Free Game Designer

There is a new Panda3d version available, once again, I didn't notice when it was released, but it's there now. Go here for the download.

Changed the layout here some and haven't finished it up again yet, but I will soon. Updated the layout of another blog I made and got some templates to start another one or two as well.

Been playing Battlefield Bad Company on the ps3 alot lately, so I haven't been getting much done in the game making hobby. Should have a ps3, a movie and a book themed blogs up soon.

Haven't even been using my PC much at all lately, been playing Metal Gear Online with most my time. If it wasn't down atm I wouldn't even have made a post here right now heh. I really need to get another one or two blogs started to put posts that have more to do with other things seperate. When I get some more time, that Im not using playing games, maybe that will happen.

I still take down some notes and think of some things I would like to do with Panda3d, but atm I'm just enjoying the PS3 too much to spend any time making things. Plus, making a neat little 2d game, while being good practice, probably wont get played much. After looking around and even buying a few old school style games, the plans I had for this seem a bit pointless, but I still will try and finish off what is done and fix a few things as a example eventually.

Ordered another PS3 so I could play lan games and online with my bro in the same house, but the dumb holiday that I thought I was getting in ahead of delayed my stuff after all. Not a big deal but kinda annoying.

Speaking of the Postal service, Postal 2 Share the Pain MP has been released for free which includes 14 maps and 4 gametypes. I played Postal 2 a while when it first came out, it was pretty fun, but I never really tried online. Since its a free MP release, I will try it and give it some support because I would like to see more game developers do this (UT2k4 Assault for free please!). My guess is they are trying to either use this as a way to get attention for the Postal Movie, or the Movie to get attention for the free game. Either way, Free Game!

Also, since trying to keep new blogs coming just writing about my game design attempts is going slow, I will start adding other thoughts on free games and other related topics as well.

Playing alot of PS3 since GTA came out, plus I have been working more so not much progress on my blog(s). I posted a thread on the Panda3d forums on my coding problem but I never got a answer or a hello, not a big problem though it would have been nice. I can probably figure it out better asking at a python site instead as well, so I will try that soon. Kinda lost motivation on it where I got stuck, followed by my request for help going to page two unaswered, but I'll try and keep learning python myself cause I have a few simple games I want to make still.

GTA IV is pretty sweet, hard to do much else with that sitting around waiting to be played. Looked into how to set up some different designs for these blogs some more and will probably try to make a few soon (as I get bored of GTA lol).

Here is a quick image showing what I've done so far. Basically, I have some code that will read a text file with some settings, and use a folder that you can stick fonts etc into, to make themes. The idea is to make it easy to just create a few text files, images, sounds and have a simple side scroller or asteroid style game, possibly more types like mario, maplestory. 3d models may or may not happen for this, if not they will be priority for the next game.

I haven't worked on this for a few weeks, got stuck with some coding and have not been looking at how to fix it much. Started looking into Linux as a Free OS to try out as well, played with Sabayon Linux live disc some which is pretty cool, so I may be switching over to that for this project if I can get the programs working on it (Panda3d works not too sure about Blender and GiMP). The 3d animated window frames and stuff are pretty damn cool, 3d cube for multiple desktops etc, some good Youtube videos showing it off (look for beryl or sabayon). Couldn't get my sound to work on it though, and I have been busy at work, plus watching movies and playing ps3 hehe, but I plan on getting my blog sites and these games worked on some more very soon.

I've been working a bit on this still, using PyPE and liking it so far. I changed my original plans of just modifying some of the samples to making more of a game, so far I have learned a bunch and have a almost fully working menu/theme maker setup that should make the mini games I include alot more fun and give other people a chance to make their own sounds and images for the game types, even modifying the game type to make it more unique.

I start a new job in a few hours, but hopefully it wont cut into my usual time working on this. So far I haven't even spent as much as I would like on here, need to get a new layout for this and a few other blogs I want to start made. Even though I haven't posted as much, I have been doing stuff, just nothing new to talk about really. Soon I should have enough done so that I can actually post progress pictures or videos, and not just rant hehe.

