How Maya Tie in With an Engine?

[deltayuri101]

Hello, I am a Teenager who has a massive passion to create a turn based rpg like Final Fantasy with the Havok engine. Im very new to Maya and any kind of game devolpment. So i was just curious how you would use Maya with the Havok engine or if you only need one of them to succefully make a game. I am doing this with another freind and he doenst know much either so if there are any good starting tips or general information that would be great!

Thank you

[paulkind]

The road ahead is long, winding, and full of rewarding experiences.  😃

It great you and your friend are looking into creating a game.  There are a number of ways Maya LT Interacts with game engines.

1.  Asset Creation :  This is the biggie.  By creating assets in maya LT you have more control over things and since mayaLT is a dyed in the wool modeler for game engines, its about as good as it gets for doing it.  Basically think of things you make in MayaLT as your Art Assets.

2. Animation : Traditionally MayaLT is also used for animating your ingame assets.  Something like a walk animation is much easier to do in a dedicated 3D creation tool like MayaLT.

3. Collision and Similar Meshes : Sometimes you need invisible meshes that things like your particle system of your game will interact with.  These meshes are generally heavily optimized to reduce comutational costs.  Though technically no different that an asset, it is a distinctly different use.

4. Previewing Assets :  Often you want to get a general idea of what an asset looks like before importing and doing final preparations in game.  A preview tool like MayaLT with Viewport 2.0 you can get 85-90% of the way there first.

I hope this rathar simplified response is helpful.  Feel free to continue to question.  It's great that your giving it a go.  Hopefully one day I can download and play your masterpiece. 😃

[deltayuri101]

thank you i really do appreciate that. Im thinking about hiring a small
team because i am doing a kick starter.so again thank you!

[paulkind]

May I ask why the Havok (Project Anarchy?) engine?  As you are just starting up right now, I would open all options and look at every game engine and consider them all.  Project Anarchy may be ok for you but you may want to broaden your considerations to include Unreal & Unity as they have a more proven track record with independant game devs and may be an easier entry point for you.

Spend time considering your options.  Once you begin, it will be hard to turn around.  Also, you should check for local game dev meetups.  They can be a valuable resource for those looking to make a game.

[deltayuri101]

Oh yes, I gave up on Havok because it was wierd I couldnt even find the exe for it. I am doing unreal engine 4 which seems that you dont have to do any coding throgh c++. im not sure if you still need maya to make an unreal engine game succesful or not? Anyways thanks again!