Hey all,

I'm new here. This is my first post. Been lurking for a while and have enjoyed watching this thread progress. I have been dabbling in 3D programming for about a year or so. I was previously programming strictly on winblows . I decided the project I was working on -- basically an engine -- would eventually benefit from being open source. So I switched platforms to Linux and have been going through the gruelling process of porting it. Hopefully it'll be ready for the community's scrutiny in a few months.

I had never programmed in Linux before now, but one thing I noticed is that the environment forces you to be a better programmer. So all of you that are interested in starting to program and are going to do it on this platform have a heads up on everyone else. Visual Studio does a lot of things for you -- a lot of things a decent programmer should do him(her)self. (IE linking libraries and other compile time stuff). Things that ultimately give you better control over your program's functionality.

Luckily I chose OpenGL as API of choice. Direct3D, in my experience, is a complete nightmare to learn. OpenGL also makes porting easier. And SDL is dream to work with. Look at the code for generating a window in M$ and compare it to the SDL code.

For all of you interested in game programming (and find nehe to be too confusing -- like me at first) check out http://www.gametutorials.com . They cater mostly to a .NET crowd but most of their tutorials have SDL ports. That site has been the best resource for me.

BTW I'm also a musician and have produced a lot of music. One (local) label actually featured some of my stuff on one of their compilation CDs. Even signed a contract-- didn't make any money or anything -- but that's not what I'm about. So if any of you wants some music for your games LET ME KNOW! I would love to write some tunes for your games!!

peace
gimbal

*smiles* Hei Gimbal
Sounds almost like me (apart from making code that actually works). I did my best coding on the commodore-64 and Amiga.
All the things i've tried on MS, turned out to work just as well (ieo. BSOD all the time).

I've been toying with an idea for a FPS for kids (with a sick twist of humor of course).
Main idea: start at a circus or something like that and everyone is a clown, with clown-weapons. Pies, bananas, waterballons etc...
*grins* with a choice between lethal or humiliating versions maybe. Maybe that's what i should do, make ideas for games and leave the coding to others?
One of these days i just have to sit down with UnrealED and try things out there. (when i'm done with school).

Now that you mention it (UED), I was thinking about a set of gaming tools, I mean, we (as hard-core or mid-range) gamers have tons of (good) ideas for games (either lin-only or win-lin-mac). But the problem comes at the tools end. To create a game you also need the tools to generate either scripts (like uscript), creating levels, new models (I know you can make som in UED), texture packages, sounds, etc, etc. So what about building a linux-game toolset?
I ignore (and it could be a herculian task) how a stnadard level editor could fit into different game engines and use some tools for different projects. Like the WorldCraft level editor used by Quake, Quake2, Half-Life, Quake3 (and I think Doom3 also uses it). Then again I'm talking about similar if not the same game engine here. But do you think it could be possible to have one huge toolset for game content cration to interact with different engines?

Again I ignore what would be needed to be done, from the programmatic stand point.

im still thinking of making a game, not of making a toolset. a game would be fun to fiddle and play with, and i think the linux community has quite a few game creation tools already, just not enough games.

In the event of making games... How about a brainstorm session for game ideas?

yes - [you heard it here first]

Instead of the boxed view of all these first person shooters [fps]-
I was thinking of implementing simulated peripheral vision - a simulation of the 180 degree view we as humans really have instead of the "boxed" view we get in a game.

This would entail having a sort of curved area around the sides of the screen where we can see [not very focused obviously] pretty much if there is any movement. For obvious reasons it cannot be allowed to take up too much of the screen but it should be effective in betting better views around corners etc without the gameplay becoming too clumbsey or difficult to manipulate - it could be given automated priority around corners or something.

The idea is to simulate real peripheral vision.

Even if it was just diagnal views [rather than the full 180] WITHOUT MOVING THE VIEW this would be a better simulation that what's currently going around in the games today.

Can anyone make this happen??? Does it give anyone any ideas???
I think it would be a nice experiment on something like the UT2003 Terrorist mod.

what ja say eh?