Also, I've been messing with making pixel art, like mario and old snes style images, and I'm not entirely sure if I will use GiMP or M$ Paint since alot of tutorials and things use it for pixel art. Does Paint count as Free is something else I will take into my decision when I do. I guess it doesn't really matter, since I'm not making step by step tutorials (yet) but I want the stuff I use to make any games for this blog to be done using free tools only. As a Windows user, It's free for me, but I'm not sure if that should count, though if I do use it, that will be why.

I've been testing out PyPE to use as a editor, so far it's pretty good. I will probably test out a few more before settling on one, but for now this one is working, because it fixes the biggest problem I was having with indentation.

There is no installer, you just unzip it and run the program. It's got a couple of good features as well, such as making a tree out of your code letting you close chunks of the code with the usual little plus and minus signs.

The only thing I haven't liked with it so far is that when I click on my .py files, it reopens a new PyPE program instead of opening the file in a new tab like Crimson Editor did. Easy to get around that by just using the file->open method so not really a big deal.

You can check out PyPE here. If anyone has any experience with looking for a good python editor leave a comment.

Update on my game, I have most of the simple menu stuff set up and I'm gonna try to get custom themes working on it next. I've also been spending some time figuring out how to make new templates for blogs so I can get this one looking better and open some more.

Panda3d comes with a folder full of demos and samples, to show off what can be done and give some guidance on how they were made through the comments left by whoever coded it. There are alot of samples so I won't go over them all, but there are a few that I think are worth mentioning to anyone wanting to see what the engine can do and how to do it.

First off, the Roaming Ralph demo. This one is probably the best, because it almost seems like a game by itself. The sample shows how to load a simple level, with some uneven terrain, then load a sample character that animates and moves over the terrain. That might not seem like that big a deal to alot of people that have moded or mapped before, because those games or engines made it already, but this demo demonstrates actually placing and moving everything yourself, which will help understand how even other engines would do something similar. This one gets referenced alot on the forums when people ask questions for anything from moving a character to making the camera follow him. This demo uses Collision Rays to keep the player on the terrain and the camera above it, this is just one of many ways to do this.

Another example that uses Collision Rays and gets alot of attention, Chessboard. It's not a real chess game, but you can select and move pieces with the mouse. A ray is made from the camera where the mouse is and selects the board and if there is a piece on it lets you move that piece. The Looking and Gripping sample which shows off how to manipulate a models bones to look at the mouse and also shows a character holding different items is another useful demo. Combine those with the Roaming Ralph and you've pretty much got what most people want in a 3rd person game without too much code and you actually have more control over how that works than with most engines. With what we can learn in those you can make all sorts of things happen already.

The Normal-Mapping demo, shows of not only normal mapping and some light, but a first person camera style movement. Shadows shows off, shadows, Texture-Swapping shows off even more lighting and shadowing plus its probably the nicest looking demo, along with Motion Trails which shows off some cool render effects. Glow and Fireflies show off some cool effects, using some particles and a Tron guy, both look pretty cool. Particles shows a example and how to use the tool to make them as well, it's not too hard to figure out with the manual and some experimenting but it isn't a really polished tool for beginners. Cartoon-Shader shows off how to do some toon effects, this was made even easier in the new version but I haven't tried yet (my old pc doesn't like some of the shaders).

Two more cool demos are Fractal-Plants, which randomly generates a treelike model using some of the more advanced Panda3d abilitys to make geometry and the Media-Player sample which is just fun to watch. The plant demo seems like it could be used to make some really cool stuff, from random plants around the player like grass to random little rocks or trees, even buildings I would guess. The Media Player demo shows how to load a video and not only play it but pause and slow it down too, the video of the Panda with the baby is pretty cool by itself too.

Finally, while there are plenty of demos I didn't talk about that should be looked at anyway, Asteroids!! This sample shows how to use tasks and load up a simple 2d world, along with how to shoot and destroy things. I was going to just take this and modify it some to show off GiMP and Blender, but after looking through it, I don't really like how it handles a few things, so I'm gonna do a bit more instead by making my own code using this as a theme instead, 2d shooters. I've got a start menu and some basic stuff setup so far, and it shouldn't take too long till I have a good update on how its going.

