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Josh7356
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Another I'm New Thread

Post by Josh7356 »

Well, I'm pretty much new here. I used to use this ,but I got bored with it ,and now, I'm back. I have got a couple of questions ,and I would really appreciate it if someone could help me.

1.) How easy is this to use if you're just starting?

2.) I like to make my own 3D models ,but I'm cheap. That free Truespace and g-max are the free 3D modelors that I know of. I prefer g-max ,but I couldn't find a good explanation of how to convert my models to work in Reality Facotry. Any help?
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Post by GD1 »

Welcome to the forums!

RF can be really easy with some things and really be a royal pain when it comes to other things. I think that if you don't set your hopes too high, and just try to get started by making a simple first-person shooter, most people shouldn't have too much trouble. RF is a very simple system, and after a while you realize that a lot more depends on YOU than on the ENGINE. We have people like Tabulanis who have made amazing visuals with RF, while others struggle with just changing one line in an .ini file. If you read a lot of articles (particularly on low-poly art, and level design) you can really do a lot.

I understand your reluctance to spend any money on a modeling program, but TrueSpace and GMAX aren't the easiest things to use with RF. There is a program called MilkShape3D (i'm sure you've heard of it) that only costs $25. MilkShape is almost made to work with RF, and it exports directly to RF's model and animation formats. I know you won't want to spend the money, but when you think about the engine being free as well and the relative cost of MilkShape compared to other modelers, it really isn't that bad.
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Josh7356
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Post by Josh7356 »

I may consider getting milkshape. $25 isn't a bad price at all. I plan to make simple games on this program ,so hopefully I won't have too much trouble. However, I do have 1 more question. What can't I make with reality factory? I know that multiplayer games are out of the question for now ,but what else isn't possible?
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scott
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Post by scott »

aslong as it dont involve multiplayer then nothing is imposible, mmorpg are out of the question (its online lol) but any style you can imagine, all that it requires you to do is to learn the scripting language to go more than the basic first person shooter.

i belive we have a car demo, so racing games, wich wouldnt be to disimilar to flying games, using camera angles you can achive the same style as such games as resident evil and final fantasy, can have teken style games, devil may cry, all these dont require multiplayer so they are all powerfull.

but RF seems to be designed to make first person shooters but anything is possible with time and knowledge of scripting language, wich i my self have just started to look at, can be a bit confusing at first but if you take a logical aproach to it then its not that hard, the RF docs do go along way in explaining things, take a look at the scripting and you can see what is possible.

and welcome to RF hope you enjoy using it as much as i do.
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steven8
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Post by steven8 »

Welcome back, I'd say!! anim8or is free and easy to use for modelling, but Milkshape is pretty much a necessity.

Best of luck!
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Josh7356
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Post by Josh7356 »

Will things that I create in anim8or be compatible with reality factory? I'm not going to be making games with very impressive graphics at all. I prefer games with simple graphics. I think that they look nicer than the games out today. I'd choose Doom 95 over Halo anyday. I know that that's probably a bad example ,but you get the point. Also, if I'm not spending days upon days on perfect graphics, I have more time to focus on gameplay which is more important. This is why that I don't think that I really need milkshape. Correct me if I'm wrong though. And, that coding thing worries me. I'm not really good with computer languages. Is it easier than I think that it is?
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scott
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Post by scott »

well the coding is all in the docs, this can be found in the short cut menu for RF and its under scripting.

it explains it very well.

the first page to this does seem a bit complicated, i must admit it doesnt look very user friendly but go through it all and you will soon learn to understand it, i had gone through it all only once and i mustt of understood about half of it, so go through it a few times and you should get it.

and if you ever get stuck then you can always ask the forum, im sure theres alot of people willing to help you.

in the forums i have known i belive this is the nicest one i know, as we all help each other and so far i cant remember one instant where there has been an argument or trying to run someone down. so please jsut ask away if you get stuck.
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Juutis
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Post by Juutis »

Another great scripting explanation is in the 'Making 3D Games with Reality Factory' book.
It's free and can be downloaded here.
There's a section about scripting which explains the basics pretty well.
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Post by GD1 »

Doom 95 you say?

If you don't mind simple graphics, then your gonna have a field day. RF is a little bit better than Half-Life 1, and actually is about on par with more recent Quake III games like "Star Trek: Elite Force II".
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Josh7356
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Post by Josh7356 »

I skimmed over some of the coding ,and it doesn't look too bad. I think that I could get the hang of it with a few trys. Thanks for all of your help. Just one little question left though. Can I use models that I make in anim8or with Reality Factory?
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QuestOfDreams
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Post by QuestOfDreams »

There are no exporters for anim8or so you would need another program (eg Milkshape3d) to get your models into the .act format Reality Factory uses.
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steven8
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Post by steven8 »

Correct. That is why I said Milkshape is a must. Do not put bones in in anim8or, export in 3DS. Import into Milkshape. Add Joints, if needed, animated and texture as needed. Then export to Genesis BDY formtat for the mesh, and MOT for any animations you create.

Then you will use the astudio program found in the tools folder to create your actor. Place the actor BDY file, textures and MOT files in the tools folder.

1) Open astudio:

2) Project>New (name project)

3) Select Genesis3D BDY file type, and browse to select your file.

4) On the Motions Tab, select the animations you've made by browsing, naming them Walk, Run, Idle, etc.

5) Type in the path to your textures (these should be in the tools folder) - I cut and paste from the browser window: C:\Reality Factory\Tools

6) Save the Project

7) Click Build.

The new actor should be named <your project>.act, and can be found in that same tools folder.

Check it out in actviewer, also found in the tools folder.

I don't think I missed anything. let us know if it works okay.
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scott
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Post by scott »

milkshape is good yea, a very worth while investment if yo are wanting to make a game, but it is possible to do it other ways than milkshape, using different programs, aslong as you can get your model to work with actStudio, found in the realityfactory directory on your computer and within realitfactory theres a folder named tools, then it doesnt matter what you use as i know it can be hard learning a new modeling programe.

but saying that milkshape is one of the best out there for RF, i found it easy to use, the easiest actualy, nothing complex it is very good shame it cant export 3dt... but thats nothing to wory about. until you actualy get into making the game.
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