VisManager enhancment
by Gregory "Centove" McLean · in RTS Starter Kit · 12/05/2004 (7:00 am) · 15 replies
Here is a small enhancement to the vismanager for the kit.
It implements a vision sorted list of the units it manages to correct the issue of units with smaller vision ranges hiding targets from units with longer vision ranges. So we sort the list of units from smallest vision range to largest. When processing the list now, all the small vision range units are handled first and then we work our way up to the ones that can see farther. We have tested this with mutliple connections and everything appears to work as intended. (IOW we couldn't break it)
The other issue it corrects is if while walking the list of units a client crashes or otherwise goes away we won't crash on that case.
There is a consoleMethod hack there to work around a bug we have with the RTSConnections vs GameConnections but you shouldn't need it as its related to the AI work we are doing.
You'll need This fix applied before this stuff will work.
That should fix the initial unit visibilty bug as a bonus as well.
Patch no longer available sorry
Anyway enjoy and comments are appreciated.
Screenshot of it in action here
It implements a vision sorted list of the units it manages to correct the issue of units with smaller vision ranges hiding targets from units with longer vision ranges. So we sort the list of units from smallest vision range to largest. When processing the list now, all the small vision range units are handled first and then we work our way up to the ones that can see farther. We have tested this with mutliple connections and everything appears to work as intended. (IOW we couldn't break it)
The other issue it corrects is if while walking the list of units a client crashes or otherwise goes away we won't crash on that case.
There is a consoleMethod hack there to work around a bug we have with the RTSConnections vs GameConnections but you shouldn't need it as its related to the AI work we are doing.
You'll need This fix applied before this stuff will work.
That should fix the initial unit visibilty bug as a bonus as well.
Patch no longer available sorry
Anyway enjoy and comments are appreciated.
Screenshot of it in action here
#2
In other words, this fix, while better in some ways, still doesn't meet spec for multi-player.
12/06/2004 (4:03 pm)
@Josh: just to keep you in synch, this is the version we are currently working with, and have uncovered additional performance issues (as we discussed email).In other words, this fix, while better in some ways, still doesn't meet spec for multi-player.
#3
Thanks!
03/10/2005 (1:54 pm)
@Stephen: it sounds from this post (and the other VisManager post) that you guys are/were working away on fixing various issues. Is there an update or a resource for this now?Thanks!
#4
03/10/2005 (3:35 pm)
Without going too far past what I'm allowed to say or not say, I think you can expect a new visManager implementation in the next major RTS-SK release. No estimation on a timeline however!
#5
03/10/2005 (5:22 pm)
Dead ScreenShot link
#6
03/10/2005 (6:01 pm)
Screenshot link fixed.
#7
03/10/2005 (7:54 pm)
Is this really an "enhancement" or a bug fix? Screenshot looks awesome BTW!
#8
The new implementation is in GG's hands, and as far as we know will be part of the next release after it's been vetted and performance optimized (although we're pretty happy with it so far!).
03/10/2005 (8:04 pm)
It's a combination of the two. When testing out multi-player during our port of RTS-SK to our dedicated server/dedicated client environment, we found that there were a couple of design issues with the original implementation--namely, units could be determined as "visible" by one unit, and then determined "not visible" by a later unit, and therefore would not be visible at the end of the pass. While troubleshooting the issue and then implementing to fix it, we wound up re-writing most of the visManager's way of doing business.The new implementation is in GG's hands, and as far as we know will be part of the next release after it's been vetted and performance optimized (although we're pretty happy with it so far!).
#9
11/29/2005 (1:30 pm)
Anyone have luck with applying the patch on a windows machine? 
#10
04/19/2006 (7:06 am)
Hard to read through these old messages and realize how many things the RTS pack was going to have in the next release, and to know that it has only really been updated one time, and that was just after it launched. IMO GG either needs to give the RTS pack some support, or post a disclaimer on the sales page.
#11
Ricky wants updates!!
04/20/2006 (8:49 am)
*BUMP* The link is dead, can I get this somewhere? Or has it been fixed?Ricky wants updates!!
#12
04/21/2006 (4:02 pm)
Sorry the machine that had that patch went tits up and my codebase isn't even remotely close to the released stuff anymore. Sorry.. 
#13
anyone ?
02/07/2010 (8:10 pm)
So the vismanager is still broken ? I'm seeing using blinking in/out of view as they run towards me ... there has got to be an update/fix made in the last 4 years.anyone ?
#14
For one of our projects we called in Thomas Huen help as he had been doing fixes on the VisManager, and although initially seemed to work, the essence of the VM is not really functional: in multiplayer setups, it just wont do it.
We (Guy Allard, really) ended up rewriting it for the next iteration. I'll try to contact Derek from GG to get the status of that release.
02/08/2010 (9:31 am)
Sadly, yes: the VM is broken, and despite some efforts from guys from the community here, it still is.For one of our projects we called in Thomas Huen help as he had been doing fixes on the VisManager, and although initially seemed to work, the essence of the VM is not really functional: in multiplayer setups, it just wont do it.
We (Guy Allard, really) ended up rewriting it for the next iteration. I'll try to contact Derek from GG to get the status of that release.
#15
Its puzzling to hear different views on whats happening with TGE / TGEA support and such ... I've seen it stated that its EOL already and no more content being created.
But colleges are still using it for courses -- I think I paid like $270 for a license through the school website (Without realizing that since I had a T3D code license, it included TGE/TGEA)
So, they ought to not forget that its going to bring in revenue for awhile -- even if they have a new "flagship" to get behind. There were ~30 students in my class this term, everyone of us bought a TGE license ... even at $100 per license, that should be a good incentive to keep TGE "alive".
Really is too bad ... as even if its not "state of the art", its a great tool for prototyping with little cost. And even good practice for students, rather than having to buy $1000 license for T3D to get coding practice.
Anyhow, maybe they will give it away FREE source code ... with the $100 T3D binary only license or something equally brilliant. I find it sad to see all the efforts people have put into over the years, go to waste --
02/10/2010 (7:57 pm)
Thanks Novack!Its puzzling to hear different views on whats happening with TGE / TGEA support and such ... I've seen it stated that its EOL already and no more content being created.
But colleges are still using it for courses -- I think I paid like $270 for a license through the school website (Without realizing that since I had a T3D code license, it included TGE/TGEA)
So, they ought to not forget that its going to bring in revenue for awhile -- even if they have a new "flagship" to get behind. There were ~30 students in my class this term, everyone of us bought a TGE license ... even at $100 per license, that should be a good incentive to keep TGE "alive".
Really is too bad ... as even if its not "state of the art", its a great tool for prototyping with little cost. And even good practice for students, rather than having to buy $1000 license for T3D to get coding practice.
Anyhow, maybe they will give it away FREE source code ... with the $100 T3D binary only license or something equally brilliant. I find it sad to see all the efforts people have put into over the years, go to waste --
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