That looks fun.
Game Preview: Voxatron - voxel-based, destructible environment, 8bit soundtrack
21–30 of 67 posts
Re: Game Preview: Voxatron - voxel-based, destructible environment, 8bit soundtrack
#22The last time I heard of voxels was in the late nineties. Good to hear they are back!
Re: Game Preview: Voxatron - voxel-based, destructible environment, 8bit soundtrack
#23If you're interested in what can be done with voxels with a more realistic aesthetic, have a look at the Atomontage engine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CCZIBDt1uM
Very excited to see what becomes of the Atomontage Engine. For years I've been annoyed with static 3D environments where walls don't actually crumble when shot at, and windows never shatter. This engine will change the way we react to realism in virtual environments. Almost so much that it becomes easy to ponder if we're already in someone's 3D simulation ;)
Years and years ago (In the quake3 era) John Carmack talked about voxels being the future of 3d because of exactly thaty.
Ray-traced voxel based worlds. Personally, I think voxels will be hard to manage for objects/characters. Someone smarter than me will have to solve that problem.
Re: Game Preview: Voxatron - voxel-based, destructible environment, 8bit soundtrack
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
Very excited to see what becomes of the Atomontage Engine. For years I've been annoyed with static 3D environments where walls don't actually crumble when shot at, and windows never shatter. This engine will change the way we react to realism in virtual environments. Almost so much that it becomes easy to ponder if we're already in someone's 3D simulation ;)
Years and years ago (In the quake3 era) John Carmack talked about voxels being the future of 3d because of exactly thaty. Ray-traced voxel based worlds. Personally, I think voxels will be hard to manage for objects/characters. Someone smarter than me will have to solve that problem.
Atomonontage still uses polygon-based rendering for some objects (the vehicle in that video is poly-based).
I believe the appropriate expression is 'Horses for courses'.
Re: Game Preview: Voxatron - voxel-based, destructible environment, 8bit soundtrack
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's more than that I think. 8-bit music began as a poor, low-fi imitation of existing music forms for electronic games, because it was all that was possible given the hardware of the time. 8-bit music has been rediscovered by enthusiasts and independent artists, initially due to nostalgia, and that has led to a lot of innovation, exploration, and discovery. Discovery that 8-bit music doesn't have to be merely an imi…
Well hang on a sec, I'm sure the original composers also worked this out, they were working with 8 bit sounds for years and years.
Worked what out exactly? 8-bit sounds were very much tied to the idea of translating music and sound effects, and not of developing novel music or techniques. Though some degree of innovation did occur, as technology advanced the gaming industry left behind 8-bit sounds, moving to more advanced wave-table MIDI synthesis, CD-ROM audio, etc, abandoning the 8-bit sounds as outdated and limited.
How many games on the SNES or on CD-ROM used 8-bit soundtracks? It was only later when 8-bit sound was sought after as a musical form on its own, for its own aesthetics and nature, that it flourished as an art independent of the need to imitate.
Re: Game Preview: Voxatron - voxel-based, destructible environment, 8bit soundtrack
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
Very excited to see what becomes of the Atomontage Engine. For years I've been annoyed with static 3D environments where walls don't actually crumble when shot at, and windows never shatter. This engine will change the way we react to realism in virtual environments. Almost so much that it becomes easy to ponder if we're already in someone's 3D simulation ;)
Years and years ago (In the quake3 era) John Carmack talked about voxels being the future of 3d because of exactly thaty. Ray-traced voxel based worlds. Personally, I think voxels will be hard to manage for objects/characters. Someone smarter than me will have to solve that problem.
There are ways around such problems, especially in terms of bridging the gap between convex smooth surfaced solid objects and collections of cubes. As the technology gets more mature more sophisticated approaches will be fielded.
A classic way of solving the voxel vs. smooth object problem: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marching_cubes
Re: Game Preview: Voxatron - voxel-based, destructible environment, 8bit soundtrack
#27The perspective and general look remember me of Battalion, the old IRIX game, see http://www.evl.uic.edu/aej/AndyBattalion.html .
Couldn't find a video, alas. I could power up my Octane ... :)
Re: Game Preview: Voxatron - voxel-based, destructible environment, 8bit soundtrack
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
Similarly we don't give children atoms to play with, we give atoms constrained into lego blocks.
Constraints give rise to creativity. Just compare that to the "1K" or "7 day" competitions.
Or even compared to, for example, the constraints on plays in the Elizabethan era when Shakespeare wrote, or the syllabic constraints on haiku. One would think that there would be a bigger "dancing bear" (it's amazing that the bear dances at all, not that the bear dances well) factor, but not many playwrights match Shakespeare, given fewer (or no) constraints.
I've had to switch languages a lot when coding, but even in a constrained or flawed language, you see code that is beautiful and amazing. Constraints free up thought, as when you stop rebelling against a framework, you can excel in it. It's hard to push your brain into what feels like a hole; I can't get anything done in Perl because I spend too much time being repulsed, but some people embrace the language and produce great software.
Having just praised restrictions like that, though, I still have to mention that this game looks really cool.
Re: Game Preview: Voxatron - voxel-based, destructible environment, 8bit soundtrack
#29This is yet another thing that I said, 'Man. I wish I'd written that.'
It's not outside my ability, it's just that I never think of these things first. And creating a clone doesn't have the same feeling as a new thing.
I'm betting a lot of other developers feel the same way.
Of course, that won't stop me from enjoying -playing- the game. :D
Re: Game Preview: Voxatron - voxel-based, destructible environment, 8bit soundtrack
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