Dear gamer ladies and gentlemen, the time has come to release some news!
As you may have noticed we had to skip the may news because of major work overload but also to be able to integrate new members into the team. Today one of them, Will Tonna a.k.a. LampEight, will tell you a little about his work in JL and we also have some moving and non moving things to show from other members.
Will T: My role within the project has been to supply the sound design and ambience to create a believable atmosphere. This can be as integral sounds for the games many dinosaurs or as subtle ambient noises for the plants and trees scattered throughout the game.
Additionally, I am involved in utilizing FMOD, a 3rd-party audio engine, for controlling the playback of the in-game music based on game variables. This should mean a better audio experience all round for the player.
The first sound I set about making for the project was that of the Compsognathus. Because of the many separate states the creature can be in (idle, alert, attacking, etc.), I had to convey the animal effectively through my sounds and make sure they worked alongside the in-game animation.
I never like revealing too much about how what my work is comprised of; I think it can take away from the magic sometimes. What I would say is that you're going to want to play Jurassic Life when it's finally out. It's shaping up to be unlike any other Source mod I've come across.
Here below we have some new game content to show you. Nicolas Kirsch a.k.a. Redeyes has enabled AI for some of our NPCs. More info on it can be read in the video description. Keep in mind that we have already made some changes for the animations and code since this was recorded so it's really not the latest content.
As promised here is another closeup animation by Robert Olender a.k.a. Taurus of the Compy dino. It shows a idle animation.
And finally we have an other custom made part for the game. The SPAS 12 shell, also made by Taurus.
Hope you enjoyed the news. See you next time!
'
April 14, 2010 -
Anims and AI.
Hello to everyone. It's news time again!
During these last 2 months we have worked hard with an area that we had not explored before. Animation. It's been like that through out our entire project development. Really no animator who knows source have had the time for free help us, so we now are learning how to do it ourselves. First out is an animation by Robert Olender aka taurus. Video recorded in HLMV and this means the model can be used ingame together with this animation. Sorry for the low FPS. Fraps and 8 years old CPUs don't seem to work that well together. More animation samples will be shown later.
Nicolas Kirsch aka Redeyes has also worked on rigging his Gallimimus but since has also has been working on understanding the code of the AI there was no time for him to complete that just yet so no video from him but a screenshots of the dinosaur in a testmap. (If someone with a good eye is wondering why the Gallimimus foot is in the sand the explanations to this is that the IK (inverse kinematics) that handles leg positioning is not enabled at this time.)
To that quite much time has been spent on looking over gameplay documentation and improving some existing ideas.
About the recruitment, at this time we seek a coder with knowledge about Source AI and how it best can be used for our models (NPCs and Weapons). Also we seek a mapper who can script advanced sequences, knows his/her I/O's, entities and is familiar with or willing to learn faceposer. There is one spot available for a modeler of environmental models and if you animate that is naturally not a minus. You should preferably have some knowledge of the model creation process.
That's all for the moment. Some other works is under progress. But wait and see ;). About me (DESNOS Julien), professional obligations will take some time until the beginning of the month of June You'll see me a little less, but do not panic, Robert and the rest of the team are always available.
Updated: Mistake corrected about what help we need.
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March 17, 2010 -
Staff speak!
desnos.j: Hello to all. A bit late and despite previous information about "The Lost News" we decided to add a little news post for this month anyway. No visuals will be disclosed this time. Instead we decided to explain just what the members perform at this time. I will say that I am currently developing the second last map of Chapter 1 but not wishing to reveal more about game design, I give way to other members. see yaa!!!
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olender.r: Hello everyone. My Name is Robert a.k.a. taurus and I'm going to tell you a bit about what I've been doing during February. My tasks vary a lot so I end up helping in different areas - like texturing, modeling, mapping and more. And it's therefore no surprise that I've been doing much of that this month too. A specific moment in our development was to optimize an area in our map where had had used 44 HL2 models to puzzle together a fence we needed. This fence wasn't the best solution so I took it upon me to decompile one of the original HL2 models used, edit it's geometry to fit our needs. The design was tweaked. New collision models were created. And finally it was compiled after 3 days of work. We now have 6 models instead of the 44. Previously to that I had spent 2 weeks editing some brush geometry and searching for bugs, one so serious that it crashed our map, actually that was also why I chose to optimize the fences since the crash bug was related to models. I now know how to control the crash but if it's solved 100% I can not tell yet.
There has been done a great deal of work by Nicolas Kirsch (Redeyes) who has touched upon new areas in our development. He has also pitched new ideas which started some structuring and discussion concerning further work flow and game documentation improvements. Enigma has continued to work with his models and also tried to help me solve the crash bug mentioned above and CameleonTH has continued his work on programming different essential parts for our game.
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kirsch.n: Hi, i'm 3d modeler, and I'm set to work with the experiences I got from half-life 1 engine. Also I'm trying to understand and learn how Artificial Intelligence works in halflife 2 to apply this on our npcs without modification of existing AI code and it's functions. To that comes creation of 3d models, rigging, and animate them, working with complex QC files, like eye setup, debug new npcs in game, compiling server dll. My main role is in other words to try to make a more realistic and living universe for the game.
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Hope you now have a little better understanding of what we do when we are "invisible" Until next time!
/JL Team
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February 02, 2010 -
Work in progress...
Hello to all, as promised here is the progress of this January. First we start with a creation by Regis, the Ford Explorer model Jurassic Park:
Now the raptor egg created by enigma: :
About programming, Came has coded some shader & visual effects. But also begun the integration of the new inventory system with the help of Robert for the design. As the embodiment of the system of notes, I'll let the video speak for itself:
And In this next video, you can see the job made by Robert & CameleonTH... Surprise, the jeep is drivable:
See you soon... take a look at the end of this week, one little updated maby!!!
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January 04, 2010 -
Happy New Year!
Hello to everyone, with some delay the entire team joins me to wish you a happy new year 2010. The year 2009 has been very good for the projects progress. Despite lacking animators... Also good to know is that now we will try to post news each month, see it as our new year resolution! Without making you wait more, here are the new visuals. A newly arrived specimen can be seen for the first time in the park, the Compsognathus, aka "compy" created by Robert Olender:
Small bonus of this new year, an InGame screenshot of the Compy with the updated version of VisitorCenter:
Another model of Robert, the flashlight that will be much more useful than you think. As you may have noticed, the batteries will be necessary for its proper functioning.
Below, in order of display, the new system design of the weapon box, and the new design of the inventory, while both also created by Robert.
In mapping point of view, the last map is being edited by myself and will be finished shortly. Then follows the scripting of the full maps and various polishing. Also remember that we are always looking for different people able to join the team:
- 1 Compiling who can prepare. Qc files with animations (Maya fom) and compiles them.
- 1 Modeler / Skinner for humans, weapons, props.
Other promotions will be announced in the coming days. The year 2010 will be rich in dinosaurs, and don't forget, vote for us (click on the picture):
