Break today

Need to take some screencaps for next piece on Game Design Review and until then am doing some light reading:

http://gamestudies.org/0801/articles/barton   - on weather effects

This is because my first scripts will be weather effect related.  I've (I think) nailed lightning pretty good:

Soon for the low low price of 50 points, probably.

This is a completely dynamic lightning 'zone' which will not cut off the sound to play another but instead finishes the one in progress.  You make a trigger zone, add the script and sound effect, and you're off :)

The next steps in development are to test the rather spartan particle system built into the engine currently to see if it's even viable to add even simple rainfall or snow.

I'm also planning a fog system, some other little code snippets for devs to use as they see fit.


http://www.worldofleveldesign.com/categories/left4dead2_mapping/l4d2-visual-gameplay-reference-guide-campaign-design.php  - on level design.

Now THIS one is going to be for my technical design review; I plan on showcasing how perspective is used to draw visual elements together.

So stay tuned :)

Rolfy's TGC Store Products

Rolfy is a long time The Game Creators supporter.  He's known for his excellent scripting and secondary effects. While admittedly I'm not a long time TGC supporter myself, it doesn't take long to figure out who stands out in the community as someone who has consistently provided meaningful mods and updates that aren't actually employed by TGC.

Visit his store here: http://en.tgcstore.net/?md=artist-view&aid=44335

When I first evaluated Rolfy's store, he had some really great items.  Since then though, he seems to have expanded significantly.  I had to rewrite my entire draft because of it.

Most recently, he added his art of war kit:

Blogger's not playing nice, use the link to view the demo vid:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUufjZVDLDk

I used to be a regular building until I took an RPG-7 to the knee.

His selection of covered crates are phenomenal.  I'd say his least impressive piece are the rocks, but that's relatively speaking.  It's still miles better than a great many other offerings.  You pay a premium (compared to other TGC store prices) but IMHO it's completely worth it.  Rolfy's items are so unique, so impressive they stand on their own easily without peer.  Here again though.. the prices here for a 'higher' priced item such as Rolfy's are easily dwarfed by other engines like Unity or 3rd party creations for engines like Lite-C/Acknex.

I for one, wish I could throw more money at this guy.  All in due time, I suppose.

What is the one item I could not live without:  While the wave pack is ideal, if you are looking for a single item.. the straight wave has a significant amount of utility:

It's a little tricky to position but works exceedingly well.

The curvy waves are definitely useful as well so unless you're a miserly bastard like me, buy the pack of waves.   It's six dollars well spent for some real immersion enhancing items.

This is a full vid of the entire waves pack in action.

The bottom line: Rolfy's items are not some one hit wonder.  I'm quite sure I'll be revisiting his catalog again, and soon.  Keep a keen eye out for his work!

If this post was helpful for you, please feel free to comment and share it with others.  I welcome all constructive criticism.  If you'd like your products reviewed, leave a comment below and a link to your game creators store.

Nomis3D's TGC Store Products

Nomis3d's products are pretty exceptional and worth a look.  His items have an interesting symmetry with Gencheff's, I think completely by accident.  For instance, Gencheff has his Pripyat (google Chernobyl if you're not familiar) ferris wheel.  Nomis actually has a Pripyat sign!  He also has numerous ISO containers with Cyrillic/Russian lettering.

Store link: http://en.tgcstore.net/?md=artist-view&aid=186502

Notice the high attention to detail; the LOD enabled textures which will help keep framerates under control.  I particularly like the shaders used with the metal textures.  It's not out of place to say that Nomis has some of the highest quality products on the store.  Easily in the top ten, or possibly the top five.  Maybe even the top three.  It's hard to say and really starts getting subjective at that level.

If you need M113 Gavin's (good choice, btw, my favorite armored vehicle!) or ISO containers.. Nomad's your man.  He's got them in spades and they look fantastic.

What is the one item I can't live without: Tough choice. While the pack for the Gavins is a MASSIVE bargain (75% off buying individually almost seems like a typo).

600 pack price, 2400 individual.  A 75% savings.

Same with his ISO Container pack.

All it needs now is a cargo ship ...

But for me, personally, I found that there's something that better suits my needs.  Something I can use in a wide variety of modern environments and has a lot of utility.

Just this humble little house.

For me, finding a way to do fast housing is a big deal.  This house would be at home in a number of environments.  It's run down just enough to count in ruins-type setups.  It could work at a campground, or in an urban environment.  Check out this interior!

Now this I can work with!

For one hundred and fifty points, this is a steal.  It's well priced, very useful, and fits with a number of other models by other developers.

Bottom line: Bookmark him if you haven't already.  This is one to keep an eye on.  Prices aren't bargain basement cheap on individual items, but the packs are stupidly low.

If this post was helpful for you, please feel free to comment and share it with others.  I welcome all constructive criticism.  If you'd like your products reviewed, leave a comment below and a link to your game creators store.

