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RPG maps

Name:	Stephen Burns
Date Posted:	Jul 05, 2006
Rating:	4.0 out of 5
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Blog post

Hello All

In about 2 days I will recieve my update to lightwave Version 8.5/9 from 5.6.
Bellow is my old maps for a game like Baldur's Gate. Next week I can
start putting these parts into T3D to see if they work. Also I can get any
bugs out so the parts all can match up etc...

As you can see from the wire frames they are very simple for the rooms.
The maps look good from the lighting and textures.

I have added in a FPS shot. It looks ok from down there as well :).
No roof on the parts as well.

Update 12-07-2006

At the moment waiting for my lightwave hardware key to be updated.
Testing the first parts of the map in T3D and getting to know what T3D likes model wise.
Once the hardware key arrives I will output the first map items with lightwave 8.5.
I will miss the old 5.6 version :(.

The model below took 5 hours to complete.

The model below took 4 hours to complete.

Church was made back in 2004.

Stephen

Recent Blog Posts

List:	06/14/07 - Free Puzzle Design Kit released 06/08/07 - Being Confident 06/06/07 - Must have Bling and a budget 06/06/07 - Game development page, game finished 08/11/06 - Work and art 07/15/06 - One day Projects and fun 07/05/06 - RPG maps 05/09/06 - You have to lift, you have to believe

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Ramen-sama (Jul 05, 2006 at 03:07 GMT)

Very nice work. I'm doing an RPG as well, but that looks way better then any of my little test dungeons :(

Stephen Burns (Jul 05, 2006 at 03:10 GMT)

I plan to patch up this dungeon and release it for free.
But first I will test it out myself in T3D.
Better to have it getting used then sitting on my hard drive.

Hold onto your hats Lightwave V9 is on its way :).
Edited on Jul 05, 2006 05:49 GMT

Marcus (Jul 05, 2006 at 04:41 GMT)

I really like how your levels are looking. I just recently purchased Lightwave and I like it a lot. Is it possible to do full levels in Lightwave? How does it compare to say a normal map editor like 3DWS or Quark?

Stephen Burns (Jul 05, 2006 at 05:07 GMT)

I only used 5.6 to make 2D art and art for Animation films. In the next 2 days I will see what happens when my models go into the T3D engine. So I am very new to the 3D object making scene.

I saw lightwave being used to make objects for Unreal 2004.
If the map objects just drop into T3D with ease then a map like the church only takes about 6 hours to complete (just one of them not the set). If the maps can just go in as objects into T3D then I can make some very nice maps real fast.
Edited on Jul 05, 2006 05:29 GMT

Stefan Lundmark (Jul 05, 2006 at 06:32 GMT)

Very nice art, I like it alot. Unfortunatly it won't be very easy to use it in Torque. Torque use DIF's, much like Quake uses BSP - and these are brushbased and most of the time low-polygonal.

(Like in your first scene, the boxes look very detailed although they are just boxes..)

You can make your level in DTS format fully, though it will lack collision and in general behave quite odd.

Hope that helps.

Stephen Burns (Jul 05, 2006 at 06:47 GMT)

Thank you for the information. Maybe the maps can be used in TGB for a mini BG game ?

Ramen-sama (Jul 05, 2006 at 06:58 GMT)

Bah, what is it with people obsession with DIF?

DTS can and is being used to make levels.
But i gotta say yours look a little too detailed to give great performance.

DIF has like only like one advantage. Portals.

Do you need portals in an overhead RPG...... NO. Not if the area is just one level deep.

Infact, i wrote a LScript for exporting object transforms to a file torque can open like a MIS file.

DTS supports full collision with players and everything things else i've tested.
You should make some custom collision meshes, basically just some walls, something to confine the player.

You'll just need to build your levels a little differently. How I do it is build an object, like a crate,and save it, export it as a dif. I'll do this for every object and room.

Then i'll load layout and piece together my "map" using the objects i've saved and exported. Then i'll run my magic script and it creates a file for torque to load.

www.garagegames.com/blogs/11127/10274
Check out my blog from a little while ago.
Edited on Jul 05, 2006 07:00 GMT

Stephen Burns (Jul 05, 2006 at 07:22 GMT)

Awesome thank you for the information !!

Thijs Sloesen (Jul 05, 2006 at 08:03 GMT)

Nice artwork! Why don't you create a few content packs? :)
Edited on Jul 05, 2006 08:03 GMT

Brian "Ayavaron" Ross II (Jul 05, 2006 at 08:25 GMT)

That is an incredible amount of work necessary for things the player will only be able to see for such a short while. It looks great though. I hope your players can appreciate that.

Stephen Burns (Jul 05, 2006 at 08:35 GMT)

I always ask that myself with the artwork (how long a player will spend on a map). As a player I can now appreciate the amount of work that goes into a game. I plan to make a set of 3D maps so people can make a top down RPG game or action game. But it will be slow going as I am focusing on more important projects.

I enjoy the art work it just does not pay well anything :).
I have a Job interview tomorrow for a computer shop job. I will install windows and build systems for $ 25 a hour. Stack Shelves at a super market on the weekend for $ 18 a hour.

This is the reason why no high amount of games come out from indies.
It takes time to make games and time is money.
However the puzzle games are cake to make.
Edited on Jul 05, 2006 08:45 GMT

Alexander "taualex" Gaevoy (Jul 05, 2006 at 20:29 GMT) Resource Rating: 5

Maybe I should buy Lightwave?
What are the strong sides of Lightwave against 3DS Max?

I believe that such maps would benifit from using octree techniques in Torque, unfortunatly, it's not implemented and will require a lot of coding...
Edited on Jul 05, 2006 20:30 GMT

Stephen Burns (Jul 05, 2006 at 21:28 GMT)

I can't code :(. I will see what Torque can handle soon.
I only use lightwave 3D so I don't know how good 3D max might be.
I like Lightwave because Babylon 5 was made with it :).

Ramen-sama (Jul 05, 2006 at 21:48 GMT)

I got hooked on lightwave because of Bab 5 as well :)

Alexander "taualex" Gaevoy (Jul 06, 2006 at 00:52 GMT) Resource Rating: 5

Actually that was exactly the reson I played with LW as well, but never got prof with it... :} I'm more coder then an artist...

Aun Arinyasak (Jul 13, 2006 at 03:17 GMT)

WoW ...... the last three pictures look fantastic ,give me memories of FFVII and The Legend of Zelda.

Great Work !

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