Author Topic: [RELEASE] Diaspora: Shattered Armistice v1.0 (Windows, Mac & Linux)  (Read 856217 times)

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Re: [RELEASE] Diaspora: Shattered Armistice
Hey Karajorma, the alternate torrents on gameupdates.org are up and running, if by chance you'd like to add them to the release post.
http://gameupdates.org/index.php?search=Diaspora%3A+Shattered+Armistice

(Yes I realize they'll be a little slower than the regular torrents, but hopefully they'll be more dependable in the long run)

 

Offline karajorma

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Re: [RELEASE] Diaspora: Shattered Armistice
We went quiet after the ModDB Fiasco cause we wanted to make sure we made it to release. Now, even if they C&D us it won't all have been for nothing. People have played and enjoyed Diaspora so we actually achieved something.

Since R1 made so much noise all over the net, there's little point in being quiet now so you can start checking every day again. :)
Karajorma's Freespace FAQ. It's almost like asking me yourself.

[ Diaspora ] - [ Seeds Of Rebellion ] - [ Mind Games ]

 

Offline FSW

  • 27
Re: [RELEASE] Diaspora: Shattered Armistice
What a pleasant surprise! Congratulations on the release, Team Diaspora. Here are my impressions, with spoilers.

The mod is technically marvellous. The cockpits are beautiful but unobstrusive, and I have no idea how the developers managed to get a functional DRADIS screen in there. I wonder how many other UI elements could be integrated into a cockpit. Emerging from a launch tube and straight into a huge battle is surprisingly satisfying. The graphics are really very good, from the ships to the weapon effects. The way missile trails curve and flak bursts looks just like the TV show. I didn't know it was possible to have so many bullets on-screen at once! Suggestions for graphical improvement: increase the resolution of the Theseus landing bay textures, and speed up muzzle flash animations on its turrets. The menus and the UI in general are nice. The music is not particularly memorable; maybe I had the volume too low. It's a shame, because I remember liking BtRL's music. The voices were well done, and the distortion seemed just right.

In encountered a few bugs. When targeting the Basestar's missile launchers, the HUD often shows a red square (not a diamond with an X) even when the launcher is obstructed from line-of-sight. It took a bit of trial and error to figure out where the launchers actually were and target them manually. Also, one of the missions has no briefing voiceover (I think, the one where you find the Indart).

The floaty semi-Newtonian flight mechanics apply a significant twist to Freespace gameplay, with a steep re-learning curve. The new target-lag reticle is a little more satisfying to use than a lead indicator, and I hope it becomes more common among Freespace mods. The fast-paced and dangerous dogfighting is a lot of fun. With the speeds and distances involved, hitting enemies is difficult, so it would be nice if there were some way to rearm in appropriate missions, perhaps by calling in a support Raptor or by landing in a hangar. Such a mechanic would likely be better for both gameplay and immersion than having a weaponless fighter pilot waiting in a battlezone, refused permission to land!

Mission design seems to be fairly standard Freespace fare (defang, defend), although I'm sure there is plenty going on under the hood. This initial campaign is narratively unimaginative, with little else than the basic BSG plot of humans fleeing cylons. There are no relatable characters, and very little interesting banter between pilots. However, the bleak BSG atmosphere is portrayed well. The battles are hectic and exciting, and look just like those on the show. Unfortunately, the scale can make the player's role seem unimportant. The friendly AI is rather competent, and on Advanced and Hard difficulty, I often found that the main challenge was to remain alive rather than chase objectives; when the mission was over I wasn't sure whether I'd had much effect on the outcome.

I haven't tried multiplayer yet. Since the flight mechanics are quite a departure from Freespace's (and even BtRL's), it'll be interesting to see people develop new tactics. I very much look forward to some online dogfights, and of course to some co-op missions!

