New DirectX9 DM clone - entombed

[cowsmanaut]

I think they liked the one with the iddy biddy bits, and you like the inferno one. I'm more partial to the inferno one myself. I made the other one to be closer to the original ra door. I have still one more working idea to try.

[cowsmanaut]

here are more concepts for the door
maybe something better in here?

beams of light
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v291/ ... odoor3.flv

blending of two types
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v291/ ... odoor4.flv

[Erik Bauer]

I like both: ZoDoor3 is the closest to the original and ZoDoor4 is how I do view a RaDoor in an environment full of dust, smoke or fog.
So maybe we should use both animations depending on the situation.

[cowsmanaut]

I'd like to keep it to one for recognizeability.. Just in case it attracts some new players. You want to be able to know if you have the right key for the door. With one specific look you should be able to tell this door is the same as the other door with this kind of key.

[zoom]

Personallly, I think it is hard to tell whether any of these doors work, because there is no

Spoiler

doorframe

.
I also would like to see a more jagged version(the upper ones are all smooth moving which has its own charme)
just for comparison.
by jagged I mean a sudden switch in direction, life and roughness in it. Discharging lightning bolt- thing.

[cowsmanaut]

bit hard to make that look good and not random and chaotic

[Moonhawk]

I'd like to keep it to one for recognizeability.. Just in case it attracts some new players. You want to be able to know if you have the right key for the door. With one specific look you should be able to tell this door is the same as the other door with this kind of key.

Speaking of keys - I did some modelling for this a couple of years back now - I have a range of keys and rings etc already done. Most are based on the original DM objects (Ra-key, Winged Key, cross key etc)

http://www.jupiterrising.co.uk/keys.jpg

[cowsmanaut]

poly count? they look like they could work, but could use a bit of texture to give the metal some age.

[Moonhawk]

Cross Key = 296, Gold Key = 200, Solid Key = 356, Ra-Key = 428, Onyx Key = 196, Master Key = 704, Turquoise/Emerald/Saphire Keys = 472

The textures are temporary - just to make it clearer which keys are which.

[cowsmanaut]

few of those are a little heavy for what they are. I just remade your ra key in 186 triangles without too much difference in appearance. After all they're small items which won't be viewed large. The fewer the polygons, the more can be seen, and the less the file size at the end

[zoom]

dse, r u still there?
the smooth movement would be cooler if it were not hacked into pieces, thus allowing if
a skilled player maneuvres through the dungeon without banging in walls, a seamless movement,
just like in a fps.(for those interesting who would switch smooth move mode actually on)
just an idea.
dse, hope you are still there, we have not heard from you since.. a week?

[cowsmanaut]

think he may have gotten burried in work.. I spoke to him before the long holiday but have not heard from him since. I'm still plugging away at some 3D stuff though

[DSE]

Hi chaps. I have recently won a contract to do some integration work with a very large client. I am trying my hardest to get back on Entombed but this new batch of work is very complicated and is consuming all my time ATM.

Cows - I will reply to your emails when I can, thanks for continuing in my absense, sounds like you are having fun !

Sorry guys.

[cowsmanaut]

no worries.. I am indeed. I'll post the occasional tidbit in here.. but I want some of it to be a surprise well.. it won't be for you DSE, but for the rest of them it can

[zoom]

a quick side step here:

cows, how would you tackle the monster issues? I mean, it just occured to me that you have to know a lot about the monster before creating one. In DM you adjust speed and attack ferocity on the one side and the actual looks does not influence this.
So you can make the monster different easily(more or less)
With 3d creatures, you have to decide in advance ! whether the monster is fast or not.(because you create the walking cylce / animation and not 4 frames.(side back front attack))
So what is a good process to create a 3d monster I ask?.
Start by
having a side and front view(-->make a turnaround ) all on paper
create clean mesh and mimic turnaround as close as possible(computer now)
and then apply "bones structure" and "mapping" -or vice versa.(?)

The walking cycle does really have to be some exact length, no?
I cannot think of this(monster movement comparison of different creatures ) without breaking -- I cannot imagine it would work, there has to be some kind of landmark or scale?.
How is movement of the party being computed with entombed.(ok, nobody knows right now..) Should monsters move similar(or on that scale of speed, this scale I imagine to be set by the party)

hmm. would like to know a rough outline of how this is being done by you cows In theory, to , well grasp it.. or doesn´t it matter at all and I am
wasting thinking time on needless thoughts??

[cowsmanaut]

creation of model and texture does not affect speed at all, so that is all done as normal. When I do animation, I try to limit the number of keyframes I place, making it possible to to speed up or slow down easily. This comes with play testing, trying to attack and move away from the monsters and make sure that it all seems to work. You really can not expect it to be perfect out of the box. So having the working file to make changes, or in fact several work in progress files so you can go back to any previous step if you discover something goes wrong, then at least if you have to redo any part, it doesn't mean you have to redo it all.

In addition to that, the animation can be adjusted in speed within the code if needed.

[zoom]

ok..thanks.i get it with the keyframes and I now have a clearer understanding of the whole process.
som it is - to an extent - try and error(which is not bad in a way)
.But in this case here, the real playtesting would be only possible by dse then, so there has to be a team really.
Monsters cannot just be provided/delivered, but need tweaking and exchange on both "sides"
This could be not true for fountain, because it is more static.
(sidenote:claws/hands_of_lion holding or encircling basin could look good)
Thanks again cows, and I wish you a good workflow

[cowsmanaut]

just in case people think I've stopped.. I haven't exactly.. just working on a cosplay outfit for a friend, and I've got some graphics to finish for a paying project. I'm still going to do more stuff for entombed.. just gotta be patient

[cowsmanaut]

boo?

[beowuuf]

Wow, you scared the goose!

So things are still happening with this?

[zoom]

oh well, let´s keep it alive just a little bit more.

[cowsmanaut]

well, I was pointing out to mr DSE in email that I have a book on 3D modeling I'm writing, I'm at chapter 2 now and I need to create some humanoid models for the book and was thinking of a double dip feature in that I could make something usuable for entombed.. however, I have thus far had no answer.. so, not sure if I should go ahead or perhaps work on my ninja turtle instead or maybe just generic man and woman since it's a book on modeling/sculpting the humanoid form.

[Ultramarine]

Any news on the Entombed project?

I'm just curious.

[cowsmanaut]

well, I started the above mentioned project, but in between work it's slow going. I had the info I needed to start so I guess it's just a matter of it's done when it's done :S

[cowsmanaut]

managed to get some work done on the head at last.. just a preview of things to come..still a lot of work to do on this guy though.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/ ... pirate.jpg

[Duckman]

Hopefully this will go to accomplisment, there are very few finished 3d dungeon masters which work. Good luck!

[Gambit37]

Oooh, yeah, he's rather nasty! Excellent work, Cows

[linflas]

i would give him a kiss on his no... well, what could be his nose... nice face

[Ultramarine]

DSE, why don't you post an update of your game?
Last post from April 16th!!!!!

[Erik Bauer]

DSE, why don't you post an update of your game?
Last post from April 16th!!!!!

He surely is taken by real private life, the most time demanding thing ever

I'm sure that whenever he will have some more spare time he will return to post here, maybe sharing juicy news.