heya there ridah, whats up?

Sup!

I'm older than 1 and younger than 99, I'm pretty short, but taller than a lot of other people not my age. I don't like reading, but I like writing. I like cool movies, and I hate boring movies. I enjoy playing games that are fun to play, but I hate games that I don't like. My favourite thing is something I really like, but I hate anything that sucks. Am I making any sense? Should I go on? Mmm.. maybe I need another beer.

It's a bot. A "robot" as some would say. It's a thing that does stuff and then you die or it dies. But there's a lot of killing involved.

It's different to any other system used before, for this type of game. I basically used the principle of "the more you calculate before the game, the less you have to calculate during the game", although this has been somewhat blurred with the addition of dynamic mapping. Basically, you end up with a "web" of nodes, where each node has access to all other nodes, and doesn't have to calculate how to get to it, that information is stored in it's "nueral net". I use this "neural net" to access it's "sensory protocols", which then decide whether to create a dispersal cloud before it re-enters the atmosphere or not. Umm, did I change topics? more beer.

Oh I don't know. You ask so complex questions don't you! Is there a waiter around here? I need more beer. Did I mention it's hot? Anyway, so I bought Quake2, and like everyone else who PAID for it like every other DECENT human being, I got pretty bored with the same old monster AI present in all other 3D games, but I thought the art and new weapons ROCKED! So I wanted to play some deathmatch, but there were no servers up yet, so I thought, what the fuck! I'll make some damn bots, how hard could it be?! beer.

Quite a few % I would hope. But you can never measure game as a % done, EVER. A game is never 100% done. You can always add X, or Y, and then there's always Z to add to Y. So it's hard to put a % on the bot as a whole. I would say the waypoint system is close to 95% done, there's only a few things I'd like to add to that, but in terms of the actual AI and features, it's very hard to say.

Hmm, kind of. I never expected it to progress like this. I definately set out to make the best bot for Q2 (and beyond), but then I always like to approach new projects from that perspective. It's definately cool being in the situation where others are working on the same sort of thing, so you're constantly having to one up yourself, to keep up with the competition. That has definately increased the speed of development, but it also makes it hard when you slip up (read: virus) and watch a lot of your integrity blow out the door. It's been good though, I've had a lot of great support from people I don't even know, which is cool.

One thing I find exciting, is that everyone's looking out for another bot to come and take the helm. That's definately something that has motivated me the last week, to go through everything from top to bottom, and really make sure everythings functioning for the upcoming release. Most previous releases have been marred by a few major glitches, whether it be some physics code, or decision making. So I'm really looking forward to putting out a clean and cut version this time, and it's looking great so far.

Basically because I can't continue developing it forever. I really would have liked to work on the teamplay some more, and with the CTF source due out soon, I'm sure people will be wanting a CTF bot. Using the Eraser's navigational routines, it would be really simple to add in support for CTF (as I'm told Zoid did the right thing, and kept most of the CTF specific code in seperate files, way to go man!), and I'm sure people will want to tweak the AI themselves, and do the sorts of things I don't have the time for, or don't "feel" like doing. I'm basically giving out the source, minus the navigational routines (they'll be there as .obj files), as part of saying "Thanks for following and supporting the Eraser, here's the source! Go forth and multiply", or something similar.. I guess.. beer.

I think it's great. Beer. Yeh, it's cool, I mean, the end is result is a better product, so it's a win-win situation. Unless you lose, of course.

Code for Q2. It really is a better product, as much as Q1 ruled, and changed gaming forever (read: quake community), Q2 is a better game. Although I would have LOVED to have written QR in .dll code. Oh yeh. Beer.

They hang from trees by their tales and throw peanuts at the ants. Cool job huh. I want to see a game based on that, in fact, stand up. Yes you! Now, load up Quake.. .. .. ready? Now, load up that forest map that had like 2000 r_speeds, but looked really cool... .. ... ready? ok.. ... ... done yet? Cool, now turn your monitor upside down. See! That's what's it like to be an "Impact dude". Beer.

ok. a littlebit about QuakeRally.

Yeh, I pretty thought it'd rule the world. You know they should just shoot that Suddam dude in the head and it'd all be over. Anyway, it was great to see people really dig it, we spent a lot of time on that, so I'm bloody glad someone did!

Just goes to show, if you ship a pile of convicts to an empty hunk of land, eventually they'll start getting really good at making games.

Yeh I know Rick! We call him Rick the Prick, who has a big Duck. He calls him Quakers, but there's lot of Quakers down here, so it's a pretty common thing. Beer.

Yeh, we just got some new sheep to eat the grass down, after the fire we're really concern over the amount of dry grass around our house. It sucks though cause the dog likes to chase them around, so we have to keep him inside a lot now, and he's a big dog! So yeh.. (beer).

Cheers! , ahhh. You'll have to bring your own beer next time, cheapskate!