newbie question!!!

[Anonymous]

Hey im new to game development!!! long time visitor to this site but this is my first post :wink:
Im working on a basic fps style game.
the idea is that the user will be able to walk around a building and interact with stuff ie open doors etc. just basic stuff no guns or shooting just yet!!
I want to build it from the ground up and add shooting functionality as i go.

So far i have built a building in 3ds max and now im not sure where to go?
I know i need to export it but to were c++, c#??
how do i get my level into a standalone program??
basically i havent a clue were to go from here! i know i must export it as a vrml file but to were? and whats the procedure for setting up a first person perspective.
Im a intermediate coder in c++,c# so i think if i can be given some good advice i should be able to get it up and running pretty quickly.

Sorry about the length of this, as i said im a newbie but long time visitor to this site. Also i thing this thread could help others trying to build there own fps!! :D
thanks
skelly

[Anonymous]

You could use a game engine to view the building, interact with it etc, but u seem to want to build your own engine in c++??? Thats a pretty big task. I think you should get an open source engine and then you can easly import the model into it, then you can modify the engine as you wish with your programming abilities.

Here is a good place to start looking for game engines
http://www.devmaster.net/engines/

[Anonymous]

thanks for the reply!
so thats what a game engine is for!!!! sorry im a total newbie to game development!!
ya i dont think i want to code my own engine, il probably be at it for months! but if i did how long would it take?
that link is great thanks, i will have a good look at some c++/c# engines!

can anyone recommend a good open source 3d engine?

[Anonymous]

I think you estimation of months to develop your own engine is about right.

I`ve used the torque engine and i`d def recommend it but its not free it cost $100. http://www.devmaster.net/engines/engine_details.php?id=3

If thats too far out of your budget i`d have a look at the Irrlicht engine. I`ve never used it but I had a good look at it last year but I went for the Torque engine instead. http://www.devmaster.net/engines/engine_details.php?id=4

I`ve heard good things about Ogre too buts its only a rendering engine. It doesnt have any physics or network support built in so I dont know if it would suit your needs. http://www.devmaster.net/engines/engine_details.php?id=2

[Anonymous]

If if you use a 3rd party engine, I think your taking too big a leap for your first step. While it can take a decent amount of time to write a fully functional games engine, I think that writing a FPS shooter for your first project is a little ambitious even if you are going to be using someone else’s engine.

Why not try to get a decent grasp of the basics first before you go about trying out 3rd party engines. In OpenGL (and I’m sure DirectX) a polygon/triangle can be displayed in a couple of lines of code. A model is simply a mesh of triangles. There are plenty of C++ libraries on the net for loading a 3DS file. Start simple and keep building on your newly found knowledge. Start by trying to display a simple polygon, then maybe a cube; then rotate the cube. After that, try loading in a 3DS model and display it. Then add lighting. After that, start building your own world!!! You might not end up with a ground breaking engine, but at least you’ll know how to create a 3D world and move around in it. It’s not that difficult provided you understand the basics well and if you don’t understand the basics well, then your going to struggle with anyone’s 3D engine.

If your stuck for a book try "3D Math Primer for Graphics and Game Development" ISBN: 1556229119. It covers the basics well. It’s not aligned to OpenGL or DirectX, but there’s plenty on the net for beginners in those areas.

Hope that helps.

[Anonymous]

Yeah I agree, diving straight into an off-the-shelf engine is too big a first step, you’ll only end up confused and dispirited. Follow jayd’s advice – start small and go on from there, you’ll have a much better chance of eventually being able to do what you want to do.

[Anonymous]

You might be better trying to get your models into an existing game as a mod first – its fairly easy to import your models into games such as quake 3 or half life. Doing this means you have little to no software development overheads, and it should give you an idea of what needs to be done for a bigger project.

Dave

[Anonymous]

You were saying you have to export as a VRML file, any reason in particular for this? If you feel slightly more ambitious you could get the Panda Exporter for Max http://www.andytather.co.uk/Panda/directxmax.aspx and export to the .x format. The .x format can then be loaded up into a DirectX scene. There are plenty of tutorials online on how to setup a scene in DirectX with plenty of sample source code and loading of models is fairly straight forward. After you’ve done this the rest is just a case of moving stuff around, putting more models in and getting the game logic sorted.

Had always intended in posting some sites I’ve used for games, may as well do here

Here are some good sites for DirectX tutorials

http://www.thehavok.scene.org/scene/32bits/modules.php?name=Content&pa=list_pages_categories&cid=4
http://www.two-kings.de/tutorials
http://www.ultimategameprogramming.com/demoDownload.php?category=DirectX&page=1
http://www.toymaker.info/Games/index.html
http://nexe.gamedev.net/directKnowledge/default.asp?p=Welcome

Some helpful more advanced articles
http://www.flipcode.com/articles/index.shtml
http://www.geometrictools.com/Documentation/Documentation.html
http://www.devmaster.net/articles.php
http://www.technomagi.com/links/gamedev.html

If you don’t fancy making your own models you can find loads between these sites
http://www.turbosquid.com/Search/Index.cfm/FuseAction/ProcessSmartSearch/intMediaType/2/stgType/Free
http://www.3dkingdom.org/

Texture libraries
Loads and load here http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/01/02/where-can-i-find-textures-and-background-images/
http://www.filterforge.com/filters/
Some excellent skyboxes
http://www.hazelwhorley.com/textures.html

Was just thinking if there was a useful links section on the site?Could be handy for beginners if there was a area with links to tutorials etc that people could submit.

Ed

[Anonymous]

http://www.gamedev.net has all you need..

[Anonymous]

I disagree, some of the articles and tutorials there are very out of date. DirectX 7/8 DirectDraw tutorials still there like.

GameDev is great though for helping with most problems

[Anonymous]

It sounds like you’re more of a level designer / 3d modeller, than a programmer ( it’s tough to try to do both things at once ).

If you’re not particularly bothered about using another 3D modeller, have a look at this…

http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=85219&highlight=FPS+Template

[Anonymous]

When I used the Torque engine getting the models was no problem. It was as simple as press P but it was still easy. Just put them in the proper directory in the proper format, run the engine and you could then select the available models from a list then just drag them to where you want them

[Anonymous]

Been playing around with that blender file Mal kindly provided the link for. Gotta say can’t think of an easier option. Build it, play it, whats not to like. :D
Just import your models from max to blender if have allot of work done.

Now you just have to impress us with your unique approach to fps’s that will make your game the next half life.
I did a third person game which also had a fps view a good few years back and there are some very experienced people on these boards so be sure to ask questions if you get stuck.

[Anonymous]

hey thanks for all the replies so far!!!
in gonna go with the irrlicht engine but first have a crash course in directx.
I have built a few worlds in vrml so far but that is pretty basic.
my coding is pretty ok c++/c# and a bit of java so hopefully i should be able to cope.
I did write a small program in java3d which involved a few planets ie, spheres with planet textures wrapped to them. The user could move around aswell. So hopefully this will help me grasp the scenegraph etc.

Has anyone here worked with 3ds max and the irrlicht engine together?
Or basically any other advice about these?
i want to try and understand whats goin on cause anything else would just be a waste of time.

Also if some one can make a sticky about this stuff then that would be great for other newbie gamedevelopers!
i intend putting up a tutorial of what i did when im finished to help others out

thanks again!!!

[Author]

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