Irafan is CheapAlert, Leileilol, leilol...etc

Yeah, they're the same. Just in case anyone happens to hop on here from the WIP (or DW if they find this place) and wants to compare the guy from WIP to the same guy who's been trashing REU fruitlessly for the last 6 years (even so, who really cares so devoutly over that than he?). You think this guy would get a life by now?
You'd know what I'm talking about, just do a quick search through my blog, or when the 3dfxdev.net site pops up, of his name. Guy's a jerk!!

Anyways, EDGE now supports security cameras, sort of. Kinda looks cool but mostly looks unfinished, it's better if you just use snapshots at this point, and sound works in Vista. Yes, it's amazing, Andy is a total God.

Well, I'll have more media of Fusion as filming continues (Graphic Novels) so stay tuned!

More Fusion Goodness

I finally created an account over at WIP, I'll give you the link as soon as it gets approved.

In the meantime, I added dynamic lighting to objects and the world, and this is the result:










I think I'm going to branch this blog off into both 3dfx Development and TDGMODS stuff, since there is work outgoing on both and this blog certainly isn't "TDGMODS" related at all. Well, give feedback always! Enjoy.

Fusion Screens!

Here's a bit of the latest build of Fusion Episode 1, with a semi-WORKABLE HUD, but no dynamic lighting. These screens are exactly the same in the Dreamcast version minus the models (I instead took screens of the same models all the way around to simulate the effect). The level was just something I made really quick to show it off. Everything you see is what you get. This doesn't reflect Fusion as a whole, not nearly as a percent, I just wanted to make something to show off.









I decided to make an account over at WIP as well. If only it let me log in...and expect some sort of release soon. Time's going to be strained here in the forthcoming weeks but I'm trying to at least log 2 hours in to the mod a day (on top of the OTHER work I have with Psykotik and real-lifeness). Sometimes more, if I feel like it ;)

Enjoy them.
-Clari

Builder is the Anti-Christ

More Doom Builder troubles...I guess the author made a thread on Doomworld about running it on Vista and it's a complete joke on how to get it to operate normally...you have to disable explorer.exe to edit any maps and you can't minimize/close, etc. the program.

Ugh, seriously. Fuck that Error 5. On the upside, I coded in more models, which brings the rank in the PC version to 10. I REALLY want to get a screenshot uploaded by tonight but every fucking single level I work on DB rapes it...so I'm totally screwed unless I load up one of my Win98 computers and edit on there, but even then it'll probably delay it a bit more...

Doom Builder is a joke

Yeah, so I've been using DB to map, problem is, it doesn't work under Vista. At least, not lately.

For some reason, the program crashes when I attempt to save a map, it was not doing this awhile ago. I loaded up the editor because I wanted to test the slew of MD2 and MDL's that I packaged in to Fusion, and the damn program now gives me the same error when I attempt to save. If I try more than once, the program fucking quits.

So I've had it with Builder. I will use it to load my maps up in 3d but I think I'll stick with WadAuthor. The creator has shitty support for it, more like "I didn't write it for Vista"...IMO, if you're having so many problems with the program shouldn't you patch it? Or at least put up a disclaimer somewhere that the program "May or May Not work under Windows Vista". I am well aware of the remake he's doing to support Vista, but don't you think you should take that extra step now to satisfy your customers, especially since the new version won't be out for awhile?

I know the creators are working hard and stuff, and it's a fantastic program, but the tech support is lame and you never know if your problem will ever be fixed. Yes, I've tried every single solution available. You know what else pisses me off...is that people blame Vista and say it's a shitty OS, but it's not! It's fantastic, and a big step up from XP. If I remember correctly everyone was saying the same thing about XP, even ME when it came out. I think the User Account Control is a great feature, something that XP lacked. Hey, if it keeps the pedos out of my PC, I'm going to use it.

All in all, I just wish they would pay more attention to Vista users. Or at least be more forthcoming with Vista owners.

And Fuck Apple and Linux users.

Birth of Iris Loader

I wrote a little extension for EDGE specifically for Fusion that allows different files other than .WAD to be loaded in. Created a new executable that comments gledge.exe, basically renames the appropriate files and when EDGE exists it renames and protects the file(s). Took less than two weeks to do, actually, and I didn't want to write too much until I actually started the app.

The cool thing is that the new executable contains data that would normally be in Doom2.wad, like the colourmap, things like that (since this project will not require the Doom 2 data). When the new exe is launched it temporarily creates a small WAD file that contains those that Fusion uses, and when the program exists it again erases it. I did this to prevent confusion and to not mess with important files within the game data. That way, the user can't launch the game with GLedge.exe (unless they use Doom2.wad and all the appropriate wads) but it'll be really scrambled if they have different content releases on their systems. Speaking of scrambled, this new utlitiy, once I get this feature working, will scramble the files to be unreadable specifically in XWE, etc., and will only be readable when the executable reads it for the game. That last bit is being helped along with a friend, though. Just out of my scope of knowledge.

