Cerez

Forgive my total ignorance -- please bear with me -- but what exactly is rend2? I've been hearing a lot about it on the forums, and about its LOD support and the like, but I can't find any information about what it really is and how it's exactly meant to improve on the JK visual/gameplay experience. So, what is rend2?

Oh, my bad, then. What does that mean? A system setup issue?

Hang on, you're using make from the root of the source. cd into the "build" folder before running make. Follow the steps in the guide here, carefully: https://github.com/JACoders/OpenJK/wiki/Compilation-guide

If you're having trouble with the installer-maker, I suggest using InstallJammer as an alternative. I've found to be quite easy to use, neat, and efficient. Both the install and uninstall work really well.

I have limited knowledge on this, but it doesn't look like you're missing any libraries. It's more like there's something actually wrong with the code. Is this a custom build, or the latest source? Have you tried compiling a different version of the OpenJK source? Perhaps an earlier one?

And when in fixed 3rd person view, yes. And by adding more depth to cinematic cutscenes, we are creating a more lively world for the game overall. But the extent to which we add detailed animation needs to be balanced with the rest of the visuals in the game, I think. Unless we are upgrading the whole look of the game. So to an extent things like detailed facial wrinkles on all characters, detailed pupil animations, etc. may be an overkill. If the animation/detail stands out too much from the rest of the game, then that doesn't help to make it more believable. Edit: Not to mention that the more detail in the shapable face, the more work (the longer it takes) for the scripter/animator to script the character expressions for each cutscene for the game. Don't get me wrong, I admire the ambitious effort of putting as much detail in the facial animations as possible; I'm just not sure if for the game we need so much detail in the face. It may be better to simplify a little for the sake of blending the new animations into the game's existing world (style).

I can't really visualise how a GUI will work with scripting cutscenes, but the slider solution you've mentioned earlier sounds like a pretty advanced way to go -- anything more than that would be too much detail, I think. Just having the basic 6 emotions expressed is already an enormous improvement on the default JKA engine. Add to that eye movement, body animation, and lip-sync, and you've got one lively character. The fixed eye position has been a major detriment in the original game to realism, and the overall lack of expression in the character's faces. Visual breathing would be a nice addition to the idle animation, but I'm not sure if the Q3 engine would support something like that well without extensive expansion work. The pupil animation is a very fine touch. I'm not sure if it's worth all the work, but I'm sure it would add a lot of depth to drama with extreme close-ups on the eyes. The thing is, the Q3 engine does maintain a certain break from realism because of its old-school design, like the floating character walk, rough body animations, and other features. Therefore, my recommendation is actually to not spend too much time on very fine details, but to fill the void where there is really space for improvement -- like the added eye movement, improved body animations, and expanded facial expressions. If we can achieve a decent and believable level of detail in these areas, a feeling that the characters are alive will be created. The visual experience of the whole game world needs to be taken into account when considering how much detail is really worth it -- how much of it really makes a difference to the player. The player is in a suspension of disbelief based on the world they see in the game, and the way the game stylises real life. Maybe that's not what you want to hear, but I'm trying always to stay practical. I think these facial animations will be an amazing expansion to the core engine. But how much detail do we really need? That's something we need to consider carefully, I think -- especially because it impacts performance.

You're never gonna look at that scene the same way again!

Get the tools out and start tinkering yourself. It's worth it! It's quite fun, actually. And it makes you feel more able. I know exactly how you feel. I've been in your shoes not too long ago. You can't have it made for you, unfortunately. Gotta work for it. And I'm sure you'll find help along the way. But get things started on your own first. Put a little effort into it.

No worries. Hope it helps to see things clearer, for everyone. There's really no point for us to argue over these things anymore. Certain things have their way that's practically proven to be best over time. Copyright, especially in fan art, is a complicated issue all around the world, but as long as we keep with certain common sense, we should be fine. And let's leave the site rules and moderation to the decision of the staff. Among each other we can always share files privately, host, and create whatever we like. A community is more than just a site.

That's true. Someone released a version of the whole Academy Temple map recently in their vision that's a lot more vast and logical than the JK2 Jedi Academy. I'm not sure if anyone's ever ported the JK2 map to JK3. I imagine someone would have. But it would take a lot of work getting all the scripts to work, I would think. Still, it's an interesting idea.

