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[Ionias]

Ok, I've downloaded the engine and the demo game. I'm impressed with what WME can potentially do. However, I need some help.

So far I've only messed around with AGS I've made one free game and I'm finishing up another commercial project. When that is done I want to create something along the lines of Runaway. 3d characters w/ cell shading in a 2d environment. Help me get started.

I've only had experience w/ 2d art software such as PSP and PhotoShop. How do I make the switch?

[Brassfire]

It sounds more like you are asking how to switch from 2D art to 3D art, than how to switch to WME.

WME is actually a 2D engine, just with advanced features that use a 3D graphics card. It can also load 3D characters, however, I think that feature is not really documented yet.

You could easily continue to do your art the way you are used to but take avantage of alpha transparency, vector-based walk-behinds, etc.

[Jerrot]

Welcome!

So far I've only messed around with AGS I've made one free game and I'm finishing up another commercial project. When that is done I want to create something along the lines of Runaway. 3d characters w/ cell shading in a 2d environment. Help me get started.

Actually there IS no change, maybe you misunderstood the making of Runaway the same way I did. You are right - the Runaway characters were constructed in 3d and rendered with cel shading, BUT they are PRE-rendered in the game (with a a really high amount of frames per animation), it's no real-time 3D rendering.
(Yes, I am sure about this - now! ;-) !)

So finally Runaway uses the same methods as you are used to. The shadows are possible due to alpha channels, Brassfire already mentioned. To reach your goal, you have to construct your character animations in e.g. 3ds max 5 (which has a built-in cel-shader!) and use the rendered frames as you are used to in your 2d environment.

WME seems to be a good choice for that, I already tested this method with alpha channels and it worked fine and fast.

Oh - what game did you release, something we can have a look at ?

Greetings, Jerrot.

[Ionias]

Actually there IS no change, maybe you misunderstood the making of Runaway the same way I did. You are right - the Runaway characters were constructed in 3d and rendered with cel shading, BUT they are PRE-rendered in the game (with a a really high amount of frames per animation), it's no real-time 3D rendering.
(Yes, I am sure about this - now! ;-) !)

So finally Runaway uses the same methods as you are used to. The shadows are possible due to alpha channels, Brassfire already mentioned. To reach your goal, you have to construct your character animations in e.g. 3ds max 5 (which has a built-in cel-shader!) and use the rendered frames as you are used to in your 2d environment.

Ok, I was confused. I was hoping to avoid all that lengthy importing of every frame. Did you need to import your shadows seperately from the character?

Do you know how WME handles the resizing of the character then if it's not true 3d?

Oh - what game did you release, something we can have a look at ?

Well, about two years ago I released Pizza Quest ... if you google it you might find it on the net I abandoned the website long ago.

Right now I'm wrapping up the production of a very large classic VGA 320x200 game, which you can see here: http://socko.adventuredevelopers.com I've always wanted to make a classic Lucasarts/Sierra game, which AGS is perfect for. But my next game I want to be 800x600 or above like Runaway ... with like I said 3d characters and 2d backgrounds. With WME and a few more art classes maybe I can do just that.

[Mnemonic]

Ok, I was confused. I was hoping to avoid all that lengthy importing of every frame.  Did you need to import your shadows seperately from the character?

The shadows don't need to be imported separately as long as you take advantage of the alpha channel.
I believe the Leo demo uses this approach.
http://www.dead-code.org/forum/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=70

Do you know how WME handles the resizing of the character then if it's not true 3d?

WME handles it simply by stretching the images. But since the 3D acceleration functions are used for stretching (primarily), the resized image is "filtered" and the edges are slightly antialiased thus the stretched characters generally look quite good

[Ionias]

Thanks for the info.

BTW, what 3d programs are you guys using? I had a look at 3ds max 5. It's $3,500!!    ... and "yes" I would have to buy that version. I'm not a student and I plan on making commercial games with it.

Are there any you would recommend?

[odnorf]

I am a bit late but I hope you read it. You could try Cinema4D.
http://www.maxon.net/

It's not very well known (especially to game developers) but it's an excellent program. According to experts it has one of the best rendering engines (fast & great quality) in the market. And it's very cheap comparing to other programs (like lightwave, 3D studio etc). There are also "lighter" versions which cost even less.