3D4GL.

Blitz3D Forums/Blitz3D Programming/3D4GL.

Ching(Posted 2013) [#1]
Greetings Blitz3D programmers.
I too am a Blitz3D programmer and massive fan of what I consider the best programming language I ever bothered learning and the most underestimated programming language ever.
Many years ago when I purchased Blitz3D I began work upon a personal project which I named 3D4GL the meaning of which is Three Dimensional Fourth Generation Language.
The intention of this project was to make a package with which I could produce games without writting a single line of code.
I achieved this goal many years ago however as I am getting older (53 this month) I'm also getting lazier. My original intentions where to produce my own games and make a travelling Virtual Reality gaming theatre and strive to get rich. After wasting several thousands on expsensive laptops, all of which now have fried graphics cards, and a couple of thousand more on Virtual reality headsets I realised that my dreams had turned into poo. It wasn't that I hadn't conquerd the technicalities it was because I ran out of monSoey and couldn't afford a car.
So what I am left with is Games design engine created soley in Blitz3D with which first person shooter adventures can be created without typing a single line of code.
In my design efforts I have attempted to exploit all the fantastic features of Blitz3D language and I believe that I have.
So why am I making this forum post?
Simple, because I would rather share my work with Blitz3D programmers than see another of my personal projects vanish into the digital void.
For this reason alone I a declaring my source as an open source project and am going to make it available via my skydrive.
I am requesting the assistance of all Blitz3D programmers who would like to freely contribute to the finalisation of this project before offering it as a marketable product to Mark Silby himself
as a product to sell as a value added reseller. I truly believe the endorsement of the company with which a product has been built would rapidly promote it's usage and sale.
However, although willing to share what I have already coded I would only be willing to share any profits made from this product on the basis of I get 50% and I devide the other 50% between further contributors by my own judgement of the usefullness of their contributions.
I don't just require coders, I also require modellers, Sprite Designers, Sound Effects Designers, Musicians, Character Designers Animators, 3D4GL Games Creators, 3D4GL Games Testers and then after singleplayer mode is finalised I'm going to need networking specialists networking games testing groups. Marketing specialists, etc, etc, etc.

I realise that many of the Blitz3D community may assume that I'm some kind of daydreaming egomaniac attempting to take over the World and suffering from dellusions of grandeur.
In answer to these assumptions may I please explain my current predicament:
I am presently 52 years of age, I am qualified with a 2:2 Degree in Computer Science with Games Development Which I sat at the University of Hull between 2007 and 2010. I have been pushed into unpaid work for one month since monday this week where I spend my time a receptionist/helper of computer illiterate Job Seekers forced into applying for work via Universal Job Match whilst also applying for work myself on a daily basis under the threat of having my benefits sanctioned.
All of the above information is true. I have had no intention of breaking any of the rules of the forum.
I offer the source code of my project only to coders willing to contribute for free until profit is generated. I offer the executables to non~coders with which to contribute or not for free.
I'm living on the bones of my bum and hoping that this proposition generates some interest because I'd like to make some income and fill my fridge with food and beer.
So please talk to me?


RifRaf(Posted 2013) [#2]
Oh my..

Nice pitch, reminds me of the countless emails I get for the Work from Home experience, and other pyramid schemes.

For all the words you put in there, you didnt give much information about your project, aside from that if you dont want to pay anyone for their work you wont have to. :) if you believe in the product and its that far along perhaps try Kickstarter, I would leave out the bits about being out of work and afraid of having an empty fridge. Investors will respond better to information about your product instead.


MikeHart(Posted 2013) [#3]
First, good luck with your proposal. I hope you find someone so your dream can come true.

So what I am left with is Games design engine created soley in Blitz3D with which first person shooter adventures can be created without typing a single line of code.


Did you ever heard about "FPS Creator" from TGC?
It exists for several years now and current they are working an uptodate version. Your project sounds very very similar to "FPS Creator".

Anyway, good luck.


GfK(Posted 2013) [#4]
I am requesting the assistance of all Blitz3D programmers who would like to freely contribute to the finalisation of this project before offering it as a marketable product to Mark Silby himself
as a product to sell as a value added reseller. I truly believe the endorsement of the company with which a product has been built would rapidly promote it's usage and sale.
If it's as good as you seem to believe it is, then why do you feel that you need the endorsement of Mark Silby (sic)?

If you want my opinion - and you probably don't - then unfortunately, and although it may well be true, nobody cares whether you're being forced into voluntary work as of Monday - that's what they now do with the long-term unemployed, and all you've achieved in telling us that, is to make yourself look desperate. You might be that, too. But why leave it til now? Why not do this on day one of unemployment?

You have a multitude of problems here. First, Blitz3D is 14 years old, and there are countless better options available now. That fact alone restricts your potential market to just a handful of people. Second, not one so-called "community project" orchestrated within these forums has ever been successful. Not one. Ever. If you think you can turn the tide, then good luck, but I can nigh on guarantee that you won't. Third, the life cycle of 32-bit apps is coming to an end - and that time may well have passed by the time this gets finished. And on the subject of it getting finished - anybody who takes up this offer is likely not going to contribute a lot, and will only join in to fulfil their need to feel a part of something. The do-ers here, are already doing their own thing.

