GP2X Possible Game Needs Developers

[timbobsteve]

Hi all,

I saw recently that Squidge has had some major progress porting quake to GP2X and this got me thinking heavily about starting a project using his modified engine on GP2X.

I have been interested in developing something for the GP2X since I heard about it. So much so that I went and bought 3 books on C++ programming in an effort to learn about game programming (.... harder than I though )

So when I saw the news of Quake engine on GP2X I was very happy, as I have, in the past been involved in 3 mod projects based on ID engines (2 on Quake1 and 1 on Doom 3)... so I thought this way would be much easier than coding my own (sub-standard) engine.

Just wondering if anyone out there is interested in jumping onboard to make a full game using Squidges' / ID's engine.

???

Let me know...

If anyone is really REALLY interested, you can contact me directly on timbobsteve@gmail.com.

Thanks all.

(1st post !!!!)

 

[craigix]

Got a link to your previous work with the engine?

 

[timbobsteve]

I can only give examples of my work on Doom 3. All my quake 1 stuff has gone down the drain...

I was part of the Last Man Standing Mod for Doom 3, in the early days. I was primarily a mapper, but I did some basic level scripting and game design concepts. I also scripted the menu system and did alot of the menu and poster graphics in the initial releases (may be different seing as how there has I was on board for beta 0.1 and 0.2 and now they are releasing v2.0 )

I released a couple of maps with the 1st 2 major release (Beta 1 and 2) before I had to give it up due to work comitments.

I was responsible for the maps:

Trapped
Locked-In
Hanager Incursion

You will probably find screens at http://lms.d3files.com

As I mentioned before, alot of my time since then has been spent learning to code... unfortunately I was learning a language that is of little use to a game coder ( .NET C# )..... I have spent the last 2 months trying to convert my basic C# knowledge into C++... it is coming slowly... but I am getting there

Anyways, if you have any other questions for me I would be more than happy to answer them.

One thing I am qurious of, is being able to change the quake palette. I dislike the standard quake palette. I will look into this... might be simple...

Bye for now.

Timbobsteve

 

[Julius]

Depending on what type game you are planning to do (I don't think pure first person shooters play well on consoles) I would be really interested.

I can only help with 3D models and textures though.

 

[craigix]

I would also be interested, i'd love to get to know the quake engine.

 

[Sonic-NKT]

i could map a bit, but really depends on what kind of project

 

[Jekyll]

One thing I am qurious of, is being able to change the quake palette. I dislike the standard quake palette. I will look into this... might be simple...

Indeed B)
Inside the pak-file, there is a file AFAIR called palette.lmp, where the palette is defined.

a mod in the style of TAoV (which itself is in an early stage of developement) would be great fun on the gp ^^

 

[timbobsteve]

WOW.... got a better response than I thought.

Julius> I would love help with models and textures (as I suck at both)

CraigiX> Personaly I found ID engines the best to start modding on. They are well geared towards community dev.

Jekyll> Thanks for the info on palette's. It will be nice to get rid of the browns for once.

As for the style of the mod, I guess thats open. I personally think a FPS would still be fine on GP2x, similar control schemes to Metroid Prime on GCube (hold R-Trigger to lock onto targets)

I also love the idea of doing some sort of GTA game, as well as re-vamping/re-creating the original (and the best) Quake Rally.

I guess it will take alot more discussion. But I am glad that there is some interest around. This should be fun.

If anyone interested doesn't mind, drop me an email at timbobsteve@gmail.com and we can converse further.

Thanks all.

 

[Julius]

I dropped you a mail, but I think we can keep the development open, so here is the stuff I originally intended to write you by mail:

-------

Lets see what we can come up with, sadly last time I tried something similar for the GP32 it died off quickly

It was a 3D Rally game, you can download my a 75% finished Ford Focus model on my FGA page (GPL licenced):
http://freegamearts.myexp.de/fga.php?filte...=ford&sort=name

I guess for the GP2X we could have slightly higher polycounts

There is also other (old) stuff I did available for free (GPL) on that webpage, but latley I really moved on to highpoly modeling (and also slowed down alot due to real-life stuff). But doing some extreme lowpoly work should be quick and fun

But I still think a FPS wouldn't be a good idea (1. controls 2. see below). The problem is to find a type of game that makes sense to do in 3D (Sidescrolling games do not) and are feasable with the Quake engine (Rally/Racing games really need nice physics, which kinda suck on the Quake engine without huge modification).

