Starting from scratch - BlitzPlus or Blitz3D ?
Blitz3D Forums/Blitz3D Beginners Area/Starting from scratch - BlitzPlus or Blitz3D ?
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| Hi, as a keen arcade game player I'd like to get into game developing and was wondering which approach I should take: Would it be best to start with the fundamentals and write a simple arcade game using typical 2D structures like sprites, etc.. Or would it be best to dive in and get stuck into 3D ? Thanks in advance, -Darren |
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| If I was in your shoes and had no experience of either - I'd dive head first into 3D. It depends on what you want to do though. Why not write a game that you can swich view modes from 2d to 3d (such as PacMan) - then you can do both together and find out which you find easier and would prefer to continue doing. |
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| Hi Puki, Ideally I'd like to try a retro-remake of some kind of basic arcade or computer game which I guess would use sprites. That would lead me to BlitzPlus. What do you think ? Also, which would you say was easier to implement ? a 2D game or a 3D game ? |
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| Well I in my exsperience shoose b3d as you can do both and welcome to th ecomunity by the way! |
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| you must of bought one so which one is it! |
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| OK sorry I had this weird thought you had to buy one of the blitz programs to be on the forum! |
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| I've bought BlitzBasic a year ago but never got round to using it. Now I see Blitz3D is out and I'm wondering whether to upgrade as everything seems 3D these days. |
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| Upgrading to 3D is handy for not just doing 3D. You can still write games in 2D but use all the 3D features like real time scaling, rotating, alpha fades etc etc. I'm currently doing an asteriods clone. The game plays like asteriods (still top down) however, I'm using 3D objects for the asteriods and such like to give it more depth and special fx. |
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| The answer is quite simple: Want to make Windows applications? use BlitzPlus Games only? use Blitz3D |
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| Not really that simple Hansie as creating games in B+ allows you to operate to a wider market with lower specs, including NT4 users as B+ does not require DX7. |
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| I'd go for Blitz+. It's cheaper and works on my TabletPC. I'm biased ofcourse, then again, so is everyone else. I'd suggest: Applications: Java (Foundation Class) 2D games: BlitzPlus 3D games: C# and OpenGL. |
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| I wnat blitz plus @flame duck but he doesn't care about java or c# he wanted to know to choose between b3d or b+ |
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| It sounds like you intend to go 3D in time, so you might as well go for Blitz 3D -- you can start off with simple 2D sprite-based stuff and work from there. 3D games: C# and OpenGL. Ha ha! |
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| Decide what kinda games you wish to make.. If you never did 3d games, it sounds cool&stuff to do 3d, but are you equaly skilled in a modeller like 3ds max ? Do you already have experience with 3d ? That's why I don't do 3d. I stick to 2d games (I try tho :) and have the advantage of B+ when I want editors. And I prefer a 2d game running in a fullscreen window in my current res above switching to another screenmode -and wait- when developing.. but that's personal |
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| CS: bear in mind that you can do some kick-ass stuff in Blitz 3D using only 2D sprites -- see http://www.squashysoftware.com/ for all the evidence required... |
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| Thanks guys I'm going to persue a retro remake using the 2D portion of Blitz. This will be the quickest way to get up and running I think. I did my own version of this classic, in pure assembler on my Amiga long ago in days or yore. It'll be interesting to get back in the saddle again! |
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| Hey, instead of buying those handful of lousy DVD's or CD's that you could have bought for the money, get B+ and B3d both :) |
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| yeh I agree |
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| In terms of the learning I perceive little difference between starting in BlitzPlus and starting in Bitz3D. So the decision must come down to other things, such as what you intend to create down the road and what ultimately you plan to do with your creations. "which would you say was easier to implement ? a 2D game or a 3D game ?" I find 3D games much easier to implement, but that's mostly because I find 3D graphics much easier to create. And of course I mean using Blitz3D; at one point I was using C++ and OpenGL but that period of my life ended pretty quickly. |
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| > If I was in your shoes and had no experience > of either - I'd dive head first into 3D. I disagree. I'd start with 2D to be honest. A lot are things are harder to achieve in 3D. At least make a simple game first in 2D to get to grips with coding. |
