Screenshot of my game Hydrothermal

[Jake]

I know a few METAL users are asking for screenshots of my game Hydrothermal, so here is a screenshot. The pallet was made by applekid, the 2 leftmost buildings were made by Shivers, the middle stadium was made by me, and the right building was something i made in a few minutes just to test stuff.

Tell me what you think

http://nuclearnova.com/hydrothermal/screenshot1.jpg

[jamie]

Looking nice, what about some little shadows to root the buildings to the ground a little more?

nice...

[macboy]

Hey Jake, what do you use to render your Meshwork models?

[Jake]

Originally posted by macboy
Hey Jake, what do you use to render your Meshwork models?

Quesa... but im having problems with it

[Jake]

heres a new screenshot with new buildings. I also touched up some old ones.

http://nuclearnova.com/hydrothermal/screenshot1.jpg

[Carlos Camacho]

Ok, I will give some advice... but remember everyone has difference of opinions...

The ground perspective and the buildings don't match I think. I also agree that the buildings really need shadows. Speaking of perspective. The angle that you're using -- straight on, and just above, isn't so ideal IMHO. I think things are easier if you go for straight isometric view.

For your GUI, you might want to label the groups of buttons. Also, the edge of the GUI section and the play area need to be separated a bit more. Perhaps put some edge on the GUI right side.

Tell me, what type of game are you making? What type of builings do you need, and what are the tile sizes? I'm thinking of making generic tiles, like SimCity/StarCraft, etc for our site, which of course you could use for your game.

Cheers

[macboy]

Originally posted by Camacho
The ground perspective and the buildings don't match I think. I also agree that the buildings really need shadows. Speaking of perspective. The angle that you're using -- straight on, and just above, isn't so ideal IMHO. I think things are easier if you go for straight isometric view.We (the dev. team) have been bugging him about that but he's too stubborn, insisting he's got tons of code for this view done already ;)

[Jake]

Oh, I forgot to mention this game is in the VERY VERY early development stage, so I know there is ALOT to be done!

Originally posted by macboy
We (the dev. team) have been bugging him about that but he's too stubborn, insisting he's got tons of code for this view done already ;)

Yeah, I have allready coded everything and I would have to start from scratch to change it to isometric.

I also agree that the buildings really need shadows

I agree too, I will add that later

Also, the edge of the GUI section and the play area need to be separated a bit more. Perhaps put some edge on the GUI right side.


I agree with that also

Tell me, what type of game are you making? What type of builings do you need, and what are the tile sizes? I'm thinking of making generic tiles, like SimCity/StarCraft, etc for our site, which of course you could use for your game.

Im basically making a Sim City type game, based in the future and in outer space. The only tiles I really need are more buildings, if you make any just make sure they are futuristic and 32x64 or 64x128.

[Carlos Camacho]

You don't have recode anything I think. Keep your tiles square... but RENDER your images from an isometric view. Example? Look at Warcraft, the tiles are square, but the objects are rendered from an isometric view (or something like that.) Anyhow, you get what I mean right?

[AJ Infinity]

Which Warcraft? Warcraft 2, right? War3's 3D, not isometric.

Jake: I could give you some isometric code from an engine I wrote. It's in ActionScript, but I can port it to Metal. Iso worlds can involve alot of math. Because you have to map 3D space onto a 2D screen.

isometricAS = function (maxx, maxz) {
//Code that constructs the Flash class and inits all variables
this.maxx = maxx;
this.maxz = maxz;
this.theta = 30;
this.alpha = 45;
this.theta *= Math.PI/180;
this.alpha *= Math.PI/180;
this.sinTheta = Math.sin(this.theta);
this.cosTheta = Math.cos(this.theta);
this.sinAlpha = Math.sin(this.alpha);
this.cosAlpha = Math.cos(this.alpha);
};
isometricAS.prototype.mapToScreen = function(xpp, ypp, zpp) {
var yp = ypp;
var xp = xpp*this.cosAlpha+zpp*this.sinAlpha;
var zp = zpp*this.cosAlpha-xpp*this.sinAlpha;
var x = xp;
var y = yp*this.cosTheta-zp*this.sinTheta;
//var z = zp*this.cosTheta+yp*this.sinTheta;
return [x, y];
};
isometricAS.prototype.mapToIsoWorld = function(screenX, screenY) {
var z = (screenX/this.cosAlpha-screenY/(this.sinAlpha*this.sinTheta))*(1/(this.cosAlpha/this.sinAlpha+this.sinAlpha/this.cosAlpha));
var x = (1/this.cosAlpha)*(screenX-z*this.sinAlpha);
return [x, z];
};
isometricAS.prototype.calculateDepth = function(x, y, z) {
var leeway = 5;
var x = Math.abs(x)*leeway;
var y = Math.abs(y);
var z = Math.abs(z)*leeway;
var a = this.maxx;
var b = this.maxz;
var floor = a*(b-1)+z;
var depth = a*(z-1)+x+floor*Math.abs(y);
return depth;
};


Yes, that code's from H2O's new iso engine (it's no longer a platformer.)

[Carlos Camacho]

There's only one WarCraft that matters... #2.

[Jake]

Warcraft 2 is isometric, but the tiles are square, just like my game. I tried that with mine, and the buildings don't tile right at all, theres big gaps in between them.

Now if I could just render everything in the game isometrically without changing every peice of code I had that would be nice, but I fear I will have to redo almost everything else.

[applekid]

As a member of the dev team, I'll post some replies:

We (the dev. team) have been bugging him about that but he's too stubborn, insisting he's got tons of code for this view done already

Besides the fact you and him are our only programmers, of course he has a ton of code. We'll see if Jake goes isometric. As long as re-rendering our graphics doesn't take too long...

Oh, I forgot to mention this game is in the VERY VERY early development stage, so I know there is ALOT to be done!

Yes, yes. For example, I still have to put up the design ideas I have :D

You don't have recode anything I think. Keep your tiles square... but RENDER your images from an isometric view. Example? Look at Warcraft, the tiles are square, but the objects are rendered from an isometric view (or something like that.) Anyhow, you get what I mean right?

So basically, we have an isometric structure, but really it's still another spot on the grid?
|<>|<>|
|<>|<>| <- (my crappy text art example... Those vert lines being a grid...)

For your GUI, you might want to label the groups of buttons. Also, the edge of the GUI section and the play area need to be separated a bit more. Perhaps put some edge on the GUI right side.

As the tool bar maker, I can do that. I'll make it like the map's border.

[Jake]

Originally posted by applekid
As the tool bar maker, I can do that. I'll make it like the map's border. [/B]

Can you redo the boarder around the minimap too? I just made that in 5 mins as a placeholder, it needs redone

[applekid]

Originally posted by Jake
Can you redo the boarder around the minimap too? I just made that in 5 mins as a placeholder, it needs redone

If you want me to, sure.