For those interested, here is an insight into my game project, which I've included as part of my ongoing series of vlogumentaries on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/SuauIGQSm3A

Sorry, I couldn't resist...

https://youtu.be/DJupt2Jwwac

Blender is certainly not for the casual have-a-go 3D modeller...

I can't speak for Unity just yet, as I'm using ClickTeam Fusion 2.5 as the engine for this game.

Still a long way to go before it's perfect, but we'll get there in time!

Ah yes- I did think of that- we can always do things the Series 8 way and chuck a fireball in for blatant guaranteed death!

Progress is good- not quite as quick as I'd hoped, but it's progress, although the horn of full time employment beckons from the horizon, which is going to slow things down a bit in the coming weeks.

Anyhow, I've been animating and rendering a few bits over the last few days.

Firstly, I've re-animated the Level 1 Blocker- brick-by-brick!
L1Blocker.jpg

I've also been learning how to animate water, thus making use of my new skills in recreating the Sewers of Goth!
GothWet.jpg

Then there's designing an adaptation of "Play your Cards Right".

I've had to use creative licence to adapt the environment to suit my design and game engine, therefore the camera angle is not quite what you see on TV and I've had to lose one pair of cards in order to make things fit on the screen without the added complexities of pseudo-3D sidescrolling graphics!
Cards Right.jpg
I am happy with the way the textures turned out though- those lovely shiny textured bricks!

The dungeoneer can reach up and touch each card and the platforms slide in and out just as they should.

I just need to add in a goblin!

Speaking of Knightmemes…

https://youtu.be/DJupt2Jwwac

One for Knightmare Pride, perhaps...

I have already uploaded a demo of the infamous Corridor of Blades to YouTube here:

https://youtu.be/t7xWBO3V514

However, I think I can do better than that- wait until you see the revised graphics...

In case you're wondering how on earth I can get a third dimension on a 2D engine, I can tell you there is a lot of maths involved- plenty of trigonometry and scaling, which took me considerable time to get my head round.

One of the advantages of pseudo-3D graphics is that they're pre-rendered, so as long as the player's device has the memory capability to handle animation, it will look just as good on any device without the need for expensive graphics cards or plugins, meaning greater compatibility across devices (running NON-Apple systems).

I intend to recreate material from throughout the majority of series 1-8, depending on the source material available, how easy it is to incorporate into the game, how much time I have, etc.

Igneous makes an appearance:
Igneous Room.jpg
Hopefully Brangwen will too!

So far, I've got a system set up with an array of different backdrops based on what features in the televised rooms, as well as the different tile symbols and randomly-programmed paths across the causeways:
Causeway Room.jpg

Graphically, the Trial by Spikes is almost there, but I've still got a few constraints to overcome- we don't want dungeoneers running straight to the door between the 4th and 5th spikes!

I thought I'd start a new thread documenting my progress on a development which I originally conceived in 2006, when I made a 2D Knightmare PC game. Many of you Knightmare Stalwarts will remember it being hosted on Turaja_Nuju's website and I do believe I distributed hard copies on CD-ROM to some of you.

Anyhow, Lockdown 2020 has seen me rekindle my interest in creating such a game- albeit very much improved from my original dodgy graphics and limited-quality audio.

Seeing the amazing work Jamesuk has done with his virtual reality rooms and sourcing original audio footage, this really whet my appetite for achieving something which I have now wanted to achieve for almost 15 years- an immersive, interactive Knightmare experience that can be enjoyed by fans old and (k)new alike.

I have gone for the pseudo-3D style for a number of reasons:

The first is that I have very limited experience in 3D game coding, yet I am competent in 3D design, and also very familiar with the 2D game engine format I am using.

Secondly is that as a viewer, or indeed an advisor, you only ever see the environments from one angle- from behind.

Therefore, using this fixed camera angle, I then don't have to worry about imagining the "fourth wall" or ceilings that were never shown- or even designed!

I can also use this to my advantage to hide or manipulate objects out-of-sight to achieve a desired effect.

However, for the graphics I am using a 3D rendering program called Blender- an amazingly powerful tool, which can achieve some very realistic results.

Realism isn't necessarily what I am going for, as I want the rooms to look as true and faithful to the originals as possible- perhaps enhancing them if I feel the need.

Bomb Room.jpg

Whilst progress has been good during this unsettled period of staying at home, the project has not been without its pitfalls. I still have many hurdles to overcome- particularly with the character interactions and quest scenarios.

Designing the characters in 3D has been a very steep learning curve, but I am really impressed with how some of them have turned out so far.

Characters So Far.jpg

More images to follow...

However, what you see here may not be what makes the final cut- things are always subject to improvement!

As some of you already know, I've been getting back into creating some form of interactive Knightmare game, but as my journey progresses, things are never as simple as they first appear.

Aside from the reconstruction of the various rooms and puzzles featured throughout the show, there is also the task of programming them- not just to behave exactly how they did on screen, but to be fully functional in a free, user-controlled environment.

Watching back through the episodes, many of the puzzles were dictated with a little help from Treguard with no use and abuse from the teams- they just got on and performed the task required in order to succeed- or fail.

This is particularly true with the Trial by Spikes in the way that NOBODY cheated the puzzle.

When you look at it- a skilled, sighted dungeoneer could take one look at the spikes and notice a clear run straight to the door between the 4th and 5th tiles.

Now, imagine yourself viewing that same room on a computer screen with the ability to control the dungeoneer directly using the arrow keys... Tempting isn't it...?

This presents a problem to me as a game programmer to have to find a way to intervene in order to prevent this little cheat from being undertaken.

Another way to avoid the puzzle would be to step back a row and wait for the next row of spikes to come up, thus, revealing the correct clear square.

