Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Blade on November 18, 2001, 06:34:00 am
-
I found this game somehow sometime ago, and it looks kinda cool, I posted it in SW forum, but somebody asked me to post it here, so here it is.
http://www.starshatter.com/gameinfo.htm (//"http://www.starshatter.com/gameinfo.htm")
------------------
C-ya in Space !!!
Blade-4th
RN-Blade
FD_Arzi
-
looks promising...but the interface resembles Starfleet Command. Let's hope it's nothing like it...
-
I've heard of this game on the Relic HW forums before, and I DL'd it, and it's really cool! It's made by I think only one guy, but it's almost as good as FS2!
------------------
Creator of Freespace 2: Terran Home campaign, website is unkown_target.tripod.com/fs2-terranhome. ("http://http://")
If you can't get it working, just copy it into your browser ;)
-
(don't let (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/v.gif) hear that (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/wink.gif))
But seriously, SS is really, really cool. I'm thoroughly impressed with this guy. Maybe we should drop him a line and send along the kudos. (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/smile.gif)
-
Originally posted by Setekh:
(don't let (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/v.gif) hear that (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/wink.gif))
But seriously, SS is really, really cool. I'm thoroughly impressed with this guy. Maybe we should drop him a line and send along the kudos. (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/smile.gif)
maybe (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/smile.gif) Make him come here (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/smile.gif)
-
Sounds like a great idea venom.
Got the demo yesterday and tried it out. The flight engine is pretty darn cool, I just wish I could look left/right instead of being forced to rely on the stupid radar display.
Haven't tried any of the command stuff yet, so far just been goofing off with his little starfighter. I especially like the landing sequence (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/smile.gif), definately a nice touch.
Reading through the credits it does look like it's all done by one guy, which explains why it's taken almost five years just to get a Demo built instead of it being released after a five year developement time. This is why most design teams have a staff larger than one (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/biggrin.gif)
------------------
I told you that It ("http://www.geocities.com/jskgames/home.html") would be done by November, well, mostly anyway...
-
so this guy is programmer/modeler/intyerface artist/sound artist/etc/etc/etc ?
Well, bow down...
damn, link broken (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/frown.gif)
[This message has been edited by venom2506 (edited 11-20-2001).]
-
Hey venom, meet me with ICQ or messenger. I've still got the demo zip file
-
what's your ICQ number?
-
139032391
(it's in my profile for future reference (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/wink.gif))
-
Originally posted by venom2506:
so this guy is programmer/modeler/intyerface artist/sound artist/etc/etc/etc ?
Well, bow down...
Definitely - reminds me of Styxx... (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/wink.gif)
-
Why aren't j00 on ICQ there Setekh? I have something for you.
-
I know, I'm there... (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/smile.gif)
-
Originally posted by venom2506:
maybe (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/smile.gif) Make him come here (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/smile.gif)
You rang?
Reading through the credits it does look like it's all done by one guy, which explains why it's taken almost five years just to get a Demo built instead of it being released after a five year developement time. This is why most design teams have a staff larger than one.
Actually, I'm a development team of less-than-one. I only get to work on the game part time. Mostly at night after the kids are in bed.
Glad you enjoyed the last demo. Feel free to stop by and register at the forum on my site. I'm always looking for ways to get the word out to people.
------------------
--milo
www.starshatter.com ("http://www.starshatter.com")
-
Originally posted by milo:
Glad you enjoyed the last demo. Feel free to stop by and register at the forum on my site. I'm always looking for ways to get the word out to people.
Should try dropping a line to PC Gamer, I'm sure theyd put a little bit on it in their mag...
-
Star Shatterer? LOL, the clan/squad I am in is called the Shattered Star Confederation ( http://www.shatteredstar.com ("http://www.shatteredstar.com") ), which explains Blue Lion's title on this BB. (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/biggrin.gif)
Anyway this game is looking very promising; quite impressive that it is all developed by one person, great job!
[This message has been edited by CP5670 (edited 12-12-2001).]
-
gotta try to d/l the demo again tonight.
