Ok folks, the new project is here. The dedicated Jazz3D project is dead and a new project is born.

Introducing M.I.A , or expanded - Mod It All

This is what all this work has been about. This is what has become of the project that started as an attempt to make Jazz2 work in 3D.

MIA is a completely modable game system. It allows you not only to play games on it but also to make your own modifications and share them with every gamer who logs in....but I'm jumping ahead of myself.

The core element of MIA is total conversions (TC's) these are our games. So Jazz3D will be a total conversion for MIA. I also have a few other TC's in planning.
Any user can make their own TC, and then develop their own levels, weapons, characters and objects for that TC (we will talk of editors soon).
A user can download a TC using MIA where it will be installed and they can start playing straight away.
They can also download modifications for the TC made by other users.
If they feel creative they can make their own mods.

If you aren’t really creative, don't worry...the best bit of MIA is the fact you can play these TC's online with your mates.

Ok so let’s talk about the components of this project.

Firstly we have "MIA Core"
This is the starting place for all your work in MIA.
You begin by logging in (or registering an account)

You will be presented with a few pages:
Home, Updates, TC & Account
In home you can see the latest MIA news and also send a message to me if you have a bug to report, feature request or incident to report (e.g. Cheating or abuse of any kind).
In updates we will be shown a list of crucial updates to MIA…It’s very wise to stay updated as when playing online if you have a out of date version of MIA you will not be able to join games made by those with a more recent version.
In TC you can choose which Total Conversion you wish to play and upon activating it will be taken to a set of TC specific menus.
Account is where you can change your User Name, password, Contact details etc.

So what are these TC specific menus ?
Well they are split into TC Home, Updates, Downloads, Installed, Play & Account

TC Home is the latest news on the TC (these news items are made by the user who made the TC, not the MIA admin or moderators)
Updates shows the list of crucial updates to the Total Conversion. As before make sure you are up to date.
Downloads lets you search, find and download Mods for the TC
Installed lets you see the mods you already have installed and edit them (if you have permission), remove them or Upload one (if it’s yours) to the server so it becomes available to all users.
Play lets you start single or multiplayer games
Account is exactly the same as in the MIA specific menus.

Ok well done for reading this far…here are some pictures !

Ok this is the level editor:



This is complete. It allows you to make your own levels. You can load in objects easily (including the ones you have downloaded)
Place them in your level
Modify their details

http://bouncyrock.com/MIA/Screenshot...r/LE-AdjOb.jpg

Add trigger zones and give them jobs.

http://bouncyrock.com/MIA/Screenshot...LE-Trigger.jpg

Add particle sources

http://bouncyrock.com/MIA/Screenshot...E-Particle.jpg

Add water (the water doesn’t look like this in-game…This is just a placeholder.
Adjust Light settings
Gravity and water settings
Add sound emitters (these are 3D sounds that loop continuously) great for ambient sounds like water dripping in a cave.

http://bouncyrock.com/MIA/Screenshot...-SoundEmit.jpg

Waypoints for adding patrol paths to platforms and enemies

http://bouncyrock.com/MIA/Screenshot...-Waypoints.jpg

And more…

Here is the Character editor … also complete !
Chose the (.x) model you wish to use for the character and set his main properties.



Add moves using the move designing page (It may look complex but it will come with documentation)

http://bouncyrock.com/MIA/Screenshot...or/CE-Pic2.jpg

Gradually build up your character and then save….he/she is now ready to play.

The Object editor
Here you can make any kind of object that can then be loaded into the level editor and used in your games. Currently the only things missing are a load feature (this will come once the encryption system I’m writing to protect people’s media is complete) and mass & strength settings for crates (which I will add after this).

You can design any kind of objects you need for your game.

We have effector objects: These perform some task when contact is made with them. An example with Jazz is the trampoline which applies a force to an object and makes a sound.



Pickups: These perform some task when contact is made with them and then disappear. A good example is food pickups in Jazz which give you points and then disappear (get eaten)

http://bouncyrock.com/MIA/Screenshot.../OE-Pickup.jpg

Crates: Soon to be renamed containers. These are an object in which other objects can be placed which are released when the object is destroyed. So barrels or crates in Jazz are containers in MIA.

Physics objects: These are objects that don’t affect Jazz in any way other than that he can push them about and interact with them as they obey the physics system.
Some objects automatically behave as physics objects e.g. crates and boulders

Platforms: The way this part of the editor works may change in future releases of MIA as this is currently a bit to Jazz orientated.
However it lets you load a (.x) objects to use as the platform and allows you to specify a texture to be used for the arm of the platform.

Static Scenery: Any object that just works as scenery. They cannot be pushed or interacted with in any real way. However they can be animated so dancing mushrooms and such are very possible!

http://bouncyrock.com/MIA/Screenshot.../OE-Static.jpg

Blocks: Destroyable objects that can be used as blockages in the game. You texture them and give them a strength and can set how many stages of damage there are (i.e you can have blocks that change texture with each shot as in the 4shot blocks in Jazz. Or you could make a door which slowly degrades as you do it damage)

http://bouncyrock.com/MIA/Screenshot.../OE-Blocks.jpg

What is coming:
Weapons Editor: The old one was far to limiting and Jazz orientated so I’m rewriting it…its going to be huge!

MIA Core: Obviously this needs to be written before launch

Game Engine: Should be very easy as the physics system is complete already, the

3D sound system is finished all the editors do the hard work so its just a case of loading it all in really.

A few more online scripts: They are (-) annoying to write, it’s not that PHP is a bad language…far from it but database work is (-) dull !

Release: Then we are off !


So yes lots of work but it’s nearly here and I’m very excited and hope you are too.
Ok so this is the thread where you can ask questions about MIA but primarily this is for the Jazz3D total conversion being built with MIA.

So lets hear your view folks !