GSoC '19: Metal Renegades Multiplayer

[wabadump]

This will be the thread where I'll post updates on the project, along with the blog.

• Summary: The project focuses on implementing core gameplay features for Metal Renegades with a focus on multiplayer
• Student: wabadump (Mayant Mukul)
• Mentors: Iaronaraujo, SuperSnark, msteiger, Michael Pollind
• Github: https://github.com/orgs/Terasology/projects/18
• Slack: #metal-renegades-multi
• Blog: https://wabadump.postach.io
• Proposal: Metal Renegades

 

[wabadump]

Week 1

Blog Post

Tasks completed:
A basic world generator using mostly default facet providers from Core.

Currently working on:
Placing the dynamic city. Will need to make suitable adjustments to the generator.

Problems:
Biomes. Cannot find a suitable solution to get patches of grass randomly distributed throughout the world.

PRs:

Dynamic World Generator by mayant15 · Pull Request #2 · Terasology/MetalRenegades

Creates a desert world with some height variations and mountains Adds small lakes to the world TODO: Add more biomes Lakes City

github.com

In the weekly meeting:
The biome issue was discussed. Decided to move it to backlog and move on with placing the city.

 

[wabadump]

Week 2

Blog Post

Tasks Completed:
Placed the city. Get the city centre icon on the minimap.

Currently Working On:
Getting the icon to hang on the border of the minimap when the city moves out of view.

PRs:

Dynamic World Generator by mayant15 · Pull Request #2 · Terasology/MetalRenegades

Creates a desert world with some height variations and mountains Adds small lakes to the world TODO: Add more biomes Lakes City

github.com

Remove sufficient grass condition by mayant15 · Pull Request #41 · Terasology/DynamicCities

The SiteFacetProvider no longer looks for sufficient grass when deciding if a site is suitable for building a city.

github.com

Add city centre icon to minimap by mayant15 · Pull Request #42 · Terasology/DynamicCities

TODO Fix icon size variation on zoom Make the icon persist This PR adds an icon at the city centre. The icon stays on the map even when the city moves out of view, for easier navigation. To Test:...

github.com

Weekly Meeting:
Discussed this week's progress and next week's plans. No major hurdles yet.

 

[wabadump]

Week 3

Blog post

Tasks Completed

• City centre minimap icon now clamps to minimap border.
• Implemented a priority system for rail blocks

Currently working on
Connecting cities with rails

PRs

Add city centre icon to minimap by mayant15 · Pull Request #42 · Terasology/DynamicCities

TODO Fix icon size variation on zoom Make the icon persist This PR adds an icon at the city centre. The icon stays on the map even when the city moves out of view, for easier navigation. To Test:...

github.com

Add priority system for rail blocks by mayant15 · Pull Request #46 · Terasology/Rails

When multiple blocks can be placed at a particular location, the module now selects an appropriate one according to a specified priority order. Also reformatted the code in RailBlockFamily. Should ...

github.com

Weekly meeting

• Decided to move the "Press e to cycle blocks" feature to backlog
• Decided to extract a new AdvancedRails module from the existing AdditionalRails module when working on carts

 

[wabadump]

Weeks 4 and 5

Blog post

Tasks completed
- Basic framework for roads connecting dynamic cities

Problems
- Huge performance hit as block placement is expensive
- Settlement boundaries are not well defined
- Buildings can be placed on roads

Currently working on
- Optimizing performance for road placement
- Add a custom rasterizer for MetalRenegades which would replace default generic roads with rails

PRs

Connect Settlements with Roads by mayant15 · Pull Request #44 · Terasology/DynamicCities

This PR will create roads connecting cities. TO TEST: Launch a new game with an implementation of DynamicCities Find at least two cities Straight roads connecting settlements will be built

github.com

Weekly meeting
Possible solutions to the performance issues were discussed. These will be attempted in the following week.

 

[wabadump]

Week 6

Blog post

Tasks completed

• Disabled Lakes and made other improvements to make road placement smoother
• Created necessary systems and rasterizers in MetalRenegades to replace default roads with rails

Problems
- Rails don't connect properly at road segment boundaries

Currently working on
- Better rail connections between segments

PRs

Connect Settlements with Roads by mayant15 · Pull Request #44 · Terasology/DynamicCities

This PR will create roads connecting cities. TO TEST: Launch a new game with an implementation of DynamicCities Find at least two cities Straight roads connecting settlements will be built

github.com

Add rail tracks between cities by mayant15 · Pull Request #9 · Terasology/MetalRenegades

Adds necessary classes to have rails instead of default roads (from DynamicCities) connect cities. To Test: Start a game with the module active Find at least more than one city A road with rail tr...

github.com

Weekly meeting
Discussed possible improvements for Rails. Created the AdvancedRails module.

