3d Graphics Demo

[traylorpark]

Its been about a year and a half ... for my own sake, I think I just wanna put a lid on this thread ... I never finished it because I learned the way I was approaching it was all wrong. I felt it would be better if I moved onto something else.

So I have been lurking here on the GP32X forums for a very long time, eagerly awaiting any new bit of information that trickles down through the tubes.

The philosophy behind the Open Pandora project really excites me. I advocate everything it stands for and imagine that this little handheld will be an amalgam of everything that is right with the world.

I hope this platform sees great success (I am sure most everybody here does as well). As a degree carrying, Blender using, 3D artist and animator, I want to somehow contribute to that success.

As nobody has received any final Pandora units, I am not sure if this is premature, but I was wondering if there would be any value in creating 3D assets and scenes with the purpose of testing 3D engines and Pandora hardware, while simultaneously showing off some pretty visuals that may help in spreading interest.

One of the attractions of the Pandora hardware is how powerful is, and I am sure that everyone would agree that the sooner we can get it showing something attractive the better. My goal would not be to create a full blown game, just a pretty graphics demo/3D scene, custom built to the Pandora’s specifications to help developers tune their 3D engines and maybe bring some more attention to the platform. Graphics would be available for anybody to use, tweak, play with, whatever!

I’d also learn something from the process of developing graphics for an actual platform

Thoughts? Interest? Are there already a ton of other 3D artists here and this project is just redundant? I’m happy to work with others!

You can spot some of my work here: <a href="http://www.traylorpark.com" target="_blank">www.traylorpark.com</a>

 

[Wegg]

I do 3D animation for a living. I have been itching to get my hands on the Pandora for a while as my Zodiac has started acting up and I have grown quite fond of my PDA/Game machine being one unit I can slip into my pocket.

I think your idea is great. A tech demo that shows off the 3D capabilities of the Pandora. From what I have deduced so far, the irrlicht engine will probably be the first out of the gate. One of the developers is working away at getting it ready for the Pandora. http://irrlicht.sourceforge.net/

I haven't had a moment to spare on exploring what it can do but if you want to get the ball rolling, maybe come up with some concepts then I'd love to help out where I can.

 

[fusion_power]

I'm always impressed what talented people can do with some polygons. I still fight more with Blender than I actualy work with Blender. I'm glad that I can manage some static 3D objects. But Animation or realistic Surfaces, lifeforms of every shape are faraway of my skills. My 3D Dream-Girl Model has to wait until my 3D building skills are more advanced.

Uh, I like the Idea of a 3D Graphic Demo. There are good ones for the GP2X but like nearly every impressive Demo, there will never a game growing up from it. maybe someone here can make a nice and INTERACTIVE 3D Demo? Maybe a little Engine to walk around? The Winter scene onto traylorparks Homepage looks interesting enough to make a trip through the snow, maybe some little interaction here and there...what's behind the next hill? A Snowbunny or a Reindeer...no, not to shoot at it...yet....

Sounds boring but for a Demo it would be cool enough (yes, because it's Winter ^_^ ). I also had a Jungle-Setting in Mind, not a real game but you could walk around and search for sunken Temples, Treasures, ancient ruins.... the Map could be random-generated for more exploring-fun...maybe....

Uh... sorry.... sometimes I just daydream :lol: ...and I watch to many TV Documentations ^_^

 

[satacoy]

>> You can spot some of my work here: www.traylorpark.com

Very impressive stuff!

I think there's a typo toward the end of the demo reel. Your e-mail address appears as peter@trayorpark.com.

 

[traylorpark]

satacoy - thanks for looking! Yeah, that typo has been brought to my attention. Thankfully, I have not sent this to anybody yet. It should be fixed tonight.

fusion-power - I understand that demos don't always turn into games, and honestly, that is cool by me. If I get anywhere with this project, I would like to then continue on working on other projects for the Pandora, and be all the more experienced going into them. I am a little worried that people are going to jump in with plans for the next Epic RPG without having any concept of where they should aim themselves graphically.

