So I needed to invest in two areas. I invested time and cash. Cash for a small 3D Printer and time to work out how on earth I was going to get model prototypes created using this new machine.
I wont lie. It didn’t take long. The bunker models i’d created for the 3D Field Walking system worked out fine and after a few small tests printing basic shapes and working out how to reduce the ribbing that you get from 3D printed parts, it wasn’t long (like a couple of weeks) before I had a full set of bunkers to replicate the real 2018 NXL Paintball field layouts. These are the standard layouts that are used across the world to ensure that all teams play in the same arenas regardless of location. A fantastic idea in my opinion and one I fully intend to use in the game.
By now the grid was only being used as a field layout aid for the game and many lessons in printing techniques had been tried and tested. Next up, I needed to get modelling game characters (or players). Shapes are one thing, sculpting is another – lucky this is something I could suss out very quick. Within a day I had clean 3D model prototypes ready for testing the new version of the game in preparation for fine tuning.
You can see how messy the players were. Knowing that after 2 days of sanding, polishing and painting the bunkers (obstacles) that you can make them lovely, I didn’t care at this stage how messy the players were.
I got the full set together and my partner was actually quite excited to give it a try.
We played the game. We enjoyed the game. It still had little bugs that needed to be resolved but we were both at this point excited about the potential this game has. It’s now very fast paced, very easy to play and offers the same excitement and frustration felt whilst playing the real game.
After only 2 games, my partner was now a fanatic on the game of Paintball and understood what was going on. Showing her a video of the Pros playing was all of a sudden not confusing for her to watch. In fact she was even pointing out that “That guy shouldn’t have gone there” and “He clearly didn’t know that the snake was occupied”. A proud moment for a guy as caught up in the game as I am.
I realised at this moment, that I had created more than just a game. I’d potentially created a new bridge to the sport. Helping to lessen the complexity for spectators and players alike.
Byron – 2018
So next up I decided to look into the business implications of such a project.