Now that everything is opensource I was wondering how hard it would be to upgrade the Rendering Engine to the latest C# port of Ogre3D (MOgre)? The Graphics can be much improved by doing so and it would allow the use of Particle Universe in stead of the built in Ogre Particle system!

Well I see that Axiom supports Hydrax and Caelum which is GREAT news! So I guess my goals once I get the source and start working will be to upgrade the Multiverse Client to the latest version of Axiom if it hasn't already been done and then get Caelum and possibly Hydrax working in the client. Caelum will be controlled completely Client side to start with and then once I have that working my goal will be to get the day/night cycle synced based on the server side time (1 real day = 1 game day based on the server's time).

Axiom also supports Ogre's New Paging Terrain System which is also great news! So another thing that would be cool is to get Multiverse so it supports it as well! Then we could create larger worlds then what can currently be created!

We are planning to update the code to support the most recent version of Axiom if you want to help that would be great!

Hello,

In the SourceForge SVN I created a source branch called Axiom_Upgrade_0.8.0 to facilitate upgrading the Axiom engine. Because it is such a major change I didn't want to mess up the trunk. I've done some work switching the system over and I've posted dozens of compile bugs to the JavaForge site. The biggest challenge will be with the Multiverse Scene Manager (MVSM) This is the link between the Multiverse client and the Axiom engine and this is where nearly all the compile errors occur. I've corrected several of the easy problems already since most were object renames or restructures within the Axiom library. But there are many that remain.

Not everyone will have immediate direct commit access to the SourceForge site. This is to prevent the fly by night hacker from trashing the code. If you want direct commit access please talk with myself (scfischer7), Tristan, and Jono (Delurin). The community should have freedom but tempered with a commitment to delivering quality solutions.

If you do work on the Axiom upgrade please perform that work in the Axiom_Upgrade_0.8.0 branch in the SourceForge SVN.

There has also been talk about integrating different rendering engines. That is totally an excellent idea and would be great to have variety and options for the community. Just remember that MAJOR mods like that should be done in a Branch in the SVN. Otherwise too many mods working on those types of things in the Trunk will collide. Or the work could be done offline and then uploaded to a branch.

We will be working out the "rules" and structure of the dev teams and how things will work over the next couple months. Tristan, Jono, and I have great ideas and will be sharing them when appropriate. Not only ideas for the platform but for the community as well !

Get excited because it's going to be SWEET !

Thanks,
Shane C Fischer
scfischer7

I am not sure what my future plans are with my version of Multiverse... I am currently using Hero and even with an upgraded version of Axiom or Ogre3D there are still some huge negatives to switching my project over to Multiverse (There are also some huge positives as well).

Ideally what I would like to do is take the source code for Multiverse and use it as a base for my own MMO Engine that I can use for my own projects and license out if funding is needed. I have attempted to create my own engine many times in the past but have never gotten to far. The ideal situation for me is a equal mix between working on the Engine and working on the game. Using Multiverse would afford me that mix where it would be a viable MMO Creation package right from the start but I also have the source code for it so I can work on the engine as well.

However if I were to make the switch from Hero to my own Engine using Multiverse I would be more then willing to give back to the community SOME of the changes I make. In order for me to be able to consider and call it my own engine I would need to make sure that there was enough changes and rewrites that I had on only mine to consider it a new engine... So I couldn't give everything back to the community but I certainly wouldn't mind working with you guys on the client Axiom upgrade. At some point I would like to completely rewrite the client and create a C++ client which I think would end up being faster then the current C# client.

RoH_JamesProctor,

Great ideas! We wish you the best and are here to support you. This is the beauty of Multiverse's decision to release the code under the MIT License. Total Freedom ! You are fully within your right to take the code and use it to build a business, modify, sub-license, and whatever else you wish. Honestly I wish all Open Source was licensed this way.

Any code or contributions submitted to the Official Multiverse Software Foundation projects would be placed under the MIT License. So if there is sensitive intellectual property you create that you don't want available to the world in this manner, then by all means keep it. You can also of course provide to the community under your own licensing under your own name for sale or free.

The goal of the Multiverse Software Foundation is to level the playing field in a market dominated by multi-million or even billion dollar companies and give the average person a chance at making his/her dreams come true. This starts with the initially released code base but will expand to provide additional features and tools.

Other individuals or companies can fill the gap with anything the Multiverse Foundation does not provide by creating new software, assets, plugins, even services. Tristan is working on an official marketplace where these tools and services can be offered for sale to the community.

Giving back to the Foundation's efforts and the community will be encouraged through several means.

First we are working on becoming an official 501(c)(3) non profit charity, meaning donations are tax deductible!

Second we are looking into non monetary "rewards" for various types of contributions such as participation in forums, submission of documentation or code, art assets released to the Foundation, etc. These "rewards" would provide benefits to the contributor and help build participation across the community.

There is much more and I'm probably revealing too much at this point but there you go.

When the time is right Tristan will be providing "Official" Press Releases about each new announcement as we move forward.

Really it's the dawn of a new era !


Shane C Fischer
scfischer7

It would also be pretty cool if some day you could put Multiverse Developer on your resume and land a job at an MMO company that uses the system. Who needs the US Congress to stimulate the economy and spur job growth. We're doing it right here!

Hello! Its been a few months since I've been around here. Pretty busy with life at the moment trying to start a Web Development Business. However I was wondering how the Upgrade to the latest Axiom version is going?

I started working on changing the rendering engine over to MOgre last night. Killed around 300 or 400 errors - mainly errors with it looking for axiom as well as some other errors with MOgre having different names for Variables then Axiom had. I then started getting into errors where whole systems would have to be rewritten. The Input System will need to be rewritten in order to use MOSI. Needless to say it's going to be a MAJOR undertaking.

In the long run though it would be the best choice. Axiom, even the newest version of Axiom, is WAY behind Ogre3D and updates don't come out very often with Axiom. MOgre they keep right up with the latest releases or close to the latest releases of Ogre3D. Ogre3D is also able to use DirectX 11 where Axiom is still only at Direct 9. Ogre doesn't fully support DirectX 11 but it's getting there. There is also a far bigger and more active community then Axiom has.

Probably a lot of work involved, but it would be neat to have things abstracted to the point that you could switch out rendering engines. That way people could run an Axiom version or a(n) MOgre version with their Multiverse setup depending on what suits their needs. Something like being able to select build targets of "Release MOgre" or "Debug Axiom" for the client build in Visual Studio would be handy.

Just throwing out ideas. I haven't compared features or licensing or interface differences between the two projects.

I would like to see the engine capable of supporting multiple rendering engines.

Well I've started the upgrade to the latest Axiom!

Here are the results from my latest compile attempt:

========== Rebuild All: 12 succeeded, 27 failed, 0 skipped ==========

If you don't already know which build of Axiom the MV team started with this might help.

This snapshot seems to be from the same time period as when the MV team created their fork based on copyright dates in the config files.

https://svn.axiom3d.net/svnroot/axiomengine/historic_archive/realmforge_era_main_branch/Axiom/

If you already know all this... Well sorry.

Would I be correct in assuming, using Ogre engine, would allow the use of Ogre mesh, skeleton, material etc.. formats?

My reasoning is, as formats go, these are very stable and crossplatform compatible. Moreso as the importer/exporter plugins come directly from Ogre.

I have sooo many scenes/models already in Ogre native formats, would save me a great deal of time. I also happen to like those formats in what can be achieved.