ubuntu-gaming team mailing list archive

[Danny Piccirillo <danny.piccirillo@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Perhaps we should make a blueprint and/or wiki page? Here's to quote an
email from Tim Blkdijk:

"Specific to launchpad.. I don't know. Let me describe the development
processes then we can extract the things relevant for launchpad.

If you look at http://www.imperialwinter.com/?sec=progress for example, I found this an interesting page. They decided to build and maintain that page to manage the development of their game. This page is about "units" (buildings, tanks..) but they will also need "maps" (the worlds to fight in) and possibly "missions" on those maps for a single player experience. Tracking progress like this in Launchpad would make things more practical.
But before you can get to this stage a team or 'lead artist' would have to define the style and theme of the game. This process is also difficult as this involves concept art and things like that. In this case they decided to copy Star Wars. That's far more easy as site's like http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page have all the specifications to the smallest detail. But this also means the project is doomed, Lucas Arts will kill the project at some point. They know this but still make the choice to base there game on Star Wars as developing a new concept is a to big barrier to take with a distributed development team.
After the stage where they have build the units they get in a phase where they have to balance the units so they are not over- or underpowered. Each unit must have its role and use in the game. Each unit must have its strengths and weaknesses. This needs a lot of play testing and discussion.

For an animation project like http://durian.blender.org/ the process is
somewhat comparable. There is a scenario, script and a storyboard.
Character development (modelling, texturing, rigging), scene
development, block animations, voice acting, final animation (block
animation is made smooth, lip sync).

Improvements to Launchpad would have to be based more or less on those
work flows. But the work flows them self need to be better defined as
I'm not an artist (I'm a manager in healthcare with a IT background). I
will ask Tobi (lead developer of the Spring project) if he has some
idea's a bout this, or knows someone interested in this.

More practical improvements to Launchpad without knowing how it would fit into a more general plan:
* Interpretation and visual representation of binary data as
    - gimp files (understanding layers, resizing, maybe a sort of "diffing" where you can see where changes are made.
    - png and jpg files (understanding that they can be (resized) derivatives of gimp, photoshop or painter binary source files.)
    - sound files (display a wave table, “diffing” by showing changes in this wave table with revisions, understanding volume changes.)
    - blender files (difficult.. but maybe something is possible in cooperation with Ton.)
* Merging binary data files.
    - ?
* Allow "pooling" of content not directly related.
    - 3D artist love to have lost of titled textures (pictures where the left side matches the right side and top matches bottom)
    - Same with 3D models that are textured, rigged and animated.
* Game content needs to run in a game engine, changes to the engine will have consequences for the content.
    - Maybe have something like FTBFS when content is not compatible with its engine?
    - Test cases?
    - ?

* Better support for pre-production stages
    - Storyboards, scripts.
    - Concept art
* Better support for production stage
    - http://www.imperialwinter.com/?sec=progress
* Better support for post-production
    - ?

Anyway, something along these lines. Maybe this should be put on a wiki
so it can be looked at by others with more idea's. I leave that up to
you."

-- 
Enable distributed content development
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/386797
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu
Gaming Team, which is a direct subscriber.

Status in Launchpad Foundations: Incomplete

Bug description:
Content is the primary thing holding back the development of FOSS games and a distributed content development platform is in dire need. 
http://pinstack.blogspot.com/2009/04/foss-gaming-needs-distributed-content.html

FOSS game developers need a website like launchpad (or, better yet, launchpad itself, as this bug was filed for) to allow them to share resources like sounds, textures, models, etc. 

It's a HUGE task, but so is the payoff. Here's to FOSS gaming!