Plan for Arland "Barry" Woodham
by Arland (Barry) Woodham · 09/24/2004 (6:12 am) · 4 comments
Ok well I ment to do this update a little bit earlier but here it is none the less. My idea was approved on the condition that I get some concept art done as to develope the art side of the project more. The professor does not want the project to become just a learning of how to use the Torque engine. As such I had to convince here that the art part of the project was the main part and the engine would be used to assemble everything together. I said I would post the three concept proposels so here they are.
Car Based Deathmatch
The basics of what I want to do in this project is create a different kind of shooter game. Instead of being a person running around in a deathmatch arena trying to blow the other guy's head off this would be slightly different. The player drives a vehicle around armed with weaponry and attempts to blow up the other player. The main difference is the fact that driving a car around requires more focus on movement than running around in first person. This is because the car does not move in the same ways. For example a car can not jump but, it can however hit a ramp and sail a far distance which a person can not jump. If there is a little time at the end I may even look into hand brakes, because in driving games they change the dynamic of car movement so much. The main point I am wanting to get to is that this kind of game can be picked up quickly and still has enough skill involved to keep players coming back. A great example of this idea is the battle mode of San Francisco Rush 2049. For creating this game I want to use the Torque engine, the same engine that was used to create the AAA game Tribes 2. The engine supports everything I would need to make this game. Vehicle support, weapons, animations, particles, interiors, exteriors, c like scripting, gui design tools, terrain, networking, and much more that I probably wont even get to touch in making this game. There is even a working example of mounted weapons on vehicles that already works in Torque. My goal would be to continue this project into Project II so that I can make it into a full prototype game with two or three arenas, four vehicles, and five weapons. Possibly more could be included if the right talent is interested in helping me. However for this class I plan to do one arena, two vehicles, and one weapon then combine them all into the engine to get at least a functioning demo. The arena modeling would require probably the most work out of all the parts just because it is so large and I have to learn QuArK to create it. However I have done level design work before and from what I have looked at so far it does not seem too difficult. The vehicle models should be very easy to create since I have already done modeling before and this is not really different. The file just needs to be exported to a different file format. The weapon just like the cars should be easy to model then would require some animation and scripting to make it work. This too I do not believe will be too difficult to do. In the end I have done a lot of thinking about this project and I can honestly say that I would not attempt it if I weren't sure of my ability to complete it.
Demolition Derby
The basics of what I would do in this project is create a game where the players in cars drive around hiting each other. The point is trying to score critical hits without having them being done to you. There would be no weapons just the cars themselves. The game play would rest mostly on the player's ability to drive. If a player drives around recklessly without thought to there actions then their car would end up recieving far too much damage and the would be out of the game very quickly. The fact that there are no weapons would be compensated with upgrades that could be made to the cars such as faster acceleration, for hitting other cars harder, and frame enhancements, which would improve the lifespan of the car on the battlefield. Basically a first time player would get destroyed very quickly but would still have the fun of blowing up a few other cars first. This would create the annoyance factor needed to make the player want to get the very best car and crush those who crushed him. However at the same time the player would never be dead last because then they might feel worthless and quit the game altogether. Just like the deathmatch game there is a great example of this kind of game on the Dreamcast as well by the name of Demolition Racer: No Exit. For creating this game I would again want to use the Torque engine, the same engine that was used to create the AAA game Tribes 2. The engine supports everything I would need to make this game. Vehicle support, animations, particles, interiors, exteriors, c like scripting, gui design tools, terrain, networking, and much more that I probably would not even get to touch in making this game. For creating this game three things would be needed, at least one arena, five or more cars, and an upgrading system for those cars. Again the interior would take a large amount of time being as it is a large thing to create and I would have to learn the QuArK editor. I have done level design though and feel I can use it though. Making the vehicles would not be hard but I would need quite a few of them so the player would not see twenty versions of the same car driving around. The main part in all of the game that would be a challenge would be the upgrade system. I am not sure how long it would take to create because there would have to be quite a number of upgrades available to keep the player interested in the game. Over all this project I feel would be a nice one to do but it would probably end up taking much more time to complete than the deathmatch one.
