[No Longer] Confused and Clueless, But Hopeful [and Determined]

[TerranRich]

I've been finding myself with a lot of time on my hands lately, and I've been getting that itch again... the itch, the urge to design adventure games again. I still have my pet project, By the Sword, on the backburner, and have for some time now.

I've also been playing Runaway 2: The Dream of the Turtle lately, and completed it just now. And no, I still can't claim that I've beaten an adventure game without cheating.

But anyway, playing Runaway 2 have just reinforced that desire to start up BtS again, but then I come to the inevitable impasse: how do I do it?

I've gone back and forth with the graphics... at first I used Poser for all 3D scenes, then I was trying to use Bryce... then I tried learning 3D Studio Max... then I toyed with the idea of hand-drawing all my background, but I honestly don't know if I can do that. I'm not a good drawer by any means, and my 3D skills are minimal at best.

Runaway and Runaway 2 used a combination of 2D and 3D graphics to create an incredibly detailed and graphically amazing environment, and I'm more than a little intimidated.

How should I proceed? Should I stick with 3D graphics? Try to hand-draw everything? Perhaps use 3D as the basis, then hand-draw over that? I'm making it a hi-res game (which has always been the plan), and that decision is definitely final. How would you guys suggest I design the game's backgrounds, objects, and characters?

I may have answered my own question with the drawn-over-3D idea, but I have a feeling there's more than that at my disposal. I've had an entire decade to refine the story and details, so that definitely isn't a problem. Am I thinking too much about the little things?

I need some guidance here. Any help would be appreciated.

[nihilyst]

I guess Secret Files:Tunguska used 3D-rendered backgrounds as a basis, which have then been photoshopped to look not too like much like a 3D-scene. And the graphics of this game were absolutely lovely. So why not do it that way?

Some screens, if you haven't played it:

http://www.adventurespiele.net/modules/My_eGallery/gallery/2006/Tunguska/tunguska18.jpg
http://www.adventurespiele.net/modules/My_eGallery/gallery/2006/Tunguska/tunguska11.jpg
http://www.adventurespiele.net/modules/My_eGallery/gallery/2006/Tunguska/tunguska17.jpg

Good luck finding a style, that you are happy with! I guess it's hard work ...

[Ryan Timothy B]

Wow.  Thanks for showing me that game, nihilyst.  It's leaning towards my preferred style of 3D backgrounds (which not many 3D games do.  They usually look to square and blocky.)

TerranRich: if you feel like making a 3D game and think you could pull of graphics like this, I'd wait in line to play your game without a doubt.  But you said your 3D skills are pretty minimal... 

[nihilyst]

Wow.  Thanks for showing me that game, nihilyst.  It's leaning towards my preferred style of 3D backgrounds (which not many 3D games do.  They usually look to square and blocky.)

And it's one of the few German adventures I remember. BTW: The second installment "Secret Files 2" will be released in August.

[TerranRich]

By "minimal" I mean that (1) I have not been professional or academically trained in 3D software, and (2) I can't produce a game like Secret Files: Tunguska or Runaway 2 by myself in a reasonable amount of time.

I'm great at using existing textures and models (like those bought from www.daz3d.com) and then using them.

That's why I want to try doing it that way, then editing them by hand, like a post-production sort of thing.

I'm dusting off the old private By the Sword developers' wiki (which only I had access to, having not found anybody to help me out) and taking notes. I also downloaded a pack of 135 "For Dummies" ebooks, and there are a few 3D-related books in there. I'm planning on re-learning AGS (after a 4-year hiatus from even touchin it) as well.

And that game does look awesome, nihilyst. Thing is, those developers are great with 3D, and I'm just a guy in his 20s on a laptop in my living room with a dream and a mouse. I had a tablet, but I lost it, so it looks like it's going to be mouse-drawn for me.

[nihilyst]

No one said that it should or could look like a professionally made game. But I guess making a textured basis with a 3D-program and then editing it in Photoshop or something similar is a good basis, if you like that look. So if you're a bit familiar with 3D and a bit with Photoshop, why not give it a try?

But anyway ... I don't know how big or complex "By the Sword" would be, but I guess it's too much work for one person alone. If you want to do it all alone (what unfortunately is exactly the way I do things), I guess it's a long and hard road you have to go.

[TerranRich]

Have you ever played Runaway or Runaway 2? It's about as complex and on a similar scale as those two games. On par with the Space Quest and King's Quest games as well, I'd say. The demo is in the Games section, and the full game is 6 chapters while the demo is 1.

I guess I will go the 3D route with post-production in Photoshop. I have much more experience in Photoshop than I do with 3D, so who knows? Maybe I can do things in Photoshop easily that I won't be able to figure out in 3D.

Awesome. I'm motivated now. Full speed ahead!

[TerranRich]

Just wanted to update this thread a little.

Turns out I'm not as bad with 3D work as I thought. I'm texturing my own uniforms, inspired by the Concord Navy uniform textures for the bodysuits available for the various characters. Since those are only available for the older models, I textured my own uniforms.

Here is an admiral's uniform. The character shown is a tentative plan for "Admiral Farrow": http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/246/admiraljamesfarrow1fullzo5.png

I have an entire design scheme set up for the different positions, ranks, departments, etc. Since nothing is final as of yet, things will definitely change and I may end up doing completely different uniforms in the end. And who knows? If they turn out great and are different enough from the Concord Navy textures, perhaps I can even sell the textures on Renderosity or DAZ3D.

Here is a fan-favorite character, "Zelina": http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/5955/zelina1parabellaforaikokg3.png

Again, that's not the final look for her. I think she looks a bit Disney-cartoon-ish, so I'll see what I can do about that. The eyes are my own creation. I feel violet is different enough to be alien and exotic, but not too different that it's creepy.

I'm still waiting to hear back from Femme, who I managed to track down, about whether she's still interested after all these years in doing the voice for Zelina once again.

As you can see, I'm serious about doing this, this time around.

[Joseph DiPerla]

Neat! I like them. Keep it up!

[TerranRich]

I have several different designs for each character, and am going to choose the best out of them. I am no longer sticking with only character design and that's that... I am trying out every different look, every different face, every different layout possible.

I've also re-written a lot of Chapter 1 (so it'll end up being quite different from the demo), fixed a lot of the poorly designed puzzles (no longer will there be 20 different numerical codes to memorize, LOL), and I'm making the puzzles fit in better with the plot.

[Mantra of Doom]

All it takes is focus and determination! It seems like you're ready to tackle this project now... and it seems like you're off to a running start already.

Good luck and be sure to let us know how it's going!