[SCRIPT] [RELEASED] On-Foot Cinematic Cam

@DazRave A video would work but it's messy and cumbersome and you eventually resort to going through and taking snapshots from the video, which is as many keypresses as just taking snapshots in the first place.

I like to automate things that produce workable reference data, in an organised and convenient fashion. It might take me two days to find a software solution that a manual task would have solved in half an hour.

But that software solution is transferable and can be used again if things change/go wrong, or are needed in another project... much like the Bus Stop collector that turned into the CCTV collector and has a basis that was used in your coordinate collector.

Damnit! I thought it was too good to be true, it's not just a simple true/false thing after all.

In other news, it seems like the Patreon gang are all fine and dandy when they're dishing the crap out to other people but they don't like getting it back.

I was going to add something but I can't think of a diplomatic way of saying it without offending people... back to bug fixing before I say something that will gain me pariah status on another forum.

Edit: Too tired for this tonight and the attitude of the disrespectful modder I seem to be in a debate with has ticked me off no end... sleep time.

Version 3.2 has been uploaded that fixes 2 out of 3 of the bugs that @Zippo-Raid mentioned, namely the camera triggering inside buildings and the camera not resetting if you cancel a jacking attempt. It also fixes a timing issue with the Insurgent Pick-Up.

This is going to be my last post on here for a while. My personal issues are starting to get the better of me (I'm not going to bore you all with the details) and there's some things happening on here that if I get involved with them, will get me into trouble.

I am also going to leave this link here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7LFvItVrwd0MTZJSzNtVzdRbzg/view?usp=sharing

And that's basically every version released so far, just in case people have more problems with this latest version and need to go back to an earlier one.

I should have stayed away, I knew it... I won't bother updating any progress as it might all be in vain. Spent all day on a new feature too... bummer.

Edit: Meh, what the heck... to calm myself, I've decided to upload a screenshot and details of what I was working on today.

Basically, I have added a new section in the ini file, called [OVERLAY] and it looks like this:

[OVERLAY]
USEOVERLAY = TRUE
OVERLAYALPHA = 160
OVERLAYRED = 72
OVERLAYGREEN = 61
OVERLAYBLUE = 139

If it finds a file called Overlay.png in your scripts folder, it will use that whenever this camera system cuts in. As well as being able to choose the image, you can also choose the alpha levels and a colour tint to apply to it. Here's an image showing four options... all were downloaded off the net because I wanted some quick and dirty samples to try with.

Some people might not like it, I kinda like the dirty image in the top left, that's had a Color.DarkSlateBlue tint added to it. The thing is, if you don't want to use it, you can either turn it off in the ini file, or not add an image to the folder.

alt text

Saunders420

You should totally add an option for a freecam, aikido wont get updated, and this seems like it could benefit from an attatched camera for players to compose some edits on the fly as well. I know it is a bit too much to ask for, so if its seems like overkill...dont worry. This is a great mod as is. The Overlays looks great!

@Saunders420 I want to keep this a camera system that works like the existing Vehicle Cinematic Mode, not one where the user has control over the camera, sorry.

ikt

That new camera frame makes it look like Manhunt!

Psst, would it be possible to overlay a gif for VHS effects?

@ikt I don't think GIFs would work, they probably wouldn't animate if they did.

Sadly, this is another area where SHVDN could have been expanded/improved. The UI.DrawTexture requires you to pass it a filename to draw it. Had they implemented a facility to do something like:

Texture myTexture = UI.CreateTexture(string filename etc...);
UI.DrawTexture(Texture, Position etc...);

Then it would have been really easy to create an array of Textures and animate them. It can still be done fairly easily, but I'm not sure what the impact would be performance wise. All it would require is for a sequence of files to exist in the folder named overlay01.png, overlay02.png etc... and I could cycle through them. I might give it a go at some point, see how it works.

ikt

@LeeC2202
I don't know how it's done now, but if I look in the SHVDN source, they use this?

int MemoryAccess::CreateTexture(System::String ^filename)
	{
		return createTexture(static_cast<const char *>(ScriptDomain::CurrentDomain->PinString(filename).ToPointer()));
	}
	void MemoryAccess::DrawTexture(int id, int index, int level, int time, float sizeX, float sizeY, float centerX, float centerY, float posX, float posY, float rotation, float scaleFactor, Drawing::Color color)
	{
		drawTexture(id, index, level, time, sizeX, sizeY, centerX, centerY, posX, posY, rotation, scaleFactor, color.R / 255.0f, color.G / 255.0f, color.B / 255.0f, color.A / 255.0f);
	}

Which, from there, just seems to call SHV's implementation.

Then again I never really worked with SHV.Net. Most I know of is abusing the MemoryAccess class and uncleanly access memory

@ikt Yeah, that's what I was looking at, I have the SHVDN v2 and v3 source. Maybe the CreateTexture() is part of the ScriptHookV functionality and they have just hooked into them internally with SHVDN.

