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robiwan
Moderator
1035 Posts |
 Posted - 15/05/2008 : 08:26:26
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SWG Programmers Chat (14.05.2008)
Teesquared: Hello all. Thanks for coming to the SWG programmer chat! I am Teesquared, the SWG Technical Director (programmer/manager). Nice to see you all!
Valara: Hi everyone! I'm Valara, the community manager for SWG. Welcome to the programmer chat!
AdeptStrain: Hey all, Adept Strain here. Programmer for Star Wars Galaxies and certified DevH repairman.
CancelAutoRun: Hello everyone, CancelAutoRun here to answer your burning programming questions.
Torsion: Hey all Torsion here. Ive programing since i was 14, known around the office as the "UI Guy"
cheeseplus: This is cheeseplus, I do in fact like cheese, and I am the SWG Build Master (yes it does say that on my business cards)
Tereb: Hello, this is Tom, aka Tereb. I was the buildmaster prior to cheeseplus, and still around doing miscellaneous new build and deploy stuff for SOE Austin.
DevH: Greetings humanoids! DevH here. I'm an AI program, so I don't have a real life 2026err 2026 name.
Bogafett: Hi. I am Bogafett. I am a programmer working on physics and AI for another project in the studio. I worked on SWG several years before launch and a few years post launch.
Starbuck1771: Will we be seeing a fix to the inventory sorting system any time soon?
Teesquared: We added the ability to sort inventory a while back which was a great feature. We'll need to take a look at fixing that issue. Thanks for letting us know about it. The earliest would be update 5. I'll see when it can get addressed and post in the forums.
ArkonPhoenix: If any, can you give us a status update on the Appearance System?
AdeptStrain: Appearance is a tricky system. Not only is there rendering code to do, but there is networking and DB modifications that need to be made. That's just the technical side of things. There are still many design decisions to be made (as my proposal thread shows), so I don't have an update at this time. I know everyone is crazy for details on it - but we really want to take our time and get it right.
BadgerSmaker: Greetings Programmers, have you made any inroads into the problems with accessing chat channels between one SWG server and another? It is possible to join SWG chat channels from other SoE titles like Everquest, but not from, say, Chilastra to Bria.
CancelAutoRun: The core of the chat system is shared with other SOE games, which is why they can join our channels. In my work on Vivox I have spent a lot of time working with some of the same systems. In the end it looks like we will be fixing the name resolution issues that prevent joining other games' channels. So basically, yes, progress is being made.
Cebot_m: What kind of server technology is the client connecting to? commercial or proprietary? what can you share with us about how those services keep up with the increased game speeds?
DevH: It's proprietary server side UDP. Up to a certain point, the server architecture is flexible enough to allow us to move things around to address server load.
BadgerSmaker: Also, has any work been done on binding chat channels to players chat panes by default, if you were an Imperial Smuggler for instance, you would be joined to those channels on login, and perhaps also some new channels that you would be joined to based on combat level to help you find groups?
Teesquared: That's a good idea. Production thinks so also. We'll take a look at doing that in a future update.
SummerGau: will the bugs surrounding the heroic instance entrances be fixed? ie. group members not being able to re-enter if they cloned, entire groups not being able to start the instance if they have just completed one of the other instances, and have to wait for the lockout timer to expire on other instances before they can start the new instance.
DevH: Shadowbrak has been looking into the heroic instance entrance issues.
Saromus: Does Star Wars Galaxies use a Licensed Game Engine or does it have a Proprietary Engine?
Bogafett: The SWG engine was written from scratch. There was no tech available to handle what SWG provides for both the client/server.
Saromus: What kind of Operating System was SWG built on? What Operating Systems to the Developers use for Development?
cheeseplus: SWG has builds linux for the server side and Windows for the client. Devs have personal test boxes running linux but primarily to the developing on windows.
Saromus: What is the usual thing the Developers like to order for food? How many hours do the Developers work each day?
DevH: Nutritious carbon based materials. Until AdeptStrain puts me into hibernate.
Saromus: What are some of the methods the Developers use for Testing/Debugging?
Tereb: Lots of different tools are used for debugging depending on where the problem is. If it's a client problem, Visual Studio has a good built in debugger. If it's an in game issue, we have lots of debug output and views in the god client that can show us things like the AI hate list, all the hidden info in items showing who owns what, etc. And beyond that, we have tools that take all the crash reports from clients and servers to see how often a crash or bug happens to prioritize debugging time.
