I know a lot of us are working on our own projects right now, me too. But this might be just what this place needs to get things exciting around here. I don't care what the game is as long as it doesn't go against my core christian beliefs (Christ died for my sins)

How many times have we read posts or posted ourselves, that we should combine resourses on a project? I'm humble enough to say I dont need to be the lead on the game (I'd prefer not too) but someone else here might be skilled (or not) and excited to do it. I'm humble enough to say this proposal is not even my idea, but has been brought up in one form or another on this site many times.

So what are we waiting for?

Here's what I propose:

1. By the end of March (to the glory of GOD and with GODs help) we will have a game complete. Maybe something we can pride ourselves in. Maybe something some of us can take to upcoming CGDC and say hey, yeah we did this!

2. Everyone is welcome! You are a highly skilled professional, great. You don't have any skills, great! You have 12 hours a day to work on it, great! You have only 1 hour every other day..forget it...no, that's fine too! Just let the team know what you WANT to bring to the table, and if GOD is willing, it'll come together.

3. Everyone who contributes in ANY way will have their name in the credits. It's all to the glory of GOD anyway. We know from GOD's word that the most important role to GOD isn't always the most prominent. So if you say you have no interest in coding, art, story content, level design, etc.. but say I'd like to pray for the team during the month, then I say welcome to the team!

4. An alternative would be for all of us to rally behind someone elses project already in the works (and someone who wants this kind of help) and complete it by the end of March! But a game in a month sounds cool.

What I would like to bring to the project:

Depending on what we do some or none of these might be relevent:

Tools:

Visual Studio .NET
Torque SDK + RTS Expansion Pack
Truespace 6.6 + gamePak
Blender
Gimp

Skills:

In order of experience:
C++, C - pretty good
Direct X, Torque SDK and script - ok
Modelling, character rigging, animation, C#, PHP, most other languages - learning

Time:

Currently, I'm REALLY blessed with 8-10 hours/day I can commit on the project.

What do I wan't to do on the project:

Coding would be my first choice.
Character or game modelling, second.
But with main strength being the amount of time I can dedicate to the project, I'm open to filling any gaps I possibly can. This will really be my only commitment for March.

If it looks like we are leaning toward gamestudio, blitz basic or using tools I don't have, I might be open to acquiring these to do what I can, if its not too expensive.

--D-SIPL

------------------
"One World. One Web. One Program." -Microsoft promotional advertisement
"Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Fuhrer!" -Adolf Hitler

quote:

---

Originally posted by D-SIPL:
A game in a month. It would be a fairly simple game then?

---

Maybe, but not necessarily, it depends on what we start with. I think if we can get 10 or more on board in whatever capacity, using whatever tools, and whatever genre, I think we will be pretty happy with finished game.

--clint

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http://www.includingjudas.com/christiangame.html

[This message has been edited by Gump (edited February 22, 2005).]

Visual Studio 6
Visual Studio .NET 2003
Game Maker
Torque Engine

My time is extremely limited, mainly because of all the other things I'm involved with, but in a way this fits in with my current goals, so I will try to make the time to be a productive part of the team. I like the fact that there is a definite goal and that it's short term, but I would really suggest targeting a small game, even if there's a lot of interest. If you have 20 people on the team, you're still not going to get the next Doom done in a month, because people can only do so much with out stepping on each other's toes, and they can also only do so much without having the pieces that the other people are working on. Just something to consider.

------------------
Eric Pankoke
http://www.polsoftware.com

quote:

---

Something like PyGame seems simple enough that I bet you could get several contributors at once.

---

I'm open to this idea... Learn a little python + create a game. I just checked out PyGame.org, for the first time, wow, when did this happen, I took a look at python a few years ago, but I don't remember this existing at the time, it looks promising. Lets see what others chime in with.

quote:

---

You could probably do a pretty good mod in a month. Still, I'm not sure if a project like this helps with the "fragmentation of the talent pool" problem...

---

want to help defrag? Yeah, Our experiences and interests are everywhere. I would like to lean toward a complete game if possible, but if most are leaning toward a mod, I would lend my hand. I've never made a mod before. However, some of these game engines/creating packages are robust enough and there is enough community code built around it to help cut down on time.

quote:

---

I think this sounds like a very interesting idea. I can contribute to the coding, depending on the selected environment, and possibly to story and level design

---

Great! Lets make this happen, its wide open right now...

quote:

---

[QUOTE][B]I like the fact that there is a definite goal and that it's short term, but I would really suggest targeting a small game, even if there's a lot of interest.

---

It won't be the next Doom, it will be BETTER! Ok, maybe not, I agree it there will be trade offs. It might be a small + polished + complete game VS large + buggy + incomplete. We'll need a good leader who can help organize and see the big picture.

- Visual Studio 6 (C++)
- Visual Studio .NET 2003 (C++)
- Windows programming (Win32 & MFC)
- comfortable with both DirectX and OpenGL
- Torque engine (1 license)
- architecture (coding/build layout, data file formats/loading, source control, design docs, etc.)
- minor graphic editing

I can't commit much time, but if you want to throw a few programming tasks my way, that's great. I'm not interesting in modding anything though, so if you guys decide to make a mod, you can ignore my post.

------------------
Brian

If we want to go with something else, I'm busy but interested. I can possibly do some creative writing, contribute some buy-out music I have already bought, definitely can test for it, etc.

Another option with just a short time-frame (and something that is needed) would be simpler web-based games. These would be a nice benefit to our community, giving an alternative to web surfers/casual gamers.

I suppose starting with Torque or similar engine may be helpful too - assuming enough team members know the tool.

Let's pray - Lord, please give us your wisdom. If this "quick project" is something you want us to pursue, please make the path smooth and the resources plentiful. If not, please slam the doors in our faces making it obvious. Thank you for your son. In His name, Amen

------------------
Called by God. The passioned plea of a father. The journey awaits at Jarod's Journey.
Participate in the Parables, The Interactive Parables

quote:

---

I can't commit much time, but if you want to throw a few programming tasks my way, that's great. I'm not interesting in modding anything though, so if you guys decide to make a mod, you can ignore my post.

---

Great! Depending on what every decides, I know you can help!

quote:

---

We could easily do a lesson pack using Stone's Academics 3D

---

I think this would work, but I wonder if this would feel too similar to creating a mod for some. Being a coder, I'm partial to digging around & tweaking code or script, even if I personally don't get to write much of it. But I'll jump on whatever we decide.

quote:

---

If we want to go with something else, I'm busy but interested. I can possibly do some creative writing, contribute some buy-out music I have already bought, definitely can test for it, etc.

---

I'm just going to say yes, yes and uh..yes!

quote:

---

Another option with just a short time-frame (and something that is needed) would be simpler web-based games

---

This would work for me too. I guess flash, java, or php. I don't know them, but I'm all for learning. If this is were we want to go, I'm there! Flash might require $$, I'm not sure.

quote:

---

I could do a story line, and maybe some art depending on what's needed.

---

Great!

QUOTE]I would suggest doing an older arcade style game for starters. I'm great at makeing sprites, and 3D models would complicate the game.
[/QUOTE]

As long as it's original and fun, I'm ok with that. Let's what other's might have to say.

QUOTE]I would suggest dropping the idea of bombing the game with scripture.[/QUOTE]

Cool. I just had a mental image of a sidescroller with *scripture* bombs!
Seriously, this is still way open. I think there is a place for both game styles in the Christian software and depends on what the intent of the game is. I would be ok with a more subtle approach.

quote:

---

The main reasion I mentioned it is because I have an exstensive background in arguments over scripture in games. I would like to avoid any such arguments, as they are time consuming, and normaly full of zeal for one's own openion.

---

That's OK with me, I think you can have a game without direct scripture quoting. But on the other hand, I'm not against it either.

------------------
I wanna die
And let You give
Your Life to me
So that I might live

quote:

---

Originally posted by brandon:
Sounds cool. Will you be using a game engine or is this being designed\programmed from scratch? If you're using a game engine then I'd suggest 3D Game Studio. I am extremely busy, but I can probably design at least one or two levels.

---

That would be great! We haven't decided on an engine yet. I know some of the people on here use 3D Game Studio. So I would be open to this, if that's where the most interest is.

Here's what we have so far of what's been suggested:

PyGame using Python
This looks pretty capable, and its free. A good choice for a lot of people wanting to learn some python. Many examples/sample code available.

Stone's Academics 3D
This is the proven engine behind the Interactive Parable. Check out the Demo if you haven't seen what this can do. The team would work creating a lesson pack with graphics, level design, voiceover and other fun stuff - I noticed the object models in the app were in .x format - hhmm the possibilities

Online Website Games
Maybe using Flash or Java, PHP. You've seen them out there! Most are fun little time killing games! I'm not sure if Flash development costs $$ though.

3D Game Studio
I don't know much about it. I've seen what it can do, and I know it can rock! I'm game with it as long as I can get going under $50. But, I could see the project losing people who don't have it already.

From what I've heard so far, I'm personally leaning toward PyGame. If you haven't checked it out. www.pygame.org. I don't know python, but there's enough sample code and games to get up to speed quick. It seems like there are people here who either know or want to learn it. And besides- HanClinto said it is 'easy to learn by all' ok..I've heard THAT before

i would recommend 3d game studio

as for kind of game..

i think for something christian, something i think that would work very well, and allow for synergy with different creative styles is a game along the genre of rayman,sonic hedgehog, mario etc.. because in such general audience fun games, you can tailyor the enviroment to have very OBVIOUS christian elements that stand out and are in your face, but actually are quite passive in the same sense. Its quite hard to explain.

i mean you could easily have a noahs ark level, with various fun gameplays, but some puzzles and things to do along the way which teach something about the biblical story, and every different level can have quite a varied style, though for a one month game, i'd limit the scope to one level, with a limited scope of gameplay, puzzles etc. i'd also suggest (i can set it up for you) a WIKI for collobation of design.

some other advantages of a6 in my opinion
-fast learning curve
-achieve a decent amount for a miserly effort
-modular, which is good for such a new team, meaning different people can make alot of different things that can combine well
-large community and lots of free resources
i think though i'd say 30 days to build the team, work out design, knock out some proof of concepts and play with the technology, then 30 days on the actual game (IMO).
in the process you could easily put in some stock, PD, GPL object into the game as holding places while the real models etc are being made.

but those are just my ideas, no matter which way you go, I'm willing to host a wiki for the effort.

