3D Environment

[Dezziedc]

Still going - Lair of the Orc Warlord entry and final room...

[Dezziedc]

Hey all, quick question. I'm working through refining some of the details in the dungeons that I've built so far. One of the things that I've setup is openable and closable doors. Now in the board game, generally you don't close the doors. Is this something that people see should be an option in a computer game? Or, if the door is open, it stays open?

At the moment, the monsters can be prevented from following you by closing a door. But I am leaning towards opening and leaving the door open as it just means you have to fight the monster once it sees you and follows you.

What are your thoughts?

[Weltenlaeufer]

Hey all, quick question. I'm working through refining some of the details in the dungeons that I've built so far. One of the things that I've setup is openable and closable doors. Now in the board game, generally you don't close the doors. Is this something that people see should be an option in a computer game? Or, if the door is open, it stays open?

At the moment, the monsters can be prevented from following you by closing a door. But I am leaning towards opening and leaving the door open as it just means you have to fight the monster once it sees you and follows you.

What are your thoughts?

Hey Dezz! Awesome you are still workin on this! I would keep the doors open cause it wouldnt make sense that a monster is contained by a closed door after the room was revealed. The chase is the fun part!

[Dezziedc]

Hey all, quick question. I'm working through refining some of the details in the dungeons that I've built so far. One of the things that I've setup is openable and closable doors. Now in the board game, generally you don't close the doors. Is this something that people see should be an option in a computer game? Or, if the door is open, it stays open?

At the moment, the monsters can be prevented from following you by closing a door. But I am leaning towards opening and leaving the door open as it just means you have to fight the monster once it sees you and follows you.

What are your thoughts?

Hey Dezz! Awesome you are still workin on this! I would keep the doors open cause it wouldnt make sense that a monster is contained by a closed door after the room was revealed. The chase is the fun part!

Thanks Welt. Yeah that's what I was thinking. I was going to look at having the monsters open the door if one was closed in front of them during a chase, but I figured that would be an unnecessary action to have to implement when you can just leave the doors open. The only doors so far that I think will close will be some secret doors. I've currently got some on an auto close (like sliding doors).

I am still working through it, but it will take a while to pull together. The detail is where things slow down. That's where I'm at the moment. Hopefully once I push that out, the dungeons should be easy to work through. Then it will just be the open world that I need to build out. A huge job!!! I'm still learning stuff as I go as well, so I'm going back and updating or changing things to do them better as I go. One day I will get there!!!

[Weltenlaeufer]

I am still working through it, but it will take a while to pull together. The detail is where things slow down. That's where I'm at the moment. Hopefully once I push that out, the dungeons should be easy to work through. Then it will just be the open world that I need to build out. A huge job!!! I'm still learning stuff as I go as well, so I'm going back and updating or changing things to do them better as I go. One day I will get there!!!

Definitely cheering you on brother. I can only imagine how much work it must be. I bet its gonna turn out epic no matter how long it takes. It looks great already.

[Dezziedc]

I am still working through it, but it will take a while to pull together. The detail is where things slow down. That's where I'm at the moment. Hopefully once I push that out, the dungeons should be easy to work through. Then it will just be the open world that I need to build out. A huge job!!! I'm still learning stuff as I go as well, so I'm going back and updating or changing things to do them better as I go. One day I will get there!!!

Definitely cheering you on brother. I can only imagine how much work it must be. I bet its gonna turn out epic no matter how long it takes. It looks great already.

Thanks mate.

[bigmiked43]

Keep up the good work!

[Dezziedc]

These aren't actual game screenshots, they are test environments I've created to play around with the feel of the environment. Essentially this is the look and feel that I am going for in the open world environment.

[Weltenlaeufer]

Epiiiiiiiiic!!! Damn this is all gonna look so cool! Keep up the work man, this is gonna be mindblowing!

[Dezziedc]

OK - so I've been essentially concentrating on the player mechanics and slowly making progress on that element of the game. However, as I've shown above, I've also been playing around with test environments and trying to get the lighting and atmosphere right as well. So I took a short break from all that this week and revisited the 3 dungeons I've finished (first 3 in the Gathering Storm) to try to apply some of the techniques I've been using in the 'Old World' environment.

I've got a couple of snapshots from each dungeon that I'll post here. First is The Maze:




Second is Sir Ragnar. I've followed the maps/discussions available on Ye Olde Inn somewhat and based this and the 3rd Dungeon on locations approximating other peoples opinions on where these locations might be in The Old World.




Finally, the Orc Warlord. This is situated in the ruins of an abandoned castle (which I have code named "Ruins of Castle Weltenlaeufer"):




The Maze at the moment is the only one that aligns closely with the actual game map and dungeon design from the traditional game. For the other 2, I've tried to ensure there is essentially at least the same number of enemy and "areas" (or rooms) in the dungeon. Sir Ragnar as you can see is a departure from the map - but I've made sure I followed the world maps and designed the dungeon based on the areas people think these dungeons are located (Black Mountains, Dwarf mining areas, caverns etc). The Orc Warlord is a combination of outdoor areas and inside dungeon rooms and halls - so I've tried to capture the feel of the ruins etc.

Lots to do still obviously but I'm pretty happy with what's there so far. I think the dungeons themselves will now start to fall out a bit quicker - once I have a good idea on where the dungeon is located in the world and what it should look like.

The mechanics are slowing me down at the moment.