Blitz3D Dynamic Grass Demo

[TheShahzeab]

how long did it take you to make this?

[kenonerboy]

aaaahh your smart bitch ;)

[BlackInfiniti247]

How did you make the character?

[GDL0707]

@BlackInfiniti247 I didn't make it :P

[tepasopatroden]

Nice work! I'm using a similar dynamics for a combat plane game also in blitz3D for create trees, and houses while in passing by. My biggest problem is that the terrain size is too big and affects my fps, so the number of trees and houses is limited. Congrats for your work (my english is really bad sorry).

[ssdwfromnl]

woow, it realy good. I will use this!

[MrThecoolman]

How did u do this plz tell me

[ilhadosmacacos]

Its amazing. Because of geniuses like you i quit programmimg! But now i found out that i am an excellent modeller!

[GDL0707]

@ilhadosmacacos Unlike Megamind, I'm not a genius. The algorithm is very simple, I just did a visually pleasing presentation ;-)

[ramonet27101993]

@GDL0707 name of song?

[Tarek701]

@GDL0707

Why does it lag? Is it because of Blitz3D(Yeah, its quite old)? or is it just my computer. I actually checked everything. Well, yeah BlitzBasic is actually like the name says: "Basic" for beginner programmers. You cannot create a really great game with it. But still this is great work. I wish there could be a way to make the program running fast without sucking that much of memory.

[krystcompany]

@ilhadosmacacos have you seen the date when the video has been added on youtube ?

[herculeslokao]

music file

[siredblood]

Great stuff!! I too am using Blitz..

[MrLendar]

hey, how do you make this? can you make a tutorial please? I want make a game with this programm. thanks :)

[GDL0707]

@MrLendar This was just a little experiment. Vegetation visualization is a complex and constantly evolving topic, and there are many different approaches. As for tutorial, there's a chapter devoted to grassy landscape rendering in 'GPU Gems' book, and you can also google for various articles on that topic.

[MrLendar]

@GDL0707 :o, thanks but I wanted that you show us a tutorial to make something as this.. thanks

[GDL0707]

@MrLendar Hmm... I thought I explained everything intelligibly in the source code %)

Anyways, if I ever return to making the game with grassy landscapes, I'll try to make a tutorial about my implementation :-)

[MrLendar]

@GDL0707 Sorry? What source code %)?

[GDL0707]

@MrLendar Have you looked at the video description? The link is there :-P

[MrLendar]

@GDL0707 Yes, I have looked at the description but there does not say anything of a tutorial or something else

[ShockRawTecTalk]

I love people that share their code!!! ur awesome! im subscribing, keep making videos

[bruniitooh5]

nice music dude ^_^

[GDL0707]

@bruniitooh5 It's the only folk soundtrack I liked among the ones Youtube offered ^^

[5uperboyy]

What language? Where can i learn to program good enough to make this? Im only 13

[GDL0707]

@5uperboyy AFAIK language is called Blitz Basic; if you want to simply get started with Blitz3D programming, google for "Blitz3D crash course". For good programming skills you'll have to read a lot of different sources on your own, though :-)

[TheChowderman]

I'm tryin 2 figure out how to make a blitz sonic I just got the blitz 3d program & idk what 2 do some1 plz help!

[drakenlorde]

beautifull, well done, with an RPG gameplay system, it could be a really funny game

[Cristopherthekiller1]

is that game created on blitz 3D really?

[pufixas]

Omg... very awesome

[genius951102]

This is a very great engine. I'm trying to write a little engine, but I have problems with the terrain collision, I can't get it to work. :S

Could you help me with it? (I have a .b3d model for terrain and a cylinder for player)

[firehead333]

I can and I have. Your engine just look fun to play with. :P

It seems like you have a better grasp of basic then me though.

[firehead333]

I can and I have. Your engine just look fun to play with. :P

[firehead333]

Permission to mess with your program. :)

[GDL0707]

@firehead333 Sure, why not? Actually, you can totally write such thing from scratch, if you're experienced enough programmer ;)

[firehead333]

Is that permission?

[GDL0707]

@firehead333 Um... Permission for what? ^_^

[firehead333]

Oops I meant Jump$.

:P

[firehead333]

I noticed you could jump while not touching the ground.

A simple fix for this would be

If Not EntityCollided(Ninja, Type_Ground)

Jump# = 0

End if Jump# = 99999

If EntityCollided(Ninja, Type_Ground)

Jump# = 5

End if Jump# = 99999

[GDL0707]

@firehead333 I know ^^ Once again, this was not intended as a playable demo, just a test-of-concept. Though it would be interesting if you manage to do something out of it :)

[firehead333]

Code. Please. Don't make me beg.

