Captain Clueless about SWG Devlog 2 The Tools

chucksta (25)in #starwarsgalaxies • 5 years ago

Captain Clueless about Star Wars Galaxies

DevLog 2

Tools?

Game Engine and languages

Two weeks since the last Devlog, and no actual development done as yet! What can I say, life gets in the way :D

I have been deciding on what tools to use, and taking courses and tutorials on how to use them.

I have decided to use the Gogot game engine (Godotengine.org), which is a totally open source engine, that can be used to create games on the Linux, Mac and MS Windows environments.

It has a built in scripting language called GDScript. You can also use C# and C++.

I reckon GDScript will be excellent for scripting missions and the like, whereas more system intensive work, such as animations and networking should be implemented in C++. This is just my idea at this moment in time, that may change.

If it is allowed, I'd like for people to have a choice of language to use for the scripting, and be able to choose either GDScript or C#.

The system intensive parts of the game should be pure C++. This will allow for optimum speed, and for ease of maintenance and additions/updates.

IDE?

For GDScript, the Godot engine has its own IDE, where you can write and run the code.

For C++ and C# I will probably have to use Visual Studio?

Study Time!

I am currently working through a course on Godot, which is run by the Gamedev.tv team and is available on the Udemy site.

I have used the engine to create a couple of games (Space Invaders, Mugger (side scroller) ), but both are 2D, not 3D, and of course for SWG I will need 3D.

3D Models and other gfx

I will be using Blender to create the models and animations, and possibly Gimp for the 2D assets. I cannot draw to save my life, and I don't really enjoy it, unlike 3D modelling, which I absolutely love doing. I am still a total noob at 3D modelling, but I can make something that sort of looks like what it is supposed to represent.

Hopefully, at some point, as others join the project, there will be skilled people who can make good the 2D side of this :)

I am, at present, running through a Blender course, created by the same people that run the Godot course (Gamedev.tv). I have been through this once already, but I have the tendency to get easily distracted, and then drop what I was doing in favour of some new project or pastime, and having a rather poor memory, I find that I have forgotten a lot of what I had learnt. Therefore, I am redoing the course!

One good thing, as I do run through these courses a good number of times, I find that it is more an exercise of revision than learning from scratch.

Well, that's where I am right now. Hopefully, I will soon finish revising my Blender skills and make a start on some assets for the game. Once I am up to scratch with Godot (many weeks yet!), I plan to start from a specific point in the game. Probably the intro/training area. Model that and code/script it. That will very likely be a good number of weeks from now, as long as I don't get distracted!