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[zoq]

I made a new video. It doesn't yet feature ship-to-ship collisions, but it does feature force transfer, so when a ship is shot, it starts moving/spinning. The url is

.

[zoq]

Today I managed to "finish" the ship-to-ship collision with force transfer. Youtube video for that can be found at

. The behavior is still a bit funny, but the basic principle working was a big win.

[Garthy]

I made a new video. It doesn't yet feature ship-to-ship collisions, but it does feature force transfer, so when a ship is shot, it starts moving/spinning. The url is

.

Pretty neat.

I had initially thought the ships were attached together, and you were breaking away the supports between them, with the resultant force leaving the broken fragment spinning.

[zoq]

I made a new video. It doesn't yet feature ship-to-ship collisions, but it does feature force transfer, so when a ship is shot, it starts moving/spinning. The url is

.

Pretty neat.

I had initially thought the ships were attached together, and you were breaking away the supports between them, with the resultant force leaving the broken fragment spinning.

Actually that is something I'd like to do as well, but I'll have to think for a bit how to implement that. Next I'm probably going to add something else, since I realize most people aren't too interested in physics simulations and those don't make the game fun by themselves.

[Garthy]

Next I'm probably going to add something else, since I realize most people aren't too interested in physics simulations and those don't make the game fun by themselves.

Indeed, that makes sense. Heck, I don't even mention physics in my initial "why I'm keen" post in this thread myself. You've probably got a million and one things you'd love to add, given infinite time. I suspect the trick is to pick the right ones, for whatever definition of "right" is in line with your goals.

[zoq]

Yeah. I do think some physics is very important not because it's fun by itself but because it's an integral part of the Newtonian movement engine. The stuff in the last video (force transfer in ship-to-ship collisions) really is not needed in the minimally accepted space engine, but since it was really easy to add given that all the parts were already there, I decided to use a few hour to combine them. Also, generally the more physics you already have, the more easy it is to add even more, in case there is some physics-based feature you want to have.

I hope to use a continuous method of development/release, which means that I will keep on adding stuff even after the (possible) release, which also lets me release early. I plan to publish the first dev version very soon after there is something to actually do besides shooting pilotless ships and big rocks, because I really want to get feedback on the engine itself, mainly the flight model.

Edit ::: I count 6 people that have expressed any kind of interest. I wonder if I should take that as a hint..

[Garthy]

Edit ::: I count 6 people that have expressed any kind of interest. I wonder if I should take that as a hint..

Six interested people who posted on a single subforum whilst the code is still at a very early stage? Some completed games don't even get that kind of attention. I'd be taking that as a positive, personally.

Ultimately though, you should do what you feel is best. Such a game would almost certainly be a heck of a lot of work, and something that you should only do if you feel it is the best thing for you to do.

PS. For what it's worth, if I wasn't in the middle of working on something else right now, this type of game is pretty high up on my would-make list.

[zoq]

Six interested people who posted on a single subforum whilst the code is still at a very early stage? Some completed games don't even get that kind of attention. I'd be taking that as a positive, personally.

Ultimately though, you should do what you feel is best. Such a game would almost certainly be a heck of a lot of work, and something that you should only do if you feel it is the best thing for you to do.

PS. For what it's worth, if I wasn't in the middle of working on something else right now, this type of game is pretty high up on my would-make list.

I do know many people like the space shooter, building and trading genres a lot, and given that this place was kind of the birthplace of Minecraft I think people also do like sandboxes here. By no means was I trying to seem uninspired or down I'm very motivated to keep making this.

[peous]

Do you plan to have any specific graphic style ?

[zoq]

Do you plan to have any specific graphic style ?

I haven't thought much about that yet. I hope to have something clear but at the same time sci-fi-y and cool. Can you be more specific about what you mean?

[oyog]

I was wondering whether you were planning on this being specifically man made objects (space stations, ships) or if you're hoping to include larger objects like planets and suns? I was trying to imagine how that would work in the game you've described so far.

