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Post by marshallh » Sun Jan 01, 2006 3:44 pm

Hello, everyone. Because I go crazy if I'm not programming, I have to start on something. I thought, what could be better than a game?

So, I am starting Grand Theft Portable. With the protagonist as Benjamin J. Heckendorn, the game will consist of hunting down parts to make portables and the tools to build them.

I intend on adding a few certain members of this forum (disguised of course) as people in Portable City. Their characteristics will be carried over into the game (HDC will be somewhat annoying, the moderators will be the police, and Luc will be a helpful friend)

I've also got some other good ideas too, but I don't want to spoil them quite yet.

Most of the game engine is planned out, based on a 3d tile-based system. I'm using DirectX8 Immediate Mode with VB6. The worst enemy in my way is collision detection so far.

Any ideas, post them. Please note, this is definitely not my first game (I've been programming for about 5 years) so any rash comments are not welcome.

With that said, here's Ben!
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Playing an Atari:
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He's gotta be buff to steal cars and still hold a bunch of MGD...
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And so you can see the polygons:
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I'm using Anim8or for the 3d modeling, and Corel Photo-Paint for texture munging.

Code: Select all

Grand Theft Portable - by GameSoft (c) 2006
-------------------------------------------
Game Design document, version 1.00

I.   OVERVIEW
	GTP will be a facsimile of the popular video game, Grand Theft Auto. 
	The protagonist, Ben Heckendorn, will search for tools and parts to
	make portable game systems.

	a. PROJECTED RATING
		GTP will have less violence than GTA and aim towards an 'E' 
		rating by the ESRB, but will likely fall into the 'T' range.
	b. GAME LOCATION
		The game will take place in a fictional city known as 
		Portapolis. It is located in the heart of Wisconsin, United 
		States.
	c. SETTINGS
		At first the game will only feature day and night, but may 
		be later expanded to have seasons.
	d. NPCs
		The various non-player-characters in the game will either
		come from the designer's stewing pot of ideas, or from 
		existing people from the benheck.com Forums. Their 
		characteristics from the forum will carry over into the 
		game.
	e. MODES OF TRANSPORTATION
		The methods used by the main character will currently include
		automobiles, walking, and possibly public transportation.
	f. PROJECTED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
		500 MHz Pentium III or equivalent
		64MB RAM
		DirectX8-compatible 3D graphics accelerator, 32MB texture RAM
		30MB hard disk space
		Windows 98 or later

II.  TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION
	a. TARGET SYSTEM
		GTP will be designed to run on most current computers, by 
		means of low-polygon models and small textures.
	b. DESIGN LIMITS
		1. Each model must be under 500 polygons (triangulated)
		2. Textures must be in a power of 2 (128x128, 256x256 etc)
		3. Textures must be a maximum size of 256x256 for 
		   compatibility with the Voodoo3 card.
		4. Game engine must keep at least 20fps at minimum sys. req.
	c. MODEL DEVELOPMENT
		All of the models must be modeled by one of the development
		team and be completely original. The persons depicted in the
		said models may be either real-life or fictional.
		The models will be developed using Anim8or and stored in both
		the an8, 3ds, and .x formats.
	d. TEXTURE DEVELOPMENT
		Textures for the game may be original or based upon images in
		public domain. Direct copying is discouraged.
		Textures will be stored either as DDS or 24-bit BMP files.
	e. GRAPHICAL ASPECTS
		1. All graphics must fit into a believeable real-life context.
		2. Visible blurring or grapical artifacts are discouraged.
	f. AUDIO DEVELOPMENT
		All sounds will most likely be from stock sound websites, or
		recorded by the sound team. 
		The sounds will be in PCM WAV format, around 22050Hz, and 
		16-bit mono.
	g. DEVELOPMENT TEAM
		1. Marshall          - director, lead programmer, lead modeler
		2. bicostp           - artist, designer
		3. HK-47             - modeling, texturing
		4. Lucretius         - storyline/plot