Hi Eez! Thanks for your insight. Hmm... 1. A bit far-streched, but it could be, you're right. It could be a reference to the times before when Luke felt a disturbance due to the consequences of Kyle's mixed and rash actions. Since Kyle is quite the trouble-maker. That would explain a lot. I hadn't thought of it like that before. 2. That's fine, but that still doesn't explain his attitude here... which is quite snappy... They're bickering like a long-married couple, haha! 3. Yeah, but Kyle's been through a lot already. He doesn't really need to be watched over, like a little kid, LOL! XD And Luke was taking care of his students, so it's not really about the students' safety, either. I guess it could be a reference to Kyle's previous encounters with the dark side, but the way it's voice acted it still sounds too soft and caring... not like a casual warning at all... LOL!

Oh yes, publicly distributing a ported model you don't own on a website is a serious legal breach that could jeopardise this whole website very quickly. If you see this kind of thing being done elsewhere, not for private use, but as a public distribution, then that website is playing with dangerous fire. If you by chance see it done on JKHub, report it to the staff, so they can value up the risk and decide on the best course of action. If you make such a port, keep it to yourself, or share it only with your closest friends, hosted privately. Don't put the whole community in jeopardy by trying to publish it publicly on the site. You can use Dropbox to host your private files. Just open a free account with them: https://www.dropbox.com/

I understand your feelings on this, but please take my advice, @-Tulak_Hord- and @@Oobah, it's not worth the long discussion and bitterness. We've been through this a million times on these forums, and the general, practical effect comes down to this: Everything that is ported work is done privately, without open community involvement -- and most of the time you'll need to do this yourself. There is not enough manpower and interest/willingness around to take care of port requests. There is not even enough for full-scale, "legitimate" model design requests. However, there is plenty of friendly support in the community to help you learn aspects of modding, modelling, texturing, and coding yourself. While I know this doesn't offer immediate satisfaction, it's the only thing we have that works. If you want to get this model working in-game, you'll need to start learning the nuts and bolts of modelling yourself, and then perhaps seek help from a more experienced modeller to guide you in your efforts, or help you out. It may take a while, but eventually you'll get there, and it will open new possibilities for you to experiment with the game you like, and expand on the experience. You'll see that modelling is not a simple task, either. It takes a lot of time and effort to get even the simplest model in-game. It took me a while to learn that, too. Simple porting is not nearly as simple as it sounds. I wish you good luck and courage to follow your wishes and dreams. I hope you'll join the community as an active creative member. Be patient and don't try to change things -- just accept them as they are. I've learned the hard way that some things have long histories and reasons for being so in a community. And this is a special community with its own rules and etiquette. It's a friendly and productive community, but everyone needs to take an active part, and no-one is here to serve the other. We are all creatively active in our own work. We welcome you to take part in this with your own projects. I hope this helps to understand how things are working around here, and helps to avoid any misunderstandings.

LOL! Since when did Luke turn out to be the overly protective, motherly type? Where did they get that idea? Because he believed in his father's good side, and in his own family? But the way the whole thing is laid out, really makes you wonder if it's not meant to hint that way on purpose. Even Luke's movement in this scene is quite motherly. Perhaps it was meant to be a mother-father parody/joke, but to introduce the characters in this light to newcomers is still a bit... what?? After all, the story is meant to be taken seriously, to a degree at least... Anyway, I've never really been able to get over it. Every time I start a new SP game, I get this sudden intimacy happening between Luke and Kyle, and my mind goes: what did I just witness? What's going on here?? At first I thought I had missed something personal between them from JK2, but then I played JK2, and I realised that this has nothing to do with Kyle's story after all. Now I just can't fathom what exactly was transpiring in the writers' heads when they wrote this. Perhaps it's a combination of the bad acting/emphasis and the intended joke in the writing, but the way it comes together it still makes for one big suggestive experience. It is more defined, actually, than Jaden's and Rosh's friendship, LOL! What in the world indeed...

