Game characters

[Anonymous]

Hi all… haven’t post very often here though I’ve been regularly checking this forum for awhile now… anyways, I’d just like to direct you guys to a few screen grabs of some project I’ve been working on with another guy.
Here’s the linkhttp://amabilis.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9606089974/m/95110273141

some feedback would be nice :)

I find a bit strange and disappointing to see there is not much happening in Ireland on the game development side of things :( … a few years ago I thought to my self… in a few years Ireland will be doing well/very well in the game industry.. and since then there has been no evidence of being close… very surprised… I know there’s a bit of a jump in this area in colleges around Ireland at the moment but, it looks like everyone qualifying in this area will still need to travel to get work. Is there anyone out there on these forums that would be interested in setting up a project for a game demo.. get a team going… we’re we could liven up this site with stuff that applies to the title: gamedevelopers.ie

The project would not have to be that big.. maybe a 1 or 2 level demo that would show off the talent (if any, and I’m sure there is) in this country, plus it would give some of us something to enjoy working on and learn from, we may even have a composer:)Dean… hopefully inspiring others to join in.

anyways, let us know what you think of the low poly characters
Thanks

Later
James

[Anonymous]

Hey, I’d be interested. From my experience in online collaborations though, I think we should start with something really small, even mind numbingly basic, just to show "hey, we actually can work together on something" and so there’s a good chance of finishing it. Then we could asses what other things to move onto.

Also, personally, I think you should post this in General Discussion, get more people interested.

[Anonymous]

Hi Sofox… it’s great that you’re interested. Any ideas on what theme we could start to work on? Maybe a building would be a good place to start… then add a few character models to the scene as we go.

What do you prefer to work on.. modeling, animating or coding??

… and whats the best way to go about moving this thread to General Discussion??

[Anonymous]

Hey James,
Okay then, building’s a good start. We’ll need to find out which type, (school, hospital, prison, bank etc) and what it will be like (people, mood) and of course figure out what the gamer will be doing in the building.
I’d suggest something that involves interacting with the environment, but we can work that out as we go.

I’m mainly into programming, though art (2d and 3d) has always been an interest.

If you want to move this to GD, either as an admin or repost.

[Anonymous]

okay… let the fun begin :D

I think a prison sounds good… I’ll start on something tomorrow. What coding language will you be using to create the engine to run this demo with?? Creating a basic engine should be simple enough.. shouldn’t it??

I’ve got an .exe of something I was working on a few months ago… if you are interested in looking at it I could send it to you through MSN

Later
James

[Anonymous]

Great, let’s get going.

Nice choice, we’ll see how it goes. I usually program in C++ but I’ve used a lot of other languages as well. As for the game engine, building it from scratch would take a long while unless we went for ultra basic but we could just do what a lot of people do and use an existing game engine. There are a lot of free and open source engines out there so I’ll look around and see what’s best. It’ll help to know what file format you’re levels and characters will be in, in fact it’s probably best you send me a basic room (box) so I can test it out.

I’d like to see that exe, I’ll PM you my e-mail address, I don’t use MSN much but I’ll see about changing that.

[Anonymous]

I could do some modeling work in 3D max for it maybe?

[Anonymous]

Let me know if you need any:

1. Environment Textures
2. Props, Buildings, generic objects
3. Animations
4. Head & Hands / Base Characters.

We’ve alot of content for http://1944d-day.com/ and under the right conditions we have no problem with helping out community based projects.

I would certainly say start very very small. I would recommend :

http://www.nextgen-engine.net/

I did alot of backup programming for it (basically ensuring that 1944 always had an engine to fall back onto).

I found it small, fast and very easy to use. Or of course go for Ogre if you are more familiar with it.

I would advise that you stay clear of Torque as it will frustrate the progress of a community driven project. You need something that can be driven by the artists, not something that relies purely on programmers.

[Anonymous]

eDen
okay that would be great… what kind of modeling do you prefer to work on.. characters or buildings/object?
We are going for the Prison idea.. so anything that would fit with this would be great, thanks

Ronan
thanks man.. I’ll check those links out.. and yes I agree.. we should keep it small to start and see where it takes us… plus if things started to grow we would need a host to allow files and content to be shared.. though msn isn’t to bad for sharing stuff.

Later
James

[Anonymous]

okay.. if any body has any ideas on the design of this level please post your idea here in this thread.. remember to keep it small.. we can go for anything with this prison..

something completely different from what we’ve seen.. modern, futuristic, fantasy or ancient.. what ever.. use your imagination.

For now just post up some ideas and or screen shots of work in progress..

sofox is looking into sdks for running this small project in. It doesn’t have to have all the bells and whistles of a pro game.. just a level/building based around a prison. A few characters, a base model can even be modified for different identities. the building/level will need some extras/assets.. furniture for example. If/when the content is created there may even be a simple objective for the player :D

By the way.. this can be done at your own pace.. there is no dead lines, no pressure:) Remember ideas and preparation will make the task a lot easier!

Later,
James

[Anonymous]

I’d rather do environment and object modeling, still a bit rusty on my characters!

