[Fusiondax]

This whole community was build around that Source Code that Volition released in 2002. But what is it precisely? Is it a Graphic engine? Is it the game itself? Is it written in a specific language or does it has his own programming Script Syntax (Just like JASS for WarCraft 3).

I'm asking this because If it is what I think it is, I could use it to make a different kind of game than FreeSpace 2 is. The Game would be called "FreeSpace 2D" The raphics themselves would be in 3D but the Gameplay would be in 2D. We could play as a Fighter as well as a Capital Ship. It would be much more of a Strategic game when you are in a Capital Ship, but more of an Action game when you are in a Fighter. I will probably post another thread about my Idea, but before I start dreaming about awesomeness, I have to know if the Source Code will be useful to me or if I should start from Scratches...

Thanks for anyone who answer this post!!

[Colonol Dekker]

There's already an RTS mod, and a 2D shmup one.

[The E]

The source code release covers the entire source code to build the FreeSpace 2 executable. It's a complete package of renderer, sound engine and gameplay engine. Content creation happens primarily through a LISP-derived scripting language, supplemented by Lua scripts to handle more esoteric stuff. I would recommend that you check out the FRED walkthrough that is part of a every Freespace 2 install to get to know the mission editor.

So yes, in theory, what you want to do should be possible. Might require some Lua work though.

[Fusiondax]

The source code release covers the entire source code to build the FreeSpace 2 executable. It's a complete package of renderer, sound engine and gameplay engine. Content creation happens primarily through a LISP-derived scripting language, supplemented by Lua scripts to handle more esoteric stuff. I would recommend that you check out the FRED walkthrough that is part of a every Freespace 2 install to get to know the mission editor.

So yes, in theory, what you want to do should be possible. Might require some Lua work though.

I've already worked with FRED 2 in the past, But I don't want to make my own FSO missions, I want to make A rather new game with totally new gameplay, I just want to use the Graphic engine and those amazing models plus the series to make.

I suppose I will be able to know more about Lua Scripting by having a look at the wiki? As a beginner into Coding, I want to know where I should start, this Project will not start tomorrow, but I want to gain the experience and the knowledge I need to get the job done.

[Phantom Hoover]

The FSO engine is, to my knowledge, very heavily tuned towards a certain basic model of gameplay; it's very user-friendly within this model, and it's surprisingly flexible outside of it, but there are some points at which you'd be better off using a more general framework. Fortunately, your idea doesn't sound like one of them -- check out Shmupspace for a mod which overcomes the same basic technical challenges with normal FSO features.

[The E]

I've already worked with FRED 2 in the past, But I don't want to make my own FSO missions, I want to make A rather new game with totally new gameplay, I just want to use the Graphic engine and those amazing models plus the series to make.

If you want to make content for FSO, there is no way to avoid FRED. In order to create gameplay, you need to create missions, and unless you want to learn the entire syntax for .fs2 files and write the missions in notepad, you will have to use FRED. Which is possible, of course, but not recommended; FRED is just way more comfortable and does a lot of error checking for you.

I suppose I will be able to know more about Lua Scripting by having a look at the wiki? As a beginner into Coding, I want to know where I should start, this Project will not start tomorrow, but I want to gain the experience and the knowledge I need to get the job done.

The wiki will tell you how to integrate scripts into FSO, but it will not teach you how Lua works. There are a few good tutorials for that language available on the web though.

[zookeeper]

I've already worked with FRED 2 in the past, But I don't want to make my own FSO missions, I want to make A rather new game with totally new gameplay, I just want to use the Graphic engine and those amazing models plus the series to make.

Whatever you do, you're still going to use FRED to set up your missions and table files to set up ships and weapons and so forth. FSO isn't a general-purpose game engine like Unity or CryEngine or whatever nor can it be used as one; everything you do is essentially re-skinned Freespace. That doesn't mean you can't do total conversions like you describe, but it does mean that you're going to have to learn and work within the Freespace-centric framework.

[Fusiondax]

I've already worked with FRED 2 in the past, But I don't want to make my own FSO missions, I want to make A rather new game with totally new gameplay, I just want to use the Graphic engine and those amazing models plus the series to make.

If you want to make content for FSO, there is no way to avoid FRED. In order to create gameplay, you need to create missions, and unless you want to learn the entire syntax for .fs2 files and write the missions in notepad, you will have to use FRED. Which is possible, of course, but not recommended; FRED is just way more comfortable and does a lot of error checking for you.

I suppose I will be able to know more about Lua Scripting by having a look at the wiki? As a beginner into Coding, I want to know where I should start, this Project will not start tomorrow, but I want to gain the experience and the knowledge I need to get the job done.

The wiki will tell you how to integrate scripts into FSO, but it will not teach you how Lua works. There are a few good tutorials for that language available on the web though.

Can I use Java language to modify the Source code?

[The E]

No. FS2_Open is written in C++.

[Fusiondax]

No. FS2_Open is written in C++.

In C++, That's what I wanted to hear!!! So the language is in C++, and the Script is in Lua... what's the difference between the language and the script?

[General Battuta]

The engine is written in C++. LUA is a scripting language that can talk to the engine.

[The E]

In C++, That's what I wanted to hear!!! So the language is in C++, and the Script is in Lua... what's the difference between the language and the script?

I am not sure I understand the question. C++ is used to write the engine, do all the performance-critical work. The scripting languages are used to modify the behaviour of the engine at runtime.

However, keep in mind that FS2_Open supports two scripting languages: The Sexps of the event editor, and Lua. Lua is only the secondary language, while you can (theoretically) override most of the built-in functionality with it, this is not recommended. The preferred option is two create missions with FRED and sexps, and then use Lua scripts to tweak the behaviour. All mods that do something similar to what you want to do (the aforementioned RTS mod and Shmupspace) work this way.