[GDL0707]

@firehead333 Ehm... Didn't you see the link in the description? Or you mean the code for the whole ninja-running-camera-rotating thing, not just the grass?

[firehead333]

@GDL0707 That too. :) Please?

[GDL0707]

@firehead333 Well, if you want it that badly... But be warned: it's NOT pretty 8)

[RnBandCrunk]

@GDL0707 the joke is, that there are 4 people, who disliked the video.

well, now there are 6, but back then, it was 4.

[zlakie]

holy crap this is awsome. And it is made in blitz3D shit ok so now im going to leave c++ with direct3D(night) for a while.

omg This is the place to come after death

[Xeramach]

Long time ago, I was coding in BlitzBasic ][ on Amiga. Back then was quite hard to make complex graphix due to hardware demands. Now when I look this, I just can say "Wow".

[GDL0707]

@Xeramach Say "Wow" to these guys:

Kévin Boulanger "Rendering Grass in Real Time with Dynamic Lighting"

thatgamecompany, the developers of "Flower" game for PS3

;-)

[GDL0707]

Okay, okay, that's enough)) I know I have 5 or more dislikes :-P But I don't mind this -- everyone has right to vote according to their opinion.

[alexmeanberg]

@GDL0707 4 dislikes.

[mujurulz33]

@GDL0707 u got 4 dislikes man!! lol

[ItsDrizzle]

why can u see the flower through the trees O.O?

[gm3dgames]

@ItsDrizzle

Most likely because he hasnt fixed depth testing yet, or the draw sequencing is off.. Its a demo so it shouldn't matter unless it was a full version, then you should be worried XD

[ItsDrizzle]

@gm3dgames Aight! ^^

[GDL0707]

@gm3dgames The real reason is because all grass, flowers and trees are three separate big meshes, so they can be rendered only one after another. The only way to avoid such effect is to use masked textures instead of alphablended ones... or to combine all textures into single texture (so that grass/flower/tree quads can be sorted inside the mesh).

[ItsDrizzle]

@GDL0707 he meant that the 4 ppl who vite thumbs down are noobs. and ur gr8 ^^!

[MajinWamu]

wow. and I still do 2D programing with Blitz3D

[MunkFano1]

@GDL0707 4 people disliked the video got it now ?

[codegeassownage]

4 people don't know how to use blitz3d like a pro

[JK28JK]

Amaze.. ;)

[txchen123]

wow, make a tut!

[GDL0707]

@txchen123 Well... it's useless =) Basics of GPU-based grass rendering are neatly described in the GPU Gems book. Starting from that, it's possible to make something more sophisticated (like wind waves, interaction with physics bodies, fire/explosions, slicing with bladed weapons, dynamic growth/decay, etc.) ^^ It's just that such features are tightly integrated with overall game logic. Maybe I can try to make an example of this, but not in Blitz3D >_<

[shapeworkstudios1]

i love it! awesome job!

[youknowyoureright91]

I gotta start doing stuff like this, this looks like alot of fun

[tedmcfly]

what is the name of this song...? it isnt "road to the faire".

[GDL0707]

@tedmcfly Current soundtrack is "Irish March" by Kellerman. However, some of David Arkenstone's music suits this video much better =)

[codegeassownage]

2 people missed the like button... =P

[txchen123]

@codegeassownage

Now 4 people, how clumsy.

[GDL0707]

@AlexsiMAC If you don't want to buy it, you'd better look for free alternatives :P Nice thing they're quite good nowadays ;-)

[Everheart000]

Very impressive, I'd enjoy seeing how far you end up with this sort of work.

[MissMysterics]

Nice! beutiful! but fr some reason you can see the flowers from behind the trees.

[GDL0707]

@MissMysterics Thanks) It's because I put flowers and trees in separate batches.

[marxandkirbyrocks]

@GDL0707 This looks a little bit like my heaven....only I have just one oak tree in it XD

[OUS3D]

Interesting,

The trees however look like a 2d graphic that you used camera effect and make them appear 3d, that i know from a tutorial i read long time ago, Thought the grass is truly dynamic thought it was a endless terrain code so "lets see where the grass ends" was a but of a lie. But other wise its very good, I am currently coding Multi-player Third person Shooter in this coding Language.

[GDL0707]

@OUS3D If wasn't a lie, it was a joke ;-)

^_^

[ramonet27101993]

fantastic song, tell me is difficult to make a 3D game if i have made 2D games?

[GDL0707]

@ramonet27101993 Well... It's very different, at least.

