Games Portfolio - Project Conclusion

Here is the final conclusion for my Supreme Commander artefact. This conclusion is to be used in my written report, summing up my views on the project as a whole and how I feel it has turned out.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, I am disappointed with how my final product turned out, handing in the bare-bones of what I originally hoped to have. Constant issues held me back from working in editors, having to re-install Supreme Commander four times at home due to random ‘MohoEngine.dll’ errors and having problems accessing the GPGnet ‘Vault’ page meaning I could not access the working version of the map editor. Eventually, all of these problems were solved and solid work began on my final product, however by this time the deadline was already close and not much time was left to work on my game mod.

More problems caused slow development on my videos, with 3D Unit Models flying through the air, breaking into pieces and appearing un-textured when loaded into the game using de-bug. Texturing was a major issue, with the NVidia Texture Tools used to create the .dds files in Supreme Commander bricking a fellow student’s computer, losing his work and having him re-format a week before deadline. The risk wasn’t taken for my models, in fear of losing all work done so far, as well as work created for other units alongside my Supreme Commander project.

Due to these problems and errors when attempting to import simple models into Supreme Commander, the biggest part of the project to take a hit was the gameplay. The map and models themselves struggled to appear in the game correctly, meaning more time was spent attempting to get these items working and hardly any time was dedicated to working on my ideas gameplay. Originally I planned to have battles between the protesters and their opposing faction, however none of this made it into the final product due to lack of knowledge regarding weapon scripts and too little time to work on them after struggling to get the models into the game in the first place.

If I were to do this project again I would defiantly be more prepared for the problems Supreme Commander caused, with the map editor crashing upon loading a new map and the MohoEngine.dll errors requiring a full re-install. I would make sure the map and all models were fully complete a good five weeks before the final deadline, leaving plenty of time to successfully import the items into Supreme Commander and work on the gameplay.

Overall, the only parts of my end product I am fully satisfied with are my videos and Supreme Commander Map. The map, after several problems, now works perfectly and both my videos have all necessary information needed to showcase my project and explain the development.

Games Portfolio - Issues and Fixes

Here is a list of several different problems I encountered during the production of my final product and what solutions I used to overcome them. This post is to be included as a section in my report, of which I will also hand in with my finished product.

Issues and Fixes:

During the production of my final Supreme Commander MOD, a wide variety of problems were encountered. Most of these problems consisted of software issues with the Supreme Commander game itself, however each issue was addressed and an attempted fix was made allowing me to progress on through the development of my product. Following is a list of problems encountered and how I attempted to fix them.

[1] Problem: “GPGNet ‘Vault’ not loading, hanging on a white screen.”

[1] Fix: The majority of students could not access the GPGNet ‘Vault’ on home computers, therefore were not able to access the map editor. No fix was found for this, however the map editor could still be accessed by copying the execution file from University PC’s.

[2] Problem: “Supreme Commander Map Editor not loading.”, “Supreme Commander Map Editor crashing upon loading a new map.”

[2] Fix: To fix the issue with the Map Editor not loading up, Supreme Commander had to be patched seven times before it would reach its latest version, eventually allowing the map editor to load. After this however, the editor would crash upon starting the creation of a new map. This issue was solved by copying the Map Editor .exe file from University computers and installing them to home PC’s.

[3] Problem: “Models ‘ripping’ in 3Ds Max.”

[3] Fix: During the creation process of my models in 3Ds Max, a frequent problem occurring was using the cut tool, with the line guide not showing up. This often led to my model becoming ‘ripped’, with small parts of them missing due to the vertex’s joining incorrectly. This was fixed however by more carefully creating the cut outline, creating a simpler six sided cut to shape out my protesters arm.

[4] Problem: “Importing Models into Supreme Commander.”, “Models floating above ground.”, “Models appear ‘broken.’”

[4] Fix: Importing models into Supreme Commander involved saving them as .smd formats and placing a low-poly and high-poly version into the Mod folder. When models appeared in game however, several problems occurred. To fix the models from floating above the ground, their position in 3Ds Max needed to be tweaked, placing them just before the centre point and having them face upwards. The reason some models were showing up ‘broken’ and disjoined was due to the fact they were scaled after the pivots had been configured, meaning to fix the issue the model in question needed to be re-made for it to show up correctly.

[5] Problem: “Importing Model animations into Supreme Commander.”, “Model animations not functioning correctly.”

[5] Fix: Animations, the same as with Models, need to be saved as a specific format before imported into Supreme Commander. Once animations were created in 3Ds Max, they were exported as this format and saved into the Mod folder, hopefully allowing the models also in the folder to use the animations next to them. However, these animations would not work successfully, with models in the game still moving around without any animation. This problem could not be solved by either me, or any other students, ultimately leading to my models remaining as static objects in the game.

[6] Problem: “Creating weapon scripts.”

[6] Fix: In order for Supreme Commander units to fire, weapon scripts must be created and placed inside the Mod folder. These weapon scripts use existing unit information to replace user created models with existing weapons, allowing players to fire in game. This however caused problems, with the weapon scripts being created, however not having any effect on the models. This problem still remains un-fixed by me and fellow students.

