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Newcomers DBPro Corner / what are the essential kinds of software needed to start making my own games?

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Nemesi24
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Posted: 27th Feb 2004 08:44
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i just got DB Pro but i know im going to need more than that. what are the essential kinds of software needed to start making my own games?

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ReD_eYe
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Posted: 27th Feb 2004 09:39
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to make all your media on your own:
a 3d moddeller
a paint package

those are the basics, you can get free ones, but obviously the more you pay the more features you are gonna get, try the free ones first. you may also want to get other things, such as a music making program, look at the rest of the products on this site, you couldn't go wrong with having all of them, download the demo's first though!

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Hamish McHaggis
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Posted: 27th Feb 2004 18:56
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Yeah. To start off with you can do with just using paint for basic graphics, or powerpoint is always good for doing menus and stuff. The key thing is not to go shedding lots of cash on software when you don't know if you're going to stick with game making . And as red-eye said try the demos (I presume you did with DBPro).

As for 3D modelers try the post at the top of this board for some handy links, you can always borrow models from the help file examples (yes they are crap but the media is ok with some of them) and other people (ask for their consent of course).

Also don't be afraid to ask questions on the board, just try to solve them yourself first, and when you post say you have and give any code or resources that you have come up with. This shows people that you have tried and makes them more willing to help you.

Anyway... end of my advice .

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zircher
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Posted: 27th Feb 2004 19:05
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Of course, having a design might be a good idea. You can use nearly any word processor for the text and for flow charts and concept heirarchies you can use Microsoft autoshapes (Word and Excel), Visio, or a fair new program to me, DIA.
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TAZ

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comando 300
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Posted: 28th Feb 2004 00:11
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I can use Power Pint for that??

Nobody told me about that!!!!!

CURRENT PROJECT: RETRO PAC-MAN
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Brian T
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Posted: 28th Feb 2004 07:23 Edited at: 28th Feb 2004 07:59
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Here is what I use (if that helps) and some opinions:

Sound: Cool Edit (very very good), a good collection of professional sound fx cds, Music Maker (not great but it works), and Willow Talk (handy for making computer voices that can be further modified via cool edit's filters)

2D: Photo Paint, Photo Impact (with many 3rd party special add ons like EyeCandy and Xenofex), and Texture Maker (Texture Maker is awesome!!!)

3D Models: True Space (expensive and I really don't care much for the interface), 3D Canvas Pro (awesome product!), and MilkShape 3D (great for conversion of all sorts of model types)

3D Worlds: Geoscape 3D (Not bad, but sort of a simple program for the money), Cartogrophy (I don't like this program at all and wish I tried the trial version before I purchased it.)

Languages: Visual Basic 6.0 (Not great for games but very useful), DarkBasicPro (Very cool of course but I'm waiting for version 6 to start any big projects with it as it is too buggy in its current state), and 3D GameStudio Pro version (expensive, much harder to use than DBP, but also very powerful.)

Misc: The Nuclear Glory Physics DLL (a very good product for very little money that will save you a lot of time and/or give your game a more polished feel.)

Mind you these are only the opinions of one person. I'm sure a game developers collection of tools is as unique as any painters work shop. I listed specifics just to give you some insight. Also, keep in mind there is thousands and thousands of dollars of software mentioned here so collecting it is best done over a period of years rather than weeks or months. Best of luck to you. You'll likely find few experiences that can compare to creating your own game world!

* There is no experience like creating your own universe *
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zircher
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Posted: 28th Feb 2004 18:37
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Quote: "Sound: Cool Edit (very very good), a good collection of professional sound fx cds, Music Maker (not great but it works), and Willow Talk (handy for making computer voices that can be further modified via cool edit's filters)"


Have you ever tried Hyperdyne Labs' SciFi Deluxe plugin? I'm not a sound expert by any means, but I found that it is easy to use. My next big project is going to feature a lot of Halo/Stormtrooper style voices. I've never heard of Willow Talk and I thought I had searched everywhere.
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TAZ

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Brian T
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Posted: 28th Feb 2004 18:56 Edited at: 28th Feb 2004 18:58
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Zircher: is the SciFi Deluxe plug in a group of filters for Cool Edit or what is it exactly. It sounds interesting and no I have not heard of it.

Willow talk is great. Here is how I use it and what I use it for:

I'm making a game called Bresh and it is a space adventure game. There are 3 main parts to the game: Most of the time you are in a space ship with a top down view (so it is 3D here but you can only travel in space in 2D) and you encounter different races, trade, talk, and battle. Your ship is nearly infinitly upgradable. You can have up to two vehicles on board which you can use to land on planets in which case it goes into 3rd person mode. You can mine for minerals, go through ancient cities and on a few have to battle. The third part is FPS style when you land at space stations. Mostly for training, getting clues and buying better ship parts but from time to time it will be battle oriented like break someone out of the jail sort of thing.

