GameDevOnline

On Friday night, I installed the newly released Blender 2.6.3, an open source 3d modeling package that has just been getting better and better. The newest release features some awesome new tools, a customizable interface, and even more and better add-ons. This afternoon I decided I would give it a test spin, and gave myself two hours to build a completely new 3d model. For my games in Unity, and for Vue D’Esprit, I have animated characters, horses, wagons, buildings, and all manner of weapons and accessories. What I didn’t have was a Camel, so I made one. Here is the walkthrough, complete with some tips and shortcuts:

Clicking on any image below and then clicking again will enlarge this by loading the full sized image…

 

Adding a reference photo is as simple as dragging it off your desktop into the Blender Workspace, Hit N to toggle your right side menu on and off. scroll down in the right side menu to the Background Images, fiddle with them until you have what your want,  and remember to use your NumPad number keys to orient your views.

Outlining the Basic Shape

 

Extruding the Side of the Mesh

 

 

Front View Extruding the Side of the Mesh

Front View extruding the side, Press Z to see (and reach) through the entire mesh, Press B for Border Select, to grab a whole group of points, Then Press E to extrude the points, and finally S to Scale (As the belly gets smaller the points will get closer together.

 

Now I have to fill in the mesh!

 

Hitting the Z key alternately makes the mesh opaque, then see-through, so you can see the faces you need to create!

 

 

Creating new Faces by selecting individual points and lines with the New Ngons now means that the rest of the model geometry is unchanged! This is an awesome change from previous releases!

 

Next we Model the Front Legs, simply extruding a few of the bottom faces (Of course we use our reference photos to get the basic shape right!). Wow, that almost looks like an Elephant’s head, doesn’t it?

 

 

Then we shape the legs of our Camel model some more by adjusting individual and small groups of points and lines.

 

 

Here I’m using the Loop Cut and Slide tool to make more vertices and faces on the rear of the Camel (have to make his tail-end more rounded and bigger…

 

 

Here the rear legs have been added (by selecting individual faces and using mostly just the Extrude and Scale Tools), and I’m making final adjustments. It’s actually starting to look like a Camel now! I better save it!

 

 

Always remember to save your work at various times (and using different names) while you are working on your model. I haven’t had an unexpected crash in Blender in awhile now, However, you can be almost be certain that if you put multiple man-hours of work into a model and don’t save it, Murphy’s law will somehow strike, and take away all your hard work. Having a backup can save hours of re-modeling time!

 

 

Now we look at our model in different views, just to make sure our proportions are still mostly correct…

 

 

Adjusting the Mesh for Detail and Accuracy…

 

 

Here I Smooth Shaded the model (by using a selection off  the Object Traits menu located on your left, If you don’t see an Object Traits  menu on your left in Blender while in 3d view, hit the T key.)

 

 

Here I’m also adding a Smoothing Modifier, So the model is Smooth Shaded, and also has had a Smooth Modifier applied to make it more rounded! Double Smooth, as it were!

 

 

A Basic Camel, still needs eyes, a more detailed mouth, colorations and texturing. For use in games and animations, we’ll need to rig the camel as well. That looks like a couple of new tutorials for another day! The back legs are fixed, and are correctly proportional to the entire Camel now

 

 

Only two hours, and I have a new Camel! What should we name him?

 

 

 

 

Hello fellow gamers and RPG fans! GameDaddy here, with a springtime update for you on what is happening in the wooded hills of Indiana! Weather has been great, so the last couple of weeks the entire family have been outdoors playing traditional games like baseball while enjoying the sunshine, mild temperatures, and fresh air. Have a new ten-speed bicycle on the buy list now as the kids want to go biking since they have bikes already, are proficient at riding, and really like it. Need MOAR safety gear as well!

  GENCON 2012

In Convention gaming news, I have a tentative (That may be subject to change, depending on the final shakeout) schedule of games for GenCon 2012 in Indy. This year I’m scheduled to bring in a youth group (composed of teens from my local Boys & Girls Club) to help organize one or more career day workshops in Art, Publishing, or Game Design for any Boys & Girls Club members (or former members) that attend GenCon. This will probably be taking up my daytime gaming slots on both Saturday and Sunday, however, in tribute to the old school, I’ll be running the following RPG events during evening hours.

