Plan for Joe Maruschak
by Joe Maruschak · 09/29/2002 (8:28 am) · 6 comments
The Exporter
I have noticed recently that many people are having problems with either compiling the exporter or they are running a debug build of the exporter (which takes forever to export)
If you are having trouble with the exporter, you can use the build of the exporter I am using. (it is for MAX4) I have uploaded it here.
www.joemaruschak.com/max2dtsExporter.zip
Hopefully this will solve the majority of the problems people are having with the exporter.
ThinkTanks
In other news, our game, ThinkTanks is now in full development. We had playtesting sessions last week and these sessions have convinced us that it will be fun enough to start talking about it a little more.
We have some tank shapes that are nearing completion. Here is a screengrab of one of the shapes:
The shape was actually built in MAYA and transferred into 3DSMAX for export using the FilmBox (.fbx) format, which worked quite well and got around all the weird scale issues one encounters when going between MAX and MAYA.
Here is a screenshot of the game:
All of the art is placeholder (so please don't comment on how ugly it is right now). The game has a sort of quasi-RTS/FPS feel, which is what we were going for. Also of note is that the turrets are working. You drive with the normal WASD keys, and the turret is controlled by the mouselook but constrained to screen space.
For the playtesting session, we had hotkeys that allowed on the fly switching of 4 different tank models, all with diffferent firing configurations. This allowed us to test different reload timeouts.
In addition to playtesting to make the game fun, these tests also allowed us to make some recordings of the test sessions and run a battery of automated performance tests. The tests were run on different computers and generated a mountain of data on framerates given different polycounts and texture loads. The data is being examined now and we hope to soon post the results of our tests in the hopes that other developers will find the data useful.
IndieCon
Looks like I am going to be speaking at the IndieCon. In a week or so, I am going to create a thread in the forums to get feedback on what y'all would like me to cover (I will be presenting a session on the exporter). You can also post comments here.
Content Packs
The Content Packs are ready to go. We are just waiting for the GG e-commerce section to go live. If you are interested in learning more about the content packs, post a comment here, send us an email, or add a comment to this thread.
BraveTree Productions
If anyone has any questions about our game, our company, or the content packs you can reach us at info@bravetree.com or post a comment here.
I am heading out of town on business for the next 5 days (leaving Monday morning), so I won't be responding to any posts here or any emails until next Friday.
I have noticed recently that many people are having problems with either compiling the exporter or they are running a debug build of the exporter (which takes forever to export)
If you are having trouble with the exporter, you can use the build of the exporter I am using. (it is for MAX4) I have uploaded it here.
www.joemaruschak.com/max2dtsExporter.zip
Hopefully this will solve the majority of the problems people are having with the exporter.
ThinkTanks
In other news, our game, ThinkTanks is now in full development. We had playtesting sessions last week and these sessions have convinced us that it will be fun enough to start talking about it a little more.
We have some tank shapes that are nearing completion. Here is a screengrab of one of the shapes:
The shape was actually built in MAYA and transferred into 3DSMAX for export using the FilmBox (.fbx) format, which worked quite well and got around all the weird scale issues one encounters when going between MAX and MAYA.
Here is a screenshot of the game:
All of the art is placeholder (so please don't comment on how ugly it is right now). The game has a sort of quasi-RTS/FPS feel, which is what we were going for. Also of note is that the turrets are working. You drive with the normal WASD keys, and the turret is controlled by the mouselook but constrained to screen space.
For the playtesting session, we had hotkeys that allowed on the fly switching of 4 different tank models, all with diffferent firing configurations. This allowed us to test different reload timeouts.
In addition to playtesting to make the game fun, these tests also allowed us to make some recordings of the test sessions and run a battery of automated performance tests. The tests were run on different computers and generated a mountain of data on framerates given different polycounts and texture loads. The data is being examined now and we hope to soon post the results of our tests in the hopes that other developers will find the data useful.
IndieCon
Looks like I am going to be speaking at the IndieCon. In a week or so, I am going to create a thread in the forums to get feedback on what y'all would like me to cover (I will be presenting a session on the exporter). You can also post comments here.
Content Packs
The Content Packs are ready to go. We are just waiting for the GG e-commerce section to go live. If you are interested in learning more about the content packs, post a comment here, send us an email, or add a comment to this thread.
BraveTree Productions
If anyone has any questions about our game, our company, or the content packs you can reach us at info@bravetree.com or post a comment here.
I am heading out of town on business for the next 5 days (leaving Monday morning), so I won't be responding to any posts here or any emails until next Friday.
About the author
#2
09/29/2002 (3:14 pm)
Will u be releasing your turret code?
#3
Maybe in the future, but not right now. The tank shape is a special type of shape that is not derived from the player, vehicle, or shapebase classes that exist in the Torque. It is built to do exactly what we need it to do and would not work for other peoples applications without some modification.
Maybe after the game ships we can take a look at what it would take to get it to the rest of the community.
09/29/2002 (3:31 pm)
@Anthony:Maybe in the future, but not right now. The tank shape is a special type of shape that is not derived from the player, vehicle, or shapebase classes that exist in the Torque. It is built to do exactly what we need it to do and would not work for other peoples applications without some modification.
Maybe after the game ships we can take a look at what it would take to get it to the rest of the community.
#4
09/29/2002 (9:24 pm)
Nice work, Joe! And I can't wait to get your content packs - hopefully the GG player site will be up soon...! 
#5
As for the FilmBox (FBX) format what did you think of it? I have heard a lot of people recommending it when they work in production pipelines that use various 3D software applications, so I am wondering what your thoughts are on the format and whether or not it should become a defacto standard for the distribution of models (especially for Realm Wars).
Keep up the great work as always Joe.
09/30/2002 (7:13 am)
Joe that tank looks pretty sweet and the gameplay screenshot that you posted looks like you have a really fun action game on your hands with fast and furious combat :)As for the FilmBox (FBX) format what did you think of it? I have heard a lot of people recommending it when they work in production pipelines that use various 3D software applications, so I am wondering what your thoughts are on the format and whether or not it should become a defacto standard for the distribution of models (especially for Realm Wars).
Keep up the great work as always Joe.
#6
Have not really put the .fbx format through it's paces, but I like what I have seen soi far. Superior to .3ds and .obj, that's for sure. If people are working in MAYA trying to get stuff into MAX, it look like it might be the way to go.
10/04/2002 (8:42 pm)
@Logan,Have not really put the .fbx format through it's paces, but I like what I have seen soi far. Superior to .3ds and .obj, that's for sure. If people are working in MAYA trying to get stuff into MAX, it look like it might be the way to go.
Laurent Pavet
Eager to test your game.