I can design some characters - maybe even make 'em 3D too.

that's a really original idea mossy. In fact i find the concept really fascinating. I have an idea that i think could be paired with yours to create a really intense experience. One of the problems i think with fps is that there is no real 'scare factor'. Sure they can get intense, but they're never scary. I mean fighting your way through a room full of crazed nazi-monster-alien-commando's can really get your heart pumping, but only with the fear of having to do it again. Now think about all the scariest, most intense movie moments you can remember...........I bet most of them involve the good guys running away in terror, or sneaking around all scared.

Make the player unable to fire his big shotgun when he's running. Make firing his pistol very difficult when running. If the player is running full tilt away from some sort of horror, he/she has to keep an eye in front of them, otherwise they can, stumble over stones, or bump into corners (which can cause them to spin slightly), or hitting your head while running will make their pov fly up, while slowing them down, and running into walls will make them stop and bounce back. [if you are looking where you're going then you won't stumble on stuff or get slowed down as much] I think with this and mossy's periferall vision idea you could create a really true to life experience.

However, i know my idea would be pretty difficult to implement. It could just turn into a pov twisting, wall bouncing pinball game. But i think with some work it could really be interesting.

Anyway, i'll be playing around with the unreal editor as soon as i get the damn game working (please visit my thread on the problem here!!) (my current problem is the 4th post)

And please anyone else with ideas for cool gameplay features, or just cool game ideas, feel free to submit!

Have you played Aliens vs Predator? I really didn't like that game, because I was suprised by an Alien every time (and they are powerfull, and get real close unnoticed) But the scared part was over when I discovered to play it like Quake 2; just arround, and run! The AI didn't seam to handle that part.

and be honest, it's not realistic; jumping around like that.. maybe this gives you some thought

Now that you mention it (UED), I was thinking about a set of gaming tools
@Thetargos: nice but let's not get too excited now.. Because this is open-source, and we're able write object-orientated code in C++, create libraries programs can link to (like SDL for example), it isn't hard to re-use code. If one game has a nice, well programmed framework, it can be extended to a more general purpose. (or the code can be taken and improved too for the next game... and both parties will benefit from this)

like abe the man said, you could make your aiming, firing, reloading, etc. influenced by horror that you stand. some kind of meter? it reminds me of eternal darkness: sanity's requiem for gamecube. when you lose your sanity, pictures like the mona lisa (just an example, i dont know if its actually in the game) look like torture fields or gory scenes, and you hear eerie tales when you talk to someone. thats a good idea, getting us a little closer to total immersion games

Another idea....is to give the player the ability to move thier heads, without their gun moving...im sure this would be easy, set a bind to turn on/off this feature...something that i havent seen done and its something that i would like to happen...how about if someone gets shot with a high calibur round lets say in their hand...they loose their hand and start to blead to death and they have to use their off hand, thus making it harder to hit something....yada yada yada...and Prone...gotta have prone....
and body armor that works...i.e. you get shot in the vest and you take minimal damage, or get knocked down...someone hits an area that is not covered by the armor...you take alot of damage, or die...

ya, that would be cool, and i think i know the reason why someone hasnt tried it already: it would be hard to control. i know you said its an option, but if you turned it on, well... you would have to have 2 mice, 1 keyboard and 3 hands

still, its a good idea

yeah alot of the mods try to achieve this by placing more of a kill rate around the head. If you hit the head it's possible to kill with one bullet but if you hit the body or legs you can sustain a few shots.

I guess the game play has to be interesting enough to attract people. I would be wary that if you were shot in the leg [as does happen quite often in games] and were lame/impaired for the rest of the game it would be a turnoff to game players. I kinda like the the idea of just having the life/energy force - when it's gone it's gone. You dead. Until next round. The fact that they're out of the game until the next round adds something to strive for. I know when I played CS I hated getting knocked out of the game too early. Makes you alittle more careful - as if it were real you know. I'm not going down. I look around corners first - etc etc. Wereas in stuff like UT2003 you just run around blasting everything - nothing matters - less skill - you just come back straight away after dying. Over and over and over. It does not do it for me. It lacks the real adrenaline cos I'll just come back and eventually blast the guy due to repetition/brute force.

I might look into Tactical Ops - someone said they can get it working native in linux??