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Offline Mattn

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Re: Intro animation
« Reply #45 on: May 24, 2009, 12:07:51 pm »
could you please retry with latest revision?

Offline Destructavator

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Re: Intro animation
« Reply #46 on: May 24, 2009, 10:57:26 pm »
Success!  ;D  ...Mostly, at least, just one issue:  I ran the game on my laptop with a widescreen display and the video was stretched out horizontally - The rest of the game displays fine though, with the right full-screen resolution and the 4:3 stretch video option turned off.

...But the intro.ogm in the SVN plays, video and sound just fine otherwise.

One other note:  I did this on a clean install of Windows, fresh SVN copy and codeblocks package, and when I first ran ufo.exe it complained about a missing intl.dll file.  I fixed this by copying the dll from the radiant .zip package and it then ran just fine.

Sometime this weekend I'll do tests with different free video conversion tools to see which ones can make OGM videos that play OK in the game.  Right now I'm looking at WinFF/FFMPEG, AviDemux, and VLC, as well as a few other free and open-source tools that anyone who wants to make a cinematic can use.  (The three I mentioned are also cross-platform BTW.)

Offline Destructavator

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Re: Intro animation
« Reply #47 on: May 25, 2009, 06:06:38 am »
OK, two updates:

I realized I had actually compiled the game with Muton's version of codeblocks.  I tried to re-build the game with the latest one you put together, Mattn, and found that your version would not compile it without errors (I'll try to generate and attach a log of the errors later).

I also found that VLC generates buggy OGM video clips, ones that mostly work but not completely, so I wouldn't recommend transcoding video to OGM with VLC.  I also tried AviDemux, which doesn't create compatible OGM files at all (only the audio works), so that leaves FFMPEG.  Sometime soon I'll try to put together a preset for WinFF, which is a free Open-Source GUI for FFMPEG that makes FFMPEG much easier to use, and runs on Windows and Linux just like FFMPEG does.  (Heck, on Ubuntu WinFF is even in the repositories, so it's easy to get.)

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Re: Intro animation
« Reply #48 on: June 19, 2009, 05:42:13 pm »
Well, this is probably WAY too long, but here's my take on a good intro movie:

The screen is black. It fades into view of a huge city. Camera is raised, so you're looking down slightly at it, from moderate distance (The FOV is big enough to encompass the entire city)

Camera cuts to a 'birds-eye-view', almost like looking down from a helicopter, scrolling across streets and buildings. On the bottom left, green letters type up, accompanied by a small sound as every letter appears. It reads:

Mumbai
(Month) (Date)th 2084
XXXX Hours

The text stays for a couple seconds as the camera continues to float around, giving us an idea of the scale and diversity of the city. The letters them fade away.

The camera changes to a human-level view shopping district. People are everywhere. Again, letters come up. This time it says:

The most densely populated city in the world.

After a couple of seconds, that fades away too.

Camera cuts to a crowded, darkened control room. Again, words appear.

(Name) Radar Installation

Couple seconds, fade.

Camera switches to one of the seats with a radar console, y'know, with the round screen and the sweeping line. The operator is leaning so that his head is offscreen, you can here him and another guy talking in... uhm, Mumbain?

Camera cuts again, now the radar display fills the whole screen. This view stays on enough for the viewer to watch the sweeper do a couple complete rotations. Nothing appears on the screen. (You could add a couple of blips with little words labelling them as civilian flights, but for this, effect>realism, probably)

Cut to a view of the sky. Couple small clouds. Sun is centered in at the top of the screen. Lens flare aims at the bottom left of the screen. The camera moves slightly, and the flare moves from that side to the right. As it points directly at the camera, so that theres a big flashed, the ships appear. 6 small ones. they swoop down, just barely allowing for a good enough view to allow the viewer to see they're not man-made.

Cut back to the radar display. Couple sweeps, nothing.

Cut to the crowded street. One of the ships lands, as people scream. One stays, curious. The ramp lowers. You can't see inside. A bright flash, and a plasma ball rips out, killing the lone person. Fade to black.

About  5 seconds of blackness, then an abrupt flash view of the fighting, followed by an abrupt fade to black. This repeats several times, before it goes back to black. The words type up again:

Bonn, Germany

The words fade into the black. Abrupt flash, a SAM launcher firing at the UFOs, as men scream. Fade to black.

Bangkok, (uhm... wherever it is)

Abrupt flash to combat there, fade to black, then the same sort of thing for the last city.

Scene inside the UN, people arguing, then the head person declares war.

The final scene is told through the eyes of the player character. It starts with you entering an office (Yours). Several people are inside. One is a UN rep. He says

"Ah, commander. Good to see you found your office. I'd like you to meet some people" He motions to the side, where the remainder are standing. The rep introduces you to Dr. Connor, Cdr. Navarre, all the people from the mailclient letters. You then go ans sit down at you desk. The people all nod, etc, and begin to file out. You pick up a manila folder on your desk. It has a top secret stamp on it, and the word Phalanx along with the phalanx logo. The screen fades to black, and only the Phalanx and the logo remain. They stay for several seconds, then they fade too. The name of the game fades in, UFO: Alien Invasion. That fades out after about ten seconds. End of intro.

Offline Destructavator

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Re: Intro animation
« Reply #49 on: June 19, 2009, 08:06:20 pm »
The problem with including language is localization - If I'm not mistaken text can be put in an overlay or below video in the game engine, but with spoken language we would need voice actors with pro-recording equipment for every one of the over-a-dozen-or-so languages this game is available in.