Generic Racing Game
What this project would entail is basically what all racing games do already. It would start the player off with a fairly low end car that the player could enter lower league races with. After wining a little bit of money the playing could upgrade his car to be a little bit better. Eventually the car will be good enough that the minor races are a piece of cake and the player will want a challenge. This is when the main game would begin. The main races would consist of AI controlled opponents that would have their own upgrades after each race. The goal of the player would of course be to figure out these opponents and find ways to beat them. Eventually working their way to the championship races which after the player can win the game would be over. This is anything from a simple project and would probably require a few years for me to complete in it's entirety even with help from others. For creating this game I would again want to use the Torque engine. The engine supports everything I would need to make this game. Vehicle support, animations, particles, interiors, exteriors, c like scripting, gui design tools, terrain, networking, and much more that I probably would not even get to touch in making this game. What the project would come down to in this class is one or two tracks, a few cars, and an upgrade system. Just like the other game ideas the vehicles would be the easy part. The interior on this project would not really be worried about because the tracks would be outside. In which case QuArK would still be used but for much simpler things. Instead a vast amount of time in this game would be taken up by creating code fore three things. The first being the checkpoint system to make sure that the player can't take shortcuts across the infield. This would not be too difficult to create and could probably be done in one afternoon. The next thing that would be needed is AI for the racing vehicles. I know that Torque supports some AI but to what extent I am not sure. This point could take quite some time. The last thing which much be done is an upgrade system which like in the demolition game could take quite some time to create. Mainly by the need for many possibilities for upgrading. Looking at this project and the others this one would take the most work to create an I am unsure of whether I could get it done in the time frame or not. So while idea wise it may seem the simplest in the end it is the most complicated because the others may have more unique points they can work better with fewer parts completed.
On top of all of that I needed to do some tests to get some objects into torque both an interior and a shape. I did not have much difficultly with that other than some quirks that QuArK has. The first image is a car that I modeled in Wings 3d then imported into Milkshape and finally imported into Torque. The car is not yet textured so that is why it has such a flat look. The next is a veiw of my QuArK test which I wanted to do something simple as im modual but a large area. I decided to do a simple parking garrage for this and it is only textured with a simple concrete texture. Hmmmm how appropriate that my first interior be a garrage here at garrage games. I most likely will not be doing any additional work on it as it could have been majorly optomized but it was just a learning project. The last shot is just a show off shot from inside the parking garrage in the middle of nowhere.
****edit****
Ok images should work now
****edit****
My next update will include the concept pieces for this project so if anyone is actually watching my project look for it around Tuesday. Also one other little update while im at it. There is a group project game being developed here at SCAD and they want me to be a programmer for them. Two things are really cool about this. The first is that it could mean a trip to the GDC as the piece is going to be submitted for the compitition. Second I don't know what engine they were developing with before but they are using Torque now. How cool is that two Torque projects at the same school. Who knows after this year is over we may have given the school enough intrest to start developing with more advanced stuff than just Director and UT2004 levels. Anyways we'll see how things turn out.
Well I guess thats it for now and if its not enough. Well then thats just too bad. :P
Car Based Deathmatch
The basics of what I want to do in this project is create a different kind of shooter game. Instead of being a person running around in a deathmatch arena trying to blow the other guy's head off this would be slightly different. The player drives a vehicle around armed with weaponry and attempts to blow up the other player. The main difference is the fact that driving a car around requires more focus on movement than running around in first person. This is because the car does not move in the same ways. For example a car can not jump but, it can however hit a ramp and sail a far distance which a person can not jump. If there is a little time at the end I may even look into hand brakes, because in driving games they change the dynamic of car movement so much. The main point I am wanting to get to is that this kind of game can be picked up quickly and still has enough skill involved to keep players coming back. A great example of this idea is the battle mode of San Francisco Rush 2049. For creating this game I want to use the Torque engine, the same engine that was used to create the AAA game Tribes 2. The engine supports everything I would need to make this game. Vehicle support, weapons, animations, particles, interiors, exteriors, c like scripting, gui design tools, terrain, networking, and much more that I probably wont even get to touch in making this game. There is even a working example of mounted weapons on vehicles that already works in Torque. My goal would be to continue this project into Project II so that I can make it into a full prototype game with two or three arenas, four vehicles, and five weapons. Possibly more could be included if the right talent is interested in helping me. However for this class I plan to do one arena, two vehicles, and one weapon then combine them all into the engine to get at least a functioning demo. The arena modeling would require probably the most work out of all the parts just because it is so large and I have to learn QuArK to create it. However I have done level design work before and from what I have looked at so far it does not seem too difficult. The vehicle models should be very easy to create since I have already done modeling before and this is not really different. The file just needs to be exported to a different file format. The weapon just like the cars should be easy to model then would require some animation and scripting to make it work. This too I do not believe will be too difficult to do. In the end I have done a lot of thinking about this project and I can honestly say that I would not attempt it if I weren't sure of my ability to complete it.
