Different Direction....Robotech?

[saf0775]

Okay, so it's not Wing Commander, but I thought of a new direction to take the Flight Commander engine. This is a project I started about 7 years ago when I was programming my own engine, but I stopped becuase I couldn't ge the code to work out.

Seeing as how you have a well rounded engine already...and I have ALL the models I need...how about this?

Of course, I would still have plenty of questions about the engine. The main one being "A veritech is designed to change modes (from fighter to robot to guardian). Is there a way to insert code to "change" the model from one mesh to another while still staying in the same mission?"

 

[eddieb]

About changing modes, there's nothing in the engine that will do that.

 

[QuailPilot]

Just chiming in, to wish you good luck! I hope it comes out great and all. Because I will play it.

 

[saf0775]

About changing modes, there's nothing in the engine that will do that.

Hummm...bummer. I was hopeful of a "press a key" and the .obj will change from one to another.

You made this, didn't you? Is there a way to add it in

No worries...it'll still be a fun game without the option...and I'll finally have a reason to use all these models

 

[saf0775]

Just chiming in, to wish you good luck! I hope it comes out great and all. Because I will play it.

You know, it only took about 30 minutes to get the Veritech in the game and the cockpit HUD working. Can I tell you how excited I am that someone designed a simple engine to do all this on!!

 

[criticalmass]

There used to be a Macross fan project six or seven years ago, maybe you can get into touch with some of the folks and see if they had any ideas. Unfortunately, the mod seems to be dysfunct now.

Ah, found it: Macross: DYRL

 

[saf0775]

There used to be a Macross fan project six or seven years ago, maybe you can get into touch with some of the folks and see if they had any ideas. Unfortunately, the mod seems to be dysfunct now.

Ah, found it: Macross: DYRL

Yeah, I don't see any posts from the last year. No worries, I have plenty of ideas on my own, as well as plenty of models, sprites, and sound f/x. I'm going to have some fun with this and see where I can take it.

 

[Winnyfred]

Ahhh, Robotech. Such a sweet, sweet anime. Given, dubbing could've been better, but the concept was really cool.

For the problems with the mode changing, I do recall most of the fighting being done in the fighter mode, rarely did they ever change to Battleloid outside of when they had to. So I think you can get away with all space battles being simply in fighter mode.

What I'd like to know is where you got all the models for the Veritech/Valkyrie fighters, and all the different pods for the Zentradi. I'd absolutely love to get my hands on those (non-commercially, of course. Just something to play with.)

 

[QuailPilot]

It's been a while since I have fiddled around with Flight Commander, but was there a way to do atmospheric flight in it?

 

[eddieb]

It's been a while since I have fiddled around with Flight Commander, but was there a way to do atmospheric flight in it?

You could probably fake it by making a cloudy looking background against a blue sky in a sector.xml file. Instead of seeing a nebula in the background. But there wouldn't be any terrain.

 

[Iceblade]

Changing modes I don't think would be a problem. You would probably need to play a cinematic (FMV) for the mode changing, but it wouldn't be too difficult to change the current model/ship the player is currently using. What would be difficult is getting any kind of good gameplay in Battleloid mod. It would certainly require some additional engine features to get something like that working.

If you could do animations (assuming this is an original story in the robotech universe), though, you could have the Battleloid sequences be FMV scenes.

 

[saf0775]

Changing modes I don't think would be a problem. You would probably need to play a cinematic (FMV) for the mode changing, but it wouldn't be too difficult to change the current model/ship the player is currently using. What would be difficult is getting any kind of good gameplay in Battleloid mod. It would certainly require some additional engine features to get something like that working.

If you could do animations (assuming this is an original story in the robotech universe), though, you could have the Battleloid sequences be FMV scenes.

Great minds think alike I'll be working on that idea in the near future.

I only had a few hours this morning to mess arround with it, so here's what I got so far...

I have three VF-1J's (Rick, Max, and Myria), one VF-1A (Ben), a VF-1S standard and a VF-1S Super (Roy), and a VF-1D (orange trainer version) that are all imported, tested, and flying beautifuly in the game. I also have a recon version of the veritech, as well as a small shuttle imported.

I also have two ARMOR platforms that are imported, but I need to fix the scale and turret placement.

Next on the list:

1. Add some borrowed audio to the animated "face shots" I already have. This will be for communication traffic. I have all the characters from the first war portrayed.
2. Build a Cat's Eye recon plane
3. Import all the Pods
4. Create some simple missions to test everything to this point.

 

[saf0775]

You could probably fake it by making a cloudy looking background against a blue sky in a sector.xml file. Instead of seeing a nebula in the background. But there wouldn't be any terrain.

I rendered some GREAT looking distance clouds using Lightwave with Skytracer turned on Over half of the atmospheric combat sequences in Robotech take place over the ocean anyways....no terrain needed. I'm trying to figure out how to "fake" the ones over Macross Island and the surface of Mars....

Is there a way to add transparency to the models? I was thinking of adding some clouds you could fly through to make it look a little more realistic....

 

[saf0775]

New Screenshots

Here is the Regult and the Ready Room screen (red text and lines are not in the game).

 

[Iceblade]

Looking pretty good so far.

If you have any questions on mission coding, just ask.

 

[saf0775]

Looking pretty good so far.

If you have any questions on mission coding, just ask.

I'm sure I'll have more than a few questions Getting married tomorrow, so it'll be a week or so before I get back to the game. It's going very smoothly at this point and I'm excited to be working on it.

 

[QuailPilot]

If you need voices acting, I can do some.

 

[saf0775]

Oooooo. That would be nice.

I've been using my own voice (highly synthesized) for the Zentradi's.

I could use a good wing-man voice if you're up for it. I'll write up a script and you can email me the WAV files.

 

[QuailPilot]

Sure I'll give it a whirl. (Bear with me though it's been ages since I've seen it, and may not remember how to pronounce some of the names.)

 

[saf0775]

Sure I'll give it a whirl. (Bear with me though it's been ages since I've seen it, and may not remember how to pronounce some of the names.)

The characters that exist in Robotech (Rick, Max, Roy, Lisa, Captain Gloval, etc.) will have their audio ripped right from the DVD series I have. There is no lack of combat talk in the cartoon.

Since those are static characters, they have to remain as-is, and they can only die at very specific moments during gameplay. It's a fun way to add continuity to my game, but thats only part of the game.

There are dozens of Veritech flying at any given moment in the cartoon, and several squadrons are mentioned by name but never really seen on camera. You (the player) will fly in those squadrons (again, giving continuity to the series). Therefore, you will need wingmen and supporting characters that were also mentioned by name in the series, but never seen on camera. These are the voices I need to brethe life into those characters. And each 3D model in my game only has one texture, so it's VERY easy to add your own custom color shceme to your Veritech (just like in the series).

I just wish I knew the code a little better so I could add the ability for the player to enter in his own name, as well as his callsign.