[7] Problem: “Texturing Models in Supreme Commander.”, “Models appearing un-textured.”

[7] Fix: To texture Supreme Commander models, .dds files must be created using software provided on the Internet by various developers. Using an NVidia tool, these texture files can be created by converting images created in Photoshop. However, the NVidia tool crashed a fellow student’s computer, bricking his system and ending up with him having to format his hard drive and re-install drivers. Due to this, I didn’t take the risk of installing the NVidia tool and texturing my models in fear of losing work done so far on this project, other projects and my computer. University computers would not let students install the software due to lack of admin rights.

Project Journal - Week 11

Project activity for the week of 04/05/09 (Week 11):

This week I finished creating my map and uploaded a step-by-step walk-through on how I did it to the blog. The walk-through covers how I textured my terrain, elevated certain areas of the level, added in props and how I created water.

Now with the map complete, I'm ready to finish producing my unit models, import them into Supreme Commander using techniques learnt in past lessons and produce my two video files ready for hand-in and presenting next Wednesday. One video file must last three minutes and give a developers insight into how I produced my mod, while the other video will be a maximum of five minutes long, showcasing my end product.

This weeks lesson time I used to finish up with my map and to create my step-by-step walk-through uploaded to the blog earlier today.

Next week is hand-in week, with my final product hopefully being 100% complete by the deadline on Wednesday.

To see all posts concerning this unit, click the 'Games Portfolio' tag below. To see all project journals, click the 'Journal' tag.

Games Portfolio - Making the Map

At the beginning of this project I decided to create a map from blank canvas as part of my final product. Using the official Supreme Commander Map Editor, I'm able to begin producing a map file from scratch, adding in base textures for the floor, heightening several areas with the 'Elevation Tool', placing props and decals with brushes and finally create water by raising its surface and 'digging' down through the terrain.

Below is a series of screen shots taken during the production of my final Supreme Commander map, most of which will be included in my three minute Supreme Commander developer diary video.

My map consists of a 128x128 two player skirmish terrain type with an 'Evergreen' visual setting. Starting with a blank canvas, I first added texture to the terrain the player will walk on by choosing a pattern in the 'Resource Browser' and pasting it onto the floor in the Stratum Properties window. For the main texture, Stratum 1 is selected in the 'Layers' box. To paint other textures onto the map, the other Stratum Layers must be used in conjunction with the brush tool.

Next, I used the 'Elevation' tool to raise up certain parts of my terrain. Parts of the map not accessible to the player can be created by pulling up mountainous areas player and enemy controlled units cannot pass across. Several different brushes can be used to do this, each having a different pattern to the others. Strength, size and the max/min of height can be configured in the options found underneith each brush type.

Props, such as Tree's, Rocks, Logs and other decorations were added next using the 'Prop' tool. Not serving much other purpose than to give maps variation, props can also stop players from accessing certain areas as in-game units cannot pass through them. In my level, I decided to create forest areas using props and pasting them down onto the terrain by checking the 'Automatic Placement' box in the options and copying them across to the map.

Before this is done however, the prop must be selected from the resource browser and copied into the 'Prop Edit' box. Several different types of prop can be placed into this tool at one time, and once done, will paste all props selected into the level with the brush, five per second at default.

The next step was creating the water. Three major things must be considered when producing water in Supreme Commander, the water texture found in the resource browser, the wave type in the water properties and finally the surface height, also found in water properties. A water texture must be chosen and applied in the same way the base terrain is, using the Water Stratum tool. The wave type, as the name suggests, allows users to change the way the water displays waves with a series of different options.

Most importantly, the surface height must be configured to determine at what point the water can be seen. At default, water remains low down below the map, needing to be raised up so the terrain can be lowered down underneith the water surface to create streams and lakes. This is done by raising and lowering the water surface height until suited with the environment around it.

Once the water surface is configured correctly, it will begin to appear on the map. In my level, I decided to use the water to create a small lake in the centre of the terrain, along with a small stream at the base of a mountain in the bottom right corner.

The final map has now been created, ready for testing in the SupCom game engine by being placed in and loaded from the THQ Map folder.

Games Portfolio - Journal (Week 10) - Map Creation

Project Journal - Week 10

Project activity for the week of 27/04/09 (Week 10):

This week I spent my time with Supreme Commander creating my final map and producing two small units in 3Ds Max to place into the game. My final map still needs working with due to some complications with room access time at University. Luckily though, time in lesson was given to work on our projects and progression with the map was made in the time allocated. Although we now know how to insert models into Supreme Commander, my main concern is the animations and whether or not it'll be possible to have them working by the time the final product is shown.

In the lesson this week, once again, I spent time working with my map and discussing with other students how to insert models into Supreme Commander from 3Ds Max and how we would go about linking them to their animations.

To see all posts concerning this unit, click the 'Games Portfolio' tag below. To see all project journals, click the 'Journal' tag.