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[Arik_the_Red]

I know this got started under the "lamp" thread, but since I've diversified, I'm beginning a new thread...

I am making an Antarctic abandoned whaling station on a small island as part of a game idea. While the concept ties into my "Corporal Cosmic" idea, this particular development "level" is quite capable of being a game all its own.

Therefore, I'm working it out as a self-standing game.

Plot: The player character/hero is a US special agent dropped off in the water in a lifeboat in the guise of being a shipwreck survivor. The mission is to explore the island because the US government believes there may be more going on than mere whaling operations.

Right now I'm working on the project from the beginning of the "gameplay," starting with modeling the ship dock on the island, then working onto the land and station facilities, and on from there.

The design will be rather surreal, and not solidly realistic in proportions of objects... this is partly because I just do better modeling that style, and it takes more "mental energy and time" for me to try and do purely real.

Anyway, attaching images that I am using for inspiration for starters... The 1st three pics are of a rather famous whaling station on Deception Island in the Antarctic.

The last image is not related to the station images, but shows the art-style I hope to convey. It's from a game made in Blender that I found on youtube..

There are some great things in the real whaling base... a partially sunken whaling ship, rusting hulks of buildings and equipment, etc. I collected a whole load of pics for inspiration.

Of course, the station I am making will be a bit less complicated, I do want to have the dock and sunk ship, several types of buildings and equipment to get the feel of the real place, and, like the real place, the island is going to be a small, dormant volcanic peak where the real mystery lies in the crater beyond the station/village ruins.

[thebigomlet]

gud idea and gud luck on the project

[Indian8or]

Good idea.  Do you have a coding team to give shape to this game?

[Arik_the_Red]

As yet, I have no team, but am looking into options... At the risk of sounding shockingly desperate... I have been mulling over Unreal's options... I'm even eyeballing Blender options.

As of now, I am not a coder/programmer, but really do want to make something happen one way or another.

The bigger picture of this game storyline has some serious potential, per my discussions with a few folks "in the industry." So, I am also open to anyone who might be interested in talking about team-building.

Anyone who might be seriously interested in this project is welcome to contact me arik_the_red@hotmail.com (I use Windows Messenger). In fact, there are elements to this that team member prospects might find extremely amusing, intriguing, etc.

If a team does come together, the project will be under the aewakened.com theme... which is a wouldbe production company that I hold with Ericaug as a partner. Ericaug is currently considering becoming a part of this project since he did have early on ideas and interests in it dating back awhile.

Until then, I am working my things, and sharing them here.

[Arik_the_Red]

Whaling boat model... in the works... plus "inspiration photos".

So hard to believe so much was just abandoned....

[Indian8or]

I liked your approach Arik.  Keep it up.  Actually, I have abandoned all my anim8or projects because of "slow" rendering and "lack" of effective particle system in anim8or.

You can progress really well as far as modelling in anim8or is concerned, but when it comes to elements like oceans, rivers, fire, clouds, etc, you simply can't get what you want.

[thebigomlet]

well i have no clue about gaming and coding but i might be able to help with some models?

[Arik_the_Red]

At this point I think modeling's the main concern in any case. I already know that any game programing will mean stepping away from Anim8or. I am very tempted to move things over into Blender, so am going to be trying to get somewhat familiar with its game design and animation features.

As I am pretty serious about making this happen one way or another, alone or with a team, I figured a great way to see how it could go would be to start with the whaling station/village itself.

Therefore, I'm making an open invitation to anyone wanting to model for this little village, to choose something that catches your eye with the whaling station theme, as "oh that would be fun to make" and put it together.  

I am working on the ship as shown above, and a pier-style dock for starters.

Anyone wishing to get involved may design something with the idea of semi-realistic, but with the idea of things being sort of toon-ish shape, as per the sample image along with those whaling station pics I posted.