In conclusion, what the development team has achieved so far is very impressive, and the Diaspora project shows promise for future greatness. I hope that this is just the beginning!
« Last Edit: September 08, 2012, 07:21:39 am by FSW »

 

Offline newman

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  • 211
Re: [RELEASE] Diaspora: Shattered Armistice
increase the resolution of the Theseus landing bay textures

This is one of those areas where you do what you can. The Theseus already takes up a lot of video memory - too much, really - and the only way to "increase resolution" on that area would be to introduce additional maps. This isn't going to happen. What we can do is release 4096x4096 versions of those maps so people who have the hardware to use them can use them as a mod. This will likely happen a bit later.


Also, one of the missions has no briefing voiceover (I think, the one where you find the Indart).

All missions have briefing VA, but sadly there is a memory corruption bug that appears to be non-trivial to fix. After a specific amount of missions played in a row, the briefing VA will stop playing. For now the only workaround is to restart the game when it happens, and the briefing will be there. This issue is well known.


hitting enemies is difficult, so it would be nice if there were some way to rearm in appropriate missions, perhaps by calling in a support Raptor or by landing in a hangar.

A huge part of what makes Diaspora gameplay different is limited ammo. Once you learn to aim properly and make sound tactical decisions on when to squeeze that trigger, running out of ammo will not be a problem for any of the R1 missions. Introducing rearming whenever the player wants would defeat the purpose of having limited ammo in the first place. This isn't freespace and you don't have inexhaustible energy weapons and almost limitless missile reloads - you need to work with what you have. It's not supposed to be easy :)


Mission design seems to be fairly standard Freespace fare (defang, defend), although I'm sure there is plenty going on under the hood. This initial campaign is narratively unimaginative, with little else than the basic BSG plot of humans fleeing cylons. There are no relatable characters, and very little interesting banter between pilots. However, the bleak BSG atmosphere is portrayed well. The battles are hectic and exciting, and look just like those on the show. Unfortunately, the scale can make the player's role seem unimportant. The friendly AI is rather competent, and on Advanced and Hard difficulty, I often found that the main challenge was to remain alive rather than chase objectives; when the mission was over I wasn't sure whether I'd had much effect on the outcome.

There isn't much room in such a short campaign for relatable characters or any complex plots. This is just the first release; for now we aimed to get it out the door and provide as best a BSG experience as we can. Future releases will focus more on characters and plots - there is only so much you can do with 6 combat missions worth of plot.


I hope that this is just the beginning!

It is :)
You know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I go get and beat you with 'til ya understand who's in ruttin' command here! - Jayne Cobb

 

Offline torc

  • 210
  • Diaspora SFX engineer
Re: [RELEASE] Diaspora: Shattered Armistice
Regarding musics, i'd like to point the fact that them are great...i suggest to you to download the Diaspora OST... i can assure you is very impressive.

The fact them are a bit low is an artistical choice, since we tried to catch the BSG feeling, we balanced musics SFX and dialogues  as closer as we can whit TV show.
indossare una divisa può avere un prezzo alto...ma a volte...è troppo alto!!! Bill Adama

 

Offline MatthTheGeek

  • Captain Obvious
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  • Frenchie McFrenchface
Re: [RELEASE] Diaspora: Shattered Armistice
What we can do is release 4096x4096 versions of those maps so people who have the hardware to use them can use them as a mod.
All of my pretty please.
People are stupid, therefore anything popular is at best suspicious.

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666maslo666: Releasing a finished product is not a good thing! It is a modern fad.

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Axem: when you put it like that, i sound like an insane person

bigchunk1: it's not retarded it's american!
bigchunk1: ...

batwota: steele's maneuvering for the coup de gras
MatthTheGeek: you mispelled grâce
Awaesaar: grace
batwota: oh right :P
Darius: ah!
Darius: yes, i like that
MatthTheGeek: the way you just spelled it it means fat
Awaesaar: +accent I forgot how to keyboard
MatthTheGeek: or grease
Darius: the killing fat!
Axem: jabba does the coup de gras
MatthTheGeek: XD
Axem: bring me solo and a cookie

 

Offline Alan Bolte

  • 28
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    • @Compellor
Re: [RELEASE] Diaspora: Shattered Armistice
How did you do the LCOS? Will we be able to use it on FS2 as a mod or a launcher option?
Anything worth doing is worth analyzing to death -Iranon

 

Offline MatthTheGeek

  • Captain Obvious
  • 212
  • Frenchie McFrenchface
Re: [RELEASE] Diaspora: Shattered Armistice
Wat's lcos
People are stupid, therefore anything popular is at best suspicious.

