GP2X Possible Game Needs Developers

[timbobsteve]

Are you up for dev'ing with us craig? that would be kool to have you onboard.

As for the RE-Camera thing... I am currently working on a mock-up demo of the camera for WinQuake so everyone can see what I am talking about.

To be brutally honest I hated every Resident evil game (Besides RE4 on GameCube, simply because it was more action less puzzle crap)..... basically I am an action gamer.... All I want to do with this mod/game is make an fun thing to play.

I have a basic overview of my proposal for a game (no story as of yet):

-Resident Evil style fixed camera.

-Action based gameplay

-2 possabilities for weapon/aiming system.

- We can have a button that automatically turns the player onto the
nearest enemy. Sort of like a lock on to enemy button... NOTE: I
already have code for this.. taken from another mod.

- We can have a button that toggled First Person View... the catch is
That while in this mode the player can't move... adds a nice little
gameplay dynamic.

- Modells need to be created for Monsters/Players/Weapons

- Levels should be easy to create. The camera entity system will be like
3D Max, whereby you place the camera and then place an info_null
entity where you want to look towards.

I think realistically we can get this up and running (system wise, not models) in a couple of weeks on the DOS/Windows/Linux version of quake and, if the engine is not much different, we can port it directly to GP2X straight away.

I really am an action gamer... so this style seems more appealing. But if you and craig would prefer to make a flight-shooter style game I will tag along.

NOTE TO EVERYONE ELSE: Please let us know what your opinons are. It is no use us making a game for ourselves and the community not enjoying it. What type of games do you like and what type of games would you like to see on the GP2X???

My 2 cents.

 

[Julius]

Ok sounds not bad, and if that is what you really want to do than that fine with me (see above).

What about you get a working prototype up and running using token art (just boxes etc ). And then I decide if I like it

If it is any good, I will at least wip up a few characters models (like the main character and one or two monsters).
I really need to look up the animation specifications for Quake though, as I never worked with it before and I have a bad feeling that it could be really annoying to do character-animations for it

Edit: Just a bit of brainstorming: what kind of setting would you like to do? With zombies and 19th century / Indiana Jones style, or set in the present like RE?
Or maybe not with zombies at all (they are easy to do enemys though and no AI is needed )?

Edit2:
Definitly check out the Quake characters and monsters made by Seth on our FreeGameArts page (link below), they are at least great temporary assets

 

[timbobsteve]

Hey julius, have you had any anim/model experience with Quake 2/3 ? If so I know that there is a whole bunch of mod'd quak engines that support the MD3 and MD2 format. Also depending on whether or not we get a dedicated coder onboard we might be able to modify the model format / animation code... just a little bit at least

Anyways, give me a couple of days and I will try and get this camera thingy working. Just working my way through a couple of QuakeC tutorials to get the feel of it. I already have the layout for my code... now I just have to fit it in the hole... perhaps using a hammer will work

 

[reallynotnick]

If you are going to do the resident evil thing, why not RE 4 camera? I would like that ALOT.

 

[Julius]

Yes I already worked with a couple of Quake engines, and I think the Quake1 format will be fine, given the limitations (skeletal animation, with morphs and blending is just not feasable on the GP2X). This is a bit annoying as it really throws me back into the stoneage of animation, and exporters for quake1 models are hard to find (exspecially those that work on Linux, as I am currently running that exclusivly).
But I think I found a program that works with WINE and should be able to do all we need (a really old school one ). Updating to md2/3 is probably unnecessary work, and would slow down the game too.

It is fun to work with low poly meshes like that, but it isn't really to work with the animation and filetypes of that time too

P.S.: I think we should stop calling it RE clone, as it will be probably more like the early Alone in the Dark games. RE is always asociated with prerendered backgrounds, so that might dissapoint the normal user.

 

[timbobsteve]

Good point..... from now on is shall be known as:

"The Alone in The Dark styled game for gp2x that has no name, storyline or models... but is in the works" !!!!!!

What do you think ??? Probably a bit too long for a title

 

[timbobsteve]

Just letting you all know I am still keen.... just spending my time working with QuakeC... it seems that QuakeC is significantly different to the C++ style scripting language for Doom 3 (of which I am familiar with).

It actually has a totaly different way to handle entities, which is confusing to say the least.

Should hopefully have the camera demo up in a week or so, depending on how full up my week gets.

Is there anyone good at editing colormaps or editing quake color palettes?

It woud be nice to get someone to edit the quake palette. I looked into it... but it requires photoshop talent... of which I am severely lacking. Anyways... just wanted to let you all know what is happening.

I am still very much interested in making this work. I was even thinking if I get the hang of QuakeC script I might setup 2 camera demos, one for standard alone in the dark style camera views and one for the Resident Evil 4 camera angles (over the shoulder)

Bye for now.

 

[Julius]

Nice to hear. Btw have you looked into speed comparisoms between working with QuakeC and normal C?

Well to be more precise, I heared that with the full sourcecode it is also possible to make normal C code for Quake and that is supposed to be much faster, since QuakeC is a script-language and not a 'binary' one. But I am not sure if that info is correct.

And since we are on a relativly slow system wasting speed like that is a bad idea

 

[timbobsteve]

That is true about the script/binary thing... except I don't have enough skills to completely re-write all the game-script into C and embed it into the binary, although it would enjoy a massive speed improvement if that was to happen.

