Planetary Annihilation Engine Architecture Update #1 - UI

Re: Planetary Annihilation Engine Architecture Update #1 - U

Talking about the UI, I found something on youtube which looks realy cool to me. It's called "Scaleform".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKDuzVbi50Q

Re: Planetary Annihilation Engine Architecture Update #1 - U

var means within local scope, no var means global variable name. Yeah, I know it's stupid, but var keyword is not optional, it has meaning whether it is there or not.

Although, personally, I would have preferred Dart as a programming language. It is far more robust and already implemented in Chromium (and thus WebKit). And I think Uber will appreciate having to write an API in Dart rather than JavaScript.

I suppose it is a pragmatic solution, but you could use Dart considering it being a closed application (i.e. a modified WebKit).

But yeah, if Uber is looking for a reasonable alternative to JavaScript, then Dart is the best bet.

Re: Planetary Annihilation Engine Architecture Update #1 - U

Ugh, don't want to use flash for menus. I will take Javascript over flash anyday.
Hell, I would take most esoteric languages flash.

Re: Planetary Annihilation Engine Architecture Update #1 - U

A web browser-like architecture? Oh no...

Code:

Shockwave has crashed
Java needs to update!
Enhance your D-Gun today! _ [] X
running ctrlActrlD.exe...

*cold shivers*

Re: Planetary Annihilation Engine Architecture Update #1 - U

Hell, I would take cutting wounds in my arms and pouring salt in them over Flash anyday.

Re: Planetary Annihilation Engine Architecture Update #1 - U

To my mind the most interesting thing about using JS for scripting is the number of ways you can write something else and then compile to JS. Emscripten, clojure, coffee-script, etc etc.

Re: Planetary Annihilation Engine Architecture Update #1 - U

That only shows how horrible JavaScript, because people have to do that. No one would write in some sort of secondary language and then 'translate' it to C++ (even though C++ is also horrible). It puts a strange distance between you and the actual code. And because this UI development is only going to work for PA, there is no need to think about whether it works in Trident or Gecko, because there is only WebKit, but CoffeScript or whatever won't know that, so it'll give you all that extra fluff to detect which browser it is.

I'd rather avoid the continuation passing style programming nightmare that is JavaScript.

Re: Planetary Annihilation Engine Architecture Update #1 - U

well, here comes the complaining leaderboard. I am sure, if Uber has the time, they will think about an alternative too, but I am sure JS is fine too.

Re: Planetary Annihilation Engine Architecture Update #1 - U

Have you ever written anything in JavaScript? Or at least, have you written a lot in JavaScript? The more you write in JavaScript, the more you hate it.

This is part of the reason I am seriously reconsidering whether I want to continue to be a web developer.

Because unlike so many other web developers, I don't have a Stockholm Syndrome towards JavaScript.

If there were no alternatives to write in a web rendering engine, then fine, I can live with it. The WebKit UI idea is brilliant. I love that. But - fortunately by choosing WebKit - there is an alternative: Dart.

(And now, I shall stop ranting about JavaScript, and rambling about Dart.)

Re: Planetary Annihilation Engine Architecture Update #1 - U

I don't see any reason why dart2js won't work with our config.

Re: Planetary Annihilation Engine Architecture Update #1 - U

It's like a "local" webpage. It doesn't need internet access, and it's very fast. It's pretty much useful because it means the UI and game itself have a layer of separation.

EDIT:

Also, you could in theory do things like make an internet connection easily using it, if they added that functionality. They wouldn't need to implement an entirely new system. You could browse the wiki while playing, for example.

Re: Planetary Annihilation Engine Architecture Update #1 - U

well I myself not much, but I know some good system programmer, which clearly like JS, but I am not here to discuss how much I did or not, I am saying, I am sure you can do much, if you really want it even if it means to work with brainfuck. Its a game not a sdk.

Re: Planetary Annihilation Engine Architecture Update #1 - U

I said this on the reddit thread where it was posted and I'll say it here, I really like the way that the fans are being kept in the loop with everything during development and I REALLY like how a design ethos is entering all aspects of the game. Unified cross platform standards with extensibility and ease of modification being "baked in" so to speak is a really admirable goal.

I dont know much about programming and modding outside of doing a general Uni paper on Java so I cant speak on the appropriateness of various programming languages but this has made me really want to get involved and learn about programming and modding. It seems like a good place to start in terms of a game to mod as all the working parts are being show to us as they are being developed rather than being treated like a black box.

Re: Planetary Annihilation Engine Architecture Update #1 - U

Imagine a UI mod that brings up the wiki stats for any unit you hover over for example.

Re: Planetary Annihilation Engine Architecture Update #1 - U

The worst part about you saying this is that SupComDB just recently expired! D:

But that would be awesome, especially for Modded units and such.

Mike

Re: Planetary Annihilation Engine Architecture Update #1 - U

BTW the next big update will likely be about the terrain system. I'm pretty sure we've come up with something that's fairly unique but it's not all baked yet

Re: Planetary Annihilation Engine Architecture Update #1 - U

Looking forward to hearing about it!

Re: Planetary Annihilation Engine Architecture Update #1 - U

Could you give little bit earlier infos, when you stream next time? last time I missed the some half hour of the stream and yeah, dont want miss something . maybe through mail or fb status earlier.

Re: Planetary Annihilation Engine Architecture Update #1 - U

It's a bit off topic, but on that note of a stats database for units I would really like it if Uber had something like that officially hosted that contained all the official stats for all the official units. Something that could change over time as balance patches get released.

Re: Planetary Annihilation Engine Architecture Update #1 - U

What attitude and how much control will Uber have regarding UI mods for ranked matches? ie. do you see no restrictions as everyone potentially has equal opportunity to tweak their UI, or do you want ranked matches to be on equal footing and not allow (if possible) UI mods for ranked matches?