 

[wabadump]

Week 7

Blog post

Tasks Completed
- Created a new AdvancedRails module to store stable rail features
- Extracted Locomotive Carts to AdvancedRails
- Solved CombatSystem issue #33
- Added pistol and gatling gun prefabs

Currently working on
- Adding lootable animals

PRs

Add basic combat and drops by mayant15 · Pull Request #12 · Terasology/MetalRenegades

To Test: Equip bullets with give bulletItem Equip pistols with give pistol Equip gatling gun with give gatling Spawn a deer with spawnPrefab deer Kill the deer with guns, they'll drop meat whi...

github.com

Connect Settlements with Roads by mayant15 · Pull Request #44 · Terasology/DynamicCities

This PR will create roads connecting cities. TO TEST: Launch a new game with an implementation of DynamicCities Find at least two cities Straight roads connecting settlements will be built

github.com

Add rail tracks between cities by mayant15 · Pull Request #9 · Terasology/MetalRenegades

Adds necessary classes to have rails instead of default roads (from DynamicCities) connect cities. To Test: Start a game with the module active Find at least more than one city A road with rail tr...

github.com

Add AdvancedRails to dependencies by mayant15 · Pull Request #13 · Terasology/MetalRenegades

Just adds the module as a dependency. To Test: Use give locoItem to get the locomotive vehicle from the AdvancedRails module.

github.com

Add Locomotive Carts by mayant15 · Pull Request #1 · Terasology/AdvancedRails

Extracts the locomotive cart from the AdditionalRails module. Also fixes #2 . To Test: Get some rail blocks with give rails and place them Get the loco using give locoItem and place it on the rail...

github.com

Remove locomotive carts by mayant15 · Pull Request #31 · Terasology/AdditionalRails

Locomotive carts have been moved to AdvancedRails

github.com

Decouple quiver systems by mayant15 · Pull Request #39 · Terasology/CombatSystem

Fixes #33 To test: Start two instances Equip or unequip a weapon with the quiver Quiver visibility in the other client is unaffected

github.com

 

[wabadump]

Week 8

Blog post

Tasks completed
- Completed killable animals that drop meat
- Add basic currency resource
- Add wallet UI

Currently working on
- Complete implementation of currency

Problems
- Came across many more networking issues with carts, like #47. Couldn't pinpoint their cause. More details are in the blog post.

PRs

Add currency to the module by mayant15 · Pull Request #10 · Terasology/Economy

To Test Start up a game with Economy enabled Should see a new HUD widget on the left, showing the player's money Money in the wallet can be changed by firing the UpdateWalletEvent

github.com

Check if point is outside all settlements by mayant15 · Pull Request #47 · Terasology/DynamicCities

Added the checkOutsideAllSettlements function to help with deer spawning in MetalRenegades.

github.com

Expose control of startup items to other modules by mayant15 · Pull Request #40 · Terasology/CombatSystem

Updates the DemoSystem, which sets up all startup inventory items, into the CombatStartingInventory. To use it in your module use the setItems function in a system's postBegin.

github.com

Expose spawn configuration options to other modules by mayant15 · Pull Request #29 · Terasology/WildAnimals

If a module wishes to change the way spawn works, create a new system in that module which uses the setConfig and setSpawnCondition functions to pass custom configuration options and spawn conditions.

github.com

Add basic combat and drops by mayant15 · Pull Request #12 · Terasology/MetalRenegades

To Test: Equip bullets with give bulletItem Equip pistols with give pistol Equip gatling gun with give gatling Spawn a deer with spawnPrefab deer Kill the deer with guns, they'll drop meat whi...

github.com

 

[wabadump]

Week 9

Blog Post

Tasks completed
- Started implementation of markets
- Added market UI and dialogue

Currently working on
- Connecting markets to the Economy module
- Post-transaction inventory management

Problems
- Syncing transactions and change in resources with the Economy module is a problem
- Specifically, the change in quantities of resources is never right

