Game Development Diary. Ange Andrianavalona

Third person adventure – Template for the Blender Game Engine , février 14th 2009  5

Hi,

here is a 3rd person adventure template for the Blender Game Engine that I started developing one month ago.
It is intended for beginners like me to use for educational purpose, but I also would be glad to see great games made from it.

I must add that I only discovered Blender in november and the Game Engine (+Python) in january so you may find that some things should have been made another way.
It’s a basic template, please add your own improvements.
I got much help on my thread, especially PhilB who really worked a lot on it.
Thanks to the people who contributed by submitting a script or answering some of my questions.

Please see .blend for credits.

ps : Don’t touch the red platforms.

DOWNLOAD

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d e s c r i p t i o n

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Features

• Servo motion moves
• Mouseview : camera rotating around the character
• Character only rotates (using mouse) when moving.
• The camera rotates independently when movement keys are not being pressed.
• No collision camera setup
• Friendly names are used for sensors/controlers/actuators better understanding
• Basic Teleporters
• Basic Jumpers
• Right click zoom in first-person view (+moves = Mirror’s Edge like )
• Death state (red cube = Game over message)Red platforms will kill you -> Death State -> Game over message -> Scene restarts
• AutoJump (can easily be disabled. Instructions in the _ReadMe)

• The player becomes transparent if the camera is too close (Alpha Ipo)

• States

Notes

• AutoJump : you can adapt the auto jump function to your level design by changing the value of the ‘high’ sensor. (Deciding whether the auto jump is activated or not (stairs = no jump, cliff = jump)

• If you need to append the character, go to « Group > Full_Character » and then you should be able to append all the objects needed by the character, and use it in your own file

Known issues

• Moving platforms : I got much help on my thread to solve this issue but I couldn’t find a good method to make the character follow the platform, walk and jump on it (problem with speed) like a basic platformer (cf Mario).

Any contribution would be appreciated!

Requested features

Things that could be added, any contribution would be really greatly appreciated :

• Ledge Hanging like in Yo! Frankie
• Swimming state

Credits

Credits are given in the _ReadMe (Text).

If you use this template please give credit to the developers (Names are given in the resource section, including PhilB and Cray – myself).

I hope you will find it useful.

Framerate, level design and efficiency , janvier 28th 2009  0

FIGURE 1. The visibility spectrum in a portal-enabled visibility engine. In camera A and C, the visibility spectrum is closed off using a door that disables the portal. In camera B, transition zones keep the player from seeing into the next area. The very small visibility spectrum in B lets us place a highly detailed statue that we could not afford in the other areas.

More informations on Eric Chadwick’s website :
Beautiful, Yet Friendly Part 1: Stop Hitting the Bottleneck
Beautiful, Yet Friendly Part 2: Maximizing Efficiency

States with the Blender Game Engine , janvier 28th 2009  0

Tutorials on BlenderArtists :
State Machine Tutorial: Latest Apricot Builds:Finished

How the State system can help you

Resources : Fire, Rain, Water, Seasons in the Game Engine , janvier 28th 2009  0

Night and Day

Day to Night in Blender from Andrew on Vimeo.

Some discussions on BA :
link

More resources needed.

Real-Time Fire in the Game Engine

particle basics, particle flame, particle fire and particle smoke.
Direct link to tutorials : link

Quotes from BA members :
for a random fire simply add an empty and make it so that each frame (like 1-10) it’s in a different location. then make it so it’s always playing the ipo and it’s always adding fire particles. hope this helps =D I’ve played with fires in the GE a lot.

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Interactive storytelling , janvier 18th 2009  0

photo by ktylerconk

I’ve found a very useful tool that can be used as a writing framework.
This tool is called SWAT and is provided by Chris Crawford.
After a quick look, I think i’ll give it a try for my next children’s book and game project.
You should take a look and find if there is something for you.

Notes taken from the website.

What is Interactive Storytelling?

Interactive storytelling is a new medium of artistic expression. It utilizes the greatest strength of the computer interactivity while drawing on the traditions of classic storytelling. The result is a unique experience where you play the protagonist of a virtual story. Interactive Storytelling provides all the drama and emotional complexity that one expects from a good story, and additionally invites you to influence the unfolding of the narrative according to your own thoughts and emotions.

Lot of useful informations in the rest of this entry

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Animation project [french] , janvier 17th 2009  0

lu sur BlenderPro
Parce qu’il est parfois bon de se rappeler les bases, et de travailler de manière organisée.

1. Rédaction de l’histoire complète chapitrée
2. Définition finale des scènes avec plans d’environnements et d’actions
3. Création des scènes 3d low-poly et de l’éclairage final
4. Réalisation de l’animatique et du découpage vidéo/audio
5. Production des scènes 3D High-D et rendus
6. Montage vidéo et post-proc., montage audio

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Teleport projectiles – scripts , janvier 12th 2009  0

‘Almost’ and ‘PhilB’ have shared great scripts.
You can download it and find demos on my thread on BlenderArtists : link

Projectiles and teleporter , janvier 11th 2009  0

Projectiles Tests and Issues.

Collisions issue after teleporting.

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Controls , janvier 10th 2009  0

Artistic and technical choices , janvier 10th 2009  0

Still growing list

• Modeling
• Texturing
• Animation
• Lighting
• Visual effects
• Landscape/Matte painting
• Art Direction
• Compositing and editing
• Character
• Camera
• Mouse actions