Author Topic: 2011-02-19 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online  (Read 32587 times)

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Offline Lt.Cannonfodder

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2011-02-19 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
As Bigpoint's Battlestar Galactica game is now in open beta testing the team would like to make an official statement about it.

The Diaspora team have never considered Bigpoint's game to a rival to ours. Both games have very different styles and therefore are aimed at fairly different markets. We know exactly how hard it is to make a BSG game and we want to wish them every success with theirs.

That said, we do actually have a vested interest. Several months ago the Diaspora team was approached by the producer of Battlestar Galactica Online with an offer. In order to speed up the development of their game they were interested in hiring freelance 3D artists to make models for them. And where might you go if you were looking for 3D artists familiar with making game models for a Battlestar Galactica based game?

Yep, us.

As a result, after signing some NDAs, DaBrain, Lt Cannonfodder and Newman have all been freelancing the last few months to make a reasonable portion of the Rag Tag Fleet for Bigpoint's game. This hasn't slowed down Diaspora any and in fact has helped as our modellers have basically been paid to familiarise themselves intimately with ships they'll later be putting into the game anyway. Expect to see future posts in the Dev Blog as they start modelling the Diaspora versions of the ships they created for Bigpoint.

-Diaspora team
« Last Edit: November 08, 2012, 08:11:30 pm by karajorma »

 

Offline General Battuta

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Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Whoa. That's...awesome.

 

Offline Shivan Hunter

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Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
I just sat here for about a minute trying to think of something to say other than "omg"

 

Offline Col. Fishguts

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Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Woah, that sure is a compliment for your modelers :yes:

Will you be allowed to use the same models in Diaspora or will you have to create separate ones?
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Offline Shade

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Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
The models created for Bigpoint are, as far as I know, theirs and theirs alone. While a ship may look the same from afar, FSO has rather different limits in polygon counts and textures than does as browser-based MMO, and so have to be built seperately.
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Offline PhRey

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Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Congratulations guys !

 

Offline newman

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Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Will you be allowed to use the same models in Diaspora or will you have to create separate ones?

Well, a browser based MMO still has some limitations we don't. In a volunteer project such as this you can be a bit more liberal when it comes to art restrictions. When we build Diaspora's versions of the same ships we'll be able to afford to make them a bit more detailed. Like I said, this is due to different types of games having different art restrictions (as you need a fairly wide selection of machines to be able to run your MMO if you want to be successful - Diaspora can afford to center a bit more towards higher end machines).
But the whole point is moot; we signed NDAs and got paid for the ships that were built exclusively for BGO. While we do retain the right to be credited (and you can actually already find our names in BGO credits under "freelance visual artists"), the models and textures themselves are property of Bigpoint now. There's nothing stopping us from building separate Diaspora versions, however :)
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Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Im really glade to hear this.Im also really glade that Bigpoint is not only ok with Diaspora but hiring some of you because of it. So does this mean that some of those non canon ships from BSGOnline will be in Diaspora? Or that ships from Diaspora will make it into BSG online like the Theseus?

Also please still try and get Diaspora done. Could you guys release it with a single demo mission and put up the full campaign later? I think it would help with getting the game done quicker.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2011, 04:10:20 pm by FreespacePilot2010 »

 

Offline FUBAR-BDHR

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Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Something that wasn't mentioned but is probably an important point as well.  While doing that modeling Newman noticed a few things that may cause some issues (transparency rendering being a big one) for us down the road.  This lead to a couple models getting nearly done in tandem (note models not textures) so we could do testing.

Of course on the downside I played BGO to check out the models in game there and well became addicted so that will put release back a few days. 
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Offline newman

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Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Im really glade to hear this.Im also really glade that Bigpoint is not only ok with Diaspora but hiring some of you because of it. So does this mean that some of those non canon ships from BSGOnline will be in Diaspora? Or that ships from Diaspora will make it into BSG online like the Theseus?

