Ninjas vs. Pirates: Pushing TGE to the Limits
by Jon Jorajuria · 07/24/2006 (8:33 pm) · 18 comments
Update
Ninjas vs. Pirates is moving along and the team has been growing. We have been scrutinizing the game and making changes both visually and programmatically. For the most part the project has remained within scope. However due the unexpected popularity of Ninjas vs. Pirates, based on the amount of hits on the myspace.com page and our website, we have been concentrating on upgrading the capabilities of TGE.
CG shaders is something that has been around the community for a while now. Like several games that are currently in production, Ninjas vs. Pirates has also incorporated shader technology in the engine. The NvP team decided to use GLSL and allow the user to configure their shader options. By doing this not only do we have cross platform compatibility, but it will not exclude potential players from running the game based on how good their video card is. In other words a player will be able to configure their graphics to run from base TGE mode all the way up "I have an SLI configured system running dual nVidia 7200s" mode.
The shader rendering is the most obvious update to Ninjas vs. Pirates. The key to its successful implementation really has to do with the rendering optimization. Alex "Delerium" Scarborough has been hard at work optimizing and expanding the shader capabilities for Ninjas vs. Pirates, his work is amazing.
In addition to all the shader work, there has been a lot of work done to the magic system. Jeff Faust was kind enough to allow us into the pre-release of his Arcane-FX pack. We have been tailoring the Arcane-FX pack to suit the needs of the game.
The following are a few screen shots taken of Ninjas vs. Pirates Beta 2 level. All artwork is placeholder art and the screen shots were taken with a nVidia 7200 graphics card.
Bump Mapping
Refractive Water
DRL with Bloom and GLSL Ocean
Ninja Cloak
Ninja Fire
Future of the Game
As I stated earlier, the team is scrutinizing the game and making adjustments. Again keep in mind that the previous screen shots all contain placeholder art. The art team is working hard to finalize the art assets that will be present in polished beta 2 build.
Conclusion
We are on the threshold of making the next push that will eventually lead to a released game. We are still holding back on a lot of the surprises that the game contains. If we are lucky we will get the "nice to haves" in the game and really knock your socks off.
Contact
Game Website: ninjasvspirates.darkcombat.net
My Space: www.myspace.com/ninjasverpirates
E-mail: info@darkcombat.net
Ninjas vs. Pirates is moving along and the team has been growing. We have been scrutinizing the game and making changes both visually and programmatically. For the most part the project has remained within scope. However due the unexpected popularity of Ninjas vs. Pirates, based on the amount of hits on the myspace.com page and our website, we have been concentrating on upgrading the capabilities of TGE.
CG shaders is something that has been around the community for a while now. Like several games that are currently in production, Ninjas vs. Pirates has also incorporated shader technology in the engine. The NvP team decided to use GLSL and allow the user to configure their shader options. By doing this not only do we have cross platform compatibility, but it will not exclude potential players from running the game based on how good their video card is. In other words a player will be able to configure their graphics to run from base TGE mode all the way up "I have an SLI configured system running dual nVidia 7200s" mode.
The shader rendering is the most obvious update to Ninjas vs. Pirates. The key to its successful implementation really has to do with the rendering optimization. Alex "Delerium" Scarborough has been hard at work optimizing and expanding the shader capabilities for Ninjas vs. Pirates, his work is amazing.
In addition to all the shader work, there has been a lot of work done to the magic system. Jeff Faust was kind enough to allow us into the pre-release of his Arcane-FX pack. We have been tailoring the Arcane-FX pack to suit the needs of the game.
The following are a few screen shots taken of Ninjas vs. Pirates Beta 2 level. All artwork is placeholder art and the screen shots were taken with a nVidia 7200 graphics card.
Bump Mapping
Refractive Water
DRL with Bloom and GLSL Ocean
Ninja Cloak
Ninja Fire
Future of the Game
As I stated earlier, the team is scrutinizing the game and making adjustments. Again keep in mind that the previous screen shots all contain placeholder art. The art team is working hard to finalize the art assets that will be present in polished beta 2 build.
Conclusion
We are on the threshold of making the next push that will eventually lead to a released game. We are still holding back on a lot of the surprises that the game contains. If we are lucky we will get the "nice to haves" in the game and really knock your socks off.
Contact
Game Website: ninjasvspirates.darkcombat.net
My Space: www.myspace.com/ninjasverpirates
E-mail: info@darkcombat.net
About the author
#2
07/24/2006 (9:00 pm)
I agree this is one of the best looking games made from Toque that i have seen!
#3
Maybe you should tell askaninja.com about it....
Keep up the good work!
07/24/2006 (9:13 pm)
Thiss looks awesome!Maybe you should tell askaninja.com about it....
Keep up the good work!
#4
This game is looking great so far. I was just checking out your site the other day, and then lo' and behold, an update on GG! The legendary war between pirates and ninjas is a great idea for a game, and I wish you luck with it. After seeing Pirates of the Caribbean 2 recently, my faith in the equality between ninjas and pirates has been restored.
07/24/2006 (9:25 pm)
How did you get rid of the underwater uglyness caused by the Cg water shader? Also, that underwater refraction looks very nice, could you point me in the direction of the resource you used (if any)?This game is looking great so far. I was just checking out your site the other day, and then lo' and behold, an update on GG! The legendary war between pirates and ninjas is a great idea for a game, and I wish you luck with it. After seeing Pirates of the Caribbean 2 recently, my faith in the equality between ninjas and pirates has been restored.
#5
@Plague-We are not using CG at all, everything is done via GLSL and all of it is custom code.
07/24/2006 (9:39 pm)
Thanks for the good words guys ...@Plague-We are not using CG at all, everything is done via GLSL and all of it is custom code.
#6
Ninjas is looking great, especially with the addition of the new spells. Cant wait to try it out.
07/24/2006 (9:57 pm)
Great stuff, Alex has also been kind enough to help us improve illumina as well and it looks amazing. The refractive water especially is just amazing.Ninjas is looking great, especially with the addition of the new spells. Cant wait to try it out.
#7
07/24/2006 (10:52 pm)
Looks really nice. GLSL is an awesome shader language. 
#9
07/25/2006 (2:12 am)
Noice! Berry Noice! I especially like the spell casting on the last shot - Arcane FX????
#11
07/25/2006 (8:35 am)
Love that boat shot! Have any shots of the in game GUI? :) At first I didnt think the idea for Ninjas vs Pirates was that "interesting"..or equal for that matter... but the idea definitely grows on you the more you think about it and let it set in. Now I think its pretty damn sweet! :D Looking foward to seeing the progress!
#12
07/25/2006 (10:11 am)
I think it is awesome that there are teams like this one pushing TGE. Its a bonus that you have such a kick ass concept to work with ;). I can't wait to see what you guys produce. 
#13
07/25/2006 (12:55 pm)
Shiver me timbers! Ninjas vs. Pirates is looking better and better. The water looks just great... ya can't have pirates if ya don't have nice water. These pics almost make me wanna walk the plank and jump right in. 
#15
07/26/2006 (5:48 pm)
I like the spell effect. Out of curiosity is that effect done with the Arcane-FX package?
#16
07/26/2006 (6:39 pm)
Yes the effects are from Jeff Faust's Arcane-FX pack.
#18
11/26/2006 (5:59 pm)
make sure you make it for mac. i really want to try this game out 
Torque Owner Willbkool
Gamebox Creations
This is going to be the best looking game using TGE I think.