Plan for Scott Rutledge
by SR · 05/02/2001 (8:02 pm) · 6 comments
I've been taking bastard lessons from a friend: after destroying an enemy inventory or vehicle station, I mine the thing. Also handy if you're low on ammo (mine first, shoot, big boom). But there's nothing like wracking up a kill from the other side of the map. Then, of course, the station is destroyed again right after they repaired it. Such fun, such fun.
I saw my first plan actually got read, but Jeff no less! Amazing. So this time thought I'd throw out my latest ideas from the depths.
Constructive Modelling -
I downloaded Milkshape the other day, just to see what it can do. I'm no artist by any stretch. Textures and models are not my forte, but it's always good to know a little bit about everything. And my god, is 3D modelling ever a pain in the ass! I thought maybe it was just Milkshape (it does have a rather primitive interface), so I played with some others (some of the big names, don't ask where I got them, I don't like lying), and found it was still a pain. I'm sure it must be easier with experience, but man does it ever feel like you're building with boxing gloves on.
So I stumbled onto a bizzare train of thought: what if making 3d models was like building with lego? Instead of the artist playing with polygons and really primitive primitives, they could put together more complex pre-made objects, much like building a house. Then the modeller could reduce it all to one mesh, and polygon-reduce. A 2x4 here, piece of sheet-metal there, and instant...uh...wall? Does this sound interesting at all? Someone else done this already? Am I just going insane?!
Possible game idea -
I loved playing with matchbox cars. Spent hours driving those things around. Spent scads of money buying them, too. Loved the city sets, but nothing beat taking them into the sandbox and building a city yourself. What if we could capture that in a game? I have a couple of ideas, like having the player build a city that little people, who -love- to drive, could wheel around in, and the player would get rewarded based on how much fun the little guys had. And the player could take over a car at any time and drive it around? Maybe even have the player make the driving laws (stopsigns, left turns, etc...). Attract maniacs with an autobaun down the middle of the city. Mauahahaha!
Ballpoint Mouse -
As mentioned earlier, I suck at art. Esspecially on computers. Can't draw a straight line without using the line-tool. I think it's cause mice suck at that. We have better control of pens than we do of mice. So...why not make a pen-mouse? Wouldn't be as small as a pen, it would have to be wider. Optical mouse technology could probably be made to work with a smaller ball. I know, sounds a lot like a light-pen, but those things sucked. First, they had no buttons! This could have buttons, even a mouse-wheel under your finger. Think about it.
Edit: Oh, and it would -have- to be wireless. Would just suck, otherwise. So leave room for a double-a.
Ok, ideaed out. My, what a funny-looking word that is. Probably why it isn't a real word. Isn't that like discrimination, though? Well, anyway, feel free to comment, if anyone reads this one. I like comments. My old boss never commented his code enough.
I saw my first plan actually got read, but Jeff no less! Amazing. So this time thought I'd throw out my latest ideas from the depths.
Constructive Modelling -
I downloaded Milkshape the other day, just to see what it can do. I'm no artist by any stretch. Textures and models are not my forte, but it's always good to know a little bit about everything. And my god, is 3D modelling ever a pain in the ass! I thought maybe it was just Milkshape (it does have a rather primitive interface), so I played with some others (some of the big names, don't ask where I got them, I don't like lying), and found it was still a pain. I'm sure it must be easier with experience, but man does it ever feel like you're building with boxing gloves on.
So I stumbled onto a bizzare train of thought: what if making 3d models was like building with lego? Instead of the artist playing with polygons and really primitive primitives, they could put together more complex pre-made objects, much like building a house. Then the modeller could reduce it all to one mesh, and polygon-reduce. A 2x4 here, piece of sheet-metal there, and instant...uh...wall? Does this sound interesting at all? Someone else done this already? Am I just going insane?!
Possible game idea -
I loved playing with matchbox cars. Spent hours driving those things around. Spent scads of money buying them, too. Loved the city sets, but nothing beat taking them into the sandbox and building a city yourself. What if we could capture that in a game? I have a couple of ideas, like having the player build a city that little people, who -love- to drive, could wheel around in, and the player would get rewarded based on how much fun the little guys had. And the player could take over a car at any time and drive it around? Maybe even have the player make the driving laws (stopsigns, left turns, etc...). Attract maniacs with an autobaun down the middle of the city. Mauahahaha!
