Forums » Suggestions
Open Source or API the Game Recorder
Further to my comments in this thread; http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/1/26258, and with the view to getting some Dev attention on this issue, I would like to suggest open-sourcing the code that is associated with the recording and playback of live gameplay. Either for completion by the community as a functional toolset (think epic PCC project!) or as an API so we can make plugins that make it easy for everyone to record and playback events that occur in the 'verse.
There are heaps of projects I've seen around that could benefit from this. I know the guys in RED are dieing to record the duels from their VO Cup and for their sercodominion.org website. I'm also totally pumped to make a follow up of my queen bombing vid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRyVg6Pvrl0) without all the jittery lag and camera movements.
For those who aren't aware, Valve just released their Source Engine movie making tool (as if there weren't enough TF2 vids all over youtube). The way I see it, this is the feature that Vendetta has been missing for too long. You've got the most amazing MMO combat platform most of us have ever seen everest, and you've locked it up behind a buttload of reading for the tutorial and training missions which people that would otherwise love to come in and pew pew are getting the shits with and alt-f4ing.
I was thinking about what I wrote on Isha's thread about the training sector, I basically said that you need to show people the thrill of VO combat straight off the bat, it's your biggest point of sale, but nowhere can they really get a preview of it except for Phaserlight's vids and they really only demonstrate a small amount of combat from the first person.
Give us the power of ease of recording either with code access so we can do it ourself or with an API and we will litter the e-tubes with glorious TU booms, avalons splashes and flare smashes!
\o/
There are heaps of projects I've seen around that could benefit from this. I know the guys in RED are dieing to record the duels from their VO Cup and for their sercodominion.org website. I'm also totally pumped to make a follow up of my queen bombing vid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRyVg6Pvrl0) without all the jittery lag and camera movements.
For those who aren't aware, Valve just released their Source Engine movie making tool (as if there weren't enough TF2 vids all over youtube). The way I see it, this is the feature that Vendetta has been missing for too long. You've got the most amazing MMO combat platform most of us have ever seen everest, and you've locked it up behind a buttload of reading for the tutorial and training missions which people that would otherwise love to come in and pew pew are getting the shits with and alt-f4ing.
I was thinking about what I wrote on Isha's thread about the training sector, I basically said that you need to show people the thrill of VO combat straight off the bat, it's your biggest point of sale, but nowhere can they really get a preview of it except for Phaserlight's vids and they really only demonstrate a small amount of combat from the first person.
Give us the power of ease of recording either with code access so we can do it ourself or with an API and we will litter the e-tubes with glorious TU booms, avalons splashes and flare smashes!
\o/
Partial API is on the wiki:
http://www.vo-wiki.com/racecar/index.php?title=Gkinterface
gkinterface.StartRecording()
gkinterface.StopRecording()
gkinterface.StartPlayback()
I played around with those a year or so ago and crashed my VO when I tried playback. Dunno if they've changed it since then.
Lag should still show up in the videos, since the recorder basically just records the network packets. Unless you mean video lag, not network lag. Video lag will probably also show up though, because "playback" basically just re-does whatever was done the first time, forcing the game to render it etc. I suppose you could send the recording file to somebody with a more powerful computer to have them make the video though.
What would be nice is if they added a render-to-video option that could slow down the simulation speed while rendering. That way it could allow you to crank up the graphics settings higher than you could normally get while playing in real-time, and have it render a perfectly smooth video. It would also let people with systems too weak to handle screen recording to create quality videos.
http://www.vo-wiki.com/racecar/index.php?title=Gkinterface
gkinterface.StartRecording()
gkinterface.StopRecording()
gkinterface.StartPlayback()
I played around with those a year or so ago and crashed my VO when I tried playback. Dunno if they've changed it since then.
Lag should still show up in the videos, since the recorder basically just records the network packets. Unless you mean video lag, not network lag. Video lag will probably also show up though, because "playback" basically just re-does whatever was done the first time, forcing the game to render it etc. I suppose you could send the recording file to somebody with a more powerful computer to have them make the video though.
What would be nice is if they added a render-to-video option that could slow down the simulation speed while rendering. That way it could allow you to crank up the graphics settings higher than you could normally get while playing in real-time, and have it render a perfectly smooth video. It would also let people with systems too weak to handle screen recording to create quality videos.
Well a render-to-video option isn't necessary to solve a lot of the problems i'm having but it would certainly be a good idea. The main issue is that when you play VO the environment that you have setup is rarely ideal for capturing video. I get a huge performance hit which I could alleviate if I was able to play back what had happened. This also allows you to pick up different camera angles and replay the same shot from a different perspective again and again which is perfect for training videos and slow action shots.
Really the playback just needs to be finished for starters, but in the long run releasing a more flexible recording platform is something I think we need for promotional purposes. You really can't go past having your customers make promotional videos for you
Really the playback just needs to be finished for starters, but in the long run releasing a more flexible recording platform is something I think we need for promotional purposes. You really can't go past having your customers make promotional videos for you
I think an open API on this would be great, but fundamentally the functionality we expose has to be fixed first. Playback works under certain circumstances (as evidenced by "demo" mode on mobile), but I don't think normal in-client playback has ever worked properly.