DescentBB

Hello Descent community! This is the first time that I'm posting here, but not the first time I'm playing Descent - in fact, I played the D1 shareware in 1996 when I was still a kid, and I was hooked after figuring out the controls. Descent was the first shooter I ever played, and I've revisited all three games regularly ever since.

Now that that's out of the way, I'm excited to show you something I've been working on: Descent to UDK
The website for the project can be visited here.

I've always been interested in making games ever since I used Devil to make Descent maps. I have some experience under my belt especially with the Quake and Unreal engines and that's why I'm trying to remake the original game in Unreal Engine 3 through UDK. I know others have tried this before me (Into Cerberon was a great attempt), but I'm at it for a month or so, all by myself, and I'm already this far. Far enough to show it to someone and hope you guys like it.

I'm now looking for people who might be interested in helping me out with:

- robot models
- high-resolution textures and decoration meshes
- a high-quality Pyro model and a 3D remodelling of its cockpit
- some mapping assistance

I'm utilizing the models and textures that people made for D2X-XXL, but they don't include robots. I'd also very much like to get a good version of MetalBeast's excellent Pyro model that I can import into Blender, since that's what I work with. With the version for D2X, I can get it into UDK, but it's distorted somehow. I also need to get these models into Blender so I can rig them with a simple skeleton, since Unreal uses skeletal meshes for player and enemy "pawns". So if anyone of you guys want to help me out, let me know!

Right now the game is as much as you can see in the video, but I'm including and refining stuff every day. Once the basic game mechanic works and the robots behave fluidly, I will attempt to rebuild Level 1, giving it the look I have in mind for the whole game. I've always thought that D1 especially had a great sense of isolation and suspense, and I want to take it a step further and make it a little more frightening, with great light and shadow effects, really scary versions of the original robots, and levels that show some of their original purpose (there used to be humans working there, you know) instead of being just cube after cube of abstract architecture. Into Cerberon had this look pretty much nailed down already, so that's what I'm going for.

Since building all the maps myself would take ages and we've all got a life, I would very much like this thing to become a community-driven game where people who are interested can contribute new models, maps, music or other stuff. I love mapping, but I've figured out that I'm much better of a programmer and sound artist (being an audio engineer as my main job). I'd love to do it all by myself since I'm passionate about making games, but since the Descent community has done so much for the franchise, I have high hopes of this game coming out beautifully if talented people work on it together.

Any feedback welcome and have a good week,

- Max

That is awesome.

I wish I could help but I have zero programming/artist skills. I would test if you want as I own UT 3.

Well then...
As some of this community knows, I'm also doing a descent remake, in blenders game engine.
If you want to download the game you can use the models if you like (They're all in .blend format).

Mapping hey? I hate it. My only recommendation is to spend time on and not give up. It generally takes about a month for a full level.

As to getting the descent robots, the wayback machine has an archive of descent2.com, which has the robots available for download in .3ds format, which blender can import. They don't have textures though. I am slowly going through and re-texturing them, but will be a long time before they're all done.

At this stage I can't contribute anything else, as I'm in exam season, but in a month I might be able to assist somewhat.

One last piece of advice:
Make an importer for descent levels. It means that the descent community can contribute maps without having to learn a new program.
I'm working on a descent 1 level importer for blender, but I hit a bit of a wall, and the code will need complete restructuring. After exam season I'll pick it up again and finish it.
(I was at generating a point cloud of all the vertices. But in trying to build them into walls I realized that generating a point-cloud and then connecting them is the wrong way to go about it. BPY doesn't like doing it that way)

Descent 2 levels are similar, and will only need a slight addition to the code (a few more recognised 'things').
Unfortunately descent 3 uses a completely different format, and I can't find the documentation to write an importer, or and existing tools that will let me do it.
There is also Forsaken levels, but as far as I know there are no tools to build new forsaken levels, but importing the ones from the game will provide nice smallish arcade-style levels. DeadlyMethods has written an importer for them, converting them into his own format (.pxwgl), which can then be loaded into blender (2.49 or older) with a script he wrote.

What I'm hoping for my project is for the ability to load and play descent levels in a similar-to-original style, but also to support any new type of level that people want to make.

Lol at your top comment on youtube:

this is very, very cool. I second your top comment on youtube

If you need soundtrack help I'm actually working on covers of all of the midi music from the first game (possibly with help from a couple other people) and I wouldn't mind contributing them to your project. They're a lot more modern and professional than any recording of a midi file.
And removing vocals from the few songs that have them (except for Swarm, as I've lost the project files) isn't a problem either, if you're like some people and really can't stand vocals in game music.