Those functions are not exposed through SHVDN though sadly.

Version 3.4 should be available shortly (actually, probably later considering the time). This version hopefully cures a persistent bug that I seem to have been chasing for a while. It happened when the camera switched from the melee/vehicle camera to the OnFoot camera when the OnFoot camera was turned on.

It also includes the overlay feature that I showed above. I am not as overly excited about it as I first was but I thought I might as well give people the chance to try it and see. There is a sample overlay included, which unfortunately makes the download size bigger... PNG = great quality + transparency but big size, fortunately it's not a BMP, which are huge sizes.

Turning it off is simple, change a setting or delete the image, both work equally well.

ashishcw

@LeeC2202 Amazing. Btw, just waned to ask out of curiosity, if you are devloping a mod, and if somethings bothering, and causing your work not to progress, you end up dreaming about the codes and workarounds to it to work and finally you wake up in the middle of the night to try the workarounds?
Or is it just me dreaming it? It's been 3rd night I am just sleeping like 4 hours cause honestly I cant fall a sleep unless I resolve the issue in the script. Not that I am complaining but want to crosscheck I am not loosing my mental state. Lol.

ikt

@ashishcw
Been there, done that.

Uh, late-night code doesn't turn out nice most of the time, but if it's a working POC it does help you take some load off your mind. And you can make the dirty hack nice again the next day, anyway.

You know what sucks

When you have an idea but are nowhere near your computer and really want to test it

ashishcw

@ikt agree, Already thought so, and tried to sleep, thinking, may be tommarow will find the solution, lets get some sleep, but again, no luck, as it seems, my brain has decided to fix the problem first and rest on the last. I think, my mind now has changed the sequence of my lifestyle, where earlier sleep, eat were my primary needs, now Coding is.

@ashishcw Way, way back in the day (1990 ish), I used to work for a company in the UK called MC Lothlorien (aka Icon Design). At the same time I was also running my own company (that failed I might add) with a friend of mine. We were doing a prototype demo for an upcoming trade show for a company called CRL. For three days, our schedule was:

9am - Go to work
6:pm - Get home from work
7pm - Start work on the demo
9am - Go to work etc...

With the final day's schedule being Travel to London (from Manchester) and visit the trade show to hand over our demo. We finally got to sleep at 7:30pm on the third day and slept until 11am the following day. You can see the missing element there? We just didn't have time to sleep.

I was also married with three children at that time and it won't surprise you to know, I've been married twice. If you don't control it, it will take over and ruin your life. I was a 24-hours a day developer, every single day. It never switches off, your head will always be full of an idea of one kind or another. And because I did art and game design as well, there was always at least one idea in my head.

At one point during this mod, I did 60 hours on just 6 hours sleep but it doesn't always work out for the best... as ikt said. I am constantly correcting stupid mistakes that whilst working, they're messy... like the camera glitch in the latest fix. A stupid, hard-to-find mistake that caused an annoying, persistent problem.

Saying that, my most productive time is at night, when the world (the screaming brats in the street, the neighbour's sodding cats etc...) has gone to sleep and I can just concentrate on my own little space. So if that means working on this mod until 6am and then staying in bed till 1pm, then I can do that. I have no reason to get up, so it doesn't matter where I spend the day.

So my advice is keep a very firm grip on reality and don't neglect your family time because of coding. When you lose everything, coding will be no substitute... and you don't get back all the good times you might have missed.

ashishcw

@LeeC2202 True and very well said. I think, coding is an addiction, cause, you just don't want you giveup at point. I don't know if its happening to me, cause I am new to it. May be.
And its nice to read out of some real experiences. Thank you for sharing.

@ashishcw And I didn't even add anything about actually playing the games into all that... It is an addiction and a dangerous one at that.

Knowing someone is using your creation is a buzz. I used to love standing in the shops on release day and watching people spend money on something I had helped create... it's a great feeling.

ashishcw

@LeeC2202 I couldn't deny that, since, I will just mention about my mod. I just created it out of fun, and never really wanted to upload it, but now, upon seeing the download number has hit 270+ in 3 days. I don't know but it gives a very nice and warm feeling, that something we have created, people are enjoying it.
So, I think, all the efforts I/We took were totally worth it.

If by uploading just a simple mod, if I could get this feeling, I can't even imagine, how great you must be feeling upon all the creations you were part of.

Also, Not to neglect, I too am agreeing on the things you said about the family and its time. So, I will definatley keep in mind.

P.S. I know 270+ download is no where near great or good number, But all I was pointing towards the feeling we get.

@ashishcw Don't get caught up by the numbers game. I have no idea how many downloads my mod has, it doesn't matter. It was an idea that came from someone else, I managed to turn that idea into something real and even if I had just a single download, it justifies the effort.

