Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion-like RPG possible?

Is it possible to make a game SIMILAR to Elder Scrolls IV - Oblivion? If yes, is there any tutorials to make it or can someone just tell me some basics I need to do/learn if I'm starting to make one?


Thanks.

Ps. If it's not possible, I'll propably just stick with Diablo styled game..

Everything is possible. The question is if you will have the time as a sole person to do it

That's good to hear... Well I might not have much time but I do have enough willpower to learn some c scripting and other stuff.. I already know how to include something in the main script! (Still I can't even make a moving character without copy/paste :D)

I am already thinking about how to make the weapons system work (equiped items and so on...) and I'm totally out

just a question: you want to make it only by yourself?

Have a look to the credits chart of oblivion...

What do you see there? Right a really great list of names, all working on that game for over 4 years. Famous publishers were spending a lot of money into that project as well.

Michael Schwarz is right, you might be able to do it with GS, but if you are alone and don't have 10 Million US$ to waste, you won't finish it in the next 40 years. Of course you can say: I am not talking about the dimension and grafic levels of oblivion just about the style and feeling of the gameplay, but then also think about what is making oblivion the game it is: Grafic level, and freedom of choice and movement. Both things, you won't achieve alone for sure.

But to many time for a lot a error (animations by sample)
I think is possible and make much better inclusive alone

but I need to go to the work or stay with my wife
if not with 12 hours at day or more

I think the publisher waste the money and the workers not work all the time in the production of the games

If so, why dont they use 3dgs ( or Unity or C4..) instead of paying hundreds thousand usd for a game engine ?

Just because something is possible it doesn't mean that it is recommendable.

uhmm... a professional engine can cost up to 1 milion usd
Just for a recomandation ?!

Are u serious , for one if you are posting in the starting with gamestudio, i would assume you have no experience with the engine or game design, and also to make a game like oblivion would take a proffesional (on his own) about 5-6 years , unless they work on it 24/7. If i was you i would start with a small project , maybe find the RPG template and make your own small RPG , do this to get experience.

Ummm I tend to disagree a large RPG ala oblivion can't reasonably be done by one person. Take a look at here: http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com/

This is a sole person who has 6 RPG's out there- which by the way are larger in scoup than Oblivion and far more involved. The difference here is the graphics of course, and in Oblivion's case a lot of voice acting- but forgoing that needless eyecandy one could still duplicate the size and complexity of the quests and gameworld in 3DS minus all the wizbang shader and fancy high poly models and compromise with independant level of 3d graphics and get something out in 2 to 3 years. Not 40.

Personally I'd do a game closer to Daggerfall than Oblivion- as the later is true to the series whereas Oblivion was a massive dumbdown for the console crowd- in fact bring back the more mature and complex system of Arena or Daggerfall and you'd have a wide open market of old school hardcore RPG fans- which care more for that than simplistic eyecandy Oblivion. I'd also include interesting quests- something Bethseda has never done well.

hah, that great, i used to play blades of exile a game that i assumed i was the only one that I'd ever know that played it....

Spiderweb is a small but professional software house, they are around since a long time
Their turnover is in the range of milions usd
I agree with Blade
Dont set too ambitious targets

Okay well I think i'm putting this RGP thing in the corner for a while... I must do something easier; Maybe a game where's a simple robot thing that shoots other robots with laser gun ?

OR maybe a small "Zelda game" (as training) as I like them and I have some zelda models that I just would have to animate...

If you wish to do an rpg do not throw it out. Start with one small segment of your world and build that world and quests.

For an example say you wanted to rebuild Oblivion. I would start with the Imperial City. Not all buildings are enterable at this point but add locked doors that can be opened with interiors in the future.

A7 Pro does have modding capabilities so you can use this to add on other worlds or just add on to the master file. Either way you want to get a playable game out there and while people are playing that keep adding sections of your world. The thing about adding on to a master file is people would have to start over with their character instead of adding on.

So maybe instead of completing the IC you can start on building one of the outlying cities or the area around the IC.

