Free Fan Robotech/Macross game project

[Star Dragon]

Yeah, while I exclusively moD FS2 and TS is the derfualt program for pre-conversion. Many other modelers use Blender, 3dmax, Maya, C4d. ect..

lately we've been getting some Sketchup people!

IDK if know since I use the old free 3.2 TS version. But TS7.0 just became free.

I got it now, but the interface has me totally lost!!!

That and I am NOT a modeler, I just use it to add a light when needed and orient a mesh fro conversion LOL!

I have started "kit-bashing" however about 8 months ago...

And SeminNV: great job so far! Don't worry about quality for now. Until someone else makes one, yours is the best regardless!

Then worry... He he.

[EDIT]:

SeminNV, TY for uploading that collection (are those the models you are working with now?).

I will look through my collection and see if there are ones you don't have as well as ones that IMHO you would want to replace. I noticed you have all of asiriul's and AA's meshes in one place (GREAT!)

If you don't mind I'm gonna break down those out of the files and make a new folder called "Resources" and name those files as a zip for their respective authors ok? That way you only click it once and you know you get all of AA's meshes.

MP did some conversions of AA's work but since he isn't the original author and you didn't seem to have those yet I will upload them under AA (IZUMO, Ikazuchi, ect)...

I'll let you know when I upload and update the site!!!

BTW this is how the REF looks in game in case you never seen this pic before:

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b321/Sta...0Anime/48c5.jpg

I posted link cause site pic is too big...

That was like 4 years ago when SCP started so there are no glow or shine maps yet.

l8tr!

Edited September 27, 2008 by Star Dragon

[SeminNV]

Thanks for all positive comments I received in this thread and via PM.

recent progress

I had a good opinion on my model's quality until I did preliminary transformation.

Yeah, there is still a lot of work to be done

http://img504.imageshack.us/my.php?image=robotbacktn0.jpg

Edited September 27, 2008 by SeminNV

[Sakura Shinguji]

To SeminNV: Keep working on that SV-51~! I hoped that you rigged the model so that you have the battloid (I wonder if Anti-Valkyries use the same terms as the Valkyries) mode showing. If not, it is very painful to keep on shifting the parts around just for pictures... Edited September 29, 2008 by Sakura Shinguji

[AncientAngel]

Please for the love of God Destroy that Ikazuchi and Izumo models I did 4 plus years ago. (ick)

Even my old Garfish needs to go by bye for the newer version.

[SeminNV]

Please for the love of God Destroy that Ikazuchi and Izumo models I did 4 plus years ago. (ick)

Even my old Garfish needs to go by bye for the newer version.

well........Ikazuchi and Izumo? What are you talking about?))

Glad you are back after long pause. Please check post #1 to see recent progress on the project.

I did a lot of stuff, even started doing 3d modeling!

To all who is interested in the project

After thorough research and a lot of doubts I have decided to use Blender Game Engine for the project.

This is what I am planning to do first (it is not mine, just example)

And info on the engine

Blender Game Engine Description

As for the game, I think I have a concept that is totally different from games like Robotech: Battle Cry and VOXP, and all that. My ultimate goal is to implement the kind of godfighting we witnessed in Macross Zero Video . I really don't want to do another clone of R:BT and VOXP.

Edited October 3, 2008 by SeminNV

[macross_fan99]

well........Ikazuchi and Izumo? What are you talking about?))

Glad you are back after long pause. Please check post #1 to see recent progress on the project.

I did a lot of stuff, even started doing 3d modeling!

To all who is interested in the project

After thorough research and a lot of doubts I have decided to use Blender Game Engine for the project.

This is what I am planning to do first (it is not mine, just example)

And info on the engine

Blender Game Engine Description

As for the game, I think I have a concept that is totally different from games like Robotech: Battle Cry and VOXP, and all that. My ultimate goal is to implement the kind of godfighting we witnessed in Macross Zero Video . I really don't want to do another clone of R:BT and VOXP.

Have you seen the Macross game for the Playstation 2? It does a great job of making you feel like you're in those dogfights like Macross Zero has.

