Intrest Thread: Knight Rider RPG Game

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Intrest Thread: Knight Rider RPG Game

Post by msKEN » Sun Mar 02, 2003 4:27 am

Image

I'm sorry for the horrid looking screen shoot above, but I started working on the mansion for the game. Its in need of all the detail of the windows, terrain, and such yet, but I'm curious to see what you guys think.

My plan is for a Knight Rider Role Playing Game game. It would work much like Grand Theft Auto, where you can be on foot or move via Kitt. The whole idea though is playing as Michael going from mission to mission. The fans of the game could make there own missions using the included mission editor, and upload them for everyone to play, so the game could have a huge replay value based on the fans. The code is pretty much done, all that remains is level building which could take a good two months with extensive beta testing.

With the new Davilex game do out in the states I'm sure everyone will be Knight Rider gamed out, but I thought I would ask before I tossed the project idea and went back to my commercial project: Trans Am Racing. Let me know what you guys think.

-Ken
The Knight Rider Fan Game Project:
http://www.theknightrider.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Post by whet » Sun Mar 02, 2003 7:31 am

Cool and I think most will agree you can't get to much of Knight RIder so you Can't get gamed out.

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Post by Centaurus17 » Sun Mar 02, 2003 12:44 pm

Ken, it looks like you're making great progress with it. Regardless of what happens with the Davilex game, i think you should definately keep this project alive. I'm anxious to see more shots of the game as it progresses.

Good Luck!

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Post by Jp.Knight2000 » Sun Mar 02, 2003 2:52 pm

Wow !
What a good project.
As Centaurus17, i hope more screenshots of it.
Still work on it! :D

Good luck !
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Post by knightrider_ni » Sun Mar 02, 2003 3:00 pm

finally, someone thinking about the content of the game instead of just relying on the kr name alone to sell it. i look forward to seeing more progress of this as it goes on :)

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Post by Jp.Knight2000 » Tue Mar 04, 2003 3:24 pm

I hope a beta version that we can download on the board .
And more shots :D

Still working, it may be interesting !!
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Post by krfan1 » Tue Mar 04, 2003 3:40 pm

Thats looks sweet Ken! Keep at it!!

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Post by Sith » Tue Mar 04, 2003 4:27 pm

Wow!

Looks great. Definately keep at it good sir... :D

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Post by Sith » Tue Mar 04, 2003 4:38 pm

And by the way if you consider that horrid (believe me it isn't), wait till you see the graphics in the Davilex game. lol

By the sounds of it, you're developing the game we all wanted in the first place, rather than what Davilex disappointed so badly with.

There is a game called London Racer 2 over here in the UK, also by Davilex, and comparisons between the two games is startling.

Did they just "borrow" the code, and put a black Trans Am in the Knight Rider game? Or did they genuinely put all their effort into creating a new game engine?

Considering most games take at least two years to develop, the fact that Davilex managed to get it out inside 12 months lends credence to the "borrowing".

A crying disgrace to us, the KR fans.

So, to put it short, keep at it mate! Show them that Film/TV licenses in games aren't just cash cows, but viable stories to be exploited - if done correctly. :)

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Post by symcd » Tue Mar 04, 2003 5:14 pm

you plan to make a game like gta3? good for you, hope it works out, but how many people are working on it with you?
and that pic looks pretty good

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Post by msKEN » Tue Mar 04, 2003 6:57 pm

Ok, a good responce so far. :) I'll try and answer some questions.

you plan to make a game like gta3? good for you, hope it works out, but how many people are working on it with you?

2 people. One is a very talented programmer, the other is a level designer. (Me) This game has been in the works for a while, and most of the coding is done. The game just needs levels to make it come to life. I'm releasing the game with a level editor. So hopefully you guys can keep it going. I know alot of you like to write fan fiction... now alot of your stories can be converted to game missions. The mission included with the game is one I wrote up, and is sort of a tribute to Luna Ranch, a KR game a fan made a while back.

I hope a beta version that we can download on the board .
And more shots


I know you guys weren't all that much impressed with my last beta race for life 2, where you drove around as KITT racing KARR. (Amazing how that ended up in the Davilex game, lol) But this one should tip the iceberg. So far you walk around (The Sims style) RPG style looking for clues and trying to solve missions. I even have an old assylum where Michael must find clues about a past character that was on the show. To get in and drive KITT you can either call him via the com link and he will get as close to your location as possable, or you can go to him, and simpley press enter, and michael gets in and you're now able to drive KITT around the level. Press enter again and your walking around as Michael again.

