All according to script

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Okulo
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Joined: 05 Feb 2012, 16:11

All according to script

Post by Okulo »

We’ve reached a new milestone in OpenMW development: We have 100% script functionality! Morrowind is a game that uses scripts for special events to take place. If one of these scripts does not run, these events would not take place and quests might not be finishable or magic effects might not work. Sometimes these scripts cannot be straight-up read by OpenMW, for example because it has these stray arguments that we have talked about a while ago. Fortunately, that is no longer the case. From now on, all 1204(!) scripts in Morrowind can be read and applied. This is a big leap towards feature completeness, so unsurprisingly, high fives were given all around.

For a while we have been looking at ways to optimize our codebase. One of the ways to do so is by fixing so-called memory leaks, which means that a program uses some of your computer’s memory, but doesn’t give it back when it’s done. As a result, such programs will usually start taking up more and more memory leading to performance degradation. A while ago Scrawl found one of these leaks in our code base, specifically in the part of our interface. We use MyGUI for our interface because it’s a fantastic piece of software. It speaks volumes about the quality of MyGUI that it has needed so little work on our part considering all the stuff we do with it. But still, this one thing should kinda be fixed.

And this is why open-source projects rock. Scrawl and the main MyGUI guy, Altren, have been talking. Altren has even graced us with his presence. It looks like Scrawl is going to be working a bit closer with MyGUI to improve it in a faster pace than would usually be the case. That should put a stop to any issues that crop up in not just OpenMW, but also other projects that try to do similar things. For this purpose, MyGUI has left SourceForge and is now on Github, so if you’re also a developer, and you want to keep an eye on it and possibly contribute, make sure to follow them, too!

Last week we were talking about fonts. Not the most action-packed thing about OpenMW, but it’s important as it’s the main way that you and the game communicate. Markelius has been working on a font called Open Magicka that will look nice and sharp at any size. First every character present in the original Magic Cards needs to be redone. The next step is support for international characters such as the Cyrillic alphabet. But Markelius needs some information – specifically which languages Morrowind has been translated to that don’t use the Roman or Cyrillic alphabets. (For example, if there was a Japanese version, OpenMW would need to support that as well and thus the Open Magicka font would need to include those characters.) If you happen to know this, please post in the relevant thread on the forums.

Final bit of news is a project that a fellow OpenMW fan has started. Deonsion has begun work on an asset replacement project. For now he’s working on 3d models of rocks and trees to start out with, but he also wants to tackle animations once he has learned how to work with the relevant software. We all know that Morrowind’s default animations and graphics are very 2002 and that makes this a majestic undertaking. If there are people who could help Deonsion out making the ultimate graphics pack for OpenMW, do get in touch! Post in the thread linked above and tell us what you can do. Every helping hand is one more. OpenMW is our best bet to play this timeless game with graphics that belong in this decade – and together, we can make that happen!
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Knots
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Re: All according to script

Post by Knots »

The way you talk about remaking assets in high fidelity for OpenMW, it's like we don't already have a rich supply of those coming from the mainline MW modding scene. Does the guy working on these already know?

I'm not saying he should stop or that he couldn't make improvements to the current pool of resources, just saying that we already have some pretty nice replacements for the animations and models you make no mention of.
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Okulo
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Re: All according to script

Post by Okulo »

I honestly had no idea there were animation mods. You should totally tell him, I bet he'd love to know. There might also be licensing issues if he wants to release it under a libre license. But that all depends on him.
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Greendogo
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Re: All according to script

Post by Greendogo »

No! No! Shhhhhh, don't tell him about the animation mods. If he makes new models based on new skeletons with new animations we won't have to look very hard for an animator for the Example Suite :lol:
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lysol
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Re: All according to script

Post by lysol »

The thing is, 99% of all the assets already available for morrowind are based on photos (which is boring imo) and are also diverse in style, meaning, you can never get a "complete" feeling with it, all assests will vary in quality and style. Having a huge pack with high res and high poly assets in the same style as morrowind would kick ass.
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Knots
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Re: All according to script

Post by Knots »

Here are the animation mods I'm talking about: for beasts & for everyone else.

Basically everyone running a modded install of this game uses these AFAIK. They SHOULD be.
Greendogo wrote:No! No! Shhhhhh, don't tell him about the animation mods. If he makes new models based on new skeletons with new animations we won't have to look very hard for an animator for the Example Suite :lol:
A new skeleton would be so baller. It's just sad that using something like that would necessitate leaving behind any clothing and armor mods from the past that no one decides to convert as I understand it.

I still kind of feel like making whole new models from scrap is a wasted effort, though, when it would be pretty easy to get permission to use one of the replacers already out there for Skyrim. I mean, if you're going to throw in a whole new skeleton, why not? MW body replacers in the past have always been a compromise between quality and keeping compatibility with MW's original armor and clothing assets. At least if you used one of the popular Skyrim bodies, you'd start with a really good base of support complete with, assumedly, Skywind models in the future.

Once again, if Deonsion wants to try to one-up these guys, more power to him and I will be looking forward to seeing his work :3
lysol wrote:The thing is, 99% of all the assets already available for morrowind are based on photos (which is boring imo) and are also diverse in style, meaning, you can never get a "complete" feeling with it, all assests will vary in quality and style. Having a huge pack with high res and high poly assets in the same style as morrowind would kick ass.
Gotta disagree with your first point in that it's impossible to get a "complete" feeling from current replacers. Obviously a team working together under common leadership would yield better results, but MW can already look extremely good just using MGEXE and the right community replacers.

Definitely a group effort to replace everything with assets that all meet a certain art and quality standard would "kick ass" but let's please not take a dump on what we already have, it's incredible you can make MW look so good thanks to our awesome community that continues to churn out high quality replacers even to this day.
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psi29a
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Re: All according to script

Post by psi29a »

Knots wrote:A new skeleton would be so baller.
I guess I'm just feeling my age... but what does that even mean? For science, what part of the world do you live in? The more specific the better.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=baller
^-- This is what comes to mind when I read 'baller', one who balls... Skee-Lo - I Wish ;)
I wish I was little bit taller
I wish I was a baller
I wish I had a girl who looked good
I would call her
I wish I had a rabbit in a hat with a bat
And a six four Impala
Last edited by psi29a on 18 Aug 2014, 23:37, edited 2 times in total.
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raevol
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Location: Caldera

Re: All according to script

Post by raevol »

Here in California, "baller" would be a slang term roughly translating to "rich", implying luxury and excess.
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Greendogo
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Joined: 26 Aug 2011, 02:04

Re: All according to script

Post by Greendogo »

We're no reusing Morrowinds skeletons for the Example Suite, and having compatibility with Morrowind mod models isn't a goal.
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