If you search youtube for "macross ps2" you can find more videos. That is the game you should try to aim for, its the best Macross game out there. If you have any questions about it let me know, I've played through it numerous times and am familiar with the game.

[Star Dragon]

Glad to see you're back AA, but until you send me the new ones I defiantly WON'T be destroying them. You forget no one else has ever made them so they are the BEST THERE IS on the net!!! (at least according to Google.)

Besides like most artists, you are too critical of your own work. He he...

[AncientAngel]

You on Skype anymore?

Been so long, I am not sure who is who in my contacts for some people.

[SeminNV]

You on Skype anymore?

Been so long, I am not sure who is who in my contacts for some people.

If your question is addressed to me, then yes, I am always available in skype

I have made ultimate breakthrough in my blender modeling technique

This is how sweet it is and less than 4000 faces (about 8000 triangles):

Edited October 5, 2008 by SeminNV

[Sakura Shinguji]

The pictures of the SV-51 are looking really impressive everytime you make an update... Keep it up~

[SeminNV]

Meanwhile I am working on the game level design...

[Star Dragon]

Suggestion: try not to make screenies that zoomed out. It shows the limits of the skybox in an odd way, almost "fish eyed" and defiantly gave me a bit of vertigo looking at it. The second pic you posted is fine.

Are you using a skybox? if so merely increasing the diameter (game area) will help immensely.

Example: SDF-1 is 4km with a crude ground plane and domed sky hemisphere.

I have about 20KM of "sky" to play in.

[SeminNV]

Suggestion: try not to make screenies that zoomed out. It shows the limits of the skybox in an odd way, almost "fish eyed" and defiantly gave me a bit of vertigo looking at it. The second pic you posted is fine.

Are you using a skybox? if so merely increasing the diameter (game area) will help immensely.

Example: SDF-1 is 4km with a crude ground plane and domed sky hemisphere.

I have about 20KM of "sky" to play in.

wow! cool screen! how can I play this?

As for my skybox - I just need to adjust all parameters, it will looks better soon

[Sakura Shinguji]

To SeminNV: How did you managed to get the faces' normal to show up properly? For what I can understand, this occurs to others who used a previous version of Blender and then upgraded to a more recent version. Some people suggested me to "Clear/Apply Transformations to ObjData" but that does not work for me.... Also, use my new texture that I sent you on an email some time this week. You can also show the cockpit by breaking the object into triangles. The game engine will load a lot longer if you did that though. Select an object, go into "Edit Mode", select either the glass or the whole object and then control+t to break quads into triangles.

To StarDragon: That screen capture looks really nice...

Macross on the Forefront~!

Edited October 10, 2008 by Sakura Shinguji

[SeminNV]

Basically, mesh modeling is over

I have seen several SU-51 on the web, but none of them was good enough

Probably, none of the modelers was Russian

I promise, as soon the model is textured and animated, it will be shared with the community here

I just want to finish it first, but if smbd wants it right now - feel free to ask

[SeminNV]

Weekly update!

Still several minor drawbacks, but the mesh is almost completely ready for animation without cheating.

Up to now it has 11k triangles. I expect about 12-13k.

[Sakura Shinguji]

Really lovely looking aircraft so far~! The landing gears are really nice looking; much better effort than the ones that I was willing to put fourth.

[chillyche]

Really lovely looking aircraft so far~! The landing gears are really nice looking; much better effort than the ones that I was willing to put fourth.

Don't shortchange yourself, though, you're really talented too!

[Sakura Shinguji]

Don't shortchange yourself, though, you're really talented too!

;;; Thanks~!

[chillyche]

;;; Thanks~!

Do you ever do any hi-poly work?

[Sakura Shinguji]

Do you ever do any hi-poly work?

I am very capable of it, but I wanted to model for the purpose of games~!! High polygon models can only be used for pictures and movies which are one-time experiences; games would help leave a much longer lasting impression. I think so anyway.

[SeminNV]

Weekly update!

Screens from Blender Game Engine. This how the model will look like in the game. It is not a prerender.

It has 6800 faces or about 13k triangles

Edited October 25, 2008 by SeminNV

[Star Dragon]

Just wanted to say you can use textures or better "Detail Boxes" (don't know the specifics).

