Project Van Buren

Dang, the last update on this project at Adam Lacko's Twitter was in October. Does anyone know anything new about how he's doing? & If there's been any further progress made?

:confused:
 
TheKingofVault14 said:
Dang, the last update on this project at Adam Lacko's Twitter was in October. Does anyone know anything new about how he's doing? & If there's been any further progress made?

:confused:
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Continuing on what the last tweet says. Scripting requires a lot of specifically exposed API functionality which I didn't have or it wasn't designed well. Thus I'm reworking those parts of the codebase.

Just yesterday, I finally concluded the code responsible for memory management and instancing of entities. I'd like to perform further tests before moving on, but the good news is that the memory tests I already did all went well, it's very well optimized and there are no leaks, which is a good start.

The next thing is more robust animation system. In fact, I already implemented two of them. Neither is 100% capable of what I need from it because of the limitations of the two underlying Unity systems over which I have no control. As you can see, a lot of time is often consumed by simply fighting the Unity system design and API. To be clear, the first system works well for all usecases, but because of the limitations, the bypasses and other "tricks" are undermining the desired code design, and I don't like that.

One more thing I should probably mention is that I'm trying to design these systems as close to the original engine as possible, in therms of exposed functionality. It is my belief that to get the same experience from it, the engine has to have the same capabilities as well as limitations. I often use IDA to dig into the old engine to get the code structure, since after several failed attempts, I wasn't able to get the source code (I know where it is, they just wouldn't provide it). Furthermore, it is a great help as well that guys from Jefferson Engine Research discord have reversed many data structures, which contributed to the general knowledge about the inner workings of the engine.
It then becomes another fight - redesign the assumed implementations so they would make sense in C# (instead of C++) and so they would respect overall Unity design principles. This is probably the most diffucult part among all, but I enjoy that kind of work.
 
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Hardboiled Wanderer said:
Continuing on what the last tweet says. Scripting requires a lot of specifically exposed API functionality which I didn't have or it wasn't designed well. Thus I'm reworking those parts of the codebase.

Just yesterday, I finally concluded the code responsible for memory management and instancing of entities. I'd like to perform further tests before moving on, but the good news is that the memory tests I already did all went well, it's very well optimized and there are no leaks, which is a good start.

The next thing is more robust animation system. In fact, I already implemented two of them. Neither is 100% capable of what I need from it because of the limitations of the two underlying Unity systems over which I have no control. As you can see, a lot of time is often consumed by simply fighting the Unity system design and API. To be clear, the first system works well for all usecases, but because of the limitations, the bypasses and other "tricks" are undermining the desired code design, and I don't like that.

One more thing I should probably mention is that I'm trying to design these systems as close to the original engine as possible, in therms of exposed functionality. It is my belief that to get the same experience from it, the engine has to have the same capabilities as well as limitations. I often use IDA to dig into the old engine to get the code structure, since after several failed attempts, I wasn't able to get the source code (I know where it is, they just wouldn't provide it). Furthermore, it is a great help as well that guys from Jefferson Engine Research discord have reversed many data structures, which contributed to the general knowledge about the inner workings of the engine.
It then becomes another fight - redesign the assumed implementations so they would make sense in C# (instead of C++) and so they would respect overall Unity design principles. This is probably the most diffucult part among all, but I enjoy that kind of work.
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Reporting that the animation system I mentioned is now finished and I am quite satisfied with it. I also reimplemented the inventory system, using the new pieces of the codebase. I'll need to play with it for a couple of days, test it thoroughly and then I'll move back to scripting and some actual content making (basically recreating the two demo maps and their design - NPC scripts, doors, triggers, etc.).

Also - I resigned from my current gamedev job and I'm very excited to announce that in about a month from now I'll be working on the unannounced New Blood's RPG in a more fulltime fashion. This means I'll have more time for my sideprojects (since NBRPG used to be one of them)
 
Been following this thread for a few hours now, it's incredible to see Van Buren starting to be realized. New Vegas is my all time favorite game, but the early Fallouts have always had a special place in my heart. Hope you keep up the work, it looks fascinating.

Also, I remember you saying that with BOMB-001, you wanted to do away with the space travel. Is that still your intent, or are you going to keep that true to the source?
 
based.Grombler said:
Been following this thread for a few hours now, it's incredible to see Van Buren starting to be realized. New Vegas is my all time favorite game, but the early Fallouts have always had a special place in my heart. Hope you keep up the work, it looks fascinating.
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Thank you.

based.Grombler said:
Also, I remember you saying that with BOMB-001, you wanted to do away with the space travel. Is that still your intent, or are you going to keep that true to the source?
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No, of course it's not my intent anymore. Those were the posts from the by-gone era when I merely thought I know what I'm talking about :lol: As you can probably tell, this project has gone through many iterations, changes and even restarts along the years.
 
I assumed that was the case, but was still curious. The content you've released looks great so far, can't wait to see more from you. Made this account just to follow this thread lol.
 
based.Grombler said:
Any updates and/or news about the project?
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Unfortunately, no. I believed that my new job would give me more free time and flexibility to work on Van Buren. And I guess it would've. But what happened after the first month was that the scope of the project I've been assigned to changed. I was the one who initiated the change and it got approved by others. I don't know how much I am allowed to say about what I'm working on, so I'm not going to get into details. What I can say is that I almost begged to be able to work on something I've been dreaming about for years and I was given an opportunity to do it. So ever since then, I work, sleep and get up in the morning with that thing in my head, and I wouldn't change it for nothing.
 
Hardboiled Wanderer said:
Unfortunately, no. I believed that my new job would give me more free time and flexibility to work on Van Buren. And I guess it would've. But what happened after the first month was that the scope of the project I've been assigned to changed. I was the one who initiated the change and it got approved by others. I don't know how much I am allowed to say about what I'm working on, so I'm not going to get into details. What I can say is that I almost begged to be able to work on something I've been dreaming about for years and I was given an opportunity to do it. So ever since then, I work, sleep and get up in the morning with that thing in my head, and I wouldn't change it for nothing.
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That's understandable. Hopefully the project turns out well. I'll keep an eye out for it. Hope you can get back to Van Buren eventually.
 
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