For a scale of things, I'm roughly running things as:

10 anim8or points = 1 foot

Items need not be ultra-realistic, but nicely stylized, and should be in a state of disrepair, rusting, decay, etc.

Really, any number of structures or equipment can be made. The general era of construction would be anytime between the 1940s and 50s. Everything should look abandoned and long unused. Structures could be made from wood, corrugated or sheet metal (painted or bare or painted, rusted), and the like (as shown in the sample photos).

- Warehouse
- House
- Small Church and Graveyard
- Storage Shack/Tool Shed
- etc.

Odds and ends that could work for detail decoration could include:

- Tools
- Chain in piles or strewn about
- Ship Parts: Anchors, rudders, etc.
- Broken Equipment
- Broken vehicles
- Whale skeleton or bones
- etc.

For now, I'll be using this thread for "show and tell" of the complete construction of the whaling station/village.

TO SHOW YOUR WORK PROGRESS: Take a screenshot of 3-4 views of your object in "Flat" or "Wire" modes. That will give an idea of just how much or little meshwork you put into your creation. If you have worked on any textures, a render would be cool, too. Oh, and for "we the stupid," please tell us what you are modeling .

Thanks for your interest in working on bits of this.  Note, full credit will be given to anyone involved in the design and development of this project.

Post what you wish to build, and renders of your work, here. We'll worry about file sharing and such after a few things have developed.

I will be establishing a forum for development discussion, and once the whaling village is well underway there will be discussion of "the real fun parts" that lie beyond the island's crater rim... I'm pretty sure that those wishing to remain involved will really like what that means.

Anyone who wants to get more deeply involved may contact me in Windows Messenger: Arik_the_Red@hotmail.com .

[Arik_the_Red]

Ship and Dock Update:

I was playing about with textures, but just a bit, on the dock wood. Not really going to be the final texture, though I might simply take what I have made there and modify it to the need.

The ship is going to get a bit of detailing (rails, harpoon gun in the bow, etc)... and then I will make texturing for it.

I'm aiming for fairly basic poly, with enough shape to give things a nice form, but not pouring into high detail where a texture can serve the purpose.

As for the "red man," he's just there for me to get a good idea of scale.

As far as gameplay goes, this will be pretty much where the game really starts. The player will be able to acquire his first weapon here, by jumping on the shipwreck and taking the whale harpoon from the gun that will be mounted in the bow. Nothing like a good old "pokey stick" to deal with foes, right?

[Arik_the_Red]

Nice boot! While this is an "abandoned" whaling station, I think you might be onto something.... Looking forward to what you come up with.

[blazecon0]

exactly how creepy/demented are we allowed to make this? i mean are there any spots were there will be dead/mangled skeletons of ppl maybe speared to a wall or something like that
anyway, id love to help out a bit, ill pick something and get it started ^.^
i think i may have something i can work with a bit to make it adaptable to be used as a church, tho you cant get mad at me for it having Zelda themes XD

[Arik_the_Red]

hmmm... well... ummmm... What ever you take on, as long as you can bring it around to "real world" sorta...
I have no idea what Zelda themes could imply. But if it's some massive cathedral of unending gargoyles and stained glass, it might be a bit more than ... well... ummm...

 had not quite considered a place for massive heaps of dead/mangled skeletons ... but, lets just say the whaling station is a sort of front for something else, over the crater rim and inside, so isn't intended to draw attention.

By the way, I'm still working things, just got hung up on the best way to do certain texturing, so am working to brush up on skills there as I model.

[headwax]

Hey Arik

Great to see you cooking something up
You know that thereis a great plugin which will generate a noisy mesh for terrain ...

hmm give me a mo  A perlin Generator?

[headwax]

edit here it is http://homepage.ntlworld.com/w.watson3/asl.html

the rock generator is great too

[Arik_the_Red]

No idea what you're on about, Andrew.... help me out a little there? Or you whipping up a small volcanic

island?



EDIT!  Didn't see you make that second post, Andrew...