-
Me too. (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/smile.gif)
Thanks for dropping by, milo. Welcome to HLP. (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/wink.gif)
-
Originally posted by CP5670:
which explains Blue Lion's title on this BB. (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/biggrin.gif)
You just realized this? (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/biggrin.gif)
------------------
RECIPROCITY ("http://www.3dap.com/hlp/hosted/reciprocity/")
Fastest Man Alive
Let's go Terps!
-
Mmm, nice! and welcome milo (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/smile.gif)
-
Sorry to bring this thread back from the dead on you guys, but I just wanted to mention that a new playable demo of my game Starshatter is now available for download at:
http://www.starshatter.com
The new demo features a few new ships, two new star systems, and the beginnings of the dynamic campaign engine, along with a bunch of smaller playability improvements. This will be the last public demo released before the game goes into beta-test this summer.
I hope you enjoy it!
-
Ooh, the game looks cool, I'll try the demo... :)
:yes: thumbs up for the work!
-
Hello Milo, I hope you don't think I'm being a little presumptious, you have managed to do all that work on your own but we have a great deal of material here at HLP that could be converted to work in your game.
Between models, interface art, effects, plots and other miscelaneous goodies I'm sure we could possibly help out.
If you do plan to keep this a one man effort will you be adding MODability to the engine, it looks like it has a great deal of potential. :Nod:
-
Originally posted by milo
Sorry to bring this thread back from the dead on you guys, but I just wanted to mention that a new playable demo of my game Starshatter is now available for download at:
http://www.starshatter.com
The new demo features a few new ships, two new star systems, and the beginnings of the dynamic campaign engine, along with a bunch of smaller playability improvements. This will be the last public demo released before the game goes into beta-test this summer.
I hope you enjoy it!
Sorry? Sorry?!? :D
Good to hear about that, I'll download and try it as soon as I can. Man, that thing looks awesome, specially for something that has been done by a single person! You da man!
-
Originally posted by Maeglamor
If you do plan to keep this a one man effort will you be adding MODability to the engine, it looks like it has a great deal of potential. :Nod:
Already in there, to some extent. You can add custom ships, missions, weapons, shields, and explosions to the current demo. However, the tools are somewhat limited.
The game uses a proprietary model format. When I started this thing I was too poor to afford LightWave, and all the cool freeware modeling programs hadn't been invented yet. So I had to write my own low-poly modeler (called "Magic") to design the ships for the game. I haven't had time to write exporters for the Magic file format for any of the standard modeling tools yet. There is an effort underway by one of the fans to write an exporter for 3DS Max, but he just started and it's not done yet. Most of the guys who are creating mods for the game now are struggling along creating new meshes using Magic.
Thanks for the offer of help. I've been working on the game by myself for five years, so I'm understandably posessive of it. ;) What I really need the most help with is testing and gameplay feedback. You want to help me make it better? Tell me what parts didn't work for you, and why you didn't like them.
-
This sounds excellent, except for the minor model format problem you've got a fully moddable engine COOLNESS :nod:
I'm looking forward to seeing more on this, it's quite an achievement. I'm assuming you have code for the 'magic' filetype, would it be possible to get a look at it?
-
Originally posted by Styxx
Good to hear about that, I'll download and try it as soon as I can. Man, that thing looks awesome, specially for something that has been done by a single person! You da man!
We should hire him. :devilidea
-
Originally posted by Shrike
We should hire him. :devilidea
Doesn't look like he'd be interested in what we want, though...
-
Mmm, I suppose so........
-
the only thing I'm annoyed with is that your ships looks like wing co ships. In itself, it's not bad, but they really do look a lot like some of the wingco ships...
-
Wow - he posted here.
I've been following the development on this for quite some time now.
Great work Milo :D
-
Well this is what im going to be spending the next 3 hours d/ling :nod:
-
Originally posted by venom2506
the only thing I'm annoyed with is that your ships looks like wing co ships. In itself, it's not bad, but they really do look a lot like some of the wingco ships...
Sorry, I didn't mean to be annoying. ;)
The ships in Starshatter aren't particularly modeled after Wing Commander. The fighters need to be aerodynamic because they fly like airplanes in atmosphere. The starships are an amalgam of influences including Babylon 5 and other space combat game sources. Actually the biggest influence on my art is my rather modest skill with a 3D modeling program. I don't bother posting concept art drawings because my ship models never come out looking like what I planned for them anyway. :)
-
oh, btw, apart from the soung of the gears, I have no sound at all :(
samr for the joystick, it won't work...
