Things to do when you're bored...

[Mindfield]

...how about ... render a strange, ethereal room in the middle of an ocean with little more in it than an Atari symbol!

 

 

I would have added a television and a VCS connected to it, but I can't for the life of me find a 3D model of a VCS. :-(

[Joel D. Park]

Very cool.. When I get bored I try to write wierd video games but I never get them finished.

 

Currently I am working on a game I call "Mad Chicken Arena", it's going to be based loosely on a Europe only Arcade, C=64 and Speccy game called Psycho Pigs UBX!!

 

Hopefully it's simple enough that I can actually finish it.

[Mindfield]

Ah, for the days of programming. I used to love to program on my old Atari machines, particularily the ST. Unfortunately since I switched to the PC I really haven't had the inclination to pick up any of the current languages. Somehow they haven't got the power or 'sparkle' of, say, GFA Basic 3.5E on the ST. It's all so very sterile, it seems. Even VB, while relatively powerful, still seems... I dunno. Different in the sort of way that makes programming more of a chore than then joy that it once was.

[Joel D. Park]

Visual Basic happens to be my language of choice now days, since it is what I use at work and know well.. Microsoft is finally supporting DirectX for Visual Basic, and I can make some pretty nice looking applications.

 

In the latest version of DirectX, MS even implmented Sprites. But I still have to handle Collisions myself. DirectX 8 was a big change from what I was used to and I have to relearn everything.

[Mindfield]

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind VB. I just haven't really had the time or the inclination to really sit down with it and work it out. I can't seem to get motivated enough to really work with it. Back in the day, working with GFA was great. I could program at my own level, directly access hardware, and really squeeze the last ounce of power out of the language by using low-level functions and routines. I can do similar things with VB, of course, by using prepackaged DLLs and the like, but it's not the same.

 

One of these days I'll sit down and probably write some of the games I had planned for the ST but never completed.

[Malix]

Sweet pic Mindfield. What did you use to make it??

[atari70s]

hey mind, howd you know what my room looked like lol . ( mine would be stacked with games systems manuals boxes tons of other items.

[Mindfield]

Malix: The whole thing was rendered in Ray Dream Studio 4 with some simple pre-made shaders and textures. The sofa, table and porcelain coyote models were nicked from a 3D model page. The curved wall is just a simple preset, with a brushed chrome shader added. The Atari symbol I grabbed when someone elsewhere on these boards mentioned their existence on another page. (Sorry, I can't remember which one :-/)

I should make some changes, tho... like actual turbulence in the water, so the shadows actually fall on it properly, and it hits the walls properly, instead of flat. Or maybe I'll just make a realistic room. :-)

 

atari70s: Actually I'd love to have a room like that. Y'know, of course, with more stuff in it... and nicer upholstery ... but the big Atari logo is a must. :-)