I'm using Max 2009. Baking the textures has both pros and cons. On the plus side, you wouldn't need to deal with all that light rendering. I don't know how well your engine would deal with all those shadows anyway.

On the down side, baked textures means you can't have moving lights -- no light bulbs swinging on strings, no headlights moving past a window, no flashlight effects. Also, I don't know how other lights and shadows would affect it -- would objects that ARE separate from the world (animated or otherwise) be able to cast shadows on surfaces with baked textures, and how would those two shadows combine?

Baked textures may turn out to be just the right thing for this game -- we're not making Crysis here. But you need to experiment with some of this first, to see if there are any limitations we may have to take into consideration when designing.

Without other characters, goals or a real story, the environment really becomes the main element, so we need to be sure of what we can and can't do before we go building stuff. No sense building a room where the creepiness is dependent on some object moving past on open window, casting a shadow across the wall, or a flickering/swinging light (or one that goes out). Best nail all this down before the individual rooms get built (I'm goign to be sketching up a scale 2d top down city soon, then i can do a quick build for all the buildings as solid or hollow boxes. That will give us a good idea for scale before all the individual rooms (and their place in the gameplay) take shape

Yeah they ARE exported. Could you try exporting and uploading something so I can try?

I can upload the scene to this:

No no no, by the static thing I meant, the architecture is the world, and the static objects are stuff  you put in there, like boxes, cars, things that aren't animated or things that are animated all the time regardless of what the player does, like a carousel in a lunapark. Animate objects are objects that do something when a player does something.

see, the problem with having the world as one big model, and a model that can't cast shadows on itself, is that you have no control over interior lighting. The only reason a hallway is dark is because the walls and ceiling block light from hitting the floor, and the ceiling, floor and other walls block light from hitting the walls, and the floor and walls block light from hitting the ceiling. It's all a result of shadows being cast from one surface onto another, and if the walls, ceiling and floor are all the same model, it's the difference between this:



and this:



By creating a duplicate of the world model, and ignoring collision and rendering on it, but ONLY using it to cast shadows on other objects (the duplicate world) then the world model can, in effect, cast a shadow on "itself".

If you have another way to achieve that "after" pic in your engine, go for it. This zip has the library scene, and the "shadow room" scene and 3ds in it:
http://www.inflatablestudios.com/zip/room.zip

I'll try out the lighting thing. I'm sure adding lights to a scene in 3ds ain't too hard

Oh, I've added lights to a scene before, I just didn't know if it exported them with a model, or if you could control them in the engine.

One last thing about shadows, a model doesn't drop shadows on itself, so you should have 3 export groups. The world (can be one model), static objects(can be one model), and active objects(each object must be a separate model).

I'm guessing the static object would just be a duplicate of the world, but with all the faces flipped, or textured with a transparent texture, or something so you can't see it but it still casts shadows like it WAS casting on itself.

The lighting thing is not something I've been able to try, since I'm not familiar enough with 3ds to put lights in my models, so we'll have to try and see. I think the exported 3ds file contains lights.

I would suggest looking into the lighting - in a game like this, I would think a high level of control over lights and shadows would be key. Since the world is one big model, self-shadowing will be an important element.

I'm really wondering what you are going to be cooking up :D

Here's a quick idea, I'll do some sketches later this week:

In the center of town is the pond/playground/town square. Around that, in the general 8 cardinal coordinates, are 8 distinct sections of town:

South: The player's apartment block. A collection of residences and small shops, this is where the player first discovers the strange goings on. As they travel down the steps past other rooms, and finally out the front door, it will soon become clear things are not as they should be.

Southwest: The commercial district. There are a number of shops of various sizes here, including a mall. There is also a police station here.

West: Residential. A suburban neighborhood, filled with identical homes and white picket fences. There is also a large church here - and a graveyard next door.

Northwest: The hospital. Behind a parking lot right off the main square, a large hospital looms.

Southeast: The amusement park. Located on a beach, a small, well maintained amusement park sits, some rides still in motion.

East: The Business district. Banks, office buildings, etc. An underground tunnel connects the main road of this section to the road between the commercial and residential districts, going beneath the town square.

Northeast: The Industrial sector. Factories and warehouses.

North: City Hall / Courthouse / Clock Tower. Locked, this impressive building is the seat of the city services, surrounded by stone statues. Above the main entrance is a large clock.