Oh, a last bug: I tried that atmospheric mission, when you go too high, you're set on autopilot and end up directly in space, right? well, it thrown me directly into my wingman, and we both died :p
-
Originally posted by jonskowitz
Sounds like a great idea venom.
Got the demo yesterday and tried it out. The flight engine is pretty darn cool, I just wish I could look left/right instead of being forced to rely on the stupid radar display.
Haven't tried any of the command stuff yet, so far just been goofing off with his little starfighter. I especially like the landing sequence (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/smile.gif), definately a nice touch.
------------------
I told you that It ("http://www.geocities.com/jskgames/home.html") would be done by November, well, mostly anyway...
Sounds like it could be a bit like Ender's Game to me. :nod: I'll hafta check this out!
-
Downloading this now.;)
-
Originally posted by venom2506
oh, btw, apart from the soung of the gears, I have no sound at all :(
samr for the joystick, it won't work...
Oh, a last bug: I tried that atmospheric mission, when you go too high, you're set on autopilot and end up directly in space, right? well, it thrown me directly into my wingman, and we both died :p
Yikes. Apparently, your sound card is only playing stereo sound effects. Most of the effects in the game are monaural. (I'm not blaming your sound system, it's probably something I messed up in DirectSound).
If you send me the "errlog.txt" file from the game install directory I will take a look.
Oh, and I already have a fix for that wingman crash bug. I'll let you know when you can download a new exe.
-
Uhh, cool game (love the capship to capship battles :D) but the problem is whenever I try to land it kills me (boom!) and none of my wingman seem to be able to land either. I have a few fighters try to land in a fighterbay and boom they explode :eek:
-
Wow, that game looks sweet!
Downloading demo....
-
Originally posted by Kamikaze
Uhh, cool game (love the capship to capship battles :D) but the problem is whenever I try to land it kills me (boom!) and none of my wingman seem to be able to land either. I have a few fighters try to land in a fighterbay and boom they explode :eek:
Sounds like you are living up to your forum handle. ;)
You may want to go to the gameplay options screen and select Landings: Easier. If you prefer Freespace to IWar, you may also want to select Flight Model: Arcade.
Either that, or make sure your speed relative to the carrier is under 100 m/s. By the way, each fighter needs to land on a different landing bay. And you can only land in the aft two bays near the engines. The forward bay is for launching ONLY.
Proper landing procedure:
1. Press Alt+R (order your flight to return to base)
2. Press R, 3, 3 (request clearance to land from the carrier)
3. Fly to a point well behind the carrier
4. Aim for the ILS hoops that are showing you which bay you can land in
5. Slow to 250 m/s relative to the carrier
6. When you reach the outermost ILS hoop, slow to 100 m/s
7. Press G to lower your undercarriage
8. Press R, 3, 4 (optional) to inform the carrier you are on final approach
9. Put your gun cross on or slightly above the landing marker (X) in the landing bay
10. Wait for the docking sequence to complete
Landing on a planet is pretty much the same procedure, but if you are flying with the realistic physics model, you will need to manage your speed, lift, drag, and glide path as you approach the runway.
-
omg this thing look EXCACTLY like the type of game ive been looking for the last 2 years :nod:
honestly im sittin here and attempting to push the clock with my mind and *****ing over this "slow" 2mbit line
-
hmm maybe I'll look into this when I actually get some free time on my hands. That landing procedure looks pretty scary though....
-
Originally posted by milo
Sorry, I didn't mean to be annoying. ;)
The ships in Starshatter aren't particularly modeled after Wing Commander. The fighters need to be aerodynamic because they fly like airplanes in atmosphere. The starships are an amalgam of influences including Babylon 5 and other space combat game sources. Actually the biggest influence on my art is my rather modest skill with a 3D modeling program. I don't bother posting concept art drawings because my ship models never come out looking like what I planned for them anyway. :)
lol, sorry, I didn't mean it was annoying (sorry, my english is rather poor sometimes :p ), I meant; her.... bothered maybe: the ships look cool but to much like wing co I meant.