I've actually thought about cinematic cut-scenes that have language just as text below or over video, which could vary for every language the game supports (much like sub-titles).

As far as actually getting something together beyond just dreaming up intro movies, one thing that could really get us moving in that direction is a 3D model of a city, or at least a city block.  Other than that, we've already got models of just about everything we would need to make an introduction video for a number of proposed script ideas.

Please keep in mind that Winter would need to approve any script ideas or drafts.

Titan

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Re: Intro animation
« Reply #50 on: June 19, 2009, 08:19:31 pm »
Don't look at me. I would lose interest before I could open a tutorial.

Offline vedrit

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Re: Intro animation
« Reply #51 on: June 22, 2009, 01:28:34 am »
We have several people here that have atleast some experiance with modeling. If some concept art could get drawn up, and SVN rights given, some cities could be modeled up.

Offline Destructavator

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Re: Intro animation
« Reply #52 on: June 22, 2009, 03:03:49 am »
At one point I attempted to do it myself, using some of the bsp maps already in the game and putting them together until it looked like a city or town - No need to re-invent the wheel and such.  It really didn't work very well, but it wasn't too recent that I tried it.

Digin_BR

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Re: Intro animation
« Reply #53 on: July 25, 2009, 10:40:49 pm »
The problem with including language is localization - If I'm not mistaken text can be put in an overlay or below video in the game engine, but with spoken language we would need voice actors with pro-recording equipment for every one of the over-a-dozen-or-so languages this game is available in.

3 problems in this matter:
1st: we would need voice actors for every character that speaks in the intro. (at last 1 male and 1 female VAs, for case of use of a good "voice morpher" such as screamingbee.com's Morphvox PRO...but i think using a "voice morpher" is a bad idea...and without an "voice morpher", i think it would be needed at last 1 VA for each 2 characters that speak in the intro...with can or not mean a load of VAs.)

2nd: this multiplyed by the number of languages the game has, couse otherwise there will be certainly some lack on the languages due to them not being VAs native language.

3rd: the VAs will still need to own or at last have access to a professional or at last very good equipment.

result: it will probably take months till the community gatter all the itens needed...

my opinion: an intro with no voices is like a birthday party without candy...an intro of the style of this game, and like the one suggested by Titan, MUST have voices...

i think its a good idea to start gattering the VAs for at last the 5 most relevant languages: (based on real research data)

1st: English, the most understood worldwide.
2nd: Mandarim (Chinese), the most spoken worldwide.
3rd: Spanish, the most spreaded worldwide.
4th: Portuguese, the 3rd most common in games (the 1st and 2nd are English and Spanish, already listed)( :D BRASIL! :D |<o>|) (my country's language, cant control myself, sorry  :P)
5th: Russian, the 5th most common in games (the 4th is Mandarim, already listed)

...and at same time work on the models, texturing, animation and video-edition of the intro...so that its ready to receive voices and soundeffects when we have the VAs.

its also a good idea to so make an in-english intro...and just subtitle it to the other languages (maintaining audio in inglish is pretty common even for the high-top of the games, for example, EA's (Eletronic Arts) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. where the game DEV has only traslated the texts and added/changed subtitles, all the official audio is the standard english and russian spoken by the american, british and russian characters)
« Last Edit: July 26, 2009, 03:45:51 pm by Digin_BR »

fundude53

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Re: Intro animation
« Reply #54 on: July 26, 2009, 10:48:51 am »
right heres what i think u should do.
program the game to play a simple mp4 file or what ever format u think usable by the game.
then ask users out here in the real world to make intros for the game and host a webpage where users can upload and download the movies and what ever the user thinks is best then they use.
it brings the game player into the process of makeing the game and i think it would be a big hit.
the same process can allso be used for the cut scenes and lets face it if peaple realy into the spirit of this movie making theres gonna be some really funny and really good intros made.
allso if u did take this on board u could allso get users to make video entries for the ufopedea example some bloke dressed as a scientist explaining how the lazer pistals work or descrition of autopsies and such.

well i hope u consider this proposal i think it would open a whole area of the game that not been exsplored at the moment

fundude53..

Offline Mattn

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Re: Intro animation
« Reply #55 on: July 26, 2009, 12:20:01 pm »
that is what we did (except the possibility to upload some stuff) - we have ogm and roq video support, we have implemented this for the usage in our menus and so on.

have a look at our wiki

Offline jnbixler

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Re: Intro animation
« Reply #56 on: October 07, 2009, 02:15:22 am »
I'm actually inclined to disagree about the voices... I personally don't think the intro needs dialogue at all, whether spoken or text.  As long as you had good music and a well-edited sequence, you can tell the basic story pretty effectively with just visuals.

Offline Legendman3

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Re: Intro animation
« Reply #57 on: March 20, 2010, 11:54:18 pm »
Titan good idea for a intro and also werent we talking of making a 3D thing of a city? Why cant we just use what ever make maker we have give it a skybox and make the camera go in different places how hard is it? And that was dumb to ask since i only know how to map simple things with the Hammer editor for the source engine

Offline DiDiT

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Re: Intro animation
« Reply #58 on: March 21, 2010, 12:22:19 am »
Legendman, way to bump a dead topic... (not that I can say anything, since I sometimes do it too...)

Offline Legendman3

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Re: Intro animation
« Reply #59 on: March 21, 2010, 02:19:28 am »
Its dead? woops........