Thursday 7 P.M. August 16^th, 2012

 Event: RPG1232652

Jeddak of the Outer World, a OD&D Adventure

A Barsoomian trek. Searching for John Carter of Mars, a small contingent of union cavalry must make a trek to a distant forgotten martian city to locate an ancient relic that will ensure their safe return to Arizona. Minis & Characters of the 5th level provided. Players may create their own 5th lvl characters to include in this adventure, Characters may be created using B/X, 0D&D, Rules Cyclopedia, and Swords and Wizardry. Just remember, you start with the Cavalry, and of course will have uniforms, horses, guns, and just maybe …dynamite?

 

 Friday 7 P.M. August 17^th, 2012

 Event: WKS1232653

 Dawn of Worlds

 This is a collaborative worldbuilding workshop for GM’s to create an original RPG fantasy world. Players interactively game to complete a full world with both a background history and cosmology. This is the second year for this workshop based on the design document provided by Bob Pesall. Players take on the role of Avatar/Leader of their chosen race/subrace to help create an exciting new fantasy world .

Reference: http://www.clanwebsite.org/games/games.html

OetherWorld, Last years Dawn of Worlds chronology (As a PDF Download) OetherWorld

Oetherworld Map

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Small Image (Linked to the Mini-Map) Double-Click HERE to Enlarge Map to full size

 

 

Saturday 7 P.M., August 18^th, 2012

 Event: RPG1232654

 The Crystal Blades, a OD&D Wilderlands Adventure

Set in Valon from the Judges Guild Wilderlands of High Fantasy, The players are asked to help the snow elves preserve their lore and magic from a new threat. Minis & Characters of the 5th level provided. Players may create their own 5th lvl characters to include in this adventure, Characters may be created using B/X, OD&D, Rules Cyclopedia, and Swords and Wizardry.

I may run a pickup game on Wednesday night or Thursday or Friday during the day as well. I’m leaning towards running Empire of the Petal Throne or Gamma World 1^st ed game… If that is the case, you’ll find me in the main RPG Hall…

 

  Dark Outpost, A Sci-Fi RPG Supplement from James Ward & Christopher Clark

Recently Jim Ward and Christopher Clark released a new Sci-Fi supplement. The Dark Outpost is a Sci-Fi adventure useable with any Sci-Fi RPG. It’s set on a space station in Geosynchronous orbit around a class M (Earthlike) planet. It’s an awesome 88 pages of old school gaming goodness. The authors give it seven skulls out of ten for lethality, personally, I give it 8.8 skulls. You might live exploring this outpost, but it seems unlikely, even with a Monty Haul GM. It’s loaded with interesting encounters and new ideas so is a really good addition for any Sci-Fi gaming collection.

 

 

You can order this super dangerous supplement yourself from the Eldritch Enterprises Drivethru RPG page:

 http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=4250

 

Going Hi-Tech

Finally on the tech side of things, Installed Windows 8 on the PC over this Easter Weekend, just so I could also install the Microsoft VisualStudio 11 Beta. This is, of course, for gaming as I want to use the Videostudio C# editor instead of the Unity3d Mono Editor for creating programs and scripts for the great Unity3d gaming Engine. It’s easier to spot errors in VideoStudio. So far, Windows 8 is looking pretty good. It only took three hours to completely re-install all my favorite pc apps. The only downside, Win 8 removed my (up until then) perfectly good working copy of Microsoft Office 2007. I replaced this with OpenOffice 3x. Win 8 runs much faster than Vista did taking full advantage of the quad core processor, and everything is still there (all the Windows functionality including Startmenu), …only everything has been re-arranged and moved around a bit. I just created shortcuts on my desktop for all my favored apps and Win tools.

I’m off to play some D&D!

I’ve been spending an extraordinary amount of time on Dragons lately. First there was the great timesink of Skyrim. Becoming a Dragonslayer and hunting down an ancient evil dragon intent on destroying all of humanity occupied the better part of my spare time over the last two months. It was great fun, and full of surprises as well as wtfbbq moments, literally. I’m looking forward to replaying this in ironman mode where if my character dies, I start over from scratch.

Did manage to get a few other things accomplished as well. Built a random encounter generator for Dungeons and Dragons wilderness encounters that includes all the creatures from the 74 White Bookset, Rules Cyclopedia, Judges Guild monsters, and a few of my favorite critters from the Fiend Folio. Prep for sandbox adventures has been reduced to about ten minutes, which consists of generating 100 random encounters for each terrain type, then printing that in an encounter booklet.

