BladeZone's Off World Forums

hey, would anyone like to start, or help me start a blade runner mod for quake 2 ? i see its been started, but abandoned for half-life. i thought about using half-life, but went with quake 2 instead. why q2 not q3 ? because almost all computers nowdays can run it, its graphics are good, and its good for LAN parties, lol.

anyone ?

i can to 3d models in maya or 3d studio max, and maybe some other artwork. i can learn level modding and all that other stuff....if i can find the tools to do so.

dont think this is another project im starting that im going to leave, because its not. the tech manual is still on...i just need to unpack some boxes and do some CD searching. we just moved, and on a cd somewhere, theres a bunch of filesi had for the manual: more spinner stuff, KIA, esper (this was 6 pages for the esper) development of the earlier hover-car/spinners, and some nexus one specs. i dont want to retype all this, because i dont think i could do as good of a job as i did before, but if i cant find the disc, ill have to re-type it all. how dedicated is this ?


oh, another reason to choose q2: open-source and its cheap nowdays. lots of resources for modding. any thoughts ?

Have a look at this thread

Looks like someone already did it for unreal tournament...

Personally, I've been thinking about doing something with a Blade Runner theme for ages - I'm more inclined to do a game in the style of the Westwood game - there are a few point-and-click adventure 'engines' out there that can deliver reasonable results.

At the end of the day it is a lot of work and you can't make any money from it for obvious reasons.

Anyone else?

It sounds like a plan.

I have 3ds Max 4.2
My specialisation is modeling.
So if you need a 3d model creator, you can also sign me on this.
I'm looking forward on this.

yeah, ice had the same idea for a monkey island style game, called a graphical adventure.

i just thought that first person would get you into the environment more. like that UT2003, but my computer cant run UT2003, and im not gonna buy a new one JUST so i can play that mod....whic is exactly why im using q2.
but i love graphical adventure games more than anything, even more than fps, but i think Blade runner needs a good fps mod, not a multiplayer map, but a game mod with plot(s) and everything a normal game has.

what we may be able to do, is since most of the DeusEx and UT2003 and Quake SDK (software development kit) works the same, and some maps and models are interchangeable, we may be able to get permission from the UT2003 mod guy and use some of his maps, with his permossion of course. and maybe we can get that guy (or girl) help also.

i also dont even own Quake2 yet, and im gonna buy it soon, if we choose to go with the fps....so....First person of graphical adventure ??? problem with Graphical adventure is it doesnt have very many good toolkits or creators (cheater software) out there. i got into that stuff 2 summers ago, didnt really get too far because theres not enough resources. if anyone knows Visual basic in here, i saw a visual basic game in monkey island style (point-n-click). we can make it purely in visual basic and patryk and I can make 3d models....if i can get 3dsmax to work....darn thing is broken i guess.


BTW: patryk wawer: email me: [email protected]
i need to ask you something.

I don't think you need to buy Quake 2 'cos I have a feeling that the Quake 2 engine is actually open-source now...

...or did dream that?

I too have dabbled in 3D modelling - but I'm still a novice at it. I didn't want to spend big bucks on a fancy modelling package so I use Wings and Povray for creating static scenes.

Bits'n'pieces on my Personal Homepage - nothing spectacular though.

I am a registered Milkshape user, which was designed for Quake and just about every FPS there is. I'm also looking at Blender to see what it can do.

I've dabbled with Blitz Basic 3D, but it's a lot of work to create something from scratch.

