Haven Client Modding - 3D client

[theTrav]

Ok, so I've been playing around with the client code again




What is it
When the client starts, 2 extra windows pop up, one is empty, another has a big update button.

When you've logged on, and are in game, you can click the update button, and the empty window will then contain a rendered snapshot of your haven space.

Can it be real time
Yes.
I don't have a clue how it'll perform, this is like, 2 days of work so far, I don't plan on spending a heap of time on it solo, but there's heaps of ways I could very easily make it real time (constant render loop, updated whenever server changes data, updated as part of 2d render loop) I just haven't yet because I'm lazy and it looks like crap

Why does it look like crap?
Because I'm not an artist. My process was literally to take screen shots of the 2d client, cut out squares, and paste them onto cubes.

Can we make it better?
Yes, jME is a pretty fully featured 3d engine. It can take just about any 3d format you want to throw at it and put them in place of those cubes.

If anyone is keen to produce some good/basic models to get things started I'd be more than happy to tweak the client a bit to help their workflow.

Can this eventually replace the existing client completely?
Yes, jME has some fairly decent GUI stuff, it has a pretty easy input mapping framework, there's no reason I can see that it can't eventually be the sole client if that's what floats your boat.

I am unlikely to do all that work myself though, I have other projects I want to work on more.

I have published all my code though, so if anyone wants to run with it, it's all there.

Compile details
If anyone is a programmer and interested you can get it from my git hub repo
http://github.com/thetrav/haven-client/tree/threedee

The client has been built with the jME3 alpha 2 release from:
http://www.jmonkeyengine.com/nightly/
specifically the nightly I used was:
http://www.jmonkeyengine.com/nightly/jME3_10-22-2010.zip

I've updated the build.xml so that you should be able to just execute the run task and if everything is in the proper place it'll compile and execute

I can probably put together a pre-built client for anyone who is keen but no good at assembling pieces but it's about 77 meg uncompressed so I'll need you to send me a place to put it, I aint hosting that myself.

[Sarchi]

Wow.

[DatOneGuy]

Very interesting, graphics look Minecraft-ish atm which could go either very right or very wrong

(That is they look like the easiest way would be... minecraftish)

Anyways, what you mean by 3d is takes renders? I wonder if some dude would enjoy rendering everything in HnH for funs and giggles.

[DoomDragon]

Sweet. Minecraft is a pretty fun game...

[burgingham]

While I am impressed with your work here trav, please for the love of god don't make haven look like minecraft. I know all you indie-mmo afficionados idolize that game, but guess what: I don't. I want my good old zelda like graphics and I want jorbs artworks and not....cubes....

[theTrav]

Hey burg, have no fear, I also love jorb's artwork, I don't want haven to look like minecraft, I think that would be a tragic loss.

To be honest, any similarity with notches work is purely accidental, probably just a matter of me not using enough pixels in my textures and not getting the scale right in the 3d engine. This isn't a limitation of the technology, just my own competence.

With the love of a dedicated artist, the 3d renderer should be capable of reproducing jorbs look and feel quite accurately, unfortunately I am not that artist

[DatOneGuy]

I was joking with the Minecraft comment btw.

Haven and Hearth looking anything like Minecraft would make me run away

I'd prefer something like 3dvia2d (think Ragnarok Onilne), I don't think fully 3d renders of even the regular characters would look too good, no matter how well done

[Thurrok]

I have mixed feelings about this client.

It does have potential, but needs many people to maintain it and make it look like the real HnH. Currently it looks like Minecraft and Minecraft looks bleh. It WILL go on looking like Minecraft unless Trav gets some artists to work for him (hey, didn't Thijssnl just recently learn modeling? XDXD) and even then, it'll have nothing to do with jorb's original art. Might perform alot better, might be interesting but with current engine limitations (3d gfx on 2d terrain? Looks shitty imo) it might not be very cool. Even if it had brilliant 3D models - without devs' support (and I highly doubt jorb is going to give up drawing cock-shaped lakes, because we all love him for that) it'd still be somewhere behind Gilbertus and Loftar clients.

I have an idea that we could get a major FPS increase by using this rendering engine... can the 3D client maybe display jorb's sprites in a Doom way instead of skinned 3D boxes, resulting in a client that looks like the current one but is based on a different, more resource-efficient, engine?

[jorb]

I want jorbs artworks

I also love jorb's artwork

Aw, you guys.

My artwork aside this is a cool project. My own personal feeling about 3d graphics in general is that they need to pass a certain threshold of decent before I'm able to even look at them. My degree of tolerance is much higher for poor 2d graphics than it is for poor 3d graphics.

But Haven rendered in 3d would be pretty cool either way. Awesome work, Trav.

[Jackard]

early 3d graphics were abominable