The generator does a simply awesome job with Dragons, Here’s ten that you might be able to use in your own D&D campaigns…

Clear Song, Dragon, Age 143 years, Color – Crystalline Sea Green, Ebony, and White, HD 11, AC -3, Magic wpn needed to hit +2, Mv 120/40 (360/120 fly), dmg-attk (3d4) 2 claws, (5d6) Bite, (1d6) 2 wing buffets, (1d6) 2 wing claws, (3d6) foot stamp every other rd, Plated (3d8) Tail Lash, Special Powers – Mesmerize, By modulating it’s speaking voice the dragon can lull listeners and can make a suggestion as the spell (ST allowed). Dragon Breath Cold — Cone, Aln Chaotic Evil, In Lair 60%, Percentile roll 31, Treasure Type H, Spell Ability: Int 16-17, Detect Illusion, Command, Detect Illusion, Animal Friendship, Speak with Animals, Dispell Illusion, Dispell Illusion, Curse, XP 7,500, 92% Magic Resistant.

Notes: Likes Bards, Will always ask for a song or Edda

Palith, a Dragon, Age 87 years, Color – Orange and Sapphire, HD 9, AC -1, Magic wpn needed to hit +1, Mv 120/40 (330/110 fly), dmg-attk (2d6) 2 claws, (4d6) Bite, (1d3) 2 wing buffets, (1d3) 2 wing claws, (2d6) foot stamp every other rd, Constrictor (4d6) Tail Lash, Special Powers – Water, The dragon likes water and swims at half it’s flying speed, breathing is similar to a whale’s and it can stay submerged for up to 1d4 hours. Dragon Breath Chlorine Gas — Cloud, Aln Chaotic Evil, In Lair 60%, Percentile roll 56, Treasure Type H, Spell Ability: Int 14-15, Faerie Fire, Faerie Fire, Comprehend Languages, Audible Glamer, Hold Person, Hypnotic Pattern, XP 3,125, 90% Magic Resistant.

Notes: Loves to sneak attack. Uses spells to distract victims.

Night Watch, a Dragon, Age 43 years, Color – Muddy Grey, HD 5, AC 3, Mv 60/20 (240/80 fly), dmg-attk (1d6) 2 claws, (2d6) Bite, (1d2) 2 wing buffets, (1d2) 2 wing claws, (1d6) foot stamp every other rd, Constrictor (2d6) Tail Lash, Special Powers – None, Dragon Breath Acid in a line, Aln Lawful Good, In Lair 60%, Percentile roll 50, Treasure Type H, Spell Ability: Int 10-11, Detect Illusion, Command, XP 1,250, 50% Magic Resistant.

Notes: Nocturnal, only hunts at night.

Enchanted Song, a Dragon, Age 206 years, Color – Shadowy Cinnamon, Aqua, and Sandy, HD 12, AC -4, Magic wpn needed to hit +3, Mv 120/40 (360/120 fly), dmg-attk (3d4) 2 claws, (6d6) Bite, (1d8) 2 wing buffets, (1d8) 2 wing claws, (3d8) foot stamp every other rd, Spaded (3d10) Tail Lash, Special Powers – Mesmerize, By modulating it’s speaking voice the dragon can lull listeners and can make a suggestion as the spell (ST allowed). Dragon Breath Petrification — Cone, Aln Lawful Good, In Lair 60%, Percentile roll 99, Treasure Type H, Spell Ability: Int 18-19, Wall of Fog, Wall of Fog, Detect Lie, Detect Illusion, Hold Person, Hold Portal, Fog Cloud, Hypnottic Pattern, Suggestion, Dispel Magic, XP 8,250, 93% Magic Resistant.

Notes: Elder Dragon. Likes to close portals and entry ways to it’s lair after “guests” arrive and will attempt to convert characters and npcs rather than kill them.

Rune Wizard, a Dragon, Age 47 years, Color – Tan, HD 5, AC 3, Mv 60/20 (240/80 fly), dmg-attk (1d6) 2 claws, (2d6) Bite, (1d2) 2 wing buffets, (1d2) 2 wing claws, (1d6) foot stamp every other rd, Spiked (2d6) Tail Lash, Special Powers – Highly Magic Resistant, The Dragon’s magic resistance is twice standard for it’s age. Dragon Breath Fire — Cone, Aln Neutral Evil, In Lair 60%, Percentile roll 95, Treasure Type H, Spell Ability: Int 12-13, Detect Illusion, Comprehend Languages, Water to Wine, Hold Person, Glyph of Warding, XP 1,250, — 99% Magic Resistant.

Notes: Casts Glyphs and Wards as a 10th lvl cleric, a sage when it comes to Glyphs, Signs, and Wards.