Minor greebles with the right texture will make a model many more time complicated looking, plus with proper bump mapping to finish off the effect.

For advanced modelers (I am not one) you can take a 7k Death Star initially) and in small section the player is actually around zoom the detail in to dozens maybe even 100k more. There used to be a "Trench run" vid but I don't have it anymore.

Here's only one of the old examples I could find. Omni abandoned SW in favor of BSG and took those lessons to get his 95k Galactica in game.

http://www.penguinbomb.com/omniscaper/WIPS/DSv2.wmv

This is a much better version, base texture, longer with music.

http://www.penguinbomb.com/omniscaper/WIPS/trench.wmv

Hope this helps/inspires people that low poly modeling is fine, but can be spruced up with such "tricks".

The definiton of "low poly" is changing as common computers becoem more powerful/affordable for casual gamers.

[SeminNV]

Just wanted to say you can use textures or better "Detail Boxes" (don't know the specifics).

Yeap, of course I will create a texture soon, now I am doing GIMP tutorials since I have never done it before. But my model now is not that bad - I mean I did all minor thing to make animation without cheating. Every part of SU-51 looks connected to others, hope you understand what I mean.

Minor greebles with the right texture will make a model many more time complicated looking, plus with proper bump mapping to finish off the effect.

not sure I can handle bump mapping now, but I am planning to do next model (probably vf-0s) with all these features like normal map, diffuse map and specular map. Also, my modeling skills are getting better I suppose, so the next model will be quite OK.

For advanced modelers (I am not one) you can take a 7k Death Star initially) and in small section the player is actually around zoom the detail in to dozens maybe even 100k more. There used to be a "Trench run" vid but I don't have it anymore.

Here's only one of the old examples I could find. Omni abandoned SW in favor of BSG and took those lessons to get his 95k Galactica in game.

http://www.penguinbomb.com/omniscaper/WIPS/DSv2.wmv

This is a much better version, base texture, longer with music.

http://www.penguinbomb.com/omniscaper/WIPS/trench.wmv

Hope this helps/inspires people that low poly modeling is fine, but can be spruced up with such "tricks".

The definiton of "low poly" is changing as common computers becoem more powerful/affordable for casual gamers.

That's right, unreal engine 3 works fine 15k triangle models, so term low poly is quite broad these days

Anyway, I have started Python programming for Blender Game Engine, and there are some indication that in 2-3 months there will be first playable demo with gameplay. You can mark my words!

Edited October 27, 2008 by SeminNV

[Sakura Shinguji]

Anyway, I have started Python programming for Blender Game Engine, and there are some indication that in 2-3 months there will be first playable demo with gameplay. You can mark my words!

Marked and noted for future reference~!

Anyway, I think that the amount of detail for the SV-51 is fine as it is. The nose cone already abuses some polygons as it is now, but that is only a minor gripe that I can see past. I still think that you should work a bit on flushing the edges of the parts so that the plane looks smoother. The area of concern is where the head area is and the shoulders on the side of variable fighter. Then again, I do not know if it is your intention to make the parts as they are now.

This is a pretty picture; I am not intentionally comparing your work with that person's work, but I wanted to point out that Semin has gotten the general shape of the SV-51 done on his 3D model. I am sure that with textures, visually, the aircraft will be a lot better.

[SeminNV]

Marked and noted for future reference~!

Anyway, I think that the amount of detail for the SV-51 is fine as it is. The nose cone already abuses some polygons as it is now, but that is only a minor gripe that I can see past. I still think that you should work a bit on flushing the edges of the parts so that the plane looks smoother. The area of concern is where the head area is and the shoulders on the side of variable fighter. Then again, I do not know if it is your intention to make the parts as they are now.

This is a pretty picture; I am not intentionally comparing your work with that person's work, but I wanted to point out that Semin has gotten the general shape of the SV-51 done on his 3D model. I am sure that with textures, visually, the aircraft will be a lot better.

well, I have seen this one and it is definitely is not transformable. So, mine version is better even without a texture

[Sakura Shinguji]

Ugh... I will just email you....

[SeminNV]

Weekly update! SHADERS, finally!