------------------
Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

[This message has been edited by klumsy (edited February 22, 2005).]

One month is a pretty aggressive schedule.

------------------
Kevin Ryan - about me
Top Meadow - about Top Meadow
Minigolf Mania - coming soon
Marble Blast - race a marble through moving platforms/hazards

quote:

---

with 3d game studio, there'd only have to be one license if its a one month game, since everybody else can just use the 30 day trial

---

That's too funny!! A team of developers all trying to get a game complete before their 30 day free trials expire!

I'd be up for the challege!

quote:

---

i think for something christian, something i think that would work very well, and allow for synergy with different creative styles is a game along the genre of rayman,sonic hedgehog, mario etc..

---

I think you and angel are on the same wavelength here. I could go with that genre.

quote:

---

you can tailyor the enviroment to have very OBVIOUS christian elements that stand out and are in your face, but actually are quite passive in the same sense. Its quite hard to explain

---

I think I understand. This might be the best way to incorporate a christian theme into a platform game like you are describing.

quote:

---

i'd also suggest (i can set it up for you) a WIKI for collobation of design

---

Thanks! We'll take you up on this offer if the project is a go.

I know brandon uses this, I wonder who else might be interested using 3D game studio for this project?

First: The game could be about a creature (dog, cat, mouse, bug, whatever) of some form, out looking for scriptureal tidbits that his master lost. Just call it text and don't say it is scripture. By the end of the game, the text will be compleatly found and show a full scripture of a voted liking. Envirments could be anything in this concept.

Second: Could do an open end game, with many side adventures. The idea being, that each level beaten adds to your score, and for levels of score you recive rewords. In this idea we could have one place leading to many diffrent kinds of levels, with verying degrees of difficulty. The rewords would could help beat levels as well. Sort of like metroid.

Third: Try to come up with something comicly engaging. Have weapons that are laughbul, story line with crack ups, and a wimsical feeling that a wide range of people could grow to love. Busby, Lost Vikings, Limmings, and so forth had that nature.

Side Note: If the one month idea goes well, we could try to just keep adding to the game.

I like to model and draw. I also have a bit of experience with BSP level design and digital painting.

I've got...
GameSpace 1.5
3D GameStudio A5 (standard edition)
GIMP
Liquid Icon

I like platformers, and would enjoy if the project turns out to be one, but I'd still like to help whatever genre it turns out to be. I'd love to get into this great new ministry . I'd also like to pray for the team and the project too.

"In all your ways acknowledge me and I'll give you the desires of your heart."

I recommend someone that has the time take the role of project leader (or whatever you want to call it) and start making decisions on type of game - which will help decide on the engine/environment - which will help narrow down resources - etc.

Something else that will be useful is that people only commit to tasks if they can get them done with absolute certainty (barring any emergencies).

And everyone be praying about it.

Tim

------------------
Called by God. The passioned plea of a father. The journey awaits at Jarod's Journey.
Participate in the Parables, The Interactive Parables

wish the best to you, sry I can't help.

It'd be kinda crazy of me, considering I have school work, while making two games and overseeing a game created by ppl on my forum. oh, and I'm lazy. so that takes alotta time.

------------------
Soterion Studios

quote:

---

Originally posted by kevryan:
Wow, I was suprised to see so many people mention that they have a Torque license.

---

Actually, I'm suprised too. This is the engine I'm currently learning and planning to use for a (massive) Christian edutainment product. Anyone have a year free?

quote:

---

Originally posted by angel:
First: The game could be about a creature (dog, cat, mouse, bug, whatever) of some form, out looking for scriptureal tidbits that his master lost.

---

I like it! For this style of game I thing this would work well. A dog or cat would be really cool.

quote:

---

Originally posted by angel:
Second: Could do an open end game, with many side adventures. The idea being, that each level beaten adds to your score, and for levels of score you recive rewords..

---

I've always like games like this, the player is less likely to get to a place and gets 'stuck' and cant do anything else in the game and quits playing. This might be too much to add. We should keep this in mind when deciding gameplay structure.

QUOTE]Originally posted by angel:
Third: Try to come up with something comicly engaging.[/QUOTE]

Definitely! If we go with the style of game we are talking about, there is no way it can be a 'serious' game. Funnier the better.

QUOTE]Originally posted by Ashton_JX:
I'd like to help too.[/QUOTE]

Great!, Your in!. We still can use A LOT more people. I'm assuming like most, your time is very limited. Thanks for praying too! That is THE MOST important part of this project, if it is to succeed. Like Tim said earlier, if this project is NOT Gods will pray God will let us know. I like how eloquently Tim phrased it - '..slam the doors in our faces making it obvious..'

Are we leaning toward 3D Game Studio?

Who will NOT be a part of it if it is 3D Game Studio?

Who ELSE would be interested if it IS 3D Game Studio?

quote:

---

Originally posted by GraceWorks:

I recommend someone that has the time take the role of project leader..

---

Anyone?! I don't really care to lead it, but if no one has the time or feels led to -I will. Maybe this is something some of the proven leaders in the community can help with. If I can come to you with questions... This is one way people with very limited time but have experience in an area can help the team tremendously.

quote:

---

Originally posted by ArchAngel:

..school work, while making two games and overseeing a game created by ppl on my forum. oh, and I'm lazy. so that takes alotta time.

---

lazy...yea right!! my advise is to drop the school work, its not important anyway

Windows and Linux tester. I got both OS's and if nothing else, I'd test it on my sooped up PC.

Leading the project, well, I would if I could but I can't becuase I probably wouldn't really know what you're talking aabout (code wise and 3D program wise)

So that's all. I have a website that I can distribute it to to other's who may pass by it.

I'd love to help. If there's anything I could do (besisdes testing) let me know.

------------------
There are two ways of constructing a software design: one way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies; the other is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies.

--C. A. R. Hoare
[B][/B]

------------------
Kevin Ryan - about me
Top Meadow - about Top Meadow
Minigolf Mania - coming soon
Marble Blast - race a marble through moving platforms/hazards

------------------
Eric Pankoke
http://www.polsoftware.com

[This message has been edited by CPUFreak91 (edited February 23, 2005).]

as for leading it, my own time is limited, and i think coolj seems to have the biggest drive and time, so i'd suggest him to lead it, despite him not wanting to..
i'm willing to take a semi-lead, in the sense of being the administrator of the wiki (i have experience at leading teams remotely with minimal effort)..
for files, i can put them on my webserver, with some thing to upload them, and also a way that in wikipages people can reference those uploaded files. i'll try to get the wiki set up today.

------------------
Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

[This message has been edited by klumsy (edited February 24, 2005).]

quote:

---

Originally posted by CPUFreak91:
I'd be willing to help, I've got almost every afternoon free.

---

Great! Welcome to the team! We won't hold you to EVERY afternoon.

quote:

---

Originally posted by kevryan:
I'd suggest that you think about having someone set up a Subversion repo for the project.

---

Ok, like version control? Good idea. How would we go about this? Say if one of us provides webspace for the project.

quote:

---

Originally posted by PointOfLight:
I'm also not adverse to using 3D Game Studio, but I still think that a 2D platform type game would be a better first project, especially given the limited amount of time most people are going to have to devote to this.

---

Well it looks like it is between PyGame/Python and 3DGS. Maybe leaning toward 3DGS now? I'm glad to hear you will still be interested if we go with it. I feel lucky in a way, I don't know either 3D Game Studio or PyGame/Python, so its a good opportunity for me to learn something either way. They both look capable, even for a 2D platform game. User communities and samples look great for both. I've looked (briefly) at a sample 2D app in both.

quote:

---

Originally posted by klumsy:
as for leading it, my own time is limited, and i think coolj seems to have the biggest drive and time, so i'd suggest him to lead it, despite him not wanting to.

---

gee, thanks a lot

quote:

---

Originally posted by klumsy:
i'm willing to take a semi-lead, in the sense of being the administrator of the wiki (i have experience at leading teams remotely with minimal effort

---

Thanks!

quote:

---

Originally posted by klumsy:
for files, i can put them on my webserver, with some thing to upload them, and also a way that in wikipages people can reference those uploaded files. i'll try to get the wiki set up today.

---

We've had a couple of offers on webserver space for files, which is really cool. But if you can coordinate the wiki with the files on your webserver, this might be our best offer. Let me know if there is anything you need from me. Thanks again.

not too sure about the version control, for a project this size, maybe a manual one just updating the wiki with changes and uploading files should be enough, especially since i think one person will be in "control" on the main code stuff, and with such a engine everything is encapsulated into different aspects easily.

------------------
Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

Karl

------------------
Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

I can help in:

Python
3d GameStudio (i have A6 Standard)
Torque
C++

Let me know what you want done. I have quite a fair bit of time, around 12-15 hours a week. But i do have a social life as well

--D-SIPL

------------------
"One World. One Web. One Program." -Microsoft promotional advertisement
"Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Fuhrer!" -Adolf Hitler

quote:

---

Originally posted by klumsy:
b.t.w i have hundreds of megs on my site, as well as all the nice web scripting technologies needed

---

Cool, this should work well. I don't think we'll use too much space, but having a little extra space might allow us to additionally post our intermediate and work-in-progress to a safe holding place- each team member can store their personal work during the month. Of course this is in additon to the space used for the latest build.

Is your allowable transfer amount ok for this?
Could we set up a folder or personal directory for each team member?

But you are experienced with all this- so whatever you think will work for us!

quote:

---

Originally posted by D-SIPL:
I'll jump on the bandwagon and give it a go.

---

Cool! Welcome to the team!

