[deep_eyes]

i said what i said in responce to u going to kazaan, "do u know every newbie..." etc etc. if this wasnt directed at me my fault for jumping off the deep end like that. but if it was thats why i said what i said. anyway lets try to stay on the topic and not degrade someone just for saying a word of joy.........:doh:

[Corsair]

That would be sw33t if you could pull it off. But wouldn't it be really hard to create an entirely new game engine?

*goes back to rendering*

[an0n]

*cough*Avenger*cough*
*fires flak cannons at pursuing forumites while dodging the HOJ's beam weapons and jumps to the safety of subspace*

[Kazan]

Originally posted by Thunder
Intresting.... pull this off and I'll take my hat off to you and apologise for the name calling. However aren't there copyright issues to think about?

yes there are - but only when it comes to MVE - and since we don't charge for it Volition won't care that we use their file formats - vps and pofs

[wEvil]

Both would need tweaking..i take it we'd be aiming for something slightly more visually complex than FS2?

[an0n]

It might be an idea to just use .3ds models and have all the gun data and engine colour and stuff in TXT files, for easyness.

[Kazan]

We'll af for managing this project I don't know - i would prefer someone better at management than me to do the managing, i just want to be in there influencing coding decisions - like I want to use object oriented programming to do it [C++ is suprisingly faster than C actually... from all the benchmarking i've seen]

I invite, even beg, all programmers, even one's I've fought with to join in

[Nico]

Originally posted by an0n
It might be an idea to just use .3ds models and have all the gun data and engine colour and stuff in TXT files, for easyness.

no, not 3ds, max or LW, but not 3ds, there's no hierarchy support in that format would make the things too complex...

actually, Gmax would be the best choice, coz everybody can get it.

[an0n]

Hmmmm. Gmax compatability might work. Can't really use MAX or LW coz then you get the same problem with TS where people have to either get pirate versions or ****ty-ass demos to save the right file format.

Although if there was a MAX+LW+TS to POF V3 converter.........

[CP5670]

If you can actually get this up and running I would be happy to help, but the project seems way too ambitious at least to me. (it would probably take less work to somehow disassemble the FS2 files and expand upon those instead)

We'll af for managing this project I don't know - i would prefer someone better at management than me to do the managing, i just want to be in there influencing coding decisions - like I want to use object oriented programming to do it [C++ is suprisingly faster than C actually... from all the benchmarking i've seen

Use Mathematica; fastest and most powerful progamming language I have seen yet.

[Razor]

Hm I don't know!

Sounds good, but I can't help.

Anyway, good luck

[Kazan]

I have the code to directly support COB and POF modles [since PCS's internal compiler can zap through a COB so fast that it can be an insignificant gap of time in mission loading, and i can extend the extended higharchy even further]

other file formats wil have to come later on - all that I can say know is will need atleast 1 generic "Game Model" object - and the POF is perfectly suited - so all other file's support will be made into POFs - either with external conversion or internal conversion

unless someone who is more knowledgable in game implementation than I has a better idea, which im sure someone will

but remember - we want this to be perfectly able to import the origional freespace 2 files


Features I want:

support for "Mod VP"s and "Mod Data Dirs" indexed by files - ie the "Base game" has the default index file, and you can switch mods in game on the fly with a screen - even on a mission by missions basis [multiplayer mods anyone?!

Low-orbit around planets [terrain skimming like in Wing Commander 3]

Of course fancier models, backgrounds, lighting effects, etc. etc.


Oh - and the reason for the OOP - with object oriented design I see it easier to isolate platform-specific code, so we can more easily have it both on windows and linux [and if someone's really smart using GLUT [GL Utility Kit] for OpenGL, a cross-platform way of opening an OpenGL window, and the rest of the OpenGL calls are generic we can have ONE CODEBASE!]

man... this is going to be a -massive- project

[an0n]

Try to put in some kind of code modding ability so modules can be added to the game to, for instance, add extra internal converting capacity/range or change the flight physics.

[Kazan]

well don't tell me.. wait until we get a board of programmers lined up, and we're done putting down intial features, then we'll be all ears.

[Inquisitor]

Ok, then, go download Crystal Space and see what you are getting into, it's open source.

Most engines that are out there are C++, so I wouldn't worry to much about doing something that is NOT object oriented

The way the Torque engine works is they have some base C++ code and the expose of it to scripting, so, almost everything gets done in scripts 9which get compiled at runtime, so they end up being compiled code) and the scripting language is relatively easy to figure out. They have there own file format, but models start out as MAX or COB or 3DS or whatever and get run thru an exporter. Then you write a little supporting script and bang, you have your ship in the game world like so:

http://forums.shatteredstar.com/user-cgi/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=9&t=000120

and so:

http://forums.shatteredstar.com/user-cgi/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=9&t=000099

There is also that "Nebula Device" thing, which, I hear decent things about.

Anyway, grab an engine (I have posted several times on free and low cost engines) and look at the codebase. See what it is you are suggesting that we create from scratch. Maybe even eval them and see if you can get a head start.

Making games is a fun hobby, but's its a crapload of work

Don't worry about copyrights till you have something to worry about.

[Kamikaze]

Hey, Very cool idea
BTW: I believe that GMAX had converters to convert to DXF or Max formats. DXF is compatible with Truespace, which is convertable to pof....

[Shrike]

Blah, burn it to the ground and start anew.  That's my opinion, you don't need to saddle yourself with all the preexisting FS foibles.

[wEvil]

how about .XSI ?

thats a nice and more importantly open-sourced format.

you can get exporters for it for MAX and Maya as far as i'm aware, deep exploration supports it plus you get hierarchies, NLA animation, RT hardware shaders and all that jazz.

check it out, might be a good idea?

[Inquisitor]

Start with something you know.

If people are serious, I STRONGLY encourage you to grab a copy of an open source game engine

[Nico]

Originally posted by wEvil
how about .XSI ?

thats a nice and more importantly open-sourced format.

you can get exporters for it for MAX and Maya as far as i'm aware, deep exploration supports it plus you get hierarchies, NLA animation, RT hardware shaders and all that jazz.

check it out, might be a good idea?

not really, imho... I don't see the point of using a format nobody could work directly with...
to me the best format is GMAX, coz everybody can get Gmax for free, you have loads of tuts for it, it's very easy to learn if you take it seriously, many games are/will support it ( so big mesh and texture sources available on the net ), it is designed specificaly for modding, supports animations, hierarchy, scripting, etc etc etc. Discreet is providing a free, powerfull modding tool, why not using it?