Anim8or Community
Artwork => Finished Works and Works in Progress => Topic started by: TheCodedOne on August 15, 2008, 07:15:41 pm
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Hey anim8or community i know that when you read the subject you probably thought "Not another one of thoes treads" I'm not new to anim8or fourms I know how it is. Well I'm not here to ask the many talented animators here to dedicate thier time to a project that may never work.
No instead I'm here to independently create a game whilst releasing demos and receiving advice along the way.
This tread will hopefully be of use to anyone who doesn't know where to begin with making games. And hopefully the end product will entertain the community and gain anim8or some more spotlight. Well if you have any questions or concerns just post them here.
I will update this thread every day or so, happy animating!
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well, i'll look forward to seeing what you come up with :)
- colclough
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Responces:
Thanks cloclough I look foreward to showing you ;)
Update 1:
Game Consept: TBD
Lenght: TBD
Type: RPG Turnbased (Can Change)
Tools Thus Far:
Anim8or
Dev c++
Planed specs:
Platform: Windows/Mac
Engine or API: API Opengl with SDL (also Subject to change)
Sound: Open AL (or one of my own creation)
Language: C++
Model Format: OBJ and An8
Scripting: TBD
Possible extras:
Open Source
Map Editor
Internal Script
Tutorials Based On Game
Game Engine
Thats all for today more updates to come!
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Wow, that's a lot of work for 1 person, good luck!
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Responces:
Tanzim thanks for the luck I'll need it yeah this is alot of work and it's also my first opengl game lol I might give up before the end but I surely hope not!
Update 2:
GameConsept: TBD
Lenght: TBD
Type: RPG Turnbased
Goals:
1) An8 and Obj loader
2) BMP Loader for textures
3) Character Class
4) Enemy Class
5) Invatory Class
6) Movement System
7) Main Menu System
*7) Basic demo 1 - Nothing fancy just a framework
Notes to others making games:
Tip 1: Dont spend all your time in design
This is a big nono. Yeah its smart for commercial projects, but for a hobbiest MOST OF THE TIME its not. All 'super' deving the plot and setting does is delay the game longer, leaves more room for quiting, and often times can over complicate the game. Just start on the genre and start coding to fit that genre, worry about the story and all that stuff later. That way you actually know whats possible to include in the game.
Tip 2: Dont get too caught up in graphics
In case you did not notice I have nothing in that list involving making models or levels. Worrying about this too soon just sets you up for failure it makes you think you have more done that you actually do when you see that nicely modeled level and character.
Tip 3:
There is an exception to tip 2 every once in a while if things are moving slowly sometimes you get discouraged and quit. Sometimes working on the art will make you feel like you accomplished something and that little boost of happiness may keep you in the game all the longer. This is the only time I recomend breaking tip 2 unless. a) The groundwork is done, or b)You have a team.
Thats all for today hope someone benifits from it. Replys always welcome agree or dissagree.
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This project looks interesting...
It looks like you know what you are doing and you know it won't be easy, that means you've got a chance to finish it... Good luck!
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Responces:
Kubajzz
Thanks man lol.
Update 2/2:
Ok this is not really an update hince the (2/2) I just wanted an opinion. I've come to the conclusion while writing the an8 loader that instead I could just use pre rendered images instead of models there are some disadvantages and advantages to this method like speed ect. What do you guys think?
Models or Prerendered Bitmaps.
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Depends what you wanted it for, if it's for non-interact-able objects it may work (background, small foliage), but for trees, rocks etc, I'd recommend actual models.
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Responces:
Thanks for the input tazim I think I just might do that.
Update 3:
Small Update today.
The Character class is roughly done and I am moving on to the obj and texture loader. I have also began some drafting of the storyline for critisim. I've been busy training so I do this between sessions and whatnot.
Expect more updates comments welcome.
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Where didd u learn c++?
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Responces
Almost cool:
I'm self taught (2-3 off on years to be exact) I began with open source gamemaking programs. Like rpg toolkit and gamemaker then went "Screw this I want to make real games!" and thus learned c++. It wasn't untill later I learned that c++ probably wasn't the best beginner language and so tried java, python, lua, and Dark basic.
None of these languages to me promised very much controll because they where to high level and java just wasn't comfortable at the time because it was too object oriented so I ran back to c++.
I only tried each language for like a week before missing c++ lol.
Over the course of all of this I've made 7 games (All turn based rpgs). And learned 2 engines and 5 api's. I'll supply a list of thoes.
Hopefully that answers your question and will be usefull to others.
