$12256 / $11500
Hello this post is to give some light on how to submit artwork for game developers.
I work with a system that uses .ugh .x animations, .wav sounds, I see allot of .max, dea, .obj, .3ds. Please understand allot of gaming developers use many different types of convertion process's usually each unique to that engine.
To best fit game development in todays age I feel as though most files should be submited in multiple formats such as: .ugh, .blend 2.49b(can export to .x), .blend 2.50+(cannot export to .x), .max, .dae, .obj and .3ds.
If you truly wish for todays developers to pick your work for there project realeasing it in many different formats is the best choice.
My suggestions for static models:
.ugh
.blend
.max
.3ds
.obj
for sounds I would suggest:
.ogg
.mp3
.wav
for animations I would suggest:
.ugh
.dae
.obj
.3ds
.max
.blend
.bland 2.50+
Foe textures I would encourage all users to use materials outside of the modeling system there designing the models in. For instance blender painting a object(bad idea) and Uv mapping it with a outside texture source. For game developers the poeple who use alpha markings is a bad idea for instance: I made a thin cube and textured each side witha nice plant. In most game engine the edges show up as black squares and cannot be used. Example: Dims abretrerium.
I hope this atleast helps some poeple understand what it is some game developers need inside there games and the formats that are used.
Sincerly
The King of Demons
This website's content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
I'm pretty sure that .max is proprietary and there are no converters. This is a problem for the ryzom 3d data for example, where all models are .max.
.mp3 is lower quality than .ogg vorbis and might *still* have licensing issues attached, so .ogg is prefered.
Things can't be preferred here this is artwork for developers and the likes. Take me for instance I cannot use .ogg and need to use .wav as its engine specific. There are some other engines widley used out there like this also. Just because its inferior doen't mean it isnt used.
.ogg can easily be converted to .wav, though. My understanding is that .mp3 cannot be used in a lot of engines because it's a proprietary format. FLAC is probably the way to go for high-quality sounds, as it's a lossless format that is also open.
Yup but like in my case I tried to convert the .mp3 to .wav and it was corrupt. So I was forced to ask for the files to be converted for me. If everyone that enters artwork here submitted in the different types, I believe it would be a huge benifit to all users here.
www.tkodo.com
As a developper, if the model/sound can be loaded/edited with an open source program, I'm fine with it. And an "open game art" should not use any proprietary format.
Some developers can't edit other files but need certain types. Granted they should learn how to create them but as for distribution of them we should give developers as many formats as we can so they get exactly what they need. Instead of converting it through diffierent formats like I have too.
www.tkodo.com
If you are able to create a game, you are also able to convert files. Having files in many different formats seems like a huge waste of storage space. The only exception is if you made a model in 3ds max. Then you should upload both the .max file and a result file, something like collada. Any format blender can import without too much trouble is fine to me.
If someone really wants to use a certain model, he certainly wants to spend 10 seconds converting it.
Yep, please only free formats. I'm fine if every asset is available in the *one* best, free format.
1. converting .mp3 to .wav makes ponies cry, as .mp3 and .ogg are compressed, lossy formats, while wav and flac are lossless formats.
2. when a file is corrupt, it´s the fault of the software that created it or the software that converted it but not the fault of the format. what could be provided are
@Tartos (And an "open game art" should not use any proprietary format.)
good point!
IMHO the aritsts should absolutely not be required to provide different formats and instead they should provide .wav or .flac formats and these could be converted by the OGA site to mp3, ogg (and flac if original was .wav).
I too think an open, lossless format is enough. We devs can just convert to what we need, there are just so many formats out there, it's too much for the artist to save his work as all those formats!
So my opinion is that .blend, .png, .wav/.flac is more than enough for us devs to work with. I agree with nander: if we can program a game, we should be able to figure out how to convert between formats.
We should not add more burden on the artist, it's already a big enough burden to create the art in the first place ;-)
This is one reason I love pixel art. No formatting issues! Just don't ever use .jpg, and you're golden.
