TML game modding
I gave Skaffen a show bag of 3D training gear today, and being up to my neck in a 3D freelance gig with the working title "never ending story of fuck", I'm getting excited by the prospect of finishing this and doing some 3D which is more fun and less tedious. Well, it's more excitment by proxy, where someone else might have that experience. Anyway.
Your first mod could be roughed out quick, as long as you have the basic geometry you can always add detail. In fact it would be better to block it out then add detail, this makes changes easier. Like the game equivalent of an animatic. Boxes for buildings, cars etc, big chunks of geometry with simple colours. Then run through, see how the gameplay works, tweak and so on. Then build something to use as a yardstick - sure agree on texture map sizes, resolutions, polycounts etc, but if you have one car and one building done, this makes it a lot easier to make other stuff by comparing.
There are tutes on low poly buildings etc at Shirow Project, a bunch of Lightwave guys who are making scenes from the manga by the Ghost in the Shell creator. Lightwave tutes but can be used in other packages. I can make cars and bikes pretty easy. A bike with basic textured uv map in photoshop given to 8ball could be made rad easily... So stage 2 is modeled to final detail, rough textures. Then stage 3 is to final textures.
The key will be project management.
Your first mod could be roughed out quick, as long as you have the basic geometry you can always add detail. In fact it would be better to block it out then add detail, this makes changes easier. Like the game equivalent of an animatic. Boxes for buildings, cars etc, big chunks of geometry with simple colours. Then run through, see how the gameplay works, tweak and so on. Then build something to use as a yardstick - sure agree on texture map sizes, resolutions, polycounts etc, but if you have one car and one building done, this makes it a lot easier to make other stuff by comparing.
There are tutes on low poly buildings etc at Shirow Project, a bunch of Lightwave guys who are making scenes from the manga by the Ghost in the Shell creator. Lightwave tutes but can be used in other packages. I can make cars and bikes pretty easy. A bike with basic textured uv map in photoshop given to 8ball could be made rad easily... So stage 2 is modeled to final detail, rough textures. Then stage 3 is to final textures.
The key will be project management.
posted by stompbox at 11/26/2004 03:28:00 am
3 Comments:
OK this forum has opened up, so I'm goign to use it as my excuse to ask totally stupid 3D questoins.
1. is a UV map an image that is kind of like a skinned person, does that makes sense. you tell the 3D program, export a UV map for this model & it gives you a 2D image that is cutout so it all wraps around nicely? if so, cool
2. After re reading this I think I have the gist of it now, but when you guys talk about game modding are you talking about what they did with HalfLife & CS. take a game engine, & make a whole new game out of it. if so, cool
3. does anyone else like beer & heavy metal, do you polish off a couple of tallies, put on Slayer & find yourself staggering around the room screaming at your pets. if so, cool
1. yes. its unpeeling the skin, but you then have to arrange it so the texture goes on smoothly. the way you unwrap and then tweak the map affects how good the texture goes on. make a good uv map and texturing will be easier and look better. If I do the uv mapping, you will have a nice map to draw on.
2. yes
3. yes
I've been throwing my brain into the whole Mod thing for a while, trying to figure out an approach that won't fuck up the attraction and cause the whole thing to be abandoned.
Mods can take a variety of forms as far as how different they are to the source material:
-Individual maps for the multiplayer component of the original.
-Modified Multiplayer Experience, i.e. additional weapons, models, engine tweaks, vehicles etc.
-Single Player 'chapters' i.e. additions to the original games story. Including scripted events, additional weapons and/or models, NPC's etc.
-Modified Single Player Experience, i.e. enhanced or completely redesigned game universe, using the engine of the original game.
The above are fairly broad categories in themselves, but I'm brainstorming so don't start throwing turds around just yet.
I am of the opinion that the first two examples, working with the Multiplayer component of the game, would primarily be useful as learning exercises in working with the game engine and code.
It is fairly easy to simply create static levels that a bunch of people run around in killing one another. I believe it would be still relatively easy to take that a step further and add new material to the same, i.e new weapons with associated models and effects, vehicles and other interactive goodies.
Testing is simple, play kill and see if the existing balance between known players skills is swayed too far from the norm, i.e. if any of you beat me with the new gun then it's obviously too powerful...
The third option, additional Single Player 'Chapters' would follow from the Multiplayer map exercise, but would include fucking around with the scripting side of the original game, and adding in new characters, models and so forth.
In essence this too shouldn't be too hard, level building is easy, level design is not, but that's what I'm hoping to start on with you lot. Building new models and importing, animating and then scripting then within the game would be the next step. Testing would start to be frustrating, but still easy for a small team.
All of the above involves taking the original game and messing with it a little to create new fun. A full fledged Mod is the level beyond these 'learning exercises' and thus something I feel should be left alone for a little while till we know what we're doing. Though ideas for one should begin about now.
So, I am intending to aim to build several multiplayer levels to start with. For me that means learning 3d tools and the capabilities of the game engine. I'll almost definately have to hit you guys for assistance. Once I've gotten a grip on that I want to move as quickly as possible into creating Single Player Chapters, which is where we should be able to pull together as a 'team' (oh the love) and start pumping shit out.
I imagine you are more interested in building models, characters and other funky things to go into the game itself with animated goodness and heaps of style. I am hoping you're also interested in storyline and level development. I have a vision of scoping and proucing a stand-alone Single Player 'Chapter' to be released to the world as a couple-of-hours playtime experience without trying to break too far from the original universe and characters. Then taking everything learnt from that and cutting sick.
So, what to you all think? Are you interested MonkeyPox? How do you want to run all of this, I am quite happy to take the overview and sort of 'manage' all the parts into one, though I don't know how that would work as yet. And finally, I think TML is going to be great as a resource for information, links and the like, but if we're going to do this we'll need an accessible filespace to work in together. Let's all suggest-like-fuck away and pull everything together asap so we can start.
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