[Sey]

If you can compile a complete list of textures and models needed then I'll try and build a few between other projects.

[8-Bit Dragon]

Sey, on 16 June 2012 - 05:07 AM, said:

If you can compile a complete list of textures and models needed then I'll try and build a few between other projects.

Well I could use some burned wood and grass textures. Angel Island won't stay green for long! And model wise, I could certainly use the flowers and fruits in Angel Island - the tall red flower and small shrub with the spinning fruit. I'll try to post some of my resources later if you need a base from which to start. I prefer you use textures that I, or you, have created from your own photos. I often avoid using stuff off the internet or from games. That doesn't mean you have to go out and get a picture of burned grass; you are encouraged to be creative. I made a nice ice crystal texture from a brick wall, which I will probably use in Ice Cap at some point.

Update: Light dash is in place! I just need to make some sparkles and refine the speed.

[Sey]

I agree on that philosophy buddy. I only scour the internet for resources if it's university work and I'm on a tight deadline. I won't have much time this week but I have some time off coming up soon so I'll try and get stuck in ASAP.

[8-Bit Dragon]

I finally got around to texturing the Caterkiller Jr. badnik, and I toned down the lighting on the Bloominator significantly. The Bloominator is also animated now, and shoots sprite-based spikeballs.

This post has been edited by 8-Bit Dragon: 21 June 2012 - 06:59 PM

[Trunks]

I'm as skeptical as I think I should be, but it does look like you're doin' good work! My only real concern is the use of Blitz Sonic, as it's a pretty awful engine. No possibility of moving towards Sonic GDK?

[8-Bit Dragon]

Trunks, on 22 June 2012 - 04:06 PM, said:

I'm as skeptical as I think I should be, but it does look like you're doin' good work! My only real concern is the use of Blitz Sonic, as it's a pretty awful engine. No possibility of moving towards Sonic GDK?

Even if I could run Sonic GDK, I kind of prefer Blitz3D's pipeline...which is simply export your model and load it. Sonic GDK requires a bit more effort in getting your assets into the game, and as far as I know, there is no material exporter for 3DS Max, which is a huge turn off for me. For every object I create, I have to rebuild the materials within UDK. I would really miss Blitz3D's simplicity.

The other thing is that I'm not trying to set an unreasonable goal with this. I'm trying to reach a level of quality similar to SA2, which I believe Blitz3D can handle with ease, and which I feel I could do on my own if necessary. I don't have a lot of free time to work on this, so making low poly models for Blitz3D actually works out pretty well for me.

I have the skill to make high quality meshes, complete with normal maps, for use in Sonic GDK, but time is a major concern. Adding to that, there doesn't seem to be a large community of people who know Sonic GDK very well. As I said on the main post, I do need a little help with this, and I just don't see it happening with Sonic GDK.

If you could prove me otherwise, that Sonic GDK's pipeline can be streamlined to some extent, I might consider it.

[Kharen]

Looking at the pictures you're showing, I think this looks really good. Like I said earlier, as long as the handling issues are fixed, I think it's great that you're able to pull this off with BlitzSonic. My computer can run it just fine, so you're pretty much guaranteed that anybody who downloads your game will be able to run it. Sonic GDK seems to have a much higher set of requirements, hardware-wise, so if you did switch over to it, chances are that I, and probably a few other people, wouldn't be able to play the game.

I think that the only thing I dislike about what I see is the size of the HUD. Would it be alright to resize it and make it smaller? It's rather huge as it is now, and all of the official Sonic games had them very small and out-of-the-way.

[dsrb]

I agree about shrinking the HUD. My guess is you're currently trying to have it the same size relative to the screen as the classic series did, but it doesn't really work in this setting – and it seems to have gotten even bigger! :P

[Dark Sonic]

Actually that's the BlitzSonic default hud. He probably just hasn't got around to changing it.

[8-Bit Dragon]

Dark Sonic, on 23 June 2012 - 03:29 PM, said:

Actually that's the BlitzSonic default hud. He probably just hasn't got around to changing it.

This.

But I'm working on it. Here is the numbers bitmap. I made this from the original Sonic 3 numbers by doing some pixel work, and then resizing them once there was enough detail to use filters for smoothing them out. I'll get around to doing the 'score time rings' soon.

Edit: A little something else I'm working on...

This post has been edited by 8-Bit Dragon: 23 June 2012 - 10:41 PM

[8-Bit Dragon]

Some updates:

I didn't get very much done last week, but this week has been going great so far. I fixed a few bugs relating to light dash, I fixed some bugs with Caterkiller Jr and Bloominator, and I added a new 3D sound command which makes it a bit easier to add a 3D sound to an entity. While I was messing about with sounds, I added a bit of code to pan the ring sound from left to right. Every little detail counts!

But that's not all! I made a simple script for 3DS Max that will export objects and their locations to an xml. So now you have the option of making the xml right out of Max, as well as the other two methods using the auxiliary object mesh code, or the ObjectExport tool included with BlitzSonic. Later on I may create a simple modifier tool for adding attributes to objects within the scene.

That script idea came about when I realized that there was no way I could get by without making some sort of path system. There are just too many obstacles and gimmicks in Sonic 3 that require them. So another thing I'm experimenting with now are paths. I had started on a rail system once before, and then later upgraded it to follow actual rail meshes. But that method is flawed because you have to configure how the player is to follow the rail. The best and easiest solution is to use objects, which are nothing more than invisible markers to tell Sonic which way he should run. I've modified my light dash code to accomplish this, and so far this method is working great. Its now just a matter of how and when to engage the path by setting up start and end markers which I will implement soon.

