[rscaper1070]

There's probably more than a few Starshatter fans out there that should be pleased to know that the code has been released. Unfortunately it's missing it's parser and the guy that has it has to dig his old dell out of the garage to find it. Once it's complete I'm hoping that a similar project to FSO grows up around it. Starshatter is a pretty cool game with a lot of potential. It would be nice if the two communities could join forces ala MCO.

http://www.starshattermods.com

Here's a couple youtube vids for anybody that doesn't know about the game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj__5wJ1Ro0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJuurm7Olv0

[LHN91]

I had never even heard of this game before, but other than the absolutely atrocious sound effects, the game looks really interesting. Might have to bookmark and see how this plays out.

[jr2]

Sounds like it was recorded with some sort of bass (maybe treble too, lots of static) enhancement turned up or something...


EDIT: Try this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJuurm7Olv0  FX @ ~0:50 A little better IMHO, however, looks like the FX is actually a little crappy in addition to whatever was wrong with the first two vids posted above.

[rscaper1070]

Well those vids are from way back in 08, I'll try to put together a hd vid and throw it up. Regardless, a lot of the game could use some help. Luckily it's pretty easy to mod. I've replaced the horrible vanilla starfield with the one from the mediavps and it looks a thousand times better.

[rscaper1070]

Ok, so here's a little video in hd. I'm not to far into the campaign so I don't have the rank to command any cap ships yet. Once you see how I end the mission you'll see that a promotion is not forthcoming. I also cut a lot of the travel time out.

http://youtu.be/55oPNUBgLcg

[Klaustrophobia]

gah!  the lens flare.  IT BURNS!!!!

[rscaper1070]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that this is a full on free game. You can download it from the site I linked to in the OP or find a torrent.

[Thaeris]

OH. DAMN. YES.

I've wanted to see this one open up someday. It's certainly got some parts that show their age, but this is truly an awesome sim. I've been meaning to play it more seriously at some point, but no real time for that has been fourthcoming. Again, woot.

[GT-Keravnos]

@everyone at HLP. Please, let's get Starshatter open in here. That game is one of the best space games ever made. It's not like Freespace open didn't start out the same way, did it and look at it now. We have mechcommander 2 open in here and that wasn't a space game to begin with. Starshatter is a space "simulator"  just as Freespace 2 open is, althought its focus is on carrier warfare. Thanks to the OP for this, these are indeed the best news of the day.

[Zacam]

Kind of put's me in a cross of Eve/Freelancer with hints at I-War. Which given it came out in '97, the hint's to I-War are understandable but that it gave an Eve/FreeLancer vibe well before either of them were released is pretty interesting to note.

If there is a group of people interested (or already) developing for this, and they just need a "Forum" or someplace to call home, I'm perfectly happy with the idea of that place being here.
If people are trying to scout for anything more than that, well, again I have no problem with them having a place here to talk about it.

But it largely (by the first link in the OP) looks like they have everything pretty well sorted out.

[The E]

Yeah, I've been keeping an eye on the whole thing, and it seems they're not quite ready to start yet. There's a few pieces of the source code still missing, and the community there doesn't seem to be that large.

[Thaeris]

I must say, for such a small group, the communiy is surprisingly mellow. Not bland like the X-Plane chaps or having the mix of secrecy and/or hostility from the FreeFalcon community. If and when they can get the parser for the code in order, they'll be set to upgrade the engine.

[Herra Tohtori]

I've replaced the horrible vanilla starfield with the one from the mediavps and it looks a thousand times better.

My influence spreads as I have foreseen.

[rscaper1070]

I've replaced the horrible vanilla starfield with the one from the mediavps and it looks a thousand times better.

My influence spreads as I have foreseen.

Excellent! Now I know who to credit it to over there. 

[Unknown Target]

That's pretty cool. I actually contacted the developer a few years back, wondering if he'd be willing to license the engine. He wanted a ridiculous (IMO) amount for it, in the tens of thousands of dollars. Cool to see it out though.

[Vidmaster]

It plays really really bad and suffers from horrible design.

Idea was good, implementation not really.

[rscaper1070]

It plays really really bad and suffers from horrible design IMHO.

Idea was good, implementation not really IMHO.

Fixed.

[rscaper1070]

The Source Code is now complete with parser.   

[Talon 1024]

So which Starshatter game is open source now? The original Starshatter? Starshatter: The Gathering Storm? Or are they both the exact same game?

[rscaper1070]

Starshatter:TGS is the upgraded game and that's the one that's open sourced.