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| You said you already had BlitzBasic? Why don't you use that for now for 2D retro stuff? Then when you're comfy with that you can step up to B+ or B3d depending on what you wanna do next. |
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| Huh. That's a good point. The knowledge you gain learning on Blitz2D translates completely to both Blitz3D and BlitzPlus. And by the time you've picked up all the basic knowledge it will probably be clear to you which direction you want to go from there. |
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| considerin' as b3d supports both command sets 2d and 3d I would go for 3d since it's not that much more $$$ than blitz plus and you get more bang for your buck. |
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| Isn't it hard and time consuming to make models in 3d? in 2d I just have to make sprites, thats why I picked 2d, |
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| 3D games: C# and OpenGL. Ewww... How about Java + OpenGL or C# + DirectX 9? |
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| @Dan60 But Blitz3D has practically all of the blitz+ commands (minus GUI stuff), and has 3d also. So i'd say Blitz3D. But, if all you wanna mkae is 2d stuff, and wanna have extremem compatiblity, then Blitz+ is the man. Not really much else anyone can say on the sujbect now :) |
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| Yes. Stick with 2D first, you can get stuff up quickly in 3D but it's a pain unless you want your game to only have squares and spheres. |
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| Isn't it hard and time consuming to make models in 3d? in 2d I just have to make sprites, thats why I picked 2d, Oh no! If you're doing hand-drawn sprites it's the exact opposite. I do 3D and render as 2D-sprites because if I'd chosen to draw my stuff, I'd probably use three months instead of two weeks to do a single animation set. Of course, getting into 3D modelling/animation can be a drag if you're completely new to it. @DaxTraj 3D is less code, but it's easier to get your head around 2D concepts I think. |
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| I just got 3DSmax6 and Character Studio 4.2 yesterday, and I'm just diving in head first into the tutorials and stuff. If there's anything worth doing it's worth doing right. |
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| 3DS is potent but for a beginner it's starting in the wrong end. Loads of features and options to get into coupled with a non-intuitive interface. It can drive you to murder I tell ya. Just a suggestion, download the demo of Silo (personal fav), Wings3D (can also be a bit heavy for starters) or Milkshape (I hate it but others love it). Then download some models you like from Polycount, have a peek at their wireframe to see how they are built, and try to apply the techniques you think make sense to your own first models. |
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| I've already used Milkshape, as well as the MED modeler for 3D Game Studio for some time, so I'm already a wee familiar. |
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| I reccomend buying "Game programming for teens" its written by Maneesh Sethi but i can't remeber who published it. It contains B+ but without being able to export. It teaches you how to make 2D games but also covers the basic programming stuff. |
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| I'd never start out with a free/shareware 3D app if I could get my hands on a professional tool. While working with 3D Max or Maya might be a daunting task to begin with, at least you work with industrystandard tools which can basically do anything you'll ever want. You can be sure it'll be updated and supported in the future, there's huge amounts of stuff available for it and most importantly you use the tools professionals use. Which is very good to put on your resume if you ever want to get a job in the industry. While Milkshape and the like are pretty good at what they do, they are IMO the equivalent of MSPaint versus Photoshop. |
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| I'd never start out with a free/shareware 3D app if I could get my hands on a professional tool. Sure I agree, but it's overkill for blitz development. While Milkshape and the like are pretty good at what they do, they are IMO the equivalent of MSPaint versus Photoshop. Milkshape is a piece of excrement IMO. Beyond that, well.. If you put Silo and Ultimate Unwrap together you got all the polygon/unwrapping functionality you'd ever need from Maya/Max. Silo's even got a couple of features Maya Complete hasn't (like subdivision surfaces) and is very similar to it workflow-wise. Which is very good to put on your resume if you ever want to get a job in the industry. It's far more important to be able to convince potential employers you're capable of producing quality work in a (very) limited timeframe. Getting your head around a new package is the easy part and any company with a clue knows it. |
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| I guess we have to agree to disagree, although I have to correct you on the fact that Maya Complete DOES have Subdivision Surfaces. In previous versions it was only included in Unlimited, but it's been in Complete since version 4.0 or 4.5. |
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