PlaneShift
Development => Development Deliberation => Topic started by: Gluonite on November 01, 2005, 05:26:50 am
-
Hiya guys,
How badly do you need dev help? The PS site advertises a lot of open positions in its recruiting section, but what are you hurting for most?
-
You\'re a jack of all trades? Anyway, PS is an opensource project, so there can never be enough/too many of developers. Only the music department has too little to do AFAIK.
-
For a programming point of view.
I think our biggest weakness is in formalized testing methods. Right now we do things and test them locally and commit them. What we need is a more formal method of doing testing and more code peer review. As can be seen by the current server crashes we are allowing a lot of stuff to get through. This leads into the need for somebody to do documentation. However, that\'s a full time job really and it requires a pretty good technical background. It\'s hard to find somebody that is a talented programming AND wants to write documentation.
Also we need more of a web master that can do updates to the laanx and main sites.
-
Need? Hurting for? We have enough of everything to keep going, but we can use more of anything. So, if you can\'t decide where to help out, do what you are best at.
-
Ya, that\'s good advice stfrn. I guess I must be better at graphics than anything else here. That\'s the trouble with me though, I can write, illustrate, model, texture, do flash and other web work, even do sound production. Judging from the way you are all talking in these threads, I don\'t think I have enough experience with C++ to make a valuable contribution. The other question I have is this: If I\'m a Mac user and want to help with the production of the game, modelling and texturing-wise, is there any way to do it? If I produce .DXF files can anyone actually put them to use? or maybe 3DMF? I\'ve read through the contribution notes, but they all seem to be very PC oriented and require Blender, CS and whatnot. Is there any hope? or should I just stick to 2D?
Thanks
-
Well, almost all 3d models have to be converted at one point- planeshift uses cal3d models for actors, and .spr models for items as far as I know. There are a few converters for various formats and I htink more are being writen all the time, so as long as you can write to a format blender of 3dmax can import you would be ok.
for actual details see http://crystalspace3d.org/tikiwiki/tiki-index.php?page=Creating+art+for+Crystal+Space
Actually, one thing that would nice to have is more people who could bridge various areas. I know very little about art, so it\'s hard for me to program areas that affect/ are affect by what artists do. However someone who could do both would be able to help people like me :P
-
The file format DXF is also used by Blende
from http://www.gamehippo.com/gamedev/utilities.shtml
So unless the dxf->blend is horrible, it should work ok.
-
Blender works in Mac, as does python, and thus you can use blender to export to Crystalspace using blender2crystal. Blender is powerful enough to do all of the 3d design, modeling, and texturing and when combined with The Gimp you have a free software set that can do everything you need. I don\'t know what else you mean by things being PC oriented. :)
-
Originally posted by Consensus
I don\'t think I have enough experience with C++ to make a valuable contribution.
The programmers just seem to be more vocal on the forums. :) If you\'re an art dev, you don\'t have to be an expert programmer. (does help if you know a little) You just have to work well in a group with lots of different specialties. These sorts of projects can only get done if people work together. Artist gives art to the programmer, who makes the game capable of using it; programmer adds a new feature, which new art is then requested for. And, the sound guys sit in the corner until the game stops crashing... :P
-
Well, I guess I\'m having a hard time figuring out the resources needed to get going. There isn\'t any CS that is ready for the Mac without having to compile the binaries yourself from the source code. arg. Who wants to send me the finished binary? ;)
-
You don\'t need CS to be an art dev! *points up to everyone else\'s comments*
Just work on making models and texturing them. Then export them to CS format as explained above (which doesn\'t require CS) and send them off to the head of the art department for review.
-
ok, I can do that, but I really wanted to be able to \"proof\" them by looking at them in CS before I showed them to anyone. I wouldn\'t want some mesh glitch to elude me in Blender and then find out it renders like do do in CS later. Make sense?
And who exactly IS the head of the art dept? I\'ve been looking for this info for days and I can\'t seem to find it. It would be nice if that organizational chart on the PS site had some names attached, not just titles. I\'m sure this is posted somewhere, it\'s just a matter of tracking it down.
Thanks everyone.
