Author Topic: Just curious  (Read 6622 times)

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***caveat***  I am NOT looking for a release date!!!!!!!!!

I am however wondering what recent activity there has been and what is being worked on/struggled with.  Any updates that can be shared?  **read: the forums have been a bit quiet lately**

Thanks in advance,

Angel

 

Offline Dragon

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This most likely means they're working on something necessary, but not very spectacular. I suspect balancing, table tweaks and and other stuff you can't just take screenshots of.
Or, they're working on something amazing that takes a lot of time and you'll see new screens when it's ready.
Or maybe the part that's being worked on now is classified not to spoil the game (if FREDing has already started, I'd suspect this to be the case).
There are many reasons for activity quieting down, people from Diaspora are too active to leave it unattended for long.

 

Offline Jeff Vader

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This most likely means they're working on something necessary, but not very spectacular. I suspect balancing, table tweaks and and other stuff you can't just take screenshots of.
I, for one, would like to see some table screenshots. "Yeaaah, look at dem tweaks!"
23:40 < achillion > EveningTea: ass
23:40 < achillion > wait no
23:40 < achillion > evilbagel: ass
23:40 < EveningTea > ?
23:40 < achillion > 2-letter tab complete failure

14:08 < achillion > there's too much talk of butts and dongs in here
14:08 < achillion > the level of discourse has really plummeted
14:08 < achillion > Let's talk about politics instead
14:08 <@The_E > butts and dongs are part of #hard-light's brand now
14:08 <@The_E > well
14:08 <@The_E > EvilBagel's brand, at least

01:06 < T-Rog > welp
01:07 < T-Rog > I've got to take some very strong antibiotics
01:07 < achillion > penis infection?
01:08 < T-Rog > Chlamydia
01:08 < achillion > O.o
01:09 < achillion > well
01:09 < achillion > I guess that happens
01:09 < T-Rog > at least it's curable
01:09 < achillion > yeah
01:10 < T-Rog > I take it you weren't actually expecting it to be a penis infection
01:10 < achillion > I was not

14:04 < achillion > Sometimes the way to simplify is to just have a habit and not think about it too much
14:05 < achillion > until stuff explodes
14:05 < achillion > then you start thinking about it

22:16 < T-Rog > I don't know how my gf would feel about Jewish conspiracy porn

15:41 <-INFO > EveningTea [[email protected]] has joined #hard-light
15:47 < EvilBagel> butt
15:51 < Achillion> yes
15:53 <-INFO > EveningTea [[email protected]] has quit [Quit: http://www.mibbit.com ajax IRC Client]

18:53 < Achillion> Dicks are fun

21:41 < MatthTheGeek> you can't spell assassin without two asses

20:05 < sigtau> i'm mining titcoins from now on

00:31 < oldlaptop> Drunken antisocial educated freezing hicks with good Internet == Finland stereotype

11:46 <-INFO > Kobrar [[email protected]] has joined #hard-light
11:50 < achtung> Surely you've heard of DVDA
11:50 < achtung> Double Vaginal Double ANal
11:51 < Kobrar> ...
11:51 <-INFO > Kobrar [[email protected]] has left #hard-light []

 

Offline newman

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This most likely means they're working on something necessary, but not very spectacular. I suspect balancing, table tweaks and and other stuff you can't just take screenshots of.

You pretty much hit the nail on the head there. Vast majority of graphics related work for R1 is complete, or needs minor tweaks that wouldn't be all that apparent in screenshots. The rest? It's a lot of work, but not really easy to show in a screenshot. We'll get some updates out soonish, but in the mean time Dragon gave a really good explanation.
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 Echelon9

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Yup. I could post some of the recent changes to the source code - but they're less illustrative than actual screenshots, and they can be found in the public SCP SVN server.

