A silly question about the theoretical planetside mode

Talk among developers, and propose and discuss general development planning/tackling/etc... feature in this forum.
Post Reply
drinkypoo
Hunter
Hunter
Posts: 81
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 6:19 pm
Location: Kelseyville, CA, USA
Contact:

A silly question about the theoretical planetside mode

Post by drinkypoo »

I know that this may or may not be the appropriate place to ask a question like this, and that it may be answered somewhere already... but I couldn't find the answer. Anyway, has there been any discussion of the relative merits of putting the planetside functionality into the game itself, and just using a separate (and equally freely available) game/engine to handle the stages in which you're on foot, for example the ioquake3 version of quake3a? Q3A wasn't much of a game, but it's a pretty decent engine, theirs is even better, and it's relatively small. (Plus, it's readily available for OSX, Linux, and Windows.)

I can think of numerous arguments in either direction, and I was just wondering if those arguments had been had already :)
pyramid
Expert Mercenary
Expert Mercenary
Posts: 988
Joined: Thu Jun 15, 2006 1:02 am
Location: Somewhere in the vastness of space
Contact:

Re: A silly question about the theoretical planetside mode

Post by pyramid »

Not much has been talked about this topic, though this would ultimately add to the realism of the universe.

There are some references to planetary landings in this post http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/forum ... php?t=2371
You may find some related info in other posts about planets. A list of related posts can be found here http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/wiki/ ... References
loki1950
The Shepherd
Posts: 5841
Joined: Fri May 13, 2005 8:37 pm
Location: Ottawa
Contact:

Post by loki1950 »

Welcome drinkypoo as you stated in your subject line still theoretical and will be till we move to the OGRE back end which brings that capability as well a few others.i do know Lord Havoc's work and have both Nexuis and Open Arena installed myself 8) must have a FPS about for stress relief :lol:

Enjoy the Choice :)
my box::HP Envy i5-6400 @2Q70GHzx4 8 Gb ram/1 Tb(Win10 64)/3 Tb Mint 19.2/GTX745 4Gb acer S243HL K222HQL
Q8200/Asus P5QDLX/8 Gb ram/WD 2Tb 2-500 G HD/GF GT640 2Gb Mint 17.3 64 bit Win 10 32 bit acer and Lenovo ideapad 320-15ARB Win 10/Mint 19.2
Deus Siddis
Elite
Elite
Posts: 1363
Joined: Sat Aug 04, 2007 3:42 pm

Post by Deus Siddis »

Nexuiz is quite an awesome game (despite the insane 3D format it seems to use for its character models and lack of individual character stats).

However, it would seem kind of ridiculous to jump out of your fast, very well armed and armored spacecraft to run around on planets on foot, unless you had planetary vehicles to drive around in as well, to provide reasonable mobility and protection. For this you would need an engine that can handle vehicles, along with some interesting physics for them. This would take alot work to make, but would really make for an amazingly deep and complete space game. After all, why go into space if not to explore and benefit from the many planets that it holds.
loki1950
The Shepherd
Posts: 5841
Joined: Fri May 13, 2005 8:37 pm
Location: Ottawa
Contact:

Post by loki1950 »

That 3d format mm3d is ID's Quake format modified from the mm2d that quake 2 used

So far the walk about has only been proposed for base interiors no roaming about the planetary surface which would be lots of work separate maps for each planet even if procedurally generated.

Enjoy the Choice :)
my box::HP Envy i5-6400 @2Q70GHzx4 8 Gb ram/1 Tb(Win10 64)/3 Tb Mint 19.2/GTX745 4Gb acer S243HL K222HQL
Q8200/Asus P5QDLX/8 Gb ram/WD 2Tb 2-500 G HD/GF GT640 2Gb Mint 17.3 64 bit Win 10 32 bit acer and Lenovo ideapad 320-15ARB Win 10/Mint 19.2
klauss
Elite
Elite
Posts: 7243
Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2005 2:40 pm
Location: LS87, Buenos Aires, República Argentina

Re: A silly question about the theoretical planetside mode

Post by klauss »

pyramid wrote:Not much has been talked about this topic, though this would ultimately add to the realism of the universe.
Ha!
You couldn't be any wronger.

You have the sticky "official planetary flight" thread, for instance, which strolls over planetside walkable bases at some point, and many other places - look for "walkable bases".

Walkable bases are a planned feature for post-6.0 (Ogre version) - post because though the engine will have support for it at some point, content will take a while to make I bet. Content for walkable bases is really complex, so it's a major task.
Oíd mortales, el grito sagrado...
Call me "Menes, lord of Cats"
Wing Commander Universe
pyramid
Expert Mercenary
Expert Mercenary
Posts: 988
Joined: Thu Jun 15, 2006 1:02 am
Location: Somewhere in the vastness of space
Contact:

Re: A silly question about the theoretical planetside mode

Post by pyramid »

klauss wrote:You couldn't be any wronger.
Glad to be taught the contrary. And actually ... no idea how I could have missed it...

The talk about station walk reminds me of a cool online MMORPG I played a couple of years ago. Don't remember the name but it had some strange creatures living in space, and temples, and you could talk to people in the stations, walk between commercial stands and that stuff. The graphics was awful, but it had some nice esoteric touch to it that quite distinguished the game from other games I have ever played, as it got far beyond just pulling the trigger or hopping between systems to endlessly exchange cargo/money...boring.
The game got closed down and subscribers got invited over to EVE-Online for a limited free ride, but that's another story...

Since I am deviating from topic already... I remember excellent games where the story really kicked the whole experience to intense and rewarding levels. Two of my favorites in this aspect are "Tachyon: The Fringe" and "Independence War 2: The Edge of Chaos".

Not sure where Vega Strike is heading beyond the idea of "game engine", but I can imagine some effort in story writing and introduction of a "bigger purpose" into the game to be beneficial for its playability. Take EVE-Online for example. It has excellent graphics, neat ships, personal progress training, award winning economy, capital ships and titans, player build stations, role playing, and more. But really, besides mining and shooting it does not offer you a lot. It s*cks after a week of playing.

I can think of some more or less conventional higher purposes that would motivate the players to role play and advance (nothing more boring than a character that always stays the same), and I mean more than just missions or campaigns. Some examples:
* Save your grandma from the hands of reckless terrorists (infiltrate and dismantle universal terrorist net)
* Save your brother from the hands of reckless capitalists (build an alternative moneyless economy)
* Become a reckless capitalist by owning as many ships, stations, vehicles...
* Save humanity from reckless aliens (unite the universe in peace)
* Explore universe, find new systems and planets, make them habitable
* Explore universe, meet new alien races, establish contacts and contracts
* Progress and help progress in spiritual advance of all players
* Establish a neutral zone and keep peace in it.
* Build a mega-titanic planet-sized neutral station in the neutral zone
* Scientific, technical, personal exploration and advance
* You name it...

Just some unexplored ideas and I'm sure each of them would deserve a book full of written pages to explore them.
Post Reply