Monday, September 25, 2006
Day 255 : Second production model
I'm starting the get the hang of Blender. I'm spat out my second production model, another fighter. With each new model I try a different methods of modeling, UV unwrapping and painting. So it's still not final. I went back to the code now.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Day 240 : First production model
At long last the very first production model is nearly complete. Considering it's my very first 3D model designed from scratch for use in a real-time environment, it's not so bad. Texturing is still very preliminary. I'll have to add some weathering. There's an off-chance that the model will be scrapped down the road as I get better and better with doing these 3D models. That sucks but it's part of the process. Anyway, enjoy the screenshot.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Day 235 : The Pipeline
Development is slowing crawling forward. Tons of real-life event have interfered, but the major reason for the slowdown is that my next step is the definition of the art pipeline, and I would have preferred to have found my lead 3D artist it was defined.
You see working with placeholder assets can only last you so long. I need to start integrating real assets. Naturally those need to be produced. To produce them, the pipeline needs to be defined. And so, here I am.
The biggest problem with game development now is that there is a de-facto standard in the 3D suite people use. That standard is 3D Studio Max.
Now 3D Studio Max isn't a bad program, although it carries a lot of legacy, giving it's interface a really dated, clumsy feel. Tried it. Hated it. Tried it some more. Now I like it. The problem with 3DS isn't the program itself, it's the price tag. 3500 US$ may be chump change if you're Electronic Arts, but for a guy doing this as a hobby project it's a fortune.
My 3D Suite of choice has always been Martin Hash's Animation Master. But there is no plugin for Ogre3D and I'm not moving into the plugin business. So that's out.
Maya's star appears to be on the rise. But it's still 2000$. Next.
Milkshape is ok. But really primitive. If I want fully rendered images for promos and such, I'm out of luck.
XSI is a tough cookie to judge. The plugin was created and is maintained by the Ogre God himself Sinbad. It's a 500$ program, which is reasonable. It's star also appears to be on the rise, after a few rocky years. But I tried the trial, and I hated it. Clumsy, weird interface. In fact, it's interface is pretty much as weird and clumsy as...
Blender. It seems the people behind blender had a theory : every user interface ever made sucked, let's make something completely alien that will revolutionize the concept of user interfaces. Not so, people. Leagues behind even 3D Studio Max and light years behind of Martin Hash's Animation Master, Blender's interface is a thing of nightmares. Every behaviour you expect, Blender will do something else. But the thing with Blender, it does everything from real-time to pre-rendered (it can render kickass images). Its Ogre exporter may not be as well supported as the Milkshape, XSI or 3DS one but it's still well-enough supported. But mostly, blender is free. That point and that point alone pulls it above XSI, and thus on top of the list.
I will spend the next weeks learning the intricacies of Blender. As horrible as the interface might be, it's all a matter of getting used to it. And get used to it I will. Expect a couple of production models to show up sometimes in October.
You see working with placeholder assets can only last you so long. I need to start integrating real assets. Naturally those need to be produced. To produce them, the pipeline needs to be defined. And so, here I am.
The biggest problem with game development now is that there is a de-facto standard in the 3D suite people use. That standard is 3D Studio Max.
Now 3D Studio Max isn't a bad program, although it carries a lot of legacy, giving it's interface a really dated, clumsy feel. Tried it. Hated it. Tried it some more. Now I like it. The problem with 3DS isn't the program itself, it's the price tag. 3500 US$ may be chump change if you're Electronic Arts, but for a guy doing this as a hobby project it's a fortune.
My 3D Suite of choice has always been Martin Hash's Animation Master. But there is no plugin for Ogre3D and I'm not moving into the plugin business. So that's out.
Maya's star appears to be on the rise. But it's still 2000$. Next.
Milkshape is ok. But really primitive. If I want fully rendered images for promos and such, I'm out of luck.
XSI is a tough cookie to judge. The plugin was created and is maintained by the Ogre God himself Sinbad. It's a 500$ program, which is reasonable. It's star also appears to be on the rise, after a few rocky years. But I tried the trial, and I hated it. Clumsy, weird interface. In fact, it's interface is pretty much as weird and clumsy as...
Blender. It seems the people behind blender had a theory : every user interface ever made sucked, let's make something completely alien that will revolutionize the concept of user interfaces. Not so, people. Leagues behind even 3D Studio Max and light years behind of Martin Hash's Animation Master, Blender's interface is a thing of nightmares. Every behaviour you expect, Blender will do something else. But the thing with Blender, it does everything from real-time to pre-rendered (it can render kickass images). Its Ogre exporter may not be as well supported as the Milkshape, XSI or 3DS one but it's still well-enough supported. But mostly, blender is free. That point and that point alone pulls it above XSI, and thus on top of the list.
I will spend the next weeks learning the intricacies of Blender. As horrible as the interface might be, it's all a matter of getting used to it. And get used to it I will. Expect a couple of production models to show up sometimes in October.
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