2008 the year of prototypes, 2009 and beyond (PICS)
by Ian Roach · 12/30/2008 (4:07 am) · 8 comments
Hi everyone, hope everyone had a merry xmas and a soon to be Happy New Year :)
2008 seems to have flown by but not alot of progress on my end, ive spent most of the year trying different prototypes until i find something i will be happy with.
In recent times ive gone back to playing the old classic games and reliving my childhood memories. One recent game in particular that really got me playing the old games is bionic commando rearmed. Here is a classic game that has been redone for next gen without compromising the classic gameplay and it works wonderfully well.
I recently stumbled across this magnificent gallery of revamped concepts of old classic games, beside being fantastic art it got me interested in reviving some of the old classics and giving them a new shiny coat of paint.
Just imagine a reimagined sonic looking like this
You can find some more of his fantastic art here at : Oriotos Gallery
I decided i wanted to relive the old classics.
Toons Of War Prototype
Not its final title :) , but i started prototyping a classic sidescroller based on some work from a previous project, initially setup to be like bionic commando rearmed, or perhaps a sidescroller version of something like counterstrike.
Here are some 3d renders of some of the models (not ingame)
I havnt got much further then the camera/movement which still needs a bit of work, and i started looking into adding other things such as a grapple hook for jump movements which could give it a very fast paced feel.
Still in the early stages, im also looking at possibly converting it to xna via torque x so things are still up in the air at this stage.
Helidyne Prototype
My newest prototype is based on a classic game (and one of my favourite games of all time), desertstrike/junglestrike.
If your not familiar with the original
au.youtube.com/watch?v=DnMCvwmeuns
So far ive started with TGEA 1.8 and Kaboom pack, using an old illumina helidyne model, Im still deciding on a few things
- Modern day apache or futuristic heli
- PlayerBlock or VehicleBlock. Right now im using a playerblock, the main reason is i need the helicopter to always float above the terrain at a set height, i believe i can fake its movements/pitch using animations for movement, and by remodelling the heli and having it sit a few 100 mtres above xplane it should give it a floaty feel.
I would love to get peoples opinions on what a better option would be flyingvehicle or playerblock. What are the advantages/disadvantages of each e.t.c ?
My next big feature to integrate is some kind of basic autoaim system, currently in the above vid im manually controlling the pitch via mouse , however i eventually want it to work similar to jungle strike, basically autoaim to a target in my direct line of sight, doesnt matter if hes 10 metres in front, or 40 metres, or standing on a building, it will auto lineup mymachine guns and then switch to the next target. The main purpose of this is to simplify the gameplay and stick with the core junglestike fundamentals.
Beyond getting it to float above terrain at a set height (except for helipad triggers for example) and autoaim there are a number of other features from the original i want to keep.
- Fuel and Ammo . Even now jungle strike is one of the hardest games going around, constantly requiring you to find fuel/ammo to survive . I plan on simplifying it somewhat via difficulty levels, with easier levels not requiring fuel and giving you much larger payloads for example.
So whilst its good to keep the old gameplay i also want to expand on it somewhat, Coop/Multi and a few gameplay tweaks (strafing). Also lots more cool explosions / particle effects, all whilst sticking with its main gameplay ideas.
Anyway sorry for the lengthy post. If your interested in perhaps joining/expanding on any of the above prototypes send me an email :) Artists/Programmers , all are welcome. Even if your just a fan of the original junglestrike and want to chime in ideas post em here :)
Happy New Year to all.
2008 seems to have flown by but not alot of progress on my end, ive spent most of the year trying different prototypes until i find something i will be happy with.
In recent times ive gone back to playing the old classic games and reliving my childhood memories. One recent game in particular that really got me playing the old games is bionic commando rearmed. Here is a classic game that has been redone for next gen without compromising the classic gameplay and it works wonderfully well.
I recently stumbled across this magnificent gallery of revamped concepts of old classic games, beside being fantastic art it got me interested in reviving some of the old classics and giving them a new shiny coat of paint.
Just imagine a reimagined sonic looking like this
You can find some more of his fantastic art here at : Oriotos Gallery
I decided i wanted to relive the old classics.
Toons Of War Prototype
Not its final title :) , but i started prototyping a classic sidescroller based on some work from a previous project, initially setup to be like bionic commando rearmed, or perhaps a sidescroller version of something like counterstrike.
