Hi there, I just downloaded and ran your game in Wine (on Ubuntu Linux 7.04 ) and it worked rather smoothly.
I like how the game appears to be melting Civilization and Master of Orion.
Why did you settle for DirectX? Are you aware of the open-source alternatives? ( Simple DirectMedia Library for example - http://www.libsdl.org/ )
What are your aims for the game? ( You didn't mention anything specific in the project description or in any text file I found in the download-able archive..)
DirectX, well im an old dog and your DirectMedia Library is a new trick. I'm familiar with the basics of DirectX and estimated that learning a new graphics interface type library would take too much time. I do however keep the directX code simple - directdraw, avoiding direct3d. Your link was very interesting, i like the codes portability. I'll see if it can be adapted without too much change.
the aims are to create a galactic conquest type game. I do not pretend that the game will be original, in fact quite the opposite; my intention is to use the best features in each field to better the concept. a few notes: The game will be real time, players will all be human, but an alien invasion will be taking place while players fight it out between themselves, various "neutral" computer controlled players will try to maintain balance, such as The Guild (space merchants), The Church (a sort of police with political motives). One interesting feature - there will be NO tech tree. the game will take place in an era of dark ages. A great galactic civilization has collapse and tech must be rediscovered in the ruins of its laboratories, forcing players to explore and conflict and not sit in protective bubbles till they get the ultimate techs. I feel that the race for tech destroys some of the conquest elements in MOO and Civ.
Will get round to doing a txt file with more info.
thanx for the video, good to see my baby on another machine.
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how many people do u have assisting u on this project, are u intending it as a short term project or long term. I may be able to offer help as a beta tester etc. IF u get bored or disheartened u can always try helping on something like the freecol or mars simulation or freeorion projects which are along similar lines but have a higher activity count
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for the basics: please inform how the game runs of your machine, and can you test if the game runs correctly in 16, 24, and 32 bits? I fear i may have future memory problems and this issue needs to be addressed.
re other projects. freecol and freeorion do interest me, they have no shortage of developers assisting them. both these project are sticking to the original concept. I am also limited to C programming,not c++, so i often have a few problems understanding other peoples code.
project is long term. will have times of high activity, then i'll leave it, only to return later. it will eventually get there.
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Works fine in 16 bits and 32 bits.
I do not have configuration for 24 bits.
I've never played EFS, but Civilization II was the first... Meh, I grew-up around Civilization II, and I have Master of Orion.
However, I'm not actually proficient at turn-based strategy games, and prefer to more stressful, multi-tasking environments of real-time strategy games (I pick them up quickly).
I make plenty of suggestions for more real-time, competitive gameplay designs, and if you are fine with using other games' ideas, I'll bring up the pros of real-time strategy games that can improve upon your vast knowledge of turn-based strategy.
RE: project is long term. will have times of high activity, then i'll leave it, only to return later.
I've also studied a lot of player-activity in games, because the majority of what I play is massively-multiplayer.
When beta-stage is released, you will need to post weekly updates to keep players active. Even if no coding is actually done, players need to know that the game is being updated (eg. This week part of the battle-script has been planned, and players can expect over five chassis for attack-vessels).
My activity is also compromised, so if I get involved in project-related discussions, do you want me to contribute from a programmer's point of view, retailer's point of view, or a gamer's point of view?
What age-group are you targetting, and also, do you want me to give short comments every few days, or detailed feedback bi-weekly?
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thanxs for the info on 16 bits. The programming for this was very odd, i concluded that my computer was reversing the RGB to RBG. (still not sure what is going on, final code is taken from a successful guess!). i found very little documentation on the subject. My fear was that the RGB would change on another machine.
The game is to be real time. However it will have several features of turned based, the most important being the use of hexagons in movement, attack and defense. i.e. unites will attack from one hex to the next, and not the usual unit vs unit in turn based. This will allow greater strategy (terrain, flanking etc). Attacks will take a long time, to allow the players to change strategy, call reinforcements etc. Units will be more difficult to kill than in the usual real time games; unites are more likely to lose moral and retreat if they are taking too much damage.
re the beta testing, yes I'll need help. the 16 bits for now, and later when the game is playable.
all kinds of contribution are welcome. as you are no doubt aware, programming is time consuming, frustrating and sometimes one simply loses interest. So contribution is also encouragement. helps to spur one on.
no age group. as its only me on the project, things are not progressing very rapidly. so reports/comments need not be frequent. i will find myself very busy in about a week or so, so project will stall maybe for a few months.
