A few random screenshots

Welcome to the start of your new addiction.

You're going to want characters soon, check out this blender tutorial video series to learn how to do them:

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Also check out BlenderCookie for tons of general purpose blender tutorials.

Did you bake those shadows in Blender, or are they real time?

Thanks, yeah, it's taken quite a lot of 'addiction' to get this far It's just really fulfilling!

The shadows are done in real time, using the built in D3DXMatrixShadow function - it's a simple way of doing shadows but it really works

At the moment there isn't much aim in this game - you walk around the desert island and listen to the waves on the shore while changing the time/lighting to sunset, day, night, etc... I actually quite like the idea of a program/game where you can just walk around and explore a relaxing environment like a tropical island - that's why I created an island in the first place - but it's a long way from being a releasable program!

Those pics look great; congrats!

There is a nice foundation for future development.

Is this entirely rendered in the D3D 9 API environment or is this done with the Blender game engine, too?

Thanks guys! This is all done in D3D9 and C++, but the models were created in Blender (well, apart from the simple planes such as the seabed - those are defined in the program). I imported them as .x files.

Here's a short video of how it looks/sounds:

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That's very cool! Nice work! It must feel good.

You're doing a great job with this. It all meshes well together and creates a great mood.

Suggestions.

Add some simple distance based fog. It's a must for any scene. It's also one of the top things people get wrong with cg. It doesn't have to be thick, noticeable, fog. Just some subtle fog in the distance to create the illusion of any atmosphere, and a eye pleasing color fade. It is never not foggy out, and everything fades into the distance.

I'm not sure if your models are just flat shaded or if you don't have any shading other than just flat shadows. Are you toggling smooth shading on your models in blender, and are you using the sharp edge tag + edge shading modifier in Blender? If you don't understand, watch this video tip, it will explain it all. http://cgcookie.com/blender/2010/05/04/tip-using-the-edgesplit-modifier-to-smooth-lowpoly-models/

Your island is flat and looks like a plane instead of a terrain. Subdivide it a bit, and then pull some vertices up or down. If you use the proportional editing tool (the tool the toggles on your menu bar when you press 'o' in edit mode) with smooth or sphere mode, it will be easy to create a nice terrain like shape. It's a small island, so like the fog, use it subtly. This will also help with the flat shading look it currently has.

Thanks!

I like the idea of adding horizon fog - would that just be as simple as enabling linear pixel fog in render states, or is it more complicated than that?

At the moment my models use the smooth shading in Blender, and I'm not using the sharp edge/edge shading - there's a lot of Blender yet to be explored.

I initially designed the island to be a bit 'taller', but I didn't really like the look of it. I may experiment with a better shape in the future, but I like the flat style of it at the moment. I was actually inspired by the style of desert islands in the Maldives:

http://beautifulplacestovisit.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Maldives11.jpg

Anyway, off to experiment with the fog!

OK, I've been trying out some fog - I tried the following simple code:

    d3ddev->SetRenderState(D3DRS_FOGENABLE, true); //Enable fog
    d3ddev->SetRenderState(D3DRS_FOGCOLOR,D3DCOLOR_XRGB(255, 255, 255)); //Make the fog white
    d3ddev->SetRenderState(D3DRS_FOGTABLEMODE, D3DFOG_LINEAR); //Set simple linear pixel fog
    d3ddev->SetRenderState(D3DRS_FOGSTART,*(DWORD*)(&fogStart)); //Fog starts here
    d3ddev->SetRenderState(D3DRS_FOGEND,*(DWORD*)(&fogEnd)); //Fog ends here

fogStart is 20.0f and fogEnd is 60.0f. It looks pretty decent when I look out towards the horizon, but it also renders fog in every other direction too - I can also see it in the corners of the skybox and over my head. Is there a simple way to constrain it to the horizon only?

Thanks!

So how much does it cost to spend a weekend on this island hehe ? I'll be keeping an eye on your project mate cause I really like what you're going for. I've always liked to go exploring without restrictions in games.

Make me an offer :D Thanks - I'm hoping it might turn into something that I can eventually release - at the moment I'm trying to get some sort of solid foundation 'engine' from which to work. I've just managed to get some (really basic) collision detection going, which is an improvement! Maybe I can make it into a more game-like program by adding the ability to interact with stuff, go places, etc... in the future!