Wegg - GAH :blink: I just took a look at the links in your signature... I'll probably be coming to you for advice!

I'll be more than happy to start this ball rolling. But before I jump into this, I would like some thoughts from engine developers: If I/we create assets and a scene and provide them as tools for anybody to use (and provide support for said assets should things need changing) will your goals benefit? If you answer yes, then what would you like the environment to focus on or accomplish (indoor, outdoor, mix, etc). If you answer hell yes, let us go out and get a beer to celebrate our unbridled enthusiasm!

 

[kloplop321]

@ Wegg: interesting, a bit more gory than I would like, but yeah.

 

[yosh64]

hey

Well I have made an exporter to my own model/skeleton/animation formats for Blender, used in my 3d game/graphics lib. Although my game/graphics lib doesn't support normal maps atm, but if you make use of normals maps it shouldn't be hard for me to implement them, I've looked into such things before and I have even made a function to generate tangent space tangents and bitangents . Anyhows I won't put my hand up for anything just yet, just started work on another project .

Personally I like Blender, I mostly do character modelling myself .

BTW, I think the DVD Menu Compilation animation is pretty cool, I like ya snow scene and such also .

cyas

 

[traylorpark]

yosh64 - That exporter sounds very versatile! Its my understanding that it is a bit easier to write exporters for Blender, is this true? I'm betting that Pythons integration helps out.

While I do not have a load of practical experience making normal maps, that is one area I would like to be more knowledgable. That also raises a question, if it is practical to use normal maps on the Pandora hardware? Will the benefits justify the hit to frame rate? Thankfully, Blender has some useful baking tools that would help achieve the same level of detail if the lights remain static. If the scene an its lights can be planned in advance, you can evaluate what kind of textures, geometry and shaders are needed to be effective.

This brings me to another question, is there a past console that had similar performance specs to the Pandora? I read somewhere that the Pandora could approach the visual level of the first XBOX. I wonder about that <_< I was considering it to be closer to a Dreamcast in terms of ability. I am sure this topic has been hacked to pieces in other places, I'll go digging.

kloplop321 - Did I miss something? I'm confused by you.

 

[JayFoxRox]

I m also working on a 3D Game which should be ready only a few days after shipping. I will release the engine source with it, but not the whole games source..

 

[fusion_power]

I am a little worried that people are going to jump in with plans for the next Epic RPG without having any concept of where they should aim themselves graphically.

Who mentioned a RPG? I speculated just about a little graphic Demo, nothing big, one-hour-work for pro's or so.

 

[kloplop321]

kloplop321 - Did I miss something? I'm confused by you.

was talking about that game (http://irrlicht.sourceforge.net/)

 

[dentrado]

kloplop321 - Did I miss something? I'm confused by you.

was talking about that game (http://irrlicht.sourceforge.net/)


It's not a game, it's a 3D engine.

 

[WhereMyArm]

I would also be interested in helping provide assets for a 3D demo. I use Lightwave, but I can probably (hopefully) export to whatever's needed either in LW or going LW to Blender, if that's the way we're going.

 

[Creature XL]

Looks like Irrlicht cannot be used. It has no ARM support neither has it OPEN GL ES support.

However, it seems lik ewe will get some 3d-engines, as mentioned above

 

[Ethan]

As far as is know it's about to be ported?
See this thread in the irrlicht forum:

http://irrlicht.sourceforge.net/phpBB2/vie...&highlight=

 

[Downsider]

Looks like Irrlicht cannot be used. It has no ARM support neither has it OPEN GL ES support.

However, it seems lik ewe will get some 3d-engines, as mentioned above



Uhm, I believe the point of porting it is to add OGL ES 2.0 support...

 

[traylorpark]

Okay, so this is where I am starting from.
For a location, I picked contemporary, Japan with a mix of city and rural (it exists).
I fought myself on this decision because Japan is kinda cliché, however I am going to be traveling to Osaka in two days, and staying there for 3 weeks. I guess I couldn't ask for a better reference opportunity.