I seem to be getting somewhere since last night. The quakeC entity structure is quite confusing compared to Doom3... anyways I finally figured out how to assign events to entities. So camera's shouldn't be too far away.

 

[K0K0NUT_h3lmut]

I know its a little late, and I'm not quite understanding the game you are making... but I have a suggestion. A Robotron: 2084 style game would be good. Easy to make, fun to play. Top down or FPS style.

 

[Epicenter]

I am going to be wrapped up in porting Armor of Acheron from FTE to the Quake engine for the GP2x so I won't be able to offer to actively participate in any other Quake based projects right now, but I do know QuakeC well and if anyone is in need of advice or assistance please let me know.

Just a heads-up, you might want to avoid the idea of a space-based shooter like Starfox as was suggested. The Quake world is 8192 cubic units, which is roughy 4000 feet. Not really enough for any nonterrestrial shooter unless you're OK with letting your ship hit the 6 big walls of space.

 

[timbobsteve]

Epicenter: Thanks for your ideas.

I am actually rather against the starfox idea... just cause I am a FPS player by heart.

I am currently just fiddling with quakeC alot getting the hang of it all. I was wondering if I could PM you or e-mail you directly with a few questions regarding quakeC? I am still a little confused by the way it handles entities and such and I could use a little help with some things.

I have been spending alot of time on the www.inside3d.com forums... it seems that is one of the last active quake editing resources left on the net. Everything seems to be focused on Quake 3 now that the source is released.

Anyways... anyone interested on doing some small mod stuff or even a whole Total Conversion for Quake-GP2X... please let me know... mainly looking for modellers, mappers and someone who wants to help with the quakeC / Engine editing.

Julius: Would you still be interested in doing some artwork if the game was just a FPS TC for quake?

I mainly want to just make something and get it all working... then we can start ripping it apart and adding kool features and gameplay additions.

Anyways... still alive... still learning quakeC

 

[Julius]

Naaa, it depends. If I got some time and 'the urge' I will probably do a model.

No promises, but Quake1 models are relativly fast to build (I have to get my head around the animation sequence part though) so I guess I can help, just don't expect me to handle all your modeling needs

 

[Epicenter]

I am currently just fiddling with quakeC alot getting the hang of it all. I was wondering if I could PM you or e-mail you directly with a few questions regarding quakeC? I am still a little confused by the way it handles entities and such and I could use a little help with some things.

I have been spending alot of time on the www.inside3d.com forums... it seems that is one of the last active quake editing resources left on the net. Everything seems to be focused on Quake 3 now that the source is released.

​

Sure, IM me on AIM (Epicenter713) or e-mail me (epicenter713@comcast.net) and I'd be happy to lend a hand. I wasn't able to find much good documentation either so I mostly learned by reading iD's code and experimenting .. sometimes that's just how you have to do things.

 

[timbobsteve]

Hello Again All,

I have been searching fof a list of game ideas I might want to make and I went back and broke out my old SNES box. I have been enthralled by Super Smash TV and was thinking that this would be great to play in 3D.

Would anyone be intersted in making this with me. As far as I know it will be very simple. I think there is little to no coding that needs to be done (except for random enemies and the fixed camera) the only thing it really needs is map and models (and possible sounds if we took it all the way)

Anyone interested. It seems a little more exciting than a FPS or an Alone in the Dark clone.

I am starting this... if anyone wants in, let me know.

timbobsteve@gmail.com

Are you still around Julius? What do you think?

-Timbobsteve

 

[Julius]

I have to admit that I have never played SmashTV h34r:

But I will have a look at it. Are you sure it makes sense to 'translate' it into 3D?

Anyways, see my post above, I will probably help you out a bit, but no promises

 

[timbobsteve]

Smash TV is fun. and The added possability of the quake engines open scripting system would be fun to work with. Again I will work on a tech demo to show you what I mean. Then anyone interested can sign on.

Anyways I think the project would be rather small a quick to produce because there is not that much to smash TV (but it is still fun)

Off for the weekend... talk later all...

-Timbobsteve

 

[reallynotnick]

Well I just tried out smash tv and have to say it is quite fun. I think there needs to be alot more power ups and different weapons though. Also I see no reason to make it 3d, I think you should stick with 2d if you were doing to make this game. Also right now the quake engine is not to optimized.

I would really enjoy to play this on my gp2x. If for some reason you find 3d easier or just have your heart set on making it 3d go ahead, it will be awsome.

 

[K0K0NUT_h3lmut]

Well, I guess you didn't like my idea...

I haven't played SmashTV, yet... I guess I'll go do that now. I can't really do much for this project except for give it some "support".

...Although now that I look at that Inside3D website, if QuakeC really is a stripped down version of C, then I might be able to help. I'll start looking at those tutorials. If you find a good n00by or beginner guide too, let me know.

 

[timbobsteve]

Hmm... decided to abandon the Quake engine... I might pick it up later tho... ATM I am just learning plain c++ and SDL. It is much more rewarding than working with QuakeC, which has absolutely no beginner info.... and most tutorials are just "copy this and paste that"...

Anyways I am working on 2 SDL projects, one is Super Smash Brothers (although the name will most likely change) and the other is a top down view game like GTA. But don't get your hopes up... I am still at the very beginner stages of the SDL tutorials.

I will let you know how I go.

-Timbobsteve