[zoq]

I was wondering whether you were planning on this being specifically man made objects (space stations, ships) or if you're hoping to include larger objects like planets and suns? I was trying to imagine how that would work in the game you've described so far.

The game will also include larger, non-player-made, objects than ships and stations. It's too early to say if we will have planets specifically (they are technically a bit complex), but asteroids and stars it will have. Everything, including asteroid and stars, will hopefully be fully destructible. The "hopefully" is there, because for very large objects such as stars, things rarely go as straightforward as one would hope.

Edit ::: To expand this answer, I have been using 8000x8000x8000 block asteroid for general game testing and it works without problems. Larger objects, such as 100 000 x 100 000 x 100 000 blocks work internally okay and are destructible fine, but have some display complications which make them at the moment unusable for real gameplay. However, for single-colour stars these display complications should be less severe. Even with the fairly good data compression algorithm I'm sure there's a limit somewhere, so it would be my guess that realistic star sizes (for example 1 000 000 000 blocks for each dimension) are really not possible with 1 meter blocks. Most likely I'll have to use smaller stars (don't like this) or larger basic blocks for stars (better alternative, since I don't think most people are carving home caves inside stars anyway)

[zoq]

A brief update: I have been working on Minecraft-style block removal and mining and it's coming nicely. Hopefully I can soon start adding some actual gameplay.

[peous]

Do you plan to have any specific graphic style ?

I haven't thought much about that yet. I hope to have something clear but at the same time sci-fi-y and cool. Can you be more specific about what you mean?

- About world shape, do you want to keep everything box-shaped like Minecraft ? Or add more specific elements like some pipes or so ?
- About view, it seems that you have some 3rd person or 1st person ?

[zoq]

- About world shape, do you want to keep everything box-shaped like Minecraft ? Or add more specific elements like some pipes or so ?
- About view, it seems that you have some 3rd person or 1st person ?

At the moment I'm seriously considering all-blocks-style, but with the very important addition of being able to use smaller blocks in addition to the normal ones. This is done more for the gameplay than graphical reasons. There may or may not be angled blocks, I haven't decided yet.

The gameplay will be "1st person" in the sense that you are seeing only what your character sees. However, you can have cameras around your ship that will expand your character's looking options either via monitor stations or perhaps wireless connection to your character's HUD.

[peous]

Just found this
http://www.indiedb.com/games/blockade-runner/
Hope this can inspire you !

[zoq]

Just found this
http://www.indiedb.com/games/blockade-runner/
Hope this can inspire you !

Yeah, BR seems to somewhat similar to what I'm doing, at least superficially. I'm really not sure what kind of gameplay or level of physics they are designing, however.

[peous]

Don't know, but the funny thing seems that you can play outside & inside the ship (FPS) !

I'm really not sure what kind of gameplay or level of physics you are designing, however

[zoq]

Don't know, but the funny thing seems that you can play outside & inside the ship (FPS) !

I'm really not sure what kind of gameplay or level of physics you are designing, however

On the very basic level, you have guy(s) and ships (and stations and asteroids etc). You can move around with the dude in and out of the ship like in a fps or minecraft and so on, then run to the cockpit or bridge and activate the controls, after which you control the ship and not the individual character. So, that's probably very much like what they are doing (and a kind of a no-brainer in these kind of games). Inside the ship you are either in an artificial gravity and walk around normally, or you use magnetic boots/handrails to walk around on whatever surface you want.

Alternatively without a gravity, and usually in space, you need to use small motors (or a gun!) to move your character, like you were a small ship. I actually have thought about making the space suit customizable like any other ship, so you can design how many motors you have, what kind of boots, armor or no armor, weapons and tools, etc. This is of course very tentative at the moment, but I see no real reason why it wouldn't work fine.

[peous]

Nice ! So no real objective, like in MC ?
Going from planet to planet, mining elements to build bigger ship...
At least you need some threat !