Plan for Jeffrey Bakker
by Jeffrey Bakker · 10/19/2005 (5:23 pm) · 6 comments
This is my first plan, pretty much ever. I guess that's good I actually have one because I usually tend to "freestyle" my projects (eg. 10,000+ lines of code all from the top of my head), yet they turned out pretty good. Not this project though, I'm not going to be stupid with it. Here is just a preview of what I have in store for this game.
PLOT
The planet named Terra, formed billions of years ago, once flourished in modern science and technology. It was near the pinnacle of its civilazation, when a great war broke loose. The planet was destroyed within hours. Terra's remaining surface is now a wasteland. Most of the Terran species did not survive the apocalypse. This revealed proof of Terran myths about creatures that have been passed on since the dawn of time through folklore. Many of these survivors are still standing, because they are very powerful by nature, some even immortal. What was previously a small minority, is now the majority.
The Terran race was slowly rebuilding their civilizations over the next 30 years, but there is much rebellion and chaos taking place, now that Terra's "underground" species have been exposed, and will never be accepted. This is a new age, one that marks the darkest pages in history.
Terra: used to be much like Earth, now is just a chunk the size of Russia.
Terrans: much like Humans.
RACES
Terrans: Much like humans. The longest living Terran is 156 years, but the average life span of a Terran is approximately 87 years. They are neutral, but many are afraid of what they don't understand.
Lycans: Or werewolves. Once walked amongst the Terrans unnoticed, but by primal instinct they feed on them from time to time. It is said that Lycans are immortal, but technically they have a weakness to silver because they are allergic.
Demons: Evil. In the past they have had a negative impact on the Terrans through influence, temptation and mind control, but now exposed they are making their presence more physical and their intentions more obvious.
Angels: Good. Disguised among the Terrans, angels have helped them survive for many ages. Many of the saints throughout history may have actually been angels. They are Terra's true guardians. While most of them are not immortal, some of them have powers that reach far beyond the Terrans' imagination.
Unknown: There is much to discover about Terra than previously thought. There are many unknown things about this planet, that nobody bothered to explore until now. After the war, there have been sights of unidentified creatures that do not fit descriptions of previous myths and folklore. Many think that the war may have mutated certain species, but others have more wild beliefs.
POWERS
Tech: Developed from over 1,000 years of research and Terran engineering. A technical way of drawing energy and channelling it out in forms of raw power. It was invented in the spirit that someday the tales of "magic" would be a reality. Many Terrans (and possibly other species) can harness this power, but it takes many years of training, accompanied with technological implants in the body. Chemicals are also used in this process. Unfortunately, a lot of the technology used to create tech powers have been destroyed during the great war.
Psych: Existed since the beginning of documented history. Used mainly by angels and demons, this is a more natural form to harness power. Mental and spiritual energy is manifested and controlled by its conjurer. Naturally, the average Terran does not have the psychic capabilities to control such power with their mind alone. Psych power was formerly just a myth known as "magic", to the unaware Terrans.
PROGRESS
I'll be doing most of the work as a one-man-team, although I may seek help once I have a very convincing prototype or demo ready. I am currently learning the engine code and scripting workflow, and have added just a few things so far (exp. and stats). I have a cool concept for a magic system, but not the code for it yet. I have conept layouts of GUIs and menus setup, but they need a lot of work.
I am developing content using Blender, MilkShape, the Gimp, and for level editing...Quark until I can find a way to grow money on trees. Level design (artwork-wise) isn't a big concern as I have worked on at least a dozen before, it's migrating to a different BSP editor that worries me. I've drawn up a few characters on paper, only one is modelled until I get past the prototype or demo stage. Here's a small preview of my artwork...
Melee Weapons
Demon Female, "Eve"
The lighting looks a lot better in Torque than in blender. The vertex weights and UV mapping still need a lot of work (the texturing lacks depth), but she should do for a dirty prototype. I imagine that by the time all the characters are fully implemented, I would learn a lot more about modelling and animation, that this first character will have to be redone if I am going for perfection.
I imagine this project can take me years to complete, but I'm not in any hurry. I'm not at all new to gameplay programming or content design, but there's a lot to learn about TGE, and I'm learning a lot of it on the way. When I can afford it, I'll most likely purchase content packs to cut down on content creation time. Funny I say this, because I envisioned the look and feel of this game over a year ago, and recently I checked out a video demo of Tim Aste's content pack 2, and a lot of his work gives the exact bleak feel that I've dreamed up of for so long. Co-incidence or fate?
