Client2 now has mostly ported over our flexible visage system to include all the types of nodes found in Irrlicht, including of course models. Space bases in client2 are now models of bases rather than sprites and all the effects can be anything including models for testing purposes. We have a test gal with all sorts of 3d junk all over the place.

Jey has our server running on Amazon's ec2 and today it was up and running without too much trouble. 30 players or so came over and tried it out. We had the game server and both DB's all running on 1 medium instance and the server frame rate was about 33% faster than on the kattare server and the network connection looks to be about 15x better. Also the Europeans reported that their ping to our test ec2 server was significantly better than they get to Kattare. If ec2 continues to perform so well under more testing, we will probably switch things over to there.

Test server is up and running using the newest multithreaded code. Right now test is running the same universe as live and is running it at almost 3 times the frame rate despite that fact that test has both DB's on the same machine and is a slower CPU with less RAM. Normally test runs at about half the frame rate as Kattare when running the same universe.

We will probably do some event later this week where we test out both ec2 and multithreaded code and give out prizes for the real server. Both of these things need massive numbers of players on them at the same time to give real tests. Maybe I will make a few unique ships and give them out as prizes in some sort of event. Details to follow.

And, oh yeah, I added an optional minimum distance to auras and field gens, so Cael can make galaxies where if you go to far out you get hit with super nasty debuffs.

I've been trying to figure out what the suns should look like in client2. The ships, the bases, the planets, moons, and asteroids are all pretty clear on what they should look like, but I'm really not sure about suns. Maybe a model with a camera-facing billboard for a corona, or an animated model with a corona, a model with an animated model for a corona. I guess to start, we will just use the same suns that we have now in client1 and make them camera-facing, but if anyone has any good examples of suns in 3d games or renders, please share.

Here's a link to a nice-looking 3d sun screensaver. The sun actually rotates, which I think looks great.
http://www.3d-screensaver-downloads.com/3d-sun-star.php


It'd be great if some of the suns looked like this one though.

Need's to have solar flares that pop too.

What does Visage actually mean? I've seen you use it every now and again...yet every time i try and find a definition for it, it comes up as someone's facial appearance....

Also, are there any modding capabilities for Client 2? As you well know, SS benefits from a player base which likes exploring the images that make up the game. Is there any chance of modding ship images and the GUI in the new client?

In Star Sonata, a Visage is the graphical effect of an object. This includes images, color and size modifications, animations and particles.



Something like that would be acceptable perhaps?

Caelestis

visage \VIZ-ij\, noun:
Look; appearance; aspect.

Hell yeah, looks tons better than the shit we have now...

I like it, but the sun itself needs to a brighter shade and the solar flares should overlap the entire core. The current suns with solar flares only have them on the border which very unnatural when you pilot your ship through them.

That sun screen saver is a good find. I think that what it is is an animating central sphere that has vertices slowly "flowing" around to make it look like the texture is moving without an actual animated texture. The inner corona looks like a camera-facing torus with animated vertices and the whole thing is rotating. The outer corona is just a camera-facing billboard. Too bad the poles on the sun in the screen saver look like ass. But overall, it's pretty nice.

Jeff update the test server I can't log on, I want to win prizes

if that was a sun in SS I would have to clean the under side of my desk.

You would be surprised how ugly it looks full size.

it sounds like its coming along very well. did our external chat-client admin die? *looks in SS admin fishbowl* not seen anything more on the chat client. i guess its on hiatus wile stuff with C2 is sorted?

I haven't died, but I haven't been active with the chat client either. I helped Jey (the new dev) get familiar with it, so if he has time he can also help. As far as doing it myself, I might try to work on it some but idk when. My time has been pretty limitted.