Anyway, n this guy will have the max converter done, I'd love to this my ezechiel in starshatter. btw, my soundcard is a SB128, and you can criticize it, I hate it: before, I had a good old SB16, never gave me any pb. When I changed my motherboard, I had to replace it coz there's no more ISA port on my Asus. Well, the crappy SB128 completly messes up FS2, I got horrible background noises, and that makes the whole game slow down :( Could never fix that.
oh, the error log:
http://www.3dap.com/hlp/hosted/ott/files/temp/errlog.txt
-
Originally posted by Vortex
hmm maybe I'll look into this when I actually get some free time on my hands. That landing procedure looks pretty scary though....
Don't worry, you don't have to go through the landing procedure. You can just press ESC and end the mission while you are still in flight.
That's a general design philosophy, by the way. I've tried to support realistic physics and procedures for people who dig that kind of thing, but I've also included enough options so that people who just want to blow stuff up can get down to business without needing to memorize the manual.
-
Originally posted by venom2506
lol, sorry, I didn't mean it was annoying (sorry, my english is rather poor sometimes :p ), I meant; her.... bothered maybe: the ships look cool but to much like wing co I meant.
my soundcard is a SB128, and you can criticize it, I hate it: completly messes up FS2, I got horrible background noises, and that makes the whole game slow down :( Could never fix that.
Don't worry about your english, it's much better than my french! And I was just kidding you about the wing commander thing.
Thanks for the error log (you can also just mail them to me if you don't want to put them on a web server - [email protected]). Sadly, it didn't show any sound related errors. As far as the game engine can tell, the sound should be working just fine.
-
I sent a mail to Gamekult.com about this game...
Hope they'll reply :)
-
128 Ram! Jesus. Methinks some upgrading is in order.
*runs to get pliers and a hammer*
I'm sure I heard about StarShatter ages ago. As i recall I didn't download because of my crappy old 56k (I wuv my broadband).
Milo: Did the site used to have loads of links to game programming and modelling sites?
-
Originally posted by an0n
128 Ram! Jesus. Methinks some upgrading is in order.
yeah, I have 394 mo ram, a radeon and 900mhz, and the FPS dropped to 4.7 :p
I guess I got a bit over the top (hehe) using 1024*768 32 bits :p
-
Originally posted by venom2506
yeah, I have 394 mo ram, a radeon and 900mhz, and the FPS dropped to 4.7 :p
I guess I got a bit over the top (hehe) using 1024*768 32 bits :p
:(:mad::headz:
I really need to upgrade.
-
Originally posted by an0n
:(:mad::headz:
I really need to upgrade.
Hehe, just to make you envious :rolleyes: I have a 450 mhz p3 with a Geforce 2 GTS and 352 mb RAM... Frame rate stayed in the 20-40s, go me ;)
-
Originally posted by Shrike
Mmm, I suppose so........
Which is a pity... mmm, let's get MT out o' the way first. Actually, I had some cool ideas about... whoops, better not mention that here. :D
-
Originally posted by an0n
Milo: Did the site used to have loads of links to game programming and modelling sites?
Yeah, that's my personal site "milo's home page". It is currently hosted at http://members.cox.net/milod But I haven't been trying to keep it up as much, now that I have the official Starshatter site going.
-
Originally posted by venom2506
yeah, I have 394 mo ram, a radeon and 900mhz, and the FPS dropped to 4.7 :p
I guess I got a bit over the top (hehe) using 1024*768 32 bits :p
Ouch. I develop on a P2400 with a TNT2 card. In space, I typically get in the low 30s, and on planets it drops to the high teens or low 20s. I run at 800 x 600 x 32, with the DX6 renderer.
You must have been getting lots of particle explosion effects to tank the frame rate THAT low.
-
her, dunno, I put everything to max :pgonna try with lower settings I guess :p (oh, and gonna read the key chart since my joystick won't work :( )
-
Originally posted by milo
Yeah, that's my personal site "milo's home page". It is currently hosted at http://members.cox.net/milod But I haven't been trying to keep it up as much, now that I have the official Starshatter site going.