Mod management tools     -     Wiki stuff!     -     Help us help you

666maslo666: Releasing a finished product is not a good thing! It is a modern fad.

SpardaSon21: it seems like you exist in a permanent state of half-joking misanthropy

Axem: when you put it like that, i sound like an insane person

bigchunk1: it's not retarded it's american!
bigchunk1: ...

batwota: steele's maneuvering for the coup de gras
MatthTheGeek: you mispelled grâce
Awaesaar: grace
batwota: oh right :P
Darius: ah!
Darius: yes, i like that
MatthTheGeek: the way you just spelled it it means fat
Awaesaar: +accent I forgot how to keyboard
MatthTheGeek: or grease
Darius: the killing fat!
Axem: jabba does the coup de gras
MatthTheGeek: XD
Axem: bring me solo and a cookie

 
Re: [RELEASE] Diaspora: Shattered Armistice
So yeah. Worth the wait. That was a really fun little campaign. Stoked for the next release!

 
Re: [RELEASE] Diaspora: Shattered Armistice
Wat's lcos
That's what's Diaspora's style of gunsight is called.
17:37:02   Quanto: I want to have sexual intercourse with every space elf in existence
17:37:11   SpardaSon21: even the males?
17:37:22   Quanto: its not gay if its an elf

[21:51] <@Droid803> I now realize
[21:51] <@Droid803> this will be SLIIIIIGHTLY awkward
[21:51] <@Droid803> as this rich psychic girl will now be tsundere for a loli.
[21:51] <@Droid803> OH WELLL.

See what you're missing in #WoD and #Fsquest?

[07:57:32] <Caiaphas> inspired by HerraTohtori i built a supermaneuverable plane in ksp
[07:57:43] <Caiaphas> i just killed my pilots with a high-g maneuver
[07:58:19] <Caiaphas> apparently people can't take 20 gees for 5 continuous seconds
[08:00:11] <Caiaphas> the plane however performed admirably, and only crashed because it no longer had any guidance systems

 

Offline Mr. R

  • 27
Re: [RELEASE] Diaspora: Shattered Armistice
Great job Diaspora team!  Wish I was able to be there for all of it.

 

Offline karajorma

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Re: [RELEASE] Diaspora: Shattered Armistice
Welcome back R. I can't remember if it's your Viper or Wild's in this release. I forget who did the MK VII.
Karajorma's Freespace FAQ. It's almost like asking me yourself.

[ Diaspora ] - [ Seeds Of Rebellion ] - [ Mind Games ]

 

Offline Mr. R

  • 27
Re: [RELEASE] Diaspora: Shattered Armistice
I did the MK VII, he did the variant, and the MK II.
« Last Edit: September 08, 2012, 02:11:28 pm by Mr. R »

 

Offline MatthTheGeek

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  • Frenchie McFrenchface
Re: [RELEASE] Diaspora: Shattered Armistice
I forget who did the MK VII.
http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Viper_Mark_VII

Credits are coming directly from Newman. As is the rest of the shiplist.

The current Mk7 seems to be Mr.R's indeed, as is the Heavy Raider.
People are stupid, therefore anything popular is at best suspicious.

Mod management tools     -     Wiki stuff!     -     Help us help you

666maslo666: Releasing a finished product is not a good thing! It is a modern fad.