Beta testing will be open to all of you. And hopefully once I get some more of the levels done and my 3d kitt is completed I'll be able to open the project page on my website.

Thanks for your support guys, I'll get as much done as I can to get a beta out. :)

-Ken
The Knight Rider Fan Game Project:
http://www.theknightrider.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Post by Centaurus17 » Tue Mar 04, 2003 7:49 pm

Nice Ken. That looks like it will have a lot of potential to be a great game. Good Luck with it, and note i'm just an email away if you ever need a beta tester.

Have fun makin it, i look forward to it.

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Post by knightynight » Tue Mar 04, 2003 7:50 pm

I'm sure every Knight Rider fan who is also a gamer would be absolutely thrilled at the mere thought of the potential this game could create. Even though I know you probably don't have any rights or such to the name Knight Rider I would PAY GOOD MONEY to play a game you just mentioned. My hat's off to you and may you have fun building the game we all wish we could help make.

Just on a side note, what sort of a game engine are you using, and is it one on the market or is it open source?

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Post by nawdle88 » Tue Mar 04, 2003 8:22 pm

Nice to see you're still working on the game Ken. I've been wondering about it.
What's all this? It looks like Darth Vader's bathroom.

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Post by msKEN » Wed Mar 05, 2003 1:38 am

Nice Ken. That looks like it will have a lot of potential to be a great game. Good Luck with it, and note i'm just an email away if you ever need a beta tester.

Thanks, I'll keep all of you in mind. I may just use this board as test subjects rather then my usual crew.

Even though I know you probably don't have any rights or such to the name Knight Rider I would PAY GOOD MONEY to play a game you just mentioned

Yes, very much will stay a freeware project. Even as freeware I'm still in the wrong, hopefully Universal will look pass it as they do the people who sell Knight Rider replica parts. As they said they are very well aware of them, but choose not to take any action. I'm sure sueing the fan base is not what the have intended.

Just on a side note, what sort of a game engine are you using, and is it one on the market or is it open source?

I'm using a mix of software, but the 3d engine itself is 3DGameStudio. Its a program by a company called Conitec Data Systems. Alot of games are actaully made on this SDK version, but I managed to land a deal with the company to try out the new beta version which uses havock physics, and the new DirectX 9 rendering kernal. If you got the extra 1800 bucks lying around and the true desire to make a product its a good investment.

-Ken
The Knight Rider Fan Game Project:
http://www.theknightrider.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Post by neps » Wed Mar 05, 2003 8:10 am

Looks fantastic Ken! This was one of the big complaints / ideas for improvement on the Davilex game. Glad to see that people are doing things properly because the series was about Michael getting out of the car :)

I know the answer properly, but any chance of a Macintosh port? :) OS X seems to make it easy for people to do so.

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Post by Knight Racer » Wed Mar 05, 2003 8:39 am

Here's a question i want to ask you msken.What options have you built into kitt?laser(I know its not usualy in kitts arsenal but i still want it),spm mode,ski mode,is there a free drive mode like in snes?

You can count on me as a beta tester as well.Hope to be of help in any way on this game.

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Post by symcd » Wed Mar 05, 2003 10:38 am

umm i have 1 more comment, you know that gta3 took over 50 programmers and 2 years to make, but then again it has 72 missions, 3 huge lvls, and ton and tons of little missions

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Post by knightimmortal » Wed Mar 05, 2003 12:07 pm

For those who know computer programming, it isn't the number of programmers that counts, it is the quality, and Ken and his team have been developing this for a pretty long time.

KI

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Post by msKEN » Wed Mar 05, 2003 4:24 pm

I know the answer properly, but any chance of a Macintosh port? OS X seems to make it easy for people to do so.

No promises, but a later port to OS X could be a possability.

Here's a question i want to ask you msken.What options have you built into kitt?laser(I know its not usualy in kitts arsenal but i still want it),spm mode,ski mode,is there a free drive mode like in snes?


