Journals
Side project showcase!
(I've kept the same format as my last journal)
I'm finished the first semester of uni for this year, so I'm ready to start on my big project again. I just thought I might show off some of my random side projects that I started during the semester. (I didn't want to do any big project until my break, which is a month long, starting now.)
Project the second: Randomly generated MUD game
Goal: Make this (with a twist).
I was bored at uni and I had a few hours to kill so I started making a MUD game. The basic idea is that it's the regular text-based adventure game, except everything is randomly generated, making it more of a text-based dungeon crawl. Also, I wanted to inject a 'twist' in the form of surprise windows forms elements appearing and offering a puzzle or display that no command line ever could.
Another thing I slipped in there was the use of the Half-Life 'action' words: Run, Think, Shoot, Live. "Think" was to be for investigation, "shoot" for attacking, "run" for movement, and "live" for...well, I didn't get that far.
See for yourself:
Early version showing random generation of map:
Bit later showing enemies:
The end. Nothing more was done. It wasn't really going anywhere anyway. The end result would be boring to play, so who really cares?
Project status:
Pretty much dead. Chances of revival: not zero, but slim. I have better things to work on.
Can you have it?
No. No, you can't.
PS: Big project hasn't started again. Maybe tomorrow...
(I've kept the same format as my last journal)
I'm finished the first semester of uni for this year, so I'm ready to start on my big project again. I just thought I might show off some of my random side projects that I started during the semester. (I didn't want to do any big project until my break, which is a month long, starting now.)
Project the second: Randomly generated MUD game
Goal: Make this (with a twist).
I was bored at uni and I had a few hours to kill so I started making a MUD game. The basic idea is that it's the regular text-based adventure game, except everything is randomly generated, making it more of a text-based dungeon crawl. Also, I wanted to inject a 'twist' in the form of surprise windows forms elements appearing and offering a puzzle or display that no command line ever could.
Another thing I slipped in there was the use of the Half-Life 'action' words: Run, Think, Shoot, Live. "Think" was to be for investigation, "shoot" for attacking, "run" for movement, and "live" for...well, I didn't get that far.
_>How far I got:
See for yourself:
Early version showing random generation of map:
Project status:
Pretty much dead. Chances of revival: not zero, but slim. I have better things to work on.
Can you have it?
No. No, you can't.
PS: Big project hasn't started again. Maybe tomorrow...
Received final exam results.
University of Abertay Dundee, here I come. 'B>
Commencing second victory beer.. now.
University of Abertay Dundee, here I come. 'B>
Commencing second victory beer.. now.
Just finished seeing Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen, and I must say the movie was great! It was intense from the get go, so much happening at once. This sequel is definitely better than the first one, a lot more action that any movie of 2009 so far. I might have to go and see it again just to get everything in....
I listened to this while I went about working on my computer, and I have to say these guys definitely achieved their goal of creating the most annoying song ever.
Mx518 !! That's the mouse I bought today ! Read here, on my blog ( also lots of shots with it) http://sjackm.wordpress.com/
I think this is interesting enough for you to watch :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu0ztxdsFis&feature=rec-HM-fresh+div
[EDIT] I think the member journals area needs 2\3 more slots.
I think this is interesting enough for you to watch :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu0ztxdsFis&feature=rec-HM-fresh+div
[EDIT] I think the member journals area needs 2\3 more slots.
Even more modelling!
Still working on the train animation, which got a little messy after being required to down scale, when render times went through the roof and already having downscaled to a lower quality...
So, i decided i could use something fun and usefull. Therefore a 3D model for a game would be nice, i had just seen the Generals at War documentary at NGC, and really like the T-34 tank.
So, here's a start:
I'm aiming for a BF 1942/HL2 model quality. Suggestions and critics welcome!
Still working on the train animation, which got a little messy after being required to down scale, when render times went through the roof and already having downscaled to a lower quality...
