FIRST FRC Game Simulator for the HL2 Engine

[gblake]

Folks,

See the picture here to learn a little about an up and running 6-player simulation (not perfect by any means, but usable and fun) of this year's Overdrive game.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/30906

It was written using C# and calls to XNA graphics libraries that are also usable in XBox360 consoles.

Aside from the differences in the graphics engines, etc. it sounds like there are some opportunities for collaboration afoot.

Blake

[redtide]

this looks so coo, Im upset I never saw at VCU. dang that would have been cool to play. dang dang dang oh and dang

[cbale2000]

Originally Posted by SpaceOsc

i have a model of our 2006 robot, i dont know anything about moding in source.. but what format do you need or want the model in? its currently inventor but very large.

Ideally some form of 3Ds Max format would work best (Only software I have heard of that can export models to HL2 games), however I believe I can use Inverter format as well (I have been told there is a way to convert from Inventor formates into 3Ds formats), the only issue will be the slight inconvenience of converting the formats.

Originally Posted by 1885.Blake

Folks,

See the picture here to learn a little about an up and running 6-player simulation (not perfect by any means, but usable and fun) of this year's Overdrive game.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/30906

It was written using C# and calls to XNA graphics libraries that are also usable in XBox360 consoles.

Aside from the differences in the graphics engines, etc. it sounds like there are some opportunities for collaboration afoot.

Blake

Yes, I had seen that posted a while back. When I first saw it I was like, darn it, they got to Chief Delphi before me, I knew I should have posted this last week.

I would agree with you on the collaboration part though. I decided to use the HL2 engine because it was what I had readily available to me for the primary purpose of using it for my Senior Project, but with some discussion, we could combine our efforts and find a platform that works for the most people (or even make similar software for multiple platforms). I think there is a lot of potential with the concept. Collaboration for the win!

[gblake]

Originally Posted by cbale2000

Yes, I had seen that posted a while back. When I first saw it I was like, darn it, they got to Chief Delphi before me, I knew I should have posted this last week.

Score 1 for the old guys.

Originally Posted by cbale2000

I think there is a lot of potential with the concept. Collaboration for the win!

Good - Dave and I will stay in touch. I'll probably stay out of the "engine" topic except to say that the XBox360 possiblities offered by XNA are pretty seductive....

[gblake]

Originally Posted by redtide

this looks so coo, Im upset I never saw at VCU. dang that would have been cool to play. dang dang dang oh and dang

I think that this is the best compliment we received yet!

[Caio]

If you can explain how to convert an inventor file to the file type you need, I can see if I can make a model of our '06 robot and convert it for you....

and the same would go for other teams. I'm sure a lot have them in inventor, and they'd probably be happy to convert it for you.

[lachoneus8]

XNA has the benefit of being free for everyone to develop for, and is based off of C#, which is relatively easy to learn. Halflife 2 of course benefits from one of the most advanced graphics and physics engines in the 3d market.

I think both FIRST simulation engines can have their place. There are many ways that these applications can be used, and each can focus in a different direction. These simulations could be used for spreading FIRST to larger markets through an online game, helping teams plan their strategies early in the build season, teambuilding excercises, etc etc.

What model formats does the Halflife engine support? If people produce their robots in a common format both engines could use, that would help both simultaneously. XNA reads in only Autodesk FBX and DirectX .x formats, but with Blender (3d modelling software) I can import from 3DS, OBJ, and a bunch of other formats. 3DS might be the best format all around seeing how common it is.

I could see about exporting our 3 models into 3ds if you would like, cbale.

Dave

[synth3tk]

I like what I'm seeing so far! I wish I could help out in some way technical, but programming has never been my forte. If you guys need a public relations or whatnot, don't hesitate to contact me.

As mentioned above, both simulations could be useful. The HL2 version as a "marketing" tool for FIRST, getting the word out. The XNA version maybe to use "internally" as a training and strategic tool for teams.

[cbale2000]

Originally Posted by Caio

If you can explain how to convert an inventor file to the file type you need, I can see if I can make a model of our '06 robot and convert it for you....

and the same would go for other teams. I'm sure a lot have them in inventor, and they'd probably be happy to convert it for you.

I'll answer your question converting at the bottom of the post as it applies to both.

Originally Posted by lachoneus8

XNA has the benefit of being free for everyone to develop for, and is based off of C#, which is relatively easy to learn. Halflife 2 of course benefits from one of the most advanced graphics and physics engines in the 3d market.

I think both FIRST simulation engines can have their place. There are many ways that these applications can be used, and each can focus in a different direction. These simulations could be used for spreading FIRST to larger markets through an online game, helping teams plan their strategies early in the build season, teambuilding excercises, etc etc.

What model formats does the Halflife engine support? If people produce their robots in a common format both engines could use, that would help both simultaneously. XNA reads in only Autodesk FBX and DirectX .x formats, but with Blender (3d modelling software) I can import from 3DS, OBJ, and a bunch of other formats. 3DS might be the best format all around seeing how common it is.

I could see about exporting our 3 models into 3ds if you would like, cbale.

