Based on what everyone has been saying, I think I need to simplify everything. Which is fine because I can model all day, it’s what I’m best at (within reason). I have changed the game a bit (only in storyline), but it still should all work and the greatest game ever designed/made/rendered will be born (insert evil cackling here).
HyperReal: Thanks for the advice. I’m going to divide everything up into separate rooms as you suggest. I also plan to go easy on the modeling a bit. So far my vert’s are sitting at 8000, is that high (not sure what you mean by triangles per frame?)?. I am so going to pester you for help (if of course you don’t mind) on the ‘python and such’ when I get there.
Andrew11: “Determined you are”. Ok, have given it loads of thought all day while doing my utmost to avoid doing any real work, ‘realism’ it is!
DL007: Your advice sounded great, I managed to stay with you right up until the end of the first paragraph, then it all went Spanish on me (I don’t speak Spanish). I’m looking for a ‘baking’ tutorial for idiots that will hopefully get me going. What technique would be better here, I think ‘game-play’ and ‘speed’ may be more important than texturing at this point, it can probably all be done nicely later couldn’t it? Which is faster, ‘baking’ or 'UV Mapping"?
Kurica_n007: I appreciate the offer, really. I’ve had to go back to the drawing board a bit so will keep you on quick-dial for when I need help.
Quick (new) game summary, bad aliens accidentally left a serious potent weapon on earth back when dinosaurs where happily munching each other. Thousands of years go by, and they go back to pick it up, only to discover an office block built over the site. So some very annoyed evil aliens go to dig it up, but… yes there’s a but here… a big one… one worthy of all the ‘buts’ ever… but… the good guy’s get a heads up and they go to try head the bad dudes off at the pass. Whew… you’d think that after nothing better to do all day, I’d have come up with something better? Well that’s the basics for now. Copyright, blah blah blah, me.
Based on what everyone has been saying, I think I need to simplify everything. Which is fine because I can model all day, it’s what I’m best at (within reason). I have changed the game a bit (only in storyline), but it still should all work and the greatest game ever designed/made/rendered will be born (insert evil cackling here).
HyperReal: Thanks for the advice. I’m going to divide everything up into separate rooms as you suggest. I also plan to go easy on the modeling a bit. So far my vert’s are sitting at 8000, is that high (not sure what you mean by triangles per frame?)?. I am so going to pester you for help (if of course you don’t mind) on the ‘python and such’ when I get there.
Andrew11: “Determined you are”. Ok, have given it loads of thought all day while doing my utmost to avoid doing any real work, ‘realism’ it is!
DL007: Your advice sounded great, I managed to stay with you right up until the end of the first paragraph, then it all went Spanish on me (I don’t speak Spanish). I’m looking for a ‘baking’ tutorial for idiots that will hopefully get me going. What technique would be better here, I think ‘game-play’ and ‘speed’ may be more important than texturing at this point, it can probably all be done nicely later couldn’t it? Which is faster, ‘baking’ or 'UV Mapping"?
Kurica_n007: I appreciate the offer, really. I’ve had to go back to the drawing board a bit so will keep you on quick-dial for when I need help.
Quick (new) game summary, bad aliens accidentally left a serious potent weapon on earth back when dinosaurs where happily munching each other. Thousands of years go by, and they go back to pick it up, only to discover an office block built over the site. So some very annoyed evil aliens go to dig it up, but… yes there’s a but here… a big one… one worthy of all the ‘buts’ ever… but… the good guy’s get a heads up and they go to try head the bad dudes off at the pass. Whew… you’d think that after nothing better to do all day, I’d have come up with something better? Well that’s the basics for now. Copyright, blah blah blah, me.
Started the new scene tonight. The action will start in a reception area, this would be level 1, then followed by level 2 and so on with each level being a different room.
Nearly done on the furniture, a few more things to put in the I’ll start baking/UV Mapping. After that it’ll be time to put action in which will be interesting. So far, the Ve count is 828, and Fa is 810, which I think is pretty good.
Wow! Super cool models. Eigersa, I will try and answer all the questions you have in full depth. Also, if you need python scripts for absolutely anything just give me a yell. I’m also an extreme efficient logic brick personelle. I’m glad you’re going with the seperate scene idea. I promise you, it will be rewarding.
Triangles per frame: Triangles per frame, is how many triangles are rendered per second. You have to take into account Blender will always automatically convert all your meshes into triangles before the game starts. Triangles are heeps more reliable. This is why, before you finish your game, you should either convert everything to triangles manually using the Edit - > Ctrl+T method. You can always convert them back to quads simply by using Edit - > Shift+J.
