One man mod project

[Faravid]

Anyone thinking about starting a little mod just by your own?
Slowly building things to make a new playable experience...

Myself as a fellow with some skills in graphics, mapping, designing and coding, I am thinking about such a project. All I need is to learn some 3D modelling , though it isn't essential skill when you can use the original stuff from HL2.
I am going to start with learning coding to HL2 and build RPG style inventory and perhaps making a fully unique and playable mod in time.

I am not going to start a new mod with a team, since I have had my own HL1 mod and I've worked for 2 others that died because of team members losing their interest, even if the project would be going quite good and few alphas released, mostly the reason is School, damn all of you young modders, not saying I would be old guy though .
When you make everything.

One successful one person mod is Spirit of Half-Life, which is quite intresting piece of code *bows to the author*.

Oh and my logo at the left certainly isn't all I can do with graphics programs.

Sorry if this thread appears twice... since I didn't see the new thread appear when I posted this, moderators please delete this one in this case.

 

[The Dark Elf]

I'm planning on something similar mate. I know all about how team things can fail for the most rediculous of reasons. I plan to do as much as I can on mine alone, then properly hire people for cash (not much but not free neither) to do specific things I might have trouble with, such as coding. Though I'll of course try do that myself first, sure I might screw up majorly on the coding side of things even trying but I think it'll be fun experience

You know if your a coding wiz, we might be able to scratch each others backs, I'm a 3D guy myself

Good luck anyway, modding for HL2 should be a lot of fun

 

[Faravid]

I have coded two little games in my lifetime, but right now I sure am not a coding wizard, I'm more like 2D graphics and mapping fellow and also a little bit too much perfectionist.
So I won't be much of help in coding problems.

 

[dawdler]

My mod is (was, its on hold until HL is released, I aint doing anything for it right now) a one man team
The thing is, you need to know what you need. A modeller with absolutely no knowledge in coding cant do it very well (can learn though, takes a while longer). On the other side, a coder that wants to create a new LOTR mod with 10,000 poly characters, and dont know crap about modelling, cant do it very well either.

But if you got the necessery skills you could do it
Check out my page. The models are so insanely easy to build because of the style I choose. I can code well enough. That gives me 90% of the skills needed. The rest is the space enviroment, meaning the background textures... I could do stars easily (even do em myself in photoshop, I know that much ), but I couldnt create them in the style I want (more like Homeworld backgrounds, colorfull, gasclouds, really distant planets etc).
So I could easily make a beta, all the betas needed, of my mod alone. I couldnt actually finish it though...

 

[The Dark Elf]

nowt wrong with being a perfectionist, I am too hehe thats why I plan to do as much as I can myself, cause no matter how good someone else might be, I just know im gonna pick faults, just one of those things isn't it, its your creation, your idea, and no matter how good some model or texture looks it wont be just how you want it. Coders aren't so bad cause it does what it does or it doesn't, so more clean cut than how textures and models end up looking.

The sort of coder I'll probably end up needing is pretty much for the weapons, as their all kinda different, especially one which I doubt I'd have a chance even trying with. Have considered new shaders too for some effects, now if Softimage includes some feature to turn their realtime shaders into workable HL2 shaders, I'm sorted, if not, its hire a coder time again

Everytihng else I could probably do myself, given time. Experience with audio aswell so that shouldn't be a problem, though gonna feel a right prat making some noises into a microphone.. thank god for privicy lol, helps though that the subject in question I was lucky enough to start my career working on the thing itself so was privy to plenty of insider info, which will come in really handy. Though for the time being I'm being cagey on things until I've something really solid there to show, otherwise its just prone to failure when people know about it and are waiting for it to fail, sods law

 

[The Dark Elf]

Originally posted by dawdler
The rest is the space enviroment, meaning the background textures... I could do stars easily (even do em myself in photoshop, I know that much ), but I couldnt create them in the style I want (more like Homeworld backgrounds, colorfull, gasclouds, really distant planets etc).
So I could easily make a beta, all the betas needed, of my mod alone. I couldnt actually finish it though...

I did a job a few months ago that required homeworld style backgrounds. What sort of things would you be wanting.. if your interested might be able to work something out, I'm taking a bit of a break from a current job until the producer comes back from cannes (shh don't tell ) so could maybe fit something in if your interested.

 

[dawdler]

Well, need to see HL2 and how backgrounds is built up before doing anything anyway... And as I said, its frozen until HL2 gets released. I'm actually doing a mod for Savage now (called Wartorn, I dont even know why its named that ). Its also a one man project, hehe... But its only alterations of the gameplay, and a few additions to form more strategic and defensive gameplay.

