Tor Game: Revisited

Note: Use this thread to post any comments or questions relating to the project itself. Don't discuss game ideas here.

First of all some news on the old Tor game: it's pretty much dead in the water. I haven't touched the code in so long that frankly I have forgotten where I left off. So that project is pretty much dead. But there is good news!

Epic Games, the makers of Unreal Tournament and the Gears of Wars games has recently released the development environment it used to make the before mentioned games FREE. The license only applies if the content being created is not sold. This is great news since a big reason the last project crashed and burned is my unwillingness and lack of patience with the C# language and "sloppy" libraries of the "software" I was using. So the chance to use a great well seasoned engine for a project that I have wanted to do since awhile back is awesome.

So basically I want to try this puppy again. This time, however, I want as much involvement from you guys as you can muster. Frankly I am not too great at most things graphical especially when it comes to 3D modeling. That's where you all come in, hopefully. While the development engine does have some basic modeling tools it will not be anything near what is needed to create even mediocre models. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me first throw out some project goals and expectations so anyone who wants to jump aboard can get on the same page as me:

1. This project could totally never come to see the light of day or even run for that matter, but that's cool because we are all having fun and getting a chance to do something unique. This project could realistically take months until it gets anywhere.
2. There aren’t any project deadlines or any consequences for not finishing something you started. Try to, at the very least, let everyone else know you can't finish something and also try to stick to your word, but be rest assured that you won't wake up with your horses head in your bed next to you because you couldn't fulfill something.
3. Skill?! What skill!? We are all newbs in this department (well, at least I am) and I haven't just finished my hundredth game either. Anyone who volunteers artwork, programming, storyline, etc will be treated with the same respect as if God himself just submitted a freaking ridiculously super high poly count model of this year's playmate. It doesn't matter if your art or writing isn't AAA game worthy. It can all be used and will be placed in our bank of resources. However, be your own critic. Only submit work you are proud of.

Well now that we are all on the same page as far as expectations and guidelines of the project, here are some goals:

1. To create a stable build of a single or multi-player game with an OUF theme in the TOR universe before the release of TOR. (Though if it's not complete before then it's no big deal and doesn't mean the end of the project)
2. To honor the property of others. Copyright infringement, stolen models, ripped audio, etc. will not be tolerated. Be genuine!
3. To have fun and learn the process behind the making of our favorite games.
4. To not become obsessed with the detail of things and not to become "too involved".

This is a side thing and I expect it to move at the pace of one. Obviously when things start to come together and it's nearing finish we will all be excited and trying to get it complete and that's OK. Obsessing over this project however is not healthy and will obviously put others off to getting involved.

Who can help you ask? Anyone! As long as they understand that there will be no guarantee of their work making it into the final game and that no compensation will come of their work then they are more than welcome to join in. Now the final decisions on art direction, storyline, etc will obviously come down mostly to a vote by those involved, but ultimately I am reserving the right to make the final decision on some things to aim this project in the right direction. However, the final direction the game takes and its look and feel will come down to those involved and who put the effort in.

How can you help? Well this is a tough question. The quick answer is do what you think you can do best, but right now even that is getting ahead of ourselves. Currently there is no game or even a project to call ours. The only thing that exists at this point is this post. Before anything can be done there needs to be some ideas thrown around as to what the game will be and what it will not be. This idea session is sometimes the most fun part of the game creation process. This is where we all throw out our ideas and start formulating and putting our ideas on paper. Of course following that part will be the more sobering process of deciding what is plausible and what is unrealistic, but that's to worry about in the morning. Right now it's party time so anyone who wants to help your current task is to think about a fun, OUF TOR themed game that you would enjoy playing and writing that bad baby down in a soon to come thread about that.

So that's it really. I am making a game with the Unreal engine and am letting you all have a chance to join in and help shape a game we can all feel proud of.

Here are the links to some UDK engine information and download:
http://www.udk.com/index.html
http://developer.nvidia.com/object/udk.html

Here is the link to the developer network with some great documentation on the package and all of its features:
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DevelopmentKitHome.html

And the forums which I recommend you sign up for if you are going to be using the engine:
http://forums.epicgames.com/forumdisplay.php?f=366

This will be a very interesting endeavour for anyone that wants to be involved.