We have some things we need to decide today -not very important things really..what we are going to do..what are we going to do it with..very trivial stuff

I think Python would be great, it's an easy language to pick up as well as a lot of people have been posting questions about it and would give them a chance to look at how things are done and possibly contribute. Just an idea.

--D-SIPL

------------------
"One World. One Web. One Program." -Microsoft promotional advertisement
"Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Fuhrer!" -Adolf Hitler

Ready for our first status update, oh..how cute!

Though our month (March) hasn't *officially* started, it would be nice to begin the month knowing what we are doing - as a team and to have an idea of the cool stuff we might be able to contribute individually.

I would first like to thank klumsy for taking the initiative to setup an environment (wiki + webspace) for us to be productive. The wiki will provide the team a place to communicate and link to files. So we can stop using this thread!! Yeah!

Maybe, we'll start a new thread here to keep people interested and maybe more will join our team.

What we need to decide today:

3D Game Studio or PyGame/Python
2D Platform style game..Maybe side scroller -Mario style or something else...

Read angel's post earlier in this thread, he has come up with some basic game story ideas - #1 & #3 maybe #2 - that sound pretty good and fit well with what we are trying to achieve with our game.

3D Game Studio or PyGame/Python

I'm new to both and I'm excited either way. Personally the coder in me says Python/Pygames because the ultimate control and python is valuable outside of the game world.

But having said that, I'm leaning toward 3D Game Studio for the following reasons:

It might give us the right mixture to do the most with our resources in the month that we have.

Here's what I'm thinking if we go with 3D Game Studio:

'2D in 3D' style platform game. No, I didn't make this up!

2D Artists
Much of our graphics/animations to would be done in 2D: player/npc/enemies/bosses/projectiles to be 2D file- that our 2D game artists are familiar with. Using what 3D Game Studio calls - Sprite Elements (which in 3D world terms are Billboards - but with additional attributes). It's like pasting the sprite images on flat plans in a very limited 3D environment. Think Paper Mario (though I've actually never played it)

Level Designers
The levels would be done by our level designers on the team in 3D Game Studio's Level Editor. The levels would be limited. A simplistic example - think of a narrow hallway with one wall(or both walls removed) and the vantage point being perpendicular and out from the player. Or think of a player on a narrow ledge along aa cliff, and the camera pointed at the player from a distance off the ledge. The player can move backward and forward, but not 'out' off the ledge or 'in' into the cliff. 3D Studio also allows form moving platforms and stuff like that.

3D modellers
3D gamestudio can import .X format models (among other formats). So Blender, GameSpace, Bryce and of course the modelling app that comes with Game Studio.
The good thing is you don't have to model character/actions (ouch!). The 2D artists can handle these. I think most 3D models will be relatively simple things. If you've played Interactive Parables, the boot comes to mind! But it could be boulder, or log or a stump, or a hammer..I don't know, but things like that that we need. A cool moving 3D object that comes to mind would be a swinging pendulum that the player has to time correctly to run by.

Coders
Sorry nothing for us to do, lets go home! Yeah Right! To me this is the fun stuff. What kind of game would it be if all the pretty sprites sat there and did nothing! The area where I'm hoping ALL coders can help is with sprite behavior. 3D Game Studio makes it easy to associate behaviour with objects on the screen. Each object on the screen can have its own object like c-script behind it. C-script looks VERY familiar to most any coder and can be edited with notepad even. So if you've never done it, even if you DON'T have 3D Game Studio installed on your computer, maybe help with a little AI action! Of course there are other things that will need to be coded (not as fun GUI, framework init stuff) but will need to be done, so whoever feels led in this work too, that is great!

There's other details..but I want lets hear some feedback.

------------------
Kevin Ryan - about me
Top Meadow - about Top Meadow
Minigolf Mania - coming soon
Marble Blast - race a marble through moving platforms/hazards

http://www.godcentric.com/projects/ccngame/

So first of all go and look around, look at the using the wiki link to see how to edit etc, then go to the mmember page, and to your own one (if i'e added you already, otherwise edit the members page and add your own page).. and fill in your own members page with the applicable details..

and feel free to add to any of the engine options info, pros and cons, brainstorming, scope issues etc.

------------------
Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

------------------
Brian

thanks brian for being the first to edit your member profile.

------------------
Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

quote:

---

Originally posted by BrianT:
Klumsy! YOU DA MAN!!!!!!

---

I second that! The wiki looks great!

what are peoples preferences..
order for me

MSN messenger
YAHOO messenger

i can fire up the #christiancoders IRC, but it doesn't have sound notification so can easily miss people
i'd like to chat with coolj via msn mesenger (or yahoo) if possible.

------------------
Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

quote:

---

Originally posted by klumsy:
communication (realtime) also will be an issue.

what are peoples preferences..

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Ok, I have my MSN Messenger active now . You can add me (if you wish) by my email address in my wiki profile. If you guys want to use the christian coders IRC I'm good with that as well.

I also think there's a concern about artistic resources. Someone had mentioned early on that there were plenty of 3D models available for use off the internet. While that may be true, I think they would be good for nothing more than placeholders. Free stock 3D graphics are usually easy to spot, and generally don't look that good. I think if we're going to want custom graphics (which we should) it would probably be easier to convince people to design free 2D graphics than free 3D ones.

My personal feeling is that we start down the 2D path. Let's work on this for a month and see where we get. If we do good, and we decide we can all stand each other enough to continue working on projects ( ), then we could consider going 3D with the next game. If we do go 3D, I think Torque would be a better choice. I realize that there is a much steeper learning curve with Torque (I've played with both Torque and A6), but I think it has two distinct advantages:

1) Only the coders actually need the licenses (and I think there were at least 3 of us that had a license)
2) The engine if fully customizable, if the developers want to get that ambitious (personally, I don't know C well enough, but who knows)

Anyway, the final decision should be a majority thing, so I've said my piece and if you all still want to go 3D I'll start downloading my A6 demo!

------------------
Eric Pankoke
http://www.polsoftware.com

i think a6 learning curve is alot less, but torque is a nice engine, here's a question, is there a nice IDE editor for editing torque script language in?

Yeah i agree that alot of the free resources would only be good for place holders, but thats a good starting point, plus there are some commercial models that are really good and a decent price i would consider paying for.

though i would like to experiment with python alot myself, i think such a project might get bogged down, and end up revolving mostly around one person, and until they got most things done, things can't click into place so easily. I personally think for such a team, and such a project, a system where you get some sort of reward/feedback at little stages will work best.

i like coolj's idea that it can be 2d in 3d world.. so either things can be models or just billboards, but definately that we restrict camera angles say to like a sidescroller style.

------------------
Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

quote:

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is there a nice IDE editor for editing torque script language in?

---

TribalIDE is a pretty nice editor...

Here is a resource about it from the Garage Games site.

Here is one place you can download it.

I don't want to come off here like I am pushing torque, but I at this point I have become very familiar with it so I can provide information about it.

------------------
Kevin Ryan - about me
Top Meadow - about Top Meadow
Minigolf Mania - coming soon
Marble Blast - race a marble through moving platforms/hazards

quote:

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Originally posted by PointOfLight:
Does "done" really mean completely finished, though, or does it mean "playable with enough levels to be considered a game?"

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I think it will be the second 'playable with enough levels to be considered a game'. I would like this game to be something we can just 'walk away' from in 1 month but having the sense that we completed what we set out to do. But, also if some of us wished to continue adding to it after this month is over, then they can (such as addition levels)

So who would be able to add to it after this month? Of course depends on what we use.

If we use 3DGS, then those who own 3DGS could make new levels.

If we use PyGame, then pontentially anybody can. PyGame will require the additional effort of creating the level editor- which we could make available.

quote:

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Originally posted by PointOfLight:
If we do go 3D, I think Torque would be a better choice.

---

I admit, I love Torque. No IDE specific for the script, though. And I also agree with only one month, Torque and a full 3D game is out. Though for a long term project this would be (and is) my choice.

quote:

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Originally posted by klumsy:
i like coolj's idea that it can be 2d in 3d world..

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For 3DGS '2d in 3d', but with PyGame it would be 2D all the way. This seems natural based on the envirnment choosen and type of game.

Our tentative talent pool:

Keep in mind this list might not reflect everyones wishes and some might change/drop depending on the platform/game we choose. oh yeah - and most are very limited timewise.

PointofLight - Coding, Gameplay, Story Help
BrianT - Coding, Gameplay, Code/Build Layout Help
GraceWorks - Testing, QA, Possible Music Asset
Angel - 2D Art, Story, Dialog
CoolJ - Coding, GamePlay, Janitorial Services
Brandon - Level Design, Level Testing
Klumsy - Coding, Organisation, Design
Ashton_JX - Models, 2D Art
CPUFreak91 - Models, Testing, Coding
D-SIPL - Coding, Level Design

Of course, any one who else wants to join in fun.

[This message has been edited by coolj (edited February 25, 2005).]

Cc:
Date: 02/25/05 10:12 am
Subject: RE: 3DGS trial version question
Attachments:

Hello Chris,

yes, I confirm that you can use the trial edition for your project, as long
as you keep the 30 days limit.

Best regards
jcl / Conitec

> Von: Chris Spencer [mailto:chrisspencer(-at-)myrealbox.com]
> Gesendet: Donnerstag, 24. Februar 2005 20:21
> An: acknex_d(-at-)conitec.net
> Betreff: 3DGS trial version question
>
> Hello,
>
> A group of us who hangout over at the www.christiancoders.com forum
> are getting together to create a game in a month. We're leaning toward
> using 3D Game Studio. Some of us currently own full versions of 3D
> Game Studio and others (including myself) plan to use the 30 day trial
> version. This would be a great opportunity for us to learn 3D Game
> Studio and will probably lead to some of us buying a full version.
>
> My question - is it acceptable for some of us to use the trial
> version to work and learn in conjunction with our licensed owners? Or,
> will this 'taint' the final game, meaning, could our licensed owners
> complete and release the game without everyone, who added to the game,
> having to purchase a full version of 3DGS?
>
> We are split between 3DGS and PyGame right now, this will help us
> decide which direction to go.
>
> Thanks for your time,
>
> Chris Spencer

Totally OT: does anyone know if there's a way to get CCN to notify you when someone has replied to a thread you posted on?

