MORPChat - Designing a system based on sprites, but...
by KP · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 02/28/2006 (4:44 pm) · 1 replies
Hello!
If you'll have read some of my other posts, you'll be aware that I'm a longtime user/administrator of roleplay-themed MU-style games, and my intention in working with TGE/TSE is to preserve that method of roleplay, but bring it into a fully 3d world. I'm not making a World of Warcraft wannabe - I'm just trying to graphically represent what would, before, just be room/object descriptions in text.
For my particular project, I think it's much more sensible to allow each individual player to create and use their own sprite/sprite-animations to represent their characters, rather than just give people 3d-models to select bits-and-pieces of features for. The problem is, I've been grappling with the technical design of such a system for days - and I just can't conceive of a workable framework, wholly due to my inexperience in crafting such a system or working on anything so complex before. So I'd like to ask for some basic pointers from the community, to help me at least conceive of a feasible system in which the unique creations of the users involved are distributed in some fashion to all others.
How to assign each player-character their unique sets of animations? Provided that they're all included in the client, or can be downloaded and added to a directory -- what then? I just can't think of a system for assigning - for locking specific player-characters to their appropriate animations.
If you'll have read some of my other posts, you'll be aware that I'm a longtime user/administrator of roleplay-themed MU-style games, and my intention in working with TGE/TSE is to preserve that method of roleplay, but bring it into a fully 3d world. I'm not making a World of Warcraft wannabe - I'm just trying to graphically represent what would, before, just be room/object descriptions in text.
For my particular project, I think it's much more sensible to allow each individual player to create and use their own sprite/sprite-animations to represent their characters, rather than just give people 3d-models to select bits-and-pieces of features for. The problem is, I've been grappling with the technical design of such a system for days - and I just can't conceive of a workable framework, wholly due to my inexperience in crafting such a system or working on anything so complex before. So I'd like to ask for some basic pointers from the community, to help me at least conceive of a feasible system in which the unique creations of the users involved are distributed in some fashion to all others.
How to assign each player-character their unique sets of animations? Provided that they're all included in the client, or can be downloaded and added to a directory -- what then? I just can't think of a system for assigning - for locking specific player-characters to their appropriate animations.
About the author
Torque Owner Tom Petrus
You want each player to create their sprite and sprite animation. Does that mean they select aspects of their character from an ingame GUI or that they manually create the artwork externally and plug it in?
I like the idea of unique players. Sprites never look quite right to me anymore after the last few years of 3d gaming. (It never bothered me in DOOM though. hehe) (I am still trying to figure out how to use sprites in the engine for other purposes...) If they are to create from an ingame GUI why abandon 3d models.
My morning brainstorm...
Create a humanoid model and make it super thin (depth and width of limbs torso etc..). attach a skeleton and do all your animations for every character type/power, etc with that skeleton. Using your stick figure player as reference, create an assortment of body parts... arms legs, torso, heads... At the character creation GUI allow players to construct their character with the body parts and attach them to the stick figure - mount the body parts to the named bones...
A lot of work and art but I think it would be just as much work using 2d sprites. The payoff would be a better looking 3d character, all animation available to every player (Of course you could limit what is available with code)
Just thinking out loud. . .