Also, I've just started to use Purebasic which looks promising - it's probably good for simple arcade games and arcade re-makes. Perhaps I'll remake the original Blade Runner (not westwood) game and actually make it interesting and playable...

yeah, ive used POV ray modeler in linux, and blender for linux (linux is way better than windows for 3d animation/modeling). in linux, i use maya, and sometime blender and pov ray. i can figure out how to use blender good though. i cant make cubes and edit meshes or objects, im used to maya and 3d studio max, which i can clearly see blender is no match for. but in the free 3d modeling environment, blender is the king. i got my 3ds max 2.5 copy from...i dont know where. i opened a closet with all mine and my dads cds in it, and he had this one labled 3dstudio max 2.5. looks legit, but for $3000, i know he wont pay that much for it.

as for programming, if anyone in bladezone knows C++ or visual basic or anything well enough, we dont need a mod, that is, if its a "adventure" style game like westwood.

if its FPS, then yes, quake it open-source, but i dont really feel like compiling from source code. ive tried building programs from source (in windows) before and it never turns out right. it never works, so i find it easier to pay $5 for a pre-built binary. as for linux, i build programs every day from source, but linux is another story.

if its FPS, who think quake is good ? or half-life. something thats works and loads fast on almost every modern computer, and has a good SDK (good=easy to use and fast)

about the double post i accidentally did (thanks for removing it) i was sending the message, and these darn macs (no offense apple...macs are good) almost froze up. so i clicked it twice.

That site is pretty good, it contains some nice content.


THX1138, did you received my e-mail?

yup, got it this morning (i checked it i mean).


an idea i had i told to patryk: you can play as a rep OR a blade runner, same plot though of course. just an idea.

the list of stuff i need to know:

1: who wants to help out ???
2: what type of genre is it:

*** graphical adventure/real-time adventure (monkey island, kings quest, BLADE RUNNER)

*** or first person shooter-style (like deus ex, not necessarily a pure killing game)

3: what software will we use ? i know nothing of modding for quake, although i know theres SDK stuff for it and half-life. If its GA (graphical adventure) what software is there to make those ? visual basic or C++ or another toolkit ("good" cheater software, lol)

4: who will do what: i know patryk and i can do 3d modeling/animation for videos or objects in the game.

5: anyone know of a good free website provider besides yahoo and geocities and all those others with pop-ups. i know i can maintain the site, since im getting DSl in a week or two...or three. i couldnt maintain the tech-manual site because...well...you try uploading stuff like that with a 56k modem and, dare i say it, AOL. it takes forever.


of couse, this is all just ideas (above). i dont actually plan on making the game yet until i get enough supporters. originally, i though of a mod because its quick...organized, and easy. i mean for a mod, the only thing we'll need is level editors, sounds, graphics, and thats about it. throw them all into a q2 mod, with a plot, of course, and theres a game, or mod.

This is a great idea.

Dont know if anyone has ventured onto 'ActiveWorlds', the online 3d world community but there were a couple of servers running BR type environments. Simple grabs of Eye World were wrapped around objects with pretty good results. Thre were also some objects made in a similar style to BR, including a great blimp that hovered over the city. Ive also stumbled across freeware objects that artists have given away. One was a great version of Deckards pistol and another was a brilliant and massive version of the Police Station in LA2019.

Good Luck!

Is this going ahead? Are there any concrete plans?

I want to be involved somewhere - I'm a COBOL programmer professionally (mainframes) but I do a lot of homegrown 'dabbling' across lots of languages. I'm great at starting 'pet' projects, but not very good at finishing them. It's easy to leave stuff if the only driving force is your own free will - probably be a different story if there's a few of us working on something.

A 'potted' history of my computer exploits:

I've played games since the 1980's - first machine I ever got was a 'pong' variant made by Ingersol - it had a huge black light gun! Great fun shooting the white square target that bounced around the screen.

Christmas brought me a console 'cartridge' machine made by Hanimex - big improvement over the Ingersol - colour graphics that actually resembled real life objects. Wow!

The following Christmas brought a ZX Spectrum with 48K, whoo! Later I moved onto a ZX Spectrum +2, 128k with a real floppy disk drive and printer.

Dabbled in BASIC and moved onto Z80 Assembler - I wanted to write the next hit game, but never managed it. If I could just go back 20 years, knowing what I know now, I could make my millions... oh well.

Had an Amiga A500+ for quite a few years (it's now in the loft, I get it down every now and again) - wrote lots stuff in Amos Basic - but nothing I'm particularly proud of - no I take that back, I wrote a Terminator slide puzzle with sound samples from the movie, I was pleased with that.

