Intro Thread & Potential MML Project

[heavymetalpirates]

Hi everyone!

I am brand new to this forum as a registered user, but have been lurking for a few weeks now. I am an amateur developer striving to expand my current abilities, and I recently had the thought of potentially creating a Unity-based remake of the i-mode exclusive game, Rockman DASH: Great Adventure on Five Islands. The servers for Capcom Party were deactivated in April 2018, so the game will no longer function even if you have a compatible phone with the game data installed.

I must admit that so far I have very little experience with Unity, but I figured this may be a good learning project, as a full translated script of the game is already available, game objects and resources for Unity have already been created by fan dev teams (I am hoping to be granted permission from these devs to use some of these resources, but I have not yet contacted them directly), and we even have full gameplay and translated cut scenes for the first two (of five) areas, courtesy of GetMeOffTheMoon.

So I suppose this leads me to my main question: Is there any interest in this community for such a remake project?

[SULucina]

 Wow, for once I actually beat Dashe at greeting the newcomers. That's a first. *evil laughter*

Anyways, welcome to MMLS! Just pull yourself a chair and make yourself at home. I had the liberties of getting a room for you (don't tell anybody that I stole the key from someone else's room.)

 As for me, I have little experience with Unity myself but I believe fAB and Blyka would be the best ones to talk to on the matter; I only have Blender and 3D Builder to make models, though, not animated ones. But if successful, I'd be happy to be a tester for the game and see whatever else I can do to support the project.

 Well, anyways, happy late New Years and enjoy your stay here!
 

[Dashe]

You know, I'm actually glad to see someone other than me pulling weight around here. Good job, Lucina, expect a cookie in your mailbox sometime later in the week.

As for you, heavymetalpirates, welcome! Coincidentally, we have a Legends Station Discord server where a couple of guys are actually working on that exact thing based on some maps I cobbled together watching the fandub of those games. They're focusing on another project in the meantime, but they've already made some impressive progress with the first island. Come around and check it out, it'd be efficient to pool resources!

Unfortunately, GMOTM's footage of the game is pretty limited, especially considering that game had its own in-game map that the guy who played through it neglected to pull up for our benefit, so there are some areas they've decided to wing it with. There's also very little by way of footage of the town modes and the accompanying dialogue for that. It was a much more expansive game than you'd expect for something that was made for cell phones over ten years ago. But we're doing the best we can with what we have.

[heavymetalpirates]

Thanks for the welcome, so far it seems like this is a fantastic community. During my research of the game, I did notice that it seemed quite expansive as you say. It had quite a few weapon and armor upgrades, and even several side quests. Luckily, we have all that info available even if there isn't any footage. I had no idea the game had a built in map though.

It's definitely great to have any support on a project such as this, and it's amazing to hear that there's already people working on a remake. I wasn't sure if there was enough interest in this project, but I'm going to head over there now to introduce myself. Thanks to both of you!

[Dashe]

Cool, you should have full membership permissions now. The map doesn't get pulled up in the playthrough until the third island, and by the time we got there I was like, "seriously, if you spoke any English and were accessible at all, I'd slap you for not doing this for every level so we could see what we're missing."

[Rockman Striker]

Welcome to the Station HeavyMetalPirates, that's kinda a long username so I guess I'll call you Heavy-P or something like that. I am called by many names: rockmanjuno if you're on Tapatalk app, Rockman Striker if you're on browser or Quetzal Androide outside this forum, but everyone here calls me Striker so feel free to address me as you like.
I'm also a game developer in training so I would like to share with you some advice of what not to do while creating your game, you can read the thread I've created some time ago called "The Master System" it is a project I worked on for 6 years approximately, there you'll find many of the problems you could face while working on your own projects and read the excellent feedback I've received throughout the process.
Don't be afraid to share your progress, even if it's minimal, treasure any feedback you receive, don't take it personal, and don't ask if we would like to watch or play whatever you make, just do it! Any form of derivative work related to Legends is 100% welcome here!

[spaceface]

Yay, new member! Welcome, heavymetalpirates! I will also call you Heavy-P. Can't offer much in regards to game design, but I'll definitely look forward to seeing what you're able to crank out. Best of luck to you!

