In Forum: Game Betas
By User: Leon
I don't have much time for MDL v4/v6 related work recently... i did some improvements to the v6 MDL viewer (animation interpolation...) and i have prototype of MDL v6 decompiler (written from a scratch, i was not able to find source code of "mdldec" anywhere), i will look at it, and maybe finish it, on the weekend.
About v4 models... i looked into it (last week, i think) and it's kidna "hybrid" between Quake IDPO model format and Valve Studio model format (like we know it) -it has bones/skeletal animations already. I was able to (partially) reverse engineer some structures like studiohdr, studiobone, studioseqdesc... Anyway, i will release updated MDL v6 viewer + decompiler + source and then I will hopefully have some time to look at v4 again.
Awesome, looking forward to the release! But I just had a random thought: would making a v6 to v10 converter and using mdldec maybe be easier? To be honest I'm not really sure what goes into mdl decompilers, but from where I am it looks like it'd be easier to write mdl -> mdl code and use mdldecs exporters instead of writing mdl -> <qc and manydifferentmodellingformats> code. Again though I'm not sure how they work so maybe this is impossible/unfeasible (or you just want to write your own decompiler, which is cool too)
Also do you know if the alpha can actually read v4 models? It seems strange that they'd include two different model versions...
Finally added Dreamcast build number to the OP.
It was pretty hard to find it, because Demul stops rendering anything when I try to load a map.
First, I tried to change "map t0a0" to "version" in Cheat Engine. But instead of showing version, it opened the console when I pressed "hazard course". It turned out that "version" command does not exist.
After that, I typed "developer 1" and "map t0a0" and hooked Cheat Engine to the console, but I was getting nothing.
Then I changed "prespawn" command to "status" in the connection sequence. I also switched the emulator from dynamic recompilation to interpretation, not sure if this was required.
I saw server info with the build number in Cheat Engine and later saw the output of "status" command with the build number.
Nice one! I think the 1.07 gaben video one is wrong though, the leaked alpha also includes stuff in the exe/demos that say version 1.07, a relic from quake maybe?
It does say an actual version number in the same video though, in the same place it shows in the leaked alpha (top right), AFAIK it says 0.51 but I can't really tell (I hope it is... might mean the gaben.cfg included with 0.52 was actually being used in this decade old video, by gabe himself )
Edit: just saw this on reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments ... ha/c7tp61r
Created an account to comment:
I was a beta tester for Valve around this time. I went to the Valve offices at the age of ~13 (escorted by my mother) after emailing Gabe. Later I received several hand-burned beta discs of HL (signed by Gabe) mailed to my house for the purpose of testing and providing feedback. I also received a final box copy autographed by the entire Valve team.
Sorry, don't have evidence at the moment as the discs are in my parents basement and I currently live abroad. They used to be available on http://planethalflife.com/nostalgia, but it doesn't work. If there's genuine interest I could dig them up next time I'm home.
Cheers!
- redef
Anyone here got a reddit account? It'd be nice if someone would show them this thread
Edit2: Didn't notice redef's other post: "I don't expect to go home until July."
I'll leave this here as a reminder
There was also this list of rumored betas SiPlus put up:
Geoff Keighleys.
The Facepunch rumor.
redef's.
By User: Leon
I don't have much time for MDL v4/v6 related work recently... i did some improvements to the v6 MDL viewer (animation interpolation...) and i have prototype of MDL v6 decompiler (written from a scratch, i was not able to find source code of "mdldec" anywhere), i will look at it, and maybe finish it, on the weekend.
About v4 models... i looked into it (last week, i think) and it's kidna "hybrid" between Quake IDPO model format and Valve Studio model format (like we know it) -it has bones/skeletal animations already. I was able to (partially) reverse engineer some structures like studiohdr, studiobone, studioseqdesc... Anyway, i will release updated MDL v6 viewer + decompiler + source and then I will hopefully have some time to look at v4 again.
Awesome, looking forward to the release! But I just had a random thought: would making a v6 to v10 converter and using mdldec maybe be easier? To be honest I'm not really sure what goes into mdl decompilers, but from where I am it looks like it'd be easier to write mdl -> mdl code and use mdldecs exporters instead of writing mdl -> <qc and manydifferentmodellingformats> code. Again though I'm not sure how they work so maybe this is impossible/unfeasible (or you just want to write your own decompiler, which is cool too)
Also do you know if the alpha can actually read v4 models? It seems strange that they'd include two different model versions...
Finally added Dreamcast build number to the OP.
It was pretty hard to find it, because Demul stops rendering anything when I try to load a map.
First, I tried to change "map t0a0" to "version" in Cheat Engine. But instead of showing version, it opened the console when I pressed "hazard course". It turned out that "version" command does not exist.
After that, I typed "developer 1" and "map t0a0" and hooked Cheat Engine to the console, but I was getting nothing.
Then I changed "prespawn" command to "status" in the connection sequence. I also switched the emulator from dynamic recompilation to interpretation, not sure if this was required.
I saw server info with the build number in Cheat Engine and later saw the output of "status" command with the build number.
Nice one! I think the 1.07 gaben video one is wrong though, the leaked alpha also includes stuff in the exe/demos that say version 1.07, a relic from quake maybe?
It does say an actual version number in the same video though, in the same place it shows in the leaked alpha (top right), AFAIK it says 0.51 but I can't really tell (I hope it is... might mean the gaben.cfg included with 0.52 was actually being used in this decade old video, by gabe himself )
Edit: just saw this on reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments ... ha/c7tp61r
Created an account to comment:
I was a beta tester for Valve around this time. I went to the Valve offices at the age of ~13 (escorted by my mother) after emailing Gabe. Later I received several hand-burned beta discs of HL (signed by Gabe) mailed to my house for the purpose of testing and providing feedback. I also received a final box copy autographed by the entire Valve team.
Sorry, don't have evidence at the moment as the discs are in my parents basement and I currently live abroad. They used to be available on http://planethalflife.com/nostalgia, but it doesn't work. If there's genuine interest I could dig them up next time I'm home.
Cheers!
- redef
Anyone here got a reddit account? It'd be nice if someone would show them this thread
Edit2: Didn't notice redef's other post: "I don't expect to go home until July."
I'll leave this here as a reminder
There was also this list of rumored betas SiPlus put up:
Geoff Keighleys.
The Facepunch rumor.
redef's.