Author Topic: X-Wing Unity Engine Remake  (Read 8208 times)

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X-Wing Unity Engine Remake
Time to post something new in this thread.

This video shows a reimplementation of "Star Wars: X-Wing" (PC) on the Unity engine in its early stages, using many of the original assets.
The testbed for this reimplementation is the Y-Wing's historical mission #6.

Enjoy. :)

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Offline AdmiralRalwood

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Re: X-Wing Unity Engine Remake
* AdmiralRalwood can't imagine wanting to remake X-Wing instead of TIE Fighter
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<MageKing17> "There's probably a reason the code is the way it is" is a very dangerous line of thought. :P
<MageKing17> Because the "reason" often turns out to be "nobody noticed it was wrong".
(the very next day)
<MageKing17> this ****ing code did it to me again
<MageKing17> "That doesn't really make sense to me, but I'll assume it was being done for a reason."
<MageKing17> **** ME
<MageKing17> THE REASON IS PEOPLE ARE STUPID
<MageKing17> ESPECIALLY ME

<MageKing17> God damn, I do not understand how this is breaking.
<MageKing17> Everything points to "this should work fine", and yet it's clearly not working.
<MjnMixael> 2 hours later... "God damn, how did this ever work at all?!"
(...)
<MageKing17> so
<MageKing17> more than two hours
<MageKing17> but once again we have reached the inevitable conclusion
<MageKing17> How did this code ever work in the first place!?

<@The_E> Welcome to OpenGL, where standards compliance is optional, and error reporting inconsistent

<MageKing17> It was all working perfectly until I actually tried it on an actual mission.

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Re: X-Wing Unity Engine Remake
* AdmiralRalwood can't imagine wanting to remake X-Wing instead of TIE Fighter
Who knows, maybe TIE Fighter will receive the same treatment one day. :)
Audio Converter of Enigma Campaign 2666:
http://enigma.de.to/

German translator of WC: Hostile Frontier:
http://www.ciinet.org/kevin/wchf/

My Youtube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/FekLeyrTarg?feature=mhee

 

Offline niffiwan

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Re: X-Wing Unity Engine Remake
* AdmiralRalwood can't imagine wanting to remake X-Wing instead of TIE Fighter
Who knows, maybe TIE Fighter will receive the same treatment one day. :)

If by remake you mean re-imagine with the annoyances removed then I'd be all for it! Mind you, this seems to be a mostly-pure remake... urgh, lack of a lead indicator and decent targeting controls, plus bone headed AI. Still, from the comments it seems early days...
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Offline Det. Bullock

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Re: X-Wing Unity Engine Remake
* AdmiralRalwood can't imagine wanting to remake X-Wing instead of TIE Fighter
Who knows, maybe TIE Fighter will receive the same treatment one day. :)

If by remake you mean re-imagine with the annoyances removed then I'd be all for it! Mind you, this seems to be a mostly-pure remake... urgh, lack of a lead indicator and decent targeting controls, plus bone headed AI. Still, from the comments it seems early days...

The lead indicator we can do without, remember that Star Wars is schizo tech at its finest I think having a targeting reticle is stretching it already.
Targeting controls will probably be the same as Tie Fighter which were more than good, the first X-wing had issues but they were mostly corrected by Tie Fighter.
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Offline Azrapse

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Re: X-Wing Unity Engine Remake
* AdmiralRalwood can't imagine wanting to remake X-Wing instead of TIE Fighter
Who knows, maybe TIE Fighter will receive the same treatment one day. :)

If by remake you mean re-imagine with the annoyances removed then I'd be all for it! Mind you, this seems to be a mostly-pure remake... urgh, lack of a lead indicator and decent targeting controls, plus bone headed AI. Still, from the comments it seems early days...

The lead indicator we can do without, remember that Star Wars is schizo tech at its finest I think having a targeting reticle is stretching it already.
Targeting controls will probably be the same as Tie Fighter which were more than good, the first X-wing had issues but they were mostly corrected by Tie Fighter.