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By bi-weekly feedback, I meant bi-monthly, or "semi-weekly".
I've included some feedback on the forums.
Wait - what is RGB?
Red, Green, and Blue?
Ah, I am a big fan of hexagonal movement.
Possibly from playing too much Wesnoth.
Do you plan to use specialized units such as repair units, artillery, and other support units (ie. morale-boosters) that need to be protected behind the lines?
Ah good - medical and artillery units look interesting.
If you do plan to use artillery units, gameplay will become a lot more complicated.
Will inter-planetary ships be participating in air-to-ground combat, and if so, will you be worrying about the mechanics of long-range attacking?
If you do include long-range attacks, I hope that artillery has a long reload-time, so that they play a minor part of the battle.
It seems that attacking will be emphasized in Ad-Infinitum, so I hope there is not a major advantage to
using long-range attacks (unless the user is online).
Ah, it seems like you are planning orbital and artillery attacks.
I can understand the mechanics of defending from orbital and artillery attacks,
but how will you decrease the effect of defenders using artillery?
Perhaps orbital attacks can bombard artillery, allowing for land-
units to attack normally?
There is a large train of thought circulating around long-range attacks, and I have
little experience in the turn-based mechanics of long-range attacks.
I have little experience with long-range attacks in hex-based games, and such a feature would grant defenders a huge strategical advantage.
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artilery units are planed. orbital bombardment will be a feature.
A few notes on Ad-Infinitum bombardment:
1) types: orbital, bomber, artilery, mortar, missile;
2) good against exposed none armored units [soft] (general infantry);
3) not very effective against highly armored units [hard] (tanks);
4) lacks precision (can hit hexes next to target);
5) attacks all units in target area indiscriminately;
6) slows units it is targeting (they take cover);
7) reduces the target's entrenchment (defense);
8) destroys structures;
9) reduces the targets moral;
10) tends to change the terrain it is bombarding;
11) and gives casualties, however not that much, this is not its primary function.
what this means is that its use is a) to prepare an assault by other units, or b) to slow the attack of an enemy. Ultimately an artilery unit is pretty hopeless by itself, you will need the troops to take advantage of the attack/defense bonuses gained in bombardment.
yes it will be long range (3 hex range), and best kept behind lines. it will be fast firring, but will need a long barrage of fire to maximize its effect.
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side note space empires 4 was very much hex-square based. Has some simillarties the guy that programs and sells that however has gone 3d hex for space empires 5 ( might provide some inspiration) he has gone with 3d real time for space and planet battles and 3d turn based for the strategic,macro management si9de
Plus good to hear youre going to stick at it long term good luck ill beta test along with others i help out with
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slightly OT - space empires V was built on over about 12 years from SE1 to the latest production, this guy runs a 3 man programming company but he has distribution deals with a lot of online distributors. A lot of the underlying mechanics were from SE4, but it does provide a guide to other wouldbe 4x and other space strategy open source projects to play with
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slightly OT - space empires V was built on over about 12 years from SE1 to the latest production, this guy runs a 3 man programming company but he has distribution deals with a lot of online distributors. A lot of the underlying mechanics were from SE4, but it does provide a guide to other wouldbe 4x and other space strategy open source projects to play with.
Took a look at what u have done up to ai-16 the planets look good tho a zoom feature would be good. Ie zoom out to galactic level and up close. Perhaps orbital planets around stars.
Beyond that the cities on the planets look good tho no statistical or interaction as of yet. So far a solid effort
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I have a lot of respect for small teams competing in todays game market. Space Empires looks interesting, and building by improvement on past releases is the way to go. I'm trying to stick to my concept; if i keep changing, rethinking the games structure, ill have problems getting anything finished.
Yes, you have a point about the galactic zoom. will try to incorporate this in the future.
Thanx.
