Fourth-age: Still making noise, dammit!

[Ink]

Fourth-age has just gotten a Procedural Content Generation boost!

http://www.pygame.org/shots/1442.jpg

I've ported the venerable C++ libnoise library to Python. This is pure Python, but I mainly just want the module logic in Python to make using it from Fourth age more 'Pythonic'. There does exist a Perlin noise generator implemented in Python's C API, so I hope to shortly adopt this and use it instead of a pure Python implementation.

Notice that's no ordinary Perlin noise. libnoise (and now noiselib) works by taking base noise generators, and wrapping the generators in functions which modify the output. Each module taking a set of noise sources acts as another noise source which can in turn be passed to another module. Through this sort of composition complex noise-scapes can be made. The one in the screen shot produces wide-scale terrain with mountain ridges and rolling lowlands. Noise is fractal, so if you zoom in and amplify noise in some small sector then you get noise which resembles that which you zoomed in on (of course, the noise function is not infinite resolution, so you need a high resolution array of noise to do this satisfactorily).

So that's just a little of what Fourth age development has been up to recently. We soon hope to begin moving into more concrete game programming (and not just low level libraries like this).

For the curious, that's an 11 octave, 0.5 persistance ridged-multifractal generator along with a so-called 'billow noise' generator at 8 octaves and 0.75 persistance and scaled to 0.125 and biased by -0.75 then blended to the ridged multifractal generator using that generator itself as the control value for the blend lerp (the ridged multifractal is the '1' end of the lerp scale). That way the ridges stay sharp and as the height drops the rolling effect of the billow noise become more pronounced.

[Fantomen]

And what is fourth age?

[Gregstrom]

The Dom3 roguelike spinoff, I think.

[NTJedi]

Wow... looks like the creator of this thread Ink was recently banned. Could it have been related to this topic?

[Gandalf Parker]

Bring him back.
He is NOT my alt!
He will be good. Really.

[Fantomen]

Wow... looks like the creator of this thread Ink was recently banned. Could it have been related to this topic?

Hardly this topic, but I'm not surprised.

[Foodstamp]

I heard it had something to do with the IRC crowd.

[Gandalf Parker]

Really? I thought he was rather mercenary to their favorite topics.
Maybe he was my alt.

[Edi]

Wow... looks like the creator of this thread Ink was recently banned. Could it have been related to this topic?
No. He was the sockpuppet of a user banned for piracy. That's all there is to it.

[lch]

I hope that this "Dominions Fourth Age" roguelike spinoff project still comes to a conclusion regardless and we'll be able to see that the effort invested into it pays off. It looks quite promising, could have a lot of potential.

[Foodstamp]

I heard he was Lch's alt.

[lch]

I'm sorry, but no, I'm too busy plotting new vulgarities against Shrapnel Games and Illwinter with the IRC crowd to enjoy the luxury of using an alt on these forums.

[Sombre]

My alt! My alt! Look at me! Look at me!

Stop your crying for attention, it's just sad.


I have to say that screenshot has me pumped for the release of this roguelike.

[Sombre]

I heard he was Lch's alt.

Presumably since stating Wikd thotz was Gandalf's alt got me a warning, you will now also be given a yellow card by the forum admins.

I also presume this news will be as devastating to you as it was to me.

[Gandalf Parker]

Yes. Altho I wasnt the first to broach the subject of alts and lnk, I must publicly apologize for violating the NAP with Shrapnel. I shouldnt have brought it up in this thread. I will drop it.

[Foodstamp]

I heard he was Lch's alt.

Presumably since stating Wikd thotz was Gandalf's alt got me a warning, you will now also be given a yellow card by the forum admins.

I also presume this news will be as devastating to you as it was to me.

Sounds like it is Sombre's alt. Just look how defensive he got all the sudden. BE GONE PIRATE.

[Sombre]

I presume you're going to be warned because I believe with all my heart that Shrapnel doesn't have double standards :lol:

[Foodstamp]

It's eating you! You should report me to get faster results IMO.

[Redeyes]

I also love to dance on graves, we should do this more often.

[Squirrelloid]

Wow... looks like the creator of this thread Ink was recently banned. Could it have been related to this topic?
No. He was the sockpuppet of a user banned for piracy. That's all there is to it.

That's not quite true. He was the sockpuppet of a user banned for pointing out piracy existed with a little too much evidence. IMO, his banning was a little excessive (a warning and deleting the link from the offending post would have been sufficient), but I am not a moderator, so what do i know.

[Foodstamp]

Wow... looks like the creator of this thread Ink was recently banned. Could it have been related to this topic?
No. He was the sockpuppet of a user banned for piracy. That's all there is to it.

That's not quite true. He was the sockpuppet of a user banned for pointing out piracy existed with a little too much evidence. IMO, his banning was a little excessive (a warning and deleting the link from the offending post would have been sufficient), but I am not a moderator, so what do i know.

Do you or have you ever used IRC? If so why should we believe a word you have typed?

[Squirrelloid]

I didn't expect the anti-IRC Inquisition!

I'd point you to the offending thread, but I can't remember which one it was! (Assuming it still exists...).

[Foodstamp]

Just as I suspected. A massive plot to cover up Sombre's (AKA LCH, AKA the OPs) involvement in this illegal distribution plot. It wasn't enough to pirate the game, now you guys are looking to replace it with a Dominions "4th Age". You should be ashamed of yourselves.

[Fantomen]

Now be quick to copy all the threads and files before the big Shrapnel coverup!

[Gandalf Parker]

Wow... looks like the creator of this thread Ink was recently banned. Could it have been related to this topic?
No. He was the sockpuppet of a user banned for piracy. That's all there is to it.

That's not quite true. He was the sockpuppet of a user banned for pointing out piracy existed with a little too much evidence. IMO, his banning was a little excessive (a warning and deleting the link from the offending post would have been sufficient), but I am not a moderator, so what do i know.
His "little too much evidence" was active links?
It seems as if the punishments for such is fairly standard.
Doing it in some rare forums and channels might get you praised.
Doing it in fan-run forums and channels might get you slapped.
Doing it on the official distributor owned and run forum or chat tends to get you banned.

[Foodstamp]

Hah, it must be a small world! I was following random links around the internet and stumbled upon this project somewhere else. If any of you guys want to keep up with it somewhere other than this forum, you can find it here:

http://www.pygame.org/project-noiselib-1442-2573.html

[lch]

You should be ashamed of yourselves.
Ourselves? So you do acknowledge multiple personalities as separate entities?

[Foodstamp]

"Yourselves" meaning the entity lch/Sombre/INK and the entity squirrelloid!

[lch]

So you're accusing Squirrelloid of piracing the game, then?

[Foodstamp]

Just collaboration.

[Ballbarian]

Well, looks like this thread has outlived it's usefulness. :)