Game development

Random advice related to game development: there's a neat trick I've used before for quicker post-processing effects. So, lots of games use a blur effect after a given frame has been initially rendered. I've seen this as far back as Halo (zoom blur for sun/sniper scope), and many other major games use various blur effects for making the game more visually appealing. Now, if you've ever tried using blurs (specifically, gaussian) in graphics programs, you'll notice that they can be rather slow - not exactly useful for a 60 fps title. However, I learned a trick when making screensavers/iTunes visualizers on my old MacBook.

The trick: take the rendered image you're going to blur, scale it down to a smaller image, and blur that image. Since the blur effect is already removing detail from an image, making it a smaller image will be a mostly unnoticeable change. The smaller the image, the less time it will take to render the blur - and you might even be able to afford a larger radius blur on the smaller image. The downside is a sort of smoothed pixellation - that is, the effect that practically every game (except Minecraft) does to smooth textures between pixels. However, this can be barely noticeable with the right balance of scaling and blur radius.

I've noticed this trick being used in a couple of places. For example, Fable 2 used a variation for the sun's zoom blur, which wasn't as sharp as a high quality zoom blur and had some of the smoothed pixellation (Fable 2's use of blurring and fog was absolutely gorgeous, btw). I'm also pretty sure iOS does it for their blur effects (kinda apparent by the way the blur updates when scrolling).

This link gives more detail on how it works, as well as pictures:
http://chemaguerra.com/downsampling-and-gaussian-filters/
 
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So I started taking the first steps towards game development. I spent two hours making a poorly textures tutorial room and another 30 minutes trying to make a character that walked instead of flew around everywhere.

I sure do have a long ways to go, but I shan't give up!

UPDATE: I now have a person who walks and jumps and turns properly and gave him a mesh for a FPS, but I have an issue: the mesh turns left and right and moves properly, but doesn't move up and down with the player. Anyone know how to fix this? I'm using Unreal Engine 4.7.
 
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So....

May or may not being working with someone with planning/developing a game.... series.
Will reveal more when I actually have more to reveal, but stuff's in the works.
 
Double post, but w/e.

The Humble Bundle is currently the Game Making Bundle, complete with a lot of goodies. Currently $12 USD gets you everything.
 
If I was to get hardcore into game development, does anyone here know how to make textures for the Unreal Engine 4? I was wondering if anyone could teach me how to make meshes and textures for said meshes.
 
I'm beginning my journey into learning 3D modeling soon. Now that a few key things have now been decided on, work on the game can commence. I will post more when I have things to show.
 
ChibaMasato said:
Gonna see if I can grasp the basics with Blender first, and we'll go from there.
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I personally found Blender to be more confusing than ZBrush. But if you can learn Blender, you should be able to shorten the time you need to spend on the entire process since you can do everything in it.
 
So there is a new RPG Maker. I know most people on this thread are better than this RPG Maker, but I thought I'd let people know. It's called RPG Maker MV, and for another 48 hours, it's 10% off on Steam ($71.99, still not much of a deal in my opinion)
 
Cheese7710 said:
So there is a new RPG Maker. I know most people on this thread are better than this RPG Maker, but I thought I'd let people know. It's called RPG Maker MV, and for another 48 hours, it's 10% off on Steam ($71.99, still not much of a deal in my opinion)
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RPG Maker isn't a bad program, never has been. I've seen some pretty impressive stuff come from RPG Maker. It's especially good if you know how sprites work.
 
ChibaMasato said:
I'm beginning my journey into learning 3D modeling soon. Now that a few key things have now been decided on, work on the game can commence. I will post more when I have things to show.
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If you're thinking of doing clay-like modelling, try your hand at Zbrush.
If you're going for more building from the ground up I'd suggest Maya. Both programs are industry standard.
Lightwave is also an alright alternative to Maya but I would suggest starting with Maya. Master Maya and you master the world.
 
Also, if you're just starting to learn modeling, here's a pointer.

If you are having trouble with the base look of say, a human, and you CBA to learn the proper anatomy and muscle structure; you can always cheat your way through the process. Example as follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh shit. SHIT! This looks like crap!!!!!!
Clipboard01.png



Wait a minute..... This MFer isn't gonna be naked... Hmmmmm......
Clipboard02.png

Yeah. That should help a bit.
(I've already gone through the process of creating and re-sizing the shirt to fit the model at this point. Results may vary!)



Well shit, that's not half bad now.
Clipboard03.png



Edit~
So as a slight recap, I took a half a year or so break and just got back into it. Here's a basic runthrough of the development thus far.
Timeline.png
 
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Okay, I know it is not really the best idea probably, I'm inexperienced in game creation, my idea is probably too large to go through with, and I'm awful at making sprites and music. But I had a little idea for the new RPG Maker MV (When I'm financially stable enough to afford it).

I've been watching youtubers for a while now (More specifically Markiplier and a little Jacksepticeye), and I thought I may try to make a fan game for them and some other youtubers. I wanted to make it big enough to make a long, epic story like some of my favorite old RPGs did, but I don't know enough about some youtuber's best works to use as material (I don't really watch PewDiePie or some others)

If you think I should go through with my idea and maybe even build up a game development team, let me know. I know it's probably not the greatest idea, so I won't be bothered by criticism.
 
Time to revive my own thread with a little news. After talking with a friend about an old game concept I had, I've decided that I'd like to get the ball rolling with it again.
It's a largeish game though so I definitely need people to help. So far it's kinda just a thing to do in your spare time with zero deadlines but if the ball starts moving I'd love to take it to kickstarter or something similar.
Currently all I really need is a 3d modeller/artist who'd be interested in trying some of the things out and an artist who can do environmental artwork/concepts.
I'm only sharing the information with those who come and message me about showing interest. Even if you show interest and do one or two things, you are welcome to leave anytime! Zero commitments. This is all for fun right now.
so if anyone's interested just PM me and we can get talking.
 
Are there any reviews on RPG Maker MV? I'm planning on making an RPG (very early in ideas, so can't share much), and this is what I planned on making it on. This, or Game Maker.

EDIT: To attempt to be a little better at sprite making, I am attempting to create a game where you are a static balloon and I have not much else at the moment.
 
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Cheese7710 said:
Are there any reviews on RPG Maker MV? I'm planning on making an RPG (very early in ideas, so can't share much), and this is what I planned on making it on. This, or Game Maker.

EDIT: To attempt to be a little better at sprite making, I am attempting to create a game where you are a static balloon and I have not much else at the moment.
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I've always liked the RPG Maker programs. I've seen some cool shit made from them.
 
So RPG Maker VX Ace was $7 on Steam, so I got it. Not the one I was wanting, but it will do for now.

As I don't have many resources at my disposal, I am going to attempt to make a small project RPG with what resources I have.

Please let me know if you have any ideas on where I may find better resources for future reference.
 
I apologize for the double post, but is there a better character creation studio out there for RPG Maker VX Ace? The character creator in this isn't that great, and it's bugging me.
 
Cheese7710 said:
I apologize for the double post, but is there a better character creation studio out there for RPG Maker VX Ace? The character creator in this isn't that great, and it's bugging me.
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From what I've seen, most people use the character creator as a base, and edit the creations to suit their needs.
 
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