Exclusive Armed Assault report

[Journeyman 0]

Quote[/b] ]A BI-developed vegetation generator, called Linda, is producing varied and realistic vegetation without any handcraft.

Does anyone know how 'Linda' works and why will they not be releasing it to the community?

This could be a great tool for island makers!  

I think this might be it.

Thanks Jakerod, you came closest to answering my question!  

Quote[/b] ]Last but not least, Linda is pretty useless for the community.

... please expand why this would be? I'm not saying you're wrong, but would like to know if a version of it at least could be usefull to us.  

[Guest Ti0n3r]

I guees hardrock's explanation is as accurate as it gets. But we don't know what could happen in the future. Remeber, 'Breathe' wasn't available at all until 24th of April '02 and it wasn't public until 12th of September '02.

Conclusion: Never say never.

[Journeyman 0]

Conclusion: Never say never.

... Yep! I'll go by that last quote!  

[hardrock 1]

Quote[/b] ]... please expand why this would be? I'm not saying you're wrong, but would like to know if a version of it at least could be usefull to us.

Okay, and who programs the version? Who takes time for that and, more importantly, which projects/features should be canceled which would be done in that time? Who writes the documentation and which features will we cancel, that this guy would work on in that time? You see what I mean?

The very bad thing about this community is that it always demands unreasonable things. Most of the guys here can't imagine the point of view of a game developer. Many oh so small changes to a game engine or a program require a lot of work and testing.

For ArmA, BIS indeed has a long list of features that is much longer than what they really will be able to do. So why ask more? Be happy for what you get, it is more than many others would give.

[jakerod 254]

Quote[/b] ]A BI-developed vegetation generator, called Linda, is producing varied and realistic vegetation without any handcraft.

Does anyone know how 'Linda' works and why will they not be releasing it to the community?

Because it is too complicated, and releasing it would also require them to write a documentation (remember the complaining about the barely documented O2?) which would take a lot of time. Last but not least, Linda is pretty useless for the community.

Why would it be useless for the community?

[hardrock 1]

Why would it be useless for the community?

I said it is pretty useless, regarding all the facts mentioned before.

[deanosbeano 0]

i believe this is linda, i agree with hard rock for most it wont be much use.

LINDA

but be aware ,its only for a die hard vegitation maker.its 160 meg video , of an idea games/ bis chap and its all in czech.

in my sig under new vegetation is a condense version, you must let it load , its slow sorry.

[franze 196]

Thanks to the guys who explained Certified Content Developers - I was jumping the gun, admittedly. I'm only worried about what effect it will have on the non-professional addon makers; of course, all I know about it is a few sentences worth.

[dinger 1]

Linda is awesome and revolutionary. You would want this tool. Trust me on this -- I want it, and I know nothing of botany.

[dslyecxi 23]

Linda is awesome and revolutionary. You would want this tool. Trust me on this -- I want it, and I know nothing of botany.

Dinger,

Will you or any other of the attendees do a writeup on Linda, or any of the other things that occured on the 21st? The info we got from the Saturday session was fantastic, but as of yet I haven't seen anything about the Sunday stuff.

I would be interested in reading about Command Engine 2, your mortar system, and certainly everything BIS talked about.

[raedor 8]

CE2 and Dinger's mortar was on Saturday also. We're definitley writing some kind of review with more info, but I can't say what exactly it is going to contain. Maybe we can also post some things from Sunday's Q&A Session, but we'll have to get the permission from BI before.

[dinger 1]

Well, Linda's exposure was limited to a screenshot and a brief description. The video linked contains some good hints: download it, and start watching from around minute 50.

Really, I'm not an authority on it, so it's best if you judge the feed from BIS yourself. From what I can see, it's such a prime asset that BIS would have more interest in licensing it to other virtual world developers than giving it away for free to the community. And, well, if it uses --as is probably -- proprietary elements licensed from third parties, there's no chance we'll see it. But it is cool.

