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VBBR
Moderator
Brazil
617 Posts |
 Posted - May 10 2004 : 7:06:17 PM
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Some of you may already now how volatile I am with game projects... (read this, Eric?  )
Well, the fact is, now I've come up with a very solid idea and am starting the project. One thing I need is some directions. The other is your opinion on the subject of the game.
It will be basically a game where you are a detective and is hired to solve certain mysteries. The mysteries will be created separately so talking about themselves here doesn't apply (who knows, maybe at another topic at a later date). But they could be something like the classical murder case or something like investigating some rival or your own wife... 
Now for the directions. Where should I start? Any of you know about some tutorial about game design and development that applies to basic games? Not something that assumes I have a tem of 20 or so people. There is me and hardly 2 more people that maybe can do something besides giving small ideas. |
Whatever. Who knows... |
Edited by - VBBR on May 10 2004 7:20:44 PM
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Eric Coleman
Gladiator
USA
811 Posts |
Posted - May 10 2004 : 7:46:18 PM
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A game like that might be difficult for just one person. I don't know of any tutorials that apply to basic games. The game you're describing isn't basic at all. It will realistically take you quite a few years to finish it. 
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ballistik
Moderator
72 Posts |
Posted - May 10 2004 : 9:19:37 PM
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If I were you, I'd maybe start by designing a modular-engine that could load and let the user play through a short mystery-puzzle-quest (whatever ya wanna call it!). After that (and possibly even during), maybe create the actual quest-editor. This would let you create some simple test missions to make sure your engine works. Then, proceed to enhance your engine with some AI, difficulty settings, etc. etc.
I guess it would work almost episodically. After you get it to a point where it is actually fun to play, you could allow people to download the engine and a few "episodes" to play. And you could constantly enhance the engine and make new episodes for people to play.
Just an idea...
P.S. - I never once said this would be easy. 
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EACam
Warrior
154 Posts |
Posted - May 10 2004 : 10:08:03 PM
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definately hard...2D? even harder...3D? forget it...text based? possibly. screen based (like Myst)? probably best choice.
there's a tutorial about screen based games somewhere...but i can't rembember where...it was pretty good tho. |
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masterbooda
Swordmaster
277 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2004 : 12:23:29 AM
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If your looking for ideas... If I was to make a game similar to that... I would make it a classic point and click type...
Interaction with other characters would be essential... you can set different questions to ask them, and if the player answers wrong will basically get knowhere...
Your best bet is to play some of the older dos games... this will give you a good Idea on where to start... but if you artistic skills aren't that great(like mine) then perhaps, make it mostly text based...
DaBooda out... |
DaBooda Team is back: http://dabooda.789mb.com/ |
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VBBR
Moderator
Brazil
617 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2004 : 10:43:56 AM
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I'm not worried about time, I have all the time of the world to do that game (ok, realistically, like a lot of years )...
I don't think that 3D is a lot harder than 2D it's just a dimension more...
I think i'll use ballistik's suggestions they look good to me... of course you can continue writing.
Just to add: I could release just the game engine and the quest editor so everyone creates some fun quests
Another add: I will start trying to create a square ugly room where you can move an ugly box around... this should give me some basis.
EDIT: This is already done and the camera movement is pretty great at the time |
Whatever. Who knows... |
Edited by - VBBR on May 12 2004 2:02:31 PM |
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VBBR
Moderator
Brazil
617 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2004 : 1:58:13 PM
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Now for EACam... I've been thinking... what's really the big drawback in making it 3D? I have found myself very better (actually less bad) with 3D art over 2D so that won't be a problem. Also I have a graphics engine capable of loading and animating MS3D, MD2 and 3DS files (the latter not supporting animation).
So...?
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Whatever. Who knows... |
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EACam
Warrior
154 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2004 : 2:45:56 PM
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| Well...the physics in 3D are harder. The AI is harder. The collision is harder. Just about everything is harder. + VB isn't quite fast enough for a full-fledged 3D game...but if your models weren't too detailed, you could probly get by. What's this engine you speak of? NemoX? |
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timbo152k
Squire
Canada
25 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2004 : 4:06:36 PM
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Realistically, VB is slow in some ways, however, to make the claim that it isn't fast enough for a full-fledged 3D game is not giving the language enough credit.... Besides, you can always get around any bottlenecks by writing the cpu-intensive functions in a C++ DLL or even inline ASM if you can find or write the code for it.
I think this game would be best suited as an isometric point and click type game, a similar engine to say Diablo 1 - except modern times, or maybe set in the 1950s - have that old detective show appeal to it.. old cars, rainy streets, allyways, bad guys... sounds great I'd say...
Plus, you can always render the art from 3D models! And if you need to make isometric tiles, there's a program on this site - I think in the tutorials section - that will handle that! |
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VBBR
Moderator
Brazil
617 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2004 : 4:17:23 PM
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EACam: I think I will make the game in a "rooms" style, so minimizing the collision/CPU overhead. Also there won't be really "AI". Just at some moments that the game will be more "action".
The engine I use is Revolution3D (www.revolution3d.net), I have tried NemoX but Rev3D is much better. Check it out.
timbo152k: Yep, if I get by some CPU-intensive part, I will create an external C/C++ DLL to do the hard work for VB. Also the view will be kind of isometric (kinf of, I mean the point of view will be above and diagonal) but with dynamic camera movement... (soon I will post a very early alpha of the camera engine here).
About the time in which the game is on, it will depend most on the quests created. Also I plan to make the quest engine heavilly scriptable so there won't be needed too much tweak o the original code just to create an specific feature. But if some specific code is good and can be reused I could also implement it on the main engine.
I also know this program you're taling about - it's very good indeed. |
Whatever. Who knows... |
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EACam
Warrior
154 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2004 : 4:29:44 PM
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Ok ok ok ok...i think you've got a fair shot at at least getting somewhere with this game...
That engine...it looks nice. Wait a second here...........am I correct in gathering that I can use this engine to do the graphics in DX9 but use the engine in VB6 (doesn't support DX9 directly)????? If so...SWEETNESS! |
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VBBR
Moderator
Brazil
617 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2004 : 5:35:32 PM
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Yeah! That's one of the biggest "greats" of Rev3D...! See, it's really great! And it not even in the 1.0 version...
Also in the next version (092) there will be support for Vertex and Pixel Shaders! Really sweet! |
Whatever. Who knows... |
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ballistik
Moderator
72 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2004 : 5:36:12 PM
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quote:
Ok ok ok ok...i think you've got a fair shot at at least getting somewhere with this game...
That engine...it looks nice. Wait a second here...........am I correct in gathering that I can use this engine to do the graphics in DX9 but use the engine in VB6 (doesn't support DX9 directly)????? If so...SWEETNESS!
Yep you can, because the engine is written in C++. It's actually quite fast, not as fast as a commercial engine per se, but as far as engines written for use in VB, it's nice! I'm actually using it for my current project too. |
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EACam
Warrior
154 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2004 : 6:38:53 PM
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| 3D...here i come! |
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ballistik
Moderator
72 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2004 : 6:56:56 PM
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VBBR
Moderator
Brazil
617 Posts |
Posted - May 13 2004 : 12:19:28 PM
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Here's an early screen shot of what I've got so far... The model and textures were borrowed from one of the tutorials from the Rev3D engine...
You can move the guy around and the camera follows you quite softly. If the guy is still there's an animation like it's breathing and it changes to a "walking" animation when you are walking (quite logical, hehe )
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Whatever. Who knows... |
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Just to know your opinion...