In short, no. BSG Online has a very specific ship set that is tied to the plot. Without revealing too much spoilers, they have specific plot devices that explain away why there are suddenly lots of smaller military capships available to the player. These plot devices won't be present in Diaspora and we'll be using our own non canon designs. Similarly, once you play BGO you'll see there's no room for other battlestars, Galactica and Pegasus are the only two in that game. You won't be seeing the Theseus there.
There is one ship that might be an exception; in addition to modeling it, I also designed the Cylon refinery ship. I was planning on making a high poly "definitive" version, and possibly a Diaspora variant as well.

Also please still try and get Diaspora done. Could you guys release it with a single demo mission and put up the full campaign later? I think it would help with getting the game done quicker.

Who said we were giving up on Diaspora? Just because a few of us freelanced on BGO doesn't mean that we're giving up on it in any way. Of course we'll get it done. As stated before, there will be no demo, we're doing episodic releases instead. At this point doing a demo wouldn't make much sense and wouldn't even be quicker, as the vast majority of our R1 art assets are either done or very near completion. The one major art thing we still need to finish is the interface, but we'd need that done even if we were just releasing a demo now (which we're not).
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Offline Ace

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Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
...and if you want Diaspora to come sooner: we're always taking on more 3d artists who can model, texture, and UV map.
Ace
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Offline newman

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Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
...and if you want Diaspora to come sooner: we're always taking on more 3d artists who can model, texture, and UV map.

Can also use FRED-ers, coders, brewery owners willing to sponsor us, and cheerleaders. Anyone with actual skills pertaining to game development that won't disappear when they figure out just how much work this is would be welcome, really :P
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 Rodo

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Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Of course they came to you looking for modders, why wouldn't they after seeing the kinda stuff you pull off every now and then.

This only confirms Diaspora will rock harder than anything in BSG universe gamewise.
el hombre vicio...

 

Offline ShadowsOfLight

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Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Good to know that the big guys recognize talent when they see it :yes: !

As a BGO beta tester, I can safely agree that the style and gameplay of the 2 games will be very different. Personally, I am much more excited for Diaspora. :)

 

Offline Fish

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Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
That's good news! Well done guys.

I don't suppose any of the other BGO artists would be keen to do some freelancing for this project? ;)
<><

 
Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
There is one ship that might be an exception; in addition to modeling it, I also designed the Cylon refinery ship. I was planning on making a high poly "definitive" version, and possibly a Diaspora variant as well.

On that note, I was wondering if the Cylon Freighter in BGO was the same ship that was buzzing around the baseship in Kobol's Last Gleaming. I mean, I figure it has to be intended to be, so I guess what I'm asking is if it was built on better reference than what was in the episode, since it was hardly discernible, so I'm curious about how much of the design was speculative.

 

Offline Ace

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Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
The freighter in Kobol's Last Gleaming is the same one as in TOS which is used for fueling the raiders before the attack.
Ace
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Offline Shade

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Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
I guess what I'm asking is if it was built on better reference than what was in the episode, since it was hardly discernible

While Ace already answered your question, this does bring up an interesting point which wasn't explicitly mentioned in the original post. Due to the involvement with BGO, our artists do in fact have access to references beyond just the aired episodes. So if you're wondering how a model ends up looking so accurate, or how we can get significant and authentic-looking detailing on something not seen up close in the show (besides the modelers being awesome at what they do, that is), that would be why :)
Report FS_Open bugs with Mantis  |  Find the latest FS_Open builds Here  |  Interested in FRED? Check out the Wiki's FRED Portal | Diaspora: Website / Forums
"Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh ****ing great. 2200 references to entry->index and no idea which is the one that ****ed up" - Karajorma
"We are all agreed that your theory is crazy. The question that divides us is whether it is crazy enough to have a chance of being correct." - Niels Bohr
<Cobra|> You play this mission too intelligently.

 

Offline newman

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Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
On that note, I was wondering if the Cylon Freighter in BGO was the same ship that was buzzing around the baseship in Kobol's Last Gleaming. I mean, I figure it has to be intended to be, so I guess what I'm asking is if it was built on better reference than what was in the episode, since it was hardly discernible, so I'm curious about how much of the design was speculative.

The Cylon freighter in BGO is supposed to be a modernized version only loosely based on what was seen on screen. It was designed and built by DaBrain.
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

 
Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Did you ever end up with a model of the Stealthstar?