Engines:
Irrlicht
Panda 3d
API:
Opengl
Directx
SDL
Allegro
Windows
Update:
Nothing to report today
Well if you have anymore questions involving myself, games i've made, or am making just post.
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by self taught do u mean like a tutourial or sumthin?
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By self taught I mean Beginning with some tutorials then experimenting and even sometimes just reading header files. Some things tutorials can't teach you, sometimes you must simply "infer".
So in short:
Some tutorials
Some Inferencing
A little bit of reading source code files
And ALOT of experimentation.
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Sounds like the way I learned Anim8or (though reading the manual was first for me.)
Do you have any examples of these games you've made?
This seems like it could be a big project, but it sounds great! I look forward to your progress.
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You sound like you know your stuff, can't wait to see some screens or renders, same as above
Do you have any examples of the other games?
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Responces:
3D Joe/Hiho
Hey well not to seem shady or anything but unfortunatly my harddrive crashed in early march. That was a big learning experience (always have backups) so unfortunatly I cannot supply you with any examples at the moment, but I will look into seeing if my friend still has a copy of a game I made early on in my learning stages.
Hiho
Yeah anim8or was difficult for me when I first disscovered it so I moved to blener :( (lol much worse) After that I realized how user friendly anim8or actually was and went back to it. I did some trial and error, and learned as I watched others progress on the old anim8or.org fourms(before the unfortunate shutdown). I now use both in cgi films and games.
Since I have no games to show you I guess I can show you some effects I've done with anim8or and other programs.
I dont know if this qualifies for anything but it's an example of something I've done with CGI.
Update:
I've been busy with personal matters so not alot of prograss has been made, but I will try to get something visual up soon. If I'm inactive for extended periods of time that means eather my internet is down or I'm working on something. I don't like when people say they will do something on fourms then just never post back. If I quit this project I will be sure to let you all know.
Will have an actual update soon.
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It sounds good so far! I know it may e hard sometimes, but dont get distracted and keep on moving!
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Can I help? I got blender recently and I made my first model with it out of a cube.
(http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/6479/hk4161hl8.png)
Are there guns in this game?
Is it in RTS?
and RPG?
does it have a site?
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good weapon!your skills would be helpful im my game proj.
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Heh cool. I'm new to 3d animation but apparently I have some skill.
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Emuman4ever
Not a bad gun you got there, most people I've met can't box model a decent gun, so I'm pretty impressed. This game was going to be a solo effort, but your offer is definitely appreciated. I dont quite know what my plans are for models yet, but you are on my list of contacts for sure. If I need any asistance I will be sure to let you know and you will be credited accordingly.
As for a website I have not made one yet because I dont want to get peoples hopes too high in case I dont finish the game. Ive created sites for my games in the past, but for now I need to work on getting a beta of the engine done.
Also if I do create a site I expect it to be a freewebs site to simply host a download for the anim8or community and to have a simple error and disscusion fourm. If the game gets popular and I decide to update and expand it and prehaps form a team of animators and programmers. I will definitely consider renting a server for online play and creating a 'real' official site.
I'll keep you guys posted. comments welcome.
-EDIT-
To answer you last question it is strictly an rpg, but there are guns in it because it takes place in a not so distant future.
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Update 4:
Info:
The name of the game is: Commisioned (Working Title)
Basic Synopsis:
It takes place in a bleak future in which the government controls every aspect of our lives. You are not born you are "Commisioned" and when you are no longer needed you are killed or "decommisioned" the consept of this is that no humman is entitled to secracy or induviduality and that our race is to function as a single entity for the greater good.
But when you stumble upon humanitys dark secret, the government orders you and your familly do be decommisioned. It's up to you to unlock the humman potential, to discover why things ended up this way, and to lead a band of "enlightened" people to freedom as the world seeks your annihilation. This is commisioned.
This will be a turn Based RPG
This is one of the tags for the game.
(http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq351/Openmind117/commisionedEdit.jpg)
Post and tell me what you think of all of this.
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For anyone curious I could not get ahold of any of my old games, but on one of my old floppys I found a saved INGAME screenshot of one of the bases of my old multiplayer game. This was as far into the level design as I got before my PC crashed.
You were fully able to interact with what you see. There was collision detection and the works. You could even pick up the flag at this point. It was a very basic map to test the game engine's dynamics.
- 1/2 to 1 year ago-
-Blue Base-
(http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq351/Openmind117/BlueBase2.jpg)
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The bitmap loader is done and the obj loader is on its way to creation I will release a small sample soon to simply show you guys that I am making some progress. It will be a very boring sample that just shows the parts of the engine that are completed don't expect anything fancy though.
