What does PS need most?

[Gluonite]

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?

[lynx_lupo]

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.

[acraig]

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.

[stfrn]

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.

[Gluonite]

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

[stfrn]

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

[lynx_lupo]

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.

[Induane]

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.

[DaveG]

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...  

[Gluonite]

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?  

[Cha0s]

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.

[Gluonite]

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.

[DaveG]

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.

[Gluonite]

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.

[DaveG]

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.