Well, Epic Games is trying to you a head start if you buy Unreal Tournament 2004 Special Edition. (Retail $59.99 plus $10.00 mail in rebate if you own Unreal Tournament 2003 and mail them in the cover or something.) They are doing this by including 70 HOURS of mod making training with the game! Read about it at: http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/sho...did=338772 And to answer some questions that I know will come up.
Q: But I'm not interested in making a FPS, why should this interest me?
A: The Unreal engine is fully customizable in mods. In fact, you can even change the camera view! There are some very cool unreal mods that don't use first person perspectives. Such as a Marble Madness mod. I believe that one is called Marble Mania 2003. (You can google it.) Also, Splinter Cell, was made using the Unreal Engine! Just to give you some idea of its power.
You might want to keep an eye on the make something unreal contest especially the phase 1 winners. There is some crazy cool unreal stuff being put out for that. Deathball and Jupiter Effects being ones that I think look particularly interesting. :)
Also, a lot of the training provided in UT2K4 SE (almost looks like a Capcom game name, doesn't it?) will be useful in ANY gaming environment. Especially the Maya stuff.
Q: What is Maya?
A: Maya is a program made by Alias. It is used for 3d modeling, animating, etc. While 3DS Max might be better known in the gaming industry, Maya is its equivalent in the film industry. Both programs are very capable, and it is pure preference which one you use. (Think Pepsi or Coke.) However, a person learning edition of Maya (it has watermarks) is included with Unreal Tournament 2003, and will be included with Unreal Tournament 2004. (You can also download it from alias.com) The PLE version allows you to practice with Maya, without paying $2000 to purchase the software. If memory serves Maya was used in the making of many hit videogames as well. Perhaps you've heard of a one of them, it was called Wind Waker I believe. ;)
The problem is this: Netscape refuses, under any circumstances, to save things. I click "Save As" and select where I want to save the file, but when I click okay nothing happens and the file is nowhere to be found. If anyone has had a problem similar to this or knows what to do please tell me!!
Quote:Nintendo stocks in Japan have gone up 3.7 percent on Friday and Deutsche Securities have raised the company’s rating from “hold” to “buy.” Other market analysts are sure to follow. It’s almost entirely in response to the healthy GameCube sales in the U.S. for the holiday season in which Nintendo had the top-selling software, Mario Kart, and top-selling system, GBA, in November. GCN sold 754,000 units in the month while close industry rival Microsoft sold 491,000 Xbox systems.
The GameCube's graphics chip maker, ATI, also reported that its quarterly revenue may be up about 40 percent from high sales of GCN and other technology it provides.
So... what now? (oh and I know no one here subscribes to the NY Times but their article is way longer and far more informative than CNN's short one...)
Quote:....Rockstar also annnounced it planned to have the next installment of the Grand Theft Auto franchise ready for reelase in the "fourth fiscal quarter of 2004". Rockstar also plans to release Manhunt for Xbox and the PC as well as an extension of the Grand Theft Auto franchise for the Game Boy Advance during fiscal 2004.
Awesome, now I just hope that they'll use one of those spiffy 3D engines for the game.