III. PROJECT MANAGEMENT
	a. PROJECT TIMEFRAME
		The schedule is not yet solid, but the expected development time
		is around 8 months.
	b. DESIGN CONTRIBUTIONS
		If you have an idea you would like to propose, please post it in
		the thread on the www.benheck.com forums at
		http://benheck.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=117592

I'll update this thread as I make progress.
Last edited by marshallh on Tue Mar 13, 2007 2:21 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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Post by sam fisher » Sun Jan 01, 2006 3:50 pm

Nice looks like a hefty bit of programming. I just started learning. Pong is challenging enough for me :P
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Post by Radon199 » Sun Jan 01, 2006 3:52 pm

The poly models look great and your textureing is amazing.

One crit is I would add one more vertex right in the center of the knee just so the mesh dosn't block out into a square. Btw your mesh is layed out very well for such a low poly model, trust me i've been working with 3D programs for 5 years now and working with them seriously for 3 and you have pulled off one of the best super low poly chars i've seen.

Ben looks totaly tanked. Hopefully he will be able to kill some people with his Atari joystick. (The game does have theft in the title you know) :P
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Post by Jeff » Sun Jan 01, 2006 3:53 pm

Cool! Am I part of the game?
PS360Wii Fanboy FTW!

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Post by cowsgoquack101 » Sun Jan 01, 2006 3:54 pm

Bave Bravo! Encore Encore! Good job!

Maybe I could be in their? I could be a pedestrian with a cow on my shirt. :wink:

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Post by bicostp » Sun Jan 01, 2006 3:54 pm

10 print "your programming skills are far more leet than mine."
20 goto 10

:P

I may suck at programming, but I have anim8or and Photoshop, so I'm willing to help with 2D art (textures, pictures, splash screens, etc...) Just ask. :)

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Post by sam fisher » Sun Jan 01, 2006 3:55 pm

Jeff could be a character who just tried to advertise his many sites :P
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Post by Kurt_ » Sun Jan 01, 2006 3:56 pm

That looks like it'll be so fun, not to mention good for at least a few laughs.

You'll give us a download link when it's done right? I can't wait.

You should make a spot where all the newbs hang out, and every now and then you hear a n00b comment being yelled out, like "what's a sticky?" or "why do I need to hook it up to a power source?"

As soon as it's done, give us a picture of the user interface, will ya?
Hey, sup?

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Post by sniper_spike » Sun Jan 01, 2006 3:56 pm

sam fisher wrote:Nice looks like a hefty bit of programming. I just started learning. Pong is challenging enough for me :P
I started learning C++, but I got sidetracked by this portable project. After it's done I'll definitely get back to it. Any self respecting geek has to know atleast one programming language!
Dr. Gregory House wrote:Good lord, are you having a bowel movement or a baby?

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Post by daguuy » Sun Jan 01, 2006 3:57 pm

could i be in it :D i could be a hill billy kinda guy or a little brown monster that runs around biting people
Last edited by daguuy on Sun Jan 01, 2006 4:00 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by marshallh » Sun Jan 01, 2006 3:57 pm

Jeff is going to be a president of an e-commerce website that's on billboards all around the city :)
I've got another render of Ben coming up in a few mins.
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Post by Radon199 » Sun Jan 01, 2006 3:59 pm

Hahah I called it, I was going to post that Jeff would have something to do will billboards :P. I'll help with some 3D stuff since my textureing skills suck if you need it :P .
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Post by Kurt_ » Sun Jan 01, 2006 3:59 pm

Imagine him trying to fit all 1256 of us into one game. Although most of those are probably one time deals, where they came to the forums to ask one question and left.

I doubt I'll be in the game. Doesn't hurt to hope!
Hey, sup?

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Post by Joes2Silly » Sun Jan 01, 2006 4:00 pm

can i be a hobo :?: (or mabe something better)
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official xbox fiend

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Post by Kurt_ » Sun Jan 01, 2006 4:02 pm

(Wow this thread shot off like a rocket!)

I say there should be a bunny cult with Me, Joe, Squeel, BayWolf and the other bunny followers. (We could wear those evil demon robes and bunny ears!)
Hey, sup?

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