This is a quick little something I threw together as a front-end for the project... This is in the hopes that I will have a small playable demo by the year's end.
It seems like everything is a little spaced out for my liking, but overall it is a decent start. I'm sure I will have some other data to add in the future to fill it out...
October has been a productive month!! We now have a dialog system, I was able to re-implement the enemy AI system that I had intended. And on top of that, I also ended up with a very effective but simple way of spawning items and characters. There is still a bit of work to go, but an actual demo is not much further down the road hopefully.
I am just one marginally talented guy, and I can't do it alone. As I flesh out my vision for this project, it is obvious that I am going to need a lot, and I mean A LOT of help.
If you are a like-minded hobbyist and have any of the skills listed below, then keep reading. I'm not looking for people to dedicate every waking hour to this, just a few people to lend a hand here and there...
I am looking for: Quest Writers 3d Animators 3d Character Designers 3d Level designers VFX Artists
A short description of the project: A 3rd Person zombie/survival RPG/shooter that takes place in a near future post-apocalyptic setting.
If you are interested, please click "Contact Me!" at the top of the page.
There is nothing new to show and tell, really. For now and the near future, I'm going back into the cave to undertake the task of coding in a bunch of enemies into the game. this consists of adding the models and making physics, collisions and scanning work. If that wasn't enough work, Then I have to take on the task of migrating all of that data into the Save/Load system. In a couple words, It's going to be boring/arduous work. When I re-emerge, hopefully, I will have a playable demo ready and available...
Yet another update to my 3rd person shooter project. I have changed the the vehicle cam to be user controlled, like the character object. I also have added the First Aid Kit Item. I also added several new meshes, namely the ammo Item to go along with the First Aid Kit.
The biggest update is the addition of a fully working Save/Load system. At first I wanted to be able to save and load at any point during the game. But the more I think about it, the saving and loading should only take place when changing or starting levels.
At this point, the basic "engine" is in a very usable state. I would go so far as to say that, excluding the production items such as shaders, and game assets, The engine itself is in the ballpark of being 85% to 90% complete.
It was my goal from the outset to make this project modular, so anyone would be able to create derivative games from the source, And it looks like to a large extent, this is going to be very possible. A person should be able to build a 3rd person shooter from this engine, simply by adding custom artwork and changing some settings.
The entire multiplayer system has yet to be explored as it is not a priority at the moment...
Here is an outstanding Blender tutorial that I stumbled upon. It teaches some basics of using the Blender interface, and shows the workflow of modeling a low poly character.
This is another update to my third person shooter project. I have the basic framework of a functional 3rd person shooter finished, and in this video I am demonstrating drivable vehicles and the newly added enemy AI as well.
I still plan on adding some type of inventory system beyond the existing weapon inventory (trading system, perhaps) and also a save/load system.
Please comment, but remember that this is a work in progress. Most of the visual assets are placeholder art.
Over the last week or two, I have been gearing back up to work on my ongoing "3rd Person Shooter" framework. I decided to create this blog to document my progress, as well as share my experiences with others who might be interested.
I am undecided as to what I want this project to be eventually. Beyond the 3PS framework, I plan to continue developing this into a full project that I hope one day sees completion. A couple of ideas have bounced in and out of my head. My intention when starting this project was to eventually create a Tactical 3rd Person Military Shooter. In the year or so since, my desire has shifted to making some type of open-ended 3rd Person Shooter/RPG hybrid.
The lack of concrete story has not hindered the development of this project. The framework mechanics are relatively unchanged, with the exception of having to completely redo the raycasting part of the project (due to enhancements in the 3dRad engine, my previous raycasting method became obsolete). The biggest obstacle that I have faced is my own lack of expertise. I have lost many, many hours of sleep over the last year working on what I consider to be relatively simple problems. And just when it seems one problem is corrected, another one would pop up in its place.
But as the first stage of this project nears completion, I begin to look ahead to develop my vision of what I want this project to become.
Here is a brief video chronology of this project. Feb '09
Today we stand at the precipice of gaming history. The Onlive gaming service is set to launch in a matter of weeks. And unlike previous online gaming services which require you to download the games(and is dependent on your computer's hardware), Onlive asserts that you will be able to stream (think Youtube) and play the latest games in all of their graphical glory. If that wasn't enough, Onlive will also boast a robust social community.
The biggest draw is the potential to bring high-end gaming to mid and low range systems. If Onlive is successful, it will change the face of gaming.
Onlive must prove it can overcome the one potential technical issue critical to it's success. Will it provide a seamless streaming gaming experience? Onlive has stated that a Connection of 5 Mbps is needed for HD gaming, and only 1.5 Mbps for SD gaming. If Onlive truly can deliver as promised, I expect it to give XBox 360 and Playstation 3 a serious run. Onlive.com
Here are ten cheap or free development tools for making 3d games. Don't let the cheap or free part dissuade you, these are all high quality tools.
10.TurboSquid A website with hundreds of high quality free and commercial 3D models.
9.CG Texture Website Not a tool but a web page packed with high quality textures.
8.Audacity A free audio recording and editing tool. Highly recommended.
7.L3DT Terrain Generator A very good terrain development wizard. There is also a pro version available.
6.Makehuman A very good human model generator. High quality.
5.Fragmotion This is a highly capable 3d animation tool. It imports and exports a bunch of 3d formats. The registered version is $50
4.Pacemaker A free 3d animation tool. I'm not too familiar with this one, but it comes highly recommended.
3.Gimp A free, full featured image manipulator in the spirit of Photoshop.
2.Blender 3D Modeler This is a very popular free 3d modeler that rivals the best pro tools. The interface can be intimidating, but it's packed with features and worth the learning curve.
1.3DRAD This is where everything comes together, and that's why it's number one on my list. No tool lets you build a game faster or easier than 3drad. And the best part is, it just became free!
