attention too. Just found out my Source Forge account was deleted, haven't used it in years but I setup a new one.

I'm still picking through the RF GDK and looking at some add-on middle ware systems. The networking stuff in the GDK is under developed but that RakNet package looks pretty good. I found a few other physics packages too, Tokamak Game Physics SDK and AGEIA PhysX SDK NxJoint, neither one looks like it would help at this point but maybe in the future. Ageia makes a PPU (physics processing unit) that was released a little while ago. So adding support for it would only be worth while for people who have the hardware, maybe it could be listed as a possible future feature...


-Burn

"Only the dead have seen the end of war"-Plato