Here are some 3d renders of some of the models (not ingame)
I havnt got much further then the camera/movement which still needs a bit of work, and i started looking into adding other things such as a grapple hook for jump movements which could give it a very fast paced feel.
Still in the early stages, im also looking at possibly converting it to xna via torque x so things are still up in the air at this stage.
Helidyne Prototype
My newest prototype is based on a classic game (and one of my favourite games of all time), desertstrike/junglestrike.
If your not familiar with the original
au.youtube.com/watch?v=DnMCvwmeuns
So far ive started with TGEA 1.8 and Kaboom pack, using an old illumina helidyne model, Im still deciding on a few things
- Modern day apache or futuristic heli
- PlayerBlock or VehicleBlock. Right now im using a playerblock, the main reason is i need the helicopter to always float above the terrain at a set height, i believe i can fake its movements/pitch using animations for movement, and by remodelling the heli and having it sit a few 100 mtres above xplane it should give it a floaty feel.
I would love to get peoples opinions on what a better option would be flyingvehicle or playerblock. What are the advantages/disadvantages of each e.t.c ?
My next big feature to integrate is some kind of basic autoaim system, currently in the above vid im manually controlling the pitch via mouse , however i eventually want it to work similar to jungle strike, basically autoaim to a target in my direct line of sight, doesnt matter if hes 10 metres in front, or 40 metres, or standing on a building, it will auto lineup mymachine guns and then switch to the next target. The main purpose of this is to simplify the gameplay and stick with the core junglestike fundamentals.
Beyond getting it to float above terrain at a set height (except for helipad triggers for example) and autoaim there are a number of other features from the original i want to keep.
- Fuel and Ammo . Even now jungle strike is one of the hardest games going around, constantly requiring you to find fuel/ammo to survive . I plan on simplifying it somewhat via difficulty levels, with easier levels not requiring fuel and giving you much larger payloads for example.
So whilst its good to keep the old gameplay i also want to expand on it somewhat, Coop/Multi and a few gameplay tweaks (strafing). Also lots more cool explosions / particle effects, all whilst sticking with its main gameplay ideas.
Anyway sorry for the lengthy post. If your interested in perhaps joining/expanding on any of the above prototypes send me an email :) Artists/Programmers , all are welcome. Even if your just a fan of the original junglestrike and want to chime in ideas post em here :)
Happy New Year to all.
About the author
#2
12/30/2008 (5:48 am)
Doing a 3D sidescroller with TGE / TGEA is something I've thought about but never put any time into. Its a cool idea and your demo really shows how awesome the results are. Great work. 
#3
12/30/2008 (6:05 am)
Love the Toon models. 
#4
Jungle Strike is a top pick (loved the game) and good test video.
I think you got alot of ready assets to build a Jungle Strike style game in no time, with plenty of time to work on the game-play fun. Looking forward to 2009 even more now :)
12/30/2008 (7:52 am)
To relive the old classics is a great idea, brings me back to when I made games on the C-64! Ian I am def on board for this :)Jungle Strike is a top pick (loved the game) and good test video.
I think you got alot of ready assets to build a Jungle Strike style game in no time, with plenty of time to work on the game-play fun. Looking forward to 2009 even more now :)
#5
12/30/2008 (7:53 am)
Both are incredible prototypes and great concepts as well! You, my friend, have some tough decisions ahead of you.
#6
12/30/2008 (8:38 am)
Very nice, Ian!! Great job! Both games look great, although I like the the Toons of War game best :) It would be really cool to turn it into a 3rd or first person shooter like Counter Strike or Battlefield 1942.
#7
I did a sort of 2D/3D prototype ages ago, I was going somewhere for a cross between Super Smash Bros and Soldat. Seems like another do-able thing.
12/30/2008 (8:58 am)
Weird, I've implemented similar kinds of prototypes in the past too. Desert strike was a game that struck me as entirely torque-esque, aside from the art requirements I think it'd be an interesting game to create for torque. Regarding your question, I'd definitely recommend starting from gamebase and doing your own code on top of it. Neither vehicle nor player will give you anything you need and will complicate the code to a huge extent. Definitely go with your plan for fixed height and adding pitch/yaw with animations or even just simple code.I did a sort of 2D/3D prototype ages ago, I was going somewhere for a cross between Super Smash Bros and Soldat. Seems like another do-able thing.
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