Hello all

After checking out BasketBallBen's AWESOME RPG tutorial (which was exactly what I was looking for to help me get started), I am wondering what version of 3DGS I should use to do this? I looked on the main site and saw so many versions, I wasn't sure which one would be thr right one to get to create what I want. Basically, I'm planning on making a 3D RPG that:

-has both keyboard and point-and-click mouse movement and camera viewing/zooming (like Neverwinter Nights)

-Able to create a turn-based battle system (like Final Fantasy VII and some of the other old school turn-based RPGs)

-Use multiple areas/levels (I wasn't sure if there was a limit with the engine)

I'm not really on a budget right now, however, I want to purchase something that I will need and make good use of, and not have all this unused extra stuff left over (like a physics engine (?)) that may come with the engine. So which version would be right for me? Thanks again.

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My second question is related to programming with the engine (and in general) which I wanted to clarify after reading BasketBallBen's tutorial:

Suppose I create a level which has things like multiple transition areas, a call script to pull up the menu, battle trigger, NPCs walking around, etc. How would this be implemented in the main program? are each of these elements up of #include files and are called in the main program? are they all created as separate functions in the main program then called accordingly?

I was just curious about that bit. Thank you again for the help.

Ok basicly even the Standart version would be enough for your game as you don't want any physiks or stuff.
But I would go with the Extra (at least), with Extra you also get the terrain function which might be usefull for a good looking RPG.

About your programming question:
All of that stuff would go into some .wdl file.
Best is to have one script for each "category" so to speak.
Like on .wdl file for the NPC's and another for level objects, such as LOD for level objects (if needed) or the triggers for switching the area or entering a battle.
A battle trigger (for example) would be an entity action which checks its distance to the player and if he is near enough, teleports him into the battle or do whatever.
So you would assign this action to an entity in the WED.

Hope that helped you a bit.

Thank you very much for the reply!

May I ask what is the terrain function for? Is it a separate program for creating terrains? or is it an actual function you can call in the main?

No a "terrain" is a special kind of model.
It is used as landscape (hills etc.) and looks (most likely) better than a landscape made out of blocks.

You get MED, WED and SED with all 4 different editions of GameStudio.
But the difference is that the MED in the standard edition does not support "terrains" plus the max screen resolution is 800x600.

If you haven't done so, check out the edition specification list:
http://www.conitec.net/english/gstudio/3dgs2.htm#editionen

I think there is only terrainsupport with extra (or higher). That means that you are not able to implement terrain (.hmp files created with med or external terrain gernerators) with standard at all.

Thanks for that. I understand now.

I'm wondering if I'm better off getting the commercial or the Professional edition for what I want to do. Is the Professional Edition going overboard with too much unneeded stuff?

For the 'Professional' edition, I also saw that it has a 'file packer.' Does that allow you to turn your game project into a single stand-alone EXE file?

Yes the file packer of the Professional Version can pack all your stuff into a single .exe as far as I know, but I might be wrong here.

Ok think about it:
You can upgrade at any time if you have a legal (bought) 3DGameStudio version made by Conitec.

So you could buy (lets say) the Extra now and start diving into 3DGameStudio and game-making.
When you think you need a new feature of the engine (higher screen resolution, or bones-animations) you can still upgrade to the commercial or even professional version.
But I would do that only when you are 100% sure to stay with this engine and finish your game and maybe do something else with it too.
The upgrade price is pretty simple to calculate:
price[new_edition] - price[current_edition] = price[upgrade]

This way you wouldn't spend the 800$ (or whatever pro costs) just to find out that you have no fun with it at all.

This is great. Thank you for all the help!