My idea is that every time you go into one of the sections, there will be some sort of "event" that takes place when you explore the right building. After returning to the town center the clock will strike the next hour. After exiting the first apartment, the clock will strike noon. After entering the other six sections as well as the tunnel, the clock will finally strike seven. On the seventh chime, the player will hear a loud crash. They will return to the previously locked city hall to find the clock has fallen out the tower, hit a column, and the column has crashed into the front door -- which is now open. The player can then pass through the doorway, only to find there is NO inside of the town hall -- it is just a false front. Behind city hall, they find some half-constructed buildings with windows painted on them, and others which are nothing but wooden cutouts. At this point they should realized the "big city" to the north is not real. What happens then is up to you.

If this sounds good (of course, you can change the story however you want) i'll use it to draw up a city plan and we can see if it's too big or to small for what you want.

Jaleho,

That is an excellent story. You should go for it. The only thing I didn't like, as you guessed, was the clothes. I'd rather have people disappear WITH their clothes. Other than that, it's awesome.

Yeah, I really didn't want to model piles of clothes everywhere, either But a few choice items -- a bag of groceries, a crashed car, a discarded teddy bear, those can give enough of that feeling of "suddenly"

I can have moving objects and scripted events, but I'm not sure how I can manipulate the flowing water. You should perhaps model and animate it, because I can do seas and stuff like that but spraying water is a bit tough for me.

You can save the animated objects as models with animations and I can play them on events.

can you animate things in the engine itself, like rotating a door along a hinge, or the physics of a falling bridge, or does it need to be a pre-animated model that you just "replay" at a set speed?

As for flowing water or the newspapers blowing by, do you have sort of particle system? Something to let you have a "spray" of water, or random "particles" of trash blow past? If not, that's fine - having the car hit a telephone pole is just fine.

Keep in mind that visibility will be low, with heavy fog and scarce lighting. Fog is my business, but placement of light sources is up to you

Since the city is a 3d model, will I actually add the lights in 3DSMax myself, or just "sources" where you will program lights to originate from? Can the lights be turned on and off, recolored, moved or dimmed with code? My experience with 3D games (so far) has been DarkBASIC, and I've never exported a model out of my 3ds scene to know what comes with it - textures, lights, etc.

Since the city itself will be one model (including the interior rooms), do you want me to send you a scene with that model AND any separate models that will animate or disappear or otherwise be separate from the world, and let you export them as models and place the object in the engine at the proper locations (I'm guessing that, for instance, that even if I put that red minivan in front of the apartment in the scene, you will have to re-place the model again (relative to the city model) in the program?

I was kind of going to the "simulated for the protagonist" experience where the player would slowly discover everything was a farce. Like later on, some mirrors appear to be see-through windows and some distant scenery turns out to be made of wood or something. You could expand on that.

The island concept was due to a need of limiting the player's movements within a certain area. You could also do surrounding by mountains or something.

And it should be a bit smaller than the current architecture. The beach thing is up to you, you may keep or scrap the beach.

It would be cool to have a few areas that the player can't seem to reach but will be able to reach after a loong trip.

Now that could be interesting. Will there be a character model to show up in mirrors? Making it slightly transparent, with a room and character visible on the other side if one looks close enough could be creepy.

As for the distant scenery and places you can't reach at first, that would be fun to have a part where, for most of the game, it just looks like far away scenery, but after finding a crack in the facade, they sneak past only to find everything outside their little town are just cutout stage props - theater flats with buildings and trees, etc. And then, some sort of barrier preventing them from wandering forever.

The idea of an island, made to simulate the tip of a peninsula where the "city" continues onto the "mainland" but the player can't get there... sort of a low-budget "Truman Show" feeling.

And yes, I DID plan to do the anticipation thing, however Jaleho seems to be much better at it than me, so he's designing the world. Hurray for Jaleho!

Hehe, hey, I try. I'm certainly a fan of planning... possibly over-planning. I'll end up with a hundred pages of notes on this city before I end up building anything, probably.

I'm going to try to take my local town's downtown and mix it with "Hill Valley" from Back to the Future, as well as the first safehouse in GTAIV. I like the idea that the player's apartment faces a sort of "town square", which will help them plan out their explorations. A center hub where little themed neighborhoods spoke off, but one (which opens up only after visiting the other ones) leads farther down the rabbit hole.