------------------
Eric Pankoke
http://www.polsoftware.com

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Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

Platform style Christian game
3D Game Studio
2D on 3D

Soon we'll need to start looking at project tasks and who might have fun doing what. Considering everyones time, I don't want anyone to get bogged down or discouraged. So tasks will be in smallest pieces as possible. To make things easier we should make some templates early on.

1. A 2D cell art template - An example 2d animation, or image with 'empty' cells so our 2D artist don't have to worry much with layouts, just enjoy drawing some cells.

2. A Level template. This would be just real simple 'example' level that the designers can use as a starting point then, take off with the level designing.

Models 'scale' can be adjusted in 3DGS, so I'm not too worried about them. But we might have to pay attention to if they are coming over textured appropriately.

------------------
Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

------------------
Brian

I'm looking at getting that for the future. looks good.

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Soterion Studios

I was actually working on a 3D GameStudio sidescroller just like that some months back (never finished).

I'll post it on the Wiki .

Wow, that wikki is fun. I read the whole thing .

quote:

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Originally posted by angel:
I've been bombed with a lot of stuff to do latly. I can't keep up with all the posting here at this time. However, I wouldn't mind trying to still be of some help. If a story writer is really needed, just drop me a line or something.

---

Hey, no problem, I know a lot of the team has very limited time. Just glad your aboard. As far as a story goes - I like what you suggested so far. I think both you and klumsy have had some pretty good ideas about what direction to go. Here's a little summary of what I personally liked from what I've read, but I'd like the team to agree on where to go:

quote:

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The game could be about a creature (dog, cat, mouse, bug, whatever) of some form, out looking for scriptureal tidbits that his master lost. Just call it text and don't say it is scripture. By the end of the game, the text will be compleatly found and show a full scripture of a voted liking. Envirments could be anything in this concept.
[B][/B]

---

Personally, I like a dog for our main character and maybe by the end of each level (which might BE our complete game, depending on resources/time ) the text would be complete to show a full scripture.

If a story is built around that..

More suggestions you and klumsy and others have made that I like:
comically engaging..
cartoonish..
cartoonish characters could possibly contrast with a more realistic environment..
wimsical feeling..
obvious christian elements that stand out but are passive in the same sense..
weird and whacky ideas (why be normal?)...
open ended game, with many side adventures..

quote:

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Originally posted by Ashton_JX:
I was actually working on a 3D GameStudio sidescroller just like that some months back (never finished).

---

Wow! I like the look you achieved with your sidescroller! I think this is similar to what we are wanting to do. It has more depth than I imagined our game would, but I really like what you have going on in the background. If you can help us achieve a similar style in any way, that would be great! Maybe you could post for the team a real simple example level for us to take a look at in 3DGS (maybe turn into a level template of sorts)

all i can do is graphics! i am rubbish at programing, but i can come up with quiet good pixel arts

------------------
I Am Gods Kid!!

--D-SIPL

------------------
"One World. One Web. One Program." -Microsoft promotional advertisement
"Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Fuhrer!" -Adolf Hitler

quote:

---

Originally posted by coolj:
If you can help us achieve a similar style in any way, that would be great! Maybe you could post for the team a real simple example level for us to take a look at in 3DGS (maybe turn into a level template of sorts)

---

Yeah, good idea. I've had a few years with GameStudio and have had my share of gripes with trying to get the levels to go the way I want to. I'll work to put something together to help people understand how the level editor works more. I've got a few special effects I can share too. God has really blessed me to be able to serve Him like this .

Oh yeah, and what do you mean by "level template"? Just a small sample level showing different techniques that can be used?

By the way, I've got some drawings I drew up, thinking about a dog character that might go well in the game. Would it be okay to post them on the wiki? I know its all early stages and stuff, and we aren't at that point yet, so I'm just making sure.

quote:

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Originally posted by D-SIPL:
One of the best 2d games i played recently has to be Gish done with the Torque engine. Maybe look at that for some inspiration.

--D-SIPL

---

I didn't think Gish was made with Torque. Just published by GarageGames (I could be very wrong).

Anyway, I am interested but am limited with time. I also own a Torque license (sorry, I don't know anything about GameStudio). Here are my skills:

Visual Studio .Net 2003 (C/C++)
OpenGL (somewhat)
Music (I play piano/synths and compose songs)
Winsock (for multiplayer?)
Level Design (I've used Hammer and Quark)

I can't draw very well. So I would not be a very useful artist. As for contacts, I use MSN (JFPeople@hotmail.com) and AIM (HeardTheWord).

quote:

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Originally posted by kiwee:
Consider me In!!!

all i can do is graphics! i am rubbish at programing, but i can come up with quiet good pixel arts

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kiwee, we can definitely use the help! Welcome to the team!

quote:

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Originally posted by D-SIPL:

One of the best 2d games i played recently has to be Gish done with the Torque engine.

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Yeah,fun game. Very original!

quote:

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Originally posted by Ashton_JX

I'll work to put something together to help people understand how the level editor works more. I've got a few special effects I can share too.

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I think that would help a lot, thanks!

quote:

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Originally posted by Ashton_JX

I've got some drawings I drew up, thinking about a dog character that might go well in the game. Would it be okay to post them on the wiki?

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YES! That would be great! This goes for anyone with 2D concept art, 3D model ideas, level design ideas , music, sound, 3d art, etc... For now lets put this stuff under Brainstorming and if you have a file to link to, upload it the wiki uploads area and just point to it from your entry.

quote:

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Originally posted by HeardTheWord

Anyway, I am interested but am limited with time. I also own a Torque license (sorry, I don't know anything about GameStudio).

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Welcome to the team! A lot of team has very limited time, so this isn't a problem. We're kinda taking a 'lets all do a little something, make a christian game, learn a little bit, and just see what we can do'. Like you I know nothing about GameStudio (well now a little bit ) , so I'm just taking using this as a chance to learn something about it.

[This message has been edited by coolj (edited February 28, 2005).]

quote:

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Originally posted by Gump:
I have a contact in a fairly large Christian corporation who is looking for a Christian game developer to produce a small web-based game for their website. I realize you guys are mainly doing this for practice but if you're interesting in producing something for $$$ email me at gumpngreen@yahoo.com and I'll pass the word along and give you guys contact information.

---

That's cool! Sounds like a good opportunity for someone! Do you know what kind of skill set/experience they are looking for?

http://www.godcentric.com/projects/ccngame/index.pl?Work_Log

------------------
Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

Oh yeah, my MSN is thirddaystudios (at) hotmail (dot) com. Is MSN the means that we are using to communicate, or is there anything else?

------------------
I wanna die
And let You give
Your Life to me
So that I might live

Heh, my first post and im out of the blue volunteering to help on a project that I cant really contribute to as far as technical skills go... but oh well.

I'm an amature to game development, and I've never really completed a true project before - one of decent size, which was thoroughly planned and all.

But, I'd really like a hands-on experience, to see how to properly plan a project and all. I'd like to help in what ever way I can, or just participate in general perhaps, so I can see how things are done.

I don't have many technical skills that could be of use... I only know DarkBasic Pro, Im not *too* bad at sprites or 3d modeling either. I am however pretty good at level design, and I could offer help in general theory and play testing.

If you wish, you can contact me over MSN instant messanger or email at lukedupont@yahoo.com , or AIM - CajunCoder87.

quote:

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Originally posted by brandon:
Ashton_JX your work is very impressive, I am glad that you working on this with us. Perhaps we could chat about the levels? I'm looking forward to the level tutorial btw!

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Thanks, Brandon, I'm glad to be working on this. It is a real blessing to me. Sure, chatting about levels would be great. I'll have to wait until I download an update to MSN messenger to be able to chat with it, though. I do have AIM too. There is something wrong with my computer though, and I'll have to be on my mom's PC if I want to send messeges. On the brighter side, I'm getting DSL this month which will help a lot. That way I'll just wipe my computer and do a clean reinstall (that is my industrial strength surefire way to fix any computer problem :lol . Downloading patches for everything through 56k must be one looooooooong ordeal hehe! And about the tutorial, I've never really made one before, and though I know some good stuff on WED, I realized I'm not quite sure on how to go about explaining how it works. I kind of figured that I'd start off with level design theory, but then I realized that I've never applied my knowledge of WED towards any specific purpose. I was always kind of random with my level design and thinking up the purpose of the level along the way... And then this guy pops in...

quote:

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Originally posted by Cajun Coder:
I am however pretty good at level design, and I could offer help in general theory and play testing.

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Hi, I'm Shawn . LOL

Okay, seriously. Heya, Cajun Coder . I think you are in the right place. I think this may be a good learning experience for everyone, and I believe God is definately blessing this project. I'm here to learn teamwork and gain experience in game design too. So do you plan on heading game projects in the future?

P.S. @ brandon - I think I'll manage on the level design tutorial. I think I'll need some help though. Maybe it would be good to make it using the wiki?

[This message has been edited by Ashton_JX (edited March 01, 2005).]

quote:

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Originally posted by brandon:
As for characters, I'm pretty much sold on Ashton_JX's dog! Ashton_JX your work is very impressive, I am glad that you working on this with us.

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I agree, Ashton_JX's dog drawings are very nice! Of course Munchy is pretty funny! Even if he is not the player character, he would be funny to see in the game somewhere

quote:

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Originally posted by Cajun Coder:
Heh, my first post and im out of the blue volunteering to help on a project that I cant really contribute to as far as technical skills go... but oh well.

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Welcome to the site and I'm just going to go ahead and say welcome to the team! This is a learning experience for most of us in anyway. Be sure to check out the wiki and set up your page!

quote:

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Cool deal on that wiki page, Klumsy. I'm realy enjoying working with it. I wish I had a program like that for personal use. Its a lot funner working with a team though.