For instance, the PC version will contain low-res files and high-res files. You combine all of those using GLedge.exe, shit will hit the fan. This new shell makes sure to add the right files in, even checks them against what you want to load in (to prevent confusion and reliability). And yeah, so I wrote it with VB (it'll work with any version of Windows as well). Kiss my ass, haha. And it's called Iris Loader, and I'm almost finished with the program. It should be done in time for the Fusion test release, and if we do a rewrite, could also be a launcher for any other EDGE release (which is what we're hoping for). I'll write more about it soon.

Dribbling out...

While I continue to work on Fusion, things are picking up again for Psykotik and recently, for BHF.

BHF is in itself very interesting since we restructured the team back down to 2 people, me and the other designer. In it's previous state, it was to be an espionage, post-modern game. When it was Chaos Factor, it was to be a military espionage third-person shooter...so it has been drastically changed from its previous incarnations.

I'm sorry, but to me the milaristic, espionage game is kinda lame...I mean, how many military games do we have out there now? And double that for espionage games...so we sat back for a couple of hours and rethought the whole thing.

The essential backbone of BHF will remain, but the design has had several changes in the way of character development, storyline, even gameplay. While some of the core elements, such as some espionage will retain, we have dropped most previous elements with something you would see in, say, Half-Life. Basically, we reworked the plot as you playing as an ordinary individual, living his life out in a controlled world when he witnesses his good friend getting arrested on stupid claims...so he begins to resist the machine and from there begins to plan on overthrowing the benefactors.

So, quite a design change, but one that, in our opinion, sounds much better. Let us know what you think.

Now, I'm done.

HDR Stuff

Okay, well I decided to download a HDR converter today, and for the fun of it, decided to input some of Fusion's graphics and textures into it. What came out of it was beautiful and changed a lot of the mods overall look. It doesn't look so dark anymore (like Blood did) and looks a lot brighter and more realistic. That and I'm working on a corona effect (like when you stare at the sun). Especially using HDR lighting with the skyboxes makes it so breathtaking.

So, I'm in the process of adding HDR effects into Fusion, and will also be available in the Sega version. With the Sega version, since we had to take out all models, this looks exceptionally good looking for an old engine, even though it's just all image manipulation. I haven't added HDR to any model skins in the PC release, I'm just taking it one step at a time.

I think I'm going to post a couple of screenshots in the near future so you all can see the overall progress on the mod.

Clarifications...

When we say server issues we mean problems with the main 3dfxdev.net server. The people at Yerblog are the admins and Cpanel in turn are their admins of the whole server. Yeah, kinda like chain of command. Haha.

Other than that, progress has been steady with Fusion, I implented a moving vehicle today (a train) that you can hop from car to car to kick some ass with...hopefully I'll get working on that trailer sometimes soon.

Server Issues and other stuff

It's almost done, but for some reason when we begin to transfer things over the connection quits out so the guys at Yerblog have to write some workarounds, or call the big boys out (Cpanel).

In response to the comment posted earlier, we have always been working on this issue. The Inc. was established awhile ago when we became 3dfx Development, when we assumed we would move straight to that (actually becoming incorporated). In the day, First-Person Interactive, LLC., did exist but ran out in 2006 (it dissolved). We could either renew that or start this up. The Inc. was just tagged in the very beginning because we ran off of assumptions. The managing guys looked at it and are going to change it for the new year (2008). Thanks for the anonymous guy (prolly Cheap) who let us know about that. Was never our intention to fraud anything, so we'll be reviewing and changing what we need.

So yay for that. And yay for some other stuff that's going to be revealed once our server comes up
-CA

Definition of a "Company"

Generally, a company is a form of business organization. In the legal field, a company is specifically "a corporation -- or, less commonly, an association, partnership, or union -- that carries on a commercial or industrial enterprise."[1] Generally, a company may be a "corporation, partnership, association, joint-stock company, trust, fund, or organized group of persons, whether incoporated or not, and (in an official capacity) any receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, or similar official, or liquidating agent, for any of the foregoing.

So for all of you who don't think that we're a company, guess again.
-CA

Video Playback

Is almost working. I'm not sure if I want to carry it into the PC release though.

Well the site should be coming back online here very soon. We're finally transferring all of the stuff over, so yay. Should be here in about a week or two.

Other than that, I took a look at the 1.31 vs 1.29 code and am trying to write workarounds to the newer features that Fusion uses for 1.31, for 1.29, if that's not too complicated. Takes too much video ram to render models and mirrors :/

/+\=...?