[heavymetalpirates]

Jan 4, 2020 16:01:38 GMT -5 Rockman Striker said:

Welcome to the Station HeavyMetalPirates, that's kinda a long username so I guess I'll call you Heavy-P or something like that. I am called by many names: rockmanjuno if you're on Tapatalk app, Rockman Striker if you're on browser or Quetzal Androide outside this forum, but everyone here calls me Striker so feel free to address me as you like.
I'm also a game developer in training so I would like to share with you some advice of what not to do while creating your game, you can read the thread I've created some time ago called "The Master System" it is a project I worked on for 6 years approximately, there you'll find many of the problems you could face while working on your own projects and read the excellent feedback I've received throughout the process.
Don't be afraid to share your progress, even if it's minimal, treasure any feedback you receive, don't take it personal, and don't ask if we would like to watch or play whatever you make, just do it! Any form of derivative work related to Legends is 100% welcome here!

Ah crap, thought I replied to you guys a while ago but I guess it didn't go through. Thanks for the welcomes! Little surprised to be dubbed Heavy-P instead of something like HMP, but I don't mind it lol.

Thanks for the advice! I'm always happy to meet another developer. I actually did come across The Master System a while back, but I have yet to give it a try. It looked to have some good resources pieced together so far, as I recall.

As far as my progress, I unfortunately haven't made any yet with a 5 Island remake, but I have been working on another project to learn aspects of game design with Unity. Well, that and console hacking stuff... modded 3DS and PS Vita consoles are pretty amazing BTW. I don't really know anyone who is experienced in Blender/Maya/3DS Max for custom game art and objects, so for now I am working with open-source and/or public domain resources while I build the backbone of the gameplay, area maps, and scripts of a turn-based RPG. Luckily, it's easy to replace those things after that all falls in place. Anyway, I'm hoping to have a really basic but playable prototype within a couple more weeks or so.

[Rockman Striker]

You know what? You can check and use any 3D model, texture or file that you want from my project, there's a link to my Dropbox on that thread if you're interested in learning a bit of Blender and 3D modelling in general, or simply use them as placeholders. I know nothing about Unity or the process to import .blend files into it, I'm afraid that's one of the few ways I can help you.

[SULucina]

 Sorry I haven't been keeping in touch with you, HMP, or Heavy-P, whatever you prefer to be called by. I forgot to mention that I haven't a Discord account at the time I gave you my greeting, but that's going to change in the near future. Behold!

Da, da, da, daaaaa!!!



Please ignore the state of my desk. I'm aware that it's filthy.

  I've been waiting to get this for so long because I hate how my voice sounds on a regular built-in microphone. Hopefully this fixes things and that you won't have to endure the horror of my vocalizations caused by a bad quality mic. We'll see if it's worth the $130 I spent on it, though (yes, I just got this thing today.)

Jan 23, 2020 10:39:15 GMT -5 heavymetalpirates said:

Ah crap, thought I replied to you guys a while ago but I guess it didn't go through. Thanks for the welcomes! Little surprised to be dubbed Heavy-P instead of something like HMP, but I don't mind it lol.

Thanks for the advice! I'm always happy to meet another developer. I actually did come across The Master System a while back, but I have yet to give it a try. It looked to have some good resources pieced together so far, as I recall.

As far as my progress, I unfortunately haven't made any yet with a 5 Island remake, but I have been working on another project to learn aspects of game design with Unity. Well, that and console hacking stuff... modded 3DS and PS Vita consoles are pretty amazing BTW. I don't really know anyone who is experienced in Blender/Maya/3DS Max for custom game art and objects, so for now I am working with open-source and/or public domain resources while I build the backbone of the gameplay, area maps, and scripts of a turn-based RPG. Luckily, it's easy to replace those things after that all falls in place. Anyway, I'm hoping to have a really basic but playable prototype within a couple more weeks or so.

