"There comes a time when one must take up sword and shield and become a Hero. Is your day today?"™
Forgotten Kingdoms is the beginning of my journey, but the journey is long.
As with many fledgling developers, I had a desire to tell an epic story in a massive living world; to make my own MORPG, (Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). The advice I was given by the development community was 'Don't do it." for various reasons.
I had a rough idea how the different systems would work together, and what resources I would need to accomplish the task. I had accepted that the task was beyond my current skills at that time, but kept the idea on a shelf; returning to the project here and there as time allowed. Making notes, taking down Ideas, writing some Game Lore, sketching some system ideas, and building some test code. In early 2013, I had a working concept that would grow and mature over the years.
As I worked on other projects I developed systems and tools that I could reuse in following projects. As my collection of skills started to grow so did the belief that I could eventually amass the systems to make a working MORPG. I started to see a roadmap of how I could build such a fantastic and complex game as a MORPG.
These collections of reusable Toolsets became what I would later call 'GameEngine'. A Highly modular, task specific, code systems that I combine to make more complex systems. These modules would be the core of Forgotten Kingdoms, and many other projects along the way.
As GameEngine grew so did my belief that I could actually build my own working stable MORPG.
And as such, this project has been my long term passion project.
Much like children, games have to be nurtured and grown; they have their infancy, their toddler moments and their Temper-Tantrums. Lots and lots of Temper-Tantrums...
Refactoring and Rebuilding.
I'm always torn between rebuilding, or refactoring. Rebuilding allows me to completely refine something at the expense of time. Where, refactoring allows me to 'fix' something at the expense of quality. As a perfectionist, I am always at odds between quality and time. As Forgotten Kingdoms is a passion project without a set deadline I have some liberty to deliver the Standard of Quality that I expect in a game.
This means that there is no release date, no ETA, no definitive roadmap. This is both and positive and a negative. Where I have the time to refine the game, I also don't have a deadline to propel the project forward.
For the moment, I am still developing GameEngine into a system that can support a MORPG. Which means at this moment I am incapable of completing Forgotten Kingdoms with the scope I intend. However as more Systems are completed and I have all the Technical Resources required, a Timeline will be set.
Hand Crafted, Digitally.
Stylized Hand Painted Textures
With decades of experience in Computer Science and Computer Languages what I don't have experience in is art.
As part of building a game world from scratch I have been learning how to make Stylized, Hand Painted, textures and models. Nearly everything in the world of the Forgotten Kingdoms has been crafted from scratch and all by hand; every vertex, every line, every texture crafted with passion and the desire to present the best content that I can create.
As far as the eye can see.
World Building
Using GameEngine 6’s Cartography System, Cities, Zones, and Instances are all tied together using a 'Blob' map system. As players move through a zone or instance their position is monitored in World Space. This allows the engine to load the relevant resources for surrounding zones as needed.
A video discussing the developemnt of the Cartography system can be found on ChargedNeuron’s YouTube.
“Building a game is like crossing the ocean before the boat is built. Grab a couple of planks and we will build the rest along the way. “
Vigil Games
Camera Auto Tracking Test
OmniBox Studios gives the new Auto Tracking Camera a test drive, and his first impressions of the engine.
Development over the years
GameEngine has evolved over the years, let’s have a look at some YouTube Videos.
Game Engine - OpenGL
GameEngine version 1
GameEngine version 2
GameEngine version 3
GameEngine version 4
GameEngine version 5
Gallery
A few images from the development.
A hand textured door.
One of the first hand textured models I created.
Physically Based Textures
An improvement over my previous work is models now use compound textures to provide reflections on metals and sub textures on stone.
Mr. Crabby
The first fully configured NPC.
Interface Test
Testing GameEngine 5 with the new Interface Tools.
Inventory System
An early test of the UI Interface and Inventory System.
First Multiplayer Server Test.
One of the first Multiplayer Server Tests using the now depreciated uLink network code.
Early Character Select Screen.
The second edition of Forgotten Kingdoms used a animated diarama menu.
The Battle Begins
The first Player Character and Non-Player Character square off.
Phenomenal Cosmic Power - Itty-Bitty API Space.
Forgotten Kingdoms and GameEngine have evolved together.
As GameEngine grew in power Forgotten Kingdoms grew with it, and continues to do so. Learn more about GameEngine 6 >
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