One last thought - it might be helpful to add a map/compass -- NOT for the player, mind you (i think not having that will add to the suspense) but for internal development, when testing all this stuff out.

Ok, I'm going to write a story. This story will have a lot of elements which will help to define the world. The key is, some of these elements may contradict any plot you may have, or go against the "nothing" idea, the limitations of your engine, or whatever. So after reading, feel free to go "no, don't use that, because XYZ" and that will help narrow in on what you really want.

***

Bill was startled from his sleep, first by a loud crash, and next, by a piercing alarm. Sure, it was almost noon, but he still didn't like being disturbed. He rose out of bed and rushed to his apartment window. At the end of the street below, he could see a rusty powder blue convertible, its hood crushed by the hydrant which was now shooting a fountain of water across the road. As Bill looked closer, he noticed there was no one in the driver's seat. He glanced around -- the street was completely empty. Other than a bright red minivan parked outside his complex entryway, all he could see were some newspaper pages fluttering by, caught by the wind. Bill went to call the police, but upon dialing the operator to get the local police station, no one picked up.

Confused, Bill decided to head down and check out the scene. He grabbed his jacket and headed down the hall. On the floor below, he passed his downstairs neighbor's door -- it was open. In the hallway, he saw a bag of groceries spilled out, and a sun dress piled in a heap, a sandal poking out from beneath. He poked his head in the door.

"Hello?" he called out. "Mrs. Miller? Anyone home?" He glanced around the apartment. There was a shirt and a pair of slacks laid out over the couch, and a tv was playing an old Twilight Zone episode, a man who finds himself the last survivor on earth.

Bill backed out of the room, and continued downstairs. After reaching the ground floor, he opened the door and stepped out to examine the scene. In the front seat of the car he found a suit and shoes, soaked from the hydrant leak. Bill looked around. The playground across the street, usually filled with kids, was empty, the wind blowing a swing or two back and forth a bit. He turned back, and noticed the red minivan was no longer parked outside.

Bill walked over a block to the nearby hospital, checking to see if maybe the driver was taken there after the crash. This was more interesting than looking for a job for the 12th day in a row. He walked through the automatic doors and was met with dead silence. Not a soul was in the hospital.

He began walking the halls, looking for a nurse -- a janitor -- ANYONE. Nothing. Suddenly, he saw a shape move past a window. He turned, but it was gone. Moving around discarded gurneys and the nurses station, he entered the maternity ward where he saw the shape through the glass. He found nothing - not even any newborns. The lights began to flicker, then went out. Bill quickly found his way out of the hospital. His stomach growled, and he remembered he hadn't eaten since last night. He headed over to the convenience store.

He was met yet again with an unlocked and unstaffed location. He walked down the aisle, looking for his favorite snack. As he reached the end of the row, he heard a crash. He turned, and saw a broom had fallen over and knocked down a display. He inched closer to the broom, slowly. As he reached down to pick it up, a rat jumped out from beneath the display, and rushed for the door. Bill clutched his chest and fell backwards. Muttering a few choice curse words to himself, he stood up, brushed himself off, and headed outside. He left a few dollars on the counter before leaving, figuring that would cover the snacks.

As he stepped outside, clouds began to roll in. Rain began to fall, and the sky turned dark. Bill flipped up his hoodie and began to rush home. Looking up at a particulary powerful lightning bolt, he noticed something unusual about one of the office buildings a few blocks away -- one of the lights in a window turned out, while another next to it turned on. The rain began to subside, and Bill, desperate to find someone he could work with to figure out what was going on, headed over to the office complex.

*****

Now, in this story, I've used a lot of different elements, and they all imply something. The car accident and bag of groceries imply something happened suddenly. The piles of clothes indicate only the biological bodies of the people have disappeared. The rat shows that other living things are still around. The shadowy figure in the hospital, the disappearing red minivan, and the lights in the office building seem to indicate the player may NOT be alone (even if, in the course of the game, they never actually find anyone). There are some elements of things moving on their own, such as the hydrant spray, the newspapers, the falling mop/display, the rat, the lights in the office, the weather. These would depend on your engine's ability for cutscenes or timed events, other than just free exploration of a static scene.

