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Hosted Projects - Standalone => Diaspora => Developer Blog => Topic started by: Lt.Cannonfodder on February 19, 2011, 12:17:50 pm

Title: 2011-02-19 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: Lt.Cannonfodder on February 19, 2011, 12:17:50 pm
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
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: General Battuta on February 19, 2011, 12:35:16 pm
Whoa. That's...awesome.
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: Shivan Hunter on February 19, 2011, 12:37:48 pm
I just sat here for about a minute trying to think of something to say other than "omg"
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: Col. Fishguts on February 19, 2011, 01:19:58 pm
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?
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: Shade on February 19, 2011, 01:40:13 pm
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.
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: PhRey on February 19, 2011, 02:23:06 pm
Congratulations guys !
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: newman on February 19, 2011, 02:57:59 pm
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 :)
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: FreespacePilot2010 on February 19, 2011, 03:46:15 pm
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.
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: FUBAR-BDHR on February 19, 2011, 04:09:25 pm
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. 
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: newman on February 19, 2011, 04:44:43 pm
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).
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: Ace on February 19, 2011, 04:49:26 pm
...and if you want Diaspora to come sooner: we're always taking on more 3d artists who can model, texture, and UV map.
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: newman on February 19, 2011, 04:53:49 pm
...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
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: Rodo on February 19, 2011, 05:29:18 pm
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.
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: ShadowsOfLight on February 19, 2011, 06:59:57 pm
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. :)
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: Fish on February 20, 2011, 12:53:33 am
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? ;)
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: David cgc on February 21, 2011, 08:33:35 pm
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.
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: Ace on February 21, 2011, 08:42:45 pm
The freighter in Kobol's Last Gleaming is the same one as in TOS which is used for fueling the raiders before the attack.
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: Shade on February 22, 2011, 06:56:53 am
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 :)
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: newman on February 22, 2011, 08:39:59 am
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.
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: KewlToyZ on March 02, 2011, 11:50:47 am
Did you ever end up with a model of the Stealthstar?
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: newman on March 02, 2011, 11:53:43 am
Did you ever end up with a model of the Stealthstar?

Nope.
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: KewlToyZ on March 02, 2011, 11:58:11 am
Thanks newman. Its been around 3 years since I delved into the inner workings of the FS MOD's.
I am between jobs waiting on my divorce and got curious again.
Started fiddling around with it for a pleasant diversion from things.
So more or less I was reading through the code and trying to figure things out from the examples of the previous mod.
I'm just goofing off with this again for my own amusement and curiosity right now trying to get my head around it.
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: newman on March 02, 2011, 12:13:00 pm
Sorry to hear about the bad luck. Hope it all turns out for the best. To quote chief Tyrol: "Women.. the reason we build bars" :D
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: KewlToyZ on March 02, 2011, 10:37:22 pm
 :lol: Thanks Newman!
I found nice 6 model treating me good now  :nod:
Title: Re: 19-02-11 - Diaspora and Battlestar Galactica Online
Post by: Felix 039 on March 29, 2011, 09:01:41 pm
Speaking of bars, would you happen to have a screen shot of Chief Tyrol drinking in a bar?
Title: Anyone's thoughts on the BSG Online game
Post by: Thracer X on April 05, 2011, 11:26:55 pm
Quite frankly as far as games on my computer I have always been a flight sim person and enjoy those games the most......examples would be (the most I enjoyed would be F22 Raptor and F22 Lighting from NovaLogic) I find the refresh rates and the story slow......but hey....anything BSG as far as I am concerned is enjoyable from just watching my Blueray collection playing solo on the old BTRL which can get boring. Question.........has anyone tried it......what are your thoughts?
Title: Re: Anyone's thoughts on the BSG Online game
Post by: newman on April 06, 2011, 01:11:31 am
Played it? How about actually worked on it? (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=74680.0) :)
On another note, in addition to the thread linked above we also had one that you can find just a bit below this one. As a general rule of thumb, it's good to first check whether or not a topic on a subject already exists before starting a new one.
Title: Re: Anyone's thoughts on the BSG Online game
Post by: Thracer X on April 06, 2011, 08:11:27 am
Played it? How about actually worked on it? (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=74680.0) :)
On another note, in addition to the thread linked above we also had one that you can find just a bit below this one. As a general rule of thumb, it's good to first check whether or not a topic on a subject already exists before starting a new one.

Yeah I just noticed that........Please delete this thread I'll post my comments there........Thank you Newman
Title: Re: Anyone's thoughts on the BSG Online game
Post by: karajorma on April 06, 2011, 08:23:27 am
I'll just merge it in with this one.