Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length

 
Advanced search

1411432 Posts in 69363 Topics- by 58417 Members - Latest Member: gigig987

April 20, 2024, 05:17:33 AM

Need hosting? Check out Digital Ocean
(more details in this thread)
TIGSource ForumsCommunityDevLogsMegastrata - attempting a Megastructure experience
Pages: 1 [2]
Print
Author Topic: Megastrata - attempting a Megastructure experience  (Read 8183 times)
shrimp
Level 5
*****


View Profile WWW
« Reply #20 on: October 12, 2009, 01:23:16 PM »

Sorry I forgot to give my source in the previous post (which I have also corrected - see underlined word). I got that info from wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_in_the_last_place

I had to look it up a few months ago as it was the source of a bug in a CAD application I was working on at the time. Interesting how in a game context various systems break down in sequence as you get close to that limit!
Logged

elib
Level 0
**


only just begun the process


View Profile WWW
« Reply #21 on: October 18, 2009, 02:15:12 PM »

Yikes, making scriptable objects is harder than I thought! This has led to changing some of the code to be more event-driven. I hope we see elevators carrying the player up and down in a few days.

Here are a few recent screenshots ... You can see more on the blog: http://blog.megastructure.org/2009/10/screenshot-smorgasbord-elevators/.





Logged

Alex May
...is probably drunk right now.
Level 10
*


hen hao wan


View Profile WWW
« Reply #22 on: October 18, 2009, 05:22:34 PM »

Looking good!
Logged

Shade Jackrabbit
Level 10
*****


TIME RANGER


View Profile WWW
« Reply #23 on: October 18, 2009, 05:44:41 PM »

This looks really great. Megastructures have always been really interesting to me, so I'll be watching to see how things go. Looks like it will be very interesting.

One thing I'm wondering though: Are you planning to retain this sort of bare polygons look akin to Mondo Medicals, or are you gonna include textures like wall materials and signs? I could see either way working, depending on what the end game's mood is supposed to be. Either way it looks like it will be quite cool.  Gentleman
Logged

["Thread Reader" - Read a thread.]
Triplefox
Level 9
****



View Profile WWW
« Reply #24 on: October 18, 2009, 06:02:07 PM »

I had this same setting concept years and years ago and started implementing it in Megazeux. Only I called it "the Complex" and it was a Blade Runner type of dystopia where people got into lots of gunfights for shallow, petty reasons. I didn't finish it.

The body of work that originally hooked me on the Megastructure concept is the Blame! manga series by Tsutomu Nihei. I think we resonate with the idea easily, like many other staples of sci-fi. I see it as being more enclosed than Blade Runner, but the atmosphere is very similar.

I'd be interested in hearing more about your strategy for generating the landscapes.

I didn't have a procedural strategy, I was just drawing out map data by hand - game flow was more important to me at the time than the technical aspect of "representing a really huge setting." I made it to about three rooms of content before stopping.

If I were doing it today I'd probably start with a voxel array that generally describes different sections of the structure and their purpose/parameters, and then everything would be connected and detailed algorithmically. So the data would still be hand-tuned. If I then got it to the point where I wanted to make it truly infinite, I would create a high-level algorithm that replicates the thought process I used to make the original data set. If I wanted more variant detail at the low level, I would do a similar thing there by hand-editing the architecture, specific items, etc., and then reproducing my process.

Essentially it boils down to: Create a good dataset by hand. Figure out how to make more of it. Repeat across all levels of data. I've learned(by failing at it) that you can't just have the computer barf out some noise and expect it to hold long-term interest - intent, structure, and relationships are important.
Logged

elib
Level 0
**


only just begun the process


View Profile WWW
« Reply #25 on: October 19, 2009, 07:26:20 AM »

Looking good!

Thanks! And many congrats on your own project, the trailer is awesome.

One thing I'm wondering though: Are you planning to retain this sort of bare polygons look akin to Mondo Medicals, or are you gonna include textures like wall materials and signs? I could see either way working, depending on what the end game's mood is supposed to be. Either way it looks like it will be quite cool.  Gentleman

Thanks for the kind words! After you mentioned Mondo Medicals, I had to check it out. This is Shocked not Shocked the desired effect. A muted palette would be nice, but not that muted. As for textures, they will either be very simple, or nonexistent. I would like to see some corrosion or rust patterns on top of that. The mood should be one of adventure, curiosity and exploration. If you Megastrata reminds you of Mondo Medicals, I'm doing something horribly wrong. Smiley

@Triplefox: Great overview. It is clear to me that much more work is necessary for it to be interesting over time. However, I believe the project has passed the "barfing out noise" stage, even if only by a little. Thanks for the tips.
Logged

Shade Jackrabbit
Level 10
*****


TIME RANGER


View Profile WWW
« Reply #26 on: October 19, 2009, 01:08:48 PM »

If you Megastrata reminds you of Mondo Medicals, I'm doing something horribly wrong. Smiley

Eh, just the visual style at this moment. The feeling is different though, as medicals felt sort of claustrophobic, but Megastrata seems sort of... expansive. Like a gigantic field, except going in all directions instead of being a flat plane.
Logged

["Thread Reader" - Read a thread.]
dbb
Level 4
****



View Profile WWW
« Reply #27 on: October 20, 2009, 06:54:06 AM »

I like the lifts in the recent screenshots. They give a sense of scale  to the place that was missing before.

One thing I don't like about them, though, is they look a bit flimsy - their walls, ceiling and floor are just 2D planes without any thickness to them, whereas in earlier screenshots everything looks a lot more substantial.

I think if you gave the lifts (as well as some of the other new elements) a bit more solidity it would give the environment a better sense of being an actual, physical space.

But in general, very cool. I think this has the potential to become something really interesting (I mean, it's pretty interesting already, but it could be really interesting).
Logged

shrimp
Level 5
*****


View Profile WWW
« Reply #28 on: October 21, 2009, 11:08:09 AM »

Yeah, I can imagine riding the lifts and looking down at the level below (is this what the yellow and blue stripes are/will be?). Would be a nice moment to reflect!

In a similar vein, the irregular orange ceiling... this looks like it could be rusty iron plating underneath some sub-level
Logged

Loren Schmidt
Level 10
*****



View Profile WWW
« Reply #29 on: October 21, 2009, 01:31:08 PM »

Whoah, this is very interesting indeed.

Goals
I wonder if certain types of goals wouldn't distract from the exploration itself. I could see some types of goals working quite well, though. For instance, what about some kind of smaller-scale player activity that enables exploration? Collecting fuel or air might work, or finding special points that allow longer-distance travel (boarding points for underground vehicles that move through tunnels, or launching points for aerial travel).

Variation
I think you're right- having different regions feel different is really critical to making this appealing. I'm very interested in hearing about how you approach this as the project progresses. (I'm currently playing with a related thing, though I'm dealing with a landscape instead of a city.)

Scale
I think the current screenshots feel relatively scale-less. There isn't a sense of immensity yet. Fixed-scale elements would help a lot. For instance, if I see a water tower, I instantly know how big it is from the size of the rivets or the lighting fixtures. On a larger scale, if I see a complex of rooms on a container ship, I instantly know how big the boat is from the size of railings and the height of doors. The elements needn't be recognizable to work well, though.

I also think that some sort of distance related effect like haze might be worth looking at.


This is really interesting, I'm looking forward to seeing more of this project! Cheers.
Logged
Pages: 1 [2]
Print
Jump to:  

Theme orange-lt created by panic