[gsonicfan332]

link??

[danypos]

Win!

[Windershiro]

Perfect For RPG! Thx!

[DujiBuji]

what is the name of the old song?

[GDL0707]

Well, it was David Arkenstone's "Road to the Faire", which actually served as an inspiration for such demo.

[XzadHere]

ur awsome

[haloman800]

PLEASE!! Tell me the name of this amazing song! Thank you in advance.

[GDL0707]

Well, current soundtrack is "Irish March" by Kellerman =)

[haloman800]

@GDL0707 I love you!! Thank you!

[GDL0707]

))) Do you like folk genre?

[haloman800]

@GDL0707 I like wind instruments like Flute, Fife, and Piccolo. =3.

[GDL0707]

Yes, this is a must-have for any vegetation system. Actually, I even want the vegetation to be interactive (so that you can gather various flowers/mushrooms, or cast a spell that grows a blooming field on deserted wasteland *in real time*) ;-) The problem is that such complex algorithm must be designed knowing the specifics of game mechanics... I can create a demo, but it would be a waste of effort if it won't evolve into an actual game =)

[ESACproductions]

By the way, id the terrain randomly generated, or is it some sort of height map? It looks pretty endless.

[GDL0707]

It's a heightmap (1024x1024), but I scaled it to be pretty large (you'll need ~5 minutes to go from one side to another at ninja's "turbo speed" :D). The good side effect of grass is that terrain's angularity is less noticeable at close distances ;-)

[ESACproductions]

This is cool. Makes me think of Okami, or Zelda in a way.

[GDL0707]

Thanks :-) Actually, I tried to copy Ultima's control system (with some modifications to make game playable with just mouse). However, in the video I used standard TPS control scheme (mouse+WASD).

[KreoTheHedgehog]

When you put SOnic in that place, its too realistic!

[GDL0707]

What do you mean by "putting Sonic"? O.o

[KreoTheHedgehog]

makes me real cool!

[Samoutuomas]

@GDL0707 He probably meant Sonic the Hedgehog ;) Awesome demonstration btw!

[GDL0707]

Thanks, I hope someday I'll manage to do more demos :-)

[doublesob]

its posible to make game online with blitz 3d? how? any tutes

[GDL0707]

Err... You mean creating a multiplayer/MMO game? Perhaps it's possible, but quite challenging %)

[dodgerzone94]

so it's just grass and flowers? okay concept but good work!

[GDL0707]

Well, yes, I just wanted to show the concept. However, there is a more robust and sophisticated algorithm in "GPU Gems" book (though it would almost inevitably require usage of shaders).

[kailzloi]

класс трава! ))) good)))

[GDL0707]

Спасибо )))

[XD2H3]

What is this i've seen so many people use it but i cant find it on the internet

[GDL0707]

Sorry, what exactly do you mean -- Blitz3D or this demo? O:-)

[XD2H3]

i mean um i guess blitz3d do ou have to buy it?

[GDL0707]

Yes, Blitz3D is not free. Of course, you can find pirated versions, but that's against the law ^_^

[bobysait]

You seem to have problems with z-order for your ( single surface ? ) grass system

sprites cull the trees.

Maybe you should try with the Flag 4 for your grass texture.

+> Blitz3d has no implentation for z-fighting with the alpha flag ( flag 2 for texture )

[GDL0707]

I know this... But alpha-transparent textures just look a way better :-) I have also tried to use masked and alpha-blended grass simultaneously, and its appearance was quite nice too.

[MrThorwal]

great man! =)

[Psychsimsala]

need blitz 3d sdk a video card DirectX7?

[GDL0707]

I suppose yes.

[Psychsimsala]

work blitz 3d fullversion on vista?

[GDL0707]

I don't know

[lebensborn666]

Nice job mate, YassnG i agree with you, i used to code in blitz3d, it only has the power of directX 7 and no shaders...

It is also a lot slower than C++ so i'd say he did a pretty good job with the tools he had ^^ good job mate!!

[GDL0707]

O:-)

[YassnG]

Looks nice. Great job. I like to see things like this done in Blitz so people stop calling it crappy lol.

[Anthony3PO]

dogzer

what the fuck...

[dogzer]

i love you in a sexual manner!!

[GDL0707]

OMG, that's weird! LOL

[MrThorwal]

:D gaylord

[OgamerNL]

Dude, that is sick!

I only can make text based games in Blitz, and insert images and movies, but this..WOH!

[GDL0707]

Actually, some quite interesting effects may be created with blitz (for example, depth of field), but all they are much less efficient than by using plain DirectX or OpenGL..

