ALONE.....

Yodhe · Post by **Yodhe** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:05 am

Is my graphical adventure story, about a small household service droid, who is left behind in a post apocalyptic world, when its creator dies (who happened also to be the last human left alive in the universe).

It is meant to be interactive fiction in the ethos of the original text adventures, rather than rogue genre, although there are elements of growth and development in the game, interms of upgrading your own instructions, and abilities, both through new technology and learning new skills. However the emphasis is not in killing things, but of interactive play in a well crafted and sculptured environment. Of learning how to interact with one's environment on a journey of self-discovery, but mostly importantly it should be fun, and rewarding to play, but not through looting the freshly dead, and thieving every possible item in sight.

I am not looking for anyone to work with me, as it is my vision, and about producing something of enjoyment and beauty for myself, and my immediate loved ones.
However what I am looking for is a mutual beneficial back-scratching process. My talents/experience are as a 3D modeller, with only intermediate skills in programming (music/sound is not an issue as I have plenty of people I know in the industry).
What I am looking for is a person(s)/group/collective/company etc who are experienced in IrrLicht, and are willing to help me learn the basics, and put up with some very stupid questions, in return I will make 3D models for their projects. I am experienced with Pascal/C school of programming but only recently have started the move to C++OOP, which is why I am not finding IrrLicht the easiest thing in the world to understand.

You can see examples of my work (both 3D and programming) at
http://www.onemananimation.com, as well my CGI video work.

I will post the basic main character models in the next few days, as
well as the work in progress of the first level.

*addendum*
As promised here is the Version 1.0 of Droid, 2000 Polygon/triangles
version.

Here is the link to "Work In Progress" site of the game.
http://www.onemananimation.com/ALONE/index.html[/img]

JP · Post by JP » Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:12 am

Sounds like an interesting idea, hope you manage to complete it!

Basically this forum is all you need, the people here are very willing to help people out when they're struggling with Irrlicht (so long as they're being sensible and have their priorities in order of course

). So I imagine you'll be able to manage without needing an individual to teach you, rather you can just post your problem as you come across them and use the tutorials to learn and use the search function of the forum to try and find the answers to your questions which may have been asked and answered before.

Sorry to anyone who was hoping to take advantage of free modelling

Though i suppose if you had someone to work closely with then it might be easier to learn than by asking questions on the forum and waiting for answers so if someone's able to offer such close help then that would no doubt be useful!

rogerborg · Post by **rogerborg** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:55 am

Welcome to the forum. I like this announcement; it's well thought through, not hugely over-ambitious, and has a gentle charm.

We (yes, even me) actually like answering questions. The more specific your question, the better the answer that you'll get. I'd suggest that you drop by the IRC channel as well, as you can get interactive help on there.

As far as suggestions go, I'd recommend that the first thing that you do is get a scripting language integrated, and use that for the bulk of your game logic. Lua or GameMonkey are both good choices; GameMonkey looks more like C, so may be a better fit for your current skillset.

Yodhe · Post by **Yodhe** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 11:31 am

Okay I will add LUA to the list of things that I need to learn as well.
(The proximity of syntax to C doesn't bother me particularly, as I don't want to become stuck in a rut. Also I have heard repeated talk of LUA, and this is the first time I have heard of GameMonkey. I would rather learn something that has had the addition of a wider scope of application. I still dream one day of being noticed, and offered a job for all the hard work I do. Though ten years down the line, I have learnt to please myself foremost, rather than hang on others coat-tails for tidbits from the table, to mix my metaphors.).

Thanks for the hints, tips and advice so far, they have proved insightful, and educative.

I think for certain I will complete the game, or at least the first chapter. ALONE.home. More of a concern is whether I can do justice to the images and thoughts I have in my head of how it should look, feel and play.
If it makes you feel like you are reading a good book then I will achieved my ambition, though some kudos and respect from people would be nice too.

Virion · Post by **Virion** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 1:56 pm

This would be a nice project... and you got a nice signature too.

Yodhe · Post by **Yodhe** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 4:44 pm

This is a nice project, although I would prefer the adjective "beautiful", as it is more apt.

Monochrome · Post by **Monochrome** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 6:34 pm

its great that youre are reviving the graphical adventure genre. i used to love games like that and i wish you the best luck.

Yodhe · Post by **Yodhe** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 2:57 pm

And here is some of the First Chapter Environment starting to be modelled.

You can see the memorial temple where you start, and the cottage at the base of "arm".

So far I have used 3,000 polygons. Only 7,000 more to go.
It is a single solid mesh for your information.

The cottage from behind, showing the passage leading into the mountain and the rest of the Chapter One environment, as well as the small veranda area.

The Chapter One Environment including mountain now at approx 5,000 polygons.

fmx · Post by **fmx** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 7:19 pm

wow, you've done a fantastic job on this so far. Its looking really promising.
Keep up the great work and good luck!

vermeer · Post by **vermeer** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 7:32 pm

very curious...

Halifax · Post by **Halifax** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 7:32 pm

Wow very nice style, and this project seems very promising. I can't wait for this to be finished.

vermeer · Post by **vermeer** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 7:42 pm

Indeed, very interesting. The story, the idea of that scenery and its technical making, your site, and the story/twists that seem to be behind this game.

I cannot(besides I have no time lately) help you with programming tips, as I am an artist, but is quite refreshing to see a project like this from time to time.

vermeer · Post by **vermeer** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 7:43 pm

Actually, I think he'll enjoy so much the everyday making of it, as its completion.

JPulham · Post by **JPulham** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 2:04 pm

I really like the screenies, the style is slightly surreal/cartoon... I like

Yodhe · Post by **Yodhe** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 2:29 pm

Beware mind......

Those images are "renders"*, and not the models as in IrrLicht, and they are without any proper texturing on them yet.

How it will "actually" look is another design issue entirely, that is a case of being worked out as I discover what is and isn't possible with IrrLicht, and the available tools/code/extensions etc. The nice shadows in the renders are done with global illumination, and I don't think that IrrLicht can do that to any degree in real-time unfortunately. (However if people would like to correct me, and show how it is done adequately then be my guest.)

I kind of like the idea of keep a cartoony style, or rather than cartoon, which reminds me of "cel shading"; I think a soft child-like story book feel would be appropriate. Maybe some sort of gaussian blur of the final frame would work? Whether this is possible will remain to be seen.

And finally, thank you for all your comments and support, as they are the bread and water/sustainance that keeps me going against all the seeming insurrmountable odds of actually producing a "finished" product.

*fyi - 3DS scanline.