UnseenDT

[Karl G.]

I've been progressing on the Unseen Data/Template Library, which is basically a simple way for to designate information in a way the computer can understand. It's designed in such a way that any kind of data--from NPC dialogue to dungeon layouts--can be specified. I'm going to teach you about it a little so that in the near future, you'll be able to create basic maps for BtR using only notepad.

First, there are two very basic concepts:

• templates - Describe a collection of data. Everything from the name of each piece to its type (see below) and size. Think of these as blueprints.
• objects - Fill a template with data that the program can use. We'll be dealing with these.

Second, the 3 most simple kinds of information that can be stored are:

• STRING - A string is simply words, numbers and symbols contained in double-quotes, such as "Ahoy, mate!"
• DWORD - A positive integer. Don't worry about what the name means. Just know that these values can only be positive.
• FLOAT - Any number, positive or negative, with decmial digits.

Finally (for tonight) there are symbols that you'll see in these files:

• Curly Braces, such as "{" and "}" indicate groups of data that should be processed together. If this phrase reminds you of templates, great! They are used in both templates and objects.
• Angled Brackets, the "<" and ">" symbols, indicate an ID number. These are generally very long and contain both letters and numbers. Don't worry about what they mean, for now.
• The Semicolon, last but not least, is probably the most important and easy-to-forget symbol. ";" is always placed at the end of a statement. We'll get into these further next time.

Sorry this wasn't very long--I have an Economics test over three chapters I haven't read tomorrow, so I need to go review. If you have any questions or suggestions, ask!

[Karl G.]

The power of UnseenDT can be seen in these new screenshots of the MapView utility:


1600x1200 | 800x600


1600x1200 | 800x600


1600x1200 | 800x600


The following code is the entire definition file for the scene--from it, you can probably get a feel for how UnseenDT maps work.

Code: Select all

//----------------------------------------------------------
// File:    map.dtf
//
// Copyright (c) Unseen Studios.   All rights reserved.
//----------------------------------------------------------



// All of the textures used by this map
D3DXTexture tex_flowerpot       { "flowerpot.tga"; };
D3DXTexture tex_frontofhouse    { "frontofhouse.tga"; };
D3DXTexture tex_knickknacks     { "knickknacks.tga"; };
D3DXTexture tex_pavement        { "pavement_3.tga"; };
D3DXTexture tex_rock            { "rock1.tga"; };


// Meshes
XOBJMesh mesh_arch          { "Arch.X"; };
XOBJMesh mesh_barn          { "Barn1.X"; };
XOBJMesh mesh_barrel        { "Barrel.X"; };
XOBJMesh mesh_flowerpot     { "flowerpot.X"; };
XOBJMesh mesh_longhouse     { "LongHouse1.X"; };
XOBJMesh mesh_largerock     { "LrgRock3.X"; };
XOBJMesh mesh_paperscrap    { "PaperScrap1.X"; };
XOBJMesh mesh_rocks         { "Rocks.X"; };
XOBJMesh mesh_rockslide     { "Rockslide1.X"; };


// Place some objects in the world
Object obj_rockslide01 {
    "mesh_rockslide";
    5.0; 0.0; 0.0;;
    0.0; 3.9; 0.0;;
    0.1; 0.1; 0.1;;
};


Object obj_archrow01 {
    "mesh_arch";
    10.0; 0.0; 5.0;;
    0.0; 1.570796325; 0.0;;
    0.01; 0.01; 0.01;;
};

Object obj_archrow02 {
    "mesh_arch";
    12.0; 0.0; 5.0;;
    0.0; 1.570796325; 0.0;;
    0.01; 0.01; 0.01;;
};


Object obj_archrow03 {
    "mesh_arch";
    14.0; 0.0; 5.0;;
    0.0; 1.570796325; 0.0;;
    0.01; 0.01; 0.01;;
};


Object obj_archrow04 {
    "mesh_arch";
    16.0; 0.0; 5.0;;
    0.0; 1.570796325; 0.0;;
    0.01; 0.01; 0.01;;
};

Object obj_archrow05 {
    "mesh_arch";
    18.0; 0.0; 5.0;;
    0.0; 1.570796325; 0.0;;
    0.01; 0.01; 0.01;;
};

