Apricot Update
The new update includes GLSL, and Shape Keys working in the Blender Game Engine. This update also includes various speedups of the BGE. You can get the latest build from graphicall.org.
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Apricot Demo Video:
Shutter Shades RELOADED
Wooowww… looks awsome!!!,
That looks like fun!
looks great, need to get it, would they make it into a linux executable? i do hope so. one thing, the characters shadow looks…well…..fake. sorry but i said it.
-josh
Great Progress, the physic is looking awesome !
okey, that’s not a shadow, is only a plane with a radial blend texture on it.
Let’s do this, we *promise* real looking shadows for the next video, how’s that? :)
Looks great! Can’t wait to get some time to make some games!
wow, looks impressive
Oh yeah, this came was custom made with my demographic in mind
Well, I’m impressed.
“Let’s do this, we *promise* real looking shadows for the next video, how’s that? :)”
Yea, I’d agree, that shadow plane looks pretty weak :)
Hee hee! That looks really fun!
looks great!
woooooooooow,
Is it blender game enginer?
O_O
SWEET! Looks better than most games I’ve bought!
WHAAAT real shadows would just make me do the happy dance
ha-cha-cha-cha-chaaa
this looks fantastic, Im glad i kept buggin about the next blenderproject being a game and not another movie, looks like the GE will truely benefit from this project.
Now make blender also 3d browser plugin and let gameplayers, with exces cpu cores, donate render time to a virtual blender render farm, blender users can connect to it. ;)
(might work with a build some thing for the game, like new characters or moves, earns you rendertime system.) A game that would work, would be kinda multiplayer pokemon grow your characther and let it fight others.
*HUGE SMILE* =D Nice work guys! I can’t wait to see more of the flying action from higher places! And maybe some tree climbing will be in the next video?
SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!
love the doublejump flight mechanics! and the ledge grabbing feels spot on! congrats guys! i can totally imagine how this would handle going full speed and i am sooooo super impressed! camera is doing an ADMIRABLE job too! though there’s one bit where the camera clips through geometry and i would say that is to avoided like the plague. there’s few things that suck you out and make the world seem paper thin and artificial than the camera showing backsides of polys.
but what is here is fantastic! good work, congrats and rock on.
jin
!!!!
incredible
CONGRATS on an AWESOME DEMO!!!
This has got me and lot of friends talking about using Blender for game dev. :D
I hope it does the same for game dev using Blender as BBB has for animation side!
To do that, seems the game play logic needs a little polishing. If I missed this, or you are doing it (even different way – I love surprises), ignore my comments below.
Just a few first impressions re your demo (just ‘community constructive criticism’=) :
1. Grass Platforms: seem to be too large, flat/plain, and easy to access.
If they were smaller, it would add to game play – as the player would have to make sure they didn’t fall off.
Making it trickier to get onto them would add to play too – especially if they allow the player to take a quick break from play on the ground. It’s always more rewarding to have a challenge to rest than just be able to quickly find higher/safer ground and sit out a game beat or two while you adjust strategy in your head.
This could be done by having a rocky edge poking through the grassy edges of platforms, which enable the player to grab hold of and climb up. That way, that grassy edges become areas where it is too slippery to climb up. A simple difference, but one that the player would learn after trial and error, force player to use memory to remember side of platform where they can climb up, and make it more challenging – fun – game like. (In one or two places, the grassy edge cold slope down platforms to a lip/bump/ramp rock with grass on it to act as a slide with jump at bottom to launch character to other place.)
Even if platforms will be populated with other creatures, making them smaller and trickier to get onto and between (eg some obstacles in between ie a tree or two) would add to game play a lot. The difficulty of getting onto platform is then balanced by how many enemies there are on a platform.
2. Flying
The character animation, particularly flying looks very cool – but too powerful – easy to avoid ground play paths.
For good game play – it would be great if you can’t fly everywhere – but may need to run up a tree and jump off a branch to fly to another area. The log example was okay, but still seems too easy to get to and fly from.
Imagine a tree that sticks between platforms gaps. You climb up tree from platform, and then go up branch. The branch goes part way over the main ground at base of platform. It is only path to another game point/place and way over enemy. As you walk over it, it bends to ground and in reach of enemy (sheep?), so you have to learn to jump/fly at a point along branch, using branches bounch up, and then make leap off it at right time to new game point/place.
Or imagine that character can’t fly somewhere, so has to go inside log and running around it (like in demo), make the log roll one way. Enemies can’t get inside while log is rolling, or perhaps can only stick their biting mouths in once log is stopped. This would be good game play.
3. Environment
Like a film, each frame/shot should help a scene.
Same thing applies to objects in game.
Apricot game world looks cute, but should also show more of what Blender and gaming can do.
Eg grass clumps should not just show-off what game engine can render but do something ie slow player down when character tries to run through, after all, they are quite tall/thick compared to characters size.