Sample:
Features:
Loaded Makehumman model(not animated)
Loaded Bitmap texture
Moveable first person camera
Extras if I have time:
Particle system test (Snow rain ect)
Animated model
Fog
Lighting
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Bad news guys I've abandoned the project AS IT IS now. I feel bad about this I mean I really wanted to create the 3d game, but it would just take to long given the circumstances. I'm still making the game, but it will be a 2d game instead and I will still post progress.
1. I simply wont have time due to advanced school courses
2. It will be done alot faster (like this year :p)
3. I can do 'fake' 3d with sprites
4. Easier to impliment online features
5. If everone likes this game I will have a framework to build upon for a 3d version.
Sorry to dissapoint everone if I did, but I rather make a good 2d game then a sucky and rushed 3d game.
If you have any commets or questions post.
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Ok so theres a site up for the game It has a development blog for anyone interested I will update this post when the site gets updated. Once my art team is assembled we can change the layout of the site to match the game more.
http://www.hierarchy2gds.webs.com/
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Staff bios are up on the website "our team" page if anyone wants to know who I am or the people working on the game are.
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All right, good luck on the 2D Version.
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Thanks man.
lol as I read your message I saw your sig. :P
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WOW! Thats loads too do! And you taught yourself, ace! It sounds interesting good luck :-)
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Thanks spicy for the confidence boost.
Update 5:
DEMO: The object loading functionality is basically done so I hacked together this little program that uses the commisioned engine to render two trees and a box in 3d.
There is no color or textures but the next update will feature
1.textures
2.lighting
3.moveable camera
DEMO SPECS:
1.Obj loader
2.So far it can safely render 50,000 polys per model
You can get the demo below.
Tell me what you think.
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Update 6:
Ok so I've been learning up to create the engine for the game and we plan to release another demo in a couple of days (more interactive then the obj loader) I won't give out any details yet but expect an update soon.
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I saw the demo. It's very good, but there is a small problem:
Run the demo
Move the window around, maximize or restore it
Watch what happens to the position of the objects: they move elsewhere.
It seems like a bug...
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Thanos:I actully noticed that after I put it in my post, but thanks for bringing that up none the less.
It's a bug...sorta.
What happeded is the objects modeled if placed in the program 'as-is' would be off the center of the screen due to camera orientation. So I translated the scene down so then the objects would be centered. Unfortunately the translation gets called more than once if the screen is updated so a small error, but an easy one to fix.
Thankyou for your input because that could have been something easly overlooked. Make sure to look at our next demo coming out in a bit. Your crits are appreciated.
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Update 7:
DEMO: The menu and gui system is on the verge of completion so we realease to you the CDS GUI demo.
DEMO SPECS:
1.Menu System
2.Buttons
3.Rollover Buttons
4.Sound
READTHIS: The demo has two bugs in it that i'm aware of so read the readme to clear things up.
You can get the demo bellow.
Tell me what you think. Bugs, crits, ect.
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Nice, but your images have... scratchy edges, sharp white bits, and the font is hard to see, but pretty good, what are you using to make this?
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Yeah I know everthing was quickly made in paint in one day lol.
Well we're using a custom game engine of our design, but it's built on top of opengl (used in anim8or) and sdl (used in 2d games) two graphics api's.
Thanks for the comment any more questions or crits?
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Very good so far can't wait for the whole thing
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If you hold down your mouse on the sound on/off button it keeps flipping between the two.
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Yeah, same happened with me aswell.
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Yeah I thought i wrote that in the read me, but thanks for telling me. All of your advice no matter how small helps the overall project. As for the on off button it was a feature added at the last second and by time I realized the bug I would've had to rewrite quite a bit of code, but for the sake of having something to show you guys it got relesed anyways Hopefully the next demo has less bugs.
Planned events:
1) combat menu demo
2) combat system demo
3) ai demo
4) Battle system beta ( a compilation of all the demos )
After all of this we stop engine development and actually delve into ingame mechanics.
Thanks again for the comments.
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Hello everyone I apologize for not posting for 2 months I haven't given up on the game project. It's just that with all of the projects for school and deadlines I've been too busy to program, but hopefully thats done with.
Heres something new advice wanted, its a WIP:
This model is NOT done It took 1-2 days to make and will be the concept for the main character. Remember I'm mainly a programmer and am doing everything myself so if my models suck I'm sorry. (Programmer art :P).
Note: The helm will be fixed, the characters torso plate has abs and peck indentations that arn't visible b/c of lighting.