Hi. I am the current developer of that mod.
The decision to do X-Wing instead of TIE Fighter is precisely because X-Wing is in much greater need to get a facelift than TIE Fighter.
It is not a pure remake (or at least not in the sense of X-Wing 98), but it does stick with the conventions of the X-Wing series.
All improvements made to later games will be retrofitted to this one as long as they make sense. Also, new improvements not available in the later games will also be added as we figure out what would be nice to have.
It is still a remake of the game engine, more than an independet new game or a total conversion, and its main aim is to be a replacement for the game executable, while using the rest of the game resources and missions, at the same time making it extensible to allow for further improvements.

About the lead indicator, it is implemented but it is invisible. The targeting reticle glows yellow when you are aiming at the lead indicator, but you need to know where it is. This has been so since the original X-Wing and it is a gameplay design choice. Star Wars space combat is basically World War II planes disguised as spaceships. While all environmental information provided since TIE Fighter will be eventually added (incoming fighter fire, missile locking, incoming turret fire, etc), it is encouraged that the dogfight between the player and their target isn't so much automatized so that the player needs to learn how to predict where the lead indicator is and landing the shot. I think that is the fundamental, core element of X-Wing dogfighting.
Sure we can simplify the gameplay by adding a visible target indicator, as well as firing assist, gimbaled weapons, and faster fire rate. But then it would stop being X-Wing and instead become Rogue Squadron or Elite Dangerous.

The game is balanced taking into consideration that the player will successfully manage to land a couple of shots over a 10 seconds period, and that is why enemy ships usually have so few hitpoints, or move so slowly if they are sturdier.
If we were to have any aiming assist, or increase the fire rate (like the "laser firehose" that the Rogue Squadron series has), surely the rest of the game would need to be adapted to keep the challenge.

The mod is basically a few months old, after one year of previous research of several file formats and internal systems by several clever people helping. Also, I can dedicate 1 or 2 hours every few days to code it, so it is not even close to release state, since we don't have a big, dedicated team, neither we have access to the original design documents, nor we are reusing any other game's engine to save time.

If you are interested on the developlment of it, we have a thread in the GOG forums where we talk about it.
« Last Edit: August 02, 2016, 04:39:28 am by Azrapse »

 

Offline niffiwan

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Re: X-Wing Unity Engine Remake
Oh dear.. I've read through the entire GOG forum thread you linked and now I feel bad about my hasty off-the-cuff comments :(

As background, I played the original DOS X-wing on a 286 when I was a kid and have great memories of it, along with Tie Fighter & XWA (XvT less so, but BoP redeemed it somewhat). In fact, I am really keen to give your game a go, and being involved in FSO coding (& now FoTG modding) I know how much dedicated effort goes into modding, let alone creating a game engine, even with the assistance of a framework like Unity. So, I really should have started out with more praise for your work, because it looks really good so far  :yes: (I mean, X-wing missions with TIE fighter level of features? Woohoo!)

So... to try to explain what I said... I recently bought X-Wing from GoG and have played through it quite a bit. And... well nostalgia is a wonderful thing :)  I found that I was getting rather annoyed with various parts of the gameplay, like the awkward targeting controls, and AI which is I think is objectively terrible. I can hardly recall a time when I was ever in danger of being shot down. 2nd mission of the 1st tour mission I happily destroyed 2-3 corvettes, 3-4 freighters, and probably 30-40 fighters on the A-wing "recon" mission (and then the game crashed about 2 mins before the timer ran out :hopping:).  I guess you can put the target indicator in the same category because without it makes it really hard to hit manoeuvring ships which aren't at point blank range, and I guess the bad evasion from the AI is all that allows you to hit targets at middle distances. Anyway, I got the impression that this was going to be a faithful remake, and some of my recent frustrations with the original came to the surface and I assumed that it would be the same in your game.

Now, having read your thread @ GOG I feel somewhat silly with my assumptions as you from the start talked about improving the annoying aspects of X-Wing, e.g. to the same level of features as in TIE fighter. And that's all my comments really are, assumptions based on conflating the original with your remake.

Anyway, I really hope I don't permanently discourage you, it really is a fantastic effort you've put in so far and I'd gladly play this when done.