[STAR123WARSS]

Were can I get Blitz 3d?

[doublesob]

soo beutiful!

[chris69666]

I particularly love the grass. How did achieve that? I am using DarkBasicPro + 3D World Studio. I'm not quite sure how to implement that. I realise you can use shaders to create the grass effects but how do you place down the grass in the editor gracefully?

[GDL0707]

Hmm, sorry, I hadn't noticed your comment until now... I didn't implemented placing grass in editor, but I suppose such operation will resemble something like painting density maps for different types of grass =)

[ElihuNivens]

sad that there's no Z-order on the sprites. i can see the tulips through the trees

[GDL0707]

That's because I render tulips, grass and trees as separate meshes. The only solution without irregular Z-buffer is to either render each sprite as separate mesh (much slower), or to use single texture for grass, flowers and trees (assigning the appropriate texture coords).

[Schoening91]

Is it because of that "dynamically build aorund the observer" that you in a game like WoW have stuff like trees and mountains in long distance to be created suddenly, instead of "Just being there" and increase size when u come closer?

(Not shure how else i should explain it..)

anyways GJ i hope ill soon get something better started then my last project "Hello World"

LOL!

[GDL0707]

I suppose it's not like that. In games like WoW trees and mountains must be static to make sure that collision geometry will remain the same for all times and for all players. The "created suddenly" effect just means that these objects are shown only when player comes close enough to them (to decrease rendering complexity of the scene). In my video, however, grass and trees are truly dynamically built (i.e. the result will be different for each random seed) :-)

[Shapeworkstudios]

where can i get this!?

[GDL0707]

Err... The link mentioned in the video description doesn't satisfy you? %)

[blitzsonicforever]

Well, when i play this, i dont play as anyone!

I am just IN it, as some first person flying thing!

[GDL0707]

Hmm... If you really want "3rd person variant", you can ask me via personal message %) I just didn't want to share the whole demo, because I have no permission for ninja (and soundtrack) ^^

[worbalism]

this could make a good game

[GDL0707]

Do you have any ideas? X-)

[skaruts]

Yea, some medieval war/love story. lol

Rly, I agree with worbalism. This is one of the best looking demonstrations I've seen around, even though it has nothing more than grass lol, it looks rly nice.

The character is also nice looking too, especially his animation, seems smooth and very well done.

Hope you can make a game outta this one of these days.

:p

[skaruts]

and btw, the wind looks very nice too.

[GDL0707]

Thanks! However, you shouldn't give me credit of the craracter creation =)

Medieval war/love story sounds interesting... But I myself thought of something more like fairytale-style quest/adventure ;-)

[skaruts]

.. or that! :p

Good luck with it. Hope you can make it.

[twilightzoney]

Dang that sun flare is amazing i gotta try doing that.

[GDL0707]

I wish you luck ;-)

[twilightzoney]

Hey thanks just gonna be a big pain as I'm still learning I've just been doing simple stuff lol. But i'll figure something,

[krayzgerman]

Great job, it looks like the grass blades shift though because the sprites always face the avatar so when the camera moves so do the grass blades.Creating in threes is best 3 types of flowers 3 types of grass, this way there is more variation.

[GDL0707]

Well, it's not like that. "Grass sprites" here are just a bunch of polygons of a single mesh, and they show through each other because of Z-ordering

[AdamaProductions]

This is really cool, good work :)

[Chrise55]

great work!

[consti3]

Could u please make the Game download and playable :D That would be cool...

Ähm and i wanted to ask you...

Are you able to add some bots to the game?

Just that there is someone...

Maybe just some with are walking around...

would be nice xD

[GDL0707]

Perhaps this is impossible ^^

First of all, to write the proper game mechanics (even in Blitz3D), you'll have to spend a considerable amount of time.

Secondly, since I don't have my own 3D-models, I've used ninja from TombRaider4 for the test purposes. But I suppose I cannot share it.

Thirdly, I have no idea what game can be created from just walking on grassy terrain ;-)

[krayzgerman]

You pick flowers and mushrooms, while being chased...by Langoliers...

[GDL0707]

Hehehe))) Nice idea ^^

[rocktheworld2k6]

can you like create an exe for it so we can try it out? it looks soo fun to play with. btw i forgot how to make a skybox with a sphere lol. i know you have to put the image inside of the sphere...

[GDL0707]

Sorry, did you mean "exe with ninja character" or "exe with grass algorithm"? The latter is available for download on GoogleCode =)

To tell the truth, I have added some other features to the demo... But I don't know whether I should share it or not. X-)

[rocktheworld2k6]

you should make it an exe... it is soo cool. is there an end to the map?

