The Link-Dead network code is probably the toughest thing I’ve ever programmed. The concept is amazingly simple (check out John Carmack’s Quake 3 snapshot model) but coding it is a different story. Because of its 100% reliable nature it is extremely prone to human code error. For example the Soldat netcode could go through a lightning and nuclear storm and it would still work (maybe the occasional team switch bug but it would keep on going). This is actually the first time in my career that I decided to use the test-driven programming model to catch out bugs at the coding phase. Wish me luck.
Update report #19
Written by MM. Posted at 3:34 pm on March 26th, 2009
16 comments.
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Good luck
Good luck !
#debug
good luck
Good luck >:3
Did you see my post before Michal?
The Age of Empires devs also had problem with network bugs.
So they implemented a demo system to record the game match (which just captured and replayed network packets), allowing them to re-visit how a bug occurred at a later date by watching the demo.
Perhaps you may find that useful too?
Good luck!
Goodebugluck!
im overconfidenced you will succeed!
You can do it!
Human code error…?
Pshh, as if there were any.
Good luck!
I read from some programming tutorials that you can find bugs more efficiently by reading trough your code than by testing it.
this sort of thing has cropped up before, and it has always been due to human error.
im human error, suck on that
Michal, I think you did too many “untagged stuff”, you broke the counter.
I studied quake 3 a lot too to do the netcode for my game (Spectre remake. Beta version available here: http://www.brilliant-bytes.com/games/vc/vc-testrelease-0.3.3.zip )
It might sound like I’m plugging myself here (and I am!) but Soldat was very influential in my exploration of multiplayer gaming.
Keey up the good work as usual MM!
Hey everybody!
Michal, I know this sounds far-fetched, but would it be possible to create a kind of “world map”, in which you don’t play, instead just select something, like a territory/map or a subtitle(for example for a chapter in a story) or whatever. SO a kind of a menu, that takes you to different scenes depending on the selection.
This would be a great base for modding some single-player-fun, or even more complex multiplayer tournaments, where 2 teams have to strategically conquer maps, either one-at-a-time or all-maps playable at-once (this second option would of course require big teams and maybe a team-leader that can change between maps or comunicate between maps during play).
Furthermore, (and even if the first part of what I said may be possible, this is probably not:) would it be possible to…well… turn off some physics on a map and make a kind of top-view perspective?
Okay, and after that’s been answered, the final point: what I’m saying is… Another World can be recreated up to a pretty high accuracy level. Would it be possible to recreate a classic such as “sword of the samurai” using your linkdead engine?
Greets