(Heck, I'd even offer to help out... but it'd take a few planets to align, e.g. finish off FoTG, I have this TIE fighter remake idea I wanted to pursue using FSO, and then I'd need the Unity3D toolkit ported to Linux)
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Offline Azrapse

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Re: X-Wing Unity Engine Remake
Oh dear.. I've read through the entire GOG forum thread you linked and now I feel bad about my hasty off-the-cuff comments :(

As background, I played the original DOS X-wing on a 286 when I was a kid and have great memories of it, along with Tie Fighter & XWA (XvT less so, but BoP redeemed it somewhat). In fact, I am really keen to give your game a go, and being involved in FSO coding (& now FoTG modding) I know how much dedicated effort goes into modding, let alone creating a game engine, even with the assistance of a framework like Unity. So, I really should have started out with more praise for your work, because it looks really good so far  :yes: (I mean, X-wing missions with TIE fighter level of features? Woohoo!)

So... to try to explain what I said... I recently bought X-Wing from GoG and have played through it quite a bit. And... well nostalgia is a wonderful thing :)  I found that I was getting rather annoyed with various parts of the gameplay, like the awkward targeting controls, and AI which is I think is objectively terrible. I can hardly recall a time when I was ever in danger of being shot down. 2nd mission of the 1st tour mission I happily destroyed 2-3 corvettes, 3-4 freighters, and probably 30-40 fighters on the A-wing "recon" mission (and then the game crashed about 2 mins before the timer ran out :hopping:).  I guess you can put the target indicator in the same category because without it makes it really hard to hit manoeuvring ships which aren't at point blank range, and I guess the bad evasion from the AI is all that allows you to hit targets at middle distances. Anyway, I got the impression that this was going to be a faithful remake, and some of my recent frustrations with the original came to the surface and I assumed that it would be the same in your game.

Now, having read your thread @ GOG I feel somewhat silly with my assumptions as you from the start talked about improving the annoying aspects of X-Wing, e.g. to the same level of features as in TIE fighter. And that's all my comments really are, assumptions based on conflating the original with your remake.

Anyway, I really hope I don't permanently discourage you, it really is a fantastic effort you've put in so far and I'd gladly play this when done.

(Heck, I'd even offer to help out... but it'd take a few planets to align, e.g. finish off FoTG, I have this TIE fighter remake idea I wanted to pursue using FSO, and then I'd need the Unity3D toolkit ported to Linux)

No problem.
As you have surely read in the GOG forum, the long term goal of the project is to basically revive the X-Wing series, starting by bringing everything the original X-Wing missed for being the first one. At the same time, being respectful to the IP owners and doing this as a mod for their games.
Also, X-Wing Alliance is now 16 years old, and lots of good things have happened since. VR is gaining traction, and as soon as it becomes affordable for most, we will want to have a VR-ready X-Wing game, right?
Or one that supports several simultaneous joysticks for more demanding players. Or multiplayer coop in the same ship. Or... many things we couldn't even attempt to do if we restrict ourselves to XWA's engine or similar.
At the same time, there are things from the original X-Wing games that we don't want to lose, and the most important of them are the iMuse system and the immersive cockpits. Those two are iconic, and few games have done it right since (not even XWA).

 

Offline coffeesoft

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Re: X-Wing Unity Engine Remake
Are you using the original models or the models from XWA Upgrade ?

 

Offline Azrapse

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Re: X-Wing Unity Engine Remake
Are you using the original models or the models from XWA Upgrade ?

We started using the XWAU models as placeholders. We will not release the mod with those models unless we get their permission to use them (as far as I know, we aren't breaking their terms as long as we don't release anything. That is why I uploaded a video and not a build of the game). Anyway, to avoid confusions, there is that warning in the corner saying that the models shown are from XWAU, until we replace them.
We are currently replacing them with original models. The TIE Fighter and Y-Wing new models are under construction by one of our members, MajorParts, and will appear in the next video I'll upload (not sure when that will be, though). I guess a new shuttle and frigate will come sometime later, unless the people at XWAU decide to allow their models in this mod.
FekLeyrTarg has created some retro DOS style models for the 4 ships involved in this demo that we could use already to replace the XWAU, even. I need to figure out a way to keep modelpacks, so that you can switch between the originals, the XWAU, and the Retro ones within the game easily.