Dabbled in C/C++ and Pascal - I even bought a piece of kit that turns the Amiga into a 286 PC. Ooh, the power! Managed to complete my Open University courses on it though

Bought my first PC about 10 years ago - a 486 (66Mhz) - I've still got it - I don't use it much though, cos I later bought a Pentium 3 (500mz) and just recently a laptop (2Ghz), which is what I'm currently using. I plan to buy a really fast desktop next year - don't know why, I just like 'fast' stuff

As far as games go, I got fed-up with the PC format and bought a PS1 when it first came out - I've now got a PS2 and am very pleased with it.

I've just ventured into Linux, but I'm still reliant on Windows for most of my development tools and stuff. I really do want Linux to succeed Windows so I'm aiming to move across completely....but not yet.

Gaming experience:

I have over 20 years of game-playing experience (have I really wasted all that time?) on both PC and console.

The only 'MOD'ing experience I have is some minor level design in Doom and Duke Nukem 3D - I also coded some modifications in Duke Nukem using the (limited) scripting language that controls the 'logic' of the levels. I successfully implemented an audible 'pinging' radar that warned when the enemy was close - very useful for tracking 'invisible' opponents in deathmatch.

I did buy Half-life - but I got bored with it and left PC games in favour of my console.

The only other level design I've done is with Timesplittes on the PS2 - but that doesn't really count as it's a very 'sanitised' (and limited) design system.

The only PC game that I still play is Blade Runner.

I have lots and lots of ideas for games - I very rarely get the chance to even think about creating them. I'm trying a go back to 2D games with Pure Basic - the language is very powerful (and fast) but is still in it's early days of development...

When ever I try out new code I always want to make something Blade Runner related - I've got lots of ideas for Blade Runner mini-games...

So there you have it - my 'gaming' CV - if you have a role for me, let me know and I'll see what I can do - but just remember, I have to work Mon-Fri, 09.00-17.00 , so my free time is limited.

To Patryk - have you ever thought of using Virtual LEGO for your movie?

You could probably complete it in a quarter of the time it would take to shoot using real LEGO and you get a perfect picture plus special FX are a doddle...

Have you seen LDRAW? Here's the homepage - I might have a go, 'cos it can interface with POVRAY.

Hey, instead of a game, why don't we all build virtual LEGO models and make your next Blade Runner movie - I've had a quick look at the LDRAW site, there's two 'free' LEGO modellers available that offer animation possibilities and they export to POVRAY and 3DS and other formats - why not give it a go?

Lot's of people could contribute with LEGO versions of Blade Runner buildings and props - look at the vehicle gallery...

I was a BIG Lego fan when I was a kid - this could be very cool...

...we could at least try a test scene just to see how easy (or hard) it would be.

Most people can build with LEGO - everyone could contribute something to the movie. What do you think?

It sounds like a plan.
I indeed tried LDRAW, but unfortuny I found their minifigs look bad.
LEOCAD (this like LDRAW) can import ldraw files, which can be converted to .3ds these can be imported in 3ds MAX.
I've tried to import these files in 3ds max but they had corrupted data. the mesh was missing. That's why I've made my own High Poly lego minifig in Max. this one looks much better.

The first time I was plannig the Leog BR movie I was thinking of making it whole 3d, but that Time I thought I wasn't ready for it. Today I think that I'm ready for this. But believe it still will cost a bunch of time. But I wanne try if I get some support for you people. In that cace I would be willing to overthrow the whole project and make it fully virtual.

Let's give this a try.

Okay - I want to download the software and have a play with it.

If it's difficult to get good results then perhaps you should continue with the real LEGO, but if it easy to use then I think a test scene would be a good idea...

...I'll let you know how I get on with it

Allright.

If you will have some questions about LDRAW just lemmy know.



GAME MOD

I'm still in contact with THX1138, but for the moment there are only two of us, we both want to go on with this.
But both we know not much about coding.

What game style are you going to do? What engine? Any ideas about storyline?