If you want to use C-Sript or Lite-C there are plenty of rpg elements to get your started. Go through the user contributions and Lite-C user contributions and you will find scripts for inventory and other rpg elements. Make sure to give credit where credit is due. There is also things that can be purchased to help you along in your game. There are model packs in the user contributions and also for sale. Use what is out there as it will cut down on some of the work.

If you know your weak points then hire someone to handle those. I have hired programmers and am looking for someone paid work to do the human character modelling for me. I have several membership subscriptions to texture and model sites to save me some time.

All is not lost for rpgs. You just have to start on a small segment of your world and build out from there. I am doing a rpg. If you want ideas or can not find resources pm me.

You can do an rpg, if you want to, but don't take oblivion as example. In my opinion (although I like some aspects of oblivion) I don't think that it is the best example of what an rpg should be like. An rpg doesn't need a great world of freedom and choices nor does it need a high end grafic system. In fact Oblivion needs these elements, as it offers nothing else of the elements I love the genre RPG for: A dynamic, exciting story that shows the real aspects of character simulation and fantasy and real charcters that have a meaning and can create real emotions, not only a world full of stupid models with a lot of skills, on which nobody really cares.

Try to build a small but exciting world with places that have a meaning showing that you tried to build a real, living story line and not only a great empty grafic galery. Don't build up a complex character system with thousands of skills, values options and items, but give your character and any of his characteristics a real meaning for your gameplay.
I could imagine an RPG with a world with dimensions of a small village and 20 characters living in it, that might still be more interesting and exciting than oblivion ever could be.

(This of course is only my understanding of the genre RPG, others may define it completly different)

Spiderweb is a small but professional software house, they are around since a long time
Their turnover is in the range of milions usd
I agree with Blade
Dont set too ambitious targets

Oh please. Spiderweb software is Jeff Vogel. Period. They are right here in seattle Washington in my neck of the woods. His two friends Mariann Krizsan and Linda Strout do the web and bookeeping. It's Jeff doing the games- and BTW if you want to include the Exile series add 3 more RPG's to his credit.

Kasey has givin a hint of how he manages it all on his own. Right on the webite says : We buy lots of graphics and pay well (lump sum payments, full rights, no royalties). Please send us a link to a web page with your portfolio or samples of your work.

Or if you perfer a more direct example actually using 3dGameStudio take a peek here http://www.direct2drive.com/3/460/product/Buy-Daemonica-Download

Daemonica if you remember the AUM interview is 2 guys. It's not a strick RPG- more of an adventure- but represents the size of a gameworld two guys have actually done in the A6 engine that could be pulled off by any other guy or two.

Now granted I wouldn't recommend a massive RPG for a first learning project but once that learning curve is past I see no reason to forego the idea. You purchase assets here and there as money allows while you brainstorm and plan the world, combat system and write quests and so on.

Independantly I don't know if I'd go 1st person 3d ala Oblivion. Graphic wise a Bauldur's Gate approach is easier to pull as the top down view hides a lot of lacking graphics. Daemonica suceeds by taking this approach. 1st person I think the game would have suffered. Still on the flip side people still download and play Duex Ex dispite the dated graphics so I suppose 3d 1st person could be done but overall with independant art justs looks more acceptable using the top down approach.

But there's two examples it can be done. Do a couple of smaller projects to get the system down and once comfortable go for it. Don't let the nay-sayers put you off. Thuer approach is like a 3d shooter- which I think is silly. Shelves are full of corporate eye candy 3d shooters your never be able to compete against. Independants need to fill the gaps that the big houses ignore. Mainly wargames and hardcore RPG's that are targeted at a more mature audience as well as old style adventure games that most shy against doing- much like the golden years of the 80's and 90s when Arena, Fallout, Darklands and others dominated the scene. (all games you wouldn't let a console kid near BTW and exactly why Oblivion Fails as a true followup in the series. )

Give me a true RPG game like the original Fallout and I'd buy it bad graphics and all. Give me another poor copy of Doom and you couldn't pay me to play it.