 

Offline Swifty

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I guess I should get around to making a dev blog post of soft particles working in Diaspora when I find the time. Too busy coding right now. In the meantime, you can enjoy these rough dev screenshots of soft particles working in-game (http://imgur.com/a/zv3ox). They're old screenshots using an older shader but I revised it to work better in the final feature commit.

It's a feature that was made for Diaspora but since it's been committed to the SCP code repository. Currently existing Freespace Open engine games can take advantage of it already.

  

Offline Dragon

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I know something about developing mods, and I've seen that table balancing usually takes a lot of time, while being definitely not spectacular and sometimes tedious. Making and adding effects and models is the fun part, FREDing takes a lot of time, but is also a part where you can be most creative. Balancing, on the other hand, is a hectic process of making sure that everything fares just fine against everything else, and in case of Diaspora, the team also has to take BSG canon and Multiplayer into account, further complicating the process. If it wasn't for balancing and fine-tuning, it's likely that I would have released (or at least begun FREDing) a TC or at least a mod at this point (I've put together a few tech demos, but I never seriously developed any of them, except for Aces High, which ironically got stalled by bad assets).
Of course, it seems that there's also a lot of coding going on, but I guess that because of Diaspora code features being merged into main branch and posted on SCP forum, they're not associated with Diaspora that much.

 

Offline karajorma

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Actually I had been considering making a Dev Blog post updating everyone on where we are with the mod for a while but I kept deciding that it's not interesting enough and putting it off. :p

Simple fact is that unlike modelling or effects work we've reached the stage where everything gets really really boring to talk about. Hell, it even put me to sleep the one time I tried writing a post about it. :p That said, there are a few interesting things that should be mentioned.

1) We can announce that all modelling for R1 is complete and all the models are now in-game. Newman hinted at pretty much the same thing in an earlier post when he said he was moving on to R2 modelling. Model completion is obviously a big milestone for us. There may be a few minor things we need to do (for instance modelling medals etc.) but the actual ships you'll be flying and shooting down in R1 are now in the game.

2) All our missions are now in the polishing stage with the exception of the two tutorial missions (those are in the position of being built). In addition we've contacted voice actors from the voice acting casting call. If you've been contacted, we'll be trying you out for roles in the very near future. If you submitted but didn't get picked, that doesn't mean we won't need you for R1 or later releases though.

3) As has been mentioned in the thread already, a very large amount of code has been added to give us Diaspora specific features. Swifty and Sushi especially have added a lot of stuff. Anyone who has been following their commits to the engine should be able to see what we really needed. That said, we're still not certain which version of the engine we'll be releasing with yet. 3.6.14 is unlikely to have all the features we need and beta testing will no doubt throw up bugs we don't yet know about. 3.7 builds on the other hand open a can of worms in that they have a lot more features that will need to be bug fixed before an official release. We'll worry about that one when we come to it though. Going with a special build like BtRL did is an option but it's one we'd rather avoid if possible.

4) The interface artwork is basically done.
  Those of you who have worked on making an interface for an FS2_Open TC or mod will know exactly how monumentally large and boring a task this is. Basically this is the distinction between mod (of Freespace or some other FS2_Open Engine game) and fully independent game. We've been saying for a long time that you won't need anything from FS2 to run the game, we've been saying that Diaspora is an independent game and NOT an FS2 mod, but only now can those of actually designing the game run it that way ourselves. Until now, we've always needed FS2 assets. Very soon we'll be able to run without them.
 Again, another massive milestone for us.

5) The closed beta and the weeks proceeding it will be when we do the majority of the final balancing. We'll be tweaking things a lot based on the feedback we get from that. (Don't ask to be in the closed beta BTW, it will only get you kicked out if we had chosen you! :p)

There is a bit more but it gets even more boring from here on in. :p Basically we're past the sexy screenshots of new assets part of development. That doesn't mean no screenshots, just that you won't see any new ships in them that will be in R1. This is the part where a commercial company would simply show stuff they already had made for the next two months while finishing off the game. It will take us longer since we're not full time, but the team are definitely feeling closer to release now.
« Last Edit: September 14, 2011, 04:17:14 am by karajorma »
Karajorma's Freespace FAQ. It's almost like asking me yourself.