What I've done so far is all here: http://www.planetdescent.net/index.php? ... lbum;in=56

That is sick!

Alright, thanks for the welcome, guys!

The response on YouTube and through e-mail has been phenomenal. I don't know how word travels so fast but somehow the name Descent resonates with more people than I'd ever hoped. They are literally begging for this game to get done. Feels almost like a burden to carry, but it's also extremely rewarding.
Several people even suggested I get the project on Kickstarter, but I'm sure everyone here knows why that can't happen. Also this should really be a tribute to the original game made by fans, not a cash-in on the name.

sdfgeoff, I'm aware of your work although I haven't played it yet (downloading as I type). From what I can tell from screenshots, you are using pretty much a carbon copy of the Descent game assets. My goal is to have them all remade with more detail, *especially* the levels. That's why importing original D1 maps into UDK wouldn't make much sense; it's all in the recreation aspect where the "fresh coat of paint" appears. Simply importing old levels wouldn't make them look better, even if you changed stuff about them later. I have something in mind that's similar to Black Mesa, which as some of you might know is a Half-Life 1 recreation that has a few new ideas of its own.
I have found a way to get the original D1 robot models into UDK through Blender by using several old tools. I don't need 3DS files of the original models; I need brand new versions, remodelled by someone who can pull that off. I remember seeing a screenshot of a render of a Class 1 Drone, completely redone, that looked sick. That's what this project needs.

Alter-Fox, thanks for offering your talents. I'm a big fan of the various Descent remixes that I've collected, but I wasn't aware you made more. While I can't imagine a song with vocals in the game itself, your take on Level 13 and Level 6 sounded really good.

Like I said, I've received e-mail from several people already who are willing to help with modelling or doing other VFX. I'll get in touch with everyone and ask what they could do. The game is still in early stages of development and right now I still need to program a lot of stuff to make it work like it should. So there is still way enough time for anyone else who's interested to get involved.

Yeah, the public wants their descent fan game!!!

Some fun comments:

Alright. First of all, I like what I see so far - it's simple but it does appear to work. That's pretty cool.

Second, if you haven't heard of this project already, you should check it out: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=19591
He's working on high-def recreations of Descent robots, and they're likely quite suitable for a UDK-based remake. If animation doesn't prove a major pain point, anyway. Fingers crossed.
(Edit: Oooh, small catch - they're Descent 2 robots.)

Finally, I've recently started moving to UE-based mapping myself (after many years making Descent levels, I found the detail level I was aiming for too time-consuming to continue to produce there). It'll take some time before I feel ready to take on real projects, but I'm absolutely fine with handing out maps to whatever UE3/UDK-based project is in any shape to use them. It actually saves me a lot of time trying to do it myself.
Only problem is, I can't pull off Deck17's sort of level of detail in any reasonable timeframe, especially since I'm not a texture artist (I'm not really even sure how they do what they do these days). That's probably not surprising - maps for games within the last five years seem to have generally required teams of professionals to build them, not individuals working in their spare time - but still.

While I'm at it - are you treating the ship as a vehicle? e.g. you can walk around on foot and it behaves like you'd expect from a first-person shooter, but then jump in a ship and it behaves like Descent? Most of the time, especially in multiplayer, you probably wouldn't want this (in multiplayer especially it'd pay not to be able to exit the ship in case you hit the button on accident), but in single-player it can give a little flexibility for single-player campaigns. Half the draw of the Unreal engine to me is that you can script nearly anything you want to into a level!

MadMax1998 wrote:...I don't know how word travels so fast but somehow the name Descent resonates with more people than I'd ever hoped...

All you need to do is launch up D2 before class and play a couple levels before someone recognizes Descent from its sound effects (yes, that was last Tuesday I think. True story).
And in the interests of selling myself for no money whatsoever, I'd mention that I'm working part time as a professional game composer right now actually. Though it doesn't really involve as much as I'd imagined before I started .
I think just like any job you take on more responsibilities as you get more entrenched at the company. But the job I have right now is technically freelance so I don't need to worry about that .

That's a good ratio, right?

likes/views ratio: 249/305

Sorry I was a view that didn't like. I'll go like it now....

And searching 6DOF game brings up your video on teh first page for me.

sdfgeoff wrote:And searching 6DOF game brings up your video on teh first page for me.

You're probably in some kind of "bubble" of the search engine.


edit:

I checked before and this was zero!

That's not bad for one day!