I'm not saying you have to use ANY of these. But deconstructing this story will really help with setting up the environment. If I know I can have moving props (a shelf that crashes over, lights that flicker out when you pass, whatever) I can design the world differently. Simply having an empty, still world with no interaction and no indication any activity had EVER taken place (as if the world is some sort of reconstructed simulation for the protagonist only) can be scary in itself.

Think of this less as a PLOT, and more of a framework. Knowing what ideas you have in mind (or what ideas you definitely do NOT want in the game -- like the piles of clothes) will help -- many of these elements may imply something you want to avoid (like some kind of religious rapture, or the idea that there is someone else is there). Maybe this is a dream, maybe it's real. Maybe all the others have been taken, maybe only YOU have been taken and this is all some elaborate "cage" for you to inhabit. It doesn't really matter at this point, apart from what elements can or can't be used in constructing the world model. And again, I don't know what your engine is capable of doing, other than displaying the model, movement and camera view, collision, and gravity.

Clarifying these points (for the designers, not necessarily the players) will make the final result stronger.

Hey, I'm going to be taking a stab at the level design for this game. I think I may have two key elements that will help here:

1. Obscured vision: A big open field isn't really scary. If you can see in all directions, then you know what to expect. Also, a flat solid wall, while confining, also has a sense of security. However, a place with obstacles that allow partial vision, such as a stock room, or a cathedral filled with pillars, or an orchard, or a cemetery with iron gates and lots of masoleums... it's the kind of thing that makes you wonder if you really saw everything there was to see the first time you looked at something. The idea that you can see a place just a couple feet away but can't get there directly makes you remember there are guns and tentacles that COULD reach you there, and if there is space above or beside an opening where someone could fit, whose to say they aren't watching YOU the second you turn your back?

2. Places that SHOULD be filled with people: Countering the first idea, sometimes big open spaces CAN be scary -- especially when you expect them to be populated. Hospitals. Playgrounds. Suburban neighborhoods. Malls. Trains and Subway stations. These are even scarier when NOT run down and broken, because it makes you think "this is a perfectly fine working place -- why isn't anyone here using it?" Evidence that a place was evacuated (in some fashion) in a hurry (a discarded teddy bear or a bag of groceries spilled out) without any evidence WHY the people suddenly vanished is even creepier. Blood stains or explosion craters tell the story for you, but a mystery lets the player create a story even scarier than the writer could have come up with, because they have their OWN memories and fears to draw from directly.

While I am in need of some paying work, I'd like to get some real hands-on experience with doing game artwork any way I can (having a finished game in my bag would look real nice!). If this sounds interesting, check out my portfolio:

http://www.inflatablestudios.com

Thanks!
-Jason

Far Cry 2 Level Design Contest
http://www.moddb.com/events/far-cry-2-level-design-contest
January 12th, 2009

GameCareerGuide.com's Game Design Challenge: Gravity Game
http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/682/gamecareerguidecoms_game_design_.php
"Monday, January 14, 2009" (Huh? 12th or 14th?)

Sprite-Off IV
http://toolkitzone.com/spriteoff.php
January 14th, 2009

ON-to-09 Programming Contest (Phrogram)
http://phrogram.com/forums/thread/7328.aspx
January 18, 2009

Global Game Jam
http://www.globalgamejam.com/
January 30 - February 1, 2009

Scenario Design Competition (AOE III)
http://aoe3.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/forums/display.cgi?action=ct&f=12,36075,,10
February 20th, 2009

InventAGame
http://www.bkfk.com/Modules/Competition/Competition.aspx?section=sayit
March 31st, 2009

"No external files" lite-C contest (GameStudio)
http://www.conitec.net/english/gstudio/aum.php
http://aum.conitec.net/aum81.zip (ACKNEX USER MAGAZINE has contest details)
April 15th, 2009

Mini Game Compo 2009 - 1K
http://minigamecomp.org.uk/
July 1st, 2009

Mini Game Compo 2009 - 2K
http://minigamecomp.org.uk/
September 1st, 2009

Mini Game Compo 2009 - 4K
http://minigamecomp.org.uk/
December 1st, 2009

Dare to be Digital
http://www.daretobedigital.com/
2009 deadline announced soon

Competitions
http://www.gamecreation.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=18
Last one just passed, more later probably