Sorry for the double post (and the slightly off-topic). I couldn't resist... Every time someone mentions Rosh, I think of the scenes with him in these parodies:

Luke: "I sense a disturbance in the Force." Kyle: "You always sense a disturbance in the Force... but yeah, I sense it, too. It could just be residual Dark Side aura from the Temple." Luke: "Perhaps. Kyle, why don't you..." Kyle: "...stay here and investigate? I'd love to! Why don't you take the kids back home now." Luke: "Be careful Kyle..." I've always wondered what exactly is happening between Kyle and Luke in this scene? And it's not even about the acting; it's in the writing itself! 1. What would make Kyle say to Luke that he's always sensing a disturbance in the Force, in this context? 2. What's up with Kyle's attitude when asked to investigate the disturbance, and why the belittling "kids" remark? 3. And then Luke's overwhelming care for Kyle's wellbeing... Am I the only one who's getting a strange notion about these lines? I thought Luke was supposed to be in love with Mara, and Kyle with Jan. What on earth were the writers thinking when they wrote these suggestive lines between Kyle and Luke in the original JKA script? And they said Juhani was way out there...

Hmm... if you ask me, a character like Ahsoka (later in the series) would be fantastic. A kickass Padawan that you look up to at the beginning of the game, who then suddenly turns on the Jedi Academy and joins the dark side (with good reason, of course), to your great shock/surprise. That would have made the plot a lot more emotionally involving. First there needs to be a connection between the player and the supporting character, and then the sudden twist happens to stir things up. It would have made the dark side ending a lot more interesting, as well as the light side. Rosh's role/performance is key in that regard. I honestly didn't feel much when I chose to kill him -- maybe relief -- in the game. It should have felt a lot more tragic... KOTOR But I think we may be too used to his whiney butt by now, that JKA would not be the same without him. That said, I would welcome voice acting alternatives. Not just for Rosh, but for all the characters; especially female Jaden -- she has as much expression in her voice as a rock, and let's not mention the acting... Even Bob Bergen's voice acting was absolutely awful. Which leads me to believe that the audio production was kept on an all-time-low budget with horrible management. I'm pretty sure there was close to zero quality control involved. Edit: What's funny is that they kept the voice actor for Rosh to appear later in KOTOR, though in a more fitting role (the arrogant and annoying antagonist, Brejik). LucasArts was recycling many of their voice actors -- which is nice to see happen for the actors.

I've heard that the family bond idea developed as he was working through the trilogy. Which would explain a lot of things, but it also makes Star Wars an incredibly lucky production. Either someone on George's team -- or he himself in his younger years -- had very good insight into emotional storytelling, or he was on a lucky trail, on destiny's trail, as he developed the story. So no, he wouldn't have seen the ending relationship coming during the making of the second movie. It was still in development. He was probably thinking there needs to be an emotional connection between Luke and Leia, and Han, and that the easiest way to do this was to make Leia feel something for Luke and vice versa. That later developed into a romantic relationship between Han and Leia, and a family blood relationship between Luke and Leia. But it does have to be one of the most awkward in-development scenes in movie history.

I haven't experienced this. I was able to adjust the volume level properly using the slider for music, voice, and sfx in the latest version of OpenJK. I've paid close attention to this because I was trying to match the voice to music audio level in comparison to my other games (I like my voices/speaking to be heard clearly). I've adjusted all the sliders to a lower level. I don't have hardware sound enabled, though. Could it be a sound card driver issue in your case, @@DT85?

Try it and see. I expect the Chromebook (a laptop) should have better tech specs than the Nexus (a phone), which should make up for the performance cost, if any. If you want to get lots of native code games working on a Chromebook, it's a worthy attempt to get a full version of the Android OS working on it first, though. Can one dual-boot Android and Ubuntu? Edit: http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2390180/google-will-now-allow-android-and-linux-usb-boot-on-chromebooks Be sure to backup all your files before attempting such an operation.

Yes and yes. Sounds good. I can't see any defects myself. Thanks @@Xycaleth. Edit: For convenience's sake, I'll post the solution/fix here: In "code/ui/ui_shared.cpp", change line #7231 to read: ent.renderfx = RF_NOSHADOW; And recompile the game.

@@Xycaleth, the fix worked! Thank you so much! https://github.com/JACoders/OpenJK/issues/636 The handling of the lighting in the comms window is now identical to the retail version of the game. Is there any disadvantage to having RF_LIGHTING_ORIGIN removed?

Oh, LOL! Okay! That makes sense now. I was starting to panic! (I saw your message on the bugtrack. Thanks. I'm trying it now.)