Ballpoint Mouse -
As mentioned earlier, I suck at art. Esspecially on computers. Can't draw a straight line without using the line-tool. I think it's cause mice suck at that. We have better control of pens than we do of mice. So...why not make a pen-mouse? Wouldn't be as small as a pen, it would have to be wider. Optical mouse technology could probably be made to work with a smaller ball. I know, sounds a lot like a light-pen, but those things sucked. First, they had no buttons! This could have buttons, even a mouse-wheel under your finger. Think about it.
Edit: Oh, and it would -have- to be wireless. Would just suck, otherwise. So leave room for a double-a.
Ok, ideaed out. My, what a funny-looking word that is. Probably why it isn't a real word. Isn't that like discrimination, though? Well, anyway, feel free to comment, if anyone reads this one. I like comments. My old boss never commented his code enough.
#2
05/02/2001 (9:00 pm)
Yah, I used to use tablets, back in my CAD days. Hmm...that was a while ago now. But they're damn expensive. And I still think a mouse-pen would be cool :)
#3
As for building things from components: the problem is with getting things to actually work together. What if I want to make a cottage? Do I still have to slap down individual walls, place individual timbers, adjust staircases, add my own roof, etc?
And even if not -- how do I keep it from looking like the same stuff anybody else that uses this 'lego kit' makes? THat's the problem with things like texture libraries -- if you buy a publically available one, odds are you're going to end up with a product that looks vaguely familiar, because other people have used it, too.
05/02/2001 (9:19 pm)
Well, modelling with NURBS can almost feel like cheating. :-) In Lightwave, whenever I would make a rough, blocky shape and meta-Nurb it, I felt sort of guilty when I saw its beautiful, streamlined form.As for building things from components: the problem is with getting things to actually work together. What if I want to make a cottage? Do I still have to slap down individual walls, place individual timbers, adjust staircases, add my own roof, etc?
And even if not -- how do I keep it from looking like the same stuff anybody else that uses this 'lego kit' makes? THat's the problem with things like texture libraries -- if you buy a publically available one, odds are you're going to end up with a product that looks vaguely familiar, because other people have used it, too.
#4
05/02/2001 (10:06 pm)
I have wanted to do a game called Sandbox for about seven years. I've never gotten around to it. I still think it is an awesome idea. Oh well, I carried around the Incredibel Machine design for ten years before finally getting it made.
#5
Luc: I do know nurbs, but as I understand, they tend to be used only for organic/curvy things. Which isn't necessarily bad, just that they don't work for everything. You bring up good points, too. I suppose it would be necessary to make it easy to 'snap' parts together, without being too anal about structural integrity. As for the problem of making things unique...maybe the reduction phase could do some work to 'morph' everything together, without loosing the basic structure.
Most of these ideas aren't things I've thought through all that much. That's why I like comments. Thanks for yours.
05/02/2001 (10:17 pm)
I so loved that game! I first played it on a mac (shudder) at my high-school. My physics teacher was using it to get points across. Except, of course, those amazing 100% efficient trampolines *ahem*. Seriously, though, it was a fun game. It's kind of cool to be talking with the guy that made it.Luc: I do know nurbs, but as I understand, they tend to be used only for organic/curvy things. Which isn't necessarily bad, just that they don't work for everything. You bring up good points, too. I suppose it would be necessary to make it easy to 'snap' parts together, without being too anal about structural integrity. As for the problem of making things unique...maybe the reduction phase could do some work to 'morph' everything together, without loosing the basic structure.
Most of these ideas aren't things I've thought through all that much. That's why I like comments. Thanks for yours.
#6
just a thought.
05/03/2001 (7:37 am)
I was thinking on the way to work today (wow haven't done that in years. hehe). Anyway, what I was pondering on was, what if (instead of cars) there were semi-trucks. Get points and rewards for deliveries, good driving, etc..just a thought.
Associate Matt Fairfax
PopCap
Have you ever tried using a drawing tablet? My wife just got one and it is pretty cool! It is even sensitive to how hard you bear down on the tablet (draws thicker lines). It has buttons on the side of the pen for clicking and the pen itself is wireless. You can even get a tablet that has a LCD inset in it so you can draw "directly" to the screen. We did learn a valuable lesson though: if you are getting a tablet, get a Wacom. The rest just plain stink!