One more thing, to open the .PY files and look at them, just use any text editor. You can also edit and save them that way, but there are much better options out there. At the moment, the text editor I use has some problems with indentation, so I will be switching to a actual Python editing tool. Expect me to finally add a free text editor to the list soon.

Before I even get started, Panda3d is a nice engine, don't be fooled by talk of making 2d simple games and don't be fooled to thinking its got bad graphics cause of the games that have been made with it. Panda3d is a free, open source engine used by Disney to make ToonTown and Pirates of the Caribbean Online games. You might not like the graphics or the theme in these games but thats up to the developer, not the engine, also these are pretty popular games anyway that prove the code works. Plus, they are both Multiplayer Online games, something that could be used to make any little game more interesting. Check the Panda3d wikipedia page, devmaster.net reviews, sourceforge.net Panda3d page or the screenshots on the main site for some more ideas of what can be done with the engine, if you downloaded it already check out some of the samples in the samples folder.

The biggest change I have seen so far in the newest Panda3d is the Shader Generator, which will make it easier to use a few shader types and even add in your own if you can code C++. After looking around on the forums some, it looks like there may be a few more updates over the next few weeks, so there may be a few new tools to use soon along with any bug fixes.

I've been working on modifying the Asteroid demo, between World of Warcraft sessions and sleeping haha, but I think it should come out pretty cool. The plan for the first little project will be to change up some of the code to add new weapons etc, then change the textures with GiMP and eventually add a few 3d objects with Blender. If we are lucky I will add a enemy AI for the demo and real lucky some simple multiplayer, since those will both be needed for the next little game anyway. I'm going to continue playing with some idea's and should have a update soon.

Starting out I am going to go over the new version of Panda3d when it releases. I will spend some time learning the new features and posting my thoughts, then move onto going over the samples. I have been using Panda3d for a few months now and I really like how it works, text editor of choice for coding, python is easy to use and quick to pick up, no constant compiling, plus Panda3d has already been used to release a MMORPG and according to them all the basic code we need to do the same is available (but not all documented yet). The goal of my posts won't be tutorials, but more of a journal of what I did and some thoughts I have that could help someone reading this. While they won't be tutorials, I will try to give some insight and links that should be enough for anyone to learn it, hopefully without too much trouble.

After I get the new version and go over it, I will take the asteroids sample (if its still there, which it should be) break down each bit of the code to explain what it does, go over some more python and Panda3d info, then move onto using GiMP and Blender to add and modify the sample. I've used GiMP and Blender a bit off and on for a few years, but I still always have to go look over some guides each time I use one, so there should be plenty of links and thoughts, for learning and using them with Panda3d.

Once that seems covered, it will be time to make a game!! At the moment the plan is to make a 3d multiplayer online game, something simple, based off chess/checkers style game board with a few different levels to play on. The theme and game rules aren't set yet, but I'm thinking turnbased, soldiers and a battlefield, using guns, lasers or energy (maybe many different ones depending on level). Instead of chess or checker pieces, there will be little bunkers, maybe some different types of soldiers etc.

One more thing, I would like to use some of the other free options to make a game, but for now I will use Panda3d since alot of people want to make a mmorpg and python is a great language to ease starters into some of the more difficult languages. Not only that, but it runs good on my weak PC.

Search, whatever it is your about to do or want to do, search around. Thats something that should be done for just about anything, don't sign up to sites or offers that require money but seem suspicious without searching for example, and it should apply to joining a new community or learning a new coding language as well.

If your just getting into some of these free tools and teaching yourself how to use them off the web, you will probably have alot of questions and want to join the forums to ask them. Always make sure to read, then read some more. If the sites have a wiki, go through it. Always read and search the forums to get a feel for how things are done there before asking questions that people will just tell you to search for after you wait sometimes hours or days for that answer. Go through the forums and just read, look at what other people have asked, check out their examples if they have posted them, search for things that you want to make or understand a bit better, just spend some time getting used to how things work so you can get going faster and know what to expect when your ready.

