I''ve been working on a 3d space Real Time Strategy game engine for quite some time. Essential elements of the engine have been coded, all that remains right now is designing and de-bugging engine/fine tuning, actually there are quite a bit of things that need to be added. I''m looking for people to join me in this project. I am confident that this project will be a success as long as I keep it going as I definetly will. I have just come off of a 3 month coding spree of working on this engine and I am excited at the potential that it has if I follow through with it. Happy to hear from anyone interested, please contact me if you would be interested in: -Web page design -Designing 3d models, textures, scenarios -Scripting -Coding a console -Interface -Any kind of artwork I gaurantee that anyone that sticks this project through with me will see it through with me and see the success it will be. I am determined to make a great game. Please contact me if your at all interested. shawn_sch@yahoo.com shawnsch@mb.sympatico.ca

If it''s a 1/2 done engine, can you possibly show us some 1/2 done screenshots? Im not really interested, (yes.. independant programmer) but i think that if you want some people for the job, you should show them what it can do, rather than give your personal garuntee that it''d be a success.. we dont even know you!

-- Wav

Ok here you people go.




It may look simple, but as you coders know, doing screenshots is the end result of much much work. This one was.

Feedback!

How much have you actually gotten implemented?

in your original post you say the engine is half done - is that the half that loads and draws everything, or the half that moves everything around, keeps track of all the data, saves and loads games/levels...

you say all that remains is DESIGNING and debugging the engine?

I really dont want this to sound like a flame, but if you wish to be taken seriously, I think you really need to give out some more concrete info...

Have you got a story written?
Do you know the mission breakdowns?
What are the gameplay mechanics?
Have you designed the interface?
Have you designed the ships? (Not the artwork, but the data/function side)

That said - great shot, and good luck!

Here is what has been coded so far:
------------------------------------

- The loaders
Ship model & texture loader
Ship statistics loader(firepower, armor etc.)
Scenario loader, although there''s not much for scenery yet.

- The rendering
No special effects implemented. It simply renders ship models.

- Some ship movement functions, meaning:
They move like ships, they can turn and propel themselves.
No vapour trail or special effect.

- No interface. No GUI Graphics have been done.
Ships can be selected. They can''t be moved yet
like the interface in Homeworld does.

- Waypoint system almost done.


- Camera works very well, rotating, zooming and following ships

- No weapon functions, or special functions implemented. Data structures have all been programmed, although it''s been so long since I worked on that part I can''t remember exactly how much is done.

STORYLINE
--------------------------------
I don''t like having a big complex storyline, it''s basicly bad
guys(alien) and humans. The humans are not from earth, they''re
from a distant solar system''s planet.
The emperor assigns the player the role of building up a
defense system around his throne planet. This gets the player
up and running with the interface and how to build things.
However instead of just building ships, there''s a grid
structure the player builds and builds structures onto that
platform.

eg. solar panels, construction rigs, ore refineries, turrets,
missiles, shields, etc.

The big thing to the game is that it takes the entire galaxy,
not just a solar system or many of them. You can set routes
for ships to waypoint between different solar systems.
That way you get several solar systems and get an economy
going, and you just go and attack the enemies solar systems.
You want more galaxy than them.

You take asteroids and stick big extractors in them and drain
them.

The economy is like that of Total Annihilation. I know it''s
not realistic but it''s funner that way, and I of course put
fun over realism. Your either in the positives or negatives
in your economy. You want to produce more than you take.



If you want I can post a screenshot with many more ships.

That''s what we want to hear!

Sounds like you''ve done some good stuff there. What did you have in mind for the ui?

I dont know TA, but fun over real is good policy.

There''s good console tutes on flipcode and on Nate Miller''s page (i think)

Do you plan to have a ''command'' ship, for your main interface, or a floating ''camera''?

What does everyone think about control systems for space sims?

and again, good luck!

Glad that you like it!

As for a user interface, I''m sticking as closely to a windows interface as I can, because the game is not making anybody learn any new interface, it should be something not to think about just use. I don''t like games where they make you learn a new interface. It''s a hassle.

It''ll be work, but people will get used to the game way faster and catch on faster.

There won''t be any actual command ship. That may make sense and go with a storyline easier, but kind of want to stick to a fleet of ships and you are sort of a god(?) hovering among them distributing orders. It''s funner not having to protect this one stupid ship all the time when you could be carrying out planned strategies.

The camera will be like Homeworld. That one was good.

Above all, I don''t want to give the player boundaries. If the player is forbidden (stupid rule to make up, say forbidden to do this or that), like NO you can''t build this or that, you can''t move the ship this way, not beyond this point, you can''t do this or that. I am totally scrapping those ideas.


What will happen is that you can build it, but you may get stuck building it for lack of resources. You can move ships wherever you want, but if you do so stupidly they might crash into each other or get into accidents.
You can try out anything that the physics in the game allow you to. This will make the game addictive.


I already have a modeler, a web page designer and a coder. The team is coming together well.

Good stuff!

I love the idea of ''accidents''! although that could get kind of annoying, but it would certainly be a factor with the HUUUGE amounts of inertia these things would be undergoing...

hell, it''s hard enough to avoid other boats when you''re sailing in a strong breeze!

actually... what''s your propulsion system? you could have some interesting gameplay dynamics if the ships rely on solar winds or something like that - so they can get up more speed in certain directions etc...

just a thought.

I could possibly help on the pixel-pushing (art) side?

Khrob

Sure you can email me if your interested in working on the project.


As for propulsion, I have some ideas about that but not really the time to put it on paper and code it.

The way it would work, though, is placing engines at specific points on the model, facing a certain direction vector, and different ones assigned to different directions, like the engine might tell the ship to go forward, and it would be up to the ships to know which engine to push.

As for the solar thing, I don''t really understand that, but I wouldn''t implement that because it would complicate the game too much. The gamer thinks that physics in space are like star wars. Engine pushes ship and ship slows down.

About accidents, I don''t think I explained that all that well. What I mean is that the engine will not oppose you, the thing that you are opposing are the physics of the game.

I think what these space games have been missing is the fun of building. I loved building in games like TA, Redalert, and warcraft. Homeworld didn''t include that fun in building.

In my game the player can build a infastructure of steel girders to build small structures on.
You can build shipyards manually by spacing the girders and
putting things like this there:

- Construction Initializer; this starts up construction of a ship. A sort of holograph image of 1% of the ship apperas.
- Feeders: These spray energe(I guess energy) onto the holograph and help advance it to 2%, 3% and on. You can build as many as you want. If they fit.
- Laser turrets, solar arrays, missile turrets, shield projectors, and much more.

I have just started coding this part of the game. What I need
is models and artwork though.