One thing i would say , is that you shouldnt start a big project until later, this is because i believe that it is more fun for a begginer to make lots of small games that vary in genre , to help gain experience in all genres to see what you enjoy making the most , and also to increase your skill in game making.

I quote from the book " Secrets of sages " pag 368
Mr Vogel said :
" You wont' get rich ...but you can make a very very good living "
and then
According to Vogel his games are making six figures a year

Not a milionair but definitly a pro

Ohhh at last ...
An rpg , I would say a game , in general, should be focused on an intriguing game plot
That's enough with such exasperation for graphics and special effects
Take for example the strategic games
By the way they are by far the most popular game gendres for PC
FPS are popular on console but on PC strategic games rule
Well, even strategic games are full of special effects , the result ?
a bloody confusion
Did anyone play the old Dune ?

Indeed. The rediculous claim Spiderweb sells 'millions of copies' is laughable. I don't know of but one independant title in gaming history that comes even close to a million except for 3d Wolfenstein and the Commander Keen shareware releases that led to the forming of Id software. Otherwise expect sales in the 10k to 15k range if it's a good game with a successful release. That may not sound like a lot but look at Spiderweb- direct downloads. That means at $29.95 that translates to $300,000. Not bad for a couple years work even if he spent a third of it on costs.

I don't know what the difinition of "pro" is? Sales? Spiderweb is home based. About the only 'pro' aspect of it is online commerse and a legal corp filing. I have both. Costs a couple hundred dollars. Does that make me a pro? He's been at it for a while so that makes him successful and experienced but other than that not much seperates him from you or me.

Agreed 100%. I was bored with Oblivion a long time ago. They spent so much time on the eye candy and neglected good game play. Not enough factions to join for one thing.

Unfortunately I have tried to talk friends into playing certain good older games and they will not play them because they think the graphics are crappy. They are missing out on great game play!

You can create immersivity with any graphics provided you maintain consistency.

And that's the audience we need to target. Most console gamers couldn't even 'learn' the complex system of Arena or Daggerfall.

They love Oblivion, which is little more that a 3d shooter using swords. Have you seen the new Fallout III demo vid? http://e3.g4tv.com/e32008/videos/26926/E3_08_FallOut_3_Gameplay_Demo.html

I dare quote as my stomach churned when I heard the lines: it'll be "Even deeper than Call of Duty!".

Never said " milions of copies"



No problem , I know it
A pro is someone who makes a (good) living on game programming

ummm....: Quote from your post:

Spiderweb is a small but professional software house, they are around since a long time
Their turnover is in the range of milions usd
I agree with Blade
Dont set too ambitious targets

You have 3 types of software developers. Independant (that's you and me) Small house (which is still you and me but we are making money)and Big hous funded teams. To me if your not big house funded your not pro. Spiderweb is Not big house funded.

Well, this sounds good way to start the RPG. I think I could have two projects going at the same time (so if I get bored to another i can change...). I have actually tried to make some pieces street and save them as prefabs, but I have serious problems with the textures as they are screwed up when I import the prefab...

There are lots of other problems; example: I have no idea how to even make a char have animations in game or add weapons...

So as I'm almost complete beginner, where should I start the building? (1.character movement 2.weapon system 3.skills 4.enemies 5.accessible houses). <-- I have no idea how to make any of them...

Sorry if I am asking too much and too stupid things...

I just want to know how to do things the best way.

As i suggested, i think you should just start with something small. I would advise for you to get familiar with MED,WED and SED first and learn how to do use these , and then i would start learning some modelling make some models to test your skills, also do some level design, and experiment with textures,lighting and layout. Also try going through the Lite-c workshops, as they are very usefull.

So I think that small could be the robot game thing (or maybe a simple Super Mario styled platform jumping game with very simple models)... Actually (I think) I am quite good with MED already... Also I know all/most of the basics in WED... So I think I'll be making this robot model and a small map where it will be. After that I'm going to check some tutorials for movement making (If I can find any)...

Or are the Lite-C workshops kindof tutorials? And where I can find them

I think this is all for now... Coming back to this later.

Thanks again for helping.

Yer the workshops are tutorials, they teach everything you need for movement and more.

okay I found a C-script workshop at GameStudio Wiki... Gonna have a look at it tomorrow.

For now I must ask what could be wrong with my prefab of a piece of street. The textures aren't even nearly where i put them before saving as prefab (I also texture locked them before save)and I can't even run the level because I get error which says one of the textures is bad sized... (36x256)

I think it would be easier to make levels with working prefabs

If you using A7 , you should use Lite-c not C.

Because as far as i know the texture is posistioned based on the posistion of the block, therefore if you move it the texture will move, all you need to do is change it's posistion in WED.

Also models allow greater levels of detail, and render faster as far as i know .

And yes , the textures have to be with certain size restrictions, there is a tutoial for gamestudio which explains this.

I think the game design tutorial on the download page is a good place to begin. It'll take you through WED and building a couple levels. A good weekend spent with just that one tutorial should have you building levels. It does an excellent job of teaching how to place textures, lights, sound- everything.

Dan is still working on his book as far as I know. That would be a good buy as well.

After your comfortable with building levels and using templates then take a stanb at scripting. This will take a little more effort.

The textures can be any size you want, as long as your hardware will allow it.

The reason people use certain sizes for textures is because at certain sizes the engine can use them better. These sizes are of the power of 2.

That means any binary numbers like 16*16, 32*32, 64*64, 128*128, 256*256, 512*512, 1024*1024...etc.

This saves memory because they don't have to be resized. Even if your texture is something like 258*280 the engine will go to the next power of 2 > being 512*512! Shows just how memory is wasted! LOL. If you use .dds, i think it is mandatory that you use a power of 2 texture size.

I don't recommend you go above 2048*2048. Only use that in the case that you maybe have a terrain that you really want to show details. But there are better methods to achieve that.

I don't think many GPUs can handle anything over 4096*4096 or even that, i haven't looked into it.

He declared in that book that his games sell 6 figures a year ( 100.000 - 900.000 usd )
He has 10 new games in his catalogues
If I take his words literally we are not far away from a turnover ( annual revenues of his company , not number of copies of course ! ) in terms of milion dollars

Should his turnover be of " only " (sic) hundreds thousand dollars ..well in my opinion he his a pro
The difference between mr Vogel ( a pro ) and me ( an amateur)is :

He can afford to spend the whole day in game programming ( me some hours a week )
He has 20 years experience in game programming ( me just 3 - 4 years)

Consequently I dont try to do what mr Vogel does ( not to mention Oblvion )
I prefer to focus on small casual games

This is my 2 cents suggestion to the newbies

Wow I have here more info and great tips I could have imagined

So I tried to make the street things as models and it really is better way (slower though). I can get much more detail in the street (and other things :D)... The skins are usually the problem but now I haven't had any problems yet; which is a miracle...

Sorry for bursting in here like that, just read the whole thread and I think it's really interesting.

About the "pro or not"-question: In my oppinion, being a pro doesn't mean to spend all your freetime with 3DGS or any other software. To me, also somebody who actually earns his/her money with game-development isn't necessarily a pro. In my opinion a pro is somebody who is capable of doing anything he wants with his software in an acceptable amount of time without having to ask anybody else how things work. You may say now: "Hey, then that's me!" - well, I'm registered in this really cool forum for about a year now and in my opinion there are a lot of semi-pros and pros running around here

About the RPG-Question. The term "RPG" has a very large range - many people would even call Zelda an RPG (which isn't correct in my opinion). The pure RPG-genre today is mainly represented by the Final-Fantasy series for PS/2/3 and *some* other series like ShinMegamiTensei: a straight-forward game, the player doesn't have much freedome of movement and decicions, BUT what you will get in exchange is a thrilling story, a tactical (turn-based) combat-system and multi-faceted characters (FFXII however totally failed in this last point).
On the one hand we have those "classic" RPGs and on the other hand we have the Action- or Adventure-RPGs. They are (as their name implies) mixtures between diverse genres. Thinking about Spellforce and the old Baldur's Gate there have also been Strategy-RPGs. But except for a levelling-up-system they normally don't have much in common with the old-school-RPGs. And sometimes not even the level-system is included, talking about Zelda. The only thing these games have in common with a *real* RPG are a lot of characters and story, but nothing else. Oblivion itself is definitly an action-adventure-RPG and as such has to reduce its content in terms of a complex fighting system - in exchange you get a gameplay and moreover a *feeling* that you will only rarely find in other games. I love Oblivion, and I liked Morrowind, but I'm also a big fan of FinalFantasy and old-school-RPGs. But in my opinion you shouldn't call Oblivion an RPG... it's just that there is no real name for this genre.

The eye-candy-thing. I really agree with ghostyrider - there are hundreds of 3rd-person-shooters with amazing graphics. No one wants to play another one because if you know one of them, you basically know them all (however, the developers must be selling them like mad, otherwhise there wouldn't be so many of those shooters out there...). If you want to have success with your game and actually plan to earn money with it then you have to set way different aims and goals. I always claim that graphics are secondary, primary you should go for gameplay, which means: good control via keyboard&mouse, a satisfying camera-system which the player doesn't have to adjust after every corner, intelligent puzzles, a comfortable inventory-menue (if you have one), a well-balanced gameplay to avoid frustration because of a single enemy and so on. Try to attract the players by your ideas and the content of your game and not so much by its graphics. Why? Because you can't keep up with a whole professional studio working at the graphics of a single game for more than one year. Basically, if the player is able to identify an object - that's enough, every further minute you work on the model is sort of a "bonus". For example, look at World of Warcraft! Did you ever see its graphics? They are (compared to console graphic standards) nothing but a joke! And even so - *millions* of players play it every day. Why? Because of the gameplay. If you say "I'll never get a MMORPG to work all by myself" then you are probably right - that is a really BIG task. But what about the good old Tetris? How many people got addicted to it when it first came out? But that sensation was surely not based upon its graphics *lol* It was based upon the idea behind it. And now go for it, learn to handle 3DGS and show us your ideas!



Greetz!




Alan

I do not know what your budget is so I am going to start small.

Get your self a modeling programme that you enjoy working with. If you do not like the interface of one or how it works then move on to another. There are some 3D Modelers listed on the wiki. MED imports .fbx and .x for nonanimated and animated models. It imports .obj and .3ds as well for static models. So make certain that the modeler you choose can export any one of those formats. OR that your modeler can export to 3d GameStudio .mdl format.

Milkshape is very inexpensive and exports directly to .mdl7 format. Milkshape Video Tutorials Free These are very well done and you will learn Milkshape modeling in no time.

Here are some resources. Use as many outside resources as possible to cut down on your workload so you can concentrate on the features that are unique to your game. Apples are apples Literally. So do not recreate an apple model if you find one that looks good to you. Most furniture can be used from outside sources but if you want a special throne for your villian then spend your time designing that with the look you want to give it.

Watch your scripts and make sure they say .c then they will be Lite-C. .wdl is C-Script.

Player movement
Dracula's walk script in Lite-C If you purchase IntenseX AI listed below it may already have a movement script.

Terrain
Mysty Moods by Loopix This will give you some awesome outdoor levels. He is excellent at making plants. He has some free plants but if you can afford it support him and purchase some from his site. I purchased his plant packs and am very happy with them.
Vegetation Template OR you can purchase Seed It

AI and scripting
IntenseX AI I talked with them about rpg elements and they are going to come out with a rpg one. So start with the copper version and keep up with the updates. You may not even have to do a lot of scripting if you get this. HOWEVER I would get familiar with Lite-C so you can do some custom scripts if need be. I have hired programmers but I am still going to mess around with Lite-C and try some things on my own just to learn it and become familiar with it.

Textures
CG Textures You can download 15mb per day for free. So bookmark this site and start downloading. Be failthful in downloading textures every day and you will have a nice library. I subscribe to this site and it is excellent. If you can afford to then pay for a subscription as to support this gentleman but if not he is very generous in letting non subscribers have free downloads.

Models and Textures
Terminal 26 They have free models and textures and terrain on this site that you can download. Their model packs are inexpensive so you can purchase those. Some models you will have to retexture but at least they are mapped already for you.
GameBeep
Rincewind's Medieval Houses Rincewind did an excellent job on these. Do not forget to grab the human model character Pappenheimer did on page 3. Do not forget to keep tabs on what you are using so you can include these people in your credits.
Medieval Weaponry Inexpensive

Main Menu Template This is .wdl which means C-Script. Hang on to it and you can convert the script to Lite-C later. It will be practise for you to get familiar with Lite-C and how it works. OR you can go through User Contributions or Lite-C User Contributions to find one you will not have to convert.

Human Characters and creatures
Fragmotion for animations.
My advise is to learn how to make nonanimated models first. The Milkshape videos or other tutorials depending on which modeler you choose will help you learn modeling. Then learn how to animate something simple like a book opening or a chest lid that opens. You can also purchase human character models that are not animated and animate them yourself or use bvh motions. TrueBones has bvh motions and will send you a few free that way you can see if you want to use those or not.

RPG Elements
Both of these are in Lite-C.
Inventory Morrowind style
Drag N Drop

Game development is hard work but also very enjoyable. Enjoy the process. Know your weak areas and either hire someone to handle that aspect of it or if you are on a small budget you can offer to do a trade. You can do something your are good at in exchange for something you are not.

Other advise
Watch the forums daily. You may pick up ideas and things you did not know.

Use the forum search button. Narrow it down to the category you would most likely find it in so you can get more results. ie To look for information on shaders look in either Shaders or Starting with GameStudio forum categories. Shaders that come up in C-Script and WDL is not going to help you if you are looking for Lite-C.

This forum is limiting for words like LOD as it will not search a 3 lettre word. So go to google and type in LOD and "3D Game Studio" or "3D Gamestudio" to try and find what you are looking for from there. I have done it that way and found information on these forums by doing my short word searches through google as these forums come up in google searches.

Download any demos you see that uses Lite-C and run it to see what it does. Then open the models in MED and see how they were skinned and study how the models were constructed. Go in WED and look at the behaviour tab and see what script they are attached to then look in SED and study the code to see what drives it. You will learn a lot that way.

You can search google for 3D models as there are quite a few for free out there or even inexpensively. If you are going commercial make sure to read the license agreements.

Sorry I don't have time to read that post of yours yet as I must go in few sec but shuld i make the buildings as modelS? like the walls and windows and then add and place them in WED?

Thanks ill read that later

I would do that Vilde. Do not use level or block geometry. It takes longer to do a build and models imho look better and do build faster.

I will see what I can find for a free medieval human character mesh so you can start out with something.

yer, but you need to know , map entities need to act as doors, i think

why would you need map entities as doors blade?

It says in the tutorial and other plces to use map entities as doors, as in moving doors not static ones.

Here are some places to get free 3D character models. You can edit the meshes to make them medieval.

Turbosquid Do a search for characters and you can select within your price range as well.

Terminal26 has some free low poly but they are not medieval. You can use them as a starting point.

Make Human is a free human character mesh maker but is high poly as well but can be run through a poly reducer. If you wish to use this the polies are in the mouth basically so run it through a polygon reducer and then go through and take out a lot of that mouth detail you do not need. Action3D is an excellent polygon reducer. I am very pleased with the results it gives.

I did a google search for 3D model free human and came up with a lot of resources. Be sure they can import in to MED or Milkshape if you purchase that and are not too high poly if you do not have a good polygon reducer.

Expensive methods

If you can afford it and want some good 3D character models and it is not your strong point you might want to hire that work out.

There is also Face Gen but I would not use it as per the morphing as it is too high poly for A7. I have other plans on how to use it with A7.

He declared in that book that his games sell 6 figures a year ( 100.000 - 900.000 usd )
He has 10 new games in his catalogues
If I take his words literally we are not far away from a turnover ( annual revenues of his company , not number of copies of course ! ) in terms of milion dollars

Should his turnover be of " only " (sic) hundreds thousand dollars ..well in my opinion he his a pro
The difference between mr Vogel ( a pro ) and me ( an amateur)is :

He can afford to spend the whole day in game programming ( me some hours a week )
He has 20 years experience in game programming ( me just 3 - 4 years)

Consequently I dont try to do what mr Vogel does ( not to mention Oblvion )
I prefer to focus on small casual games

This is my 2 cents suggestion to the newbies

Again we pretty much know how he's doing. He's selling about 10k sales - 15k sales- $300.000 dollar range. My problem with your post is you want to dismiss him as an example one can do an RPG in A6 because of this. Nonesense. Mr. Vogel at one point wasn't making any money, just like you and me, and thankfully he never had anyone telling him to avoid massive RPG's because he was broke, alone and wasn't a pro. But hey, he persisted, created exile- which saw two sequels. If you never played exile try it. It's about as massive and complex as you'd want. And he did that broke with no time other than off time from his job.

Sure today he makes a good living because he was successful. But you and me are in the EXACT same place as Mr.Vogel was before his first release. In fact we have many more advantages. We already have a stable engine which he had to build. We have a much larger art pipeline than he's ever enjoyed in that 2d .bmp map world he's games are done in. There's no Tourbosquid for him to shop. No code snips in AUM or on a forum, no texture packs and no way to auto compile into an EXE.

His ONLY advantage was he had no one there telling him he couldn't do it. "No you can't do a big RPG. Only pros do that! do tetris!"

He is an example one can tackle a RPG as a loner and succeed as well as start two other RPG series and suceed in them as well.

His games will always be limited as the 2d graphics are so ancient. We on the other hand can easily top them. We are in Fact in a better position as our 3d engine will open up more customers that would never touch that 2d tile RPG.

I say do some small projects to learn then go full board out. You certainly can do a RPG and damn good one and the word 'pro' is meaningless. Be thankful your not one- as you'd then be likely hamstrung by that bighouse funding you that 'tells you' what kind of game to do and what audience to target.

@Vilde You have taken up a path that can be really interesting but you MUST spend a lot of time to learn and understand how to achieve what you want. As stated by the guys before (if you summon all the wise words) of course you CAN make an Oblivion clone but are you prepared to loose your girlfriend, work, grades or family in the process? It's all about time and effort.

Lots of people have played a plethora of games and thought, Hey I could do this!
Well it's not that simple, the things you as a gamer sees is sort of the top of the iceberg. It looks so simple when you play, some mods or tweaks that you find and install or even tweak a bit more indulge people that making games is a piece of cake, the truth is far from it.

Take time to read this, that I found a while ago: Demystifing the Art of Video Games

I will not discourage you, but you must be aware that creating a big RPG system as like Oblivion or Morrowind will take time!

Have you made or used some of all the mods to Oblivion? Are you aware of the separation of mesh, textures, animations and scripts? This is parts that you have to invent or develop when you use the 3D Gamestudio (or what ever else game engine you choose). Lots of code can be found on this forum and others, but still you must know how to code c-script or lite-c.


Secondly if you want to be successful you must think out a new or different approach to the game theme, another Oblivion, Two Worlds, The Witcher or similar will drown in the shadows of these games if it can't show up something new or thrilling.


Third, It don't need to be in global size, start with a few rooms or buildings only. And another sort of fast way to achieve great things, prove that you are capable with some codings and/or demos, then for certain other people will consider you for teaming up with them, if your goals are the same.

"yer, but you need to know , map entities need to act as doors, i think"


that makes no sense, I'd use models.... were are you getting this from blade, using map entities is a horrible idea...

