[Proposal] Focus on usability Post 1.0 + More

[HeadClot]

Hey everyone,

With the recent problems with Bethesda about android devices I am making this proposal.

[*] We finish the engine with android support it is obvious that people want to use this engine on other platforms - not just PC. Myself included.
[*] After 1.0 we focus on making a sample game, examples, and documentation with original from scratch assets as well as focus on usability. Improving the engine as we go.
[*] We get rid of the .NIF file type if possible and replace it with something else - Such as OpenGEX for example.
[*] Get feedback from interested developers on what they want in the OpenMW engine.

Thoughts on this?

- HeadClot

[jvoisin]

Who is "we"?

[Greendogo]

There will be an Example Suite. I'm holding off on starting it until the editor, OpenCS, passes the first round of feature completeness.

The Example Suite will:
Showcase the basic and advanced features of the engine and the editor
Be made from FOSS assets (the reason I was hoping you or anyone would eventually make and animate new body skeletons/frames for new character models)

When it's done, OpenMW will have something that people who don't own Morrowind will be able to download and screw around with, and if they want, to add on to. It will also be a good reference point with example scripts, environments and gameplay examples.

You're more than welcome to help out with it when we get to it, but the only thing that could be done now is the creation of the FOSS assets, especially the character models with animations. We can't reuse anything that Bethesda has created.

Note: If you read the Example Suite subforum here, it's full of a lot of outdated information, so disregard it. The Example Suite has been vastly simplified in scope.

[psi29a]

The example-suite is pretty much a requirement, we need that to get OpenMW into the main repo on Debian and Ubuntu. OpenMW needs to be able to stand on its own two feet.

We wait patiently for the OpenCS.

[Greendogo]

What are your reasons for picking OpenGEX? Last I heard they hadn't yet finished a Blender plugin. Is that on the horizon?

As far as getting "rid" of the NIF format, that's not really a priority and/or possibility for the devs, if your intention is that the format isn't supported in OpenMW anymore, because Morrowind still has to be supported.

However, that said, we can certainly discuss the use of various formats for any particular project (such as either your asset replacement project for vanilla Morrowind, or for the Example Suite) until the cows come home. Time is certainly on your side.

Edit: Also, one last thought. OpenMW is a hobby project, and as such, programming talent is at a premium, so I'd like to point out that the NiF format will probably remain the most well supported format on OpenMW for some time, even though we supposedly get support for a lot of other formats using Ogre3D out-of-the-box.

[Okulo]

[*] We finish the engine with android support it is obvious that people want to use this engine on other platforms - not just PC. Myself included.

You do know that OpenMW doesn't do the Android port, right?

[HeadClot]

What are your reasons for picking OpenGEX? Last I heard they hadn't yet finished a Blender plugin. Is that on the horizon?

As far as getting "rid" of the NIF format, that's not really a priority and/or possibility for the devs, if your intention is that the format isn't supported in OpenMW anymore, because Morrowind still has to be supported.

However, that said, we can certainly discuss the use of various formats for any particular project (such as either your asset replacement project for vanilla Morrowind, or for the Example Suite) until the cows come home. Time is certainly on your side.

Edit: Also, one last thought. OpenMW is a hobby project, and as such, programming talent is at a premium, so I'd like to point out that the NiF format will probably remain the most well supported format on OpenMW for some time, even though we supposedly get support for a lot of other formats using Ogre3D out-of-the-box.

Here is why I picked OpenGEX -

1. An open specification that is not an over engineered mess. AHEM Collada.
2. Human Readability - Great for artists and programmers.
3. Supports 3DS max, Maya and soon Blender - I will check on the status of the blender plugin with Eric.
4. Pretty much every feature on the page of the OpenGEX.org.

Also - Just a thought we could use the FBX file format I know that there are some open source implementations of this out there if we do not want to use the OpenGEX specification. It also supports a wider amount of 3D packages at the moment.

[EmperorArthur]

Nif isn't just used by Bethesda alone. Here's a small list of other games that use some variation of the format: http://niftools.sourceforge.net/wiki/Ni ... _Resources

[DarkAnsem]

well, would OpenMW be able to read NIF and behaviour files (NKX) from Oblivion\Skyrim? and/or is there a converter between NIF and this OpenGEX, behaviour included?

[Chris]

well, would OpenMW be able to read NIF and behaviour files (NKX) from Oblivion\Skyrim? and/or is there a converter between NIF and this OpenGEX, behaviour included?

No, and no (AFAIK). Oblivion uses an updated version of the NIF format, which among other things has altered the size of some records by adding and/or removing some fields. I don't think that's a mess we want to get involved with, when we have the option of using more open formats. Additionally, I'm not sure that the new NIF records for physics and behavior has ever been fully reverse-engineered and documented.