Spring RTS Engine

Would it be possible to utilize the current spring engine in an updated version of the TA Demo Recorder/3D Replayer? This would serve as a preview of what Spring will be like when it is released, but would give us something to drool over in the meantime by letting us watch our current TA games in Spring format. Not sure if this would require a lot of work, but I was thinking the following features from Spring would greatly enhance the existing 3D Demo Recorder:

1.) Shadows
2.) Smooth Animations
3.) Explosions
4.) Lighting effects / weapon models

Some of the above may not be possible or desirable, but even the shadows alone would greatly benefit the Replayer. Any thoughts?

-S

Spring already contains a demo recorder. It doesn't include sound in the videos because that would push them into the 200mb region. Or so im told.

As for using springs enhased engine things? Nope. Sorry. Spring uses updated unit models & textures, as well as a new walk animation for k-bots. This means that they can't be done in OTA.

Can't they just compress the sound like normal sane people? Its just not right having sound take up more than video.

I think I better clarify. I was asking if TA Demo Reccorder 99b and 3D Replayer could be upgraded to use the features utilized in the upcoming Spring engine for regular TA games. 99b is great for recording and watching my TA games, but it does not have the cool shadows, and other enhancements in Spring. I thought a TA Demo Recorder 1.0 would be cool while we wait for Spring.

Actually the real question here si do we have a Demo recorder at all? We ahve a video recorder but that isnt the same as a demo recording where we can view thigns fromd ifferent viewpoints and rewind and go somewhere else and see everything at once etc

Of course it has a demo recorder, its the most effecient way to debug many bugs.

The reason that there is no sounds in the videos is that we cant compress them in real time and I have no idea how you would make direct sound output the sound one frame at a time.

I think it would take longer to backport the current taspring display code to tademo than it will take us to finish taspring.

And how long is that?

So what are you saying, that the demo recorder doesn't record the sound at all. It not just you leaving it out for file sizes?

Why would you need to output the sound one frame at a time? Thats not how sound works in video... You have a sound track and you hope that they play back in sync. Im sure you know that. But you are confussing me. I would have thought direct sound would be able to just capture any sound the sound cards puping out to file quite easyly... but hay what do i know, your making the game not me.

aGorm

What he's saying is that sound recording isnt the problem, but realtime compression. To comrpess it as you record would introduce lag and thus the sound and the video wouldnt sync. Besides when springs out we'll have the demo player so we wont need video or sound just the content

But then how will I create pretty little movies of destruction?

How about distributing Spring with a good recorded game and the only ability to play it? we could see if it run smoothly on our PC.

I'm sure the SY's will let us record sound uncompressed if we wish (with a warnign of filesizes and heavy hd activity) so your movies of destruction are not lost! If not use some recording app for sound and sync them

yeah like a shoutcast from b4ME?

sj, in quake3 for ripping sound, most people capture all the frames of video, then play the demo again and switch the recording output in sndvol32 to stereo mixer and use a normal app to capture it, then sync the sound up themselves, so that's how you could add sound to the videos you release anyway, since that 'functionality' is basically already in spring since it can capture video frames. i'd assume the video is uncompressed then compressed after capture with vdub or something, right? or do you do real time compression in spring? oh and as far as i know, spring doesn't use updated models and textures, or new kbot walk animations.

It does. There were entire topics devoted to it before the big crash and mr haxxor getting in.

Liam: Well I suppose that in a Quake3 demo the camera is locked to a player. In a spring demo the camera is free so you would have to somehow follow the same camera path twice to get the correct sound.

We compress the videos 'realtime' which is why they are not realtime and would need sound per frame.

right, i see. well i guess the only way around that would be to record camera movement, but i don't think anyone's bothered, also is there an option to output uncompressed video?

edit: as for the walk animation, as far as i know they use the same ones but interpolate them, and people ARE working on new models but all the current videos use the old ones (and spring supports them anyway, even if they aren't) but i could be wrong.

Check the newest vids. They use the new walk animation, and a few of the new models i think. I know its the new walk animation, but the models i dun remember. Ask SJ or Jorm about if they are using those.

someone else want to explain this?

They didn't change the animations, they just introduced a different way of interpreting them I think...