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Re: Development Update #3: March 2013

#3
Well, might not want to sit down with it just yet - turns out the pain isn't over....the last 3 minutes of the audio upload got dropped. Thankfully, this time I have found access to high-speed internet, so it will only take 4 hours to re-upload...yipee...

:cry:
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.” ~ Henry Ford
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Re: Development Update #3: March 2013

#4
JoshParnell wrote:Well, might not want to sit down with it just yet - turns out the pain isn't over....the last 3 minutes of the audio upload got dropped. Thankfully, this time I have found access to high-speed internet, so it will only take 4 hours to re-upload...yipee...

:cry:

Drat! :( Still, it's looking good so far, looks like you've already made a game! I'll just have to wait until tomorrow to see the rest of the video.
Image
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Re: Development Update #3: March 2013

#5
Wow, it actually looks like a game now.

First impressions:
- Excellent interface work
- Awesome sound effects
- Surprisingly good AI at this point in time

Immediate suggestions:
- Targeting reticle(s) / lead target prediction, possibly as upgrades
- Way to sort weapons in market based on stats other than price
- Similarly, some stat organization scheme w/ ships
- "Compare mode" - similar to what a lot of RPGs do, shows your equipped weapon side-by-side with the one in the market, with parameters that are higher/lower indicated in different colors
- "Difficulty rating" for missions, based on a rough calculation of (your fleet power)/(opposing force power).
- Icons for planetary objects / bases / etc to help find your way back
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Re: Development Update #3: March 2013

#6
jimhsu wrote:Wow, it actually looks like a game now.

First impressions:
- Excellent interface work
- Awesome sound effects
- Surprisingly good AI at this point in time

Immediate suggestions:
- Targeting reticle(s) / lead target prediction, possibly as upgrades
- Way to sort weapons in market based on stats other than price
- Similarly, some stat organization scheme w/ ships
- "Compare mode" - similar to what a lot of RPGs do, shows your equipped weapon side-by-side with the one in the market, with parameters that are higher/lower indicated in different colors
- "Difficulty rating" for missions, based on a rough calculation of (your fleet power)/(opposing force power).
- Icons for planetary objects / bases / etc to help find your way back
Thanks, and yep, I agree completely with each of the suggs! Hope to see them all in time.
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.” ~ Henry Ford
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Re: Development Update #3: March 2013

#7
Well, certainly impressed with the update :).

Opinions on the update/game so far:
- The 'Universe' i.e. the environment is very very credible so far. I like it a lot.
- I like how the interface is coming together, good progress so far.
- Killshots look very good - loved that.
- I like the minimalistic (again credible) icons/tags - but I appreciate it will build.
- Impressed with weapon variety so far too, very good.
- Flight model looks good so far

My Suggestions:
- Ships look a touch lego-ey, personal preference is for sleeker/darker
- Agree with jimshu on:- Icons for planetary objects / bases / etc to help find your way back - maybe in 'Stellar Cartography' settings?
- Also looking forward to other aspects like trading and mining
- Like to see shed cargo you can scoop on killshot.
- Maybe some outer ship atmospheric striping/lighting (maybe this is in the ship editor - i dunno)
Last edited by fraggdya on Sun Mar 31, 2013 3:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
fraggdya's list of unreasonable demands!
1. I would like a tannoy in my ship that plays 'Ride of the Valkyries' on repeat.
2. A replica of the Icarus II ship
3. A shrubbery
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Re: Development Update #3: March 2013

#8
Super Awesome job! I really can't wait until I get my hands on the prototype!
I have a question though.

The missions all seamed to "magically spawn" shortly after acception of the mission.
And they seamed to spawn right outside the current station.
I was under the impression that mission-creation where going to be governed by "real" npc's current needs.
And would probably play out no matter whether you as a player accepted the mission or not.
Maybe this current mission-system is just a placeholder just for now? Or did I missunderstand something?

It would also be great if the missions didn't start right away and at a greater distance from the current station.
That way we'd be "forced" to explore a bit on the way and also get a bit pumped up for the fight. =)

Are you planning on working more on the shading/texturing of the ships?
Don't get me wrong, they look better than they used to.
But it's kinda boring that all ships are made out of the same blocky material/texture...
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Re: Development Update #3: March 2013

#10
True, i saw the video description saying mostly placeholder just after. Anyhow good bits and suggested bits are my immediate thoughts :)

Realllllly wish I had gone for custom version now :D

Im pretty sure in the missing audio bit he was talking about a ship tannoy system/music player and ride of the valkyries :O
fraggdya's list of unreasonable demands!
1. I would like a tannoy in my ship that plays 'Ride of the Valkyries' on repeat.
2. A replica of the Icarus II ship
3. A shrubbery
Post

Re: Development Update #3: March 2013

#11
Great video but I'm curious on a few things and threw in some suggestions.

I'm pretty sure all these things will be put into place before launch, and I have to say I'm blown away by how fast this game keeps getting created. It's almost as if it's expanding at an...exponential rate.

