Project Overview
My favorite game series hands down is the Fire Emblem series. I've poured hundreds of hours into these turn-based strategy games. So for my Intro Graphics final project, I knew I wanted to create a Fire Emblem game of my own. I soon discovered that I was biting off more than I could chew, however, I could at least get a start on it.
A little background information on Fire Emblem
This is a turn-based strategy game, similar to Advance Wars (if that one rings a bell). The player gets to manage an army, using any characters they wish from the ones that are provided from the start of the game. Other characters can be recruited, usually via conversations with certain characters. Some may even join if the player agrees to pay for their services, or other special circumstances are met by the player. Each character has advantages and disadvantages in the game, as well as individual stat growth rates. Each character is marked by a different class, such as Archer, Myrmidon, Cavalier, and Mage, each class able to equip certain weapon types and possessing certain stat growth caps. These characters gain experience by fighting against enemies in battles, which take place on a unique map for every chapter. Once they reach a certain level, they may change class and unleash their true power as promoted units (such as Sniper, Swordmaster, Paladin, and Sage, for the examples given above, respectively).
Characters fight with swords, axes, lances, (with the following weapon triangle: swords beating axes, axes beating lances, and lances beating swords), many types of magic (referred to as Anima, Light, and Dark; these too have their own weapon triangle) which vary depending on the game, as well as special non-weapon-triangle weapons, such as bows or healing staves. Almost all weapons can break with enough uses, so maintaining the army is essential throughout the game. The games also feature a Support system, which allows for characters to interact with each other having spent enough time together on the battlefield. Some support pairs may even end up changing the default character endings at the beginning of the game, adding character development and surprises to the series.
Another note: Death is permanent in Fire Emblem! If a main character bites the dust, then it's Game Over. However, if a character that is not essential to the game's plot keels over, the player may continue the game without that character. However, the current stage can be restarted if the player wishes to try again without losing that character.
Some fire emblem screenshots follow. These are from the Game Boy Advance game, Fire Emblem: Sealed Sword.
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My project intended to include many features of a traditional Fire Emblem game, including moveable characters around a 16 x 16 textured map. However, due to the time restraint, I was only able to complete the following:
-Camera: The camera is fixed, and starts at one of the center tiles on the map. The player can move to the boundaries, jumping from tile to tile with each move, but cannot move farther than the end of the map. The grid, while intended to be used to show character selection and for character movement, is simply just a grid for now.
-Lighting and Coloring: I used point light, although lighting isn't the main feature of a turn-based strategy game (or at least, all of it that I managed to implement). However, in honor of the traditional 'red vs. blue' pattern (enemy units use a red palette, player-controlled units blue), I made every enemy red. To make up for the lack of character portraits, I included 4 colors for each of the 4 heroes drawn on the screen. 10 models were drawn in total, which leads me to my next point...
-Hierarchical Modeling: 10 hierarchical models drawn, 6 enemies and 4 heroes. The models are composed of Glut primitives, such as the glutSolidCube and the glutSolidSphere. I was going to include hierarchical models of swords, axes, lances, bows, and staves...however, time did not permit this. Also, I planned to have two different hierarchical models (perhaps modeled using Blender or Maya, which I will teach myself over the summer) and give each character a slight idle animation, but that also did not work out. Too bad.
-Texture Mapping: I use a simple 1024 by 1024 pixel .bmp saved in 24-bit mode, edited myself via Macromedia Fireworks (yes, I still use this old dinosaur). The texture, which depicts a simple grass plains field, is mapped onto a basic glutSolidCube.
-Keyboard controls: Use directional keys to move (enabled using the glutSpecialFunc() registering function) 1 space at a time, and q to quit.
I do intend to work on this project and finish it completely, since I am so stoked for this opportunity. Updates may be posted if significant progress is made.
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Let's take a look at my game map model, shall we?
 Just entered the world! |
 Reached the edge of the screen! |
 Heroes vs. Enemies! back to top |
Credits
Visual Boy Advance emulator for the Fire Emblem: Sealed Sword screenshots.
RGB color table I used for generic R, G, and B values.
OpenGL: A Primer by Edward Angel
OpenGL Programming Guide, Sixth Edition by Dave Shreiner, Mason Woo, Jackie Neider, and Tom Davis
Fundamentals of Computer Graphics, 2nd Ed. by Peter Shirley, et al.
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