Demolition Derby
The basics of what I would do in this project is create a game where the players in cars drive around hiting each other. The point is trying to score critical hits without having them being done to you. There would be no weapons just the cars themselves. The game play would rest mostly on the player's ability to drive. If a player drives around recklessly without thought to there actions then their car would end up recieving far too much damage and the would be out of the game very quickly. The fact that there are no weapons would be compensated with upgrades that could be made to the cars such as faster acceleration, for hitting other cars harder, and frame enhancements, which would improve the lifespan of the car on the battlefield. Basically a first time player would get destroyed very quickly but would still have the fun of blowing up a few other cars first. This would create the annoyance factor needed to make the player want to get the very best car and crush those who crushed him. However at the same time the player would never be dead last because then they might feel worthless and quit the game altogether. Just like the deathmatch game there is a great example of this kind of game on the Dreamcast as well by the name of Demolition Racer: No Exit. For creating this game I would again want to use the Torque engine, the same engine that was used to create the AAA game Tribes 2. The engine supports everything I would need to make this game. Vehicle support, animations, particles, interiors, exteriors, c like scripting, gui design tools, terrain, networking, and much more that I probably would not even get to touch in making this game. For creating this game three things would be needed, at least one arena, five or more cars, and an upgrading system for those cars. Again the interior would take a large amount of time being as it is a large thing to create and I would have to learn the QuArK editor. I have done level design though and feel I can use it though. Making the vehicles would not be hard but I would need quite a few of them so the player would not see twenty versions of the same car driving around. The main part in all of the game that would be a challenge would be the upgrade system. I am not sure how long it would take to create because there would have to be quite a number of upgrades available to keep the player interested in the game. Over all this project I feel would be a nice one to do but it would probably end up taking much more time to complete than the deathmatch one.
Generic Racing Game
What this project would entail is basically what all racing games do already. It would start the player off with a fairly low end car that the player could enter lower league races with. After wining a little bit of money the playing could upgrade his car to be a little bit better. Eventually the car will be good enough that the minor races are a piece of cake and the player will want a challenge. This is when the main game would begin. The main races would consist of AI controlled opponents that would have their own upgrades after each race. The goal of the player would of course be to figure out these opponents and find ways to beat them. Eventually working their way to the championship races which after the player can win the game would be over. This is anything from a simple project and would probably require a few years for me to complete in it's entirety even with help from others. For creating this game I would again want to use the Torque engine. The engine supports everything I would need to make this game. Vehicle support, animations, particles, interiors, exteriors, c like scripting, gui design tools, terrain, networking, and much more that I probably would not even get to touch in making this game. What the project would come down to in this class is one or two tracks, a few cars, and an upgrade system. Just like the other game ideas the vehicles would be the easy part. The interior on this project would not really be worried about because the tracks would be outside. In which case QuArK would still be used but for much simpler things. Instead a vast amount of time in this game would be taken up by creating code fore three things. The first being the checkpoint system to make sure that the player can't take shortcuts across the infield. This would not be too difficult to create and could probably be done in one afternoon. The next thing that would be needed is AI for the racing vehicles. I know that Torque supports some AI but to what extent I am not sure. This point could take quite some time. The last thing which much be done is an upgrade system which like in the demolition game could take quite some time to create. Mainly by the need for many possibilities for upgrading. Looking at this project and the others this one would take the most work to create an I am unsure of whether I could get it done in the time frame or not. So while idea wise it may seem the simplest in the end it is the most complicated because the others may have more unique points they can work better with fewer parts completed.
On top of all of that I needed to do some tests to get some objects into torque both an interior and a shape. I did not have much difficultly with that other than some quirks that QuArK has. The first image is a car that I modeled in Wings 3d then imported into Milkshape and finally imported into Torque. The car is not yet textured so that is why it has such a flat look. The next is a veiw of my QuArK test which I wanted to do something simple as im modual but a large area. I decided to do a simple parking garrage for this and it is only textured with a simple concrete texture. Hmmmm how appropriate that my first interior be a garrage here at garrage games. I most likely will not be doing any additional work on it as it could have been majorly optomized but it was just a learning project. The last shot is just a show off shot from inside the parking garrage in the middle of nowhere.
****edit****
Ok images should work now
****edit****
My next update will include the concept pieces for this project so if anyone is actually watching my project look for it around Tuesday. Also one other little update while im at it. There is a group project game being developed here at SCAD and they want me to be a programmer for them. Two things are really cool about this. The first is that it could mean a trip to the GDC as the piece is going to be submitted for the compitition. Second I don't know what engine they were developing with before but they are using Torque now. How cool is that two Torque projects at the same school. Who knows after this year is over we may have given the school enough intrest to start developing with more advanced stuff than just Director and UT2004 levels. Anyways we'll see how things turn out.
Well I guess thats it for now and if its not enough. Well then thats just too bad. :P
About the author
#2
Maybe create a ramp to park on the roof ? My 2c
09/27/2004 (3:59 am)
Cool building... a few ramps on the top floor should be fun :)Maybe create a ramp to park on the roof ? My 2c
#3
@Burning
Maybe but like I said it was for learning the program I dont really plan to do anymore work on it but there are ramps to each level inside just like a real parking garrage. Just the top level has a ceiling it isnt open.
09/27/2004 (5:51 pm)
Thanks for showing some interest guys I should be doing an update tommorow with concept artwork.@Burning
Maybe but like I said it was for learning the program I dont really plan to do anymore work on it but there are ramps to each level inside just like a real parking garrage. Just the top level has a ceiling it isnt open.
#4
09/27/2004 (10:14 pm)
Yeah yeah... I was just saying it would be cool to ramp... I miss my Stunts! 
dakz0rz
hope it goes well for you