-06.09.03- I have a confession to make - I quit working on Xion. I am sorry, I just lost interest. It had a good run, though, didn't it? Here is what is new with me: First, I got myself an easy job (fileing stuff) from 9am to 3pm, so I will be getting a little income (other than my webdesign work, which I am not allowed to advertise on this webspace). Anyway, Xion is still up for download, and I did actually make a few updates since the first upload, but I doubt I will ever really put it online. I have been doing some other projects in the mean-time. I wrote a little program called PIE - Program Image Editor. It is actually just an easy PE file header editor, which is great for peeps that do evil things with programs. I am sure an alternative exists, but... pheh. I will upload the binaries and source sometime or other. My current project is RPC - Remote PC (I just love my acronyms). It is essentially the same thing as VNC, but I am making it :D. It already sports some spiffy stuff - I decided to put Xion's network engine to use in it, and doing so allowed me to easily write the server and client as one program. I will have the first version up sometime soon (within the week), with the basic ability to view somebody's screen remotely (probably best over lan, since no compression or anything will be in yet). I plan to make it fully customizable, so that you can choose if you want to use it for the original intents - remote pc usage - or for more... vile purposes (aka spying on someone). I will be interested to see if I can make this thing fast and easy on the network. Good to be back! -05.14.03- Time for the low down. First of all, so you know I am working, here is a screenshot of the latest: See! I AM working here. I decided to make a quick shift to beautifying Xion's terrain system (and any other unattractive parts) before I start messing with the world editor. In the shot above, you can see I have tiled textures on the terrain now (actually more difficult than you would expect due to the way the engine works). I also restructured Xion to take full use of the MSH format, getting rid of the out-dated and unused CMesh system I had, which is a HUGE improvement to the engine. Glad I decided to just bite the bullet and make the change - it didn't end up being so bad. Matrix Reloaded tomorrow. Got my 7pm ticket riiiight here. I plan to go 4 hours early and camp out, to get the most uber seat ever. Actually, that is only half the reason. The other reason is so I can sit there and gloat at the front of the line. MUAHAHAHA! -05.09.03- Sorry for the lack of updates, but I have a good excuse. It seems that Xion has gone in a different direction. In case you haven't yet heard, Xion has been GPLed. That's right, now anybody and their mother can download Xion, source and all. I sure hope somebody takes interest in my baby! Check the downloads section now! -05.03.03- Well, good news. I have been pushing hard on the mesh editor, and I think I am almost done with it for now. With the full power to create static meshes, I simply lack the time to go animated. I need to move on to the world editor first, which will totally rock. Here is what I am thinking... The world editor will work totally in-engine. Terrain editing (generated randomly or by algorithm) will be hand-edited, with meshes placed on top of that as special objects - scenery, structures, units, flags, etc. Standard fare, really. I guess I just can't wait to get it done, due to the true landmark it will signify. After that, I gotta finish animated meshes, and start working on gameplay. I wonder if I am really going to pull this off? -04.28.03- Ok, ok, I am still alive. And making good progress on the mesh editor, at that. The reasons the site has been slow to update over the past few are many. First of all, I decided to do a flashback to the good ole' days with a quick mod for halflife. You know, something quick before the age of HL is over and HL2 takes front seat. I will upload it here when it doesn't suck :D. The other reason I haven't updated is the, *gasp*, occurance yesterday. Essentially, some lady ran a stop sign goin 30, and I, also going 30, broad side her. My car is totalled, which isn't terrible, since it wasn't that great from the start. Anyway, now my parents are getting me a car, which will also be my grad present (meaning I get to keep it for college :D). Now, on to the recent developments. The mesh editor is finally starting to look something like a real tool. In fact, with just a little more love, it will be perfectly ready for static mesh creation. Of course, then comes animation, a feat to be sure. Not that I have never made a skeletal animation system before. That is certainly not the issue. What is the trick is making an editor for it. So wish me luck on that one. I just want to get this bum finished with :D -04.25.03- Geeza leweeza. Finally got the mesh editor to do everything I have implemented thus far without crashing, 100% correct. Seriously painful process. I tried converting my data structures to classes... that was by far the lowest point. I ended up reverting to the original code. But despite the opposition from satan himself, I finally managed to do it. Yippee. Here is another screenshot, God knows why: Hehe, big missle next to plane. Hehe. Heh. -04.23.03- I did some work on mesh merging, thus allowing for better 3ds importing. I have a pretty good version of it now. Still need to do animation data: I think now would be a good time to point out that Xion is not a game - it is an engine. So whatever you heard, forget it, it is an engine. However, a techdemo is in the works, and that WILL be a game, and that WILL be free, and I AM hiring for it. Heh, don't worry about that FPS, it isn't really accurate. I removed the constant redraw. The only reason I kept it is for when I am doing animations in the future, it will be nice. -04.22.03- Progress is going well. I did a little work on the viewport system, and here is the result: Oh, and btw, I have a forum too. I still need to find a good place for an official site link, though. -04.21.03- Well, thanks to NeHe, looks like I got some hits around here? Isn't that just fun? Oh and btw, Xion Studios now has an "official" IRC channel - #xion at irc.htmod.com. I should at least be idling there :D. A little bit of progress for you folks - I just finished the Mesh Editor custom format save/load code, so now the .msh format exists (more or less)! So here is a little, umm... eyecandy, I guess. The model is a free 3ds I dled from the net. Naturally, the mesh editor can import 3ds models with incredible ease. All in a day's work! -04.18.03- The Xion Studios site is up! That's right folks, I finally have webspace. And with the site's launch, I have an announcement: I am now hiring for the techdemo team! Details can be found in the team page. Curious or lost? Read up on what Xion Studios is in the about page!