So, i decided i could use something fun and usefull. Therefore a 3D model for a game would be nice, i had just seen the Generals at War documentary at NGC, and really like the T-34 tank.
So, here's a start:
I'm in the process of making a model using Ambient.Impact's scientist source files. I'm removing the pen and pencil, the nametags, and adding new textures, but I'm not sure whether I want the tie or not. It's beautifully animated, but it probably won't fit so well in a 'town urban' setting.
Which looks better to you considering the setting?
Also, I've made a barney model for the same setting. Say hello to police officer barney;
He also has an alternate 357 model for spirit usage.
Also, I've made a barney model for the same setting. Say hello to police officer barney;
Just ordered myself a new mouse:
Logitech G9
For today only it's $20 after the mail-in, $30 Rebate
Not sure if they ship out of country (Apologies to 90% of the members)
But it's a great deal for a great mouse!
Logitech G9
For today only it's $20 after the mail-in, $30 Rebate
Not sure if they ship out of country (Apologies to 90% of the members)
But it's a great deal for a great mouse!
I believe I have the H1N1 flu (the "swine" flu).
I am staying home today. If I go to work, I will expose many babies to this virus.
I am staying home today. If I go to work, I will expose many babies to this virus.
UPDATE: MAX_MAP_MIPTEX
Goldsource, the old thing.
I am done with half the map that I am making now, and I found that there is a limit on how many textures can be used in a single map (up to 3.4 MB or something). At this point I've only got half the map. Now, fellow mappers, you know prolly how this goes. I am thinking that it would seem that I must sacrifice texture variety in order to finish the map. Anybody out here have a feasible alternative to sacrificing texture variety?
Oh boy, this map is getting big. And I'm still a crapmapper.
OH BUT HEY! While your still hanging around (ok fine, "You're" still hanging around,) Why not go play another one of my top-listed mods?
Let's see... here!
Mod name: TIME SHADOWS
Mod Origin: France
Mod Overview: Want to play Blizzard's DIABLO (one not two) in Half-life? NOW YOU CAN! YEAH! BUT WAIT IT'S in ALPHA DEVELOPMENT
You start out in the town Tristram, it's really well done exempting the fact that there are nobody around, and it seems to be nighttime (meaning you can't see where you're going) You wander into a teleport and end up in front of the church that you remember from playing Diablo One. So far so good, the architecture really reminds you of the actual game.
You pick up a hand axe and venture into the dungeon, fighting skeletons. And then some skeletons. More skeletons... ok here comes more skeletons, um.. anything else? I like how they display the skeletons' stats at the bottom of the screen just like in the actual game! But aside from that you will be fighting skeletons, and only skeletons. Have fun.
Oh I mentioned it's in alpha development... this is the entire game, no joke. But it's based off Diablo! That alone should get you to see this mod if not only for the novelty of this novel idea. Now go learn french so you can figure out what the in-game text says. Good luck, hero.
Goldsource, the old thing.
I am done with half the map that I am making now, and I found that there is a limit on how many textures can be used in a single map (up to 3.4 MB or something). At this point I've only got half the map. Now, fellow mappers, you know prolly how this goes. I am thinking that it would seem that I must sacrifice texture variety in order to finish the map. Anybody out here have a feasible alternative to sacrificing texture variety?
Oh boy, this map is getting big. And I'm still a crapmapper.
OH BUT HEY! While your still hanging around (ok fine, "You're" still hanging around,) Why not go play another one of my top-listed mods?
Let's see... here!
Mod name: TIME SHADOWS
Mod Origin: France
Mod Overview: Want to play Blizzard's DIABLO (one not two) in Half-life? NOW YOU CAN! YEAH! BUT WAIT IT'S in ALPHA DEVELOPMENT
You start out in the town Tristram, it's really well done exempting the fact that there are nobody around, and it seems to be nighttime (meaning you can't see where you're going) You wander into a teleport and end up in front of the church that you remember from playing Diablo One. So far so good, the architecture really reminds you of the actual game.