Your best course of action right now, is to show everyone what you've got so far. Whether you take any more steps beyond that, is really down to the feedback you get.

And, not wanting to get into a political debate here, but Cameron's forced labour scheme sucks. If there's work to be done, people should be paid properly to do it - because forcing people to work 35 hours a week for their benefits, means they get a lower hourly rate than the national minimum wage, which is breaking the law. But all of that is for discussion elsewhere.


Rick Nasher(Posted 2013) [#5]
Perhaps screenshots and/or video's are a good idea to show people something that will raise their interest?


Kryzon(Posted 2013) [#6]
If I were you, I would brush-up on modern languages and game programming practices and use this project as portfolio material (along with any other relevant projects you have) for applying to game programming jobs at the game developer companies of your country.
Staying in your field should be more fun at least.

I don't just require coders, I also require modellers, Sprite Designers, Sound Effects Designers, Musicians, Character Designers Animators, 3D4GL Games Creators, 3D4GL Games Testers and then after singleplayer mode is finalised I'm going to need networking specialists networking games testing groups. Marketing specialists, etc, etc, etc.

You will never get all that workforce if you're not paying it beforehand. All those artists can't eat promises. I never do any freelance work without a percentage up-front.
This is also a hobbyist forum (for Blitz3D at least; BlitzMax still has a lot of potential), so it is unlikely that you will find those people here.
Would you take up on your own offer?

I don't know if you have considered this, but there's plenty of people making a lot of money from selling ready-made assets for game engines such as Unity. The Leadwerks engine also has an asset market.
Places like these deal with assets such as art, sound-effects and music, along with plugins and game-design tools to facilitate the production of games with these engines.

Stay with the trend, with the modern.
Unity is a modern engine with a thriving community of active developers and studios - there's a lot of investment going around places like these, and you should strive to get in the middle of this.
You should port your work to Unity and sell it on the asset store as a plugin. There is a demand for things like these, as you can see with PlayMaker™.


Ching(Posted 2013) [#7]
Thanks for your comments guys I've followed other peoples attempts at similar projects and watch them flop and to be honest I could easily have written all of the above comments myself. I know there are great games engines out there but are there any that require no scripting or programming at all? I built it this way initially to give youngsters the chance to mess about with painting in 3D. When I started I had only wireframe non graphics card level knowledge of 3D so building the project taught me blitz3D. I guess my major problem is quite simply a lack of animated models that I can redistribute. During development I used the Dark Matter collection but obviously I cant give them away. But models can be made within the package itself but it aint easy. about the best Ive done so far is a four winged flapping butterfly.
After scouring the net for free animated character models, the results of which are virtually zero Im kinda stummped as to how to make a release of any kind. hence the above post.
So ok. you all seem to think a project such as this will flop.
Then how can I get any of you interested? Im open to suggestions. I doubt Ill ever make a bean from it now so maybe I should just cutnpaste all the code here and wait for your well regarded oppinions?


Ching(Posted 2013) [#8]
https://skydrive.live.com/?mkt=en-GB#

Stripped version.
Bung media in appropriate folders and run.
Looking forward to comments.
Ps am aware of bug with planes. Might backtrack to a version without it.


Ching(Posted 2013) [#9]
https://skydrive.live.com/?mkt=en-GB&mkt=en-GB#cid=8A4CFF091746F482&id=8A4CFF091746F482%21128

Stripped version.
Bung media in appropriate folders and run.
Looking forward to comments.
Ps am aware of bug with planes. Might backtrack to a version without it.
Is this better?


Yue(Posted 2013) [#10]
I share that feeling ... "I'm getting old" - "We're getting old"


Ching(Posted 2013) [#11]
Yup and the older you get the quicker you get older.


Ching(Posted 2013) [#12]
just noticed my font went freeky.
Wierd.
sorry about the double post I installled skydrive on my droid and used the copy link function which I now know to be pointless. Ah well you live n learn, forget and get old.


Ching(Posted 2013) [#13]
One of the plans I had for my project was to port everything and convert to either C++ or C# and use the SDK. But where did it go? Anybody know?


GaryV(Posted 2013) [#14]
But where did it go? Anybody know?

It is no longer available to purchase.


Ching(Posted 2013) [#15]
Ths reason being?


Ching(Posted 2013) [#16]
fantom.
yes.
Ive got a working old school tank game made with AGK
it aint finished but 2 player scraps are possible.
it runs once and quits at present.
host on the machine (pc or droid) that connects to the one sharing. Must be this slave labour syndrome thats making me bonkers and giving it all away. check my skydrive for TTT.
I gave up with it when my Star N800 fone got stolen. Yea my life sux.
Ive often wonderd why TGC and Blitz never teamed up. Blitz got the style and TGC got deep tech n no style.


Ching(Posted 2013) [#17]
btw
where can I get the sourcecode for unity?


Kryzon(Posted 2013) [#18]
I suggest you contact their support for that.