The whole reason we create, is to give something to other people. I've worked at companies that couldn't pay wages for months at a time on more than one occasion but whilst it was inconvenient, it didn't matter. I wasn't there to earn wages, I was there to create.. the wages were a bonus.

I wrote a game for my wife before she passed away and doing that for just one person, was as rewarding as games that might have sold thousands. Ignore the numbers, listen to the feedback... adapt to the bad and take pride in the good. Enjoy what you do but enjoy doing it for others just as much.

And on that philosophical note... I'll see if I can kick my brain into gear and get something done. I have a problem though... I spent some time on DeviantArt yesterday and I now want to learn how to convert models to Peds. I've seen some delicious models that I would love to get into GTAV but the thought of using ZModeler makes me cringe. Oh how I wish for some 3DS Max tools.

ashishcw

@LeeC2202 Everytime after reading your comment, I learn something good. And for sure, I ain't be wasting this learning. About numbers, my point was not to show how good or bad my mod, but rather I am happy that those many people were curious to use and see what was missing. It just gives a nice feeling, when people start to enjoy what you create.
About your 3d modeling, well no comments, cause I simply have no idea.
Thank you so much for valuable suggestions, as I am sure, it will be helpful all the newbies/upcoming modders to the gaming world.

So after what can only be classed as the most unsuccessful hiatus ever, the watering hole of inspiration has run dry for the moment and has been filled with liquid complacency instead.

On the plus side, it has meant that I have been able to offer some help on another mod, so all's not lost. It's also given me chance to get at least partway through my stack of Ukrainian/Russian and Korean music videos stacked in my YouTube "Watch Later" list, so again, another win.

So tomorrow, I need to get on my ToDo list and clean up any issues.... unless I've deleted it that is. I know there's still plenty to do on this mod, so that's the plan. I also hope someone replies to my request thread... it is frustrating when you offer as much help as I try to do but are left wanting when you need some in return. Maybe I've annoyed too many people already... wouldn't be the first time and more than likely, won't be the last.

Sometimes, the programming gods smile on you. I was all set to add the facility to detect when you were being jacked and it turns out I don't need to. Because of how the system considers you "getting out of a vehicle", being jacked automatically triggers the camera when it happens. I count that as a bonus 2-for-1 win.

And while I was winning that... another mod idea jumped into my head (which people are free to steal and create as it means less work for me). Whenever I download cars or whatever, I notice that the modder often relies on other people to provide showcase videos.

So I thought, what about taking this probe system I use, adding in a location and time selector menu, and then let the camera simply do its thing around the chosen vehicle? The modder can sit and wait for a cool view to appear, and hit their screenshot key, or they could simply video it as is. I could probably add in timed delays to do things like open doors etc... Or maybe have an option where you can switch focal points to doors, bonnet etc... Even switch to different timescales for slow motion views.

It's just something else to throw on the ideas pile... which is kinda empty at the moment.

A bit OT I know but when I see this in a £45 game, I stop worrying so much about the little things that are not quite right in my free mod.

The penalty of getting distracted by thoughts of doing something different when you haven't finished the thing you are working on. Stupid bugs caused by a lack of concentration, meaning repeated downloads for people.

Maybe starting a new mod isn't a good idea after all.

I'll add an Edit: rather than jumping to the top of the pile again...

Had the first experience of another mod seriously conflicting with this mod today... and I wrote it. The good thing to come from it, is that I now know how easy it is to cause it. The bad thing is, if it does happen, there is absolutely nothing I can do to prevent it.

It all comes down to managing the World.RenderingCamera If I create a Camera and assign that as the World.RenderingCamera and at the same time (or later), another mod decides to set World.RenderingCamera = null, or to their own Camera I lose. Or even worse, is that I might create a Camera and another mod can call World.DestroyAllCameras(). Two mods, one World, one outcome.

Well for one reason or another, things are really starting to grind to a halt on this now. I finally managed to get a feature working that I had planned for a long while but after adding it, I'm not sure if it's of any kind of benefit or not.

The feature basically would allow me to have an infinite number of probe sets for the on-foot camera, that I can switch to when the on-foot camera is active. The idea was for me to have sets that were dedicated for using with the static camera for instance, where it could pick just views ahead of the player to create a better panning scenario. The problem is, all front views could be blocked, so I immediately have the problem of switching to a set of probes that are useless. It was good to get it working but ultimately a waste of time.

The other option would be to have a common core set and use this feature to switch in a limited number of secondary probes that work alongside the core set... that might work.

But all of this is being wrapped in a feeling of frustration, that's making me wonder if I shouldn't just quit completely. My next potential idea thread crashed and burned, I am getting fed up with the blasé/inconsistent attitude to respecting people's creations (you may have seen my comments in a few threads on this) and as a creator, I find that disheartening and disturbing respectively.

I started putting together the skeleton files for my next idea last night but ended up just sitting looking at them and thinking "Why bother?". So I'm not sure what the future holds right now... It doesn't help that we're getting close to my most hated time of year.