You pick up a hand axe and venture into the dungeon, fighting skeletons. And then some skeletons. More skeletons... ok here comes more skeletons, um.. anything else? I like how they display the skeletons' stats at the bottom of the screen just like in the actual game! But aside from that you will be fighting skeletons, and only skeletons. Have fun.
Oh I mentioned it's in alpha development... this is the entire game, no joke. But it's based off Diablo! That alone should get you to see this mod if not only for the novelty of this novel idea. Now go learn french so you can figure out what the in-game text says. Good luck, hero.
Project Source Development: Week 2
Week 2 got off to a stronger start than week one.
I actually had time to work on the map! yay.
Anyway! I have the map laid out the way i want it.
I have half the story (beginning / ending) scribbled out on paper (plot to come soon)
I have the intro camera sequence about halfway done. I'm having troubles with some scripted sequences, but those can wait until i have everything else done.
First: priorities:
As i have the map mapped, I picked the hardest area to do first: Thus i am becoming extremely frustrated, and half the times i start up hammer, i close it because i just don't feel the want to get into it anymore. I'll have to wait until i have motivation.
Anyway, i've been mapping out the cave section of my map. It basically consists of 90% displacement.
The other 10% is water.
I've become quite adept at displacements now. Learning the proper use of subdivison and all that.
I'm quite pleased with my progress this week. Just the sheer amount of displacement editing im going to have to do is mind-boggling, but i like to say i made a good dent in it over the week.
So when im bored in work i guess i'll have to sketch out ideas for the other portions of the map, as well as the storyline and plot events that take place.
Trying to make a logical storyline fit a cookie-cutter map layout is tough. Expecially when you're in a new engine, and only have a month.
I just need more inspiration.. maybe i should fire up episode 2 again...
Week 2 got off to a stronger start than week one.
I actually had time to work on the map! yay.
Anyway! I have the map laid out the way i want it.
I have half the story (beginning / ending) scribbled out on paper (plot to come soon)
I have the intro camera sequence about halfway done. I'm having troubles with some scripted sequences, but those can wait until i have everything else done.
First: priorities:
As i have the map mapped, I picked the hardest area to do first: Thus i am becoming extremely frustrated, and half the times i start up hammer, i close it because i just don't feel the want to get into it anymore. I'll have to wait until i have motivation.
Anyway, i've been mapping out the cave section of my map. It basically consists of 90% displacement.
The other 10% is water.
I've become quite adept at displacements now. Learning the proper use of subdivison and all that.
I'm quite pleased with my progress this week. Just the sheer amount of displacement editing im going to have to do is mind-boggling, but i like to say i made a good dent in it over the week.
So when im bored in work i guess i'll have to sketch out ideas for the other portions of the map, as well as the storyline and plot events that take place.
Trying to make a logical storyline fit a cookie-cutter map layout is tough. Expecially when you're in a new engine, and only have a month.
I just need more inspiration.. maybe i should fire up episode 2 again...
This is a list of some things I've learned since I registered here. Most things are from TWHL, but a few are from other sites.
1. Basic, intermediate, and 'advanced' mapping.
2. Basic modeling.
3. Gabe Newell and World Crafter share a hobby.
4. People who save lives as a job may spend every free second shooting anything that moves.
5. Trilby wearing geeks make good voice actors.
6. Luke thinks I should STFU.
7. If he can't ask politely, he should STFU.
8. Just because you've been banned from a forum 102393257358746 1/2 times, doesn't mean you have to stop going there.
9. Never pet a burning dog.
10. People with MP5s pwn people with M4s. (Actually, that's from The Rock, I suggest you watch it if you haven't)
11. Gearbox had some really bad ideas for the HD pack. Terrible ideas.
12. Kirby is a peashooter....?
13. Black Mesa will be done when it's done. AKA, 2 days before the resonance cascade. The maps will be 100% accurate.
14. Just because it seems like a good example map, doesn't mean it IS a good example map.
15.