PLOT
The planet named Terra, formed billions of years ago, once flourished in modern science and technology. It was near the pinnacle of its civilazation, when a great war broke loose. The planet was destroyed within hours. Terra's remaining surface is now a wasteland. Most of the Terran species did not survive the apocalypse. This revealed proof of Terran myths about creatures that have been passed on since the dawn of time through folklore. Many of these survivors are still standing, because they are very powerful by nature, some even immortal. What was previously a small minority, is now the majority.
The Terran race was slowly rebuilding their civilizations over the next 30 years, but there is much rebellion and chaos taking place, now that Terra's "underground" species have been exposed, and will never be accepted. This is a new age, one that marks the darkest pages in history.
Terra: used to be much like Earth, now is just a chunk the size of Russia.
Terrans: much like Humans.
RACES
Terrans: Much like humans. The longest living Terran is 156 years, but the average life span of a Terran is approximately 87 years. They are neutral, but many are afraid of what they don't understand.
Lycans: Or werewolves. Once walked amongst the Terrans unnoticed, but by primal instinct they feed on them from time to time. It is said that Lycans are immortal, but technically they have a weakness to silver because they are allergic.
Demons: Evil. In the past they have had a negative impact on the Terrans through influence, temptation and mind control, but now exposed they are making their presence more physical and their intentions more obvious.
Angels: Good. Disguised among the Terrans, angels have helped them survive for many ages. Many of the saints throughout history may have actually been angels. They are Terra's true guardians. While most of them are not immortal, some of them have powers that reach far beyond the Terrans' imagination.
Unknown: There is much to discover about Terra than previously thought. There are many unknown things about this planet, that nobody bothered to explore until now. After the war, there have been sights of unidentified creatures that do not fit descriptions of previous myths and folklore. Many think that the war may have mutated certain species, but others have more wild beliefs.
POWERS
Tech: Developed from over 1,000 years of research and Terran engineering. A technical way of drawing energy and channelling it out in forms of raw power. It was invented in the spirit that someday the tales of "magic" would be a reality. Many Terrans (and possibly other species) can harness this power, but it takes many years of training, accompanied with technological implants in the body. Chemicals are also used in this process. Unfortunately, a lot of the technology used to create tech powers have been destroyed during the great war.
Psych: Existed since the beginning of documented history. Used mainly by angels and demons, this is a more natural form to harness power. Mental and spiritual energy is manifested and controlled by its conjurer. Naturally, the average Terran does not have the psychic capabilities to control such power with their mind alone. Psych power was formerly just a myth known as "magic", to the unaware Terrans.
PROGRESS
I'll be doing most of the work as a one-man-team, although I may seek help once I have a very convincing prototype or demo ready. I am currently learning the engine code and scripting workflow, and have added just a few things so far (exp. and stats). I have a cool concept for a magic system, but not the code for it yet. I have conept layouts of GUIs and menus setup, but they need a lot of work.
I am developing content using Blender, MilkShape, the Gimp, and for level editing...Quark until I can find a way to grow money on trees. Level design (artwork-wise) isn't a big concern as I have worked on at least a dozen before, it's migrating to a different BSP editor that worries me. I've drawn up a few characters on paper, only one is modelled until I get past the prototype or demo stage. Here's a small preview of my artwork...
Melee Weapons
Demon Female, "Eve"
The lighting looks a lot better in Torque than in blender. The vertex weights and UV mapping still need a lot of work (the texturing lacks depth), but she should do for a dirty prototype. I imagine that by the time all the characters are fully implemented, I would learn a lot more about modelling and animation, that this first character will have to be redone if I am going for perfection.
I imagine this project can take me years to complete, but I'm not in any hurry. I'm not at all new to gameplay programming or content design, but there's a lot to learn about TGE, and I'm learning a lot of it on the way. When I can afford it, I'll most likely purchase content packs to cut down on content creation time. Funny I say this, because I envisioned the look and feel of this game over a year ago, and recently I checked out a video demo of Tim Aste's content pack 2, and a lot of his work gives the exact bleak feel that I've dreamed up of for so long. Co-incidence or fate?
About the author
#2
I don't know if 3,000+ faces is too high, but this game is not going to be a fast-paced multiplayer FPS like UT2004, so I think it should be okay (especially in 2 years when the game is finally complete).
10/19/2005 (5:57 pm)
Eve is 3191 faces, which is a little less than a human female mesh in UT2004, yet Eve looks more detailed in terms of the mesh itself. I need to detail my texture a little more to get her looking somewhat realistic.I don't know if 3,000+ faces is too high, but this game is not going to be a fast-paced multiplayer FPS like UT2004, so I think it should be okay (especially in 2 years when the game is finally complete).