I'm not even sure what KITT will be capable of yet, but thats the last bit of programing my buddy Dan is working on as far as coding goes. The physics we have for the game are on the same level as Davilex. They use Havock Physics, and we are using the same. I'm not 100% sure what you mean by free drive, because as I stated above its just like GTA, and in GTA you walk or you drive freely as you want. Can you drive other vehicals? I'd like to put in RC's motor cycle myself just to play with motor cycle physics feature we have. lol I'm thinking of making it to where regular cars take alot of damage where as KITT takes very little damage but he can still get hurt. I think I just may use a shield resource and make it the MBS. I think it would ad a neat arcade style portion to the game if Michael had to take kitt back to the semi every now and then for repairs. (I never said this, but on the wilton knight grounds you'll be able to find a locked garage, the same one from the pilot, and inside you will find KARR locked away in his room, and you will find KIFT. Guess what you can drive any car you want as KITT!)

umm i have 1 more comment, you know that gta3 took over 50 programmers and 2 years to make, but then again it has 72 missions, 3 huge lvls, and ton and tons of little missions

Lets look at the main idea behind GTA3. Get in and out of cars. Walk around with weapons. They took the basic 3d shooter and added a racing game to it. Its been done before. Either way, its not that hard of a concept. At least not with the engine I'm using, which let me remind you is an Open Source SDK. That means we pretty much have an Unreal 2 style engine at our hands already programmed and tricked out to handle the latest in graphics technology. We just go and add the code that bennifits us to make a Knight Rider game. And to be honest, a Knight Rider conceapt is not that hard to achieve. We have the RPG style interface. So what does a completed engine really need programmed into it to be a Knight Rider game?

1. A Menu System (obviously) (Done)
2. Graphic User Interface/An inventory (65% Done)
3. Camera angles (Done)
4. Car Physics (Done)
5. Style switchers (from 3rd person, to vehical simulation) (Done)
6. Missions (10% Done)
7. Effects (80% Done)

This stuff above isn't that hard to achieve. For example the c-script for Michael to get in and out of KITT is:

Code: Select all

action my_car
{
    my.enable_impact = on;
    my.event = player_to_car;
}
This gets attached to KITT or whatever vehical I want to make driveable.

Code: Select all

function player_to_car()
{
    wait (1);
    ent_remove (me);
    player.shadow = off;
    player._MOVEMODE = _MODE_DRIVING;
    player._FORCE = 1.5;
    player._BANKING = 0.1;
    player.__SLOPES = on;
    player.__WHEELS = on; // rotate only when moving
    player.__JUMP = off; // the car can't jump
    player.__STRAFE = off; // can't strafe
    player.__TRIGGER = on;
    astrength.pan = 1.5; // decrease rotation speed (pan)
    car_entity.visible = on;
    while (key_space == 0) {wait (1);} // press space to switch from car to player 
    temp.x = player.x - 100 * sin(player.pan); // check to see if there is an empty space (near the car door) to deploy the player
    temp.y = player.y + 100 * cos(player.pan) ; 
    temp.z = player.z;
    ent_create (car_mdl, player.pos, create_car);
    vec_set (player.pos, temp);
    car_entity.visible = off;
    car_to_player();
}
 

entity car_entity 
{
    type = <kitt.mdl>;
    layer = 10;
    view = camera;
    x = 20;
    y = 0;
    z = -60;
}
This is the code that places Michael inside the car when ever he touches it.

Code: Select all

function create_car()
{
    wait (1);
    vec_set(temp, my.x); 
    my.pan = player.pan;
    temp.z -= 2000; // trace 2000 quants below the car
    trace_mode = ignore_me + ignore_passable + ignore_models + ignore_sprites; 
    my.z -= trace (my.x, temp); // place the car at ground level 
    my_car(); // start the action again
}  

function car_to_player()
{
    player._MOVEMODE = _MODE_WALKING;
    player._FORCE = 0.75;
    player._BANKING = -0.1;
    player.__SLOPES = off;
    player.__WHEELS = off;
    player.__JUMP = on;
    player.__DUCK = on;
    player.__STRAFE = on;
    player.__BOB = on;
    player.__TRIGGER = on;
    astrength.pan = 7; // restore the original value in move.wdl
}
The above code simply tells Michael to take back on his human like abilities when he exits Kitt or any vehical he may have encountered. Now this is a crude example, we wrote a much better script for the game, this one here would work though.

For those who know computer programming, it isn't the number of programmers that counts, it is the quality, and Ken and his team have been developing this for a pretty long time.

So very true. This game has been in the works for quite some time, but now I'm more confident then ever with this new game engine it can be done and done some what quickly. :) Thanks for all your questions guys! Hope I helped to answer some of them for you.

-Ken
The Knight Rider Fan Game Project:
http://www.theknightrider.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Post by Sith » Wed Mar 05, 2003 5:55 pm

Thanks for all the information msken, its truly great to see someone so willing to share his ideas with everyone. :)

Regarding the MBS, perhaps you could have an option to set damage on or off? That way, people who want a challenge could leave it on, and when you just want to go around crashing into cars (we all have done it in other games, don't deny it :wink: ) then we can turn it off.