Practice makes perfect, so if the side projects help you in anyway to make the 5 Island remake, by all means do it. And having a template of game events ready is definitely a more organized approach to the project I might add. Should make compiling the game easier. I'll still be waiting for the playable prototype, but this time I'll have access to Discord this time as well to keep in touch as things progress onward.

Jan 23, 2020 12:37:09 GMT -5 Rockman Striker said:

You know what? You can check and use any 3D model, texture or file that you want from my project, there's a link to my Dropbox on that thread if you're interested in learning a bit of Blender and 3D modelling in general, or simply use them as placeholders. I know nothing about Unity or the process to import .blend files into it, I'm afraid that's one of the few ways I can help you.

  Me neither. My experience with Blender in general is, let's just say, limited. I'm sure that there is a common file type(s) that is compatible in both Unity and Blender but I wouldn't know which ones, unfortunately. I've dabbled in importing models from 3D Builder into Blender and I found that the Stanford (.ply) file type works best for cross-software importing. Using this type allows for editing of the models, though I'm not sure how it would affect stuff like rigging since that is unknown territory to me. There may be other file types that work like this, but I know that it does work between these two 3D modelling programs. I don't know about importing stuff into Unity, though, and what files it takes and doesn't. I guess I could sneak in and try to import select stuff from my 3D gallery into Unity as a test, but we'll see.

  Though, I wonder if he can access Dropbox. I can access it because I happen to have that feature on this computer, but I'm not sure if he can too...

[heavymetalpirates]

Jan 23, 2020 12:37:09 GMT -5 Rockman Striker said:

You know what? You can check and use any 3D model, texture or file that you want from my project, there's a link to my Dropbox on that thread if you're interested in learning a bit of Blender and 3D modelling in general, or simply use them as placeholders. I know nothing about Unity or the process to import .blend files into it, I'm afraid that's one of the few ways I can help you.

That's a gracious offer! I just might use some of those once I get started on that project. I haven't used any .blend files yet so I don't know the exact process, but I'm fairly certain Unity is compatible with Blender/Maya/3DS Max file types. I'm not very much on the artistic side, but I'll still definitely need to learn some Blender eventually.

[SULucina]

  Cool. I guess Striker could give you the run down on how to process .blend files, seeing I've never imported anything to anywhere (like zero experience.) Just make sure you can access the files, first. I'd really like to use his Yuna model, for something of mine (you didn't hear that!)...

  Do you plan to customize/build any of the models for the 5-Island project from scratch? That's sure to take time, since Blender's one of those programs that require basic lessons/tutorials prior in order to utilize to the degree you'll need to execute said prerogative. I know I'm still learning Blender... (all I can model in it alone raw are poorly-defined fruits.) I wonder if there are other more intuitive/beginner-friendly 3D modeling/animation software out there that you could use, though. They probably are the ones that cost money to have or use, or not...

But whatever the case, don't rush it. There are bound to be plenty of beginner-level video tutorials of Blender on YouTube (there's also SkillShare, but that's not free) so if you want to create stuff with it down the line and you need help, that would be a good place to get some advice and lessons. You'll probably have to watch lots of vids before you can get to what you want at your current skill level, which is a bummer, but it can't be helped. *shrugs*

  Well, good luck to you, HMP, and be sure to take small breaks in the process; you don't want to numb yourself out of the project. I'll be sure to be there for testing as usual some time in the future - I'm not going to chicken out like I did last time I was here. But yeah, take your time.

"Yes, until then!" - MegaMan Juno

[Rockman Striker]

I've learned Blender entirely by watching YouTube Tutorials and reading some guides, I had no prior knowledge about 3D modelling either so I can assure you that it's not that difficult, the one thing I struggle to this day are the shortcuts, there are so many options that I usually lost track of the name of the procedure I want and its shortcut, thankfully there's an add-on that lets you invoke a search bar by pressing the spacebar, at least on version 2.79 and lower, my computer can't handle version 2.8 so I can't help you with that, many things changed in that version.
Fun fact: My first 3D model was a Sharukurusu, it is composed by some simple shapes like spheres, cones and cylinders, and some unusual shapes for the claws, feet and the "neck" part, so I guess it's a good object to practice.