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

 

Offline newman

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Considering that for the time being our further r1 updates will be boring, we've decided to add pictures of naked Cylon babes to them. Who says you can't put screenshots on a code/fred related update? :P



Of course, for the female population or those whose doors just swing the other way, there's always the topless fat Turambar thread.
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 FraktuRe

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I approve heartily of all content in this thread.
Or something.
There’s nothing like the truth skewed into the mind of the insane.
- Fraktured Reality
The artist formerly known as Cl1nt.

 

Offline Master_Drow

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It is good to know where the development is, I thank you very much for the update (and pictures :)).

 

Offline Trivial Psychic

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Perhaps the Cylon raiders should have WWII-esque nose-art (or in this case, wing-art) depicting a scantily-clad Six.  ;7
The Trivial Psychic Strikes Again!

 
Considering that for the time being our further r1 updates will be boring, we've decided to add pictures of naked Cylon babes to them. Who says you can't put screenshots on a code/fred related update? :P



Of course, for the female population or those whose doors just swing the other way, there's always the topless fat Turambar thread.

Will that go on the hangar wall as well  ;7.? Or even instead of the previously planned topless Turambar?

 

Offline karajorma

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We didn't plan the topless Turambar. It just happened and we were powerless to stop it. :p
Karajorma's Freespace FAQ. It's almost like asking me yourself.

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

 

Offline newman

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Yes, when he failed to destroy HLP by unleashing his social circle upon us, he decided to hit us with the most terrible weapon he knew of; his body. I'm just not sure why he hates HLP so much.
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

 
As always, thank you for the updates (and not smacking me down for asking <grin>).

I am one of those odd people who find the balancing and other such things interesting.  I can't understand the code for crap but the concepts of what the issues are intrigues me.  So I would defiantly be entertained be the blog if you ever did it:).  Granted I am not sure anyone else would, but hey.  :)

 

Offline CommanderDJ

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As always, thank you for the updates (and not smacking me down for asking <grin>).

I am one of those odd people who find the balancing and other such things interesting.  I can't understand the code for crap but the concepts of what the issues are intrigues me.  So I would defiantly be entertained be the blog if you ever did it:).  Granted I am not sure anyone else would, but hey.  :)

I would! I find even "mundane" discussion of code highly interesting.
[16:57] <CommanderDJ> What prompted the decision to split WiH into acts?
[16:58] <battuta> it was long, we wanted to release something
[16:58] <battuta> it felt good to have a target to hit
[17:00] <RangerKarl> not sure if talking about strike mission, or jerking off
[17:00] <CommanderDJ> WUT
[17:00] <CommanderDJ> hahahahaha
[17:00] <battuta> hahahaha
[17:00] <RangerKarl> same thing really, if you think about it

 

Offline Dragon

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Actually, there's not much to discuss here. Balancing usually looks like: "play mission, post feedback/tweak the tables/edit the mission, play mission, rinse and repeat until you're sure everything is just right". Then move on to a second mission and repeat the procedure, and so on till everything is perfect. Then make sure Multi balance is all right. All that, of course, when staying true to the show and high standards Diaspora has. It's a boring, repetitive and tedious, but necessary part of making a mod (it's also quite rewarding to see everything working together). News like "we fixed jump timing in mission X and slightly buffed weapon Y" are mostly interesting for testers who need to know what to focus on. I've been involved in such process, but considering the standards of Diaspora team, it's testing will take very long, much longer than any project I've tested.

 

Offline newman

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Once again, Dragon is absolutely correct. Nothing to add to his post except agree.
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 karajorma

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Yep, our fans who also mod will know what this part of the process is like. Long and boring but definitely important.
Karajorma's Freespace FAQ. It's almost like asking me yourself.

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