I just put two and two together:

linlinlol+leileilol = Cheapalert, he has two online persona's, apparently one is a guy and one is a girl. But he is a he, this is weird. Whereas with my condition I am the same person (just use persona's for legal reasons), he thinks he is literally two people, but it is painfully obvious when those two people are bashing our products in the same manner with no indistinguishable traits. Let me explain.

The character is half male/half female. That's interesting and this might fuel his hatred with me because he can't be comfortable with who he/she is; whereas I was able to just tell everyone and show it off, because if you aren't going to live your life and make the best of it to the world, what good does it do? He either feels he has to switch off between them or switches off between them to create some sort of acceptance for himself. With me, I don't give a shit or a damn who knows me or who doesn't (for who I am), this might bother him. He thinks I do it for publicity...well I do!! I refuse to live my life in a shell, no matter where it is. I want people to know me for who I am. Well, except my parents. I kind of avoid the subject with them but that's it.

This is the reason why I have to sign everything off as "Corbin" when it comes to this company because it's the legal name. Can't wait to change it.

Explains a lot.

TDGMods Interviews!

Coming soon are a couple of interviews from the TDGMods team, mostly discussing the general gameplay of Fusion and the hurdles they had to get through to come together as a team. They also discuss some of the methods they used for the graphic novel sequences and some Dreamcast stuff, as well as their thoughts on the current crop of games out today. You can find these interviews, once the main server is back online, at http://3dfxdev.net/tdgmods/interviews. And yeah, I partake in the interviews. We didn't have very good recording equipment so the whole thing looks like it was filmed from the 80's...haha. Maybe I'll splice some of it together and upload it on Youtube eventually.

Also, I should point out that if you really need to get ahold of us while we switch servers, you can email me personally at corbinne@gmail.com, or you can mail the team at fpinteractive@sbcglobal.net. This will change once our server comes back up.

Lovecast

Yep, it's almost here. The Dreamcast version of Fusion is being finalized, and although the PC version is well off, the DC version is getting special attention.

This is due to when the port was started. TDGMods contracted 1200V back when EDGE 1.29 was released, and now that EDGE has moved on to support a wide variety of newer features, it leaves the DC version in obscurity..or does it?

This was actually a good thing in our minds. Now, we have two completely different versions that use two different engine versions as well. For some reason it clicked in our heads that it'd be easier to manage that way. So instead of porting the model/mirror/etc code to the DC version, we'll be using the standard workarounds that will let us better adjust to the console. This also means that less strain will be put on it, due to EDGE becoming graphically more advanced. So, in the end, this turned out to be a very good thing.

As for the release dates for both, nothing is certain. While the core gameplay and storyline will be present in both versions, necessary tweaks, additions, and DC exclusive stuff will mean that you will get two different experiences on both platforms. So expect it here soon, folks. While a playable build won't be out for awhile, that will not stop us from releasing tiny alpha builds, which will hopefully garner enough interest for us to continue it.

So, hopefully things turn out good for TDGMods.
~CA~

Fusion update

Some interesting stuff about Fusion, that little mod that myself and some other guys are working on. Notice anything different?
Besides the gun, we've implemented the new HUD! To the far left is obviously the player stats (your character, your health count) and to the right is your weapon with the name below! It's pretty neat.

This project in particular has already gotten good preview-reviews. The people that have seen it and read the script said it's a really interesting way that we have brought all of these universes together, and the things we've done have made it seem less like Doom and more like it's basis, Max Payne.. I don't want to spoil it for anyone but if you're a fan of Max Payne or possibly Resident Evil, then you should really take a look at this game. I'm hoping to have a small demo out by the end of 2007 but that might change, like release dates always do. If you think the textures are cool they were done by our mates A-Spec Artworks, who are developing all of the textures for almost all of our projects.

Well, until next time, I just wanted to share this small update with you guys.
Ciao!
-CA
3dfx Development
http://3dfxdev.net

More troubles..

Lately we've been moving really slow with development lately. This wouldn't be because of lack of developers but a lack of general movement. When an idea gets presented people usually come up to me and are like, "Hey, that's a good idea" and we move on it. But so much focus and presentation goes into that one idea that somewhere, willpower gets lost along the way.

This has been a foremost problem in our projects. Mostly related to Daikatana II, where we had many great ideas but not enough people to flesh them out, so it mostly became just ideas, and with so much attention focused on them there wasn't much room to develop the "commonplace" for all games. With Psykotik, we instead focused on a single great idea and developed around it. While that game is still active the primary development members are currently battling "real life stuff", which is an unfortunate problem. I think we alleviated most of those problems when we regrouped, though.

