Posts by merkaba

Also the music in this game is totally awesome. I think most other things have been covered in the thread already

LBP is a great platform-game engine...just look at what they did to it with the MGS level pack, completely transforming the game. It could be better in that respect, but with the simple addition of a gun and target switches, the gameplay completely changes.

Just wait until they release the Import Picture tool, which will let you import photos and drawings from your PS3 harddrive...then the capacity for creative expression through the editor will escalate. All it needs then is a material editor!

-edit-

It saddens me that so many people dismiss this game as being for children and as such is of no interest to them. I wish there were more games like this so we could put the guns aside.

Thanks all! I am a junior level designer, [HP].

You can add me to this list now (finally!!)

I work for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, in Cambridge UK

Okay...October 31st has come and gone. Has anyone been working on anything that they'd like to show?

lol! I think that'd be even more fiendishly complex than the original brief

Sorry I have not been around much here, I've been busy getting myself a job.

<< Now works for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) in Cambridge (I start on Monday the 27th October). This is my first industry job...so wish me luck! Or don't, if you hate me. Right now I'm just having a bitch of a time finding somewhere to live.

Thankyou, I take that as a great compliment

Hi, Insane!

I'm glad I was able to spark some ideas in people's minds, I guess that was my main goal rather than the competition itself

Is anyone making any headway with this idea? 1 month to go!

Hi e-freak, I like the bottom two landscapes, and the rocks on the left. They do feel to me to be missing some small thing, to make them 'real'...maybe an extra aspect to each picture, a small detail, a bit of texture...I am not sure. The rocky crevice is great, nice colour.

I had another spurt in Photoshop tonight. This time I actually had things on my mind when starting, although the finished product is nothing like what I expected to end up doing

Two images, variations in colour:

[Blocked Image: http://www.jonchapman.net/imagebox/paintings/castle01.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.jonchapman.net/imagebox/paintings/castle03.jpg]

I prefer the red one, personally...but my mind has been a bit 'evil' lately.

Aha, thanks for the tip tofu; you're right, the answer is in the model's package setting. It's not quite what you suggested, and the solution is not entirely clear but what you do is uncheck UseSimpleBoxCollision, UseSimpleLineCollision, and UseSimpleRigidBodyCollision.

Yes, I decided to have a go at some cave design last night, using Hourences method. It's all fine and dandy, but I find myself falling through the floor of my mesh. Maybe I missed something obvious, and I'll have another go tonight.

Excuse the technical question, but how do you make the cave model collide with the players? I was studying the mesh in the editor, and the mesh itself has no collision and I can't find any clues in the collision section of the actor's properties. Yes, I am sort of new to Unreal engine editing :]

Great zombie Jesus, what an excellent job. I would be proud as punch to say I made that by myself.

Nothing big here, just a couple of textures for a sci-fi environment. I'm still very much learning with texture creation, but I have made some of my own Photoshop brushes that help a lot with dirt and stuff, and I think I may be getting generally better at structured workflow with texture creation (which for me translates to keeping layers to a minimum, and organising them into groups where I can!)

These were rendered in 3D Studio Max, with specular and normal maps (right side). The 2nd one I am fond of, the first I think is a little weak due to the soft nature of the crevices...it was meant to look like sleek close-fitting panels, but I shall have to redo it with slimmer gaps to really achieve that, I think.

[Blocked Image: http://www.jonchapman.net/imagebox/foliobox/2d/plainmetalplates02.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.jonchapman.net/imagebox/foliobox/2d/scifiwall01.jpg]

Personally I'm not doing a whole lot, as I don't have the time; that is, I am not submitting an entry (at the present). I'm more concerned that other people aren't sure of what they're doing, or rather, would rather be doing something else

Not much activity in here recently...should I be worried? I mean, are people happy with this competition idea, or should we give it a chance to go back to the drawing board?

(this post has been moved from its own thread to this one by me)

I love browsing through this thread!

I got inspired to mess with photoshop whilst looking around in here. It's not usual for me to do a digital painting (as much as I love the feeling that comes with good results!), but I was toying with some brush settings and got a very nice mist that I just had to sillouhette over. One thing led to another, and so on;

[Blocked Image: http://www.jonchapman.net/imagebox/paintings/junglemist.jpg]

This image has been automatically resized. View full-size version.

Image

I am quite happy with it, as simple as it is, and I got to use some of my custom brushes for something other than texture work (the bushes are actually made from triangles!)

This image was not planned or pre-imagined, as I have much difficulty working to an end in paintings; like I said, I found a nice mist brush and laid in some silouhettes, which happened to be hut-shaped, and then put in some trees...and it went from there.

Happy mistakes:

Quote

The grass/bushes on the ground was initially meant to look like flat ground fading into the distance, but the large opacity shifts gave it a graded bush look, so I redrew it with that in mind.

The waterfall was originally meant to be a reflective pool, but the result of a mistaken smudge made me think it looks a lot better (and more appropiate) as a hint of a waterfall.

I'd love to do more of these, but the fact that I can't easily put down in paint what is in my head really frustrates me The things I end up doing that look good are usually results of a directionless experiment...am I alone, or is that common? Is that a stage on the way to being able to draw to an end?

Thanks for looking.

Hey, that's a cool video!

Yes, it definately resonates with the competition premise, but for one problem; the level in that video is pretty much completed in an on-a-rail fashion, where its pretty obvious what to do from step to step. Theres no 'detective work' (whatever the hell I mean by that!) involved. Otherwise, its pretty gosh darn cool; if the player was more involved with the setting up of the pieces somehow, then that would be perfect for this competition.

Sure, modding is allowed. I can't stress enough that the idea behind this competition is creating an engaging puzzle level, and is not about restricting people with rules. The only restrictions in place are the theme/style of level, that it should be single player, and the few inconsequensial rules mentioned such as completion/failure screens. Beyond those, anything goes.

Quote from Zyndrome

You could even make cheating an element of the level

Yes...that's the point

Good ideas with the rest; can source entities detect if noclip is enabled? I remember there being something about an entity capable of messing with the console, but I didn't know if that could detect existing settings.

Unrelated, a couple more puzzle tool ideas: The HEV suit (Flashlight, Zoom), Gravity Gun (dur!)

*shrug* that's really up to the player. The idea is that if there is no clue or need to cheat in your level to complete it, then players shouldn't cheat. But there is nothing stopping players from cheating anyway, even if that rule wasn't there - all it is doing is giving designers the freedom of incorporating some interesting console commands into the gameplay of the level.

Also, given the logic-heavy nature of the project, cheating may not be able to help the players achieve objectives anyway. For instance, cheating will not help if you can't find a certain object that is required to access a particular button, will it? OK, so if a closed door is present then the player could noclip through it, but this is why in the rules it states that the player MUST be confronted with a completion screen, so that the condition of success is abslutely controlled by the designer.

As an example, using noclip could allow someone to pass through the closed door and beyond into the 'free' zone, but they would not get the end screen because certain logic conditions have not been yet, which cheating will not help to solve (except in the manner intended by the designer).

The bottom line is, considering players have access to cheats at all times and it is out of the designers hands to prevent it, where is the harm in allowing them to use those tools to the end of completing your puzzle providing that they only use those which are specifically hinted at in the level? I just think it gives some interesting possibilities.