Saromus: What kind of (Development) Tools do the Developers use to work with Content creation, etc?
Teesquared: SWG has some great content tools. The programming team wrote them all. I worked on the NPC Editor, Quest Editor, and Region Editor. Bogafett did the Swoosh Editor, Particle Editor, and some work on the god client. Most of the tools are written in C++ using MFC or QT for windowing libraries. See the dev diaries for more details. and my next technical report will have more info as well :)
En-Sabah-Nur: what are the programming limitations to allowing grouped members, in a non-pvp environment, to be able to buff each other without having to worry about their factional standing (on leave, combatant, etc...)?
Torsion There are no programming limitations regarding who can cast/recieve buffs, the people who make the call are our designers, the code can handle it, game balance / design might not.
PyrochenkoOfFlurry: what from the programmmer end has been discovered or fixed with regards to instance transition? is it related to the server boundary?
DevH: It's not related to server boundary. Shadowbrak has been working on the instance transition issues.
VincintSunChilly: With SOE maintaining multiple offices and multiple games, how much collaboration and mindshare makes it into a given system's lifecycle (EQ2/Vanguard ideas being repackaged and reused)
Teesquared: On the game development side, we get great reuse from other SOE products. The SWG user interface is based on the same library used by EQ2 and PlanetSide. We also get a lot of reuse on internal systems like chat, security, and monitoring. Our upcoming Vivox integration is based on work we did with both the Everquest and Everquest II teams.
Tereb: Shared tech in SOE is very important on the build side, even if the games are quite different. For example, I've collaborated with our Seattle studio to help them use the same web based build control system SWG, and other SOE games use for The Agency. Having shared tech at that layer helps the game devs make games, and not tools every game needs.
PyrochenkoOfFlurry: what can you comment on from the programmer perspective about the upcoming VoIP integration via Vivox?
CancelAutoRun: From a programmer's perspective, the Vivox API's are very nicely put together. As mentioned, there has been a lot of collaboration with some of the other teams. The biggest challenge has been to figure out exactly what the desired client experience will be and how to deliver that such that we can expand in the future.
VincintSunChilly: Another question, there has been a lot of discussion about the loot tables and "randomness". Any comment or insight?
DevH: Millbarge and Jaskell have posted that the loot tables and "randomness" are working as designed.
Obraik: Is there any update on the in-game browser that was being made? We've been hearing about it for a few months now.
AdeptStrain: We are looking at putting in an in-game web browser. EQ2 has done it (and thanks to some of our shared tech), it should be possible to integrate it into SWG as well. It's definitely something that we want to get in sooner rather than later.
towlin: How do you compare programming the NGE as opposed to Pre-CU?
Teesquared: The game functionality has changed a lot but I think our team has done a great job maintaining the original standards. We use the same coding standard and a very similar development process. We continue to do one-on-one peer reviews. We have upgraded to some new development tools. One thing that has changed is we are now using the Agile development process.
BadgerSmaker: To Bogafett, the Artificial Intelligence and Collision Detection system have been quite troublesome over the years in SWG, what would you have done different if you started this project now, with what you now know?
Bogafett: *NOTE: Middleware is software you purchase from an outside company that solves a specific problem for you very well.
The solution for great collision detection on our next product is to buy middleware that solves the problem perfectly.
The collision in SWG was based on a floor collision system (2d). The collision system in the next product is fully 3d collision that you are used to in games today (jumping).
The AI in SWG went through several revisions before and post ship. I reworked AI systems post ship to add proper hate list, aggro, assist logic, as well as the ability to use primary and secondary (melee vs ranged). We are approaching AI a little different in the new product. We have the classic AI mechanics in place as previously mentioned but we are adding some new logic to handle the dynamic environments that physics provides. We also have middleware solutions for pathfinding which allow AI to perform very dynamic navigation and avoidance.
In combat, the SWG pathfinding used primarily a bread crumb following logic. Out of combat, SWG had some paths hand placed in cities for AI to navigate. The new product pre-calculates all possible navigation areas overnight. So every inch of our world has proper navigation.
Guest49: THere was mention of testing being done on new server hardware, how is this going?
cheeseplus: We were doing some hardware testing on TestCenter and we've gathered a good bit of data from it. We are basically trying to maximize our existing hardware and finding out how better to balance the load on the hardware.
Alastair: Has there been any progress on fixing the instance entrances on Mustafar?