[GDL0707]

Well, the map is quite large...

Okay, If there would be at least 10 people who want to just "walk in the grass", I'll try to make the exe X-) However, I'll have to use only resources that are available for free.

[SwappTools]

is it a game ???

is it for public users ???

how long ar you working for this results ???

[GDL0707]

It is a demo ))) Though I wish I could make a real game from this ;-)

Yes, it is for public use. The links to sources are somewhere in comments.

Having started from scratch, I ended up with this in several months. But I spent only several hours each day on this program (at the average) :-)

[Alusaint]

hey do you know if I can use a 3ds max biped in blitz 3d

[GDL0707]

Theoretically you can use almost everything in Blitz3D... But for most of cases you would have to write all the support code from scratch ;-) Blitz3D supports *.b3d format, but it can load only mesh/skin and bone keyframes. If you also need other data (such as joint constraints or collision geometry), you'll have to use third-party code (or write it yourself) to deal with physical properties of objects.

[Alusaint]

No im am saying I want my character to

be able to run freely like the model in your video.

[Alusaint]

It will definitly be a  third person game

action/adventure game something like devil may cry hopefully

[GDL0707]

Hmm... I thought that "Devil may cry" is mainly hack&slash %) It's hard for me to imagine any violent gameplay at such a peaceful meadow :-)

[Alusaint]

oh my god this is exactly how I want my game to look.

[GDL0707]

Oh, that's interesting =)

What would be the genre of the game you've mentioned? I'm curious ^^

[AichiPL]

GREAT!Master!10/5

[Thunabrain]

It would seem that you have Z - sorting problems.

If you take a look at the trees, you can clearly see the grass behind it.

This happens when you use a surface with forced vertexalpha and/or EntityOrder.

[GDL0707]

You are right. This problem does not appear if I create each tree/grass particle as a separate entity (Blitz3D automatically sorts them all). But in this case rendering is much slower. To avoid such problem with large dynamically built mesh, I must insert all the dynamic particles into one surface (in the video I have 3 surfaces: one for grass, second for flowers and third for trees). This can be done (using one texture for all particles), but that's too big effort to me ;-)

[smr597bmx]

if its not a problem, then id love to take a look over it,

that second sun idea is interesting.

I have seen some "lensflare" effect, that had all of the cool gadgets. There was a opens ource demo with a ruin scene with it, im sure u have seen this one, well imo it looked ugly, yours looks simple, only abit tweaking maybe.

Anyway hows that project going?

[GDL0707]

OK, I have sent you the corresponding pieces of code...

Sorry, I didn't see the ruin scene demo. Where may I look at it? ^^

That project is currently not in development (I plan to move to PythonOgre, so I have no reasons to do something in Blitz3D).

[smr597bmx]

thanks i replyed, well i have been thinking bout other languages but blitz3d seems to be the easyest/stable and i dunno what haha.

Well since blitz main forums are down, i cant tell u where it is .. if i have some time i can upload it if u want

[smr597bmx]

Hm that lens flare is nice, how many lines of code does it use? maybe you can, some how, give me the lens flare source? or where did you got it, because i have tried some lens flares, but none fit my needs, but as i sayd, this one looks pretty good! also how long have you been using the language?

[GDL0707]

Well, in this demo the implementation of "lens flare" effect took approximately 25 lines for preparation and 45 lines for processing (I didn't optimize it). The main idea was taken from the one of Blitz3D samples. I simply added fading (disappearing) when sun is obscured by some object. Also I have used second "sun" behind everything to avoid situations when sun disappears despite it is only partially obscured.

If you want, I can send you this part of code via YouTube message.

[thenesmaster]

what program do u use to make your models? and how do u import them in blits 3d?

[GDL0707]

Almost every 'model' or texture here is not created by me. I assume you haven't worked with Blitz3D if you ask such questions ;-)

[deluxedookie]

how stable is blitz i have yet to use but i will when i get more info if its worth it.

[GDL0707]

[IMHO] Blitz3D is very stable (it still may have some bugs, but they are tolerable).

Well, Blitz3D may be a bit "too simple" for experienced programmers (no methods, no callbacks, etc.) :-)

[dylpillrules21]

OMG INSANITY!!! YOUR A GOD AT BLITZ3D!! lol I wish i could do that. Might you share how you got the grass to interact with the wind? if not its fine! =)

[GDL0707]

Take a look at source code :) Such feature is implemented quite easily ;-)

Links to source code must be somewhere in comments...

[gytiw79]

well actually i knew all this stuff but... erm... i thought only textures was only on that ninja so you explained what i need thank you