Hopefully some of you actually are game programmers...so here it goes... How do you "do" pre-rendered graphics...? How hard is it to "do" them? What about this idea...for games, pre-render the level, then make a different file, a real-time rendering with all the moveable objects and collision and map data or whatever, then render the pre-rendered level with the map data...you get insane graphics, high fps, and the interactivity of a normal game...i think it would work great for a racing game... <- Digital Explosions -> "Discipline is my sword, faith is my shield do not dive into uncertainty, and you may live to reap the rewards" - (Unreal Championship)

No, I don''t think it would work for a racing game. I have played a few games (off the top of my head) that used prerendered backgrounds Final Fantasy VII, VIII, IX, and the Resident Evil GC cabes. Prerendered stuff only works when there is a set angle the camera can be at. This is because (obviously) the background is prerendered. The background is not rendered real-time; rather, it is rendered and then imported into the game as either a still image, or often times, a "static" clip (like a looping .avi, maybe?) Obviously, I can''t change the angle of the camera at run time because there is nothing to see. I only have a certain angle rendered.

The reasons this wouldn''t work for a racing game is the number of possible options. I could run off the course, for instance. You would have to come up with an infinite number of prerendered frames, because I could fall off the track at any point, coming off the track at any angle. That being said, I suppose you COULD make one where you just raced through a prerendered city, kind of like the old arcade racing games with the windy repetitive track. I don''t think the control would be very good though, and you would lose some cool features (ie: first person view)

ok i see...dang...that sux then...i was hoping that you could some how, pre render a model, dont ask my how i came up with that...lol

<- Digital Explosions ->
"Discipline is my sword, faith is my shield
do not dive into uncertainty, and you may live to reap the rewards" - (Unreal Championship)

Well ya, it has been done, obviously...but I was wondering how it worked because if it could be done in a certain way, every game could use it and have great graphics...

how does doa3 use them though, i still dont understand, is it all just a bunch of "3d" images...?

<- Digital Explosions ->
"Discipline is my sword, faith is my shield
do not dive into uncertainty, and you may live to reap the rewards" - (Unreal Championship)