4th Annual Christmas Game Coding Competition (DS, GBA)
http://drunkencoders.com/compo/
January 15th

2009 Blade3D Community Games Contest
http://www.blade3d.com/News/tabid/197/Default.aspx (Blade3D)
February 24th

ScreenBurn at SXSW Game Design Competition
http://sxsw.com/interactive/screenburn/competitions/submit
February 27th

Yo Frankie Level Competition (Blender Game Engine)
http://www.yofrankie.org/yo-frankie-level-competition-blender-game-engine/
February 28th

Imagine Cup 2009 (Visual Studio)
http://imaginecup.com/
March 1st

Whosegame contest on Serious Games (whosegame flash api?)
http://www.whosegame.com/contestcard.php?contest=51
March 31st

IndieGame Developers Showcase
http://www.indiegameshowcase.com/
2008 Contest Over, 2009 coming soon

Hi Jaleho, it's good to see another old dude around here. 

I need help with Hasslevania 2 but the problem is nobody CAN help because I've made the most convoluted piece of MMF2 mess / code imaginable.. You know that feeling? Man that feeling sucks sometimes haha.

I've never messed with MMF2. I thought it was all drag and drop? How does the coding work in such a game?

I'd be happy to take a look if you want a second pair of eyes.

Hi, all. My name is Jason Holm. I tried to make this shorter, but as I wrote I kept remmebering more and more things that led to how I made it here.

Way back in the day, my parents had some type of black and white Pong television game (I can't remember exactly which one). It was fun, but pretty limited. Therefor, I spent more time playing with my "Lock Blocks" (Lego knockoffs), Lincoln Logs, and various board games. I also enjoyed drawing and coming up with my own paper-based games.

Eventually, we got the Atari 2600 (woohoo) and after that, a Commodore 64. It wasn't long before I learned about BASIC (anyone else remember typing in games from the back of a magazine?) and began editing the various Text Adventure Games I enjoyed. I also loved such games as the Pinball Construction Set and the Adventure Construction Set. Other games such as Wizard, Boulderdash and Lode Runner came with level editors that helped me see games as something I could create and not just play.

In school, apart from the familiar Oregon Trail and Carmen Sandiego games, I learned about creating computer graphics - often pixel by pixel with code (Apple IIe days: SET COLOR RED, POINT 23,127... LINE 104, 73 TO 78 or something). Eventually I learned how to cycle the images, and I had primitive animation. I found myself writing stories even when it wasn't a class requirement, and soon I had inspired the whole class to do the same during recess and after school. I also began making comic strips, and took a class in stagecraft.

I was lucky enough to be in a special class where I got to do more creative things than the other kids, such as helping create a large (wood frame and miniature railroad props) board game with card-based RPG actions. A friend and I also created a 20 minute long claymation movie (with a camcorder that didn't have a "single frame" option... it moves veeery slow).

I had a NES, and playing the many early games (and seeing the maps drawn out in their entirety in Nintendo Power Magazine) gave me the idea for creating my own games. I didn't know how the pros made it happen, so I was stuck with graph paper, but the characters, power-ups and level designs were still fun to make.

Around this time, my father brought home a "dumb terminal" - a computer with no hard drive or anything... but it had a modem. So I discovered the wonderful world of local Bulliten Board Systems. Oh, the joy of Tradewars, Inn of the Red Dragon, and various MUDs. It was in the message boards I came to enjoy writing cooperative stories and playing (virtually) pen and paper Role Playing Games.

Outside the BBSs, I played various RPGs, mainly from the Palladium system (TMNT, Heroes Unlimited, RIFTS). I also discovered Steve Jackson's TOON.

Eventually, we got a PC at home. DOS at first, which game me access to the lands of ZZT and my first introduction to script-based game design. I also played Wolfenstein and DOOM, and discovered their graphic and level editing programs, where I made some early MODs. I also got a program called Disney Animation Studio (or something), which let me make frame-by-frame animations, with color and sound! Using my trusty Preston Blair animation book, I jumped into learning computer animation.

Around this time, Image Comics had just been formed. I was convinced the comic book industry was the wave of the future! I found an ad for the Art Instruction Schools (you know, "Draw Tippy the Turtle") and signed up, but eventually just didn't feel it was for me (they took my payment, of course).