Another thing I should mention is the restart of our mod team, TDG. Something I'm doing in my spare time when I just get burned out on Psykotik. We mostly work on mods for old-school games, such as DOOM or Duke Nukem 3d. While we won't gain any profit sometimes going back to basics reminds you of how far general design has come. While most first-person shooters are the same, tired old "find the key, open the door, press CTRL" formula, back when those puppies came out that's all we knew. So now, much more focus has been going into not repeating those mistakes, as the community nowadays likes to quote it. But as I said earlier, sometimes going back to basics can replenish your mind to be more open to all aspects of development, even the often-overlooked "dungeon-shooter". With Fusion, while not endorsed by the company, we can incorporate newer design ideas into an old formula to build upon what was already great. Of course, there is no commercial attention is it's really a love/hate thing.

So, we're still having server troubles, it will be back up in the meantime. Any email sent to the 3dfxdev.net server might bounce back. Make sure to make back-ups just in case.
~bye~
-CA
3dfx Development
http://3dfxdev.net

Server Crash

You all might have noticed that there's been a massive server crash that's been ongoing for almost a month. Someone got into the server and rooted it, so we've been helpless. We haven't shut down, nothing has stopped production, we've just been without server. The guys over at Yerblog should have it up and running here very soon. We apologize for any inconvienence this has caused. Hopefully we'll have some more stuff to show you when the server comes back online.

Until then, just be patient as we transfer everything over.
-CA
3Dfx Development
http://3dfxdev.net

Status Update

Hi all,
I realize I've refrained from posting on this blogger for quite some time. A lot has happened with 3Dfx Development and our projects. To kickstart, let me copy+paste from our official wiki for the year 2007 (up until now):

2007 found a lot of new talent and newer faces blowing fresh air into the dusty brains of 3dfx, including the inclusion of newer writers and other experienced people. Developers United has survived on its own thus far and continues development on Chaos Factor, even brandishing newer talent themselves. 3dfx once again hit major turnpikes when their title, Splatterhouse, was shut down by Namco-Bandai six months into development. Instead of abandoning the project, it was rechristened Psykotik, and work continues, although it has slowed of late. Because of the legal action that was to be taken against 3dfx, several members (6 in total) left the Splatterhouse project to persue other things, which left a bad taste in all current members (as well as any new hires). Also, to cripple even further, the company's publisher, ATBT, closed its doors and sold itself to 3dfx Development, with Boyd and the rest of the team moving on to other things (and other states). 3dfx once again does not have any publishers or managers for their titles, but the team remains confident that they'll survive without upper management. The move affected both 3dfx and Developers United. Chaos Software is not returning for publishing, either. It's only been 4 months into the year, so hopefully more good news will come to those who wait. The teams are currently working on Psykotik and Chaos Factor, and it is also interesting to note that a project, name "1292", was in active development by ATBT for FPS Creator, but was also disbanded. The game became property of 3dfx Development when ATBT was bought out. In May, it was publicly announced that Keeper, the lead programmer for Psykotik, was accepted into the co-ownership of the company, bringing the ranks to 4 members. In his short time as co-owner, several people have been let go/hired (by either Corbin or by a collective vote), and as a result, a total overhaul of the company was in talks. A few months later, it was known that Boyd was once again interested in ATBT, so the rights were sold back to him under a contract that ATBT/3dfx will remain publisher/developer until the end, and it was agreed. ATBT's game, Project 69, is being developed by ATBT and another company, supervised by 3dfx. Andrew began an overhaul of his game, renaming it BHF and dedicating a lot of time to it, which surpised the other teams. During the Summer of 2007, Corbin became distant from the scene, often relying on his team members for content. Keeper began taking a more active role near the beginning of Summer, but this turned into a loose role due to time constraints. Corbin also became more nocturnal, which began raising questions around his duties performed. Because of lack of progress, 4 team members left 3Dfx, while a couple more were gained. Keeper also became more active in his technical role, shooting down ports that were starting to take off in the world, and Corbin began to realize that things were turning into what they should've always been: Order. During the middle half of Summer, Corbin also got back into the Doom modding scene, taking money that should be alloted for 3Dfx and using it for his side projects, and at the same time bringing back TDG in the process. ATBT is expected to refinance the ailing company once again to help them bring Psykotik mainstream, at no cost or expense to 3dfx or Developers United. The first half of the year has been hard, and they hope to hit back in full force near the beginning of Fall 2007.

So you can see the turmoil that was caused, that almost ended our development team! Do not worry, ongoing fans -- new stuff is coming soon.

Now I must sleep!
-Corbin
3Dfx Development, Inc.
corbin@3dfxdev.net