OpenMW 0.13.0

[Zini]

We are close enough to a 0.12.0 release that it is time to think about 0.13.0. I will start putting together a roadmap tomorrow. I have already a pretty good idea what to put into it. This one will be a lot more juicy than the last two rather boring roadmaps.

[Zini]

Here we go. As usual I abuse my position to have first pick. Although this time there is not much picking involved. Somehow I ended up with these tasks during 0.12.0.

Anyway, here are my tasks for 0.13.0:

Support for x.y script syntax
Equipping Items
Restructure enabling/disabling of MW-references
Periodic Cleanup/Refill

To be honest, I doubt I will be able to finish them all, unless 0.13.0 drags as unreasonably long as 0.12.0 did. But let's be optimistic (or pessimistic, depending on how you see it).



This is the most important task for 0.13.0:

Allow ESPs and multiple ESMs

I think I don't need to explain why it is so important. But it is also the most tricky task of 0.13.0. I did some clean up in some areas related to this tasks in 0.12.0 and I can give a few pointers. But there are still some unsolved problems, that will require some heavy thinking and a bit of digging in the code.


Some (mostly) graphics related tasks:

Object rotation and scaling
Interaction with non-load-doors (requires the rotation/scaling task to be completed first)
Review Caelum
Terrain Rendering (already claimed)
Water Rendering (already claimed)
Meshes rendered with wrong orientation (already claimed)


Something I would like very much to see in 0.13.0 is NPC dialogues:

NPC Dialogue System
NPC Dialogue Window

This would extend the playability of OpenMW a lot. For both tasks there are already half-finished implementations, so that who ever is taking these pretty large tasks doesn't need to start from zero.


We also have plenty of other GUI tasks:

Refactor window manager class
Advanced Journal GUI
Window Pinning
Book and Scroll Windows (ideally the journal task should be finished first)
Inventory-, Container- and Trade-Windows

I would like to finish my equipping task first, before the inventory task is taking. Currently our container code is a bit rudimentary. While doing work on equipping I will probably change it a lot, which will also affect the UI. That wasn't a problem originally, since I expected to implement equipping much later. But then the inventory UI got delayed and jhooks animation work requires me to implement equipping earlier.


Stuff that doesn't fit into any other category:

Morrowind.ini Importer (already claimed)
Load REC_PGRD records
Record Saving (already claimed)


And finally we have a couple of minor maintenance and bug fixing tasks:

Create OpenEngine systems in the appropriate manager classes
Sound Manager Cleanup (already claimed)
Pressing space in console triggers activation

Boring, but necessary.


I would like to keep 0.13.0 short. The long 0.12.0 really didn't do us any good. So let's try to keep into it within 2-3 months.
The only task I would consider essential for 0.13.0 is support for multiple ESX files. And since almost all other tasks will result in user visible changes, we are pretty much guaranteed to have something to show (which was a major problem with 0.11.0 and 0.12.0).

[Zini]

Following recent incidents, I feel the need to add another high priority task to 0.13.0:

Adjust MSVC warning levels

[Zini]

0.13.0 preview (water and terrain):

Not even remotely ready for release, but still not bad.

[lgromanowski]

Wow, it looks really nice!

[raevol]

Time to start posting this stuff all over the internet. Screenshots like this are going to stir up huge interest, just be sure to label them with "This is an in development open source port of the Morrowind engine, running on Linux!"

Edit: Blogged.

[raevol]

Is it just me or is the lighting significantly different/better than that of normal Morrowind? I'm sure it'll require some tweaking once we're actually kicking around with playability, but aside from the strange lighting on the terrain (understandable since that code is still in diapers), the lighting looks amazing!

[Zini]

We should probably wait for the 0.12.0 release or people will be disappointed.

[raevol]

We should probably wait for the 0.12.0 release or people will be disappointed.

It's just a preview. This is more to get developer interest than player interest.

[Zini]

Yes. But if we show screenshots of a shiny new feature and then release a version, that doesn't have this feature, I would still expect people to be disappointed, even if we label the screenshots with a big red "VERY EARLY PREVIEW".