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Glad to see someone out there trying to bring EFS back to life, or at least breath new life back into a brilliant space opera / turn based concept. I'm a massive fan of the old EFS, and thought it had finally lost all interest, so I'm pretty excited to see someone who shares the love of Dune-style feudal politicing trying to ressurect the idea in a space conquest game. I checked out all your ideas on the EFS forum and I really like what I see ... some very nice mechanics and ideas. Lots of work though! Havn't run the download yet, btw.
So how are you finding it? Still powering away? I'm an art director at a games company and I'd love to help out if you can get enough momentum behind your project. Unfortunately work commitments and recently born twins at home means I won't be able to for a long time, but I'll be watching with much interest. You might like to check out http://planetpixelemporium.com/planets.html for planet textures ... these are free and come with bump maps if you can utilise those ... the textures are from the planets of our system, but could be adapted pretty easy.
All the best - I'm really hoping ad infinitum comes together!
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Yes, still powering away. I'm having to reprogram planet generation. Encountered various problems in home world generation that made me realize the current version is unsuitable in game-play.
Momentum is periodic and limited to myself. I have placed graphics in simple BMP files so that others can edit these at a later date. I am further including code that will allow future graphic additions by none-programmers. e.g. if the value of Nebulas in the input file is increased, extra nebulaX.bmp files will be loaded and used.
My felling is that once the game reaches its beta stage, i think the interest and momentum will start to roll. i will declare beta once there are units that may be moved about...etc, i.e playable.
Please do keep watching. Thanks for the link.
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yes, water world was a bit to ambitious and was looking unplayable. i have plans for other type worlds: cristal, crevasses, exotic-gas, archipelago, and open files to allow user new world types; but i may put these aside for a later date; not to important and to much graphic programing.
planetary distribution on galactic map will change, planets will be organized into clusters of zero to ten worlds; these clusters may each have a galactic background object (gas giant, sun).
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Hi there, I just downloaded and ran your game in Wine (on Ubuntu Linux 7.04 ) and it worked rather smoothly.
I like how the game appears to be melting Civilization and Master of Orion.
Why did you settle for DirectX? Are you aware of the open-source alternatives? ( Simple DirectMedia Library for example - http://www.libsdl.org/ )
What are your aims for the game? ( You didn't mention anything specific in the project description or in any text file I found in the download-able archive..)
PS: I made a video, http://video.google.com/videohosted?docid=7919239913330164243
hi, and thanks for your interest.
Yes, two of the inspirations for the game are Civ and MOO. Another is Emperor of the Fading Suns, EFS, see: http://www.the-underdogs.info/game.php?id=367
DirectX, well im an old dog and your DirectMedia Library is a new trick. I'm familiar with the basics of DirectX and estimated that learning a new graphics interface type library would take too much time. I do however keep the directX code simple - directdraw, avoiding direct3d. Your link was very interesting, i like the codes portability. I'll see if it can be adapted without too much change.
the aims are to create a galactic conquest type game. I do not pretend that the game will be original, in fact quite the opposite; my intention is to use the best features in each field to better the concept. a few notes: The game will be real time, players will all be human, but an alien invasion will be taking place while players fight it out between themselves, various "neutral" computer controlled players will try to maintain balance, such as The Guild (space merchants), The Church (a sort of police with political motives). One interesting feature - there will be NO tech tree. the game will take place in an era of dark ages. A great galactic civilization has collapse and tech must be rediscovered in the ruins of its laboratories, forcing players to explore and conflict and not sit in protective bubbles till they get the ultimate techs. I feel that the race for tech destroys some of the conquest elements in MOO and Civ.
Will get round to doing a txt file with more info.
thanx for the video, good to see my baby on another machine.
how many people do u have assisting u on this project, are u intending it as a short term project or long term. I may be able to offer help as a beta tester etc. IF u get bored or disheartened u can always try helping on something like the freecol or mars simulation or freeorion projects which are along similar lines but have a higher activity count
just me. So far.
re beta testing, i am very interested.
for the basics: please inform how the game runs of your machine, and can you test if the game runs correctly in 16, 24, and 32 bits? I fear i may have future memory problems and this issue needs to be addressed.
re other projects. freecol and freeorion do interest me, they have no shortage of developers assisting them. both these project are sticking to the original concept. I am also limited to C programming,not c++, so i often have a few problems understanding other peoples code.
project is long term. will have times of high activity, then i'll leave it, only to return later. it will eventually get there.
