Archive for January, 2010
What is Direct Craft?
Posted by Karl Gluck | Filed under Coding
DirectCraft is a library that generates object serialization code and stores it in a way that can be easily saved/loaded and converted. “dcx” is the DirectCraft Extensions library.
Media Resources
Posted by Karl Gluck | Filed under Uncategorized
It’s hard to find good media online. There is a lot of junk out there, but not much quality unless you’re rolling in dough–and even then, it’s hard to know if what you’re buying is worth it. Here are a few things we used.
3dbud – Real-time 3D models (http://www.3dbud.com)
Good value on the models here–each one [...]
The Problem of Infinite Cash in an MMORPG
Posted by Karl Gluck | Filed under Design
Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a way to solve this problem in an elegant, simple way?
A guide to Evidyon coding terminology
Posted by Karl Gluck | Filed under Coding
I came up with terms to describe distinctions between various components in Evidyon (usually layers of content) so that they could be succinctly well-defined. This is a reference to these terms.
Tags: actor profile, animated mesh, attachment point, combat profile, event, image, inhabitant, item, layer, lifeform ai, magic, map, mask, mesh, navigability, region, scenery, skeletal animation, skinned mesh, spawn, SpecialFX, spell, texture, treasure, trigger, VisualFX, zone
What to Install Before you Can Compile Evidyon
Posted by Karl Gluck | Filed under Coding
Before you can compile Evidyon from source, you’ll need the following things:
Microsoft Visual Studio 2008. A free copy of the Express Edition should work, but I haven’t tested it. Do this before any other step.
Microsoft DirectX SDK. You need at least version 9.0c. I used the August 2009 update.
Microsoft Platform SDK. For VS2008 Professional this [...]
Tags: compiling, download, getting started
So, you want to make a character model
Posted by ErichGluck | Filed under 3D Modeling
Load up “Default_Male_.ugh” into Fragmotion. To create a human, use the Merge command (File -> Merge) and select “Default_Male_HumanHead.ugh” then hit “Open”. Leave the settings as they are by default and hit “Ok”. When merging files, I always do this unless otherwise specified.
Next, you want to weld the head to the body. Use Weld All [...]
Tags: character, model, modeling
So, you want to animate a character model
Posted by ErichGluck | Filed under 3D Modeling
Open a finished model (such as Default_Male_Human) and merge the animations model. Use the Merge Animation option (File -> Merge Animation, select “AnimationsModel.ugh”, and click Open, select all the animations you want to copy, and hit OK). Your computer may hang a little at this point (there are a lot of animations), but don’t worry, [...]
Tags: animate, animation, model, modeling
So, you want to add armor to a character model
Posted by ErichGluck | Filed under 3D Modeling
Creating the armor is the hardest part. I have included in the complete pack the bases for armors in the Model Creation -> Armor Creation folder. To make these, I basically took the original model without armor and scaled the model to be bigger, then placed the expanded model over the original one and retextured [...]
So, you want to make a weapon model
Posted by ErichGluck | Filed under 3D Modeling
When creating the weapons, you have to adhere to a standard, or your programmer won’t like you very much. I always visualized the bone that the weapon would be attached to at the origin, that way the programmer could shift every weapon the same amount and it would appear in the characters hands (it’s magic, [...]
Erich’s Modeling F.A.Q.
Posted by ErichGluck | Filed under 3D Modeling
The models in the “##Complete ..” folder don’t have textures!
Yes they do, they’re just not duplicated to that folder. If you want to texture them, look for the appropriate textures in the “##Item Sets” folder. (Eg. Acidweave Doublet texture is in “##Item Sets\9 – Acid\Acidweave Doublet.bmp” and the Human, Lucan, Geonan, etc. textures are in [...]