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Sogni & Spade 3D
ZyXEL Genie
Sword Dream technical note 28
The 3D Engine
With the release of Sword Dream 3D, quite a few things change in the game, and more changes are brought to the distribution scheme.
ScenarioMaker 3D is freely distributed (the previous version was sent to shareware payers only). We hope that, this way, more scenarios will be created. The Sword Dream 3D application now requires a registration code to unlock all features.
Everybody who registered Sword Dream 1.x is entitled to freely receive a code for unlocking Dream 3D.
ScenarioMaker 3D (and the companion utility, MisterMonsterMaker 3D) will be frequently updated to include new features. Because of this, we will refrain from using traditional release numbers. We will start referring to "developer releases" of our 3D tools. So, we will have ScenarioMaker 3D DR1 and onward.
Each new release will allow the scenario designers to incorporate more features in their scenarios.
Features
The three-D engine inside Sword Dream 3D supports the following features:
0. Three D elements.
The 3D places, just like the 2D ones, are created combining square "bricks". In 2D the bricks are simple icons; in 3D we use a more complex brick called a "3D square element". Square elements are stored in resources of type 'SqEl' (icons, as you probably know, are stored in 'icl8' resources). The final version of the Dream DB will include quite a few ready-to-use square elements.
0A. The square elements can be animated. For example, you could see water flowing out of a rock, or a fireplace with moving flames.
0B. The square elements can be combined vertically. So you can create a tower by stacking brick walls.
0C. The textures applied to the 3D elements can be changed for taller buildings.
0D. The 3D elements can have non-perpendicular walls (look at the rooves of the houses!)
1. Three D environments.
Three D environments (or "places") are created by putting together the square elements
1A. Three-D places can have a background
1B. Three-D places can have a textured or fractal floor. Fractal imagery can be generated to give a better feeling for natural grounds &emdash; e.g. grass.
1C. Three-D buildings can have textured rooves
1D. The visited place is automatically mapped for the player.
1E. The lighting conditions can change (a magic lighting spell could enhance viewing, and a place could be better seen during the day than during nighttime).
1F. The sky can be animated with clouds. Up to two levels of clouds can be seen, in parallax.
1G. Water can be seen on the terrain. It reflects surrounding buildings.
1H. Fog, smoke and other special air conditions can be simulated.
2. Three-D objects can be put inside the places.
An example is the chairs and table you find at the start of the Open Me tutorial-scenario.
2A. The three-D objects can be animated.
2B. A three D object can be a light source (e.g. candelabra in a dungeon).
3. Animated NPCs can be seen inside the 3D places
3A. They are animated with multiple (up to six) viewpoints
3B. Scenario designers can associate a dialog with the NPC. The player and the NPC will converse when they meet.
3C. An NPC can be programmed to walk along a fixed path in the 3D place.
3D. An NPC can be rendered traslucid. This is useful for ghosts.
4. Atmospheric weather can be associated with an open air place.
You can have rain, snow, etc. We created three standard weather conditions, and saved them in the Dream DB file, for all scenario developers to use: these are clear weather, rain and snow.
5. Events can be associated to locations inside the three-D place.
The more common example for a 3D event is the animated opening of a door when the player gets near. More complex events can be associated to the presence of a player character in a location. For example, you could see some leaves falling when you stand below the branches of a tree.
5A. A special kind of 3D Event is a door which animates (to open and then close) when the player gets near.
We have some difficult-to-use tools that can be used to access the above mentioned features (mostly ResEdit templates); we will release easier to use and friendlier tools during the following months.
ScenarioMaker 3D DR1 is already available and includes tools used to take advantage of features 0, 0B, 1, 1D.
Next will be DR2, where you will also be able to access 1A, 1E, 4 and 5; a standalone application used to create the dialogs (3B) will also be included. Later, the dialog editor will be rolled inside either ScenarioMaker or MisterMonsterMaker, to keep the number of different tools used by the scenario designers to a minimum.
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