Works fine in 16 bits and 32 bits.
I do not have configuration for 24 bits.
I've never played EFS, but Civilization II was the first... Meh, I grew-up around Civilization II, and I have Master of Orion.
However, I'm not actually proficient at turn-based strategy games, and prefer to more stressful, multi-tasking environments of real-time strategy games (I pick them up quickly).
I make plenty of suggestions for more real-time, competitive gameplay designs, and if you are fine with using other games' ideas, I'll bring up the pros of real-time strategy games that can improve upon your vast knowledge of turn-based strategy.
RE: project is long term. will have times of high activity, then i'll leave it, only to return later.
I've also studied a lot of player-activity in games, because the majority of what I play is massively-multiplayer.
When beta-stage is released, you will need to post weekly updates to keep players active. Even if no coding is actually done, players need to know that the game is being updated (eg. This week part of the battle-script has been planned, and players can expect over five chassis for attack-vessels).
My activity is also compromised, so if I get involved in project-related discussions, do you want me to contribute from a programmer's point of view, retailer's point of view, or a gamer's point of view?
What age-group are you targetting, and also, do you want me to give short comments every few days, or detailed feedback bi-weekly?
thanxs for the info on 16 bits. The programming for this was very odd, i concluded that my computer was reversing the RGB to RBG. (still not sure what is going on, final code is taken from a successful guess!). i found very little documentation on the subject. My fear was that the RGB would change on another machine.
The game is to be real time. However it will have several features of turned based, the most important being the use of hexagons in movement, attack and defense. i.e. unites will attack from one hex to the next, and not the usual unit vs unit in turn based. This will allow greater strategy (terrain, flanking etc). Attacks will take a long time, to allow the players to change strategy, call reinforcements etc. Units will be more difficult to kill than in the usual real time games; unites are more likely to lose moral and retreat if they are taking too much damage.
i have posted some of the game's concepts at:
http://www.kborek.cz/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=949
re the beta testing, yes I'll need help. the 16 bits for now, and later when the game is playable.
all kinds of contribution are welcome. as you are no doubt aware, programming is time consuming, frustrating and sometimes one simply loses interest. So contribution is also encouragement. helps to spur one on.
no age group. as its only me on the project, things are not progressing very rapidly. so reports/comments need not be frequent. i will find myself very busy in about a week or so, so project will stall maybe for a few months.
By bi-weekly feedback, I meant bi-monthly, or "semi-weekly".
I've included some feedback on the forums.
Wait - what is RGB?
Red, Green, and Blue?
Ah, I am a big fan of hexagonal movement.
Possibly from playing too much Wesnoth.
Do you plan to use specialized units such as repair units, artillery, and other support units (ie. morale-boosters) that need to be protected behind the lines?
Ah good - medical and artillery units look interesting.
If you do plan to use artillery units, gameplay will become a lot more complicated.
Will inter-planetary ships be participating in air-to-ground combat, and if so, will you be worrying about the mechanics of long-range attacking?
If you do include long-range attacks, I hope that artillery has a long reload-time, so that they play a minor part of the battle.
It seems that attacking will be emphasized in Ad-Infinitum, so I hope there is not a major advantage to
using long-range attacks (unless the user is online).
Ah, it seems like you are planning orbital and artillery attacks.
I can understand the mechanics of defending from orbital and artillery attacks,
but how will you decrease the effect of defenders using artillery?
Perhaps orbital attacks can bombard artillery, allowing for land-
units to attack normally?
There is a large train of thought circulating around long-range attacks, and I have
little experience in the turn-based mechanics of long-range attacks.
I have little experience with long-range attacks in hex-based games, and such a feature would grant defenders a huge strategical advantage.
yes, red ,green & blue.
artilery units are planed. orbital bombardment will be a feature.
A few notes on Ad-Infinitum bombardment:
1) types: orbital, bomber, artilery, mortar, missile;
2) good against exposed none armored units [soft] (general infantry);
3) not very effective against highly armored units [hard] (tanks);
4) lacks precision (can hit hexes next to target);
5) attacks all units in target area indiscriminately;
6) slows units it is targeting (they take cover);
7) reduces the target's entrenchment (defense);
8) destroys structures;
9) reduces the targets moral;
10) tends to change the terrain it is bombarding;
11) and gives casualties, however not that much, this is not its primary function.
what this means is that its use is a) to prepare an assault by other units, or b) to slow the attack of an enemy. Ultimately an artilery unit is pretty hopeless by itself, you will need the troops to take advantage of the attack/defense bonuses gained in bombardment.
yes it will be long range (3 hex range), and best kept behind lines. it will be fast firring, but will need a long barrage of fire to maximize its effect.
