Wesnoth II - Wesnoth 3D.

[dipseydoodle]

EDIT: For developers and those who frequent Irc, I have set up a sub-channel with Gambits kind help... The channel for those who would like to know is: #wesnoth-3D. I hope you can join us some time.

Over the years of playing Wesnoth (4 or 5 years I think) I had noticed the multiple 3D villages and other scenery, even the units look somewhat 3D.

So brings up my idea.

I want to change to change Wesnoth's engine so it can handle 3D images like a .blend. I would be simply be exchanging the 2D sprite images for 3D ones and would make 3D terrains. Now, I don't mean this as a campaign I mean as a full new game. I see a few ways of doing this.


1. Simply take the current engine(game and all) and simply convert the .blend files to .png files. This would be easy but would scrap the entire 3D idea. I have thought of doing this before but I think the next way of doing this would be much more rewarding.

2. Rewrite the entire engine. This would take far to long.

3. I would use the source code with all the necessary parts and modify some of the code. I would need to learn a new some C++ and such but it would at-least be easier then the 2nd way of doing this.

4. Create a plain old folder with 3D sprite and put it in the current data/core/images/unit etc... And just not go onto the multiplayer server as tis would result in Major OOS. I would hate to have to do this.

Any way, I would be taking this on myself but if anybody would like to do this with me or would like to comment please do.

I know most off this was mentioned years ago but I really think this could work out in a good way.

[thespaceinvader]

1: would be possible. Would probably be effective. Is beyond our current art cadre, and would render useless several years of work.

2: You said it.

3: Ditto for two. Most of the engine should be preservable, as the way you;re saying things, this woudl only be a graphical modification.

4: As long as you replace ONLY images and animations, you shouldn't have any problems with OOS.

The choice between 2D and 3D is somethign that needs makign right at the beginning. We've made our choice, but you;re welcome to try to make yours =)

[dipseydoodle]

I may try to make just a mod for now.

EDIT: Actually, I was originally going to make this into a fan game like Heroes of Wesnoth.

[azhag_pl]

There was a 3D project:
http://www.silvertreerpg.org/

[del_diablo]

Ain't silvertree a different project, it is not wesnoth but something entirely different?

[Eleazar]

Ain't silvertree a different project, it is not wesnoth but something entirely different?

Yes. We just borrowed a lot of Wesnoth art as placeholders.

[Dagoth]

You would need a giant team of willing people to help out with something like this. Such as people familiar with:

3D modeling
Sound Creating/Modifying
Idealists
Testers
Coders
And alot of support

...but this is a start.

[artisticdude]

Idealists

Idealist?

idealism |īˈdē(ə)ˌlizəm|
noun
1 the practice of forming or pursuing ideals, esp. unrealistically : the idealism of youth. Compare with realism .
• (in art or literature) the representation of things in ideal or idealized form. Often contrasted with realism (sense 2).
2 Philosophy any of various systems of thought in which the objects of knowledge are held to be in some way dependent on the activity of mind. Often contrasted with realism (sense 3).

3d modeling would take a lot more time than sprite art, and could potentially look worse, depending on how high the poly-count of the models would be. They might be easier to animate, but I feel the quality would go down if 3d models were substituted for the current 2d pixel sprites.

[dipseydoodle]

You would need a giant team of willing people to help out with something like this. Such as people familiar with:

3D modeling
Sound Creating/Modifying
Idealists
Testers
Coders
And alot of support

...but this is a start.

3D modeling: Yep, I do that and I have a friend that does that as well.
Sound etc... I do That too.
Idealist: Well, that's me too.
Coders: I know a bit and I have another two friends who have been wanting to try programming and I know a few uncommon and ancient programing languages plus I know WML.
Support:

EDIT:

@Eleazar. Do you guys still need help with the animation and code(if Silvertree still exists)? I really enjoyed the beta version when I downloaded it how many years ago. I maybe able to help in a bit.

[eyerouge]

Over the years of playing Wesnoth (4 or 5 years I think) I had noticed the multiple 3D villages and other scenery, even the units look somewhat 3D.

So brings up my idea.

I want to change to change Wesnoth's engine so it can handle 3D images like a .blend. I would be simply be exchanging the 2D sprite images for 3D ones and would make 3D terrains.

You never explain why you want to do that, so I'd like to take the opportunity to ask you just that.

Spoiler:

From what I've seen remaking strategy games into 3d brings nothing to the game itself beyond, of course, the aesthetical appeal if one happens to like 3d (which I'd admit, the new and future generations do and will continue doing).

I'd even go as far as saying that many games which use 3d do so totally unneeded and that a bad 3d engine/continues camera work/wicked rotations etc adds more problems than benefits to gameplay. A perfect example of that is Warcraft III - it's full 3d but wisely there is a default angle and camera isn't free. That said, understanding what goes on in that game when 2 large forces clash together is impossible compared to it's predecessor which was in 2d. Given that Wesnoth isn't in realtime and doesn't use as much action or units in average, the question still remains.

Except for that one might also argue that animating and working with 3d-models is much easier and efficient than drawing raster graphics á la how it's done in Wesnoth right now. I myself think it's probably the greatest benefit which a 3d-engine brings. That said, it is also not a benefit at all until you have a stable team of willing contributors working on producing materials. Those are not around in the Wesnoth community at the moment, but yeah, I guess they could find their way in here by some miracle...

[dipseydoodle]

It would simply improve the detail level. Plus a new Wesnoth could be cool. Right now it's more 90ish(I my self prefer older retro graphics over modern ones). With 3D we could make it so that 3D RTS gamers enjoy a non realtime 3D strategy.

[Frogger5]

I have my doubts... 3D wouldn't be better, different, but not better. I (personally) would stick with the 2D version and save RAM and disk space, higher detail wouldn't really be worth it for me, if it's still the same old wesnoth. It also wouldn't have the vast getting-everyone-involved-add-ons-create-your-own-jive environment that has been sustained here.

Not to say it shouldn't be tried, by all means, go ahead, it sounds interesting enough.

[Daedal]

3D doesn't automatically mean higher detail, but it does mean more work for artists and it does mean fewer artists will have the tools and skills available to contribute to such a project. Not to mention the added processor load to render all that 3D goodness. Have you considered a compromise? BfW is already somewhat 2.5D, but you could take that much further and give it a much more 3D look without resorting to full 3D graphics. It would mean the difference between a total conversion graphics package (still lots of work) with a few tweaks to the graphics engine, possibly, vs a rewrite of the BfW graphics engine (truly ridiculous amount of work).

[dipseydoodle]

Even tho it takes up more space that really doesn't bother me. It just a attempt.

[Gambit]

Even tho it takes up more space that really doesn't bother me. It just a attempt.

What? AFAIK 3D models take up very little space. I guess the textures would be larger than our sprites though.