---

------------------
Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

------------------
Eric Pankoke
http://www.polsoftware.com

quote:

---

Originally posted by PointOfLight:
Looking over the current schedule on the wiki, I'd say we're going to be hurting pretty bad tomorrow, since none of that stuff has been assigned yet. Since the things on that list are pretty much the foundation for the entire project, wouldn't it be better to give many of those things up to a week, then leave the last three weeks (and 3 odd days) to flesh everything out? Just a thought.

---

Yeah, your absolutely right! Those due dates were kind of just thrown out there as well as the tasks themselves. I have to confess, project planning has always been a weak point for me, and I can use any help you guys can provide with this. So feel free to adjust dates or add tasks, or whatever you think might help!

------------------
Eric Pankoke
http://www.polsoftware.com

------------------
Eric Pankoke
http://www.polsoftware.com

quote:

---

Originally posted by PointOfLight:
In addition to possibly adjusting the dates, though, don't the tasks need to be assigned relatively quickly? We could put the dates out to the end of the month, but if no one's working on a given task it won't do any good to change the date.

---

Ok, hopefully it's a little better! I've adjusted some of the initial dates and assigned a couple of the tasks to team members.

Because of the way the team is set up and the limited amount of time most of us have, I would encourage each of us to grab any task you would like to do, and feel you have the time for. If a task looks too large, but you would like to do 'a piece' of it, we can probably chop it into smaller pieces. I'll try to provide a description for most tasks in the Docs field. And always feel free to ask me any questions you might have.

Also, any suggestions on better ways of organizing this is always appreciated!

[This message has been edited by coolj (edited March 02, 2005).]

So whats the status of this project. Do we have a design document yet?

--D-SIPL

------------------
"One World. One Web. One Program." -Microsoft promotional advertisement
"Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Fuhrer!" -Adolf Hitler

quote:

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Originally posted by D-SIPL:
Heh thats funny. I thought when i jumped that the sprite was just gonna carry on upwards.

So whats the status of this project. Do we have a design document yet?

--D-SIPL

---

Haha, yeah I know his jump is goofy, I like how you can jump out about 10 feet, change your mind in mid air, and have him move back over to the ledge. Of course this ability is in a lot of platforms...

I've put together a design document from two I had on my computer. It's on our wiki. It's woefully incomplete, but I'm hoping everyone can take a look and update whatever they want to.

From the main screen its under Game Design.

http://www.godcentric.com/projects/ccngame/index.pl?Game_Design

If I can sequence in the format you're asking for then I'll do it.

If this game is as quirky as it sounds then might I suggest something along the line of the .mod/.xm format?

If no music is required then say the word but that's all I can offer.

Good luck with this everyone, it sounds like fun.

http://www.purrhead.thj.no/downloads/sprite%20_concepts.zip

quote:

---

Originally posted by Goldrush13:
Unfortunately, 3DGS is not my bag, music is though, give me a format you'd like the music files to be in and I'll be glad to help.

If I can sequence in the format you're asking for then I'll do it.

If this game is as quirky as it sounds then might I suggest something along the line of the .mod/.xm format?

If no music is required then say the word but that's all I can offer.

Good luck with this everyone, it sounds like fun.

---

No problem! If you would like to join the team, then welcome aboard! It looks like 3DGS only supports midi and wav (at least in the version I can afford- free trial . But even the commercial version doesn't natively support mod or xm. We have some music resources that we might be able to use, however, if you have or can make some original tracks or sound effects or have a license to use, then we could use all the music/sound help we can get! I'm just not sure if xm or mod can be saved as midi, but probably as wav format. Unfortunately existing mod and xm out there we can't use because it is usually from someone elses cool game and not free to use.

quote:

---

Originally posted by coolj:
No problem! If you would like to join the team, then welcome aboard! It looks like 3DGS only supports midi and wav (at least in the version I can afford- free trial . But even the commercial version doesn't natively support mod or xm. We have some music resources that we might be able to use, however, if you have or can make some original tracks or sound effects or have a license to use, then we could use all the music/sound help we can get! I'm just not sure if xm or mod can be saved as midi, but probably as wav format. Unfortunately existing mod and xm out there we can't use because it is usually from someone elses cool game and not free to use.

---

I was actually looking at a Mod/Xm Tracker this morning which had the ability to save into midi and I thought, "Well how the hell could that be useful?"

I look up the forum and there's my answer, unless you can rig up a keyboard (I don't have the tools) you have to make midis through some kind of sequencer by hand I suppose you'd say, but it's long and boring, making mod and xm though is a lot more user friendly and some would say quite fun, I'll see how well mod/xm becomes midi and I'll browse that website where you're hosting everything, but if someone else can guarantee you some stuff I'd advise you take it, I don't think my imagination could stretch to an entire soundtrack with a one month project and there is my college course to think of, I'll be off to this website now to grab some inspiration from what I see.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ashton_JX:
(diferent layers of images, that when moved the right way creates the illusion of perspective). Er.. well, they actually would be in perspective in this case. Go figure :P.

---

I see what you mean, your tree looks great! I like seeing the dog in there too! I wonder if this technique could also be used to 'fake' the effect that the whole level is moving at a high speed. Like if you where on a subway train or on the bow of a spaceship. You could use a background layer the size of the screen and cycle the texture on it, or use 2 of them end to end, when one scrolls out of view, it gets cycles back to the start. Anyway, good idea!

I just read your doc as well, you mention maybe going with 128X128 or 64x64 and scaling for the sprites. The only thing I am wondering is how collision detection is being handled with the sprites and if the collision box can be adjusted to fit the actual size of the non transparent portion of the image. If this is an issue, we might need the sprite images created to minimize the amount of empty space. So the dog sprite, standing their might need to be more like 64X128. I hope this is not the case, or we can adjust the bounding box upon loading each animation, so collision is more accurate.

[This message has been edited by coolj (edited March 04, 2005).]

http://www.godcentric.com/projects/ccngame/index.pl?Doc004

As for the bounding boxes on the sprites. Perhaps we could just make the sprite passable, then put an invisible map or model entity in position that handles all the collision detection (the sprite would just be tagged onto the same position as the map entity or model entity). I'm not sure what would be done about the player ducking. Perhaps use a different entity to represent the collision area?

As for the MOD formats, there is a plugin that can be used to enable MOD music in GameStudio.

http://www.conitecserver.com/wiki/index.php/PlugIns is a site that has 2 of these plugins, as well as many other types of plugins not realated to MOD playing, however both plugins need an additional DLL that requres a liscense. I think they are free for non-commercial use though.

---Small Update---
I think I won't be making the march 5th deadline on getting that example level done, and the animation. I think my best bet would be to shorten the level I have planned (which I should have done in the first place, since it is only going to be made to display level design techniques and stuff). The tutorial on level design isn't very far done either, for much of the same reason. As far as the animation, I'm relatively new to the art form but I have read about it somewhat. I'm hoping to catch on quickly though (And DEFINATELY pray for the LORD's guidance). I think I may have the walk animation done by the 7th, taking into account that I've got the tutorial and level to work on too. I know I would have worked a lot quicker and accurately if I had a clearer focus. I've been kind of jumping around from task to task, without a whole lot of planning, but I'm starting to think things through a little more and realize I could have worked a whole lot more efficiently. I've got the LORD to thank for helping me to see this, He's just turned my world right side up. I've been seeing a lot of things differently.

Oh, by the way, does anyone in our team have the Commercial or Pro edition of GameStudio?

[This message has been edited by Ashton_JX (edited March 05, 2005).]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ashton_JX:
As for the bounding boxes on the sprites. Perhaps we could just make the sprite passable, then put an invisible map or model entity in position that handles all the collision detection (the sprite would just be tagged onto the same position as the map entity or model entity). I'm not sure what would be done about the player ducking. Perhaps use a different entity to represent the collision area?

---

This might be the best approach or since the sprite entity itself has dimension assigned to it, maybe it's dimension can be adjusted appropriately. I'm not sure. We probably need to investigate this further, maybe someone on the team with good 3DGS coding experience or who wants to look into this further might be able to help discover the best approach to this. I'll probably add a proof of concept to the task list.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ashton_JX:
As for the MOD formats, there is a plugin that can be used to enable MOD music in GameStudio.

---

That's cool. And thanks for the plug-in link, it looks like there is a lot of goodies in there!

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ashton_JX:
I think I won't be making the march 5th deadline on getting that example level done, and the animation.

---

No problem! I just put those dates out there not knowing what to put.

I've also changed the layout of the task list to what I think is a better approach. I've replaced 'Status' with 'Eta' and instead of me assigning 'Needed by' dates, team members can now just pick (or create) a task they want to work on then put the date they feel they can complete it by. If they find they are not going to make the date, they can adjust the date as they need to.

http://www.godcentric.com/projects/ccngame/index.pl?Schedule

I plan to spend a good bit of time monday adding many tasks, that (I hope ) reflects the entire game development cycle. But as always, anyone can change, add or remove, or suggest anything that might help.

Also, whoever feels led, I encourage us to continue to pray for the game, so that it might be for our fun be most importantly for God's glory!

[This message has been edited by coolj (edited March 05, 2005).]

quote:

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kiwee, we can definitely use the help! Welcome to the team!

---

p.s i created a work log, my profile, and a scedule

p.p.s you can contact my msn account; tiffm@beeb.net

------------------
I Am Gods Kid!!

[This message has been edited by kiwee (edited March 05, 2005).]

[This message has been edited by kiwee (edited March 05, 2005).]

[edit]graphics that is[/edit]

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I Am Gods Kid!!

[This message has been edited by kiwee (edited March 05, 2005).]

------------------
We should use crosses, not stars for are mempership level representation.

as for MOD/XM/IT/MIDI.. i personally have used modplugtracker to make midis , but i don';t think midi format would be nice in the game, however tracked music is cool, but having the RESULT to be XM/MOD/IT doesn't have much advantages these days, we can just export it to WAV then convert it to OGG or such.

as for commercial edition, i don't have it, but will get it as the project progresses.

