How do you get a RTS going?

[oksnoop2]

Balls, but thanks for the help :D

Is it simple to re-create those two things I made? A good tutorial for how to get engineers to build stuff and spawn barracks/factorys would be nice too

Every unit in the game has a few different components.

Model
The actual 3d geometry that makes up the unit. Valid formats for the engine include .s3o, 3do, and .obj. There might be more I don't know.
http://code.google.com/p/conflictterra/ ... actory.s3o

Texture
The skin the model wears. Valid formats include .tga and .dds.
http://code.google.com/p/conflictterra/ ... y2_auv.tga

Unitdef
This defines the attributes of the unit. Valid formats include .lua and tdfs (for weapons and features) and fbis
http://code.google.com/p/conflictterra/ ... actory.lua

Script
This defines things like animation and other things. Valid formats include .lua, .cob/.bos.
http://code.google.com/p/conflictterra/ ... actory.lua

The links are all part of a working game. You can browse through it to get an idea of a spring game's structure.

There are useful tutorials in the games and mods sub form and the art and modeling sub forum of this board.
Here is a link to a tutorial that is a work in progress.
http://code.google.com/p/conflictterra/ ... oMakeaUnit

[bobthedinosaur]

Unitdef
This defines the attributes of the unit. Valid formats include .lua and .cob/.bos.

i think you mean lua tdfs (for weapons and features) and fbis

[Fenrirr]

Ok well thats a good timeframe.. I am expected to finish the acutal game in a year and a half... I think its realistic you?

[oksnoop2]

Unitdef
This defines the attributes of the unit. Valid formats include .lua and .cob/.bos.

i think you mean lua tdfs (for weapons and features) and fbis

Thanks, I've edited my post. clearly you can tell i never did anything with those formats.

[Wombat]

Ok well thats a good timeframe.. I am expected to finish the acutal game in a year and a half... I think its realistic you?

it depends how what u can do and how many men u got.

most info u got in wiki

[maackey]

Looks feasible, the resource stuff might require a bit of work though.

The problem with melee is the range, I'm not sure if calculating the range to the edge of the target instead of the center works yet. Other than that it's just a weapontype you stick on a unit and it'll melee.

I recall getting the aim/attack edge of hitsphere working on my (dead/sleeping) game a while back so melee should work exceptionally well -- the only drawback is getting the units in range to hit or putting them in formations cause movement is somewhat clunky.

Anyway, good luck on your project. Btw wings3d is an excellent and easy to use modeling program (that is easy to pick up and learn) if you want to try practicing converting those spore-models.

[Forboding Angel]

Fair point smoth, but for scripts, most of them would prolly be copy pasta anyway, so prolly not so much time there.

[Fenrirr]

Hmm I will tryeach of those link and see if I can get anything from them

[Fenrirr]

Another question: Is there any model making tool similar to Google Sketch-up? I am very good at that.. And would make my job for making models much easier.

[Fenrirr]

New entry form... Might be incomplete I am just posting it here because the Sporum is Offline for a bit

Epic Adventure War Indirian frontier entry form

Main info:

1)Race name:
Race faction: (warlord, peacekeeper or neutral)
Race's description: (A short description to place on "select-a-race" menu)
Races flag or emblem: (Picture has to be small.. I may ask for smaller if needed)
Races 3 defineing factors: (are they good at swarming enemys or do they use heavy units to kill with fewer numbers, Example: Good at chasing targets and harrassing engineers, also good at defending base)
Strong Point: (Like good infantry, cheaper Engineers, stronger Buildings and walls, able to slightly more Population)
Weak Point: (Exspenive Everything, bad damage/Health ratio or has very slow units)





2) Infantry

Unit Name: Put the name of the unit here
Unit Description: A short description I.E.; This box was made by an ancient factory, it can shoot lightning bolts.
Units Strength/Weakness/Costs: Its advantages (Cheap, fast building, damage etc.), its disadvantages (High Cost, Low Health, Slow building or slow on battlefield) and Costs Relevant to desired Qualities.
Units Model link: (Sporepedia link please)
_________________________________________
Post all of this ^^^^^^^^^^ Seven times over for the Criteria which is:
1. Unit good for early colony defense
2. Unit good for Mid-Late game
3. Good unit for late-REALLY late game
4. Special unit (Sniper, Rocket-guy, Gatling laser guy, SUPER LIGHT vehicles like Speeders, light walkers and support mechs etc..)
5. Same as ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
6.Same as ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
7. Some sort of anti-infantry troop (Flame thrower troop, skirmishers, stealth units etc.) or Anti-Vehicle trooper (Rockets, Gauss rifle, Heavy plasma launcher)

