I have an idea for a project that could possibly benifit the Blender Community. On the ScreenSavers show wich is aired on the TechTV channel (here in the states) once a week theyhost what is called a LAN party. Usualy they take a FPS type game and invite people to log on and play. Some times they make custom levels for a pre-existing game like quake. I figured that since the folks on ScreenSavers are very receptive to open source software that if a few of us got together to develop a client and server that would adiquatly meet the needs for this type of thing that it could benifit the community in two ways, free exposure for Blender and a good excuse to develop a networking environment for blender games.
If any one is interested in this i will help in any way I can but unfortunatly my knowledge of both programing and blender are both in there infantile stages. Again I think that this could give Blender some great exposure at least here in the states
Getting the game on screensavers would be a challenge, sometimes they host mods to popular games, but usually they only have the popular games themselves. If we really had something innovative, then they might pick it up (they hosted a There.com lan one week), but then again, they might want to have other more recognizable games.
Not to mention the work it would take to get something like this done. It would be great if you could make a client/server thing, I’ve tried it, and blender_owl is working on one, but nobody has had too much luck with it. Once that is done, you still have to make a good game to go around it, which could take a year or more.
Not to discourage you, it’s a good idea, but the goal should be to make a good game, not to make something to put on screensavers to get blender recognition. And oh yeah, good luck:)
I can see your points, the time thing is not really an issue i didnt think it would be done tommorow or anything. And also , perhaps i should have stated it im my first post that the game would just be the raw engine plus the networking bits and a demo level. They could use it when they didnt have a popular game to promote ie plug in there own mods. I feel that they do this for fun rather than for promoption purposes because they often use demo versions of the popuar games that way every one can play if the download the demos.
I think that creating a truly inovative FPS type game is damn near imposible. Sure you can be flexible in the environment ie world themes. Blender is an inovation in its self and I feel that fact is what would be noteworthy about the project.
I saw that blender_owl is working on a client server dealy thingy but i think he is writing it in VB and im not to sure if you can port VB to the other platforms that Blender supports. For this project the networking bits should definatly be usable on all the platforms available to blender.
Yeah, I would definately recomend python. It’s portable, and blender already uses it, so it would make the most sense. Are you experienced with sockets? If so, you are a bit further ahead than people who have tried already. And if it’s just a demo level you want, than if you can solve the networking issue it shouldn’t really be too difficult to do the rest. I can’t really help much, cause networking in blender is cursed (lol j/k) and I’m very busy
I don’t think the lan party is for promotion, but still, the majority of the time they play popular games. It would rock if they would play a blender game though! Would be a good way to generate some buzz.
just to tell u, they have acualy mentioned blender on a few shows, and even put a link up cause some guy asked for a good 3D modeler and they said blender was a good one along with a few others, so at least we know that they like blender
If spinhead and BSS were to team up then we could make a pro game.
Ummm…no. It would take more people to make a professional game. And they would need to work in the same building…so they could work together like a REAL game studio.
It’s not the number of people, it’s the effort, skill, and cohesiveness of all members of a team that go into making a game look “pro.” If our two teams teamed up to make a super team, it would mean we would have to do more administration, which could very well take away from time spent working on the game. Our different ideas about things would only magnify, and I think we would get less work done rather than more:)
Without the backing of a paycheck and day-to-day face-to-face contact, the best bet for pro quality is a small team of dedicated, skilled members, with similar ideas about the game design.
ScreenSavers is pretty cool too:) Maybe we could start by having them do a report on the games that are being developed in blender to show the activity.
That could get some attention.
In the meantime, Im going to be quietly, persistantly working on the game. Oh yeah, and multiplayer is hard.
For that kind of building, we need a healthy breakfast of donuts everyday to get us charged for game development!
Game developers need a breakfast of donuts to get us started, and plenty of coffee to keep us going
Nothing will give you the strength needed to work hard like donuts, coffee, and a few clogged arteries!
It’s not the number of people, it’s the effort, skill, and cohesiveness of all members of a team that go into making a game look “pro.”
You don’t need many team members to get it done…only to get it done quickly!
Without the backing of a paycheck and day-to-day face-to-face contact, the best bet for pro quality is a small team of dedicated, skilled members, with similar ideas about the game design.
Yes, I agree, but are you guys really dedicated enough?
