CharlieMy personal taste in games never grew very far past 1997. Suffice to say, all of the graphics that I create are done (mostly) using Gimp. I've never been much of a 3d artist, so while I'm not opposed to seeing this particular project portrayed in 3d, I don't see it happening with
me churning out the graphics. I suppose that can always change, but.. Currently, in addition to the basic 2d-with-particle-effects package that tends to be offered by most 2d solutions, the most obscure feature I will require will be a more dynamic animation system.
Rather than breaking up each character animation in to whole-body frames, I have individual body parts. Hypothetically, animations can then be created with a combination of frame-by-frame and tweening.. A custom tool will probably be required, but I've considered trying to find something already available. (Once upon a time, back in Windows, I even considered trying to use Flash.. but probably wouldn't work) I think I've seen people reference this method as "skeletal animation" though I'm not sure this is correct or accurate. GraalOnline has the closest approximation to what I'm attempting to describe.
GoatI figured it was too early to go requesting obscurities, but it's good to know that it has at least been on someone's mind. I have considered the possibility of using a billboarding/facing method of using 2d graphics in a 3d environment. One of the variations on the 2.5d concept, I suppose. Given its nature, my current design calls for a fixed camera angle during normal modes of play.. the mouse is only used for menus and as an alternate control option. The main reasons I have become so intrigued are Sytensity's use of Javascript for game logic, its availability on Ubuntu and the lobby feature. On the backburner of my game concept has always been some form of interactive environment for use outside of the actual game.. It's worth noting that when I first started designing this game, it was intended to be developed using Graal. When I realized what a poor choice that would have been, I began looking for a more optimal solution, where I could handle (or otherwise hire) my own hosting solution and actually have some flexibility. (Graal's scripting language was and probably still is, poorly documented crap.)
I know that so far (and for the most part, philosophically speaking) Syntensity is the closest match to what I have been searching for. Maybe in the future, we'll see something of a cousin to this, intended for simpler graphical styles.. or maybe just another lobby server with a different style (all retro style games or something) 2density? Naaaaah.
Thanks for your replies, guys.