In High School, I took some creative writing and sci-fi classes. I also took an acting class, leading me to take the lead in the main one-act play (imagine a 6'2" chunky guy wearing bells as Harlequin). I took a computer programming class where I used QBasic to create SPACE MONKEYS, a sort of Space Invaders clone. The teacher used it for years after to show other classes what was possible in that class. I took a technology class, in which I got my hands on a scanner (I could now put images I drew right into the computer!), photo editing, drafting, CAD, 3D Modeling, and video editing (Video Toaster anyone?).

I joined the newspaper staff as a cartoonist, making both comic strips and political cartoons. This choice would direct the next 10 years of my life (for better or for worse). When I graduated, both Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes were retiring, so I thought I was a shoe-in to be the next comic strip artist the world would love. I thought I could get by on talent alone.

After graduation, I wanted to go to a big art school in New York, but a lack of guidance on my financial aid options lead me to the local Community College. Still convinced I didn't need a degree (or a decent portfolio, apparently) I just took classes at random -- Zoology, Fencing, Stagecraft, Art, Children's Literature, Music Fundamentals... I did a lot of traditional art classes (sculpture, life drawing) as well as commercial art classes (in which they didn't see the computer as a very useful tool).

I joined the college newspaper, starting as a cartoonist, but moving up the ranks from tech designer (learning Quark and Photoshop) to managing editor. I was still hand-inking my illustrations at the time, but I experimented with digital coloring. One day we received a press kit about the movie "Hackers" which included a link to a "World Wide Web site". Heading up to the computer lab, I asked them how to access the "internet". Wow.

It wasn't long before I was teaching myself HTML, making animated GIF files. I found game companies online and started offering my illustration services. I actually got a chance to interview with the guys who made WORMS, but I didn't think I could really move to Europe at the time. I did, however, create illustrations for the Mac game "Solitaire Til Dawn, which was reviewed in MacAddict magazine (so if I squint, I can see a tiny image of mine on the back of a card in a screenshot...).

I started playing around with video editing, experimenting with blue screens and 3D image composition. I used Specular Infini-D back then. My friend introduced me to MYST so there was a brief period of trying out hypercard and 3D scenes.

Unfortunately, I stuck with print media. I moved to do video editing for a band (which fell through) but my day job was ad design at a newspaper. I finally got a drawing tablet and tried out digital inking, and I also played around with MIDI composition. But I wasn't happy.

I eventually learned Flash, but it took a long time for me to make progress with it back then. I messed around with Director and made a simple dress-up game. At another job I finally got the hang of Illustrator.

Finally, I had had enough of the string of jobs that seemed to lead farther and farther from my creative side. I quit and became a caricature artist at a theme park. It didn't pay well, the environment sucked, but I was being creative. However, it only lasted a season, and I now had a family to support.

I got a job with a technology curriculum design company. Through them I created applications using HTML, Javascript, as well as some Flash ActionScript. I learned to control FLVs. We made a curriculum on Video Game Design, and I started seeing an area I loved -- I wanted to be creative with my art, but I was a natural at programming. I created a series of tutorial videos and sample games using DarkBASIC, and the curriculum became our top seller. We also created one for Web Game Design using Flash and AS2 (but not using OOP)

I still looked for other opportunities. I learned how to build and script in Second Life. I played around with Squeak and Scratch. I learned more about ActionScript.

Eventually I decided I wanted a job where I could combine my programming and art skills. I knew I needed a degree if I was to get into the game biz. I only had a tenuous grip on OOP having started in BASIC and taken so much time away from that world. I went back to college determined to get a degree this time. I signed up at Stark State for my Asssociate of Computer Science (Game Design Path). I've taken classes on Visual Basic, C++, 3DS Max and Game Design Theory. I made a few simple games in C++ and VB, and even tried making one in Excel.

I still couldn't decide what to speciliaze in, until someone mentioned programming was less competitive, paid more, and would let me keep art as a hobby, so I decided to get more programming skills.

Next week I head back for more C++ (including Allegro), Java, and some Flash.

In the mean time, I'd like to have a project to apply my skills to - whether art or programming or something else. My friend and I were working on something in Flash, but the Wife/Kid/DayJob think is kind of keeping him busy. Is there anyone here looking for help, or should I start my own project. And if so, what?

http://www.inflatablestudios.com