The latter I have almost cured- if the user steps back from the desired row, no spikes will emerge until that user stands in the correct row.

But what if they happen to be standing BETWEEN the spikes..?

You see- not as simple as it sounds is it?!

This is just one of the many puzzles I have yet to solve on my 'quest', but not one I can cheat my way out of...

So, I've started drawing up 3D models for the game's non-player characters.

This is a steep learning curve for me- from sculpting faces, rigging clothes and getting used to software which I've never had to use before (Blender 2.

I've been working on Elita, Gwendoline (see other post) and now Hordriss.

You'd think his flowing cloak would be easy, but this took some fathoming in order to get the cloth simulation to behave properly.

The medallion was made from scratch (good old YouTube for close-up reference images of Hordriss) and the hair is "real", meaning it consists of thousands of tiny strands.

The next challenge is trying to figure out how to add the red streaks to the sides and along the eyebrows.

Hordriss1.jpg

Now I wonder who I should start on next...

Yes, the causeway room was a deliberate choice!

One of these days I'll get round to Dragon Hall, but it's not freely accessible because a writers' club occupy it full time now, I believe.

I do have this sort-of plan to make some sort of video documenting some of the Knightmare locations.

I did approach Epic Studios last year regarding visiting and taking some video of the spaces, but heard nothing in reply.

I have been in Epic as I spent a week working there on a film shoot in 2014.

They even had part of it curtained off in bluescreen!

Here is mine:
Pooka Plush.jpg

Made out of a sponge and some old overalls in 2006!

Quite where it disappeared to I will never know...

Probably haunting some poor dungeoneer in the textile bin in the sky...

Ok. A little more progress getting used to this Blender lark slowly...

Elita is now joined by a Gwendoline (her belts will need a more three-dimensional rework, plus her weapon holsters)
Gwendoline1.jpg

I've also started on a Hordriss, whose hair I've had to sculp completely from scratch, as it's quite a unique style. I haven't figured out how to add the red streaking yet, but have started on his cape, which is attached along his arms.
Gwendoline1.jpg

This is all a complete learning curve to me- my 3D rooms were created using SketchUp, in which I've become a bit of a whizz, but Blender is completely different and much more powerful.

In time, perhaps a full 3D game will be will become a reality!

Thanks for your encouragement.

I've still got many obstacles to overcome before I can make this into anything remotely useful.

Animating the characters is going to be a huge chore.

After experimenting with superimposing characters from video footage of Knightmare episodes, with unsatisfactory results, I am now toying with the idea of recreating them in 3D so that I can animate them in Blender.

Starting with Elita, as her costume appears rather simple to model:
Designing Elita.jpg

I'm fortunate to live within the vicinity of some of the historic locations used in Knightmare (S4 onwards)- namely Castle Acre and Castle Rising.

I couldn't resist having some fun last year and came across a couple of pookas and a causeway on my travels...

Chris Pooka1.jpg
Pooka at Castle Acre Priory.jpg
Chris on Knightmare Causeway.jpg

Well, after seeing the videos on YouTube before tracing my way back here (after a gap of about 14 years!) I must say I'm impressed (did I just quote Greystagg there?!).

This UK Lockdown situation has seen me rekindle an old flame- my 2D-engined rendition of Knightmare, which I originally released in 2006, which now looks horribly awful. How things have changed in 15 years!

My experience with 3D game programming is virtually non-existant, however, I have been an avid user of SketchUp (for other non-game-related projects) for several years now, so I've decided to take a unique approach to implementing 3D graphics into a 2D engine.

Although not quite as visually dynamic as Jamesuk's masterpiece (the camera view will be fixed on each room), it does however mean that the player/viewer will get an authentic Knightmare visual, as well as the ability for me to get around a few obstacles- particularly creating and animating 3D figures from scratch for NPCs.

As Jamesuk quite rightly expressed- the NPC aspect of Knightmare is rather daunting!

Animating them is one thing (even superimposing them from video footage of Knightmare is a laborious task) but constructing/editing the dialogue to suit a variety of scenarios is very difficult indeed.

I've already spent days sifting through episodes gathering audio of some characters, only then to listen through it all and remove all traces of noise interruptions from advisors/dungeoneers/dungeon MASTERS...

This then leaves a rather rigid, limited range of dialogue which one can truly work with.

The other- perhaps most frustrating factor- is that of burning out, creatively.

You get so far into a project before something else takes hold and places it on the back-burner...

Test Imagery.jpg

Well, UK Lockdown has got me resurrecting this old project...

Now, presenting the Corridor of Blades in pseudo-3D!

https://youtu.be/t7xWBO3V514

After having a bit of a play with Clickteam Fusion, I may actually resurrect this project and improve on it both visually and graphically...

I'm thinking 2.5D with a perspective view showing the rooms as they appear in the episodes.

Although not as impressive as Jamesuk's 3D master pieces, it will be an improved look over my original graphics from 2006.

Let's see if I can keep up the creativity... watch this space.

Ok, so twelve years on from my original 2D game creation and I've been away from the forum, but after catching up on all the nostalgia from the last few years, was curious to see whether my game was still online- and it's not. Things have clearly moved on, and I also see that Jamesuk has been working on some wonderful 3D recreations that put my original creation to shame- oh, how technology has progressed!

I still have the original .exe file of my game. However, looking at it today, it's so primitive- the graphics pixelated and the gameplay isn't the most intuitive, but I was only 18 when I created it. However, it is nice to see that there were still requests to play it years after it was originally shared, and if there is enough interest, perhaps I will share the file again.

Thanks to TuragaNuju for hosting it all that time ago. I wonder if you're still active on here...