PlaneShift
Gameplay => General Discussion => Topic started by: Scosglen on December 29, 2002, 12:11:03 am
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I would just like to start off by saying that this is the most ambitious and noble open source project I have ever seen. Trying to create a QUALITY open source MMORPG (something better than Runescape *shiver*) is by far one of the most selfless endeavours I have ever seen in the gaming world. The fact that you plan on keeping it free throughout it\'s life is even more remarkable, and a little bewildering as well to say the least.
What REALLY excites me about this game though is how gorgeous it looks, and it\'s an open source TECH ALPHA! You should have seen my jaw drop (quite literally) when I looked at the screenshots section expecting to see low quality sprites and such that is usually the standard for open source graphical online RPGs.
As I discovered more about the game, It just kept getting better and better. Tradeskills to be implemented, very unique races, no solidly defined \'classes\'. It looks to me the devs are trying to put a whole new spin on the medieval MMORPG type genre by going in a whole different direction than EQ and DAOC, by not sticking with the overused settings with Humans, Trolls, Wood Elves, and Gnomes. I also must say bravo on creating the most diversified gathering of difficultly pronounced names in any RPG I\'ve ever seen- Yliakum, Ynnwns<-(No vowels!), Xacha, Ekindukai? Now THAT\'s originality.
You\'ve gotta be doing something right when I\'ve never even played the game yet (and I probably won\'t for a very very long time) and it\'s got me more interested than the pre-release days of Diablo II <-(I literally RAN to the computer gaming section of my local Wal-Mart to get D2 on launch day, and then RAN to the checkout as I hopped and skipped my way through the parking lot)
I really wish I could try the game out right now or even in the next few versions, but unfortunately I can\'t. Due to the limitations of my MARVELOUSLY UBER GAMING PC that I am using currently ( It\'s a WICKED 398 MHZ celeron with 64 MB of RAM and a gnarly Voodoo 2 running on the ever-popular Win95). Even though I am apparently not missing out on much except exploring the towns and having foot races right now, I would just like to close by saying best of luck in your project, and I hope it makes it to be the grand-daddy of a whole new era of open source gaming.
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There is not towns, there is town, and I wouldn\'t be to optimistic about it since you have to wait half a year in between small steps in development.
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It takes a long time to make games, thus I should not care or be optamistic about this project in all it\'s significance... Interesting logic.
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Ya, Link couldn\'t find much to yell at you about since you seem to have read up on most of it so he found what he could :D
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It does not take half a year to use someone elses engine, make a small map and the textures, and a few character models. Even if it\'s free and they aren\'t getting paid, I don\'t plan on waiting 10 years just to get to beta.
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Anyone know who link realy is?... I mean anyone know him in real life?... are the rumors true that his parents used chinese water torture on him as a baby to make him stop crying?, thats the only thing that could account for his finacial minister pessamisim. or his Roong Fuo negativity.
Talk about bitting the bit to find some form of negative in some ones post. hes a master.
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I don\'t plan on waiting 10 years just to get to beta.
Nobody is forcing you... ;)
It does not take half a year to use someone elses engine, make a small map and the textures, and a few character models.
Feel free to prove this. ;)
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this is a bit off topic, but it does not take long to make quality models. over night one of our 3d guys for mortik created a dwarf model, all it lacks right now is a beard ;). sorta looks like an oompa loompa without the beard lol. although, i think the part that is slowing you guys down is the coding, and having to deal with al lthe errors n shit that u guys keep running into :P :D ;)
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i would tend to disagree, cy, one of my best friends is in 3d modelling at school. They put together a talented group of modellers to made the models for a game they were writing, and it took them nearly a near to do about 30 monsters.
now, I am trying to convince that team to help out with PS.....
Jessyn
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depends upon the 3d artist i guess, i takes me about 3 days to get a decent model, but im not to great yet so u cant rush art :P
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yeah, i guess it does depend on the artist, of course, then there is the part about reducing poly count.....
stupid polys, taking time to render....grrrrr
oh well,
Jessyn
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Originally posted by Scosglen
Trying to create a QUALITY open source MMORPG (something better than Runescape *shiver*) is by far one of the most selfless endeavours I have ever seen in the gaming world.