WOOHOO!!!!
I have to say, your links page is the single best I have ever seen. And the site design rocks. I bow down to your excellence.
-
512mb, Athlon-1400 and 250/575 GF3 here.:D The game ran great for me at 1024x768x32. You did an incredible job on this, milo; I was playing this for a while and it was quite fun to play. For a game made by only one person, it is simply stunning; a little polish and it will have the quality of a full retail game.
Also, I thought I might point out a few weird bugs I noticed. Most of the in-mission text was unreadable (looked "chopped up" and garbled), but I get the strange text effects in Freespace and Freespace2 as well, so it might be that my video card just does not like space sim graphics engines or something. It also seemed like all the ships were slightly translucent, since I could partially see through everything. Other than that, everything looked great. When do you estimate you will have the full version released?
-
Bugs:
- You can see the stars through stuff
- After about 6 missions everything disappeared and all I could see was a huge star
Requests:- Change the control thingy for space. Pressing left or right should send you on a slight arc in that direction not barell roll you. Although in atmosphere it's perfect.
- Afterburners
- More storyish mission breifings
Are the missions generated or programmed?
-
Originally posted by CP5670
512mb, Athlon-1400 and 250/575 GF3 here.:D The game ran great for me at 1024x768x32. You did an incredible job on this, milo; I was playing this for a while and it was quite fun to play. For a game made by only one person, it is simply stunning; a little polish and it will have the quality of a full retail game.
Well, that and I have to finish it first. ;) I'm glad you are enjoying it so far, though!
Also, I thought I might point out a few weird bugs I noticed. Most of the in-mission text was unreadable (looked "chopped up" and garbled), but I get the strange text effects in Freespace and Freespace2 as well, so it might be that my video card just does not like space sim graphics engines or something. It also seemed like all the ships were slightly translucent, since I could partially see through everything. Other than that, everything looked great. When do you estimate you will have the full version released?
First, the text. There is probably a driver setting that will help you with this problem (especially if you are seeing it in multiple games). You'll have to hunt around in the "advanced" tab of the video settings dialog in Windows to find it though...
Next, the translucent ships. ??? Never seen that before! If it's not too much trouble, take a screenshot or two (press F12) that shows the problem you are talking about, and send them to me at [email protected]. Thanks!
Finally, release: beta this summer, final release by the end of the year. Which will keep me tied with Freelancer for longest space sim in development...
-
Originally posted by an0n
Bugs:- You can see the stars through stuff
- After about 6 missions everything disappeared and all I could see was a huge star
[/b]
First, those aren't stars. You probably turned on the "space dust" effect. It's on the Video options dialog, somewhere on the right hand side of the screen. It's off by default, but I leave it in the game because some people like the old-fashioned way of giving you a sense of motion.
Not sure about the second problem. Might be a bug in the field-of-view code for the jump drive...
Requests:- Change the control thingy for space. Pressing left or right should send you on a slight arc in that direction not barell roll you. Although in atmosphere it's perfect.
- Afterburners
- More storyish mission breifings
Are the missions generated or programmed? [/B]
Some of these are already in there. Go to the gameplay options dialog and set the Control Mode to "Arcade". You may also want to set the Flight Model to "Arcade" as well. You can also press the "J" key at any point in the game to switch between Freespace-style and Falcon-style controls.
Afterburners are on the TAB key, for fighters only. Starships don't have afterburners.
The storyline is coming.
The missions in the "Missions" section are scripted, as are the missions in the training campaign "Operation Live Fire". The rest of the campaigns are fully dynamic and use dynamically generated missions.
-
Originally posted by an0n
I have to say, your links page is the single best I have ever seen. And the site design rocks. I bow down to your excellence.
an0n's right. Very nice... :):yes:
-
Well i've played through the demo and I like the way it handles alot, however i beleive maybe some of the explosions/weapon effects could do with looking and feeling slightly more "dynamic".
I'm not sure how you would acheive such effects, but i got a couple of ideas.
Im thinking along the lines of some kind of post-raster effect like an animated glow. It would make the beams look more dazzling and accentuate that "unstoppable destructive force" ideal.
Anyway...ill stop babbling now :P