Not a whole lot to report this week. We are continuing to work on the multithreading code in hopes that we can do a big combined multithreading/ec2 event where we get as many players on a multithreaded ec2 server for a couple hours for in-game rewards. But the test server is crashing plenty with the current multithreading code as it is, so still working on it.

I was trying to get more models into client2 earlier this week, but was having some problems when I turned on the dynamic lighting. And then some of the new multithreading code broke the server running in single-threaded mode in cygwin, so I haven't been able to work on the client2 that much. The client2 contractor has finished up adding all the new node types to the visage system, so in theory we should be able to get everything in as models now instead of sprites. He is now working on the target window, trying it out where the window has a view of what you're targeting from the side in the direction from which you're looking at it. If it doesn't look good, we'll just change the angel and render the target from the top instead.

I started adding a tag to AI bases where certain ones, such as the bases in pre-load, will not allow trading slaves to dock at them doing trade routes.

I think most of the other devs can post anything else they would like to add.

You should give the Client 2 guy a name, it isn't very nice to just be called "The client 2 guy". Maybe something awesome like....Spam-In-A-Can!

Problem with that Demiser is that he is just a hired programmer. He has no access to content or anything else, hes just coding. As far as we're concerned hes an outsider, a nobody. Only Jeff really needs to know his name.

i want to call him bubbles after michael jackson's monkey









......BUBBLES.

We could refer to him as "Mr. Z".

Joy! I'm sure he'll be very happy.

i like bubbles. we should call him bubbles, plz tell him we call him bubbles

Naw, Mr. Z is grand!

....Not as good as "Spam-in-a-can", but still...grand!

Dynamic lighting will be a pain since you would need an extremly good graphic card just to handle 7+ dynamic lights at a time. Most can only handle 4, if not less.

Edit: Come to think of it, if systems have tons of moving suns, they cannot be allowed to use dynamic lighting orelse the game would never work. There goes that idea down the toilet.

Most systems have only 1 or 2 suns, and for them, dynamic lighting will work great. For the few systems that have a lot more, we could put down a single dynamic light in the middle of the suns or else use an ambient light for those with lower-end systems. The other thing is just have a parameter in the graphics options for max number of dynamic lights and then you just light a model using the X closest number of them. That would probably work just fine.

but then i assume this will come with a new universe that will reset the amount of maximum suns a galaxy can have?

what about special galaxies such as paxius/glass matrix/handels cove to name a few. that's alot of suns and alot of different lighting.

Crackaman- its not that easy to simply have an option to bypass programming. At least long ago it wasnt. Still though i've never heard of any game allowing you to disable dynamic lighting. Except maybe Halo PC but i'm not sure of that.

Asmodeaan- Yes.
I sugjest for those cases where suns circle something, it would be more efficient to place a stationary light in the center of all of them.

A true solution to this whole thing is not even using dynamic lighting, but instead, having reflective textures on ships, and shadows would be created only pointing from the center (or main or biggest) sun in the galaxy. Reflective textures on ships though would reflect the sun off the ship instead of reflecting the ship off the sun's light (so to speak). It's what my friends and i used on a game we were working on (which was forced to end production due to the loss of a huge part of the team. hopefully we will continue production soon though)