SpardaSon21: it seems like you exist in a permanent state of half-joking misanthropy

Axem: when you put it like that, i sound like an insane person

bigchunk1: it's not retarded it's american!
bigchunk1: ...

batwota: steele's maneuvering for the coup de gras
MatthTheGeek: you mispelled grâce
Awaesaar: grace
batwota: oh right :P
Darius: ah!
Darius: yes, i like that
MatthTheGeek: the way you just spelled it it means fat
Awaesaar: +accent I forgot how to keyboard
MatthTheGeek: or grease
Darius: the killing fat!
Axem: jabba does the coup de gras
MatthTheGeek: XD
Axem: bring me solo and a cookie

 

Offline Mr. R

  • 27
Re: [RELEASE] Diaspora: Shattered Armistice
I forget who did the MK VII.
http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Viper_Mark_VII

Credits are coming directly from Newman. As is the rest of the shiplist.

The current Mk7 seems to be Mr.R's indeed, as is the Heavy Raider.

There is actually an error on that page (Or it is purrposely not super informative).  I was not solely responsible for the MK VII textures.  DB did the bumpmap/specmap for the MK VII.  He did a great job too.

 

Offline MatthTheGeek

  • Captain Obvious
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  • Frenchie McFrenchface
Re: [RELEASE] Diaspora: Shattered Armistice
It's a wiki ! If you have more accurate information than I had, you are very welcome to complete it :)
People are stupid, therefore anything popular is at best suspicious.

Mod management tools     -     Wiki stuff!     -     Help us help you

666maslo666: Releasing a finished product is not a good thing! It is a modern fad.

SpardaSon21: it seems like you exist in a permanent state of half-joking misanthropy

Axem: when you put it like that, i sound like an insane person

bigchunk1: it's not retarded it's american!
bigchunk1: ...

batwota: steele's maneuvering for the coup de gras
MatthTheGeek: you mispelled grâce
Awaesaar: grace
batwota: oh right :P
Darius: ah!
Darius: yes, i like that
MatthTheGeek: the way you just spelled it it means fat
Awaesaar: +accent I forgot how to keyboard
MatthTheGeek: or grease
Darius: the killing fat!
Axem: jabba does the coup de gras
MatthTheGeek: XD
Axem: bring me solo and a cookie

 

Offline Swifty

  • Moderator
  • 210
  • I reject your fantasy & substitute my own
Re: [RELEASE] Diaspora: Shattered Armistice
Great job Diaspora team!  Wish I was able to be there for all of it.

Any chance you'll get back into the ol' gang? ;7

 
Re: [RELEASE] Diaspora: Shattered Armistice
Interesting little statistics. Hard-Light had an average of 2-3 users registering per day before release. Since Septemver 4th, it's about 20-30 a day.

 
Re: [RELEASE] Diaspora: Shattered Armistice
I hope that all the new members check out projects besides Diaspora.  There's a lot more to HLP than just one Battlestar Galactica game.
17:37:02   Quanto: I want to have sexual intercourse with every space elf in existence
17:37:11   SpardaSon21: even the males?
17:37:22   Quanto: its not gay if its an elf

[21:51] <@Droid803> I now realize
[21:51] <@Droid803> this will be SLIIIIIGHTLY awkward
[21:51] <@Droid803> as this rich psychic girl will now be tsundere for a loli.
[21:51] <@Droid803> OH WELLL.

See what you're missing in #WoD and #Fsquest?

[07:57:32] <Caiaphas> inspired by HerraTohtori i built a supermaneuverable plane in ksp
[07:57:43] <Caiaphas> i just killed my pilots with a high-g maneuver
[07:58:19] <Caiaphas> apparently people can't take 20 gees for 5 continuous seconds
[08:00:11] <Caiaphas> the plane however performed admirably, and only crashed because it no longer had any guidance systems

 

Offline IceFire

  • GTVI Section 3
  • 212
    • http://www.3dap.com/hlp/hosted/ce
Re: [RELEASE] Diaspora: Shattered Armistice
Congrats on the release folks! I know there were many years of hard effort going into this. I'm glad to see it's paid off!
- IceFire
BlackWater Ops, Cold Element
"Burn the land, boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me..."