------------------
Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

quote:

---

Originally posted by kiwee:
one more thing, i am up to doing all of the GUI if you want
[edit]graphics that is[/edit]

---

Cool! Thanks kiwee!..I saw the start button you've done, it has a cool retro look to it. nice.

We'll need to define how the GUI and screens are layed out. I guess as basic a layout as possible. Someone who has idea on this feel free to take it on. It will probably be a simple layout - one like most platform games have. Here's a breakdown of what screens I guess we might have in the game:

Main menu screen
Game Screen
Options Screen
Load/Save Screen?
High Score Screen?
Credits Screen?
anything else?

If we have intro sequences for each level, maybe they could just be custom scripted 3DGS levels that run automatically. Then the real level is loaded and begins gameplay begins.

[This message has been edited by coolj (edited March 07, 2005).]

quote:

---

Originally posted by That_Guy:
I can help with:
Prayer
Storyline
Maybe Testing

---

Welcome to team, we can use help!
Prayer - MOST DEFINITELY!
Storyline - probably
Maybe Testing - definitely
As you've probably figured out, this is a very loose project. In geekspeak- no ones typedef'd, so you can cast your pointer to anything you want! (yeah..cheesy..I know)

Just glad you can help out! When you get a chance, check out our game wiki, and add your info to the bio! If you see an area in the wiki you would like to add to or have an ideas about, be sure to add it.

http://www.godcentric.com/projects/ccngame/index.pl?CHRISTIAN_CODERS_ONE_MONTH_GAME

quote:

---

Originally posted by klumsy:
back from a nice weekend

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by klumsy:
still during tutorials myself, anxious to get to coding stuff

---

yeah, I'm finding the tutorials available are helping me a lot and are pretty fun way to learn some scripting stuff. I'm glad you are looking forward to some coding!... any guidance or ideas you have in this area can help us too!

------------------
I Am Gods Kid!!

http://www.awn.com/tooninstitute/lessonplan/walk.htm

*chuckles* Kind of like training wheels.

http://www.godcentric.com/projects/ccngame/index.pl?Game_Overview

Also, I just realized we need a name for our game!! 'ONE MONTH GAME' just doesn't sound too exciting!

I don't know what you guys think of it, but how about 'Flubsy' as the name of the dog? I did an internet search and didn't find this name already being used as a character name for any books or games, or etc...

Kinda based off the word:
[flubs] tr. v. def - To botch; bungle.

which seems to describe what are dog does pretty well!

But, I'm open to anything and we need a name for the game itself. So any suggestions are good!

>>I did a more thorough search on the name 'Flubsy'. I found an obscure reference to a game that was maybe suppose to come out for the MSX system titled 'Flubsy'. Anyone know if this exists?

[This message has been edited by coolj (edited March 08, 2005).]

------------------
There are two ways of constructing a software design: one way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies; the other is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies.

--C. A. R. Hoare
[B][/B]

[This message has been edited by CPUFreak91 (edited March 08, 2005).]

[This message has been edited by CPUFreak91 (edited March 08, 2005).]

To anyone else:
what's the msn? Chat room? does is have a password? Or what?

------------------
There are two ways of constructing a software design: one way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies; the other is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies.

--C. A. R. Hoare
[B][/B]

for the rest of you..
i've updated a few things on the wiki , changes the CSS to be able to have code formated nicely, if you a programmer look at the new scripts page, however its pretty much just a start, how we organise it, depends can be worked out as we go (as with the whole wiki)

------------------
Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

I think it would be best for me to focus my efforts on completing the example level and tutorial, and postpone any more animation until after thats done, since I think the level & tutorial would be a higher priority.

------------------
I Am Gods Kid!!

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I Am Gods Kid!!

Have you seen Ashton_JX's dog walking around? Here's a demo project with our dog walking and running(SHIFT) and jumping(CTRL) in one of Ashton_JXs earlier proto levels. The jump and idle animations are just hacked together from the jump animation. Try pushing the boxes around!! Have fun!

...for some reason I'm not able to upload to the wiki files, so I posted it here for now:

http://www.savioursoft.com/Files/spritemove1.zip

I made the cube used in the spritemove1.zip with trueSpace and exported it as a .x file. I then was able to import it into the 3DGS model editor to save it as a game model.

Here's a zip with my .cob trueSpace file (should work with gameSpace as well:
http://www.savioursoft.com/Files/mycube.zip

I've also include of a snapshot of the .x export settings I used and the material settings.

regarding the files no uploading.. hmm dunno what the cause would be.. anyhow i ftp'd them over for you , so you can update the wiki to reference them etc with the normal upload:filename.ext
if you contact me via MSN messenger i can give you my ftp login and password as well.

------------------
Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

I can code mostly in c++ and some in C#, php and java.

I have license of torque engine and know it quite well. I have also used game maker and game studio.

So, looks like you are planning to use game studio... It's ok engine but last time I was disappointed about the GUI options it had.

Well I'll look more in to your site later and register there.

God bless.

quote:

---

Originally posted by klumsy:
regarding the files no uploading.. hmm dunno what the cause would be.. anyhow i ftp'd them over for you , so you can update the wiki to reference them etc with the normal upload:filename.ext
if you contact me via MSN messenger i can give you my ftp login and password as well.

---

ok, thanks, I'll give it another try later, but if I continue having problems I'll get a hold of you.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jari:
Interesting project I would like to help even I don't have time like some of you.

---

That would be great! Most of us are very limited with time as well, so that's not a problem. Just do what you feel you can to contribute. Welcome to the team!

quote:

---

Originally posted by coolj:
That would be great! Most of us are very limited with time as well, so that's not a problem. Just do what you feel you can to contribute. Welcome to the team!

---

Thanks. I just created profile where you can see my contact details. So just email or PM me in MSN when you want something done and I'll look to it.

Now I'm just going to download the trial of game studio and practice.

[This message has been edited by Jari (edited March 12, 2005).]

quote:

---

Have you seen Ashton_JX's dog walking around? Here's a demo project with our dog walking and running(SHIFT) and jumping(CTRL) in one of Ashton_JXs earlier proto levels. The jump and idle animations are just hacked together from the jump animation. Try pushing the boxes around!! Have fun!

---

how do i play it?????? the only things i can open are the graphics and a windowsmediaplayer thing

------------------
I Am Gods Kid!!

------------------
Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

------------------
I Am Gods Kid!!

Thanks for everyone who has been able to contribute up to this point. And for everyone waiting for something they can grab on to and help with, I've loaded the Task List with tasks that I feel reflect about 90% of the game.

In the Task List, I've seperated out all tasks into their respective categories:
Story & Gameplay
Scripting
Level Design
2D Art and Animation
3D Models
Sound Effects
Music
Documentation
Misc. - for whatever doesn't fit

You will notice not everything has been decided on. For example, the 'obstacles 1-4', 'enemy 1-4', 'weapon1-2' under each category are pretty vague. This is a good opportunity for team members who have a creative mind (or anyone, but if your suggestion is used you become a team member ) to suggest what these should be!

http://www.godcentric.com/projects/ccngame/index.pl?Schedule

Also, due to time constraints, and from suggestions, we should shoot for 1 main level with 3 to 4 sub level areas that are accessible via doorways and pathways. This will give us a Main Level and like 4 sub level areas. The Main Level can be worked on by one level designer and each sublevel can be worked on by a different level designer.

But the good thing about the template code, it gives us a lot of cool stuff we shouldn't have to tweak too much! Here's some of the goodies we should be able to gleen from the templates:

-level switching (using trigger areas in the map)
-door & key mechanics (door rotates 90 degrees when unlocked, allowing passage)
-keymapping (player customizable key mapping)
-joystick (player can use joystick as input device)
-lifts (creating moving platforms)
-menu (main menu code example appears to be available
-HUD (player HUD example)
-triggers (triggers to activate monsters, area special effects, etc..)
-weapons (example weapons handling script)
-load & save (game loading and saving script)
-teleport(teleport to other location in level)

..and of course player movement, collision and actions, but this changes for our 2D style enviroment. (we don't won't our player falling off into the screen! I'd take an initial stab at this one.

If you haven't looked at the template scripts yet, they can be found here after installing 3DGS:
..\GStudio6\template_6\code\

[This message has been edited by coolj (edited March 16, 2005).]

http://www.godcentric.com/projects/ccngame/uploads/snapshot-alpha1.jpg
* alpha proto-level 03-16-05

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ashton_JX:
On the test level side of things, I think I may have to cut back a bit on the ammount of detail I'm puting into the level. I'm just going to wrap the level up tomorrow, since there's only about 13 days left in the month.

---

Sound great!
I've been pretty busy too getting a lot of the 3DGS template code added to our base project so we don't have to reinvent a lot of this stuff for the game - triggers, lifts, etc..

I'm thinking we will probably do 1 main level with 3-4 sub level areas that are accessable by triggers or doors..... Once the example level is posted I will put the game script that has been done so far behind it, maybe we can get those on the team wanting to do some level design each to do a sub level for the game. I have a question, could we end up using, with additional work, the example level as the main level or at least one of the sublevels? This might save us some time too. Anyway, good work!