Bengetronic's TGC Store Products

Currently the PirateMyke Review and The Cosmic Prophet's review are both postponed until I see their newer products.  I know cosmic's got some really great stuff in the works, and PirateMyke is looking at adding a lot of new things as well.  So I'm moving them to the bottom of the list for now. 

Bengetronic added his items mysteriously to the store a few weeks ago with little fanfare.  I didn't see any forum posts or notifications.  Just... one day there it was.  Similarly there's no forum profile per-se under the name Bengetronic.

Under google though, it all begins to take shape.

www.bengetronic.com  - This is his portfolio.  He's a professional 3D modeler and it shows.  His portfolio is impressive, which explains the quality of his work (more on that later). He appears to be a long time FPS Creator artist, however, given the resume I found on this site.  I'd love to comb through and find his older work.

http://bengetronic.blogspot.com/ - An outdated, albeit interesting blog he wrote but stopped writing a few years ago.  Interestingly, he makes masks - like my wife.  Check out her blog sometime if you're interested in mask-making: http://mariemessina.blogspot.com/  (She's started writing up posts again so expect updates soon).

Anywho, on with the show.  Bengetronic's models are top notched and priced to sell.  They outperform the vast majority of their competition in a number of ways.  The only two limiting factors here are the lack of a pack (which means buying each model individually, yuck!)  and currently his work is limited to one 'set' of items - specifically they are all based around a construction site.

Just a fraction of what's available.

These are ultra-high quality, low poly count (good for framerates), that are quite frankly DIRT cheap.  Even without the pack, you can buy every single item for 580 points.  That's five dollars, eighty cents USD.

There's only ONE model that doesn't strike my fancy - this guy right here.

The pipes are a bit chunky looking.

The steel pipes he did are lackluster compared to the rest of the set.  They try too hard to be a low poly model and end up seeing out of place with the rest of the set as a result.  He would probably have been better served using I-beams instead of piping, in this case.  At thirty cents, I'm not sure I care enough to not buy them though.


What one item can I not live without:  This is a trivial question, in this case.  The models are SO cheap there's really no reason to choose.  But if you put a gun to my head I'd pick..

Easily at home in any industrial environment.

This simple generator costs a meager 30 cents USD and represents itself quite well.  It's transferable to many modern environments due to the ubiquity of needing portable generators.

The bottom line:  The bottom line is simple here. I'll be buying most, if not all of his models.   There's a huge, varied selection, they are cheap as dirt and look exceptional.  Do yourself the favor and open your wallet for Bengetronic.  His store is found here:  http://en.tgcstore.net/?md=artist-view&aid=200625

If this post was helpful for you, please feel free to comment and share it with others.  I welcome all constructive criticism.  If you'd like your products reviewed, leave a comment below and a link to your game creators store.

Kencharleslong's TGC Store Products

Ken Charles Long.  I don't know much about the guy.  I think he uses a different name on the forums than he does for his store name.  Speaking of, here's his store:

KCL's store: http://en.tgcstore.net/?md=artist-view&aid=27308

Let me be the first to say I really like KCL's store offerings.  He's got a whole host of free goodies as well which I urge you to pick up asap.  I've gotten excellent mileage out of his free "Medieval Derelict House."

KCL's models look better in game than they do in the store.

This is a big object which has a lot of utility in the 'abandoned ruins' department of many different settings.

The first thing you're going to notice here is a significant number of packs.  All are well priced and a superb value.  He's also got a very good selection, coming in at 59 individual items as of the time of this writing.  The art style is not exceptional but quite good.  I can find little fault with in, especially considering most of his pieces are specifically designed as background scenery objects.

The objects are exceptionally low poly on the whole, which generally tends to reduce detail. However, let's be honest here.  Most of us are NOT making multi-million dollar titles.  As such we fall into the rank of indy development and this means we're afforded a certain amount of latitude with model quality.  This is also useful when using a less than optimized engine (such as the Reloaded engine) in keeping framerate and poly counts in check.  Interestingly KCL gets a lot of mileage out of his low poly models, making them look better than they have a right to be.  In terms of price to value - I'd say that KCL's offerings are probably the best on the entire TCG store.

Good detail at a meager 439 polys.

What one item can I not live without:  This is a very difficult call.  Ken has such well priced products (~70 cents for most of them!)  that picking an individual product is mostly a question of what suits your needs best.  Pack-wise there are also several very well priced packs, all offering exceptional savings.  Personally I really prefer the three superior sheds he has in this pack:

His three best pieces, for one low price.

I personally really like the additional clutter of these sheds and find that for the price, I can get good mileage out of these three.  The other pack is enticing but the sheds are too similar.

The bottom line:  KCL's offerings are absurdly cheap, prolific, and the quality is excellent for a TCG store item.  If you've got five or ten dollars to spend, you're going to have a hard time spending it more wisely than on a few packs from KCL.