Workflow For Newbies

[Tawahinga]

Hi There,

I'm part of a very small team looking to makes something over the internet (2 people, but don't worry, we're roping in our friends as you read) who have no experience at all with UDK. We've been doing tutorials and I know how to model/animate/rig(maya), and team member 2 is learning about unrealscript(coming from a java background), and we're finally getting to a stage where we're curious about how it all fits together. We've spent some time looking through the net for tips on workflow/pipeline, and the videos by worldofleveldesign have proved informative, but there doesn't seem to be much information on the topic.

So, life stories aside..
Would anybody more experienced have any tips or links on general workflow? Things that might be majorly obvious...
And to be specific to the project we have in mind, anything that could help with making a side-scrolling adventure/puzzle game (think Earthworm Jim and Sonic)?

Thank you,

Tawa

[HighlySpammable]

I would highly recommend taking the following approach:
Set up a google docs account, a redmine account and an SVN repository. I'm not sure how familiar you are with these tools but:
Redmine
This is a bug tracking tool and it will allow you to coordinate all tasks that need to be done, who's handling them and how far through they are. Redmine is one of many options but it's the one that best suits my teams needs.
Google Docs
No matter how small you think a project is, you're going to end up with a heap of documents. Design docs, naming conventions, marketing plans, etc, etc. Keeping these all in the same place for the entire team to see is crucial and google docs allows the team to simultaneously edit. This means that if you load up skype and work in conjunction with google docs you'll be able to get your core documentation done quickly and to a high standard (that the team agrees on) while also keeping them in an easy to reference centralised location.
SVN
Subversion allows you to share a folder/file structure with your entire team. If you modify a package you can commit it for the rest of the team. If it's code, the code can be merged together (usually without any pain). This means that your whole team can work together on the most up-to-date version of the game at any one stage. Just be aware that perhaps a skype conversation may be necessary as no 2 people can modify the same UPK file at the same time. Code merges, UPKs don't. So if you're modifying a core package just drop a line in the skype conversation that you're doing so.

[Chathura]

please can u be specific... in what do u need help..... are u asking how UnrealScript and your SkeletalMeshes, Animations, Pariticles, UDK Maps get together??
then i suggest u watch tutorials by our dear friend GeoDav
http://sites.google.com/site/ut40kmo.../udk-tutorials
and that is where i began the stuff...

i think what HighlySpammable told is very good for doing things over the internet though i havent tried it.. use google docs to keep in track of what u did and what is left to do too.. so u dont miss anything...

cheers..


EDIT:-
also use DennysAnimationRigs to learn the skeleton used in UT Game Types inside of udk..
http://www.moddb.com/members/inactio...animation-rigg

[Tawahinga]

Hey guys,
Thanks heaps for the useful advice much appreciated.
Chathura - I was also asking that, and those tutorials seem like exactly what I need, and I'll try out that rig, thank you
Now we just need to give it a go and learn I guess.
Again, thanks for the tips, we'll keep our questions and progress updated.

Tawa.