Specifically with random group members being kicked out and other lockout times.
DevH: Blix hinted in past posts about moving the Mustafar instances to use the heroics instance controller. Shadowbrak is looking into doing that.
Guest49: There has been a lot of change in the programming team over the years. Do the new programmers feel they have a good knowledge of SWG's systems?
AdeptStrain: I've been really concentrated in the rendering code(naked TC player population comments aside) and I feel I have a very good grasp on it. There are certainly areas I'm not as familiar with (all the ins and outs of the UI for example), but I can move around most client and server code without too much trouble.
Torsion: At first it was a bit much to take in, the UI has recieved many many facelifts over the years, but after a few nasty bugs, I felt right at home and now its like second nature to me.
CancelAutoRun: Starting out the size of the codebase was quite overwhelming. Fairly quickly though I familiarized myself with certain systems while getting a general understanding of the overall setup. I would say that at this point I am comfortable with many of the systems (like ui ) and don't know some of them at all (like rendering).
En-Sabah-Nur: how many bugs are handled by any one programmer? Do you put a list in front of a programmer to sift through or designate one at a time?
Teesquared: We use DevTrack as our bug tracking system. QA enters bugs they find in the game or posted on the forums. Blixtev and I monitor a pending bug queue and assign them out to our team based on whose working or has knowledge about that issue. The numbers they handle vary but we like to keep everyone loaded evenly (except for Adeptstrain ...)
AdeptStrain: I has too many :(
PyrochenkoOfFlurry: can you give an example of tech unique to SWG that Bogafett mentioned?
Bogafett: Back when SWG was written, there were no licensed engines for MMOs to the scale of SWG. For instance, we had to create custom technology to handle the size of the SWG planets and number of users per galaxy. Even today, most licensed engines need heavy server modification to handle the number of concurrent client connections. MMOs are still very new to the licensed engine companies. You really would want to license an engine that has been through one complete product cycle.
SummerGau:: out of interest, how many computers control each galaxy ?
DevH: One computer, DevH, controls all galaxies, so let's hope DevH never has a bad day. I cannot reveal the actual numbers, but we have multiple hamsters of varying capacity running the wheels for each galaxy, and we assign them to different wheels (i.e. zones) based on the anticipated load of the zone.
Sprite: That will wrap it up for tonight. I’d like to thank the developers for coming!
AdeptStrain: Yay. That was fun. Hope you guys enjoyed it. I'm going to go put a few more refrigerator magnets on DevH...
Valara: Thanks for attending! We hope you enjoyed the chat this evening :)
Tereb: Thanks everyone for coming out tonight. I'm glad I could sneak in to answer some questions.
CancelAutoRun: So long and thanks for joining us in the programming chat!
Bogafett: Thanks for stopping by!
Torsion: thanks everyone, peace out.
DevH: I'm a computer, not a fridge.
Teesquared: Thanks a lot for attending. See you all in the next chat. Watch for my next technical report as I'll try to give you more details on some of these great questions! Keep them coming :) We'll tell Blixtev you all said hi.
AdeptStrain: Sounds like someone needs a reboot!
DevH: Fare thee well humanoids!
cheeseplus: See you all in the forums.
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I have waited and planned and built my strength for fifteen thousand years. I have evolved. It is time.
(Omnius Evermind)
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Feyd'Rautha Saresh (Medic, Rebel Alliance, Europe-Chimaera), Robe Saresh (Force Sensitive, Rebel Alliance, Europe-Chimaera)
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WereHamster
Junior Member
982 Posts |
Posted - 15/05/2008 : 09:15:21
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| Ani slovo o SWG2 :( |
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Miky
Moderator
947 Posts |
Posted - 15/05/2008 : 10:15:11
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| Cert vi co vykuti. |
Wyndia Creel - Tarkin server
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Shamirr
New Member
135 Posts |
Posted - 16/05/2008 : 07:36:29
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quote:
Originally posted by WereHamster
Ani slovo o SWG2 :(
Máš na mysli tie reči okolo BioWare, alebo sa objavilo niečo nové?
SWG2 je ako pani Colombová  . |
Nekropolis:
SWG: Shamirr Norrag (*10.6.2005 +9.7.2008) - Imperial Commando, Imperial Ace Pilot; Xandara Norrag (*11.8.2006 +9.7.2008) - Trader, Freelancer Pilot |
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Shamirr
New Member
135 Posts |
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