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Script Programmer and Technical UDK-stuff

Hammie

Hammie

Storm Engine developer
Staff member
Storm Modder
I really like the idea of making a pirate RPG/simulator using the UDK, so I really want to help making it.

I am a programmer, including Unrealscript, and would love to help with the more technical stuff for the project. I can also create models and textures etc. but these are not as good as I wish they were.

In my experience everything done in the current build mod is possible in UDK, plus a lot more. I've already had lot of ideas on how to do things so I can already do some case testing...

I have read the main focus is realistic water and ship movement so I have been doing some testing with waves. I will give an update on my progress when I have some presentable examples.
Since I don't have any real-life sailing experience I don't know how a ship should behave and thus don't know the requirements...
 
I'm glad that we'll be able to get this to work on the new engine. I would generally agree that ship behavior in our mods (My only personal experience is with GoF) is very accurate, with some exceptions. For example, when a large ship is sailing through small swells ingame, you get a pronounced jerking motion that the inertia of the ship should prevent. I think we should implement heeling over with the wind (If you want me to explain in more detail I can) but I suspect that that will come later.

If your time frame allows, I can also bring back video footage from my next sail on Pilgrim. I should be back September ninth or so.

You may want to take a look at these:
(You might want to contact MK- he's modifying the water for his upcoming eras mod. It's much more realistic than what we have right now.)
My Pilgrim Stuff
Legendary Spider viewing Pilgrim from shore- barely enough wind to fill our sails, lightish swells
Other Stuff:
Brig Niagara in tons of wind- She has a light hull with a shallow draft, and is therefore moving more. A larger, more built vessel would pitch and roll less in the same conditions.
Californian heeled over in light swells/heavy wind (again, a lighter hull)
WEEE!!!
I would recommend looking around Youtube for other period ships sailing in different conditions.
 
I can't find the code in GOF but in POTC there are ten wave harmonics settings that set the wave action. The problem with them is with all 10 active the waves look good but the ship jerks around badly.
Armada experimented with them and ended up using 4. This gives somewhat rounded waves but the jerkiness is almost completely gone. Possibly with 40 harmonics settings the ship would react smoother.
That jerkiness is why I play POTC instead of GOF.
 
I've found the harmonic settings you mentioned and will try to use the values from the latest Build Mod (Beta 2.1) to generate the waves. I'll post my progress in a different topic to keep things organized.

For the ships it's very good you mentioned the inertia or I would have completely forgotten about it.
So the main factors are the waves, wind, inertia, weight and shape of the ship?
 
The shape and size of the ship is pretty important. A short tall Carrack will react very differently than a long low Indiaman. Also a Lugger will react very differently than a 1st rate.
 
Hammie said:
So the main factors are the waves, wind, inertia, weight and shape of the ship?
Click to expand...

Yep. Clipper ships were notorious for the amount of pitching caused by their sharp hulls, while the frigates of the late 18th century were known for their stability, caused by their built hulls and extreme tumblehome. How the ship's hold is stowed (how heavy the contents are and where they are located) will also have an effect.

Edit:
In larger seas a ship of the line can often outrun a faster frigate. The waves have less of a slowing effect on the larger vessel, and the ship of the line's sails are higher up. In large enough seas, the waves' interference with the wind could cause small vessels to become momentarily becalmed.

Edit II: The water tends to be a little bit too transparent in some of the games we mod here.
 
Ahoy Hammie, thanks very much for offering your services! Programmers will be absolutely crucial to the project's success.
Having seen your speedy progress with wave testing, I'm happy to grant you Modder status. Welcome to the team! :cheers
 
damn too bad i havent enough time :( learning and working with code for a new game is awesome !
 
Hi Hammie! I have started watching the UDK tutorials; I have some decent programming experience with C, C++ and Java so once I learn enough about UDK I would be happy to help you with the scripts.
 
Hi and welcome!

Any help is more than welcome :). Unrealscript is a sort of hybrid between C and Java. The syntax is similar to C but it compiles to byte-code like java.

Your C++ experience will also come in handy since the more advanced function like AI and physics will be put in an external DLL, bytecode just doesn't perform that well. Feel free to check out the github (although not much is there yet).

I currently don't have much time since I have to finish 3 more sketches by tomorrow.
 
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