complete novice needs help with how to get completed Fractal Terrain map moved/working in a 3D game
I am building a commercial game for the first time.
Target deployment is mobile.
I have bought Fractal Terrains to build the world.
I have read the manuals and TOME.
I have read all the stuff I could Google, but am not getting content I need given my novice starting point.
Note, I am a complete beginner (and over 60, so learning curve is extra challenging
) and I have zero prior experience in this area.
Immediate questions and desire for help are around how I get a completed Fractal Terrains map from FT into a 3D game and working so I can move around in it.
I understand from Simon that FT is a good choice so I am looking for someone experienced with this process with FT to set me on the road to learning.
I am willing to read what has already been written and experiment until I understand if someone can guide me to what I need to look for to learn.
Once the world terrain map is done, I will also need to construct towns, buildings/houses/roads/etc that I can enter and move through.
Also transportation systems to fly/drive/walk through the world to/around/in those houses/buildings/towns/surroundings.
I have experimented with free versions of FPS Creator, Game Studio 8, Dark Basic, RPG Maker. But I am not building a shooter game - nor does my game style fit any of the war/battle/Sci-fi metaphors and so none of the pre-built assets and assembly processes in those tools help me. I have no background nor experienced colleague to guide me on how to find tools that I can use as a beginner to build the assets I need and get them connected with FT results and into the game.
I also bought all the Campaign Cartographer suite hoping to use it for building those assets and have been successful in building various things. I was also looking for how to get those assets into the 3D game with the FT results but I have now learned that CC is only to produce flat maps that have 3D appearance. This will give you an immediate appreciation for how much of a novice I am at this point.
I am seeking to stick with FT to build the world and terrains but need to find what sw would be usable by a beginner to create all those assets and play well with FT for the combined content produce the game.
That will certainly lead me to questions about how to stitch the results of the terrain together with the constructions built for it.
At least at this point I am not asking for someone to teach me everything - just to get me to what resources, tutorials, 3rd pty sw tools, etc. that can help me to understand and learn to apply it.
My immediate goal is to build the first live prototype.
For those who got a chuckle at what a neophyte I am - you are welcome.
Thanks for reading and initial thanks in advance for those who will respond.
...........Dave
Cincinnati, OH - USA
dave.wood.global @gmail.com
+1.513.807.5403
Target deployment is mobile.
I have bought Fractal Terrains to build the world.
I have read the manuals and TOME.
I have read all the stuff I could Google, but am not getting content I need given my novice starting point.
Note, I am a complete beginner (and over 60, so learning curve is extra challenging
) and I have zero prior experience in this area.Immediate questions and desire for help are around how I get a completed Fractal Terrains map from FT into a 3D game and working so I can move around in it.
I understand from Simon that FT is a good choice so I am looking for someone experienced with this process with FT to set me on the road to learning.
I am willing to read what has already been written and experiment until I understand if someone can guide me to what I need to look for to learn.
Once the world terrain map is done, I will also need to construct towns, buildings/houses/roads/etc that I can enter and move through.
Also transportation systems to fly/drive/walk through the world to/around/in those houses/buildings/towns/surroundings.
I have experimented with free versions of FPS Creator, Game Studio 8, Dark Basic, RPG Maker. But I am not building a shooter game - nor does my game style fit any of the war/battle/Sci-fi metaphors and so none of the pre-built assets and assembly processes in those tools help me. I have no background nor experienced colleague to guide me on how to find tools that I can use as a beginner to build the assets I need and get them connected with FT results and into the game.
I also bought all the Campaign Cartographer suite hoping to use it for building those assets and have been successful in building various things. I was also looking for how to get those assets into the 3D game with the FT results but I have now learned that CC is only to produce flat maps that have 3D appearance. This will give you an immediate appreciation for how much of a novice I am at this point.
I am seeking to stick with FT to build the world and terrains but need to find what sw would be usable by a beginner to create all those assets and play well with FT for the combined content produce the game.
That will certainly lead me to questions about how to stitch the results of the terrain together with the constructions built for it.
At least at this point I am not asking for someone to teach me everything - just to get me to what resources, tutorials, 3rd pty sw tools, etc. that can help me to understand and learn to apply it.
My immediate goal is to build the first live prototype.
For those who got a chuckle at what a neophyte I am - you are welcome.
Thanks for reading and initial thanks in advance for those who will respond.
...........Dave
Cincinnati, OH - USA
dave.wood.global @gmail.com
+1.513.807.5403
Comments
My experience in working with 3D modeling is very, very limited and I'm probably close to being as much a novice as you are. My main experience was with the Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2 toolset. I did a little bit of re-skinning the preexisting models but never got as far as creating the models from scratch. We used 3ds Max for this purpose and I believe most of the original modeling was done in that software. I never got as far as animating the models, though I did do a bit of scripting (OK a lot of scripting, way more than I wanted to do scripting) to add PC to NPC interfaces and combat.
As for how to get something from FT3, which is 2D into 3D terrain...My guess would be via greyscale height maps. Again, while working with the NWN 2 toolset (my only experience) we would use height maps to speed up terrain building. I'm pretty sure FT3 can export/save height maps, but I don't know what format your 3D software would need for import.
I know none of this is overly helpful for you, but I thought it might get the conversation going if nothing else.
Thanks for your reply.
I found some info already. I like to focus of MMOG which I never heard about before.
It seems it is possible to build custom content with Aurora for the engine.
Did you have experience with ", the Aurora toolset used for creating custom content that would run in the same engine."?
I will read more about the NWN2 tools and see where it takes me.
.........Dave
As Shessar pointed out, FT can export various kinds of maps, including some what are suitable for import into other tools.
Then edit them in CC3, and with its add-ons, to make the final details.
Your sensitivity to me preferring not to say too much in a forum communication about the app is appreciated.
However, as I understand from Simon that you are a Profantasy developer in USA (if you are the same J Slayton), I would be pleased to share more via email - or phone - if you are willing.
Thanks. I just sent you an email.......Dave
To answer your question, I've used both the NWN 1Aurora and the NWN 2 Electron engines. But they are old and were built for Win XP and similarly aged GPUs. You actually have to load old files from directx 9c to get them to run on newer machines. The game building software you mention in your first post is similar (and up to date).
However, the interesting thing with both NWN toolsets is that they give you the ability to actually dig into a lot of the scripting behind the games as well as walkmesh editing in NWN 2. Since I don't know your experience with programming or the full capabilities with the newest game designing software, this may be of no interest to you. But if you've never seen the software behind the game AI this is an easy and inexpensive option for exploration if nothing else.