Special Units:
Leader unit) Builds structures faster, good health, good damage only one per player (maybe two to start but this is might count as a special Building unless I agree to some sort of balancing deal)
Model Link:

Engineer)Mobile building unit tht could also gather from some sort of resource point
Model Link:

Scout) Early, Cheap unit that is fast and mainly used to make SUPER EARLY defense and Recon. It might be a Robotic probe, it might be some sort of conscript or really weak trooper (Or you don't have scout unit, but have slightly cheaper Engineers: The cost in resources will be changed by 5% at least and 10% at most)
Model Link:




3) Vehicles

Vehicles name or designation: (Like Model-23 or Panther tank etc..)
Vehicles description: Is it a tank or tri-pod walker with a small artillery weapon
Units Strengths/Disadvantages/Costs: Advantages (Is it fast, Heavy-hitting, cheap, fast to build, Disadvantages (Really slow to build, slow in-game, expensive, has low health)
Vehicles Model Link: (Sporepedia link please):
______________________________________
Only two Vehicles are allowed:
1. Cheap vehicle good for supporting an infantry force (Light APC, Mobile turret, medic, assasult bot)
2. Better Vehicle that has more function. (Anti-Building mobile missle launcher, Heavy tank, Quadreped walker with AoE damage)
3. Super unit that is twice as big as your biggest Vehicle. It can be equipped with loads of things, but takes alot of population. (Massive Artillery that is also mobile, sheild generator you can move around, a tread driven super mech, hovering death walker armed with long range Napalm launchers etc..).

4) Buildings (NOTE: all buildings below can be re-named on request! Example: Light Factory (Barracks):(Insert unit description here) and I will recognize it as a barracks that would spawn light mechs etc..)
Barracks: (A simple place to train your Infantry and/or light bi-pedal mechs; If you have little mechs add a garage or spawning point slightly bigger for the mech)
Link of model:

Colony Centre: The place you train Engineers, scouts and make new Leader units (if you have multiple or yours dies). It is built by you where you want it to be and it marks the begining of your base. (More can be built, but they are super expensive and only worth it for making a forward base of sorts)
Link of model:

Vehicles Depot/Factory: Spawns your vehicles (Its spawning point must look big enough to make your Super Unit. It could be a warp-pad, large factory or landing pad that drops vehicles)
Link of Model:

A choice in eathier:
A) A self gathering energy generator (Slow gathering, limited numbers)
B) A engineer-run energy gather. (Some sort of solar farm that needs constant repair/re-aligning etc. Has better gathering rates, but requires engineers to run)
Link to model:

Turret: As there is only land units in this game (So far) only one type of turret is needed. (Its mainly Anti-infantry so take that in mind)
Units name: (Long-range Anti-infantry turret, Scion Turret, Light bunker (It would animate like a unit firing, but isn't garrisonable) you get the idea)
Damage/Cost ratio: (What you want damage/cost ratio to be: its 4:5 So 40 Damage would equal 50 Resources each. 1:2 would mean 10 Damage, with 20 Resource cost)
Range/Build Speed ratio: 1:4, so 40 Feet range=One minute, sixty seconds build time
Link to model (And what type of shot will it shoot, Laser, plasma bolt, light flame thrower):

Special Buildings (Two only allowed): (Could be some sort of sheild bubble, factory that makes Super Units quite fast, Heavy turret that is better then 10-15 normal turrets, Fog of war remover (takes away fog of war... But incredibly exspensive), massive wall set (bigger and better walls) etc.)
Name (Building one):
Special abilities (building one):
Link to its respective model:
----------------------------------------
Name (building Two):
Special abilities (building two):
Link to its respective model:

Wall set: (Must have Corner piece and a main wall (gates not needed, but if they are made make them open)

Sentry: (A tower that removes fog of war and detects enemy units.)

[zwzsg]

Ok well thats a good timeframe.. I am expected to finish the acutal game in a year and a half... I think its realistic you?

