At the moment, only a slight part of Face Noir`s development takes place in its head office – we are mainly talking about finishing touches that require a direct contact among developers.

Most of the work is in fact realized through online collaboration. The main disadvantage in such a working method is that one can`t give an immediate response to what is being done. Let`s make an example: when a Model Maker – the one who realizes tridimensional models – creates a character, he has to send it to the Editor. When such model has been inserted in the game, it is necessary to send everything back to the Model Maker and, obviously, to the Project Manager, in order to check if the in-game result is suitable.
I think it`s clear enough that a lot of time is thus wasted from a step to the next, and let`s also say that it`s quiet infrequent that everything is acceptable in one go :)

In order to reduce development times and keep the good quality of the game, we have created three different application programs – or tools – which use the same engine of the game.

The first one is a 3D models Viewer in Microsoft X format. In brief, it allows seeing how a 3D model – a character for example – is going to be seen in the game engine. This way, it is possible to test various animations and settings, loading a screen directly from the game – both the 2D background and the 3D model for an exact 2.5D rendering -, moving inside the 3D model and create particle effects such as rain, snow, fog etc.

As regards the second tool, I can`t really enter into details. It deals with some particular settings of the inventory that I hope we can show you soon.

The last “born” regards the creation of videos that you will be able to see in-game. It allows us to insert images, texts and visual effects as rotation, zoom and so on, as well as set their times.
It`s clear that, despite these three tools, it is impossible to replace fully a direct work on the game engine. Nonetheless, they allow Graphic Designers as well as the Project Manager to see immediately the final result and correct possible mistakes. The result is that a great part of the material I receive for the assembling procedure is already final or needs minor retouches. A thing that saves us a lot of time :)

P.S.: Here http://forum.dead-code.org/index.php?topic=3490.0 you can find a non-updated version of the model viewer tool.

Post available soon in English.

Alla fine degli anni ‘80 Bologna si è imposta a livello nazionale come centro di produzione videoludica. Nel 1987 nasce infatti Simulmondo, una delle più significative software house italiane. Primo gioco a essere realizzato dal neonato studio bolognese è Bowls (Bocce), a opera di Ivan Venturi. Nel corso degli anni Simulmondo si specializza nella produzione di giochi sportivi e nella trasposizione dei fumetti della Sergio Bonelli Editore: Tex Willer, Diabolik, Dylan Dog. La software house chiude i suoi studi nel 1999, dopo aver pubblicato più di 150 titoli per Commodore 64, Amiga e altre piattaforme.

A un anno dall’inaugurazione dei suoi spazi, l’Archivio Videoludico prosegue sulla strada della riscoperta del passato ospitando la reunion della storica casa di sviluppo italiana. Rendere omaggio all’attività di Simulmondo significa valorizzare una realtà territoriale che è stata capace di imporsi anche oltre i confini nazionali.

L’evento si configura come una vera e propria festa alla presenza degli ex membri della software house, tra cui Ivan Venturi, Riccardo Cangini, Michele Sanguinetti, Andrea Bradamanti, Gianluca Gaiba, Cristian Bazzanini, Ciro Bertinelli, Stefano Balzani e altri. Un viaggio a ritroso nel tempo con presentazioni e immagini di titoli dell’epoca, postazioni di gioco, uno spazio dedicato ad altre realtà di sviluppo italiane e a portali specializzati nel retrogaming. Parteciperanno:

• Adventure’s Planet (con Audere Semper)
• Artematica (con Julia)
• Imagimotion (con myBand)
• Koala Games (con il gioco tratto da Eymerich, realizzato in collaborazione con Imagimotion)
• Mad Orange (con Face Noir)
• Ready64.org
• Woprbox.com

L’evento si terrà presso gli spazi della biblioteca Renzo Renzi della Cineteca di Bologna, in via Azzo Gardino 65/b, dalle ore 15.00 alle ore 19.00 di sabato 20 marzo 2010. Ingresso libero.

http://www.cinetecadibologna.it/archivi/videoludico/eventi

Daremo maggiori informazioni sulla nostra partecipazione nelle prossime settimane.

There are several possibilities to make a scene dynamic. Except for the common technique regarding the inclusion of some characters – such as passerbys – inside it, it is possible to create some quick videos showing, for instance, a moving shop sign or lights turning on and off in the scene.

Other two excellent ways to create more ‘lively’ locations are: the use of fixed images managed by scripts and the particles effect.

In the video up here, showing a scene of the game located in a street of the Lower East Side in New York, it is possible to notice the use of both the aforesaid techniques – the falling rain, the rain on the sidewalk, the lightning, the mist.

The use of particles consists in creating the image of a particle, such as a snowflake, smoke haze, or in this case a drop of rain and ‘serve it up on a platter’ to a particles emitter. This emitter is able, through a considerable series of parameters – and believe me, it’s really CONSIDERABLE ;) – to multiply the single particle, to enlarge or reduce it according to the depth of the scene, to vary its colour, manage its speed, regulate its running time… and I will spare you all the other details and options.

The overall effect is excellent for the graphic return as well as for the efficiency of the game.

One of the first scenes in Face Noir is set in Slovanski`s apartments, where Jack lives.
I wanted to create a quite gloomy atmosphere for this scene, with poor lighting and a dowdy appearance, but where it could also be noted a rather vain attempt to make the apartments comfortable.
The image at your left shows some stages of the technical development of an environment. Everything starts with the drawing of the location`s geometry (01 and 02), followed by the creation of a texture for each object of the scene (03). The last stage consists of a study of the illumination and the addition of some post-production effects to the environment (04).