If your really ready to post, a question or just showing off for some feedback, make sure to pay attention to the site rules. When posting images, don't make them huge. They shouldn't be stretching out the forums or comments sections, big single color backgrounds with tiny objects just waste space, etc, just use your heads here and use your photo editor of choice to make them look a bit nicer. Keep that same thing in mind when making your forum avatar or signatures, try to update and keep your images nice, there are plenty of free tools to make them look cool so use them.

Search for video tutorials, getting into some of the art programs learning 3d or level design, if you can find some good videos it can help alot. Not only are most of them tutorials for something, but just seeing someones work flow can help if your learning alone. With the rise of video hosting sites like YouTube, making new videos and hosting them is easier than ever, so there are usually atleast a few videos around to help you understand whatever it is your getting into.

There are also alot of tutorials for making things, using tools that you may not have or use, that will also help you while using whatever tool you do choose. Just because its a Photoshop tutorial, doesn't mean you cant learn some new techniques for another tool like GiMP. Some of the 3d art tutorials can be used but alot of times they have specific ways of making things so you will probably just end up watching how someone makes things, which can still help beginners understand basic game design.

Once you begin getting into some coding, whatever type of engine you use, there is usually a search function on your text editor that is a great way to learn how things work. You may understand the basic layout of how code works, and how to use variables, functions, whatever the code or script type your using is, but there will almost always be some functions and things set up already that you don't understand, and by searching through the source you can figure out how its used in other files or what it inherits from them faster.

Searching can be the best tool for almost anything you want to do on the net, and even within many of the tools you will or do use everyday. Just try to look around a bit before asking questions, leave a good impression on the first try whenever possible and don't forget to be specific when searching or asking questions.

This is my first attempt at setting up a blog, hopefully it will be useful for my learning and anyone else that comes along can pick something up as well. I came close to setting up a full site and going all out a few times, but it felt like a bit too much to take on all at once so I'm gonna start with a few blogs instead to get into the habit of posting content regularly. Hopefully if all goes well I will have a few websites up and running soon.

For this blog I will try to talk about how easy it really is to download a few free programs and get into making games. Using GiMP, Blender and Panda3d you've already got most of what you need to make a full game, as long as you keep it simple you can do it alone, and those are just a few free programs out there. I've looked around alot for good free engines, and I've always wanted to make some good examples of how to use just free tools to make a game. During my searches in the past I have tried things like Kaneva a free mmorpg engine used to make World of Kaneva which at first seems like a great tool but the lack of good support cause a dead end early on before making a game seems possible, Multiverse another free mmorpg engine that didn't run that well on my old PC but seemed like a good choice. I tested out some of the others, vbgore, XNA etc, but one thing or another always seemed to cause me to lose interest fast, be it my PC, lack of features or requiring code compiling (never been a real good coder, plus getting it setup can be a pain).

There are many options out there, but I decided to use Panda3d as a example to start out because its a really good starting point for new game creators or even people who have been doing one thing or another, like modeling or modding a game for a while, making websites even, because its not only a easy starter coding language (python, easy and strong imho) but it doesn't need to compile. There are good examples and documentation to get anyone started quickly. Just going through the sample files will have you excited about what you could do pretty fast, all you need is a text editor, a bit of spare time to read and some patience (plus creativity of course). Most of that excitement can be found in python alone, which surprised me at first, being so easy and yet I had never tried it, Panda3d adds alot more functionality to it making alot of game functions simple.

Once I get the new version of Panda3d and play with it a bit, I'll get started talking about some of my experiences and how to make a simple game, using a few free tools and resources. In the meantime I will try to cover my thoughts on a few basic areas that should apply to learning any new software, and some general things I have came across to help any starter game designers out there get their brain babys up and running.

You don't need to shell out cash for programs like Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk 3ds Max etc, and hopefully I will be able to make that clear and fun to anyone who wants to find out for themselves, by sharing my experience making some small games.