------------------
~~~boogie woogie woogie~~~

I checked out the screenshot -- game looks good so far! I really look forward to seeing how it turns out. I follow your progress with interest, and the screenshot of the dog pushing the boxes looks good. Keep up the great work, and keep us all posted with your progress!

--clint

------------------
http://www.includingjudas.com/christiangame.html

http://www.purrhead.thj.no/downloads/2d_test-3-21-05.zip

quote:

---

Originally posted by bwoogie:
i'd help but i dont know nothin about gamestuido. next time how bout we use gm? hehe

---

Hey, not a problem. I didn't know anything about 3d gamestudio until this project. Of course I don't know anything about game maker either

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ashton_JX:
This is how far I've gotten on the level up until now. Sorry it isn't more complete. Things have been kind of crazy.

---

Not a problem at all, your level looks great!!! I've put the scripting code behind it (much of which is the template code with minor modifications). I also added a few example items to the level.
1 Lift
1 Key
1 Door
3 triggers

We have the base scripts for the following included in the project as well. They just need to be completed:
HUD w/ statuses
Load/Save game

Also, the sounds are the ones from the template examples, so we could use some better ones.

Now we can see him running around having some fun!! Pretty cool!!

http://www.savioursoft.com/Files/game032105.zip

- you'll want to open the game.wmp file -
I'll probably buy 3dgs soon (standard), just to be able to be an .exe!

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ashton_JX:
Oh yeah, and that really big pit in the cave section is supposed to be filled with water. I can just do something else with it, though, if there's no time to work swimming into the game.

---

Cool, we should be able to handle water, I noticed the base template scripts are half setup for this anyway. I'll add that too the list

btw. I monkeyd with the SUN/AMBIENT lighting prefence on the level, so if things look a littile too bright in areas, that's why

http://www.godcentric.com/projects/ccngame/uploads/snapshot-alpha2.jpg

i am wondering about the blending of images in the level screenshot. is there any parallax scrolling? are the images alpha mapped or transparent gifs? i noticed the black edge to the foreground grass and trees...and i'm wondering if something needs to be tweaked with the engine or the artwork. something seems off. if the issue is with the images, i'd suggest using a non-black color. might need to experiment with what works in the engine, but i'd say a much lighter green would work better, if not a sky blue (assuming any clouds would be above the tree line). if levels range from above ground to below ground environments, i'd recommend tilesets/texture sets that work with the desired background artwork. if edges are going to show, use that to your advantage by creating a highlight or such with those particular pixels.

just my two cents still it looks great.

The new screenshot looks great! Keep up the great work!

--clint

------------------
http://www.includingjudas.com/christiangame.html

What kind of music are you looking for?

quote:

---

Originally posted by nfektious:
all -
impressive work. i've been silently following the progress and am pleased with the teamwork by all of you under the various circumstances. keep up the good work! .

---

Kudos have to go ot Ashton_JX for the great looking level graphics and player character dog!! (do we have a name for him yet?)

quote:

---

Originally posted by nfektious:
i am wondering about the blending of images in the level screenshot. is there any parallax scrolling? are the images alpha mapped or transparent gifs?

---

Ashton_JX could probably answer these questions the best. Since the level is actually being created with the 3DGS level designer, the level IS a 3D environment, but we are constraining movement mostly to 2 axis. So instead of using tiles in a 2d enviorment, we are using actual 3D building blocks, models and billboards in a 3d level, So the parallax scrolling is inherent. We're calling it 2D in 3d, because many game elements can be represented with 2D images placed on billboard (or sprites, as 3dgs refers to them)

The images for the sprites are pcx with solid black representing transparent. We might be able to support an alpha channel with png or tga, but I would have to check.

quote:

---

Originally posted by HanClinto:
The new screenshot looks great! Keep up the great work!

---

Thanks, and I agree , the graphics are looking very nice.

quote:

---

Originally posted by SSquared:
What kind of music are you looking for?

---

This is a very loose project, so almost anything as long as it doesn't go against basic christian principles!
Here's what we might have available so far -

Graceworks might be able to provide some licensed music, but he music is licensed to him, so he's required to contribute to the project in additional capacity (testing, etc.) to be ligit.

Goldrush13 had mentioned maybe being able to create something but unsure due to time constraints.

I know midi and wav are available formats we can use. I've put a midi song in the background of the level just as a proof of concept. I got the song on this cool website with lots of public domain christian midi files that are free from all copyright claims:

The Christian Classics Ethereal Library Hymn Tune Archive
http://www.ccel.org/cceh/

public domain disclaimer:
http://www.ccel.org/cceh/cceh_cpr.htm

I just changed the instruments to be something that sounds better than the default. But if you want to contribute something then that would be great and it will be used!!

http://www.savioursoft.com/Files/game032405.zip

Added :
~fixed so entire level can be explored
~special trigger value to change players x offset when trigger is..uhh triggered
~background music (see above)

cheers big ears,

Karl

------------------
Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

I started working on a little bit of music last night. It's not exactly coming out how I thought it would, but I'll try and keep working on it. Once I get a little bit more done, perhaps I can put it somewhere to download to give you an idea. It could be used for maybe the options screen?

wiki is down while i tranfer it to a new server, when its there i'll email here with details

------------------
Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

------------------
Keep the holy day sacred.......halllllllukan

http://www.blesses.us/ccngame/index.pl

for some reason i can't get it to work without having to specify the index.pl in the new URl, oh well no biggie

as well i updated many pages that hard coded the image URL to godcentric.com/projects/ccngame/uploads/* etc rather than just upload:*

enjoy again. maybe on this new host you won't have problems with the upload the same?

enn796:
go to the wiki and add yourself , and enjoy.

EN

------------------
Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

quote:

---

Originally posted by klumsy:
for some reason i can't get it to work without having to specify the index.pl in the new URl, oh well no biggie

---

ask your host nicely to add index.pl to their list of index files.. im guessing that's the problem anyways. you dont have to specify anything if you have a index.htm(l) file in there do you?

------------------
~~~boogie woogie woogie~~~

------------------
I Am Gods Kid!!

------------------
I Am Gods Kid!!

quote:

---

Originally posted by kiwee:
i have come up with a basic plan for the GUI layout! i just haven't uploaded it yet, i will post the link soon

---

Kiwee, I like your screen, it looks great!!!

I've posted one more game version, Here I added a couple of Mushroom baddies, they don't move, they just sit there and throw (what else of course) little mushrooms at you!!! I based these guys off the turret template. I also added a couple of particle generators to the level just for proof. It would be really cool to have a waterfall behind the bridge though..could be done with particles!

http://www.blesses.us/ccngame/uploads/game032805.zip

Guys, I've been praying to God to let me know if he wants me to continue working on this game. My demo version of 3DGS expired last week and I haven't decided weither to purchase the standard version of 3DGS or not. I've enjoyed working on this game a lot, and along with the fact that I think it is turning into a really cool game, it's led to more praying for me and in turn a closer relationship with God which I am thankfull for.

I know the month of March is drawing to an end, so a decision should be made weither or not to continue with the game. I think another month and the game will be absolutely killer and will give some people who didn't have the chance to contribute this last month to contribute in April. By the CGDC in July, someone(s) will be taking this awsome game to show the world!!

If you feel like you might enjoy contributing to the game in April then pray to God to show you if this is for you.

Also, anyone wanting to do a little scripting on the game, open the latested zipped file, run the game, goof around in it and see what you'd like to do!! I can probably answer any questions you might have!!
I know the following are needed:
1. We need some baddies and obstacles..
(can use aiFPS01.wdl,aiFixed01.wdl, aiDumbBiped01.wdl) as templates
2. Turn the example level into the main level, or create a new main level.
3. Create 3-4 separate sublevels
4. Implement level switching code
(levels00.wdl as template)
5. Main menu screen
(menu01.wdl, saveLoad00.wdl,saveLoad01.wdl as templates)
6. Implement paper pieces (scriptural tidbits)
(look at 'key' as example in 'door01.wdl')
7. Score/Lifes remaining
(bipedHUD.wdl as example)
and of anything else your imagination can bring to the table is fair game!!

----------------------------------------------------------
As for your black edges from OVERLAY, I was forced to use PCX format for skins of my models and trees (.TGA format was taking too much memory and framerate) So I use d3d_autotransparency... that make it so anything with it's OVERLAY flag set to on, will use the upper left pixel of your skin or sprite, and use that as the transparent color instead of black.

This is great as an alternative. It works for sprites and models both. I used green for trees an bushes, and other colors where appropriate. Searh for some threads on d3d_autotransparency to ge a better handle on it. I have no idea if it works with all versions of Gamestudio.

If you're not pressed for memory or too many polys visible, use tga files with an alpha channel for the best transparency on your sprites an models.

Hope this helps some!

Jason
----------------------------------------------------

I checked the gamestudio manual on d3d_autotransparency, and it had this to say:

-----------------------------------
d3d_autotransparency
If this flag is set, the color of the upper left pixel of true color
textures is taken as transparency color, instead of black. This way
the background of sprites or skins can be set to any color, thus
avoiding the black seams visible by antialiasing to a black
background.

Type:
Flag.

Default:
Off.

Remarks:
If this flag is set, transparent panel elements don't automatically get the
overly flag as before. Otherwise rectangular transparent buttons,
like the background of the template menu, wouldn't be rendered.
--------------------

All my sprites were made in GIMP and I've still got all the original files for them (with layers intact), so changing the background color for each sprite would be a snap.

@ coolj- LOL, hey cool. I actually just made a waterfall for that part just a few days ago.

screenshot- http://www.blesses.us/ccngame/uploads/waterfall_behind_bridge.jpg

It is made with a 5 frame sprite. A particle waterfall would probably work a lot better though.

----------------------------------------------------------
As for your black edges from OVERLAY, I was forced to use PCX format for skins of my models and trees (.TGA format was taking too much memory and framerate) So I use d3d_autotransparency... that make it so anything with it's OVERLAY flag set to on, will use the upper left pixel of your skin or sprite, and use that as the transparent color instead of black.

This is great as an alternative. It works for sprites and models both. I used green for trees an bushes, and other colors where appropriate. Searh for some threads on d3d_autotransparency to ge a better handle on it. I have no idea if it works with all versions of Gamestudio.

If you're not pressed for memory or too many polys visible, use tga files with an alpha channel for the best transparency on your sprites an models.

Hope this helps some!

Jason
----------------------------------------------------

I checked the gamestudio manual on d3d_autotransparency, and it had this to say:

-----------------------------------
d3d_autotransparency
If this flag is set, the color of the upper left pixel of true color
textures is taken as transparency color, instead of black. This way
the background of sprites or skins can be set to any color, thus
avoiding the black seams visible by antialiasing to a black
background.

