hidden object game screens

[joe_7]

Been wondering how they make "hidden object" screens like this:
http://www.touchmyapps.com/wp-conten...d-snares-3.jpg

For those unfamiliar there is a screen full of junk and you have to try to find the objects on the list below. When an object is found the "layer" for that object disappears. Or sometimes you pick one object up and drop it onto another to solve some small puzzle.

The quality of these screens can vary widely, but it often appears that the images are run through a filter then painted over manually. Most of the time it looks rushed, but for games this is understandable.

A typical screen might have 30 items or so (the list is chosen randomly). I'm assuming you would have a layer for each item and adjust the color to look correct in the scene? Does anyone have experience in this type of thing?

[Doug Nelson]

Re: hidden object game screens

I suspect many of those game screens (and I'm only slightly embarrassed to admit I've played a few) are done "the hard way" (ie: with paint). But there are plenty of software-only options. Check out our Photo Art forums for literally hundreds of thousands of examples.

Here's one popular one to start with.

[klev]

Re: hidden object game screens

That scene has a lot of explicit lighting, and it's not trivial to deal with the perspective issues for a given object. It's likely that they developed the scene, then developed versions of those objects to sit in that scene in the intended manner. This means they may have a reference for the image asset. If the scene was already developed by someone with the skill to draw like that, that person can also go in and develop a scene specific version fo the asset, including all necessary highlights and details. If it needs to respect lighting as dragged through the scene, that is more complicated.

[joe_7]

Re: hidden object game screens

I think you are right about objects being added to an already developed scene, as many of them look like painted-over 3D renderings. And Doug, yeah many of the scenes and objects appear to have some oil-painting filter applied among other things.

Will have to try this idea out soon and see what happens.

[klev]

Re: hidden object game screens

I think you are right about objects being added to an already developed scene.

It's probably the most reliable approach. You want predictability and something that doesn't require levels of computation that are inappropriate for real time interactions. It's also precisely the way I would do it. I would create the room and only populate it with props afterward. It allows you to change your mind on placement, and without that how do you interpret what should be behind one thing or another? I'm not sure this was done in 3D with stored meshes. If it was they still would have pre-computed/baked certain aspects of it.

[joe_7]

Re: hidden object game screens

Found this:
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/Junxu...ground_art.php