Hi Dark,
I see your points, all of them valid, but as I said the turn around
time really isn't that great. Your concern of how big a delay this
will be is largely due in part to a misunderstanding of how my engine
is developed and how easy it is for me to swop out 2d functionality
for 3d functionality here.
The answer is its not that big a deal. I have most of the 3d functions
already written, in fact have, a 3d game template or wizard I can use
to rapidly get the basics in place. I mentioned the idea early Sunday
morning and guess what?
Well, over Sunday I ran my 3d wizard created a basic 3d game with the
ability to jump, run, swim,climb, and otherwise move around in a 3d
environment. I created a simple 2x200x100 empty room and am running
around shooting up enemies and climbing on things to test the engine
out. Point being depending on how complex I want this game to be I can
have a couple of solid game levels done within the next month or two.
I can borrow most of the existing code from the side-scroller such as
menus, status commands, whatever because that stuff isn't
side-scroller or 3d FPS specific. Its just common code that can be
copied and pasted as is right into a new game.
This is unfortunately the biggest concern I can't seem to lay to rest.
When I mentioned rewriting or updating the game a lot of people jumped
to the conclusion this would mean six, months, a year, maybe two
years, delay. Its nothing so drastic as that because I have months of
work already in existing code. Anything that isn't specifically 3d can
be quickly and easily modified.
For example. The SpeakPlayerLocation() function in MOTA only speaks
your x and y location. Ok, no big deal. All I need to do is get the
player's z location and speak that too. That's like a five minute
procedure. Its a delay, but nothing that would prevent me from getting
it done in a reasonable amount of time for the effort involved.
Lastly, as for the side-scroller business I understand where you are
coming from on that issue, but I can't help feel like we are beating a
dead horse here. Yeah, I know I'm probably the only developer who
truly understands what is possible in that particular format, but its
a personal decision on my part to make or not make a game of that
type. I think what we have here is simply a difference of opinion in
preference.
I know you seem to be heavy into the NES, Super NES, and other classic
side-scrollers. You often talk about Megaman, Castlvania, or some
other console game. Some I've played and some I haven't. As a result
you really like that type of game, and have a dream that some game
developer will come along and create the next Megaman, Mario, or
Castlevania side-scroller in audio. Nothing wrong with that dream as
far as it goes.
However, my own history is a bit different. I of course grew up in the
80's playing the Atari, the Colleco, moved onto the NES, and played
some games for the Super NES. I went from there straight to the PC
market which was taking off in the 90's. By the mid 90's I was playing
Doom, Quake, Star Wars Dark Forces, Star Wars Jedi Knight, Tomb
Raider, Soldier of Fortune, Mech Warrior, and so on. What happened is
that I became adicted to the 3d game environments and pretty much
began playing FPS and third-person games exclusively. Then, I lost my
sight.
Well, when I saw GMA come out with Shades of Doom, saw how I might be
able to create my own FPS games, that's what I wanted to do. So you
could say it became my personal dream, my desire, my goal to begin
writing games like I was playing in the 90's. Of course, back in 2004
when I got started I didn't really know how to write games period, but
I was willing to wait and write a few practice games like Final
conflict and Montezuma's Revenge. At this point I have both the tools
and the skills and am eager to get on with it.
So that's where you and I differ. You saw MOTA, thought it was the
game you were hoping for and wanted, but unfortunately it isn't
exactly the game I wanted to write. At least not as far as this
particular game goes. I'd be happy to write a side-scroller in the
future, maybe one designed specifically for that format, but not this
game. The reason is simply that the Tomb Raider games are all full 3d
third-person adventures, at least most of them anyway, and I'm really
hoping to produce this game with the same format and features.
Otherwise I don't see much point in writing MOTA period.
Cheers!
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