This time I switched to the game and I was texturing some models for the first level of the game

Also, I finally mastered GLSL materials, so this is how the game looks like (it is not a prerender!)

The plave can fly, but gain there is not gameplay yet.

I want to say to SS, that the YF-19 texture looks really good after I turned on GLSL materials!

Edited November 6, 2008 by SeminNV

[AncientAngel]

Looking good, actually very good.

[SeminNV]

Looking good, actually very good.

Thanks! But the reason I am posting pics is not to get fame and applauses, or to show how good I am in such things

I simply want this game to be done, since it is my long term dream. From my experience I infered that it was hard doing such things alone. Now we have some kind of a team + people who helpd the project at different stages, and i want to show these people that I am working. and that their efforts are not pointless.

here is some update on my sv-51.

13000 triangles, or 6500 polys

MY POLICY - NO PRERENDERS, ONLY HOW IT WILL LOOK IN REAL TIME

transformation

Edited November 11, 2008 by SeminNV

[Sakura Shinguji]

"All that VF" or.... "Left7Dead"

Edited November 17, 2008 by Sakura Shinguji

[chillyche]

"All that VF" or.... "Left7Dead"

Nice.

[SeminNV]

Weekly update!

Fisrt, we got new team member op4_delta,

He submitted several stunning models

They require some changes and texturing, but he definitely saved us lots of time and efforts

VF-0S

Two well known ships from Macross Zero

Second, sv-51 getting better, though poly count is around 15k now

Later, there gonna be a big post on game concept and all that

[Zinjo]

Nevermind....

Edited November 23, 2008 by Zinjo

[SeminNV]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Game concept!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Abstract

This game will be a mix of arcade flight and robo simulators, based on some ideas borrowed from Mech Warrior 4 and Wings of War. However, in these splendid games the gameplay tends to be more shooter-like, thus not letting a player to experience completely what is to operate gigantic robot. It means that though piloting a mech (either robot or a an airplane), player’s piloting skills contribute to a very little degree to victory. Basically, the one who has bigger mech with more weapons/armor is the winner.

In my concept of a new gameplay stated here I will try shift the accent from shooter to the gameplay where the player can in principle outfight his opponent even having less firepower and armor.

For this purpose, I introduce a concept of specials actions or maneuvers.

In the game player can pilot a transformable mech either in robot state (Battloid Mode) or airplane state (Fighter Mode), depending on his own preference at a particular moment. The transformation itself is not a key feature of the gameplay. It simply serves as a logic brick to explain the fact that in the game mechs (either in Battloid or Fighter modes) can modify their aerodynamics properties very fast. Thus, a player can change direction of movement and its speed very rapidly with the help of special actions or maneuvers.

To illustrate the idea of maneuvers, Figure 1 is presented.

On Figure 0.1 player faces a heavy ship with various weapons and defense systems. It is impossible to get close and deliver a punch in a standard way, because you will be shot down.

To solve the problem, player presses special combo and the plain starts approaching to the ship doing tricky maneuver. On figure 0.1 different stages of the maneuver are depicted with number 1-4 correspondingly. As a result, most of enemy fire can be avoided.

............................................................. Figure 1.

These special actions will be of several kinds: defense ones and attack ones. Player can "purchase" them during customization of the mech. Actions will be implemented the very same way as in 3d fighting games: with the help of combos. Pressing a combination of keys, a maneuver can be triggers. Meanwhile, player can still control direction of movements in Fighter/Battloid modes, aim in Battloid mode, do firing and trigger other maneuvers. Maneuvers will be accom¬panied by fascinating animation involving transformation. So far I have invented about 20 different maneuvers.

To be short, the player has choice to make a tradeoff between

1. install the more equipment like weapons, armor, fuel, more powerful engine on the mech. As a result, less action points will be available to him. Consequently, the player can access less maneuvers.

2. Sacrifice some weapons, armor, fuel, extra engine power to make the mech more maneuverable.

Hangar

Customization of VFs will remind in lot of aspects Mech Warrior 4. Just replace Mech in your Head with a VF.

All VF will have diffrent weapon layouts. For instance, on one VF you can install more rocket weapons, on another - ballistic weapons.

Edited December 6, 2008 by SeminNV