I dont understand why this error is happening under 6.5 .. something must be chnaged in how the pointers or handles work, becaus ei never get this invalid error in other versions.. I dont get it.

The light functions are coded in a such a way that the pointers should always be valid.

To solve the light issue under 5.2 change the code like so -

Code:

---

 function Light_Update()
{
	var temp2loop=0;
	
	//loop through and update each active light in the array
	while(temp2loop<max_sphere_lights)
	{
			temp=closestlight[temp2loop];
			if(temp>0)
			{
				me=ptr_for_handle(closestlight[temp2loop]);
		
				if my.skill5<=max_light_dist
				{
					Sp_Init_Light(vector(my.x,my.z,my.y),vector(my.skill8,my.skill9,my.skill10),vector(temp2loop,temp2loop,my.Sp_lightrange*2));
	
					Sp_Light_Dist(my.skill5+20,temp2loop);
				}
				
				//if light is nt within mac dist, make it black and very far away so there can be no popping artifacts
				if(my.skill5>max_light_dist)
				{
					Sp_Init_Light(vector(10000,10000,10000),vector(0,0,0),vector(temp2loop,temp2loop,my.Sp_lightrange));
	
					Sp_Light_Dist(my.skill5+20,temp2loop);
				}
			}
			
			else
			{
          if(my)
          {
				Sp_Init_Light(vector(10000,10000,10000),vector(0,0,0),vector(temp2loop,temp2loop,my.Sp_lightrange)); //--- line that produces pointer error
	
				Sp_Light_Dist(my.skill5+20,temp2loop);
          }
			}
	
		temp2loop+=1;
	}	
}
 

---

Matt, excellent job with this release, having tested and messed around with the code some, just a great job all around. Both the indoor and outdoor scenes work great, and the water is some of the best(if not the best) i've ever seen in a game. I was wondering about the trees though, how do you make them sway? I cant seem to find what causes it past the plant_wave() function. As well, I couldn't figure out how to add them in a custom level, how is the bmap loaded that places them? Thanks.

@ William,

Thank you for sharing the updated code to solve this empty pointer error. Sphere2 now works with the A6.50.2 update!

Dusty

William, thanx a lot for finding that, i couldn't figure out what was wrong.. i wonder why it worked in the previous version and not in the new one?

About the trees, they sway based in this variable "plantwavespeed", found in shader_defs.wdl. The actual swaying is done in the vertex shader.

to change the tree placement you must make a new bitmap. then find this function: Set_Bitmaps_Level_2()

This is a function that can be called at the start of the level, for each level you need a new function; all it does is set up the bitmaps that Sphere needs for the level...

make a new funciton like for every level, and set in the main script to call whichever function corrsponds to you current level. You will needs ot make new bitmaps and assisng them in these functions.

The way it works is the scripts use a number of bitmap pointers, what you do in this function is assing given bitmaps to the pointers.

function Set_Bitmaps_Level_2()
{
//vegetation and rock maps
grass_mask=grass_mask_1; //for grass
tree_map=plant_map_1; //for trees
rock_map=rock_map_1; //for rocks

//these are are for terrain
tNorm_1=terrain_bmp_1; //beach
tNorm_2=terrain_bmp_2; //grass1
tNorm_3=terrain_bmp_3; //grass2
tNorm_4=terrain_bmp_4; //rock
terrain_blend=blend_1; //red/green splat blender
splat_tex_1=rock_parallax; //splat1 color
splat_tex_1_nm=rock_parallax_nm;//splat1 normal
splat_tex_2=pathtex; //splat2 color
splat_tex_2_nm=pathnorm; //splat2 normal

//sky textures
skydometex=skydome_1;
cloud_norm=clouds_1;
}

Thanks for figuring that out William.

I'll make the changes.

Regards,

How would I be able to make a seperate model sway(that's not a tree or shrub in the Sphere system)? I've tried taking out a technique from the "leaves.fx" file and applying it to a model, but couldn't get no results. Basically looking to add some swaying to seperate tree models that were hand placed in the level. Thanks for the help.

Matt, I inserted the pointer check into the Light_Update() function as William shows, and the level does load without complaint. However the "monster" is totally unlit. It is as if the closest light array is empty? Maybe a problem in Light_Distance()?
Any ideas?

So , after all this time , what would you people say is the min requirements for a user playing a game made with sphere , with quality settings set to midium or something , I only have extra edition , and still thinking about updating to commercial to try sphere , but I do only have a Feforce fx ultra 5200 , so Im still thinking about it before doing it , any info on speed would be great , specially for indoor levels , dont care much for the outdoor.

it will run on an FX card, but will be too slow to be usable.

@ Dusty, that's not entirely true, I got a Nvidia card from Krex for under $100.00 (but it's an APG), but for the PCIE cards you shelling some money but PCIE is still fairly new tech .

@ Matt Aufderheide my email has resonantly changed, would that present a problem?