If you're working on your pet mod every single night, sure. If you get bored after two weeks, no. So it all depends on whether you get enough sustained motivation.

Texture
The skin the model wears. Valid formats include .tga and .dds.

I like .png, and .bmp works too. AFAIK every image format supported by DevIL can be used, which makes it about every image format except confidentials ones.

While the free version of Google Sketchup can export 3D to .dae and Google Earth's .kmz file format, the Pro version extends exporting support to include the .3ds, .dwg, .dxf, .fbx, .obj, .xsi, and .wrl file formats.

You can import .obj to UpSpring. But then I'm not sure Sketchup is really suited to modelling Spring units, it might create too many extra polygons that would be a pain to UV-map and texture for instance.

Wings3D is free and not that hard to learn, just google yourself some good help and tutorial to get started. Wings is good for modelling Spring units, because it's aimed at low poly modelling and has an integrated UV-mapper.

Some people also model their Spring units with Blender. They say Blender is a superior modelling software. That's probably true, but the learning curve of Blender is really steep.

Something useful for wannabe modders: .sd7 is actually a renamed .7z, .sdz is actual a renamed .zip. Both can be opened by a right click of http://www.7zip.org. To avoid unzipping and rezipping all the time, put the uncompressed mod into a folder named /Spring/mods/yourmod.sdd/

[FireStorm_]

On Sketch Up:

Google acquired @Last Software on March 14, 2006

If you can get a version before the big-non-evil-doing-company got their hands on Sketch Up (i believe since version 5 or 6), you can still export to other formats without having to pay for a Pro version.

However, because Sketch Up does a lot of stuff automaticly, like create a plane when you have drawn a frame for it, it can cause hidden planes and other unwanted stuff inside your models.

I'm not sure; i'ts been a while since i used it a lot. Now i mainly use Wings3D, and i endorse Zwzsg's recommendation.

Also, lately Oksnoop2 has been working on a basic tutorial.
(be advised: not finished yet)

[CarRepairer]

If you're going to learn a modeling program right now, learn Blender. It's hard, but it will save you time in the future because it's the only one at the moment that allows you to model and then use your models directly in Spring without converting them in UpSpring. I'm not a modeler at all and I managed to learned it with some patience.

[Fenrirr]

Hmm Any GOOD tutorials on getting from Spore-Blender-Spring would be loved... Or some sort of Branching tutorials that act the same way!

[zwzsg]

No one ever imported Spore models to Spring.

So, no you will not be given a tutorial. Instead, should you ever manage it (unlikely), you will the one that will have to write that tutorial.

I'd also like to remind you that what AF said makes sense. I'll translate it for you: Spore models are made too differently from Spring models. Conversion will be almost impossible, or at least way way harder than remaking them from scratch.

Then listen to everybody: Stop trying to find way around around using a real modeler software. If you are serious about making your own game, you have to learn to model, period.

It you were courageous and betting on the future (that is, willing to go through some difficult initial learning but at the end be able to wield a very useful tool), use Blender.

If you're lazy and just want to quickly produce Spring models, use Wings3D.

zwzsg, I have made a simple cube (made by me) to move around and attack another cube.

How did you make that cube? Now make three cubes, enlarge and flatten the bottom one, shrink and lengthen the third one, so that it looks like a tank with a turret. Then texture it, then put it ingame, then animate it so the turret turns to aim.

From there build more complex units.

[Fenrirr]

OK I get it then. Imma start learning Blender

[bobthedinosaur]

Not enough mentioning of, Legal Implications.....

[Fenrirr]

Meh the EAxis of Evil can go suck on its underpaid, Pro-Slave loving, Jew hating, COMMUNIST DEMOCRAT Scum Bah-hookey

[FireStorm_]

If someone intents to make his models from scratch, there is no reason to assume those creations are from the Spore universe, apart from perhaps the models could have been inspired by it, witch is not an issue.

edit:
Ehm... i don't think stealing someone else's stuff because your not creative enough yourself, and then just tell them to...

go suck on it

...is the way to go. but i suspect you have enough (creative) ideas of your own to avoid that.

[Fenrirr]

No I am not un-creative.. You should see some of the stuff I make on Spore. Its just that I need a crutch to get my modeling started... You can't build a SkyScraper without scaffolding.

Its also because the people in my clan want acurate repersentations of there race in the RTS :/