Type:
Flag.

Default:
Off.

Remarks:
If this flag is set, transparent panel elements don't automatically get the
overly flag as before. Otherwise rectangular transparent buttons,
like the background of the template menu, wouldn't be rendered.
--------------------

All my sprites were made in GIMP and I've still got all the original files for them (with layers intact), so changing the background color for each sprite would be a snap.

@ coolj- LOL, hey cool. I actually just made a waterfall for that part just a few days ago.

screenshot- http://www.blesses.us/ccngame/uploads/waterfall_behind_bridge.jpg

It is made with a 5 frame sprite. A particle waterfall would probably work a lot better though.

& too bad about the expiration, coolj. I hope that problem doesn't effect too many of us. Glad to hear about your walk though. I've benefited spiritually from this project too. Mainly in that it nudged me towards thinking outside myself. I figure if this game just flops over dead it would still be worth it just for the growth.

------------------
There are two ways of constructing a software design: one way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies; the other is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies.

--C. A. R. Hoare
[B][/B]

Not Found
The requested URL /projects/ccngame/ was not found on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
Apache/1.3.33 Server at www.godcentric.com Port 80

------------------
There are two ways of constructing a software design: one way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies; the other is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies.

--C. A. R. Hoare
[B][/B]

http://www.blesses.us/ccngame/index.pl?CHRISTIAN_CODERS_ONE_MONTH_GAME

Hope this helps.

Oh yeah, and it looks like this is the last day of March, but I'd like to continue working on this project next month too.

[This message has been edited by Ashton_JX (edited March 31, 2005).]

------------------
There are two ways of constructing a software design: one way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies; the other is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies.

--C. A. R. Hoare
[B][/B]

[This message has been edited by CPUFreak91 (edited March 31, 2005).]

------------------
I Am Gods Kid!!

------------------
There are two ways of constructing a software design: one way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies; the other is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies.

--C. A. R. Hoare
[B][/B]

[This message has been edited by CPUFreak91 (edited April 01, 2005).]

[This message has been edited by CPUFreak91 (edited April 01, 2005).]

quote:

---

Originally posted by klumsy:
ok the wiki is up at its new home..

http://www.blesses.us/ccngame/index.pl

Thanks Klumsy! Can you continue to host the wikki for the month of April for the game?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ashton_JX:

@ coolj- LOL, hey cool. I actually just made a waterfall for that part just a few days ago.
screenshot- http://www.blesses.us/ccngame/uploads/waterfall_behind_bridge.jpg

---

Nice waterfall! I must have read your mind!

quote:

---

Originally posted by CPUFreak91:

Well, I decided to quit working on the 1 month game project...
(Happy April Fools!)
BTW: Does anyone know why Blender won't open the .x files?
And: How do I run the game?

---

Hey! that was my Aprils Fools...just kidding

I have two models that I created with trueSpace (mybox and the mykey) and was able to convert them to .x then port them to .mdl using the 3dgs med.
I'll try to open the my .x files in blender and see what happens. Probably if the .x file is too complex blender can't handle it. (i.e. might not be able to handled rigged models.)

I just realized that trueSpace allows me to save directly to 3dgs .mdl A6 format. Cool!! I'll have to give that a try too!!

Do you have 3d game studio A6 installed? If so just double click on the game.wsp file. So far the project has only been posted in source format, no exe. But now that I have the standard version, I will start posting an .exe as well!!

@Klumsy - We'll need to come up witha better way to organize our project on the wiki, we can't just post entire .zip files everytime we make an update. Can we add a subdirectory(s) to the upload section of the wiki?

It doesn't look like you can import .X files into blender, only export.

I just checked the list of import file types in Blender under File..Import.. and no .X

Also, nothing for importing .X listed here:
http://www.blender3d.org/cms/Import___Export.5.0.html

quote:

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Originally posted by coolj:
Do you have 3d game studio A6 installed? If so just double click on the game.wsp file. So far the project has only been posted in source format, no exe. But now that I have the standard version, I will start posting an .exe as well!!

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No I don't have 3dgs yet. I have pay-by-the-minute dial up (have I said that before?) and downloads of 2k per sec. I'll see what I can do when I get to some real internet.

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There are two ways of constructing a software design: one way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies; the other is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies.

--C. A. R. Hoare
[B][/B]

quote:

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Originally posted by CPUFreak91:
No I don't have 3dgs yet. I have pay-by-the-minute dial up (have I said that before?) and downloads of 2k per sec. I'll see what I can do when I get to some real internet.

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No problem...

Just an idea, if you want I could cram everything on a CD or DVD and mail it too you. The 3dgs trial version, game content stuff, etc.... What does a cd weight? 3-4oz. postage would be around $3-3.50 (I could swing it) and take 5-7 days. If there are other demos or 'legal' things I could cram it full as well. I remember having ot dial up and wait hours just to see the transfer fail or time out!!! Thankfully i'm blessed with cable modem right now..yeah!
I would just have to check restrictions, but I think 'free' stuff that doesn't contain > 128k encrytion is ok.

Anyway, just a thought, no problem either way!

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There are two ways of constructing a software design: one way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies; the other is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies.

--C. A. R. Hoare
[B][/B]

Ah, I checked the "Scheduel" section. I was a bit confused. The 2D Artwork and Animation section's layout was kind of awkward, but I fixed it so it looks like the other Scheduels' format. I decided I'd write myself in for all the dog's animations, too.

I think we need a priority list. Oh yeah, a "roadmap" thats right. Heh. Anyways, I think a roadmap would be good. A document that lists what is needed to be done most and so on. Something that would plan out the production of the game. When I was working on the test level, I realized that there would be some jobs that would require certain resources to be available beforehand. I think it'd help us collaborate our efforts to have a document that kind of shows what resources are needed for what job to be complete. That way we get the most vital parts done first. It'll also help us to know who to go to if we have a question about something concerning a resource we need.

I think that the Game Design Document is the most vital part needing attention at the moment... Oh wait. The Game Design Document IS the roadmap, right? Oh, okay. Wait a minute... Okay, I think that the most important thing to work on is the Game Design document, then we could use the Game Design document to figure out what is needed. Otherwise I think its kind of like trying to find one's way in the dark.

[This message has been edited by Ashton_JX (edited April 04, 2005).]

I just did a bit of work on filling out a few blanks in the design document. We've got a bit of a ways to go towards filling it out, but I think we can nail it rather quick. For areas where we haven't decided on anything yet, perhaps if we look through it and see what still needs to be included in the design document, then discuss it on the "brainstorming" section or "game ideas" section so we can make decisions on the matter needing attention.

quote:

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Originally posted by Ashton_JX:
Hey again!
For areas where we haven't decided on anything yet, perhaps if we look through it and see what still needs to be included in the design document, then discuss it on the "brainstorming" section or "game ideas" section so we can make decisions on the matter needing attention.

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Sounds like a great idea! I know the documentation has fallen a little behind. Thanks for adding to it! I'm going take a whirl through it too and see what I can update. Probably indicating some priority to our more needed tasks will help as well. I kinda have the following personally prioritized for me (but if anyone else wants to grab any of these, that's cool)

1. Implement Kiwee's menu screen (looks really good!)
2. Paper tidbits functionality
3. Level/Sublevel access/loading functionality.
4. Make HUD player data to be specific to our game.
5. Water/Swimming functionality
6. Tweak player/character action timings
7. Tweak player 'step' handling.
(should be able to 'run' up a little bigger step)
8. Tweak player 'jump' landing handling.
(can land and 'stick' to elevations a little too steep)

Of course we also need stuff like:
level stuff - like bad dudes and traps/puzzles too.
sublevels
music
action sndfx's
...

Ive got Torque and the RTS Engine
as well as A6 Game Studio
3ds Max
C++, VB.net, VB6

the joys of working at Microsoft haha

I've been a developer for 5 years

-Rob
msn: roalja777@hotmail.com

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Originally posted by PastorRob:

the joys of working at Microsoft haha

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Wow, have you met Bill Gates?!

I did a search on New Glasgow, it's a hell of a lot nicer than Old Glasgow, does the Scottish heritage remain?

and nope, i've not Bill Gates sorry haha.
I'd love to get involved in this game guys, i'll check out the site today

-Rob

Things look like they are going a bit slow at the moment though. Hows everyone doing?

[This message has been edited by Ashton_JX (edited April 08, 2005).]

We're still working on our house - painting and some minor renovation. Hard work though. The only time I have in front of a computer is at work. The house stuff is going well, but it will be so nice to get back to some sort of normality when we're done!

God bless you guys!

quote:

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Originally posted by PastorRob:
I'd love to get involved in this game guys, i'll check out the site today

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That would be great! We could definitely use the help in ANY area that you can contribute! Check out the wiki and see what you might like to do.

I've added the menu screen that kiwee had posted graphic for. The functionality is there: new game, load game, save game, quit.

I've posted the latest project, if you would like to see it in action:
http://www.blesses.us/ccngame/uploads/game040905.zip

Here's a screenshot of what it looks like:
http://www.blesses.us/ccngame/uploads/GUI_layout.bmp

I'll probably post an exe soon so those who don't have 3dgs can have some fun too!

God Bless
-Shawn

quote:

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Originally posted by coolj:

I'll probably post an exe soon so those who don't have 3dgs can have some fun too!

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Please do, coolj, I'm itching to test! (especially since I haven't done anything else worthwile. Oh well, I am n00b to this kida stuff.

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There are two ways of constructing a software design: one way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies; the other is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies.

--C. A. R. Hoare
[B][/B]

-Shawn

quote:

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Originally posted by coolj:

How many times have we read posts or posted ourselves, that we should combine resourses on a project? I'm humble enough to say I dont need to be the lead on the game (I'd prefer not too) but someone else here might be skilled (or not) and excited to do it. I'm humble enough to say this proposal is not even my idea, but has been brought up in one form or another on this site many times.

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