Or if flying were difficult at a point in play, because character has too many items (nuts) in inventory, grass clumps could be good bounce/jump zones. If character runs/walks into, they are slowed down and jump not possible, but if they do little jump onto grass clump, they can jump very high, for example onto a grass platform or even a low tree branch.
My point is:
Game play isn’t just about greater degrees of freedom/movement but having to use these in a changing restricted space, which challenges us to think/re-act/act to beat restrictions to win.
The obvious restrictions in this game should centre around the characters size relative to the scale of the environment eg platforms, enemy, ground, etc.
The game world objects become not just pretty but useful or not at different points/times of game eg grass clumps helping character jump to higher area.
Again, really nice demo – I just hope some of the points above come through in the final game.
I’m sure you are aware of all ideas above, just seem to be missing in demo.
Just my humble opinion.
Thanks for all the great work.
Looking forwared to the game!
This looks awesome! Will there be a demo for us to play?
Sorry, but I thought that Apricot was made in Crystal Space, not Blender Game Engine.
If you are referring to my comment – thanks for correction.
Yeah, I shoulda written Crystal Space, but thing is, Apricot will be showing off Blender’s tech too.
But it doesn’t matter what game engine is used.
My points are still valid.
Care to comment on them?
PS Don’t bash me coz I’m one of few (only one) to post criticism.
I think what this team has done, and in crazy time frame – is a miracle.
Was so hoping someone would rescue game dev side of Blender.
Like any gamer though, you don’t have to be fully aquainted with game engine specifics to know what good game play is.
And I don’t want this opportunity to impress wider community lost.
Sometimes timeframes need to be extended (Not Duke Nukem like) to make game more polished.
Original Half Life and many other games waited till they got game play right before launch.
Just hope same happens here.
So, rather than nit pick my comment (count typos, crap grammar, etc if that’s good game for you), try to help the team from being savaged by less caring people in other game dev communities by offering them some constructive criticism.
If you disagree with my game play points, say so, and help the Apricot developers.
It’s about best ideas to make best game, not best criticism bashing.
Reminds me of playing as Knuckles on Sonic the hedgehog on Sega Dreamcast. Sega Dreamcast was my last console system. I could only imagine what the game play would be. What would be the goal. Is it already decided. Is he going to have to go through traps Big Buck Bunny has set up like in the movie?
So are the apricot builds going to be merged in eventually, or will a regular blender always need both versions? does the apricot build contain everything that 2.46 and then some? And would that mean it’s a superior version then or more feature-packed?
I think the demo we saw was GE and not Crystal Space
Shape Keys and GLSL! That’s exactly what it needed!
This makes facial animation for Blender games ten times easier!
Thanks a lot,
– AniCator
I also wonder why Frankie is throwing acorns. Because he let the others throw them in the movie.
was wondering when blendernation would notice all the GE excitement.. ;-) Lots of awesome development has been happening this past week.
That looks like it would be a great XBL Arcade game.
Wow guys.. what a such of work!!!! Cant believe that’s blender. Pablo , u need to use some more of ur Pink color. ;)
Wow! I can’t wait to play this! Go BGE!! *GROUP HUG*
Looks awesome :O
Is it really the Blender GE? Cant believe it, looks much better than clubsilo.
Cant wait xD
I think this blogpost needs an update http://apricot.blender.org/?p=206
Bravo! Good job. The snapping shadow could look better, but what are graphics to gameplay in the end? Good job, God bless! It’ll be fun to run circles in the hollow logs. ;D
In other news you al have seen that commercial of Grand auto theft CG character.it look like Ton!
Hey ArtIsLight, you’re right, the shadow could look better, http://apricot.blender.org/?p=206
Hm … :\ Looks nice, but i dislike to the kind of Steering. 3rd Persons always have Problems with the Cam. The Character often Jump; run; shot … “into the blue”. Also seen in the Video. FRUSTRATING! 1st Person like steerings are always more precisely. Also for Jump’n Runs!
Please don’t forget: PC Gamers want’s to use their Mouse. (Not only for Menues!) If it’s not planned to release on XBoxes, PlayStations and such XXXX, put the GamePad to it’s Place … into the Trash!
Thank You.
Oh crazy man
Game engine will be able to support much more.
Game looks a little slow at the moment. Everything should run 50% faster.
That’s my opinion anyway.
But the graphics looks nice :)
Everytime they post some updates, I want to play and study it, more and more
This looks really cool, i mean they have such a thing in such a short time. Simply great.
But as for the most project: 90 % is done in 10% of time and the last 10 % is done in 90 % of time.
I wish you good luck and keep pushing. Maybe this game is a bit childish, but who knows! Everyone of us got his child inside.
the movie is smooth but I download the latest version and test it’s very slow and take too much CPU, my CPU T5250 ,system win_XP GPU intel 965/963 driver 1.5.0, I want to know what happen?