What do you guys want in a Christian game?

[Sieg9986]

lol, that they are...

[Godly Paladin]

I'm going to be gone from CAA for a week--I'll have a comment or two when I get back.

Thanks, everyone. See ya!

[Godly Paladin]

Err...hehe...I'm back...what a quick week! (Things didn't go as expected) Anyway, I'm back and I have a question for all of you.

There is one serious problem looming on the horizon of Paladin. Models. As most of you probably know, models are an essential part of any 3D computer game. I can program, level design, storyboard, even animate models, but for the life of me I cannot model or skin.

So here's my question, which is actually two-fold.

1) Will cartoony models in a game totally destroy its impact? Is it possible to have a game aimed at intermediate or older audiences and have cartoony graphics? Now, when I say cartoony, I'm referring to the fact that the only thing that I can model are very silly little figures. (They look alot like Animal Crossing people...) Can my game retain its impact and maturity but have NPCs and characters like Animal Crossing?

2) Does anyone in this community have modelling skills? You don't have to be able to model super realistic high-poly style models (e.g. Everquest, Worlds of Warcraft) --I'd be happy with models like the ones Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles or Okage the Shadow King. I'd definitely credit you on a splash screen on game startup, and payment is a possibility depending on the circumstances. Just throwing this out there.

I'm open to absolutely any comments or advice you guys can come up with. So far, you have all been a great help to me. Thanks always!

[Bobtheduck]

1. Know your audience... Some can take the cartoony stuff seriously. Some can't. You can't expect a wide audience with Animal Crossing type graphics, but that may not be a problem. I'd suggest trying to learn to model more realistically, though.

2. Everquest is realistic? Sorry, I know that's not what you were getting at, but obviously you haven't seen Silent Hill (and I don't recommend looking it up unless you're 17+ and can handle gore, but here's a safe pic:



Get to THAT level, and there's not a person on earth who wouldn't be impressed... NO ONE, I tells ya! Oh, on topic... I can't model like that yet (the closest thing I've come is my alien dude... I was trying to make a human form to begin with... *shivers*) Besides that, my computer animation class never got to rigs and inverse kinematics... I'm so pathetic... In other words, you're allready ahead of me...

[Godly Paladin]

Thanks for your input, Bobtheduck. Yes, I should learn to model better, but I don't have 3D Studio MAX or anything like that, and I can't afford to buy one.

When I mentioned Everquest I was trying to think of a professional fantasy game. I realize fully that Everquest has not-so-great models...I was thinking more along the lines of Morrowind or something. (Yea, Silent Hill looks incredible, no I haven't played it.) Any other comments or ideas?

[Godly Paladin]

Anyone? You guys have been really helpfull thus far!

[Sieg9986]

um...what's the time period? (in case i missed this sorry for asking again)

[RefractedAhav]

Thanks for your input, Bobtheduck. Yes, I should learn to model better, but I don't have 3D Studio MAX or anything like that, and I can't afford to buy one.

When I mentioned Everquest I was trying to think of a professional fantasy game. I realize fully that Everquest has not-so-great models...I was thinking more along the lines of Morrowind or something. (Yea, Silent Hill looks incredible, no I haven't played it.) Any other comments or ideas?

Have you tried blender? It's free and I've seen some pretty amazing things done with it.

here's a link to it's site:
http://www.blender3d.com

[Godly Paladin]

Sieg9986: The game is in a fantasy/medieval setting...

Elowen: Thanks for the link!

[Solid Ronin]

Big Swords......And a spikey headed Main Character.

[Aijou]

I think a good Christian game is one that everyone can relate to, whether you are a Christian or not. Although your message(s) would probably be aimed more towards non-Christians. Someone once told me, that people who do not know God, are not interested in hearing about battles between good and evil, and demons/angels, etc. (not to suggest that you not include these things) What they really want to know (or need to know) whether or not they realize or admit it is that there is someone who loves them unconditionally, and that they are not alone in this world. So whatever your game is about think about how you would view it from a secular standpoint. How it makes you feel, what messages you get from it, and so on. I am not saying to water down the Christian message. I just think it would be interesting to have an abstract or symbolic, yet not totally confusing Christian game. I think I would be more interested in seeing a modern day game, with teenagers or young adults, however midevil can be interesting. Perhaps God has a plan for you and knows what your game should be about. Talk to him ^_^ I'll be praying.

[uc pseudonym]

A note: do not watch Ninja Scroll Ressurection thinking it is a wonderful Christian anime. It isn't. Regardless of our visitor's opinions on the subject, there are plenty of negative aspects as well.

Meanwhile, the same post contains a great deal of wisdom.

[Godly Paladin]

Sorry...I'm a little late responding to you guys. I have a few questions to answer and what not, so I'll start in.

