Change of engine

After reasearching different implementation methods, I have decided to change the engine from XNA GameStudio to Unity. The main reason on this decision is that in order to implement all the things I need, I would need a program that would provide alot of functions out of the box, such as rendering objects and handling variables. By switching the engine to unity, the development time would be cut majorly as I would not have to worry about programming an engine myself and could spend more time doing the development that mattered more.

Another good thing about unity is that it can handle .blend files directly without having to convert my models into another format first, its just a case of importing and dropping straight into the scene. The fact that unity can also take game projects and compile into an exectional file is also an added bonus, as well as the reduction on the amount of programming needed to be done.

Dean.

Modelling Update 2

At the moment, I'm pretty close to finishing off the dune buggy model. I managed to save some time by taking most of the components such as the bars and side panels, duplicating them and mirroring them to form the other side of the dune buggy.


Although I would like to put more time into the dune buggy (such as some nice looking tyres), I need to start modelling the track to keep on scedule. I have also not put any suspension on the dune buggy yet as I do not know how the unity engine will manipulate the wheel movement (such as the wheels moving up and down but the suspension remaining stationary).

For the track, I am basign it off the design I made earlier, where half of the track is in open plains/woodland and the other half in a valley where the player also drives through a tunnel.

Modelling Update

Just an update on how my modelling is progressing. Modelling the dune buggy is relatively easy, but there are problems when trying to model parts of the dune buggy that are not shown in the background images. Another problem is that there is not a background image that shows the dune buggy from above or below, which makes it difficult to get the rotation of some shapes correct.

The dune buggy is pretty much made by building the main chassis piece by piece from prefabs. The metal bars are made from extruding circles/cylinders using both background images to get an idea of where they should be placed. The metal panes were made by placing vertices on their corresponding places of the background image, and filling them in to form a plane using a fill.

The problem with using a background image as a viewpoint however is that the photographs of the dune buggy are taken from a perspective viewpoint, in comparison to the orthographic viewpoint in which I am viewing the background images from. This causes problems since I have to take depth into account when sorting out the placement of some components. The model so far can be seen below.

Start of the Modelling

There are two main things that I will need to model for my game, the Dune Buggy racing car and the track that they will race on. I am using blender to model both (since I know how to use blender more than other alternatives) and will import them into Unity when they're done.

Befor I began to model the Dune Buggy, I first needed some reference photos so that I could get the model as close as possible to the actual thing. What I needed were some perspective shots of the front, rear, top of the Dune buggy so that the scale would be constant throughout. In the end, I found some nice images from the website

http://www.emrockatv.com/product_info.php?products_id=612

The final images I have imported into unity (and set as a background image) are included below.

Progress

Now that all the designs have been done, I will start start to look on how to implement these ideas into a working design. I am looking into the XNA Game Studio for the core programming of the game, Blender for the models and Audacity for editing audio.

My reason for using these programmes are that I have used them before, and am relatively comfortable with the interfaces. The next stage will be to try and find reference pictures for the dune buggy model, as well as try and find any tutorials on making a 3D Racer in XNA.

A bit behind scedule at the moment (since I made a mistake on my timetable which caused me to take an extra module in the first semester) but will try to catch up.

Dare to be Digital Competition

OverDrive will no longer be used for the dare to be digital competition due to the entry conditions changing from last year. Instead, the project will be used soley as my Computer Game Portfolio for the coming semester.

The ideas will remain the same but the game will be on a smaller scale due to only me working on the project.

Dean.

Designs

These are some quick designs I have made for the dare to be digital competition. A write up explaining the details of the game is also included.


Gamescreen












Track

Overview:

The year is 2213AD and crime is on the rise. In an effort to combat the overcrowded prison population, the government has created a scheme, titled the Overdrive Programme. Participants (of who are taken from the prison population) must take part in a series of races where coming first does not guarantee victory. With their lives at stake, they must do anything it takes to win.

Participants are scored on their playing style as well as their finishing position, where the aim is to score as many points possible before the race finishes (usually when a time limit is reached or all but one player has finished the race). A number of points are awarded depending on the finishing position of the player, but bonus points can be given in three categories; Speed, Style and Aggression.

Points can be scored in each of these categories by fulfilling set criteria over the course of the race (i.e. a player can receive aggression points by causing damage to enemy racers). Although a player can score a majority of points by finishing in a high scoring points position, it is the bonus modifiers that may truly affect the final standings.

Scoring Points:

Race Placing:

1^st +10000

2^nd +7000

3^rd +5000

4^th +3000

5^th +1000

Speed

+10 for each second spend over 100mph

+1000 for fastest lap

+100 for "fast sector"

Aggression:

+10 for each % of damage done to enemy

+1000 for each car destroyed

Style

+100 for each successful off-road taken

+10 for each % of health remaining

+1000 bonus for no damage received