Saber, how does the new LOD system work, and what is the extent of your involvement with its development?
Are there plans to use a LOD system to help disguise the loading of planets?
So a Level of Detail system is used to decrease the performance costs that complex models can cause within a game engine. So to use our current models as an example, we have the pipe and console. Essentially, the farther from the objects you are the less detail you'd be able to see because of the distance. Because of that the game is able to swap out the model with a version that uses fewer polygons thus making it easier and faster to render for the game engine. So you'll notice with the objects in-game, if you get about 100 meters away from them they'll change slightly, that's actually the engine swapping out the "high" poly version for a lower poly version. For instance the Console turns into a cube, and the pipe turns into two polygons like our capsules are in-game currently.
My involvement is limited to creating the models, then after they've been textured I pass them off to Schema for implementation in-game. At the current time we have a two-stage LOD system, basically meaning that a model will only swap out once. In the future it's possible (though I don't know if we'll do it) to have multiple stages for the LOD system, so a model might get swapped out multiple times depending on your proximity to it. We have a number of plans for how planetary loading can be improved and will be working on those over the course of development. It is possible though that the LOD system could be used to make loading large chunks of blocks quicker, it all just comes down to what Schema wants to do with it.
Hi Saber!
I found that the console is actually translucent! With this behavior we can have some really nice looking interior lighting effects. So if it is just a bug i would ask if you can make it a feature, otherwise i'd say Great Work!
I could be mistaken, but I believe this is a bug which has affected other blocks in the game as well, so when that bug gets fixed this effect will likely go away. We have had system blocks which emit light in the past (power capacitors) but that effect was removed, though I'm not sure if it was a performance or aesthetic decision.
Any likelihood of a handheld model for Wireless?
Do you mean like a hand-held remote control to activate remote logic blocks? Because I hadn't thought of that before, but it sounds pretty cool. Kind of a garage door opener except for anything. haha I'll have to bring that idea up to the team. Could be useful.
I don't see why we can't get chairs as a decorative before the function itself is added.
Also, a work around for stairs would be to give it the hitbox of a wedge. You'd be able to walk up them, even if it might occasionally look a little wonky with the astronaut floating a tiny bit.
It just comes down to what our programmer's are able to work on in a given week, we've been trying to focus on some fairly specific things, so haven't had a lot of time to branch off into side projects. I don't know as much about it from a code standpoint, so I'm not sure if it would be easier, or more work to have a command chair as a decorative block and then later on try and switch it to a useable one. I can ask Schema about it but so far as I'm aware it will be waiting until he's ready to put it in-game in it's more useful state (at least being able to sit on it.). The design isn't technically final yet either, there are two styles, one which fits inside a cubic meter, another which is about a 1.25 meters tall. To be able to use the second requires some additional work on schema's part to allow us to have multi-block assets, so that one won't likely be the first version in for the command chair.