[Friedchiken 0]

Well, Linda's exposure was limited to a screenshot and a brief description. The video linked contains some good hints: download it, and start watching from around minute 50.

Really, I'm not an authority on it, so it's best if you judge the feed from BIS yourself. From what I can see, it's such a prime asset that BIS would have more interest in licensing it to other virtual world developers than giving it away for free to the community. And, well, if it uses --as is probably -- proprietary elements licensed from third parties, there's no chance we'll see it. But it is cool.

You know, BIS is probably the only developer that I would encourage to perform all sorts of nasty money making schemes. Yay BIS! Yay for capitalism and upstart companies!

EDIT:: Please ignore the chicken, it does not know what it's talking about.

[Adamicz 3]

Well, Linda's exposure was limited to a screenshot and a brief description. The video linked contains some good hints: download it, and start watching from around minute 50.

Really, I'm not an authority on it, so it's best if you judge the feed from BIS yourself. From what I can see, it's such a prime asset that BIS would have more interest in licensing it to other virtual world developers than giving it away for free to the community. And, well, if it uses --as is probably -- proprietary elements licensed from third parties, there's no chance we'll see it. But it is cool.

And what about licensing it for commercial usage and giving it over for free to the community. This variant was mentioned in czech vid too. Awesome recording by the way

[Guest Ti0n3r]

Yeah, that vid was just amazing

[bravo 6 0]

indeed, only if i could understand the language.

Roots seem super.. do the trees grow by them selves?

The foliage look amazing.

[Adamicz 3]

Quote[/b] ]A BI-developed vegetation generator, called Linda, is producing varied and realistic vegetation without any handcraft.

Does anyone know how 'Linda' works and why will they not be releasing it to the community?

Because it is too complicated, and releasing it would also require them to write a documentation (remember the complaining about the barely documented O2?) which would take a lot of time. Last but not least, Linda is pretty useless for the community.

Why would it be useless for the community?

It was mentioned in that recording that they're writing documentation at this time. And it shouldn't be so complicated, lot of features the Linda making automatically.

[dslyecxi 23]

indeed, only if i could understand the language.

Perhaps someone who knows the language could write a transcript for us, or even a basic summary?

[Scrub 0]

Quote[/b] ]

raedor

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maybe we can also post some things from Sunday's Q&A Session, but we'll have to get the permission from BI before.

YAY! Surprises on the way!! (sometime anyways)

[Journeyman 0]

Yea that video of LINDA looked quite impressive. If someone could do a quick Czech-English summary translation it would be cool!  

[Guest Ti0n3r]

I'd lose my mind and kill myself if they're able to add physics to the vegetation (á Crysis).

[Pierrot 0]

Yea that video of LINDA looked quite impressive. If someone could do a quick Czech-English summary translation it would be cool!  

There are many pics in the video.

Are they from GAME2 or ArmA?

[Guest Ti0n3r]

There are many pics in the video.

Are they from GAME2 or ArmA?

Game2.

[Journeyman 0]

It appeared from the video that there was a tree (I think a birch) that had three different versions of maturity. One was a sapling the other taller but still young and a much older looking one with missing branches! If they can do this with every tree species they implement that would represent a huge variety. Also presumably the ability to randomly rotate each tree so even two identical trees will appear different if they face slightly different directions, a problem I found quite irritating in OFP when a line of Poplars along a roadside for example would not have all looked identical if they had only been randomly rotated!  

Also what is with showing the root systems in the video? Why would they need the roots unless they will actually be growing!  

This program sounds awesome! I can’t wait to learn more of what it can do!  

[jakerod 254]

Also what is with showing the root systems in the video? Why would they need the roots unless they will actually be growing!  

This program sounds awesome! I can?t wait to learn more of what it can do!  

Well if you were to knock over a tree in the game and the bottom was just a cylinder it would look werid. If the roots are there they will be pulled up along with it and it will look more natural. Also maybe it has somethign to do with how sturdy the tree is in the ground. The bigger the roots the harder it is to knock over or something like that.