16. There's nothing like a good MOTM review.
17. You can even recycle RMF and VMF files. Many, many times.
18. Lupus is a good diagnosis for anything.
19. If it won't do it's scripted sequence, kill it!
20. HL can have up to 16 levelchanges in a single map. This can make a FPS RPG possible for goldsource.
There's a lot more I've learned, but this is just off the top of my head.
1. Basic, intermediate, and 'advanced' mapping.
2. Basic modeling.
3. Gabe Newell and World Crafter share a hobby.
4. People who save lives as a job may spend every free second shooting anything that moves.
5. Trilby wearing geeks make good voice actors.
6. Luke thinks I should STFU.
7. If he can't ask politely, he should STFU.
8. Just because you've been banned from a forum 102393257358746 1/2 times, doesn't mean you have to stop going there.
9. Never pet a burning dog.
10. People with MP5s pwn people with M4s. (Actually, that's from The Rock, I suggest you watch it if you haven't)
11. Gearbox had some really bad ideas for the HD pack. Terrible ideas.
12. Kirby is a peashooter....?
13. Black Mesa will be done when it's done. AKA, 2 days before the resonance cascade. The maps will be 100% accurate.
14. Just because it seems like a good example map, doesn't mean it IS a good example map.
15.
17. You can even recycle RMF and VMF files. Many, many times.
18. Lupus is a good diagnosis for anything.
19. If it won't do it's scripted sequence, kill it!
20. HL can have up to 16 levelchanges in a single map. This can make a FPS RPG possible for goldsource.
There's a lot more I've learned, but this is just off the top of my head.
Side project showcase!
I'm almost finished the first semester of uni for this year (1 more week, 3 exams), so I'm ready to start on my big project again. I just thought I might show off some of my random side projects that I started during the semester. (I didn't want to do any big project until my break, which is a month long, starting next week.)
Project the first: Pixel city clone
Goal: Make this.
(Read more about it here.)
Seeing this kinda inspired me to make it myself (in my own code) so I can learn more. So I did. Sort of.
How far I got:
See for yourself:
Randomly generated window texture:
Randomly generated roadmap:
Random roadmap filled with random buildings:
And there I stopped. Don't know enough about texturing and the maths behind texturing yet.
Project status:
On hold. It's not dead, and I still want to finish it. But it's on the backburner until I get motivated to learn texturing and actually code it up.
Can you have it?
Sure (needs .NET installed).
Controls: WASD + right click to move and look
Y recreates the whole map
U toggles wireframe outlines (it's different to the screenshot wireframe)
PS: Big project will start development again next week, hopefully you'll all hear more about it soon! It's currently 23372 lines of code.
I'm almost finished the first semester of uni for this year (1 more week, 3 exams), so I'm ready to start on my big project again. I just thought I might show off some of my random side projects that I started during the semester. (I didn't want to do any big project until my break, which is a month long, starting next week.)
Project the first: Pixel city clone
Goal: Make this.
(Read more about it here.)
Seeing this kinda inspired me to make it myself (in my own code) so I can learn more. So I did. Sort of.
How far I got:
See for yourself:
Randomly generated window texture:
Project status:
On hold. It's not dead, and I still want to finish it. But it's on the backburner until I get motivated to learn texturing and actually code it up.
Can you have it?
Sure (needs .NET installed).
Controls: WASD + right click to move and look
Y recreates the whole map
U toggles wireframe outlines (it's different to the screenshot wireframe)
PS: Big project will start development again next week, hopefully you'll all hear more about it soon! It's currently 23372 lines of code.
First post using my new computer! 
I can finally start mapping using The Orange Box SDK without a window telling me my CPU usage is too high.
I can finally start mapping using The Orange Box SDK without a window telling me my CPU usage is too high.