Either way, this game has certainly got my interest.

Also, will the game require a graphic accelerator card? Or could we get away without one?

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Post by jup » Wed Mar 05, 2003 6:37 pm

Great to see you back, Ken!!!

I was woried what would become of your KR project shortly after your former Friday, the 13'th site just seemed to drop off the face of cyberspace. Glad to see that you still are making progress on the KR game.

Judging from all the comments made about the coming Davilex game, I don't suspect that very many people are going to become gamed out by that one. In fact, it sounds like that is going to be one of the shortest game play PS2 titles around. (Not sure about PC, though.) Despite the fact, it's still on my shopping list.

I see that you figured out how to make Michael get in and out of KITT. Great to hear that it's now possible. Adding a level editor is a great idea. If people take off with it, we could be "drowning" in a sea of missions to add on with.

I still have Luna Ranch linked in The Big List. (Now hosted at this site, better than ever. You might want to add a link, when ready.)

Also great to hear that you returned to the former game idea, instead of sticking to that pure racing game. While I saw potential in it, (I have to admit that) the demo could barely keep me going for more than one race. (Then again, I've never been all that much a fan of Nintendo's F-Zero line, either.)

As for the damage received problem, I think that another idea out of my favorite Star Trek game (The one I mentioned about having multiple mini-missions that were strung along in random order.) could be used, here. (And, the notion was used in KR a couple times, anyway. So, it fits.) When damage is taken by an attack, impact, etc., much more than just the shields can be affected. In the ST game, there was an entire screen devoted to bar graph damage on multiple components. While the first bar to get hit was usually the shields, other systems were soon easy prey to enemy targeting. Same thing could apply here. When KITT gets hit by something, an impact point could be registered on the MBS. Once it takes enough or too much at once, other systems, like the engine, turbos, targeting, scanning, navigation, overall power available, location masking, special options and such could have their effectiveness decreased. But, just like in the ST game, where the only reliable system was Warp speed 1 from the Warp Drive, KITT's engine could, in the very worst state, still produce something like 30 MPH when everything else is off-line. It's the perfect solution when you have an "undestroyable" layer of protection...just go for the "other" weak points.

When I first got GTA3, I went crazy trying everything BUT the missions. In the end, I just parked an older car, smoking from the hood, bent and cracked up, on the edge of the sea and let the music play. Just witnessing all the atmosphere that was going on while doing nothing tells me just why this game took so long to make. It's simply amazing. The sun rose and set. The moon came around. Rain storms came and went. Fog banks rolled in and covered up distant objects. I think the stars came out and the water had high and low points. The litter blew in and collected. Birds flew by. There might have even been a plane or two. And, those radio stations go on for...like, ever. And, how can I forget that chat radio that sounds like a full session of Howard Stern? (I found a secluded spot where no losers would run up and steal my stolen car.) This game is simply incredible. (I won't even go into detail as I rode upon the hood of a Taxi and watched the city life try to co-exist.)

I hope you luck on completing this game, msKen! I'm pretty sure that everyone here wishes similar on that one.

P.S.: My VBasic KR game is at a dead stall, and has been for months. Oh, well.

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Post by msKEN » Thu Mar 06, 2003 8:43 pm

Hey Jup its great to hear from you again buddy. By any chance would you still happen to have a copy of Luna Ranch, I noticed the link's dead, and I can't for the life of me remember the author. Would like to put it up on my website for download.

-Ken
Last edited by msKEN on Thu Mar 06, 2003 8:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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http://www.theknightrider.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Post by jup » Thu Mar 06, 2003 8:52 pm

msKEN wrote:Hey Jup its great to hear form you again buddy. By any chance would you still happen to have a copy of Luna Ranch, I noticed the links dead, and I can't for the life of me remember the author. Would like to put it up on my website for download.

-Ken
You know, I probably still do. Let me check my computer. Just a minute...

Funny, I just got home and went to the e-mail to send out a message to an e-bay buyer, came back to the screen and saw the notice that you had just replied. Talk about timing!

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Post by msKEN » Thu Mar 06, 2003 8:57 pm

lol. If you do have it and its not to much to ask I'd love to get it again. If it wasn't for this game I would have never started this project in the first place, because thats where I got the idea from. It needs a tribute msKEN style. :)

-Ken
The Knight Rider Fan Game Project:
http://www.theknightrider.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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