[Anonymous]

helooo there – any news or progress here??

im quite interested in what comes out of this (cos im pretty fond of such a small projects :) so good luck guys

keep us posted – it’s the best motivation you’ll probably get :)

c ya

[Anonymous]

I’ve got some ideas I’ve been thinking on.
James and I had the prison idea, and figured the idea of sending yourself to prison in order to break somebody else out (no, he hadn’t heard of Prison Break).
Anyway, I’ve taken that and merged it with another idea I had from a while back:
So you’re in the prison cell, and suddenly a HUD shows up right infront of your face and tells you that it’s a cerebral implanted computer that is booting up from a timed countdown. (It was turned off to avoid detection on entering the prison). On booting up, it restates your objective and engages a wireless interface that allows you to "hack" electronic locks, computer systems and cameras (naturally starting first with the lock on your cell door).
You can hack CCTV cameras to edit you out of their footage and hack the central system or the prison network for finding inmates, getting maps, of the area, lock security guards in bathrooms etc.
One conceptual idea is that there are robotic patrolmen you can "hijack" and take control of, possibly making them do your bidding.

It’s best to keep it simple for the time being, so for now, maybe hack cell lock, hack camera to keep from being detected, hack terminal for map and find where you should be going, avoid security guard or two (possibly by using hacked cameras to find out where they are), find the guy (or gal) you need to break out, find a way to escape.

Some more needs to be thought out. Any further ideas.

[Anonymous]

Any update on this lads? Did you ever get anything started?

[Anonymous]

Hey Max.. yes… we have started working on the idea above.. sofox and I are just going true some test with the engine we’ve chosen to do this project.. I’ve built the main shell of the prison.. a screen shot should be up soon :) There is no textures yet as some part may change a little before we finish the first tests. I’ve also started on one of the characters and should/hopefully have it close to finished in a couple of days..

If there is still anyone interested in creating content for this project.. there are things like beds, sinks, toilets.. etc to be modeled… menus/UI .. that sort of stuff :D we could get them for free someplace… but it would be best to keep the creative content new.. modeled by people specifically for this project, similar to a competition say.. the prize/reward would be to see it complete :D

.. and more ideas… if any one’s got any more ideas based on the above mentioned pitch from sofox it would be great to hear them.

[Anonymous]

here’s where I’m at at the mo.. so far it weights in at around 7,200 polys
I’ll be reducing this when the form is complete… your comments are more than welcome :)

[Anonymous]

The shoulder blades/scapula is too flat in the back, the shoulder muscle/deltoid also need more defining and reshaping, and the trapezius Also needs to be shown more, all in all the biggest flaw is the upper back area from the scapula up.

Just images that might help

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the feed back subedei.. I’m glad you pointed out those areas on the model that didn’t look right.. I have rushed some parts and I haven’t really refined the shoulder area yet till I get to the arms, making the arm pit a little easier to shape. Thanks for taking the time to show me the troubled areas. I’ll be sure to give them attention. Those references will help too :)

I’ll be posting more updates tomorrow sometime..

[Anonymous]

Looking good

[Anonymous]

Thanks kyotokid.. here’s another update.. legs in place and moving onto the arms. I’ve tweaked a little too, which I’ll be doing as the model forms.. trying to get the proportions right and in place first.. I’ll be reducing the poly count when finished so I may not go to mad on the muscles.. we’ll see. Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

Just a warning the nipples are out of place.

[Anonymous]

I’ve had a look at the placement of the nipples.. and they are too high and need to be slightly slanted outwards… I’ll try and fix this before the next update.. thanks subedei.

[Anonymous]

A small update… I finally finished the hands, there was alot of fiddling around to model these, :D .. feet next and I will have to give him some eyes, gums, teeth and tongue. Hopefully have another update tomorrow.

[Anonymous]

Looking better, cant really see that back area so could you post a closer view of that? The nipples are still wrong to me, normally they are further out. As well can you give front and back view shots of the legs as it is hard to tell from the angel if they are right, tho they look very good. The biggest flaw seems to be the hands, the fingers are way too long and fat esp the thumb and middle finger. From this angle the upper arm looks a short or the lower arm too long, and both the upper and lower arm look like they could do with some work. Apologies if I am being too critical but I always prefer a solid critique over a muted one. But its good anyway the lower body looks spot on.

[Anonymous]

Evening,

What engine have you decided on? I’d like to help out with some programming if you need it.

[Anonymous]

hey, anthony.. of coarse you can help.. we have settled on using the irrlicht engine, here’s the link http://irrlicht.sourceforge.net/

sofox has been testing things out so if you need to find out whats being done you could maybe drop him an e-mail.

[Anonymous]

okay… feet added..haven’t had much time to work on this guy lately.. but here’s the finished model… there’s a few areas where I’ld like to tweek.. but I’ll leave it at this for now.. moving onto the clothing next…

[Anonymous]

Nice result, esp like the detail that went into the fingers and toes. I like the stomach region as well, there are places that could use with a touchup but arent there always.

[Anonymous]

I think the character is a bit odd, looks like the head belongs to a very old chinese guy while the body belongs to someone fit and muscular.

Also the wrists look a bit thick

my 2 cents.

[Anonymous]

Phil… yes… I was thinking that too myself… there’s a bit to do on the head to be honest.. I need to give the eyes and brow a work over….. but I’ll definitly try to get him looking younger, thanks for the feedback 8)

[Author]

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