Battlemap using UDK

[Zeus]

Hey all,

I stumbled across these videos on Youtube and immediately thought how fantastic this would make miniature play for games like D&D for real world round table role playing. I also immediatley thought of WotC failed 3D VT software that they pulled a couple of years back.




Imagine having the ability to define your own levels (battlemap encounters) complete with interactive grid, light sources, objects (doors, traps etc)!!! Each encounter area starts with a 3D view and then transitions the camera to a top-down view of the visible encounter area.



The software used in the video is a custom UnrealScript running under the Unreal Development Kit framework (free) as well as some supporting Flash objects. The developers have also kindly made the source scripts available so other users can build similar capabilities for their own gaming needs. For those interested you need to download and install the UDK and Flash as well as the UnrealScripts from the following Blog.

The Blog also contains useful progression notes as the scripts have been enhanced. You can see that they started with the base objects from the UnrealTournament game and steadily adapted them to enable Top-Down views of the level, camera control, grid, animated/triggered objects and light sources.

Some links to the progression posts:

D&D Battlemap - using the UDK
D&D Battlemap - using the UDK - The Setup
D&D Battlemap - using the UDK - Fixing the HUD!
D&D Battlemap - using the UDK - The Grid
D&D Battlemap - using the UDK - More Dungeon less UT
D&D Battlemap - using the UDK - Making it more Interactive

I have already downloaded the UDK and intend to spend some time this weekend having a play. I'll post up some videos if I am able to get my head around the scripts and something working. PM me if your interested in collaborating with me on a small project?

As UDK is supported under PC, IOS and OS X, I also figured the Unreal engine would make for an incredibly powerful cross-platform solution.

UDK supports C++ and UnrealScript classes which in theory could enable a future evolved version of FG. Who knows maybe Smiteworks can look to Unreal for its next generation engine.

[Moon Wizard]

That's definitely pretty cool. It reminds me of building maps in NWN, but a little more complex and a lot more flexibility.

Of course, I watched the Kismet and Matinee ability, and it took 10 minutes to build a 2 room map and they knew what they were doing. It's the curse of more tools = more time needed to set up. (lighting, animations, etc.)

Cheers,
JPG

[Zeus]

I managed to get the UDK installed but didn't have time to fully explore or play around today, hopefully tomorrow.

What I did gleam was that the UDK comes with quite a few different materials, objects, textures, sounds, meshes (static and skeletal) to get you started so your not forced into having to load in external meshes and content from 3rd party tools like Maya and 3DMax to begin with. In addition if you have a copy of Unreal Tournament 3 it also comes with an Editor and the content is directly importable into the UDK thus further expanding the content pool. Still at some point you are going to want to import in content so tools like Maya and 3DMax will eventually be required once you have exhausted whats bundled in the kit.

I agree though the 3D level environment will require more time than your average 2D map but the tools in UDK are very intuitive and if you have ever worked with rendering/3D software offers a very familiar interface and set of controls.

I think the trick will be to keep it simple to begin with e.g. basic tiles, walls and doors (animated) and light source.

The thing I like the most about the UDK so far, is that it gives you literally everything you need to run a standalone multiplayer game including the TCP/IP networking components. Nice.

[Zeus]

Hey All,

I managed to find some time yesterday to continue on with the UDK based D&D 4E Digital BattleMap project.

I caught up on ZomBPir8Ninja's blog and got the basics in place and working including: top-down view, grid, interactive triggers (Kismet), particle effects and animations (Matinee), so far so good.

I also managed to read up a little on map/level creation and got a basic 2 room map built + cooked. The whole design/build/cook process took me 2 hours but most of that was re-checking my notes and re-watching videos.

Anyhow here's a video of the latest build:



Now to find a reasonably priced projector and to figure out how I am going to build my game table.

[Leonal]

That's pretty neat!

Now if I only had the time/will/offline group to make use of it. ^^;

[Zeus]

Well I have found another application for the UDK BattleMap: 3D tiles for FGII.

Here's the same basic dungeon room from my video but this time with smoother lighting and and some furniture:



And with a little Photoshop magic, hey presto one tiled JPG ready for import to FGII.



I can make an entire set of these very easily by just panning the screen to appropriate points in the viewport on any map I create and taking a window capture. These can then either be stitched together in PS or exported as individual JPG tiles.

[Leonal]

That's cool.

I'm used to CC3 as a vector based map maker and with editing and touching up in either Paint.net or PaintShopPro (not as expensive as PS^^), but the light effects are rather nice in the above example.

[Zeus]

Hey everyone, I'm making good progress with the Digital BattleMap code for UDK. I fixed some glitches with the grid and spawned objects (Torches, Blood Splatter) and added in ZombiePir8Ninja's latest effects code. We now have hotkeyed special effects including fireball, force orb, lightning strike and explosion.

I also added a basic cinematic to the level start.

[Blue Haven]

You kick-*** every single day :P