Sirius, thanks for offering your mapping skills. As it is with mapping, it was way easier in the past and that's when I learned most of my skills - mapping for games such as Half-Life and Quake 3, but also tried my hand at a few Unreal Tournament maps from every engine iteration. The pros I can see with UE3 mapping: it's WYSIWYG, you can work directly in the engine, all the tools are in one editor package, it's easy to use. The cons: BSP style mapping, which is what I grew up with and still do mostly since I'm not a modeller, is technically more expensive to do and is also not as straightforward in Unreal compared to other editors such as Radiant (I *love* that tool for BSP mapping). And you're right, achieving the level of detail that Epic comes up with requires hundreds of manhours just to model static meshes to decorate the map.

For Descent mapping, I was thinking of starting out with BSP for the actual level geometry, since Descent's worlds are pretty abstract and don't actually require all that fancy plastic detail that Epic's fantasy worlds have. With Descent it's mostly down to walls of rock and metal, doors, grates, fences, fans, light fixtures... all pretty doable in BSP and with a small set of meshes (especially for grating). Of course, to give some rooms an organic "mining" touch, some more rock detail would be required. And also, I'd really like to see some human detail in the maps, such as workstations, mining machines, computers, space stuff like oxygen stations and what else is required to show that these places were in human hands before the robots moved up. Of course, this stuff requires more attention to small details.

I just looked at the models from The Ascent Project and they look really great. A little personality wouldn't hurt them in-game (since they are supposed to be "antagonists" and that comes off better with a human touch); the way he modelled them, they look amazingly realistic, like mining machines, but they seem to be lifeless (maybe because the eyes, if they have them, are so... mechanic). But that guy is undeniably talented and if nobody else has a better offer, I'd try to get him on board for this project!

EDIT: Oh, forgot to mention that I don't treat anything as vehicles in code. It's all pawns. So no, you won't be able to leave the ship

The true number of views!




For 24 hours that's not bad!!

Ya'll got mentioned on GameSpy

Well done!

WOW. *Whew*, that makes this burden even greater... and let's hope all those loud rings won't wake up Interplay's cease and desist department...

Maybe one of us should ask them why they killed PlanetDescent without telling anyone.

That is seriously sweet!

I can't code for nuts, or do level design ( ...or even play that well... ) but I wish you all the very best!!

Keep us informed!

The project got mentioned on several sites today, including Ars Technica and PC Gamer. Here's a collection of links:

http://www.polygon.com/2012/11/1/358475 ... l-engine-3
http://www.imgmr.com/index.php/pc/news/ ... l-3-engine
http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/11/01/desce ... n-project/
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/11/i ... ics-sound/
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/11 ... nt-in-ue3/

I can tell you, I was at it for hours just replying to fanmail. And quite a few people, including MetalBeast and Sebastian from The Ascent Project, have volunteered to help. This is going to be a huge thing even before it starts for real, but it's gonna be great too!

ExpLODING WITH HAPPP!Y!!!

MadMax1998 wrote:I can tell you, I was at it for hours just replying to fanmail.

Yeah this is why people don't do that very much

Isaac wrote: ExpLODING WITH HAPPP!Y!!!

What he said!

I'll be watching this very closely even though I don't do that much except for soundtracks (otherwise it's mostly just writing -- but the assumption is that you're handling that part yourself). And if you get to the point where soundtracks are important and you decide you want me, give me a shout and I'll see what I can do. So yes this is a formal volunteerage even though I'm not who you need just yet.

Guess who's working on an early concept of the Class 1 Drone?

YAAAAY!!!!!

TheAscentProject wrote:Guess who's working on an early concept of the Class 1 Drone?

Nice

A guy from Penny Arcade has conducted a short e-mail interview with me and this is the result...

http://penny-arcade.com/report/editoria ... with-video

Wow! Two to three months?!?!?! Me and my little brother might be playing this for Christmas vacation?!?!?!?!?!? This is epic!!

Looks like fun. I'm in.

I appreciate your PDF on 6DOF setup in UDK, it solves things I've already done, but more elegantly. I'll get back to you in return when I've finished making vehicles work in this context, with humans that can get in and out of them in different contexts. Some of what I've done is in the UE3 source itself, and I cannot share it. Sorry!

I'm trying to make it possible to be able to get out of the ship in different gravity contexts from zero-G to high-G and have the player character respond accordingly, while the ship remains floating where you left it. Granted, if you get out of it in anything but a zero-G environment far from the surface to which gravity draws you, you may have difficulty getting back in. Thinking about trying to find a way to "call" the ship down to you if that happens.