Game theme and art style

[TheJosh]

For a while now I've felt like the art style is lacking. It improved when I redid the maps about a month ago but everything else is still themed zombies and most of the objects are poor.

Let me explain some history.

When I first started it was going to be multi player only. I'd really enjoyed spilt screen n64 as a kid and really liked lan games like Starcraft so I kinda wanted to emulate this. It was going to be theme-less and just wacky like worms. For testing I made a simple arcade mode so you could get into the engine without a network setup.

Eventually I needed enemies to test various aspects of game play and free quickest ai to implement is a dumb one - the zombie.

Everyone I show thinks of it as a zombie game (because that's basically the only mode) and therefore thinks about assets and suggestions from this perspective. I've got various modes etc and network play kinda works these days but people still only think in terms of zombies.

Thus the question for discussion; keep it a zombie game and strongly theme like that or come up with something new.

I've got another idea for a theme which I can share if that interests people. I was originally going to switch the theme but then @enjgine started sending me cool zombie artwork.

[enjgine]

I've actually been meaning to ask this. Stumbling upon it I would assume it is a zombie game, namely because that is what your assets suggest. But at this stage it can develop into anything. Right now for instance, the Third Person style suits a zombie theme, but it also has first person and top down. Everything I have worked on has had a zombie theme in mind, but that's simply because I need some sort of theme going in.

Personally, I think it is still in it's infancy, more or less. There is no vertical aim until the next update, and the tanks are two boxes and a pole. I think the name suggests something Zombie like, but it is really open to become any theme. It couldn't be a zombie survival without developing AI and combat, it couldn't be an RPG without devloping skills, but it can easily become really quite anything.

That said, in all honesty, I would LIKE to see something new. There are enough zombie survival games around; however, all the same, it can pan out to be zombie themed, I wouldn't mind.

[enjgine]

Oh and please put out any theme ideas you have, I'd love to dabble in different directions.

[TheJosh]

I wrote all this in a notebook whist on the bus. I might take some photos too at some point. Forgive the spelling etc I'm basically writing as-is from the book, but I won't write it all because it's about 10 pages long.

Ho hum doing own thing. Lights go out. "That's odd". Mobile phone has light but going spazzy. Finds a torch and some candles.

Humans neighbours etc. Eventual run out of food and supplies. Is a permanent blackout for some reason. Deterioration of society. Restore power? Temporary solution? More than just power? Also electronics? Humans -> zombies? Escape? Disease?

Year 2028 - Unix time stamp bug (but protagonist only discovers this later on).

Weapons? Break into somewhere to get guns? Find them? Build them? - This was a pain on dead island. Tanks. Helicopters. Find over time. Arcade and network games have everything straight up.

FPS - No character model needed. Quite simple in a lot of ways. Very common. Matches current codebase. TPS - Need character model and identity. Fighting animations/mechanics is harder. Matches current codebase. TopView - Many of the same issues as TPS. Scenes with many enemies will feel very intense. Current codebase support. Open world - Hard hard hard. Can't do cool lighting. Good feel. Would match genre well.

Storyline - Split into episodes because of regular game releases. (I've got a 6 episodes speced out but won't write them here)

Setting

• City
• Close future
• Small spaces
• Modern
• Glass. Steel.
• Tall. High density. Large cities.
• Internal - modern furniture. Ikea. Clean. Maybe rare "original" timber pieces in treasured areas.
• Large tvs.
• Shops like the Apple store. Clean. Open.
• Well kept
• Electric busses. Smart cars. Light rail. Multiple-layer roads. All vehicles electric. Monorail.
• Green areas (gardens etc) are small but very dense and bright.
• A few old buildings. Should feel out of place.
• Great social divide
• Poor areas very poor and physically separated from rich city areas. Graffiti. Broken windows.
• Character from poor area instead? Or maybe their non-electronic lives shields from the crisis.
• Industrial/commercial buildings. Steel desks. Racks. etc.

[enjgine]

I'm going to upload some shots of my modelling prototyping and you will see, that setting and theme is almost exactly what I've already been doing.

I think we have our new theme.

[enjgine]

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B580DH7CvzFzUTBNUm1kTGtQYUk&usp=sharing

This has several photos of what I'm doing modelling wise. I think that theme and setting sound very appropriate. I'm not sure how you want to direct the game in that direction but I'll happily just keep doodling away. Keeping this open source and free to contribute, I think creating a strong direction to it will be very useful and will be helpful management wise. We could also create a list of implementations and requirements?

[TheJosh]

I think if @esper likes the theme we should run with it

[enjgine]

So essentially a 'Permanent Black Out' theme, in the near future, where electronics, or at least advanced electronics cease, and you are left to survive, with arcade and co-op modes available?

[enjgine]

[enjgine]

It may also be worth looking some sort of open discussion board or forum for the website or project in general, so that non-topical or general issues and topics can be discussed, along with suggestions, conversation and more manageable communication.

[esper]

I like your ideas. I also think that this game has a lot of hidden potential, but the user experience at the moment is not great.

I am impressed how ambitious the background stories are.

[enjgine]

I think if we work on movement and mapping, we can improve user experience. I'm not sure how the back end is, but if movement can be tuned up a little and we can sort out a sustainable mapping solution, I think it may improve a lot of the experience.

Of course this is a learning project, so no stress

[TheJosh]

So I'm not going to do anything about this stuff until after 1.8 comes out in a few days time.

[enjgine]

I'm going to run with the theme and setting you laid out with whatever I conjure up from now till then. It is actually pretty original and has given me a lot of ideas.

[enjgine]

@Thejosh Would it be possible for you to put down what you have (The notebook you mentioned, possibly) to read i.e. scan the book etc., especially the episodes yo have speced out and the likes. It will be useful to have a solid defined theme of some sort to reference when creating it. That said it doesn't have to be set in stone, but it would be a good part to have (Perhaps just throw it on the GDrive I shared with you or on your own).

[TheJosh]

[TheJosh]

Hey @enjgine you mentioned elsewhere that you were doing work on models? What are you working on at the moment? It would be important to all be on the same page so as to avoid duplication of work.

[enjgine]

@TheJosh I am working on making up some weapons, specifically for use in first person so that an aim feature can be implemented down the track. I've been keeping a cap of 1000 Tris for models, which I've also kept on a map I've been doing up (Photos earlier in the issue). I'm more worried about actual graphics such as the assets and the art needed for GooglePlay etc. but I have been making progress on some models. I have done one handgun which I am planning to add animation and commit, which I may hold back until I have done a few more weapons, so we can replace all current weapons with higher res.

[TheJosh]

@enjgine that's cool. The Google play stuff won't be for a white yet, I've got to do more testing.

Also, you can feel free to start sending assets thorough and we can add them in one-by-one.

As for number of triangles, you can always make high-res versions which we simplify before adding into the game. It's much better to have a master version with 10,000 tris which we simplify to 1,000 before adding, because we can then get the 10k version if we ever want it. We can also to 10k to 1k with a bump map to get the last little bit of definition but again, you need the highest-quality originals you can get - without being silly and of course constrained by time.

[enjgine]

@TheJosh I only worry about Poly Count after finishing, by simplifying curves and inward-protrusions (Though still far under 10k originals). They are grouped into mechanisms, so the animations can be drawn out on the bolt/sliding components, as well as the magazine. I was making up all the graphic pieces you need for the Play Store, other than Screenshots, but obviously I can move my focus away from that.

[TheJosh]

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