#3
10/19/2005 (8:21 pm)
I believe the recomended poly count for characters in torque is a little over 2,000. However that was a couple years back, computers can handle alot more now. I'm sure as long as you get a good level of detail set up it'll be fine. 
#4
Little critique: I would up your hand and foot size...the proportions are a bit small. Compare the face size to the hand, the character should be able to completely palm thier own face.
Great progress! Although I would definitely reconsider your coding style for a project like this, cant imagine keeping 10000 lines of code and function in my head.
10/19/2005 (8:21 pm)
eve's 'living costume' top is hilarious...do they squeeze during special moves? Automatically check for lumps?Little critique: I would up your hand and foot size...the proportions are a bit small. Compare the face size to the hand, the character should be able to completely palm thier own face.
Great progress! Although I would definitely reconsider your coding style for a project like this, cant imagine keeping 10000 lines of code and function in my head.
#5
The view in the Blender render window showing the feet is from above, so the feet appear much smaller. I think I may even change them a bit to look more like hooves. The hands I've resized once before, but you're right, I think they may need another resize.
10/20/2005 (12:16 am)
Quote:eve's 'living costume' top is hilarious...do they squeeze during special moves? Automatically check for lumps?If you think that's funny, you should see "Evan", the male version of the demon species. :o
The view in the Blender render window showing the feet is from above, so the feet appear much smaller. I think I may even change them a bit to look more like hooves. The hands I've resized once before, but you're right, I think they may need another resize.
#6
Eve update:
Human Female (still unnamed):
I have used eve as a base mesh (since the concept sketches for the two females were very similar in shape and size), with slight vertex modifications and texturing to make the new human female. I don't care if I got the asian theme slightly inaccurate, because there is no Asia in this game anyways (it only takes place on a planet similar to earth, so cultural details don't have to be accurate).
Note that this is not final artwork. I know my texture detailing is very poor ATM, but these models are only prototypes. I'll most likely completely redo the UV mapping and make new textures based on the current ones. For now, this is all the time I want to spend on artwork for my character prototypes, details can wait until later.
I know many people strongly advise not to even go as far as this in their game artwork this early into development. I am though, because I'm currently taking a break from the other game development areas. My programming has slowed down majorly, due to the fact that I get stuck a lot. I'd love to buy that 3D programming all in one book (and the advanced one too), but I'm broke and deep in debt, so until I can afford it I will be very lost with what should be simple things to do in the TGE.
This is kind of funny, because up until now, I thought programming was my strong point. Having made open source applications for 5 years, and Unreal engine based game modding for 2 years, I was convinced I was talented enough in programming to make my own games. It turns out, I am enjoying 3D modelling a lot more and getting a lot further with it in my game development than I am with programming. Maybe this shouldn't surprise me, because I've always been an artist and graphics is what got me into computers to begin with.
By the time this game is finally done, I'll probably have a better idea of what I like to do more. Maybe I am barking up the wrong career tree with programming. Or maybe 2D/3D artwork will remain as my secondary skill, like it has been the past 5 years. Only time will tell...
10/31/2005 (6:03 pm)
Here's a tiny update on the artwork.Eve update:
Human Female (still unnamed):
I have used eve as a base mesh (since the concept sketches for the two females were very similar in shape and size), with slight vertex modifications and texturing to make the new human female. I don't care if I got the asian theme slightly inaccurate, because there is no Asia in this game anyways (it only takes place on a planet similar to earth, so cultural details don't have to be accurate).
Note that this is not final artwork. I know my texture detailing is very poor ATM, but these models are only prototypes. I'll most likely completely redo the UV mapping and make new textures based on the current ones. For now, this is all the time I want to spend on artwork for my character prototypes, details can wait until later.
I know many people strongly advise not to even go as far as this in their game artwork this early into development. I am though, because I'm currently taking a break from the other game development areas. My programming has slowed down majorly, due to the fact that I get stuck a lot. I'd love to buy that 3D programming all in one book (and the advanced one too), but I'm broke and deep in debt, so until I can afford it I will be very lost with what should be simple things to do in the TGE.
This is kind of funny, because up until now, I thought programming was my strong point. Having made open source applications for 5 years, and Unreal engine based game modding for 2 years, I was convinced I was talented enough in programming to make my own games. It turns out, I am enjoying 3D modelling a lot more and getting a lot further with it in my game development than I am with programming. Maybe this shouldn't surprise me, because I've always been an artist and graphics is what got me into computers to begin with.
By the time this game is finally done, I'll probably have a better idea of what I like to do more. Maybe I am barking up the wrong career tree with programming. Or maybe 2D/3D artwork will remain as my secondary skill, like it has been the past 5 years. Only time will tell...
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