It also needs to be a game that has replay value, as developing a RPG or something similar to it needs a huge amount of content that is only seen once in game, and is thus not a good idea for hobbists with limited time to develop.
FPS are either singleplayer, and thus the same thing applies to them, or multiplayer which is not doable on the GP2X (controll issues without a analog stick aside).

Not sure what would be a good idea, but maybe a missionbased (so that users can create missions easily, and maybe even created randomly) space game, kind of like WingCommander could work well.

I would also love to see some sort of strategy game, but I guess that can be better done in 2D as well (a Heroes of Might & Magic game would rock! ).

So what we really need to think of is a type of game that makes sense to do in 3D, works on the Quake engine (although that might not be a absolute must), and has a high replay value.

And we should really think out of the regular borders with this. Maybe some sort of Puzzle game that only works in 3D, or a game like Homeworld?
I don't know, so I am welcome to well thought of ideas (!).

 

[timbobsteve]

I totaly understand what you are saying Julius. Unfortunately for myself I have a very limited field of interests when it comes to gaming genres..... FPS and Grand Theft Auto... LOL...

I was just looking through all the games I have at home....

Quake 1/2/3
Doom 1/2/3
Call of Duty
Brothers in Arms
all Medal of Honor games
men of valor
battlefield 1/2

GTA 1/2/3/VC/SA

hehehehehehehe.... dont really play alot of other types. I supose this could be a good thing though.

I have seen alot of side-scrolling games made on the quake engine which is quite impressive. I also have deep respect for QRally and Checkered Flag (QRally ++). While they didn't really have the best physics or graphics.... i still found them imensly fun to play. I also played a really well done Mechwarrior-ish mod for quake a while back. This was very well constructed, mainly from the top down view) the levels were nice and neat and there was even bot-play added in there.

Ideally I would like to make a First Person shooter or 3D Top-Down shooter.... but I could really go for anything.... just want to make something fun for my new GP2X. In defense of console FPS's I would direct everyone to look at the immense amount of enjoyment that can be derrived from the Metroid Prime series on Game Cube.

Is there anyone else out there that can throw in some suggestions.

Here is my Pros/Cons for each type:

Rally:

Pros:
Fun, and with the possability of linux USB wifi support (via powered hub) this could be great multiplayer fun. Admitedly singleplayer wouldn't be the best unless we coded in some bots.

Cons:
Need to code physics into the engine. But it is possible due to the Open status of Quakes source.
If MP never becomes possible we are looking at a very short game.

First Person Shooter:

Pros:
Well defined genre and singleplayer is never boring.
Good MP fun (though MP is not required with quakes vast array of bot support)
Mappers heaven.

Cons:
Perhaps too many FPS around (although none for GP2X )
Hard to be original

Top Down Shooter/Adventure:

Pros:
Could be fun to make a shooter like the mechwarrior mod for quake (except more levels)
A 3rd person adventure game would be good fun. Perhaps even like Mario64 (but way better) where the player has no weapons but they have to move objects and solve puzzles and navigate mazes..... just a thought....

Cons:
Would be hard to make a 3rd person adventure game... would need a few engine modifications.
How much can you really do with a top down shooter?

Puzzle:

Pros:
Very interesting concept.
Vast array of possabilities (super monkey ball, lumines, murcury)

Cons:
Would undoubtedly require alot of engine modifications
Hard to conceptualize and be original

EDIT:

Resident Evil:

Pros:
Seen it done very well on quake engine.
Nice to map for. Fun to play.
Little to no actual engine modification. Only QuakeC

Cons:
Will need a very strong storyline and alot of puzzles to keep it alive
Will need alot of content.

Basically I am open... these are just my thoughts and as I said I have only ever had experience on FPS and one 3rd Person (resident evil quake1) mod. I must state that while I know a little bit of QuakeC/C/C++ I am not capable of modifying a complete game engine... but if there are some coders out there that would like to work with me on this I would be more than happy to learn all I could from you.

So thats just some thoughts.

-Timbobsteve

 

[Digitalrat]

How about something like Jump'n'Bump (http://www.icculus.org/jumpnbump/) in 3D? You would need to program bots, though. :>

 

[Julius]

I guess we should first look into already available Quake mods that are abandoned or ones we could build upon (given that the source is available).

Jump'n'Bump is really a pure 2D game, I don't think it would translate well to 3D.

@Timbobsteve:

You are really missing out on a lot of great genres

 

[timbobsteve]

@Timbobsteve:

You are really missing out on a lot of great genres

No doubt but as I said I have a pretty limited view of games that aren't GTA or FPS.