The long term goal is to be able to have different model sets, or use the models that come from the game. That involves reading the OPT files from X-Wing 98, or the undocumented CPX files from X-Wing DOS. That is a project on itself, so for now we are progressing with placeholders.
« Last Edit: August 03, 2016, 07:07:49 am by Azrapse »

 

Offline CountBuggula

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Re: X-Wing Unity Engine Remake
Nice, this sounds like a cool project!  Have you contacted the XWA guys about use of the models yet?  In my experience many of them have been very generous in allowing use as long as permission is asked and credit is given.  We actually use their super star destroyer model in FotG.

Recreating the original X-Wing campaigns in FotG would be difficult/impossible without major reworking because we've made such fundamental gameplay changes from the X-Wing games, but your project would be a great way to revisit those old campaigns.  I look forward to it, so good luck with your project!

 

Offline Azrapse

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Re: X-Wing Unity Engine Remake
A couple weeks ago I started a thread on the XWAU forums, to introduce the existence of this mod and that we were using their models as placeholders until they gave us permission or requested us to remove them.
No model creator has expressed in favor or against either of those possibilities. So I guess we need to contact them personally. But reading Darksaber's homepage, it seems they don't want to be contacted personally ever again, and instead he points at the forums as the only channel to reach them.
So just waiting, so far.

 

Offline CountBuggula

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Re: X-Wing Unity Engine Remake
A couple weeks ago I started a thread on the XWAU forums, to introduce the existence of this mod and that we were using their models as placeholders until they gave us permission or requested us to remove them.
No model creator has expressed in favor or against either of those possibilities. So I guess we need to contact them personally. But reading Darksaber's homepage, it seems they don't want to be contacted personally ever again, and instead he points at the forums as the only channel to reach them.
So just waiting, so far.

Hmm.  I'm pretty sure all my communication with them was through the forums.  I guess just keep being patient and polite and hopefully you'll get some good results.

 
Re: X-Wing Unity Engine Remake
My guess is that most people on the XWAUP forums are busy at the moment and barely have time to reply. :)

(Also thanks to the one who has split this discussion from the video thread to this new one. :) )
Audio Converter of Enigma Campaign 2666:
http://enigma.de.to/

German translator of WC: Hostile Frontier:
http://www.ciinet.org/kevin/wchf/

My Youtube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/FekLeyrTarg?feature=mhee

 
Re: X-Wing Unity Engine Remake
Recently, I've had the idea of handling interiors and cutscenes like another Unity based game, "Wing Commander: Flat Universe", does.

So while I was bored yesterday, I drew two sketches of how the briefing room could look like.
The DOS-version looks quite claustrophobic and the Windows-version too blue and its map feels tagged on.

So I came up with these, borrowing elements from X-Wing DOS, X-Wing Windows and X-Wing Alliance.
I think the color scheme of either X-Wing DOS or X-Wing Alliance would fit nicely since the interiors of X-Wing Windows look too oppressing.

Keep in mind that these are rough ideas, so the elements aren't really scaled correctly.

Also, feel free to borrow any of those ideas for FotG if you wish. :)



Audio Converter of Enigma Campaign 2666:
http://enigma.de.to/

German translator of WC: Hostile Frontier:
http://www.ciinet.org/kevin/wchf/

My Youtube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/FekLeyrTarg?feature=mhee

 

Offline CountBuggula

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Re: X-Wing Unity Engine Remake
Recently, I've had the idea of handling interiors and cutscenes like another Unity based game, "Wing Commander: Flat Universe", does.

So while I was bored yesterday, I drew two sketches of how the briefing room could look like.
The DOS-version looks quite claustrophobic and the Windows-version too blue and its map feels tagged on.

So I came up with these, borrowing elements from X-Wing DOS, X-Wing Windows and X-Wing Alliance.
I think the color scheme of either X-Wing DOS or X-Wing Alliance would fit nicely since the interiors of X-Wing Windows look too oppressing.