For a hair thin plot, the player(?) is attempting to find their bike. I have planned a touch of goofy fantasy (and reward for exploring)... the bike is being eaten by a large, hairy Japanese Demon (who really does nothing beyond just chew on it). The demon is placed in a side alley, so the player has to do a tiny bit of looking.

Those are the only elements that are reminiscent of an actual game, because that is not the purpose of this demo. I want to manufacture a collection of environments incorporating varied ambiences and themes that test the Pandora hardware, 3D engines, and our ability as artists to construct it.

Following are two example layouts, one showing the entire scene and the other focusing on the actually accessible areas. Presentation is anticipated to be 1st person.

Hopefully you can visualize how the different locations provide varied, interesting environments.

The apartment living room features soft indirect lighting, creating a cozy space, decorated with typical Japanese apartment stuff (low heated table, small TV etc).

The apartment hallway is old, made of dark wood and kinda drafty. It is poorly lit and but finds stark contrast to the bright sunlight coming in through the windows. It is storage to shoes (left outside the apartment), umbrellas, rakes and other odd tools.

Just outside the apartment, the street is narrow and tightly packed with buildings and other utilities. There is a view over some rice fields and opposing structures and finally looming mountains in the distance.

A small, single care passenger train occasionally crosses the street causing lights and bells to activate. A bar also falls across the street, blocking access across the tracks as the train makes its way up into the mountains.

In the opposite direction, the street goes into a neighborhood shopping district, marked with a garish arch and lights. The sunlight is mostly blocked out and the street is lit more by fluorescent bulbs. Electric wires protrude from every possible orifice.

Finally, behind the apartment is a narrow back alley. Poorly kept and overgrown with grass on the sides. Back doors to other buildings are visible. There the large, hairy and goofy Japanese demon is content to sit and eat your lost bicycle.

WhereMyArm - Unless an engine author requests otherwise, the final output will be from Blender. I am positive Lightwave can export something (OBJ) that is Blender friendly.

Using the latest versions of Blender will allow rapid prototyping of the realtime 3D environments by using Blender's game engine to test player interaction and previewing OpenGL materials in Blender's regular 3D window. Before anybody yells out that the Pandora hardware is incapable of this level of detail, understand that part of the fun as artists is figuring out ways to fake features in the environment.

Thats the idea!
Thanks for reading to the end here!
Thoughts?

 

[Downsider]

Sounds cool.

I didn't read the whole thing, but I did look at the pictures and where the bike-eating demon was. Why don't you make it a little more linear, so that way the player has a chance to see every environment without throwing up the demo again?

 

[cb88]

@traylorpark the following is a biased rant brazil also has the contrast between city and rural... rich/ poor (99% poor 1% rich) ... and also the largest Japanese population outside of japan

also Brazil tends to have enough water pollution to support a plot with a mutated monster XD oh... and every body has a bicycle/motorcycle and the tight roads and crazy driving habits (worst drivers in the world according to discovery channel) would make it ideal for a bicycle chase...

a rather calm brazilian street http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Foz_do_...u_av_Brasil.jpg
notice the charateristic splotches of concrete on the roads (they mix the concrete/mortar on the street)

also... have waterfalls been done in demos before? like this one 3x more water than niagra falls http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iguassu_Falls

also what kind of sound is going with this demo?

 

[Yamara]

@traylorpark the following is a biased rant brazil also has the contrast between city and rural... rich/ poor (99% poor 1% rich) ... and also the largest Japanese population outside of japan [...]
Also, Brazil has some fantastic tiling on most of their sidwalks. Often the parks in the city are more like barely contained jungles, which could give you nice variety between the rigid lines of buildings and the overflowing jungle greenery. (Specifically, I'm thinking of Campinas, as I've only been to southern Brazil.)

Mmm. Pizza.