As homework anyone who wants to input should go research all they can about mods for the original quake. Some good places to start are:

http://mods.moddb.com
http://www.quakesrc.org
http://www.planetquake.com/quake/hosted/mods
http://wiki.quakesrc.org/index.php/Mod%20List

These are are a few pages that are still around and support quake mods. Alot of good stuff. Lets all check these out and make some ideas lists.

Perhaps another good way to come up with the style would be to come up with story ideas first... that way we could pick a good story and adapt the gameplay that would get the story done best.

Just my thoughts..... talk soon

 

[deadlychicken22]

I like the Resident Evil idea, that would be awsome on the gp2x! Just please don't make it a typical first person shooter because we are most likely going to have enough commercial ports (quake, doom, wolfenstein, maybe more) and most people will just play those if they want that style of game. I REALLY like the idea of Resident Evil!

 

[Esn]

I like the space shooter idea, personally. Why not make a Starfox-like game? Some of the missions could be in space, some on planets, and so on. It could be really good.

 

[timbobsteve]

I am really leaning towards a nice Resident Evil style mod.

If anyone gets a chance take a look at Renegades Mod call "Codename: Corporal"

This was the prequal to the only ever Quake one mod I worked on (the sequal was called "Codename: Evenrom" but was never released.

I think an RE style game with perhaps some sort of monster lock-on feature would be good. I would prefer not to make it "Resident Evil" as such.... but perhaps and original mod using the RE style....

Let me know what you all think.... Julius?

 

[Julius]

Well if we are talking about the same Resident Evil, it is going to need an insane amount of background art (probably highresolution prerendered since the gp2x isn't strong enough to render a convincing RE style background in realtime).
And it is also a game that is strictly linear and story driven, which results in the problem outlined earlier, that lots of stuff needs to be done that is only visible in game for a few seconds of the entire game.

In other words, I really don't think a RE style game would be doable.

The Starfox/Wingcommander etc idea sounds doable though, but I am beeing realistic here:
I order to have a game succede, it needs a main coder who is really behind the idea and is dedicated to finish it. 3d artists can be replaced, but the coder can not so easily.
So it really is up to you, and if you don't really like the idea it would be a better idea to not start at all.

 

[timbobsteve]

Good point about the dedication thing.

I fear I may have mislead you though. I am not really a 'coder' as such... I am still learning alot about game dev... so I couldn't be the "Lead Coder".... that said I can code simple things in QuakeC, C and C++... but nothing as advanced as engine modifications... I think I could handle the gameplay coding (mostly quakeC) but any other stuff would need to be done by a proper coder.. which is why in my first I asked for another coder. As for dedication... well ATM my job is going pretty slowly (must be that time of year) so I have alot of free time throughout the day... and some free time at night... and every weekend... so yes... I am dedicated to starting a mod/project.

As for RE style and Lots of art required. I don't think that lots of art is a necessity and nothing need be pre-rendered.... I just meant using the RE style camera in an original game.. Alot of the in-game art is simple level design. The only original artwork that I can see being required would be weapon/player/monster models and some original textures for the maps. While i realise that is a large task in itself, I don't think it would be nearly as much as artwork as pre-rendering every scene.

The starfox idea is pretty kool... there is already a bunch of good mods out there that are similar... I think there is a star-wars one for quake that we could definately take pointers from.

Let me know what you think?

 

[Julius]

Well if we get craigix on board it would be no problem as he is a good coder (He ported Doom to the GP32 if I remember correctly). But if we just extent on a already existing mod, I guess your coding skills (if you are dedicated) should be enough (maybe I will even refresh my coding skills if I feel like it. Haven't done any coding for quite some time, but it is not like I can't code at all, but I am pretty bad and forgot almost all of it).

Concerning your RE style idea: Yes of course it would be possible to do a game with a RE style camera and all real-time backgrounds. But that is not what people expect from a RE style game. It would look more like Quake with a strange camera.

So I think the starfox/wingcommander like idea is the most feasable (also because animations for airplanes etc are quick to do, and look good the same time, which would speed up the development enormously).

For the Starwars mod is even source available:
http://telejano.berlios.de/wiki3/index.php/SW

Maybe you can have a look at it, to see if it is usable in any way?

So do we agree that it is what we want to do? It gets my vote at least as it is the most realistic (and I am a burned child when it comes to failed homebrew/mod projects)

 

[craigix]

Mostly i am all for a shoot em up in the style of Duke3d, it would be the quickest and easiest thing to do.

Plus I need to learn how the quake engine works, so i'd rather do something simple first, that way its unlikely the project will be abandoned.

-Craig