-
A bit out of date, but still useful:
http://www.planeshift.it/helpus.html
Basically, Luca (Talad) runs the show.
I believe there\'s some CS tools that can be used to test meshes.
-
Thanks Dave, I should have seen it there.
Now if I could only solve my Blender2crystal install problem, I\'d be generating stuff by the cartload by now.
-
:)
If you seriously wish to apply to the team, email Luca. Random submissions of art are not accepted, unlike code. I believe a sample or portfolio submission is required, as well.
-
Thanks Dave, I already have emailed to info@plainshift a couple of days ago with a few samples and a paragraph or two on me and haven\'t heard anything. But then again, I saw that Karyuu said in another thread that it can take up to a month for a reply about this. I guess Luca must be a busy boy.
-
Make sure your email includes all the information asked for on the Help Us page of the website, or it may be discarded. :)
-
yup moogie, i followed it to the letter. I didn\'t want any technical excuses for turning me down. I\'m serious about helping out and have the skills to do it. I just get the feeling that there are lots of offers from people to help out who are not up to a professional level of production and this causes the rest of the dev staff to be wary of newcomers wanting to lend a hand. Just give me a WTB tag and a art job to do and see what I come up with. ;) If you haven\'t seen the sample I posted in FanArt then do a search and take a look. Karyuu seemed to like it as far as I could tell.
Thanks.
-
Originally posted by acraig
I think our biggest weakness is in formalized testing methods. Right now we do things and test them locally and commit them. What we need is a more formal method of doing testing and more code peer review. As can be seen by the current server crashes we are allowing a lot of stuff to get through.
I am not a pro of the PS\'code, is there testing methodes? I mean \"we\" should have automatical client and a server running to test. (Not always, but when there would be major changes. ) And the client would have to send all possible command and would have to check the if the result is what it should...
I know that players can do that but it is slower...
Originally posted by acraig
This leads into the need for somebody to do documentation. However, that\'s a full time job really and it requires a pretty good technical background. It\'s hard to find somebody that is a talented programming AND wants to write documentation.
I wanted to do it. But english is not my mother-language and I am far to be bilingual and about the technical background, mine is not \"pretty good\"...
But a team of not-that-great people could do that, I think. The point is that this is no really obvious what extern people can do. The only atricle about is the help-us page and with experience, you will know that you can also debug but that\'s all...
Originally posted by acraig
Also we need more of a web master that can do updates to the laanx and main sites.
I sent a email to info@planeshift.it but I have no answers... I would like do to it and I have enough experience in html do to it. So I could update it. But I would like to change the organization too : writing the \"dynamical part\", ie team compostion and update, in xml&xls and the \"static core\" in xhtml.1.0 FramSet + CSS 2 as a beginning. I am easy with xml and xhtml but not really with xls, I am learning it, maybe will I be soon able to use it efficiency.
-
Originally posted by lynx_lupo
Only the music department has too little to do AFAIK.
:(
-
A part that I don\'t think that the music department doesn\'t have anything to do - there are always little things that can be done - if you don\'t get a reply through email from Talad, I would recommend to catch him on IRC (irc.freenodet.net #planeshift) when he is online.
For producing art you don\'t have to have CS compiled and therefore your programming skills can be not existant. There is a package with the applications from CS (like walktest and viewmesh) that can be downloaded somewhere to test the stuff.
-
According to Talad, web masters has not researched by the team.
The guide has been wrote using docbook dtd, so it may be nice to have a pdf version, that would be easy to do...
The faq, the organization of the team, the history (... ) could be write the same way and added to this pdf or create additionals pdf files.
-
Consensus, one more bit of advice, if you are serious about helping please be patient. Besides the effects of RL diversions that plague us everyday, there will be some additional delays involved. The team leaders invest a fair amount of time and expectations in prospects. It is painful, as well as counter productive, to see prospects get involved and then have them slowly fade away with their tasks left undone.
So there is a certain stick-to-itiveness that must be displayed. In the mean time relax, play some planeshift and keep creating lots of models (oh yeah, and keep those vertices counts down ? whatever that means). ;)
P.S. This will win the award for the post with the most dev responses for sure ... must have been that title, which is so close to our hearts.