Celestial Omen, a Dragon, Age 309 years, Color – Jade, HD 13, AC -5, Magic wpn needed to hit +3, Mv 120/40 (300/100 fly), dmg-attk (3d4) 2 claws, (7d6) Bite, (1d10) 2 wing buffets, (1d10) 2 wing claws, (3d10) foot stamp every other rd, Whiplash (3d8) Tail Lash, Special Powers – Mesmerize, By modulating it’s speaking voice the dragon can lull listeners and can make a suggestion as the spell (ST allowed). Dragon Breath Polymorph — Line, Aln Neutral, In Lair 60%, Percentile roll 76, Treasure Type H, Spell Ability: Int 16-17, Charm Avian, Detect Lie, Identify, Charm Person, Dispell Illusion, Blindness, Deafness, Dispel Magic, XP 10,500, 94% Magic Resistant.

Notes: Ancient Dragon, Likes to polymorph attackers into various types of trees, bushes, and exotic rock formations.

Destiny’s Shadow, a Dragon, Age 149 years, Color – Violet, HD 11, AC -3, Magic wpn needed to hit +2, Mv 120/40 (360/120 fly), dmg-attk (3d4) 2 claws, (5d6) Bite, (1d6) 2 wing buffets, (1d6) 2 wing claws, (3d6) foot stamp every other rd, Plated (3d8) Tail Lash, Special Powers – Water, The dragon likes water and swims at half it’s flying speed, breathing is similar to a whale’s and it can stay submerged for up to 1d4 hours. Dragon Breath Fire — Cone, Aln Lawful Good, In Lair 60%, Percentile roll 48, Treasure Type H, Spell Ability: Int 12-13, Audible Glamer, Water to Wine, Identify, Hypnottic Pattern, XP 7,500, 92% Magic Resistant.

Notes: A terror for pirates, Due to it’s coloration difficult to spot in the open ocean and especially at night.

Phrixthrax, a Dragon, Age 96 years, Color – Streaked Sunset, HD 10, AC -2, Magic wpn needed to hit +2, Mv 120/40 (330/110 fly), dmg-attk (3d4) 2 claws, (4d6) Bite, (1d4) 2 wing buffets, (1d4) 2 wing claws, (3d4) foot stamp every other rd, Spaded (3d10) Tail Lash, Special Powers – Awareness, The Dragon is never surprised. At age 101 or older it always detects hidden or invisible enemies. Dragon Breath Cloudkill (As the spell)– Cloud, Aln Lawful Evil, In Lair 60%, Percentile roll 2, Treasure Type H, Spell Ability: Int 14-15, Faerie Fire, Command, Command, Charm Person, Hold Portal, Alarm, XP 6,250, 91% Magic Resistant.

Notes: This brightly colored elder Dragon’s foes evaporate into melted flesh and bones when it breaths

Heaven’s Sword, a Dragon, Age 25 years, Color – Sharp Ashen, HD 3, AC 5, Mv 60/20 (180/60 fly), dmg-attk (1d4) 2 claws, (1d10) Bite, (1d2) 2 wing buffets, (1d2) 2 wing claws, (1d6) foot stamp every other rd, Constrictor (2d6) Tail Lash, Special Powers – Immortality, The Dragon will never die by natural means. Dragon Breath Hallucinogen — Cloud, Aln Lawful Neutral, In Lair 60%, Percentile roll 82, Treasure Type H, Spell Ability: Int 12-13, Detect Lie, Audible Glamer, Detect Lie, Hypnottic Pattern, XP 310, 30% Magic Resistant.

Notes: Angelic, Immortal, Attackers are treated to extraordinary visions of heaven and hell… If they fail their ST vs. Dragon breath they believe they have been transported into the exalted realms and any damage they take during their vision is real.

Ice Banner, a Dragon, Age 5 years, Color – Tinted Blood Red, HD 1, AC 7, Mv 60/20 (120/40 fly), dmg-attk (1d4) 2 claws, (1d6) Bite, (1d2) 2 wing buffets, (1d2) 2 wing claws, (1d4) foot stamp every other rd, Whiplash (1d8) Tail Lash, Special Powers – None, Dragon Breath Cold — Cone, Aln Neutral Good, possibly in a Copse of Trees lair 60%, Percentile roll 26, Treasure Type H, Spell Ability: Int 1-7, No spells XP 75, 10% Magic Resistant.

Notes: Baby Dragon. Likes to sneak up on prey and freeze them. Has collected quite the treasure from Dragonhunters and evil NPCs over the few years of life.