But if you want to know style, its on the TL page. And a few concepts that's shown on the modDB page (link is in the news on the right), in the news section (the older news). I love this one: http://news.moddb.com/4937/ (the planet is NOT background)

 

[The Dark Elf]

I dunno the details on "how" its done, other than there's apparantly two kinds of sky, the usual skybox we've all come to know and love/hate and a 3D method. I dunno how its done, some mini world or something, seems all the distant buildings you see in the E3 vids are done that way. The Citadel seems like its via that too. In theory I can see why it would work well, you could clip your world closer than you normally would, but the sky would give the impression of it reaching out much further. It looks pretty cool, will have to see when the game comes out how easy it is to break it though hehehe

But going along with that. Nebula, stars etc. would be a skybox, planets, moons and other stella effects that are closer but still too far to reach would be actual props. Or just have it all as a conventional skybox, which if you've got tons of ships flying about and no real way to clip objects and everything in the world is visible at any time might be the best method for performance vs quality

I'm just theorizing though.. One thing that will make a difference in quality is going to be those normal maps. Nebula's with the appearance of thickness and depth when their only a few flat polys with images on.. Thats gonna be cool

Anyway it looks cool whats been done so far, if you decide to have any drop me a line i should be able to fit something in.. Though if HL2 just came out I doubt I'll be doing much for anything

 

[Faravid]

But going along with that. Nebula, stars etc. would be a skybox, planets, moons and other stella effects that are closer but still too far to reach would be actual props. Or just have it all as a conventional skybox, which if you've got tons of ships flying about and no real way to clip objects and everything in the world is visible at any time might be the best method for performance vs quality

LOD is coded separately to each object i believe, so your planet can be high detail no matter how far away you're from it, but ships lose detail / disappear when far enough.

And I think Gabe mentioned something about the good old sky system with higher res texture AND a 3D skybox which you can add stuff in such as clouds, which would never come any closer if you approach it.

EDIT: Damn I should get some sleep before posting anything, you did mention about the 2 types of skies.

 

[The Dark Elf]

hehe now if you'd written it within 20 minutes of my post you coulda said you were writing it when I posted mine

I hope people make use of LOD, I know I keep saying that when its mentioned but I'm worried many will avoid using it cause they'll see it as a lot of extra work. Unless of course Valve programed something in there that would dynamically change the number of polygons within the engine, keeping UV mapping, animation etc. intact. Now that would be very cool. Maybe an option for setting up specific levels and how many polygons to use per level and at what distance they'll take effect. I can't remember the name now for the program/plugin that cuts down polygons without damaging UV maps, Polygon cruncher I think? I'm not sure. But if its not automatic in the engine then that program will probably be handy for people to buy, as many poly reducing programs forget entirely about UV maps, and its redoing those for every model thats a major hassle

 

[Faravid]

HL2 will include 3D editor so it is very possible that there's automatic poly count reducer as well, probably not in the engine, because it drains processor, but in the editor as a tool or in export plug-ins.

 

[Faravid]

We will probably need to bother some valve employee to confirm this, unless it is mentioned somewhere.

 

[phantomdesign]

I’m going to be doing a 1-man project. I’m one of those super-genius guys who would take over the world if he was evil. (Muaahaaahaaa) It’s a racing/RPG/FPS/Multiplayer-Team/flight MOD.

Custom Maps
Custom Textures
Custom Models

Custom Vehicles
Custom Players
Custom Weapons

Custom coding (of all types including physics)
Custom Multiplayer Game-Play

I have skills in…
3D modeling/texturing
Programming
Mathematics (and mathematical programming)
Physics
General Graphics
3D graphics
…etc.

anyways, I'm ripping off of my car designs for the project
www.GryphonAuto.com

 

[Faravid]

Impressive list of skills you got there, Phantom.

 

[Faravid]

Anyways, I'm quite intrested in the GUI coding in HL2, in the aspect of making an inventory like i stated in my starting post to this thread.
I haven't played around with HL1 code much because of HL1 engine's limits (I belong to the crowd that want as flexible platform as possible, the group of the perfectionists ;P), but I believe it wasn't impossible to do GUIs like that in HL1, correct me if I'm mistaken though.

 

[phantomdesign]

Originally posted by Faravid
Impressive list of skills you got there, Phantom.

Thanks.

I had to do something in college. I spelt through my classes & rarely did homework in college and easily breezed through in 3 years. That's why I have those cars -> www.GryphonAuto.com