ok... say i want to change  the scene to have a crowd of random walkers instead of just one...

simple...

step 1: delete the script object from the project...  WHATTT!!!! you may ask   

trust me, there is a reason for this...  we are going to add some more content... increase the number of instances (objects) of random walkers... that means we will be adding additional skinmeshes and rigidbodies to the project, and (IMPORTANT) EVERY TIME THE LIST OF OBJECTS THAT'LL BE LINKED TO THE GAME COMPONENT SCRIPT CHANGES, WE MUST DELETE THE EXISTING GAME COMPONENT SCRIPT, ADD THE NEW CONTENT, AND REPLACE IT WITH A NEW GAME COMPONENT SCRIPT, and link each of the new objects (Skinmeshes and Rigidbodies) in sequence...

the Game Component Script expects the associated object to be linked one behind the other in the ObjectHandle window, so any changes to the list of object in the editor will require this...


step 2: select the Skinmesh object and clone insert 5 new meshes so you have a contiguous list of 6 skimeshes... these will represent 6 Game Component Instances... 

step 3: do the same for the Rigidbodies...  make sure each rigidbody is linked to the Gforce and terrain as you would normally do...

step 4: next, add a new Script object and link each of the new Skinmeshes and Rigidbodies starting at the top of the list...

step 5: open the Script Object and click Load, and load TestComponent.obs...

step 6: check to make sure all the new objects show up in the Object Handle window as a continuous list in sequential order of 6 Skinmeshes followed by 6 Rigidbodies...

step 7: edit the script to change the OBJECT_COUNT amount to 6... that's the first line in the script...


CLOSE THE SCRIPT AND RUN...  you should now have a few people walking around...



are ya startin to see the potential in this... especially for non coders... the art centric developer never has to get into the complexities of the logic or code required to implement a certain functionality... al they have to do is to provide the content that the Game Component requires (in this case a simple animated mesh and a rigidbody ), link em in sequential order, edit the number of objects, and they're off and running...


for the Game Component developer, simply design your object as your would expect a single object to behave for each particular interaction and tell the user what content to provide to the Component... this is facilitated through the use of Object Iriented Programming mehtodology, where you define a Class and, at the bare minimum, write a Create and an Update method...

it's like a black box of sort where the user/developer  of a Game Component is never expected to have to be aware of the code logic inside... 

coool, eh 

hey... for grins, use the same procedure and see how many you can add before things start to slow down...


--Mike

Nodt tried it yet, but sounds interesting. Will certainly give this a shot when I finish college today

of course useful, thank you for caring about the beginners =)

we were all beginners at one time...

also,

there are many people who are not beginner artist and model makers who have no interest in programming or complex logic assemblies... they are also an essential part of any game development community...

i'm not talking about the person who comes to RAD with his/her head in the clouds with fantasies of making the next great Doom killer or GTA replacement a week or two after they download the editor... i'm talking about the non coder who is willing to take the time and expend the effort to at least get familiar with all aspects of development...

hopefully something like this can help get their efforts realized...

ok... moving on... speech mode off 

I think there are several separate themes:
1 Mechanics of the game is for example the Game Component fire or move bots.

Component Game Design is actually what that is all about... the mechanics of any game IS  what the elements of that game do... 

try to think of a component as an independent, self sufficient, instance of the Component CLASS (an  OBJECT), that lives in the game world... once created, you can leave it alone and it will exist in the game world all by itself, without any further intervention... interacting with game world, and with any other instances of not only the Game Componenct it was created from, but with instances of any other Game Components that it was design to be aware of...

for example... take our Test Component... it doesn't really do much right now when you put one or a group of em into a scene... but lets say that you need a population of walkers to move around a city scene...   this is where the concept of Game Components starts to become apparent...


first - the artist/modeler developer makes the request as a set of specifications....

next - the programmer/component designer developer proposes a solution in response to the request...

third - the component is written, usually based upon an existing CLASS, but with added METHODS that extend the components functionality... so eventually you can wind up with what on the surface appears to be a complex object, but what is really a series of SIMPLE, well thought out  behaviors...

this is how GAME COMPONENT Development works... like a contractor and a customer in the real world, all the customer has to know is what he/she wants, and send up the request... then the contractor gets back to em with a proposal... if the customer agrees, then the component is built...

 

the Atmosphere of the game - the change of day and night, rain, snow, Theme,

in the surface these things seem pretty straight forward and simple, but upon further thought you'll see that these type of components will affect almost any element of the game... as well as any Game Components...  best to give these careful consideration before creating these type of components..

well and need instructions what content is needed for this or that Game Component

definitely... that will be included in the top part of the Script as comment...


now lets see the process in action...

as the customer... the artist/modeller/developer... i need to populate my city scene with people who walk around the city...  i make a request...

as the programmer/component designer... i propose a simple solution based upon the existing test component  that allows the walker to move about the scene, moving toward a series of waypoint which the  customer will be able to place about his/her scene...

lets see if this works...



--Mike

Sounds interesting. I'm thinking about components like in google sketchup

think OBJECTS... take two aspirin... and you'll be alright...

What about like a racetrack maker like the one 3drad gives only better..

a race track or race car, maybe... but definitely not a racetrack maker...
that's not what this is all about...

besides... why recreate the wheel... one of the thing 3DRAD does well is race track thingees...

hang tight... i'm whipping up the first real game component example... one that can actually be used in a game...

--Mike

I don't know how the others managed to open your zip, but I certainly cannot (using both WinZip and WinRar) 

OOPs! 

rolling around!!??   

Allan, are you sure you followed the instuctions above... 
sounds like you may have linked the  skinmeshes to the rigidbodies...

--Mike