[MUD-Dev] Re: Mathengine

[Apocalypse]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ling [mailto:K.L.Lo-94 at student.lboro.ac.uk]
> Sent: Monday, February 15, 1999 9:22 AM
> To: Mud-dev
> Subject: [MUD-Dev] Mathengine

> Diverging slightly, has anyone got comments on the voxel engine used in
> the commercial game to be released called Outcast?  I watched a video and
> it looks rather stylish.  Eye candy, yummy!
> 


Actually I have seen several revisions of the Voxel engine Ling. 
A company called "NovaLogic" released a jet fighter game several years
back, using VoxelSpace V1. It was quicker than most other engines in
displaying complex mapped surfaces. It had a drawback of "pixelation"
(yes, I know it dosent use pixels, it uses voxels, but there is 
no other way to describe the effect as easily as pixelation),
on certain items. For example, say your looking out the side window
of your jet, doing Mach I, in relatively clear skies, you could
tell when someone fired a missle at you from miles away; a black
"dot" or pixel would appear, and move slightly. "A dot!!!" you say???
Yes, after playing the game for some time, you could tune out the
"noise" in the sky, and truly differentiate the missile from the 
garbage.
They refined the engine, and produced a tank sim, and now Delta Force.
In Delta Force, Voxel v2 is used, and is again, a leap faster at 
displaying complex surfaces over "miles" of simulated terrain. 
if you have binoculars or a scope in the game, you can actually 
zoom in on objects and features over 1Km away. The amazing thing 
about it is not many things are hidden, that is using a back buffer,
or not being drawn, and it is just incredibly fast,a more traditional 
engine displaying miles of mapped terrain, and players moving constantly 
would probably choke. The Voxel V2 engine however is plagued with
the "dot" problem.  If a player is hiding behind a hill, with only his
weapon barrel exposed, you will see a dot or two, of a different color
than the hillside. This is not only at close range, you could be 
literally 900m away(game measurement), and see the dot. 
Its fast, its slick, and its neat, but hopefully they can correct 
the problem of the "magic dot" as we call it.

Shakti