Onto my questions/suggestions!!

Will the ship procedural generation be able to make things not so block looking by release? Not sure how much depth can go into it as I'm not a programmer myself.

What happens with ships when they are destroyed? Are they still floating in space because you can now capture and repair them, or salvage them? Or has the code not been put in place to make them disappear once destroyed?

Asteroid base needs more lights/buildings inside it. Currently it just looks like a square hole inside of a rock with some ships scattered about.

Will there be seeking missiles? Or will they just be more or less larger projectiles that are slower, but deal a substantial amount of damage.

Lastly, the missions you accept seem to just appear once accepted, as if completely instanced and not based on anything. I understand this is probably for the prototype, but will it also occur where you will witness a mission being started through a conflict between two ships flying around in space? I think it would also be cool if missions weren't just accepted in stations, but two transmissions could be sent to your ship while you're flying near a conflict that has erupted. The transmissions would come from both sides of the conflict, and you can either help one side, help the other, or ignore them both and carry on. Which also might make one side hold a grudge, and try to hunt you down..

I love where this game is going, and if this is the state of the game after such a short amount of time, I can only drool over what all will be included before the end of the summer even!
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Re: Development Update #3: March 2013

#12
Most of the frequent questions here were actually addressed in the video description, but I'll restate some of them here in a bit more detail.

About the missions - this mission generation system is purely placeholder for the time being!!! It is intended to help me test out the mechanics of missions, and to give you some scenarios to toy around with in the prototype. It is, of course, not how the game will actually work. As I've advertised plenty of times, the goal is for missions to be based realistically on the needs of the AI players / factions. They will not just be randomly generated and spawned on-demand. But it will take quite a while before we're to the point where that can happen (because, in order to generate coherent missions, it basically requires that the entire universe simulation / AI engine is in place...). For now I will keep the placeholder system so that we have a way to play with the other game mechanics that are exposed via missions.

About ships - still very rough and early on, virtually no variety in the ship geometry. They really are just blocks at the moment, but that will get better. The underlying technology is extremely flexible (the exact same technology generates ships, asteroids, etc..), I just need to put in the time to explore the algorithms. Ship textures are in the same boat - very flexible system, but needs more time. Curvy ships are just as easy/possible as blocky ships, so don't worry, we are not limited to blocks!

Station interior - again, same story, I implemented this only a few days ago, and in a few hours. It will get better, I would like to generate fully-populated interiors (populated with architectural things, not people, sorry :) )
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.” ~ Henry Ford
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Re: Development Update #3: March 2013

#13
Hello Josh, just wanted to say that i REALLY loved what you have done with LT for now, it really looks, well, like a game
UI looks great, even now its much smoother and prettier than many other games have, enemy AI feels awesome and seems to adopt to guns that he is using, love sounds of different weapons, asteroid base hanger is cool as well etc

But there are some points that disappointed me, I know its not even alpha, but anyway:

Weapon ranges.
SHIP weapons with a range of... 600-800 meters? Its lower than AK-74 precise shooting range (if you shoot semi-auto). Its wrong, totally wrong for me, it even looks weird, that what ruined many games for me (like X3 etc). I'm NOT asking for 10-30 km for a fighter weapon as it will be boring, but 2-3 km looks just what it should be. I really hope you will change that.

Missiles
Just want to say, if you want unguided rockets, give them speed. If you are looking for some great awesome-looking anti-fighter missiles make them guided with long reload speed, it makes sense.

Fighter weapons
I believe that will be changed but many of guys on this forum will agree with me that fighters should have fixed weapon mount mostly, that the point of a fighter, he uses its own maneuverability and speed instead of turrets. Some heavy fighters (bombers, gunships) i believe can get 1 or 2 turrets set to auto for point defense, but having JUST turrets looks wrong for me (maybe its just me).
Turreted weapons as standard should be used starting from corvette/frigate class (if not only heavy anti-cap guns). But assume you didn't really integrated different weapon hardpoints, so i will patiently wait till next month for Combat prototype.

Other then that everything looks great, keep up a great work and we all wish a good luck
I̲̩̳̺̩̫n̵̻̘͚͖̗͎ͅ ͢J̜̬̗̦o̩̘̦̪͕͉ͅs͞h̞͘ ̯̹͈͙w̯̙̥e̱͉ ̬̙̘̭̯̦͕t̹͖͔̖͘r͚̠̰͍͚̹ụ̸̭͍͕̯̹̙s̩͓̼̲̲͉̹t̰.̴͈̖͙̜̲

We will never forget the "Heavenly hundred"
Failures lead to success.
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Re: Development Update #3: March 2013

#14
Thanks for the update Josh, even though the sound was cut out I still enjoyed the video and all of the stuff that's been added in. Also, thanks for the position you're taking with Limit Theory as far as the economy and dynamics in general goes. The biggest problem I found with X3 were ships, stations, missions, etc. spawning from nowhere with NPC's that would have infinite bank accounts. Great work!

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