(http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq351/Openmind117/MainCharacter.jpg)
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Hey Xavier, if you say you aren't a good modeller what should I say about myself? Believe me that's a very good model, well done. I'm also very curious about the game and I'm downloading the demos.
I'm wondering about the gender of your model... that's a man or a woman? Even after abs and pecs it looks like a woman to my eye, maybe it's due to those protections giving it a big bottom.
Keep on working, it sounds really promising.
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:) Thankyou very much for your comment.
I hope to have a playable demo after winter break.
The model was meant to be a man but the armour does give it a more woman like look.
Thanks of all your motivational words I will keep working. Also when I get the beta of the engine done I might need help making monsters so anyone who would be willing when the time comes is appreciated.
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I already have a monster, but it is not the kind of monster you meant.
With my monster, if everything goes smooth and as planned, a really bad modeller like me will be able to make decent stuff. But I halt on it, I don't want to make too much propaganda.
About the model, my suggestion is to flatten those side protections and lower their upper edge to the same height of the frontal protection. That would make it more man-looking in my opinion, give it a try.
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Only problem I can see with the model is the huge love handles, might wanna scale those down a bit. :P
Looks Judge Dredd - esque
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I am the law!
but yeah nice model.
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off topic..
hi man.. ambicious project.. if this help you, i make a generic level editor, and various engines only take a look... all they are whidth code source..
here..
http://jaimezegpi.webcindario.com
Now i finish a RTS engine i publish in darkbasic the next week..
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I favorited your site thanks for the link. Your works are very impressive Are they all done in basic?
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yep.. alll--
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Wow my art skills are lagging, Well I'm trying to get a demo up but my models are really sub-par. I told myself that it was only a demo and good graphics are not a nessesity, but this is just ridiculous.
What I'm asking is if anyone knows where I could find some decent architecture tutorials that would help greatly :).
This is what one of the things you can take cover behind looks like as you can see I need help lol.
(http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq351/Openmind117/demodevobjs.jpg)
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It is good compared to my skills in realistic modeling. ;D
It is a bit hard to tell from this distance, but some 'stronger' normal mapping could help it out some.
(Get a really realistic texture, similar to a simpler one, and normal map it. Then use the complicated normal map as the normal map for the simple texture)
(That probably made no sense, but it is fun to play around with normal maps to get some really interesting combinations)
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@bamman62: normalmap? you probably mean bumpmaps ;)
@TheCodedOne: Looking good at first sight. atm the model is a bit to flat, make the wall more destroyed. Also a bigger picture would be helpfull to give comments. The pic is a bit small ;)
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@bamman62: normalmap? you probably mean bumpmaps ;)
Depends on the game :P. I like the word 'Normal Map' more though.
I think I will stay in a safe zone and say 'Visually Altering Textures'.
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1)Thankyou for your comments I understood the normal mapping thing you said btw.
2)I will try do desecrate it a bit more also it has a bump map on it right now but its not very affective, I need to make a new one.
3) Next post I will be sure to make the model closer to the camera for crits.
Thanks guys
-TheCodedOne-
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Another thing that could enhance the realism is dark marks around the desecrated bits, like burn marks, and possibly some debris about the floor.
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You can make games in anim8tor? were can u learn how?
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I'm using the models I make in anim8or to make a game.
To actually make a game you need to either
a) Learn to program
b) Find game making software
C) Mod an existing game (But even this requires some programming)
Hope this answers your question
-Coded-
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what are you using?
im thinking about getting darkbasic pro
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Basic is great for a beginner trying to get into games. You could even get a freeware program called gamemaker and really nice games fast, or learn basic programming in the made up language gml.
I am personally using pure c++ and open gl. I am debating using a freeware engine to speed up development.
Hope this helps.
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Okay I've been gone forever guys, and for that I'm sorry. The game is finished. But The team I am working with wont let me release it without some sort of cost, I wanted it to be freeware like animator, but they wont let me use their models, levels, or code if it is. Worst off the team is breaking off due to squabbles and each person is taking their part of the engine with them. So sorry to necro-post, but i felt I wanted to let the community know that this game probably will not be released, or if it is it will not be free. Which is unfortunate because of all the time I've invested in the project :(. Well i plan to be an active member of the community and take a break from programing to regain some modeling skills. Thanks for the support.
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That's too bad about your team... conflicting ideas can be project wreckers
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Yeah I should have just done what i origionally planed and did it all myself. I got impatient and wanted to speed the process up. I think in retrospect i did not choose the best team players anyway. They were all kinda loose cannons, for want of a better word. Thanks for the reply.
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any chance of at least seeing some of the works?