3D rendered Graphics

[Ericmor]

My game is only barely started, but i have enough Graphics for a feedback start. As i also messed with some realtime engines, i decide to render my characters for 2D games as well... since they are detailed anime style faces, i used them big on dialog graphics.
The tradeoff was a huge time spent to add more frames on the animations and to tune-up some aspects of the standard code, like animated battle system and ring menu.
I have the impression that the dialog graphics need more work, i don't know. Everthing in this game is time consuming, the tilesets all got horribly heavy - there are framerate drops while the character scrolls trought the scenarios - but battles still run smoothly.
I'll stop adding scripts on this thing and start adding more art, like more animated monsters and scenario details. The game story will be heavily dependant of standard built-in events, but i don't think that will be a problem... yet.
Some more recent screenshots:

[Arrow]

Somethign about the graphics...doesn't seem to mesh well...Also, scoot the mice and the battlers apart a little bit.

[Occorru]

The enemies should be in 3D, they just look wrong like that in that enviroment.

[Arrow]

I think it's too busy, that could be what I'm seeing...Perhaps a bit less on screen at once? I can imagine I would get an enormous headache if I played this for too long...

[Ericmor]

Occorru... the enemies ARE in 3D... there's no handmade animations in this game.
...maybe i should have waited until i had a playable demo... oh, well. It will be done soon.

[Occorru]

Well it looks good the only question is if you can finish it. I meant production must go painstakingly slow for a game of this calibur.

[Arrow]

You mean the enemies move and shit?

[Ericmor]

Yup - each battler (monster or hero) has a roll of 11 (eleven) animations with 8 frames each, and map characters got 128x64 pixels in 8 animated frames on maps. I even go to lenghts of special magic casting animations, where each hero has his own magic animation (20 frames of the character making thunders, glows and etc). That big rat alone has a spriteset of 1600x2200 pixels, and any tileset isn't smaller than  256 x 6144 (and still lacks space for more stuff).
The speed isn't so slow that you can't play, but i'm worried about the future - if a dozen more tilesets of this size will decrease speed, depending of how RMXP work with graphics.
The tradeoff is SPEED... both in production and realtime animations. The big dissapointment in RMXP is the fact that it doesn't shows AVI animations, or my cutscenes would get niecer and easier to create.
My original goal on the maps is to get the same result as the maps from Baldurs Gate2 or those new 2D anime online games. Unfortunately, the tileset for those results would get about 256x 12288, probably more. I doubt RMXP would support that kind of bitmap... i should try it any day, anyway.

[Arrow]

Go to the scripts section on hbgames.org, they have anti-lag scripts that could be of some serious use to you.

[Ericmor]

Thanks arrowone... but nearfantastica's anti-event lag script crashes my RPGMXP...
Besides, the script solves event related lags, maybe my proble is a little deeper (bitmap excess and machine speed) and would require reenginering of rmxp executable... or some sense in my head for trying impossible pixel loads.
In any case, the game's still playable on a 1.5 Mhz machine... i just hope RMXP load and process every tileset map separately as they are called, and not ALL at the same time on the first game load. THAT would be a disaster.

[Winged]

wow, I love the graphics, nice CGing 

The battle system looks really awsome, but the last two screenshot's tileset looks a bit weird.....all well, everything else is perfect from what I see so far. Keep up the good work.

~Winged

[Tsunokiette]

Makes me wonder why Enterbrain didn't use threads when they made RMXP.

It would be harder to use, yes, but it would increase speed drasticly.

EDIT : I meant increase speed.

[Red Eye Dragoon]

Looks nice,if you need help with mapping im your man

[Ericmor]

Thanks, Redeye! My maps are composed of big 3D rendered graphics, the assembling is quite a bit different from normal tilesets... the bigger problem is the 256 width limit of the tilesets, the original bitmap has to be sliced with care... really time consuming.
I had to try hard to make way in different scenarios...
If you lnow of any 3d big tilesets tutorials, let me know - but for some reason i think I'll be the one making it... 

[GilgameshRO]

I do believe I actually saw a script to play .avi files with RMXP on THIS forum. I don't know how well it works, since I haven't tried it, but you might want to give it a shot.
[EDIT:] I can't find it, but I didn't look very hard.

[Ericmor]

GilgameshRO, i tested two AVI scripts, but each one has a different bug... the best working one actually PLAYs the AVI, but only after reducing the screen to a 320x240 window. And forget about the fullscreen one: it crashes the game. I was almost going with this one, but i rather wait until someone released a decent AVI script, or ANY other media format that runs in fullscreen.
...but i'll do another search on this fórum again... 

[GilgameshRO]

Why would you want fullscreen anyways ?_?

[Doctor Professor Nikolai]

w00t!!! Teach mah how to do that!!!

[Ericmor]

GilgameshRO: Oops! I forgot: normal RPGMaker Games run in windows mode... my game always run in fullscreen, and bluntly switch to a 320x240 windows inside anymations sequences looks buggy...
A way to solve that would be to, at least, place a black background around the window somehow... less noticiable. I don't have any idea of how someone would do that, unfortunatly.
Nicholas: To do exacly what? The graphics are assembled in 3D studio, edited in photoshop on .PNG format with alpha, and there's a different procedure for both animated characters and Battlers... depending of witch script you use. I'll place a indeep tutorial as soon i finish the first alpha.

[Doctor Professor Nikolai]

W00T!  Thanks

[Malson]

This could be cool, as long as the gameplay's fun. I fear if you focus too much on the OMG 3D-ness of it, it'll be lacking sorely in the gameplay department. Good luck.

[Geno]

I can't belive someone got off with a Good 3-D grafix game pretty cool....Please demo soon

[Red Eye Dragoon]

I do believe I actually saw a script to play .avi files with RMXP on THIS forum. I don't know how well it works, since I haven't tried it, but you might want to give it a shot.
[EDIT:] I can't find it, but I didn't look very hard.

Acctually you dont have to have a script to play .AVIs.
But AVIs take up alot of room so it would make the game size boom

[Ericmor]

Mmm... you know of a way to play an .avi without script? 
On the matter of size... there's no avoiding it, this game will be LARGE. It already takes up to 120 Mega, and is only the first alpha structure. Still, i'm planning on make the distribution of the game by CD sales, here in my country - but the online download will take up to 600 - 700 Mega in the final size, EVEN with .AVIs. I'm taking the animated backgrounds in account here - the only thing that will make the game size go smaller will be in the event of a game crash due to big amount of bitmaps - and that, if it REALLY can happen, i'll be the first one to see, peraphs.
Just to get the idea, look into this scene - the windmill have 8 frames of animation. Now, imagine a WHOLE scenario made up only of those...

[Nooco]

This sounds fucking awesome! very very good looking, can't wait the demo