Object obj_house01 {
    "mesh_longhouse";
    13.0; 0.0; 20.0;;
    0.0; 0.0; 0.0;;
    0.01; 0.01; 0.01;;
};

Object obj_house02 {
    "mesh_longhouse";
    5.0; 0.0; 23.0;;
    0.0; 5.97279; 0.0;;
    0.01; 0.01; 0.02;;
};

Object obj_house03 {
    "mesh_barn";
    21.0; 0.0; 20.0;;
    0.0; -0.2; 0.0;;
    0.01; 0.01; 0.01;;
};

Object obj_house04 {
    "mesh_barn";
    24.0; 0.0; 18.0;;
    0.0; 1.3; 0.0;;
    0.01; 0.01; 0.01;;
};

Object obj_house05 {
    "mesh_longhouse";
    20.0; 0.0; 10.0;;
    0.0; 1.56; 0.0;;
    0.01; 0.01; 0.01;;
};

Object obj_barrel01 {
    "mesh_barrel";
    10.0; 0.0; 15.0;;
    0.0; 0.0; 0.0;;
    0.01; 0.01; 0.01;;
};

Object obj_barrel02 {
    "mesh_barrel";
    10.0; 0.0; 15.2;;
    0.0; 0.0; 0.0;;
    0.01; 0.01; 0.01;;
};

Object obj_barrel03 {
    "mesh_barrel";
    10.2; 0.0; 15.0;;
    0.0; 0.0; 0.0;;
    0.01; 0.01; 0.01;;
};

Object obj_barrel04 {
    "mesh_barrel";
    10.2; 0.0; 15.2;;
    0.0; 0.0; 0.0;;
    0.01; 0.01; 0.01;;
};

Object obj_barrel05 {
    "mesh_barrel";
    10.1; 0.23; 15.1;;
    0.0; 0.0; 0.0;;
    0.01; 0.01; 0.01;;
};


Object obj_barrel06 {
    "mesh_barrel";
    10.3; 0.1; 15.3;;
    1.56; 0.0; 0.0;;
    0.01; 0.01; 0.01;;
};


Object obj_rocks01 {
    "mesh_rocks";
    10.1; 0.0; 15.1;;
    0.0; 0.0; 0.0;;
    0.03; 0.01; 0.03;;
};



Object obj_rocks02 {
    "mesh_rocks";
    11.1; 0.0; 13.1;;
    0.0; 0.0; 0.0;;
    0.03; 0.01; 0.03;;
};



Object obj_rocks03 {
    "mesh_rocks";
    6.1; 0.0; 16.1;;
    0.0; 0.0; 0.0;;
    0.03; 0.01; 0.03;;
};



Object obj_rocks04 {
    "mesh_rocks";
    19.1; 0.0; 7.1;;
    0.0; 0.0; 0.0;;
    0.03; 0.01; 0.03;;
};

[Joe M.]

those look nice (and kinda familiar...)

let's get the players in there!

[Lazy Babbage]

This scripting language wouldn't have anything in common with, say, the .x file format, would it?

[Karl G.]

I started out using the X-file format, actually. Then I realized that the .X file format is ridiculously lame and made a better one. The parser is about 1,500 lines of code and took 7 hours to write.

For just a quick look at why UnseenDT is better than .X:

* Supports object references and reference types
* Has GUID as a built-in type
* More logical placement of template IDs
* Object GUIDs are not built-in (they must be in the template)
* Can have simple data-types directly in the definition file (IE outside of a template, to specify constants)
* Can parse templates from a file, then use those templates in that same file. No need to pre-register.
* Supports any number of sub-objects
* Full multidimensional array support
* Support for C-style comments
* C-style comments are RECURSIVE so /* ... /* ... */ ... */ will be interpreted it as a single comment
* Binary and text-format read/write

[Joe M.]

so it sounds like the answer there is: yes, but this one's better. And I'll take it that way, myself.

[mongatard]

Those screenies look nice, can't wait for more!

[Keats]

I love you Karl.

*ahem*

I mean...I can definitely see tons of custom maps coming from this...a lot of games just by the nature of their design make it difficult to create custom worlds, but this definitely seems easy, even for complete morons like me.