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Hey all. I've been considering purchasing FPSC and all the model packs, to use them to create a demo of a concept I have so I can show my team. But I have a few questions for anyone who can answer them:

(1) Can you use your own imported sound effects with pre-made models?

(2) What's the poly limit on models you make yourself for use in FPSC?

(3) How large (relatively speaking) can you make a map/ level? In relative terms, would you equate the potential size of a high-quality map to, say, a Battlefield 1942 map?

(4) If I wanted to make a game that took place in, say, a town, with non-linear gameplay, could FPSC handle that sort of play area media-wise, and is it friendly to non-linear play in general?

Sorry if these questions are noobish... I tried to find answers but couldn't. Thanks!

1. yes
2. depends on what type of model it is
3. don't know how big bf maps are, but their pretty large
4.no non-linear. you might be able to pull off some kind of effect, but no true non-linear

1) You absolutely can. What you specifically want to do is another matter. For instance, a gun has a description TXT file where you specify a WAV to play when shooting, when reloading, when dry-firing, etc.

2)None that I know of. Really high, if anything.

3)I don't know Battlefield 1942, but the game screen is divided into a grid, 40*40*20 (40 wide, 40 long, 20 tall). In real life, 1 segment is probably 5 ft wide * 5 ft long * 10 ft tall.

4) There is some non-linear gameplay. You can spcify an objective for winning. This can be an invisible zone into which the player must walk, a guy he must kill, an object he must destroy, an object he must collect, etc. You can also make more than one objective. Say that killing Thug1 is objective 1, while collecting key3 is objective 2. You can also specify more than one of the same objective number. So that killing thug1 OR collecting key3 counts as objective 1 (you only have to do one to win). Once all objective are complete, the level is over.

Hope that helps!

Rabbit

Matt,
It's nice to see you here in the FPSC forums.
They have answered your first question already.FPSC allows you to import just about any type of media you wish and use it in your game...be it audio,video,etc.The only restriction I can think of is that in FPSC you have to use direct x models.
You generally want to use low poly models in FPSC although you can splurge on weapons,characters and some dynamic entities.It is easier to use a low poly model and place a good texture on it for static models.
While I have yet to use up all of the available world space in a level there are those that complain the world size is not large enough.I have seen some fairly large levels though.
You can make your game non-linear if you wish.
My best advice to you is that you download the demo and give it a try.
While the demo may not have all of the features and entities of the full version it should give you some idea of how FPSC functions.
And the FPSC manual is a .pdf file and comes with the demo.
There have been quite a few features added to FPSC that you can't use in the demo but I downloaded the demo for FPSC and bought it less than an hour later.
The demo is worth checking out and this is one of the least expensive game engines (and the only true point-and-click first person shooter engine) out there.
I hope to see more of you around here...and I still think that is one cool sig.

One thing to be careful of when making complex items you can enter (such as small buildings), is the collision mesh. I made a small model awhile back that was basically 2 intersecting hallways with windows. Even when using polygonal collision, I still couldn't enter the building properly.

-Keith

A segment in real time is 8'4"x8'4" or 100 px by 100 px, to correct rabid(sorry man).

Thanks everyone! This is definitely something I'm going to check out. I've been working with DBP for quite some time now, and as a result I ended up not thinking I would really *need* FPSC, but the more I hear about it the cooler it sounds, and it would be truly awesome to make a game without having to spend months and months coding every minute aspect of the engine (I'm a horrible programmer, but hey, that's what having a team is for, hehe). You'll definitely see me around the FPSC forums in the coming months!

I have a few more questions for you guys. I apologize in advance for being annoying about this stuff... like I said previously, all of my experience is in DBP and most of that comes from being a designer, and FPSC is every designer's fantasy program. Anyway, here's a few more questions. A few of them aren't media-related, but It would be silly (imo) to go and make a second thread when I already have a questions-based thread going. Anyway...

(5) Is there a way to make FMV's with FPSC? Not hardcore, heavily-animated ones obviously, but could you make miniature "in-game" FMVs, or would I need to break out Max for that? It seems like I'd need to use Max, but I figured I'd ask just in case this can literally do *everything*.

(6) What are the pros and limitations of an FPSC game's frontend and GUI stuff? Is it relatively easy to modify and personalize the game's frontend and GUI? The game I'm hoping to make wouldn't have a health bar and all that fun stuff

(7) Can FPSC games be integrated into DBP pipelines/ programs? For instance, could I make my frontend and credits run via DBP but have FPSC handle the actual game?

(8) How does the system handle loading? Does each level end up with a load screen, or does the game do "background loading" for seemless play? I assume it has load screens but I'm asking just to be sure.

(9) How's FPSC's multiplayer functionality? What's the high limit on number of players? Can you create various forms of online play, or does it have to be deathmatch?

~ and finally ~

(10) Do the levels need to run sequentially/ in a linear way? Could I have the game set up so that, as an example, level 1 was a town, and the other levels were interiors for buildings in that town, accessed based on where the player goes and what he or she does? Or does FPSC force you to make a game where level 1 always leads into level 2, and you can never return to level 1?

Again, I apologize for the long list of questions. I just want to be absolutely positive that this is exactly what I want, and I always find the best way to know is by asking the people with experience . I'll download the demo right now and give it a whirl. Thanks for all of the help!

@ Fred: Thanks about the sig I figure a lot of people are getting bored of it though... I might be changing it soon. Then again I always say that and never actually do it, lol.

Dude, I also love your sig.

5) You can play AVI or WMV during game. These could be screen captured vids, but to get your characters to behave in an intelligent way, that requires serious scripting. My advise: use a 3D modeler/animator.

6) You could deffinately take out the health meter. You can take out anything (gun picture, gun ammo, and health) but I don't think you can add anything (like a halo-type radar).

7) I don't do DBP, but I believe that the FPSC DBP source code is available for anyone who bought it. You probably could mod that. Otherwise, you could run the FPSC EXE from a DBP program.

8) Yep, loading screens.

9) 9 player max. the objectives are
- First person to certain # kills wins
- Person with highest kills in certain time wins
- First person to achieve other objective wins.

There is a text file that defines the objective_type of the game. Using your own EXE you could change that dynamically. But that would get kinda messy.

10) FPSC is probably the most hack-able program there is. It's features don't sound so great at first, but the more you learn, the more you can do. To run level non-sequencially would require your own EXE as a menu. Each level is a zip file, named "level1.zip" "level2.zip" and so forth. You could write a program that switched these names around. E-amil me for more info.

[href]mailto:Rabid3Rabbit8@yahoo.com [/href]

I downloaded the demo last night and played around with it this morning, and I'm definitely impressed. It's probably going to take loads of tweaking to make it do the things I want it to do, but tweaking is definitley easier than designing and coding a massive 3D engine, creating and managing several separate asset pipelines, and putting it all together in a way that works. This could be a great way to create quick demos of gameplay concepts and show my DBP-based team exactly what I have in mind for certain projects. I think I'm going to buy this next pay-day

If the source is available and we can drop it into DB, then there shouldn't be any limitations on this software: definite plus. Now I just need to work out how to use Poser, Geoscape, and Cartography Shop with FPSC, and presto, I'll be all set. I should be able to easily fit the small town idea onto one of these level maps, and if I can't, I could always have the player load between two or three different levels... it worked for GTA3. Sorry, I'm sort of "thinking out loud" now, hehe.

At any rate, thanks guys for being so helpful. I'll get FPSC and a few model packs with my next paycheck, play around with it, and I'm sure I'll be around to bug you guys with questions and stuff Thanks!