I'll make a video as soon as I have enough to complete AIZ Act 1. In the mean time, enjoy a look at the first gimmick that will make use of path following!

[Ell678]

I like your work so far, I'm looking forward to seeing it in action.

[P3DR0]

I like it and disliked it at the same time. It's not that is bad, not at all. It just looks very... "Unrealistic". Not that Sonic's graphics (classic) are realistic but I always thought on that thing beeing a giant trunk, already rotten. And the texture you'd applyied helps to give that feel. So it wouldn't be really uniform on the top... Neither on the holes or the entrance in it. Also, about the holes, althought the original image had 'em, I don't think it will work greatly on 3D, if Sonic is going to run it like he did on the original game (like he does in the corkscrew), I mean if he goes into a hole he will fall and if you make the colision "solid" where there are holes it will look weird seeing Sonic walk on nothing.

But whatever, I'm just beeing nitpicky... Looks good anyways and the glowing mushrooms added a nice depht to it. I suggest adding some roots on the sides and some folliage on top of it as well (a solid fooliage to give it form and a few planes with vines and transparency, perhaps), I guess that would look very cool as well and help to break the linearity of the whole piece, like this:
http://I.imgur.com/aRoa2.jpg


Sorry for the shitty drawing, I don't have my pen tablet in here right now.


Edit: Oh yeah, don't forget the 1up monitor on top of the entrance :3

For the Vines, think on this: http://goo.gl/lNfT8
And for the entrance think on this: http://I.imgur.com/jwMhb.jpg (Maybe not quit as large)

This post has been edited by P3DR0: 03 July 2012 - 12:33 PM

[8-Bit Dragon]

P3DR0, on 03 July 2012 - 12:25 PM, said:

I like it and disliked it at the same time. It's not that is bad, not at all. It just looks very... "Unrealistic". Not that Sonic's graphics (classic) are realistic but I always thought on that thing beeing a giant trunk, already rotten. And the texture you'd applyied helps to give that feel. So it wouldn't be really uniform on the top... Neither on the holes or the entrance in it. Also, about the holes, althought the original image had 'em, I don't think it will work greatly on 3D, if Sonic is going to run it like he did on the original game (like he does in the corkscrew), I mean if he goes into a hole he will fall and if you make the colision "solid" where there are holes it will look weird seeing Sonic walk on nothing.

But whatever, I'm just beeing nitpicky... Looks good anyways and the glowing mushrooms added a nice depht to it. I suggest adding some roots on the sides and some folliage on top of it as well (a solid fooliage to give it form and a few planes with vines and transparency, perhaps), I guess that would look very cool as well and help to break the linearity of the whole piece, like this:
http://I.imgur.com/aRoa2.jpg


Sorry for the shitty drawing, I don't have my pen tablet in here right now.


Edit: Oh yeah, don't forget the 1up monitor on top of the entrance :3

For the Vines, think on this: http://goo.gl/lNfT8
And for the entrance think on this: http://I.imgur.com/jwMhb.jpg (Maybe not quit as large)

I took your advice about the vines and roots. I pretty much modified the textures and extruded some of the polygons to make roots. It's not perfect, but I can always change it later. And about the holes, I think they will be fine. Sonic should be running full speed, and his stride might give the illusion that he's stepping over them as he runs. Besides, once path following is fully functional I can begin to add camera effects. I was thinking about zooming the camera out and have it orbit around the tree about half as fast as Sonic, and then have it meet back with Sonic at the top. You probably won't notice if Sonic steps on the holes from a distance.

Here is a new rendering of the modifications I made to the tree. I'll probably get around to producing the light maps and getting it into the game some time tonight.

[Azu]

8-Bit Dragon, on 22 June 2012 - 05:49 PM, said:

Trunks, on 22 June 2012 - 04:06 PM, said:

I'm as skeptical as I think I should be, but it does look like you're doin' good work! My only real concern is the use of Blitz Sonic, as it's a pretty awful engine. No possibility of moving towards Sonic GDK?

Even if I could run Sonic GDK, I kind of prefer Blitz3D's pipeline...which is simply export your model and load it. Sonic GDK requires a bit more effort in getting your assets into the game, and as far as I know, there is no material exporter for 3DS Max, which is a huge turn off for me. For every object I create, I have to rebuild the materials within UDK. I would really miss Blitz3D's simplicity.

The other thing is that I'm not trying to set an unreasonable goal with this. I'm trying to reach a level of quality similar to SA2, which I believe Blitz3D can handle with ease, and which I feel I could do on my own if necessary. I don't have a lot of free time to work on this, so making low poly models for Blitz3D actually works out pretty well for me.

I have the skill to make high quality meshes, complete with normal maps, for use in Sonic GDK, but time is a major concern. Adding to that, there doesn't seem to be a large community of people who know Sonic GDK very well. As I said on the main post, I do need a little help with this, and I just don't see it happening with Sonic GDK.

If you could prove me otherwise, that Sonic GDK's pipeline can be streamlined to some extent, I might consider it.

You can stream line textures. In fact, if you use TGAs and export them as FBX, you can import them straight into UDk and it will pickup the textures. Also, you don't need collision for most object see as UDK supports Per Poly Collision. I'm not sure if BlitzSonic has that. The only thing I image is a turn off is learning Uscript. UDK's editor isn't hard to learn once you get the hang of it. However, it's your game. You can use any engine you want. :D