Why don't you ever change the engine?

[DeVsh]

Anyone thought of changing the engine or modifying it, Imean it's quite old and even amateurs will get better effects using later engines. I understand that many are copyrighted and they cannot be used!

[esteel]

You will have a very hard time to find a engine that offers the same features as DarkPlaces which is used in Nexuiz. Bumpmapping and realtimeshadows are some of the features only doom3/quake4, UE3, cryengine and xreal offer.
Also changing the engine requires a total rewrite of the game code, i doubt you will find anyone that wants to do it .

On the other hand.. what effects don't you like?

[divVerent]

It has been and is being heavily modified, and the only alternative would be the Q2, Q3 or Sauerbraten engine - which, graphically, are behind DP. There is one modification of the Q3 engine in the makings that will be much more advanced in terms of graphics effects, but it is far from being done yet and has even larger system requirements than DarkPlaces.

[ASL]

I hope this isn't hijacking the topic, but one cool graphical "effect" that I haven't seen in Nexuiz maps is Terrain. Everything is very geometrical, and even outdoor maps feel very manmade. Is this supported in the Nexuiz engine, or can it be added without too much trouble?

EDIT: Just in case I'm not clear, terrain is like in UT outdoor maps or many outdoor shooters where you have rolling hills and a softer, less architectural feel to the map.

[torus]

I get what you mean. The problem is that the map editor chiefly used to build Nexuiz maps, GTKRadiant, uses so called brushes, which are essentially rectangular prisms, which can be joined together to make map geometry. That gives the maps a blocky look. In order to give maps a natural feel, one would need to import custom geometry drawn in a program like blender or maya, which is difficult, can cause problems, and slow down the game if there is a lot of it. There is a map that does that I think (forget the name), but it's pretty damn buggy (someone know it, two bases, trees and pond in the middle, two walkways on the side...?)

[esteel]

For 'easy' terrain mapping you need texture blending which the engine does not yet support but might in the future, its still being developed after all.

[Judas Ravyn]

Or, just use the source engine. Relatively easy to use. Know some guys that are using it.

[Irritant]

Or, just use the source engine. Relatively easy to use. Know some guys that are using it.

That's not open sourced. It would also be a step backwards, IMO.

[esteel]

Sorry but the source engine is utter shit.. It basicly does not offer anything that the quake3 did not already have, some refraction shaders and reflexion.. wow. There are no realtime lights and shadows, They only added bloom later on of everyone just wanted to have it..

[tZork]

just let this thread die.. the original poster obviosly dident have a clue what he was talking abt.

Anyone thought of changing the engine or modifying it ...

Yeh right.. darkplaces has never chaged or been modified.. o_O.