Keep in mind that these are rough ideas, so the elements aren't really scaled correctly.

Also, feel free to borrow any of those ideas for FotG if you wish. :)




Thanks for sharing!  I'll repost my comments from the other forum here:

Considering Star Wars space battles were modeled after WWII aircraft warfare, it seems rather appropriate that the briefing room be a bit cramped. You ever see the interior of a WWII era aircraft carrier briefing room? I got the chance to tour the USS Midway in San Diego a few years back and they're not exactly spacious.

In the movies the only briefing rooms we see are in Episode IV on Yavin's base, and Return of the Jedi in an Officer's Briefing on Home One. The individual briefing rooms for each fighter squadron, even on a Mon Cal, were undoubtedly much smaller and more cramped. Personally, I would lean more towards the DOS style rooms, maybe even a bit more cluttered with flight gear, spare R2 parts, etc.

Then again, I'm always in FotG thought mode, where we throw out anything and everything that wasn't in the original trilogy and that isn't necessarily your philosophy here.

Anyways, here's a few pictures for reference:




 
Re: X-Wing Unity Engine Remake
A very interesting point I haven't thought about.

So I've come up with a new concept, which stays true to the DOS briefing room while making a few tweaks.
I've changed the lectern and added a back part to the room.

Audio Converter of Enigma Campaign 2666:
http://enigma.de.to/

German translator of WC: Hostile Frontier:
http://www.ciinet.org/kevin/wchf/

My Youtube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/FekLeyrTarg?feature=mhee

 
Re: X-Wing Unity Engine Remake
I hope it's ok to do a double post with being a few days apart.
(But feel free to merge it with my previous one if it isn't)

I've realised that I haven't pointed you to another project which I'm tackling for XWVM:
A rebuild of all the ingame models of X-Wing DOS.

If you wish to follow or comment on this project, you can do so either at the GoG forums or at the XWAUpgrade ones:
http://www.xwaupgrade.com/phpBB3008/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=11608
https://www.gog.com/forum/star_wars_xwing_and_tie_fighter_series/xwing_series_retro_models_rebuild

I'm concentrating on the ships featured in X-Wing, but may also recreate the ones from TIE Fighter and possibly do a DOS interpretation of the ships found in X-Wing vs TIE Fighter - Balance of Power and X-Wing Alliance.
I'll do a public release on one point, possibly once I've finished all the X-Wing ships, so anyone wishing to use these for their own renderings, games or mods may use them. (I only ask to credit me and LucasArts)
Audio Converter of Enigma Campaign 2666:
http://enigma.de.to/

German translator of WC: Hostile Frontier:
http://www.ciinet.org/kevin/wchf/

My Youtube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/FekLeyrTarg?feature=mhee

 

Offline CountBuggula

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Re: X-Wing Unity Engine Remake
I hope it's ok to do a double post with being a few days apart.
(But feel free to merge it with my previous one if it isn't)

I've realised that I haven't pointed you to another project which I'm tackling for XWVM:
A rebuild of all the ingame models of X-Wing DOS.

If you wish to follow or comment on this project, you can do so either at the GoG forums or at the XWAUpgrade ones:
http://www.xwaupgrade.com/phpBB3008/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=11608
https://www.gog.com/forum/star_wars_xwing_and_tie_fighter_series/xwing_series_retro_models_rebuild

I'm concentrating on the ships featured in X-Wing, but may also recreate the ones from TIE Fighter and possibly do a DOS interpretation of the ships found in X-Wing vs TIE Fighter - Balance of Power and X-Wing Alliance.
I'll do a public release on one point, possibly once I've finished all the X-Wing ships, so anyone wishing to use these for their own renderings, games or mods may use them. (I only ask to credit me and LucasArts)

I saw this awhile back but hadn't seen your recent work - it's looking great!  I like the idea of being able to swap out ship sets, so you can use yours for some serious nostalgia, or go with the new shiny high-res versions.  Or possibly even XWAU craft for a nice intermediate.  Fun stuff.