But remember, it’s always good to ask, ask, ask! We’re all learning here, and it’s always best to learn as much as you can. I guarantee you by the time you finish this project, you’ll be an extremely good Blender scripter, and logic brick guru. If you want, I’v made a FPS Template, that works as a simplyfied version of Social’s FPS Template. A lot more simplyfied to be honest. And it works the same way, also… I’v added a lot more features, though the HUD still needs to be made.
Hyperreal: In a scene, how many faces (after converting to triangles) should I be aiming for? Right now after the conversion I’m sitting at Ve 708 & Fa 1356. There’s still some things I need to do on the model, still got to bevel the models, and add one or two more. I read in another forums that the were trying to stick to below 8000 poly’s.
just finished working through the baking tutorial from the wiki, wow… going to take some time to get into that. But based on what I’ve read, baking seems to be the best way to go, essentially considering the models (being mostly square and static). So what I want to do now is finish the room layout the way I want to (maybe one more night), then I’m going to create come seriously detailed models of the same stuff. Then I’ll bake the high poly one’s using the images from those to place on the low poly model. Did I get that all right? At first glance it seems strange to do it that way, since I got to UV unwrap the models any way, but baking makes the game faster than just UV mapping. Did I get all that right?
Doesn’t that mean Blender will take a screen shot of every single view of your models then save it? I am not sure if it does it for but then does that mean it’s not packed in the file so therefore if you move the images from there location it wont show the high poly one’s? So from what I understand when you play the game it will technically be the low poly one but an image of the high poly models?
I’m pretty confused right now. See if I get this right. First make high poly model, add textures and all the rest then render (but hit the bake button instead of render). This creates an image which I then UV map to lower poly model? Seriously, where do I find the button that says "press to make fantastic game that will earn you loads of respect, money and ladies’ :evilgrin:
Found a tutorial, but it’s not that clear. Should I be UV/Baking within the scene, or creating external blender file for models?
Model your room as you wish it to appear in the game (high poly or low poly is up to you).
Texture your room as if it was an image, not a game.
After your room is textured open the UV image editor, and create a new image.
In render buttons > bake, choose what you want to be baked (your shadows, AO, normal map, ect)
(for your purpose choose them all)
After it is baked (it may take a while), hit ‘P’ to go to the game engine.
If you want to have AO and shadows on objects, baking is the best choice. It takes the rendered reasult and bakes it onto an image. So now the shadow aren’t really ‘shadows’ they are just dark spots on the texture.
For instance if you changed the lighting, the shadows would now stay the same, because they are permenantly on the texture.
-The same goes for AO and all of the other options.
-Don’t bake until you are completely satisfied with your textures and lights.
-Make sure you delete the material after your image is UV mapped.
DL007, you sir, are a gentleman. Now if only all tutorials were written the way you’ve just explained. That’s what I really need, a step by step guide… all nicely laid out and clear for a change.
Right, so first I finish the scene, then all the rest. So new pics coming up soon.
Thanks, I thought the idea was pretty cool to :yes:
I’m about 90% done on the modeling, really just the finishing touches. Then it’s materials/shading and then baking. Once thats sorted then it’s game-play. I’m hoping to have a demo ready for everyone to crit in about a week.
If you would like a LEGO minifigure model, I have one you could borrow.
I also have some LEGO bricks if you need some for background in like a childrens department, or an entertaining area (like where the kids play while mom shops).
Here is an animation I made.(just hit P to play it in the GE)
Hey, that’s really good! This looks like a fun little project My only crit is the room appears a little crowded. FPS’s typically have three things I would keep in mind when making one:
Spacing: In FPS, it’s all about movement. Wehn there are cramped area’s, there is a lack of fun. If you are having cramped areas, make them far and in between. You might want to bottleneck some area’s, but keep in mind hampering movement is something I would avoid.
Speed (I don’t see this as a problem, just saying :D): I like my FPS fast paced. I know there are different kinds of shooters that may be slower paced, but many of the ones that have gotten popular are known for a good mix of stealth and speed. You gotta be careful with this one. If it’s too fast paced (I think Republic Commando can fall into this category), it can be fun and addicting, but skill levels cap out awfully quick. It’s how fast you can mash buttons. Look for a good mix
Shield (Once again, not a problem yet :)): You need some cover. Uhhmmmm…
The rest I think is creativity and execution. Good animations, lack of lag, originallity. Good luck
My only crit is the room appears a little crowded. FPS’s typically have three things I would keep in mind when making one: