I am attemptimg to build a multilayer game, and I want to give the player a choice of different models and skins. (ala Quake2 and 3)

What I am wondering is, is there a tutorial or workshop available on this topic? I haven't seen one.

I would like to see something similar to this as well. Some tutorial on how to create various clothing models that can be "worn" by the player would be really cool.

If anyone out there has a good handle on how this works I strongly urge you to consider making a tutorial for it. I think there is a a lot of demand for something like this in the community.

-Zelek

My team will definitely need this info... However, we will attempt to figure this out on our own if need be. Thus, we will provide such a tutorial if no one else steps up to the plate.

Come on.. there has to be someone out there that has done this extensively.... don't be shy

Thanks,
Ron McCann

This should actually be very simple to implement. All you would need is a couple of variables such as:
var model;
var skin;
And then a selection screen. In your selection screen you would have a model. When the first model is on, model=0 and skin=0.
You could set it so the up cursor keys change the skin - something like:
if(key_cuu==1){my.skin+=1;}
if(key_cud==1){my.skin-=1;}
And set the skin variable accordingly:
skin=my.skin;
Then the left and right keys could change the model, perhaps using the morph() command. Whenever you do this, change the 'model' variable.

In other words, your selection screen will just set the two variables, 'model' and 'skin'.

Now when you come to play the game, *don't* just place your player in WED, put use the create() WDL instruction. What you would do is call a function from main(). For instance, you could call create_player(); from main(), where create_player() looks something like this:

function create_player()
{
if(model==0)
{create(<warlock.mdl>,start_position,player_action);}
if(model==1)
{create(<guard.mdl>,start_position,player_action);}
if(model==2)
{create(<swimdem.mdl>,start_position,player_action;}
}

player_action() would be the action that you would normally ascribe to your player in WED - it would probably call player_move() or whatever you are using. But you would also need to add into player_action() the line:
my.skin=skin;
This would ensure the the selected skin is used.

That, in essence, is how I think you would create a character selection process. As far as I can see it would be fairly straightforward.

Hope that's of some use.
Cheers,
Keith

Y'know... I would just love to give you some stars for that, but your rate member bar doesn't show!

Seriously though, your solution is ironically the basic direction I was headed!
I have allready built the menu, and the GUI for it, though some of the buttons are still "dummy" buttons, but the jist is very similar!

I will definitely be trying this out when I get home!!

BTW: When a game is saved, will A5 save the player data, or do you think I need to generate a log file for player preferences?

P.S.
You have a talent for explaining things clearly and simply! IMHO Thanks for the reply!

Ummm.. maybe I misunderstood what you are trying to accomplish. I need to have different clothing pieces for different parts of the model. Think about this-

This is a simplified example but will provide an insight into the magnitude of the problem:

2 Genders of Characters- Male and Female
3 Skin Colors per Gender
3 bottom clothing pieces (pants / skirt) per Gender per Skin Color
3 top clothing pieces (shirt / blouse) per Gender per Skin Color

Let's say for sake of argument that a Character can have No Clothes, 1 Piece of Clothing, or 2 Pieces of Clothing. Therefore for 1 Gander and 1 Skin Color the table of possibilities looks like this:

All applies to a White Male:
1- No Clothes
2- Shirt 1
3- Shirt 2
4- Shirt 3
5- Pant 1
6- Pant 2
7- Pant 3
8- Shirt 1 Pant 1
9- Shirt 1 Pant 2
10- Shirt 1 Pant 3
11- Shirt 2 Pant 1
12- Shirt 2 Pant 2
13- Shirt 2 Pant 3
14- Shirt 3 Pant 1
15- Shirt 3 Pant 2
16- Shirt 3 Pant 3

That is 16 combinations per Gender per Skin Color. Thus, the total number of different skin texture maps that would need to be created would be 96 (6 Gender / Skin Color combinations x 16 possibilities)

Can you imagine 20 different clothing slots, multiple faces, multiple physiques, multiple skin colors, and 2 Genders? You could easily require more than 10,000 different skin texture maps!

Therefore, a solution would need to make the skins independent of the model in such a way that multiples could be attached to the same figure. From what I have uncovered, the only current way of doing this would be to use WDL to attach independent models together. However, this presents its own sort of unique challenges.

Just my thoughts on the matter....

- Ron McCann

You might want to take a look at Poser 4 from Curious Labs - www.curiouslabs.com
They have human figures, and clothing parts you can interchange - plus all the genders, skin textures, etc. (the package is not free).

Their latest release also has 'magnetic' clothing that 'sticks' to the model, and conforms to the shape of the model during animation - including wrinkles...

You can also 'deform' the heads, bodies, limbs, etc., to get the look you want...
Might take a little to get it into 3DGS, but I think this package would address most of what you need. They also offer (for $$) a package to make your models talk, with facial expressions, with just a .wav file as input.

Ron: yeah, we are headed down slightly different paths. I just need to allow the player to select a single model from a predifned list, and then select a texture from yet another predefined list.

This is a First Person Shooter Approach that offers a variety while still keeping polycounts and tex files low as to keep frame rate up.

What you are describing sounds more like an MMORPG approach where frame rate is less crucial for survival.

I think that Ambits' example still applies though!

You will need to generate an algorithm to attach the selected clothing articles to the mesh, but the base logic will be the same.

You will need additional variables to make it work, like so:

var model;
var skin;
var shirt;
var shirttex;
var pants;
var panttex;
____________________

The above example would provide you with enough to allow the player to select their model, select their skin, select their clothing, and select textures for each clothing article!

I don't know if this is exactly what you were looking for, but it seems pretty close, no?

Hi BadKarma,

Glad you found my explanation helpful. Actually, I was intrigued as to whether this would work, so I tested it out - and it does. I'm going to post it on User Contributions, too, but you can download the small demo I made here:

http://www.rumramruf.com/3dgs/CharSelect.zip

When you start up you will go into the selection screen. Use left and right cursor keys to choose the model, up and down to choose the skin (there are three models, each with two skins). Then hit enter when you have chosen. A small and cruddy level will load (just a small room) with the player character in it - the model you have selected.

When you save your game everything should be fine, as a save will store the variable information too - ie. the 'model' and 'skin' variables etc.

If you look inside select.wdl you will find that I have commented all the code so that it should be easy for you to work out how you can use it and improve it.

Hope it's helpful.
Cheers,
Keith

YOU ROCK!

*Had to be done*