PRs

Add currency to the module by mayant15 · Pull Request #10 · Terasology/Economy

To Test Start up a game with Economy enabled Should see a new HUD widget on the left, showing the player's money Money in the wallet can be changed by firing the UpdateWalletEvent

github.com

Marketplace and Currency by mayant15 · Pull Request #18 · Terasology/MetalRenegades

To Test: Go to a marketplace, talk to the Neutral Gooey A "Buy/Sell/Close" choice should come up. Each leads you to another UI to show you some items Select an item and confirm the trans...

github.com

 

[wabadump]

Week 10

Blog Post

Tasks Completed
- Completed market implementation

Currently working on
- Trading with NPCs

Problems
- Only resource names are synced with the Economy module and not quantities
- Blocks and BlockFamilies are not treated correctly

PRs

Add currency to the module by mayant15 · Pull Request #10 · Terasology/Economy

To Test Start up a game with Economy enabled Should see a new HUD widget on the left, showing the player's money Money in the wallet can be changed by firing the UpdateWalletEvent

github.com

Marketplace and Currency by mayant15 · Pull Request #18 · Terasology/MetalRenegades

To Test: Go to a marketplace, talk to the Neutral Gooey A "Buy/Sell/Close" choice should come up. Each leads you to another UI to show you some items Select an item and confirm the trans...

github.com

 

[wabadump]

Week 11

Blog Post

Tasks completed
- Trading with NPCs completed

Currently working on
- Implementing fetch quests

Problems
- Found an NPE in the WalletSystem when connected as pure client. Issue #25

PRs

Add trading with NPCs by mayant15 · Pull Request #24 · Terasology/MetalRenegades

To Test: Go and interact with any NPC After the first page of dialogue, a trading UI should come up Select the item that you want from the left list, select the item that you'll offer from the...

github.com

 

[wabadump]

Week 12

Blog Post

Tasks completed

• Implemented a basic fetch quest through the tasks module
• Add a minimap overlay to show the target beacon

Currently working on

• Fixing #25
• Player item drops

Problems
- The same quest is given by all quest points, so "completing" multiple quests does't work as expected. If the player completes even one quest, the "return home" task in all subsequent quests is automatically completed. There needs to be some decoupling of quests.

PRs

Add basic fetch quests by mayant15 · Pull Request #27 · Terasology/MetalRenegades

Requirements: Terasology/Minimap#11 Terasology/Tasks#13 To Test: Go to a quest point in church and receive an item with the quest Activate the item and complete the tasks When the last task is s...

github.com

Add initiating quest point info to quest item by mayant15 · Pull Request #13 · Terasology/Tasks

Necessary changes for Terasology/MetalRenegades#27

github.com

Fix Remove Overlay by mayant15 · Pull Request #11 · Terasology/Minimap

The removeOverlay function added an overlay instead of removing it. To Test Call minimapSystem.removeOverlay() to remove the specified overlay

github.com

 

[wabadump]

Week 13

Blog Post

Tasks Completed
- Fixed the wallet NPE
- Added player drops on death

Currently working on
- Network issues with markets

PRs

Remove the CurrencyManagementSystem by mayant15 · Pull Request #30 · Terasology/MetalRenegades

Fixes #25 The WalletSystem doesn't run on the client, leading to an uninitialised wallet. This PR removes the CurrencyManagementSystem. All transactions now happen directly through the WalletSy...

github.com

Add item drops on player death by mayant15 · Pull Request #34 · Terasology/MetalRenegades

Required PRs: Terasology/CombatSystem#42 Players now drop all their inventory items on death. The CombatSystem PR also fixes #33 To Test: Start a game and connect with a second client Kill a pla...

github.com

Minor fixes in quests after merging #30 by mayant15 · Pull Request #35 · Terasology/MetalRenegades

The FetchQuestSystem needed to be modified after removing the CurrencyManagementSystem

github.com

Add wallet commands by mayant15 · Pull Request #11 · Terasology/Economy

Improvements for Terasology/MetalRenegades#30 Add command to give the player money Make UpdateWalletEvent fire on the character entity instead of the wallet entity Remove databinding for the walle...

github.com

Fix ownership of items in CombatStartingInventory by mayant15 · Pull Request #42 · Terasology/CombatSystem

Because systems cannot be selectively turned on or off in other modules, the CombatStartingInventory has a setItems function which allowed other modules to use this system to set up their start-up ...

github.com