So, while on the ship or in a vehicle I like the computer to have a very booming computer sounding voice. It can already say about 110 things and that list is always groing. I type the statement into Willow Talk and adjust the speed and tone of the computer voice and save as a wave file. Then I use some custom filters I designed in Cool Edit to fine tune the voice with an "electronic" feel. I may switch the vehicle voice to a female computer voice but right now they are both the same.

I'm aslo debating if I want to wait for version 6.0 of DBP to write the game in that or if I want to suck it up and use 3D Game Studio. I have bits and pieces of it written in many different languages.

If you'd like to hear some of the computer voice sound fx I could send some to you.

* There is no experience like creating your own universe *
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zircher
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Posted: 28th Feb 2004 20:00
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You can find more info and a trial version of the SciFi plugin here:
http://www.hyperdynelabs.com/scifi.htm

Sounds like a cool game idea.

Honestly, I don't see why you can not begin game development now. Given how much there is to do in the way of game resources, you can work on models, artwork, music, and sound effects for months. By that time, the next upgrade will be out. Some folks make a lot of noise about bugs. But, those problems do not stop people from making games.

I'd like to hear some of what you've done. Did you want to post some links or send files? Here are some samples of trooper voices that I plan to use in FOTS: A Blaze of Glory.
http://www.geocities.com/tzircher/abog_sound.htm
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TAZ

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Brian T
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Posted: 28th Feb 2004 20:22
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Yes, indeed the bugs would not make it impossible. Just more annoying than it has to be. I have not been able to figure out a good work around to the sound playing() and cloning issues yet. If I wasn't new to the language, it would be easier but at present it is hard to know if the problem is in my code or with DB.

The renderer of 3DGS seems a bit more professional and the beam effects are nice, but no doubt writing the game in DBP would come along much much faster. So for now I am sort of torn on deciding what language I want to use. Certainly they both have pluses and minuses and I generally like them both.

I was checking out your gamebeavers web site. It looks interesting.

I'll email you some of my sounds in a few minutes.

* There is no experience like creating your own universe *
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Brian T
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Posted: 28th Feb 2004 20:35 Edited at: 28th Feb 2004 20:41
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Zircher: I emailed you four sample sounds all put into one wave file. A little static got on the first sound I don't know how, but anyway, it will give you an idea of what it sounds like.

* There is no experience like creating your own universe *
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BearCDPOLD
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Posted: 29th Feb 2004 08:41
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Just looking to post my collection of tools. Don't mean to interrupt your conversation Brian T/Zircher.

2d- All in Paint Shop Pro 8

3d- Currently trueSpace3, saving up enough for two licenses for gameSpace

Sound FX- MS Sound Recorder, or the Wav Editor that comes with the SB Live 5.1 sound card

Music- Finale Notepad

Programming- started on qbasic, DB Classic for 3d games, BlitzBasic2d when I'm feeling stupid and want fast 2d, soon to come DB Pro

Landscapes- Total Terrain v1, then Milkshape reads the heightmap & saves as .x

And I'm developing a custom level editor, that will probably go out for modding, and will be improved upon to create new commercial modules and/or expansions

Crazy Donut Productions
Current Project: KillZone
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Brian T
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Posted: 29th Feb 2004 17:36
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@ Crazy: What sort of features are you putting into your custom level editor?

* There is no experience like creating your own universe *
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BearCDPOLD
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Posted: 29th Feb 2004 21:20
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Basically it's going to keep track of all the objects and where you place them. Then depending as the type of object you define it as it will have animation, or have different effect settings (ie: animations for characters, particle/other_boom_effect settings for oil drums when they explode). There's also going to be a simple trigger system, since the only types objectives we're going to have include reaching certain areas and destroying certain objects. Its original intent was to be the editor for our game. The only downside if you will have to create all objects and levels in other programs and load them as .x or .3ds files. Right now the plans are only to have it available to use with the game, because it will pass on data that our the frame code of the game will read.
It would be interesting, though, to make it available for an all-purpose game level editor, including functions like
CheckObjectives(), LoadMap(), RunAI(), etc.

Sorry for the big long post
Crazy Donuts

Crazy Donut Productions
Current Project: KillZone
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Brian T
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Posted: 1st Mar 2004 00:34
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Sounds good.

* There is no experience like creating your own universe *
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