Dave

The Half Life engine supports it's own format VMF (Valve Model Format), however 3Ds Max is capable of both exporting to this format, as well as creating collision meshes for it (Might require a free extension, I have to get a few more details from a friend).

So basically anything in a format 3Ds Max can read would be ideal, (unless someone wants to be REALLY helpful and just convert them to the Valve format, not a big deal though).


I have found several things related to converting Inventor Files to 3Ds Max.
The first seems to be a feature for 3Dsmax that comes with Inventor if you have both installed on the same PC:

http://www.cadforum.cz/cadforum_en/qaID.asp?tip=3943


The second one is more of just a plugin for 3Ds Max 9 (which doesn't help me any since we're still using version 7 because we don't have the godlike system requirements to run 9).

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet...112&id=9093251



Thanks allot you guys, glad for the help!

[lachoneus8]

Here's a few questions:

1) What are the capabilities of Garry's Mod as it relates to Aim High? How about networking?
2) How easy or difficult is it to articulate a robot with moving parts?
3) What would it take to get this to the public? Being a Half-Life mod I would imagine it would take Halflife2 (heavy system reqs right?), plus Garry's Mod, plus whatever additional Mod info you've written for scoring, anything else?
4) What are your plans with this after you complete your senior project?

Don't think I'll be able to make the Atlanta finals... make sure to take plenty of pictures and video once you get it up and running

[cbale2000]

Originally Posted by lachoneus8

Here's a few questions:

1) What are the capabilities of Garry's Mod as it relates to Aim High? How about networking?
2) How easy or difficult is it to articulate a robot with moving parts?
3) What would it take to get this to the public? Being a Half-Life mod I would imagine it would take Halflife2 (heavy system reqs right?), plus Garry's Mod, plus whatever additional Mod info you've written for scoring, anything else?
4) What are your plans with this after you complete your senior project?

Don't think I'll be able to make the Atlanta finals... make sure to take plenty of pictures and video once you get it up and running

1. Garry's Mod is a sandbox mod that allows you to use various effects, such as physics and constraints and apply them at will to spawnable props and such. You can create your own scripted entities using one or more models (with animations if needed). It is fully compatible with online mode on Steam.

2. If needed, models with various moving parts can be implemented as several different models that just work together. Smaller features such as wheels could be done but would probably be easier (and less laggy) as animations. The other reason I picked Aim High was because most of the robots used spinning parts as opposed to arms and mechanisms that changed positions, this is a lot easier to script.

3. As far as distribution of the mod goes, I have an SVN server setup for hosting the files relating to my modification, currently it is just private access for me and my partner but it could easily be modified to share publicly. As a Half Life 2 Mod, the only thing it would require is one of the Half Life 2 Related Source programs (like HL2, CSS Source, ect.) this in it of itself is not very system intensive. Garry's mod is a cheap addition to HL2 and hopefully is only temporary for use for the Senior Project, after that is done I would like to make it into it's own Stand-alone HL2 mod so it would remove the need for Garry's mod. This mod itself would likely be less system intensive as it would not need to utilize all of the Physics and graphical effects that HL2 and Gmod use.

4. As mentioned above, after the senior project is complete (and I have a bit more free time) I would like to make the mod into it's own separate HL2 mod which would remove the need to have Garry's Mod installed as well as eliminate some of the higher level system requirements. The coding would also be converted to C (or it might be C+, haven't read the documentation in a while) to allow for this.


If you have any other questions feel free to ask, I have to go get some sleep now though, don't want to be late for the regional tomorrow.

[lachoneus8]

Originally Posted by cbale2000

It is fully compatible with online mode on Steam.

With the advanced physics and great graphics, HL2 could make for a highly realistic simulation of FIRST games.

Sounds like the HL2 FIRST mod will be a veritable playground of fun! Perfect for testing of mechanisms and ideas during build phases. I can see this effort being a great way to bring others in the gaming community to see the fun of FIRST.

Originally Posted by cbale2000

IThe coding would also be converted to C (or it might be C+, haven't read the documentation in a while) to allow for this.

Ahh, so your senior project will be purely written in Garry's mod scripts? That's one powerful mod, to allow all of that just in scripts!

[cbale2000]

Originally Posted by lachoneus8

With the advanced physics and great graphics, HL2 could make for a highly realistic simulation of FIRST games.

Sounds like the HL2 FIRST mod will be a veritable playground of fun! Perfect for testing of mechanisms and ideas during build phases. I can see this effort being a great way to bring others in the gaming community to see the fun of FIRST.

Yes, that was my feeling on the concept as well.

As far as customization goes (in addition to adding other own robots), one could also make their own maps to recreate different venues and make the experience more realistic. The map I'm making is just a simple, generic kind of stadium (for now anyways), but you could easily expand upon that and add things like moving lights, pit areas, and stuff like that. I should also point out that I plan on using some of the sound effects from FIRST matches (music, buzzers, bells, crowd cheering, ect.), maybe even throw in some announcer statements too.

Originally Posted by lachoneus8

Ahh, so your senior project will be purely written in Garry's mod scripts? That's one powerful mod, to allow all of that just in scripts!

Garry's Mod uses a modified version of LUA code, it is written using a C style, so generally it is very similar to C, though a bit more strait forward.