suggestions for graphics package/interface design for graphical adventure
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General pre-project questions..
If I wanted to make a game like Myst, a point-and-click navigational adventure game with a series of still renders, and short animations (door openings, etc.) synched with sound. Complete with a slick responsive interface...weighing the pros and cons...what language do you think is an optimal choice for creating the game engine?
I am looking for:
- something with quick response time performance-wise
- something easy to debug/test
- good image/sound support
- good support packages in place for graphics/sound
- something portable (PC & Mac)
What are the top packages/interfaces/support code you think would be useful for such an undertaking?
Thank you. =D
Are you just planing to render some static 2d images, or do you actually want the whole 3d movement that Myst usually has?
Either way, I would definitely look at Python if I were you. Myst isn't that processor-intensive to begin with, and even 3D games are possible in Python these days, so it should be no problem. Of course, if you have extensive knowledge in either C# or Java, either one of those is also more than suitable (C# won't get you Mac support though).
Either way, I would definitely look at Python if I were you. Myst isn't that processor-intensive to begin with, and even 3D games are possible in Python these days, so it should be no problem. Of course, if you have extensive knowledge in either C# or Java, either one of those is also more than suitable (C# won't get you Mac support though).
Instead of having static images, it will probably be easier to have a 3D world that you can walk around in. You can constrain the motion from point to point so that the player can not walk around everywhere like in a 1st person shooter.
If you want both PC and Mac support you're looking at OpenGL for the graphics portion.
You can do everything you want with the game engine that I developed. You requirements are not very high so pretty much any engine available will be able to do what you want. It is just a matter of learning how to use it!
If you want both PC and Mac support you're looking at OpenGL for the graphics portion.
You can do everything you want with the game engine that I developed. You requirements are not very high so pretty much any engine available will be able to do what you want. It is just a matter of learning how to use it!
In addition, you might want to check OpenAL for (free) sound support on multiple platforms.
As for the rendering, you could do the world in true 3D, although it gets a whole lot more difficult to get foto-realistic renderings (or cartoonish, for that matter). I would keep it simple with flat images. Make photo's, draw them, or create a high-poly scene in a 3D editor and take a snapshot. Just an idea, a long time ago I made clay scenes and took pictures of them. Then I added small details with a paint program.
However, you still might want some depth and or several layers so the player sprites can walk into the depth or behind foreground layers. To achieve this, you can make a (simple) 3D mesh that does the collision detection and depth. Basically you project the static image on this 3D mesh. Or instead of a 3D mesh, you can also make a second image that defines the area per pixel. For example, you can walk on white pixels, black pixels are blocking the player, green pixels are clickeable area's, etc.
When clicking, you can extract an Id number out of the 3D mesh and/or image. Then pass that number to a (Python) script for further handling. The script will do the game-stuff, such as starting a dialog, playing sounds, triggering something, adding an item to your inventory, and so on.
Good luck,
Rick
As for the rendering, you could do the world in true 3D, although it gets a whole lot more difficult to get foto-realistic renderings (or cartoonish, for that matter). I would keep it simple with flat images. Make photo's, draw them, or create a high-poly scene in a 3D editor and take a snapshot. Just an idea, a long time ago I made clay scenes and took pictures of them. Then I added small details with a paint program.
However, you still might want some depth and or several layers so the player sprites can walk into the depth or behind foreground layers. To achieve this, you can make a (simple) 3D mesh that does the collision detection and depth. Basically you project the static image on this 3D mesh. Or instead of a 3D mesh, you can also make a second image that defines the area per pixel. For example, you can walk on white pixels, black pixels are blocking the player, green pixels are clickeable area's, etc.
When clicking, you can extract an Id number out of the 3D mesh and/or image. Then pass that number to a (Python) script for further handling. The script will do the game-stuff, such as starting a dialog, playing sounds, triggering something, adding an item to your inventory, and so on.
Good luck,
Rick
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