Re: FIRST Video Game: Hammering out details
 

Are we thinking about making this on our own as a group effort or approaching a company to create a game?

If we were thinking about approaching a company I would contact Atari.
They have already created 2 Robot Arena games. http://www.atari.com/us/games/robot_arena_2_pc_action/

I thought about FIRST robotics game many years ago but I didnt go any farther than thinking about it... I would love to play a FIRST robotics game.

Also are we going to have real FIRST robots or robots that we can assemble on our own such as in the Robot Arena games? Or a combination of both?

Re: FIRST Video Game: Hammering out details
 

We're thinking about actually making this on our own. :)

Re: FIRST Video Game: Hammering out details
 

people are bringing up many good points, i'm really amazed at how many people are coming together to discuss this, it really shows what kind of a community FIRST is. :D

JVN is right, we need to keep this simple for the first version, but i think NES-style is a little to primative for this. (don't get me wrong, i love oldskool gaming, i actually just bought an NES at a yardsale on saturday) i think something around the quality of a PS1 game would be appropriate for this first game. then perhaps we will move onto something more N64-esque.

one thing we still haven't done is decide which game we are remaking. having that poll in the original thread helps show which ones are better, but i think the group who are actually going to work on this should be the ones to decide. which leads me to my next point, we need to organize who thinks they are going to pitch in. i will help however i can, though i'm not a programmer. if you plan on getting involved in this, please PM me so i can organize a list

Re: FIRST Video Game: Hammering out details
 

You're right... I didn't mean graphically it should be like an NES title, but in terms of gameplay.

If you guys want a little flash with substance.

How about a 2D game with a slightly angled overhead view using 3d sprites and prerendered backgrounds?

You can still make it pretty good looking without sacrificing gameplay and simplicity.

Re: FIRST Video Game: Hammering out details
 

some other good examples of 2D games with a 3D look are Sim City and Rollercoaster Tycoon.

Re: FIRST Video Game: Hammering out details
 

After I read this thread, one thing I asked myself was "Do these guys even know what they're doing? :rolleyes:"

It sounds like you're all getting way ahead of yourself.. I haven't seen a layout or a plan.. or anything except everyone just throwing ideas out from 2D Mario graphics to Half Life 2 game engines...

Maybe it should be stated who is doing what, cause from the outside... it really looks like no one has any idea of what's going on.

It takes 100's of hours to make a game... just keep that in mind. Something simple wouldn't be a bad idea for the first run of it...

Re: FIRST Video Game: Hammering out details
 

No.
Not Half-Life, just the guys not busy w/ it!
Truefully, I don't know
Yes. v0.1 Alpha will be a robot and an empty field. The engine will be in good, basic controls done, preliminary file parsing.

Re: FIRST Video Game: Hammering out details
 

Here's a question, will the robots be steared like they are now (as in back makes the robot go back, etc.) or like most video games (whatever point the character is facing, that direction when pushed will be forward, etc.)?

Re: FIRST Video Game: Hammering out details
 

I think it will eventually be based on the control system (robot file). However, since many people only have 1 joystick, this could pose a problem. My recomendation: Lots of gameport expansion cards.

Re: FIRST Video Game: Hammering out details
 

I was playing with UnrealEditor a bit last night, and with all the tools/utilities provided on the Unreal Tournament CDs, I'm thinking initially it may actually be easier just to create a mod. The interface for UnrealEditor is very similar to that of 3d Studio Max, and it seems like a very powerful program. If I had the time to play with it every night, I could probably hammer out a FIRST Frenzy playing field map in a week. All that would need to be done at that point would be modeling some robots, customizing some controls, and you have your .1 alpha release ready. Once you have something tangible to play with, you can start to play with Unreal Script to customize some of the features, e.g. hanging, hooking, playing with physics, adding properties for balls, etc. etc. Since it's based on the Unreal engine, you have all the customizability of the game as far as controls, camera angles, etc.

Consider that something of a playable rough draft. Once you have an idea of what you'd like done in terms of the engine, you can branch off and start writing your own from scratch if you wish. If we could come up with a good enough mod, we might be able to arrange some sort of special licensing to distribute the game as part of the FIRST community.

Re: FIRST Video Game: Hammering out details
 

The problem is that you'd still need Unreal to play it. For what ever reason, some of us do not have access to Unreal. You're welcome to do it, but I won't be involved it that effort.

Re: FIRST Video Game: Hammering out details
 

Yeah, that's very true.

Another thing, if we use something where the code isn't competely open source and we can do anything we want to with it, I personally won't feel like it's "our" game. It will be more like something any wanna-be hacker could do... Know what I mean? I like to have complete control over what is in any code I am working on, which means I can see it and change it if I don't like it for some reason. :)

Re: FIRST Video Game: Hammering out details
 

My thoughts:

- Never studied VC++, but will find a tutorial.
- As far as graphics are concerned, I'm thinking psuedo 3D like that on Marble Madness for the NES.(see attachment) But, we shouldn't get too far ahead of ourselves. I recommended DOS graphics earlier, then reconsidered, and now I reconsider again. DOS graphics is a very real possibility, it should be easy. Then there is primitive part to it. :confused:
- Open source is definitely the way to go, especially since many, if not all teams are going to want to tweak it and use it as a simulation tool.

Re: FIRST Video Game: Hammering out details
 

yay Marble Madness =P... but really, i do concur to some extent... But with those old age graphics, even if the gameplay is incredible, there isnt much you can do to customize robots, colors, or thier shapes... thats why the opensource engines that were metntioned (the sega one, and the one from sourceforge) still hold the graphics wanted, its modern enough to make everyone happy, but its also what we need to some extent... but what we would like the most is the gameplay...

Re: FIRST Video Game: Hammering out details
 

This is a really neat idea.

I agree that you should first start working on the framework and build something that you can constantly use while only customizing the different game options. No real storyline is needed(sponsors and buying more parts). Just straight gameplay with a strong framework.

Remember v .1.

KISS, but make something to build on.