First off, I want to address some of the questions and comments made by SlayerONE. I appreciate an opinion from the secular community, and your questions got me thinking about the purpose of my game. I guess in reality I want to make this game because of the lack of good Biblically-based games. I was tired of the "Christian in name only" games like Ominous Horizons, Catechumen, Sword of the Spirit...I think that there are a bunch of Christian games out there in the 'fun for everyone' section, and I wanted to break that mold. So, I guess the answer to your question is that this game is going to be for Christians. A non-Christian could play it, but I think that Christians will have the most fun with it. I do agree with you, by the way, about the lameness of witness titles...

To Ronin, I'll say that, if I can, both of those elements will be implemented.

Kaizoku_aika, as you can tell from the early part of this post, my game is aimed at furthering the spiritual walk and growth of Christians. I take your comments with total agreement, and I will follow your advice, to be sure. (Also, I thought of having the game placed in modern times, but in the end I followed my own personal desire to place it in a fantasy setting...)

I am deeply grateful for your comments and suggestions so far, and I'll be sure to credit you all in the game for your help! Thanks bunches!

[uc pseudonym]

My comment was merely intended to warn any others who may have inadvertantly been misled by your post. Meanwhile, I will remove GodlyPaladin's double post; do not worry about it.

[Godly Paladin]

So basically, a Christian game with a Christian message can fly, as long as it's fun. But it also has to be original.

I agree with that aspect of current Christian games...Catechumen devolved into an endless 'find the key for the door' quest...

[Godly Paladin]

I didn't get much feedback on one of my earlier questions, so here it is again. (edited)

There is one serious problem looming on the horizon of Paladin. Models. As most of you probably know, models are an essential part of any 3D computer game. I can program, level design, storyboard, even animate models, but for the life of me I cannot model or skin.

So here's my question, which is actually two-fold.

1) Will cartoony models in a game totally destroy its impact? Is it possible to have a game aimed at intermediate or older audiences and have cartoony graphics? Now, when I say cartoony, I'm referring to the fact that the only thing that I can model are very silly little figures. (They look alot like Animal Crossing people...) Can my game retain its impact and maturity but have NPCs and characters like Animal Crossing?

2) Does anyone in this community have modelling skills? You don't have to be able to model realistic high-poly style models--I'd be happy with simple models. I'd definitely credit you on a splash screen on game startup, and payment is a possibility depending on the circumstances. Just throwing this out there.

I'm open to absolutely any comments or advice you guys can come up with. So far, you have all been a great help to me. Thanks always!

Any thoughts?

[uc pseudonym]

Well, if you wish for a response, I can give you mine: no. Sorry, I do not have modeling skills worth considering for this venture.

However, I may be able to be more helpful on another question: I would definitely suggest staying away from cartoony characters if possible. I would be far less likely to look at such a game.

[Godly Paladin]

However, I may be able to be more helpful on another question: I would definitely suggest staying away from cartoony characters if possible. I would be far less likely to look at such a game.

Yeah...that's what I was thinking.

[uc pseudonym]

I would suggest the following: degrade the character's quality a level for the sake of making them look more serious (with lower quality the task is simpler). For example: I would play a SNES game with serious looking characters over a Gamecube game with round heads. Gameplay generally matters more than graphics, though graphics are nice.

[Fsiphskilm]

this is where I disag

[Godly Paladin]

I would suggest the following: degrade the character's quality a level for the sake of making them look more serious (with lower quality the task is simpler). For example: I would play a SNES game with serious looking characters over a Gamecube game with round heads. Gameplay generally matters more than graphics, though graphics are nice.

To uc: I guess I didn't think you could have low-poly serious looking characters. I'll give it a try.

To Volt: I agree with you. The problem is, I can't make my game fit with the style of cartoony graphics without losing its impact.

I suppose I should just apply myself wholeheartedly to learning high quality modelling...that would fix a bunch of problems, wouldn't it?

[uc pseudonym]

this is where I disagree... To me GamePlay and Graphics play a big role. together

That's like saying... the Heart is more important than the Brain.

But the heart can function with murmurs, leaks and the like...

Seriously, though, I meant what I said: I'll play old games without caring about the old graphics.

Games like Animal Crossing don't have bad graphics. it's just that their STYLE calls for that quality of graphics.

What Animal Crossing has is simple graphics, which is a part of the style. By the by, I would not take a game of Godly Paladin's type with Animal Crossing graphics seriously.

It all just depends... the graphics can be "BAD" as long as they go with teh style of the game -> like in StarOcean 2, or Animal Crossing, or Final Fantasy VII (7)

Ultimately I agree; it would be about pegging a style that you can work with.