Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] Scrolling Platform Games (was: Loki)

[Michael <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

> Yes.  Scrolling platforms are easy; 3D stuff is not.

Maybe. The 3D requires more math but conceptually it's pretty simple.
You're essentially doing the same thing a ray tracer does but much faster
and sloppier with a few tricks to avoid doing some of the more intensive
stuff but still fool the user into seeing the same thing.

> Oh yes they do.  Each new engine has to have good graphics, and they have to 
> use some kind of optimization and stuff.  Besides, 3D is inherently more 
> complex.  Just calculating projectiles and collisions in 3D is very hard.

It's more complex and has more calculations but most games use either the
same engines or engines with the same techniques. It's well documented so
anyone who can read a couple books and do some math and programming can
probably figure it out.

> I don't know... The 2D game looked good, but the 3D one will probably look 
> awful.  That's my gripe with 3D graphics - it's not even close to Toy Story 
> graphics, and it looks awful.

True. But it's id so I hope they maintain some quality.

> A very neat features is when layers scroll at different rates.  The stuff 
> that's farther away scrolls slower than the foreground.  Also, image 
> backgrounds would be nice.  Basically, look at Donkey Kong Country graphics 
> and try to make something like that.  Here's a link with a few screenshots.  

Parallax Scrolling? (sp?) I figured I'd use tiles on the background and
then since there'd be unlimited layers of sprites creative folks could use
something like sky tiles as the background and then use sprites to create
a more interesting background.

> Shows a few neat features of the game.
> http://www.emulazone.com/ScreenShots/Snes/DonkeyKongCountry/index.phtml

Umm nice except for the porno ad banner. LOL

> That would be interesting... Multiplayer platform games.  If that is
> done well, it could be pretty awesome.  The only problem is how would
> you compete?

I was going to allow either 2 player play at the console or over the net.
You could have team or competition play. You could probably even manage a
capture the flag mode though you might have to allow more players for that
to be very interesting.

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