Creating a map

juli · Post by **juli** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 5:12 am

Hello

Thank everybody for being so helpful, my game endeavor is coming alone rather well,

but i have more questions,,,

, now that I can create a character, animation, and texture, how do I create the world, i mean a really really big world, like bigger than WOW world.

I have checked out several map editors, but I am unsure about their capability. It seems to me that they can create a room, a level, but I'm confused about how they create the out doors? I want to create a world just like World of Warcraft, do you know what program they used?

is there a free map editor that is capable of creating a world like that?

Once again, thank you for your help, i will spent the rest of my life creating this game if that's how long it will take

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 5:52 am

i will spent the rest of my life creating this game if that's how long it will take

well then hurry, because this will take at least 5 of your lifes

see you!

btw: its not possible with irrlicht (even if you can create "maps" that big, it would run painfully slow ... ever thought about how much objects/processing has to be done for a world bigger than WoW ?)

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 1:37 pm

If you want a world that big, you'd better learn about portals first...

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 3:22 pm

does the octreeSceneNode prevents a big map to be slowly render?
if so, then it won't be a problem having a very very big big map, doesn't it?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 3:33 pm

no it doesnt. maybe gamedev.net has some articles about large maps.

pfo · Post by **pfo** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 8:36 pm

Rendering a large map is difficult, period. First there's the problem of designing all the content, then there's the problem of getting it all to render in a decent ammount of time. You should design small elements of your large world at a time, focus on a certain task, set a goal and work towards it.

juli · Post by **juli** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 5:23 am

Let me restate my question again, how did Wow generate the outside scenes?

I know how to do it in blender, I would create a floor and covered it by a sphere, but i'm not sure if there is a better way.

I have checked out different free map editors, in your professional opinions, what's the best free map editor that is capable of creating outdoor scenes.

I am assuming that the only way for large maps is by, creating portals where players would have to reload,

In terms of speed, by the time I finish this project, the cpu speed will be fast enough, 5 Life times is a long time from now.

Currently i have a team of 10 people 2 artists, 4 C++programmers , 2 level developer, 2 Character developer,

none of us have game experience, but we are all crazy enough to do it, and dumb enough to never quit.

so if it would take 5 life times, and there are 10 of us, i guess it would take 1/2 for each of us. I better gather more people.

JP · Post by JP » Tue Jan 24, 2006 9:27 am

If you've got that many people, and are willing to spend the rest of your life making this game, wouldn't it make sense to invest in a better engine than Irrlicht? Irrlicht's great if you're working low scale i should think, maybe it's ok for larger scale things too, but there are many better engines out there that you can pay for. You could even use the Quake 3 engine as that's available now. Just a thought, stick in a bit of money and get out a better product?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 9:40 am

i don't think JP answered the question!
the question is 'what software should i use in order to create (big) outdoors levels"

i'm interested too, even if i want to create small (outdoors and indoors) levels.

i'm so bad at map and character design that i'm willing such a software.

So, do you know such a sotware that can export to some format that irrlicht can import?

by the way, i didn't understand why you wants such a software whereas you have 2 level developpers on your teams.

(and i'm looking for characters and map designers -i don't have anyone now, that's why i'm interested by such a software-, but i'll repeat this announcement once my game basis are complete)

JP · Post by JP » Tue Jan 24, 2006 8:05 pm

You're right i didn't answer the question, i know nothing about creating levels and models in programs!

pfo · Post by **pfo** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 8:27 pm

I have no idea how WoW generated their outdoor scenes, but I would guess that the terrain is a heightmap. They probably wrote the tool that makes the heightmaps so it could integrate with their engine. All of the buildings were probably made in 3dsmax or maya, or some other high-end modelling package, as well as the characters. Other things like trees and grass might be modelled too, or generated in code. NOTE: just because the big boys use expensive tools doesn't mean you have to either, or that these give you some inherent advantage. I use Milkshape and DeleD for modelling, it can't really get any simpler, and my results are good enough for me. Plus the learning curve on those programs is much lower.

dawasw · Post by **dawasw** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 8:57 pm

Yeah pfo, I agree with you.
Milkshape and DeleD are great tools to design your own models and levels.

Also WoW uses Zones as 'portals'. It is not that easy to create zone system yourself, but with such group you manage it will be a matter of time.

juli · Post by **juli** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 2:28 am

I want the entire project to be built on opensource products to show the big boys that opensource is just as capable.

Does anybody know how, or if irrlicht can port in height maps? I think it ports .map file?

I have 2 level developers, one works with software, the other just plays a lot of games

T_Aubuchon · Post by **T_Aubuchon** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 2:57 am

juli wrote:I want the entire project to be built on opensource products to show the big boys that opensource is just as capable.

Does anybody know how, or if irrlicht can port in height maps? I think it ports .map file?

I have 2 level developers, one works with software, the other just plays a lot of games

In my searches across the internet for terrain editors etc, I have found serveral that are free and very portable into irrlicht.
many many people say that irrlicht is uncapable of this or that and that it should only be used for lower end projects etc. but what these people dont seem to realize is irrlicht is VERY programmable and you can change anything you want and add any feature you think it should have.

I have used irrlicht for many years now and have changed probably 80% of the original code to fit my needs and desires.

I have created my own level editor, terrain editor, character editer etc. I used code from other programs and imported and tweaked it to make it work for irrlicht. anyhow let me get to the point.

irrlicht can do what ever you want it to do as long as you take the time to do it.

I will not freely give out what terrain editors/source code etc I found if you would like to get more information about these tools e-mail me.

T_Aubuchon@hotmail.com

if I decide you are a true and worthy programmer that has the dedication to actualy make a game i wil then and only then share my secrets

Irrlicht Engine

Creating a map

Creating a map

Thank you for all the replied

I guess this means nobody knows

Re: I guess this means nobody knows