That may be true for some cases but, I also believe that if I was a fragmotion only user I would never be at this site. Luckily I took the time to learn both. Some can't use blender, and can only use fragmotion or vise versa. Forcing poeple to learn a completly new system just to use a model is wrong to me. Many poeple don't know how to convert models or even how to texture them. Granted they ofcourse should learn the powerful free software. But in my case I dont really have time to learn audio and sound creation and editing. I spend all my time pluging in data and like you said programming my game. If someone at this site had already completed this and I could download and use it with minimal effort then the chances of OGA.ORG art being used is much higher.
In my case I tried 3 different sound editors to convert to .wav all failed me. So I began asking the creators for .wav files. :D The amount of time i waisted doing that I could have finished animating and such.
As a developer I get overworked doing all the little stuff that it makes the process very slow. Converting every model, checking it to make sure it was textured correctly, sometimes because the textures where not actual textures but pictures on a cube with alpha, I can't even use those, nor have the time to make those model sets. There is allot of unsable art here that I would love to use but can't because it was made improperly or otherwise.
This isnt like you must conform to me.... or anything like that. It is just to let poeple know what some developers are looking for.
I have talked with real developers about this sort of thing before. One in piticular said he only search's for .ugh and .x. Another said he just pays someone to do it...
We are the artists. There the developers. We should give them what they want.
:D just my opinion
www.tkodo.com
good sound editors that can do this: audacity
or use mencoder / ffmpeg or a graphical interface on top of that.
I now have audacity but am still stuck between learning a new system and actually entering data, animating, retexturing countless models. The main reason I say this is because most users here are not creating things I can use. This is a problem for developers in my situation. We love art from places like this, but I can barely use what you have. As it is not formated correctly or built impropperly. Textures formats and the likes.
www.tkodo.com
I second the opinion that maybe one format is not enough but would not urge to use all formats.
BUT, please, provide all necessary files to fulfil these requests if possible:
This may be a single file format (eg. png with no/low compression) but most often not (eg. psd -> xcf -> png) / (eg. max -> blender -> obj) / (eg. audacity/whatnot -> wav -> ogg/mp3). I think the point should be to provide files for most use cases - not most formats.
So, if you make audio, please provide a high quality wav. If you make models provide an portable Obj and probably a file for common Bender - BTW as I recently learned there are things which can go wrong when exporting/converting yourself (contrary to the artists intention). The artist is THE professional for converting his model/sound to a portable/fallback format in the best fitting way with the least effort.
I think it isn't a large request to provide at least one alternative format. That would already reduce the programmers effort to install/learn every program somebody may have used by a huge amount. And then it may only be a minor step for programmers to convert these files to the game's native format.
"If you don't have source, eat binary" (or vise versa) does not help. ;)
For me, as a developer, as long as I can edit it with software-livre everything should be ok (and I think most livre-games developers tend to use mostly - with not only - livre softwares).
Also, I think that forcing artists to upload in specific files formats, or with a lot distinct exported ones, is somewhat against their "creative freedom" or personal preferences. If I couldn't use an artistic creation due to incompatible formats either I try to contact the artist to see if he/she convert it to a more friendly (to me) format (the better case), or just forgot about using it (the worst one)... anyway, that creation could be usefull to other people at its current format (but just not for me, and I have to content with it, that's the life).
PS: Sorry for my bad and confused english.
Well yes I understand what you mean. But artwork is being created here imporperly aswell. Most the art I can't use. Some reasons for this is what I like to call fake texturing (a cube with a picture on it). Unusable sound formats. Rigged models not actually being rigged for animation or anything else for that matter. Like the low poly barb model here. Nice detail, nice texture, model vertices are jumbled together to the point it would take a few hours to seperate just the arms from the torso for rigging it. I am not saying I can't do this or won't I am just here saying NOT everyone is going to use artwork that takes 5 hours to prep.
Most developers that don't wish to spend countless hours learning systems for each type of model, converting files, preping for rigging, then finally able to animate it, then enter it into the game they probly just leave. The process goes very slow and so I feel if we simply gave more common formats and confided a standerd when creating models our artwork will be used more.
For example we could put up a How to create Models section up somewhere with tutorials for how to properley texture and rigg models. Ways to pose them for others to rigg. And we should probly make it mandatory for them to label textured or not.
www.tkodo.com
tkod, I think a lot of your concerns may well be allieviated with the judging/grading system to be implemented in OGA 2.0
Heh since I know nothing about it I guess I will go read up on that. Was just trying to be helpfull. :D
www.tkodo.com