The manual i think , i read it there and in the WED tutorial

those are tutorials to explain how wed works, they dont necessarily explain the most efficient way to do things. for a door, most of the time a model is a much better idea.

Secondly if you want to be successful you must think out a new or different approach to the game theme, another Oblivion, Two Worlds, The Witcher or similar will drown in the shadows of these games if it can't show up something new or thrilling.

Indeed this is true of any type of game. Coming up with the setting, the world, the intire presentation that has to be 'yours' and not a poor carbon copy. In RPG's the setting and the main story and related quests have to interesting. You have to get the player to 'roleplay' and stay engaged. Quite frankly Oblivion fails in that in my opinion and succeeding in that area is easier said than done.

Talented writing really comes in here. Unlike many other types of games like puzzle games here your almost relying on talents in other fields. Now if your the next stephen King or have the next AD&D system in your head your be one step ahead.

Take a look at games you really liked and try to analyze what exactly they did that you enjoyed. For me Fallout got me in several areas. It was top down- something I really don't like in RPGs yet it succeeded. First the combat had a strategic element. Like Betrayal at Krondor or the old Gold box series it wasn't a mindless clickfest ala Oblivion. Secondly the setting worked. Dark and harsh. It satisfied the sci-fi fan in me. The disney King Aurther pretty world of oblivion doesn't. This by the way is in drastic conflict with the series. Daggerfall had a dark world much as The Wicther had. Morrowind had a very Alien feel. Here the eye candy actually works against the game for those famaliar with the series.

Thirdly the writing and engaging quests of Fallout. They 'fit' with the world. So did the options. Pimping your wife out for Bottle caps was to be expected. The quests were interesting and had interesting twists. Sorry but though I find the quests in Oblivion a bit better than Morrowind as a whole they are mostly boring fed ex deliver type quests. I really didn't care if I ever finished the game. You have to do better. Fallout was a game I had to finish to see how things turned out.

In a RPG you better have this stuff before anything 'game' is thought up in my opinion. If not then your need a writing partner that does. This is the one area you really HAVE to be good at. If you are players will forgive other elements like poor graphics and even poor game mechanics if the overally world and story engages them.

Deepreflection, I think you're absolutely right; Making RPG takes really much time, and that's why the RPG I am making will propably never be as great as Oblivion... And as Ghostryder said I should do, I think I have made some analyzing in Oblivion. The things I enjoy the most are the quests, many small objects (kind of detail) and well the skill system/fun skills. Of course the worlds size is fun also but It's not the most important thing.

By the way, to the textures... I think I can handle them; I've practiced with Doom 2 texture and monster editing (and creating new things from scratch). Of course it won't be the same as big textures (Doom textures are VERY small).

I can also now handle the 3d models fine (not human models) but only hard thing is the skinning as the wed's skinning tool is terrible sometimes...

I think one major thing in this is that I REALLY want to make games (I always have wanted). Propably will be my career in the future.

All for now. Soon I will post a pic of a stone road texture if someone could tell me does it look anything. Maybe one sword model too .

Ok, post it in projects with your project name.

Don't know should I post questions here or in the project thread so it's here now...

I'm making a house model, and I got some serious trouble with the texturing of the walls (I just can't get it done with MED skin editor)... So now I'm asking; Is there easier way to texture the models? I really have tried getting it right already for many days (and i dont have much time) and still this is the best I've got for now:



The textures are pretty messed up and there's somekind of shadow in there so it looks terrible..

I think there are programs you can texture it in and then export it to , but i would just try and get it to work with MED, practice makes perfect.

Try blender http://www.blender.org/

And the video tutorial LSCM UV Mapping on this page: http://www.ibiblio.org/bvidtute/

It's worth your time and effort to learn since MED is a killer when it comes to texturing.

Maybe I just wont do it right then... Should I use 2 or 6-sided mapping?

[EDIT]
and thanks i'll try the Blender

depends what it is your texturing.