Errr... Runescape isn\'t open source is it? if it was i sure wouldn\'t be playing on jagex\'s servers.
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It\'s not open souce as far as I know, but due to the client being Java, it\'s close enough.
Save local copy of java classes, decompile, and rip apart. That\'s why I left RS. Too easy to hack the game, and writing my own server was entirely too easy. (If you know what the client expects, you can write software that gives it just that... of course it is not exact, but you can write a close approximation)
But, what was the point in doing that, when you could simply go to a game that is much better laid out, much more visually appealing, offers more options and gameplay, and is open source to begin with? Alas, it would seem that PS gains everything that RS lacked.
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Pro modelers can go from concept art to 3d model, with uv mappings for texturing, in one day and add skeletal anims in another 1-2 days.
If you can\'t do that, you\'re not ready for prime-time at a real gaming company.
- Venge
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But then again, pro modelers have the tools and library of prefabs to work with too.
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Tools never beat skill. I know a few guys who used to do mods for Age of Empires 2 using MSPAINT. Admitedly it\'s just 2d sprites, but I\'m trying to make point here so shut up.
Incidentaly those guys are now in the gaming business making 2 very good looking RTS\' which will be freeware just like Planeshift. http://WWW.WILDFIREGAMES.COM
Sheesh, din\'t mama always say \"Don\'t advertise\"?
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veng, how long is one day? i work on 3d models for about an hour or 2 because i get frustrated often and texturing is a bitch. guess my attention span isnt to long either ;)
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Actually who is saying that 1 day is enough to model a character, is right.
A couple of things need to be added to explain this a bit better:
1) you can do this within the necessary specifics (polycount, good/bad deformability, uvmapping and so on...) only after having a bit of experience doing that. A lot of perople usually shoot out 1-2 models a day and they are complete crap. This means a) redoing them from scratch b) fixing them, which can be a long process sometimes.
2) modeling is the easy and fast part of the business: once you have a correct model, you still have to create a clever uvmapping for it, and, after this, you must spend the necessary time to paint the texture. And painting a texture is something that takes time and a lot of skill.
3) after modeling and painting skins for your character, you still have to rig and animate it, and this is probably one of the most difficult parts of the whole process: a good rig will give you a character that deforms well and in a believable way. And even a character that has a perfect rig can be animated in a crappy way if you don\'t know how to animate.
What I want to say with all this? That, I confirm, it is absolutely feasible to have a character modeled, skinned and animated in 1-3 days, but that only a person having the necessary skill and experience can make this character look good within this timeframe. I personally tend to ignore all the people trying to sell me ridiculous models for good ones, without accepting suggestions on how to improve them.
Keeping all this in mind, also try always to remember that PS is not a commercial project, so all the developers dedicating their time to PS are doing other things at the same time, especially one thing better known as \'Real Life\'. This means real work, family, studies, etc...
Personally, I feel (and MB will show this a lot better than AB), that there is nothing to complain in this situation, and that PS is progressing way better than it would be expectable from a similar kind of project.
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Originally posted by Aztec_Brave
Tools never beat skill. I know a few guys who used to do mods for Age of Empires 2 using MSPAINT. Admitedly it\'s just 2d sprites, but I\'m trying to make point here so shut up.
Yes. Tools will never beat skill. But skillled amatures will always be tromped on by skilled pro\'s; \'cause the professionals have a budget for Motion Capture, Render Farms, Solid Model Scanners, and a library of usable prefab finished models to draw from.
Admittedly many game modelers don\'t have the above tools, but they do have proprietary/specialized software. The right software always helps workflow. Ask anybody that does modeling and has used Texture Weapons/Deep UV rather than using \'Max\'s Unwrap UVWs and they will all concur: The right tool for the job saves ALOT of time.
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which is why i am trying to convince as many people from my friends class to help out, as they have the perfect combination - the skills, AND the tools. if I pull this off, someone had better give me cookies....
Jessyn