Ok, sounds like a good design :)
What kind of terrain will bombarded look like?
Hmm, looks like we'll need graphics for that :)
I like your bombardment feature.
side note space empires 4 was very much hex-square based. Has some simillarties the guy that programs and sells that however has gone 3d hex for space empires 5 ( might provide some inspiration) he has gone with 3d real time for space and planet battles and 3d turn based for the strategic,macro management si9de
Plus good to hear youre going to stick at it long term good luck ill beta test along with others i help out with
Space Empires looks fascinating!
That is awesome how the 3D components have been implemented.
slightly OT - space empires V was built on over about 12 years from SE1 to the latest production, this guy runs a 3 man programming company but he has distribution deals with a lot of online distributors. A lot of the underlying mechanics were from SE4, but it does provide a guide to other wouldbe 4x and other space strategy open source projects to play with
slightly OT - space empires V was built on over about 12 years from SE1 to the latest production, this guy runs a 3 man programming company but he has distribution deals with a lot of online distributors. A lot of the underlying mechanics were from SE4, but it does provide a guide to other wouldbe 4x and other space strategy open source projects to play with.
Took a look at what u have done up to ai-16 the planets look good tho a zoom feature would be good. Ie zoom out to galactic level and up close. Perhaps orbital planets around stars.
Beyond that the cities on the planets look good tho no statistical or interaction as of yet. So far a solid effort
I have a lot of respect for small teams competing in todays game market. Space Empires looks interesting, and building by improvement on past releases is the way to go. I'm trying to stick to my concept; if i keep changing, rethinking the games structure, ill have problems getting anything finished.
Yes, you have a point about the galactic zoom. will try to incorporate this in the future.
Thanx.
Hi Brodie
Glad to see someone out there trying to bring EFS back to life, or at least breath new life back into a brilliant space opera / turn based concept. I'm a massive fan of the old EFS, and thought it had finally lost all interest, so I'm pretty excited to see someone who shares the love of Dune-style feudal politicing trying to ressurect the idea in a space conquest game. I checked out all your ideas on the EFS forum and I really like what I see ... some very nice mechanics and ideas. Lots of work though! Havn't run the download yet, btw.
So how are you finding it? Still powering away? I'm an art director at a games company and I'd love to help out if you can get enough momentum behind your project. Unfortunately work commitments and recently born twins at home means I won't be able to for a long time, but I'll be watching with much interest. You might like to check out http://planetpixelemporium.com/planets.html for planet textures ... these are free and come with bump maps if you can utilise those ... the textures are from the planets of our system, but could be adapted pretty easy.
All the best - I'm really hoping ad infinitum comes together!
hello Captain,
Yes, still powering away. I'm having to reprogram planet generation. Encountered various problems in home world generation that made me realize the current version is unsuitable in game-play.
Momentum is periodic and limited to myself. I have placed graphics in simple BMP files so that others can edit these at a later date. I am further including code that will allow future graphic additions by none-programmers. e.g. if the value of Nebulas in the input file is increased, extra nebulaX.bmp files will be loaded and used.
My felling is that once the game reaches its beta stage, i think the interest and momentum will start to roll. i will declare beta once there are units that may be moved about...etc, i.e playable.
Please do keep watching. Thanks for the link.
notice u removed water world and added swamp world ( good move there)
Otherwise seems to be coming along quite nicley in terms of the graphics - planetary distribution - generation
yes, water world was a bit to ambitious and was looking unplayable. i have plans for other type worlds: cristal, crevasses, exotic-gas, archipelago, and open files to allow user new world types; but i may put these aside for a later date; not to important and to much graphic programing.
planetary distribution on galactic map will change, planets will be organized into clusters of zero to ten worlds; these clusters may each have a galactic background object (gas giant, sun).
gas giant, sun, black hole, quasar etc