3D Shooter in AGS through Raycasting [includes YOUTUBE video-preview]

[Akatosh]

Whoa. That's... BEYOND incredible. If you can make a fully-fledged shooter out of this, you can already make some room for at least the Best Scripting and Best Innovation AGS Awards.

[Mazoliin]

It's not done yet. I will release it bundled with a game (and release its source as well).

And how long do one need to wait to get it?
Stupid question, I know, but I'm so thrilled about this! Soon, the A will stand foor AllGameStudio

[DoorKnobHandle]

It's done when it's done!

But I will swear that I release this. Even if I happen to lose motivation or whatever, I will release what I have. So you can rest assured that you will definitely get SOMETHING!

Thanks for the heads up, everybody. Today I fixed some texture stuff (the plugin now allows textures to be all sizes up to 256x256, they don't even have to a power of two dimension - and they can be mixed, a level could use 32x32 textures on some walls and 128x128 on others, etc) and I fixed the enemy waypoint system. So, now you can add enemies and waypoints for all enemies in the map editor - they'll loop through these and patrol, when they see the player they'll engage in a fight, try to come closer etc. Now I'm working on animations for enemies.

[Ponch]

when it's done!

Hey now! Watch it with that Duke Nukem Forever talk, buddy. I was starting to get my hopes up about this plugin.

- Ponch

[Nickydude]

How on earth did you create an FPS game in a point 'n' click adventure creator!? Amazing!

[EKM]

Awesome stuff. I can't wait for the plugin and whatever you have. I'd love to make a 3D shooter. I even have a 3-year old story that I want to adapt. Once again, awesome stuff.

[Nickydude]

Just a note to say there is a free demo version of first-person shoot em up creator over at FPS Creator. I use it and it's well worth buying it.

[m0ds]

Just a note to say there is a free demo version of first-person shoot em up creator over at FPS Creator. I use it and it's well worth buying it.

Blasphemy!

[zabnat]

Nice job you have here.
I had a similiar "project" some months ago. I was going to make the most awesomenest adventure game with minigames and a sequence with raycasting would have been a part of it. Ofcourse I failed and only got this far in a week. It was fun doing something wacky and something that AGS was totally not made for.

Have you thought about floor and ceiling textures? I came to the conclusion that prepixel method would be too slow and then had another bloat method in mind, but couldn't think it through enough to make it work.

[bicilotti]

Nice job you have here.
I had a similiar "project" some months ago. I was going to make the most awesomenest adventure game with minigames and a sequence with raycasting would have been a part of it. Ofcourse I failed and only got this far in a week. It was fun doing something wacky and something that AGS was totally not made for.

Have you thought about floor and ceiling textures? I came to the conclusion that prepixel method would be too slow and then had another bloat method in mind, but couldn't think it through enough to make it work.

Impressive... without even using a plugin! Handshake zabnat, really...

[Domino]

Just a note to say there is a free demo version of first-person shoot em up creator over at FPS Creator. I use it and it's well worth buying it.

I bought that program a few years ago.  It was kind of tough creating levels though, but that is probably just me.

[Kweepa]

Wow, this is pretty cool!
Did you consider just using one of the doom source ports instead of writing it all from scratch? Or using the doom level format? That way you (and your users) could leverage the great editors that have already been written.
Great work!

[m0ds]

The problem I found with FPS creator is res. I'm more  than happy to play a first person shoot em up in low res but it doesn't support it. In fact, not even 640x480 if I remember rightly, leading to sluggish results.

That's why Jan's plugin thing is very appealing, finally some smooth running 3D, even if it is "fake"

[Scavenger]

This has so, so so much potential for AGS. Not just for 2.5D shooters, but adventure games, too. I can imagine towns being navigated by this method, or dungeons (for RPGs), or anything that requires a 360 view. Makes me think of Normality and Realms of the Haunting, too. I applaud you for making this happen in AGS of all things - this is fantastic! Thank you!

Though, a couple of questions.

Are the NPCs/enemies in this plugin handled seperately to AGS characters? If not, could you potentially use standard interactions with them or make them run different AI functions (on collision - initiate the dialogue system, or drop an item somewhere, or even do an animation at a certain waypoint?)

Could you potentially script preset camera events? (example: player enters a large courtyard. The "camera"/Viewport zooms forward away from the player's position and round a corner, where it focuses on two NPCs having a conversation, then turns back to the player's position)

It's still fantastically awesome even if it will never do any of those things, though x3

Once again, thank you.

[GarageGothic]

Scavenger, you are aware of SteveMcCrea's 3D module/plugin, right? I would think that much more suitable for basing an adventure interface on, integrating well with AGS script/events. It supports true looking up/down, plus you can build quite sophisticated architecture. Oh, and it allows camera scripting too.

What makes dkh's module unique is in my opinion its focus on FPS style gameplay promising built in AI, handling of projectile interactions plus an easy to use level editor.

[Scavenger]

Scavenger, you are aware of SteveMcCrea's 3D module/plugin, right? I would think that much more suitable for basing an adventure interface on, integrating well with AGS script/events. It supports true looking up/down, plus you can build quite sophisticated architecture. Oh, and it allows camera scripting too.

What makes dkh's module unique is in my opinion its focus on FPS style gameplay promising built in AI, handling of projectile interactions plus an easy to use level editor.

I am aware, yes. But 2.5D level editing - and design - is a lot more economical to create games with, and personally I prefer it*. But - even with that in mind, being able to use what I mentioned in an FPS would bring a new level of depth into those kinda games, too. After all, what's better for immersion than having more than one layer of gameplay? With customisable AI, you can have enemies that run away at low health, or try to kamikaze you, or rush up and attack with a melee weapon.
Yes, with this plugin you get to shoot enemies, but then you can make games that are more than that. Being able to use it only for Wolfenstein 3D style shooters seems somewhat limiting. 2.5D first person rendering, projectiles, and enemy AI is only one aspect of a good FPS

Think of the potential it could have for everyone, including the people who want to make shooty FPSes! The more that's hardcoded, the less potential it will have for everyone.

*Aesthetically, I mean, It's like preferring making 320x200 256 colour games to 32bit 3D games in whatever resolution. Y shearing, no problem. There's just something endearing about the way it's rendered.

[Sledgy]

So what's up with this engine? There'snt anything to download?

[Crimson Wizard]

I PMed dkh about this and he said that he is going to finish this soon, but it's not ready yet.

[Chicky]

I think we're all waiting on this 

Also, FPSCreator is shit due to the lack of low res support.

[suicidal pencil]

when it's done!

Hey now! Watch it with that Duke Nukem Forever talk, buddy. I was starting to get my hopes up about this plugin.

- Ponch

I was too (especially the look at the source ), but then the topic started to get ignored...

I hope you're still working on it, this is an epic plugin, definitely one to keep around