Space Combat (madness)
Moderator: Oberlus
i have this idea in mind where you actually fight at planetary level(with a large planet in the bg) but are still able to move to other planets in the current system. maybe through some kind of 'sub warp', don't know.
notice, that i am proposing this only from a graphical point of view and therefore i want to know what you game designers think of this.
thanks.
notice, that i am proposing this only from a graphical point of view and therefore i want to know what you game designers think of this.
thanks.
- Geoff the Medio
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I am not familar with that game do you have links or screen shoots?
A good example for us to look at is StarFury its a game based on SE4 but focuses on controling an individual ship. Graphics are 2/half D (3 dimintial objects moving in 2 dimentional system) a whole series of Starfeet academy games also used this format.
You can try out a simple demo at
http://www.malfador.com/starfury/sfdemo.html
I belive 2 D movment is preferable over 3D movment especialy if were doing the whole system (system tend to be flat) the actualy Graphical objects (planets, ships) could be 2D or 3D depending on how ambitius our graphical department is. Full 360 Degree Homeworld style camera control would be desirable if objects are 3D regardless of the degree of movment freedom (because 3D objects from a fixed topdown perspective migh as well be 2D if you cant see anything but the top).
A good example for us to look at is StarFury its a game based on SE4 but focuses on controling an individual ship. Graphics are 2/half D (3 dimintial objects moving in 2 dimentional system) a whole series of Starfeet academy games also used this format.
You can try out a simple demo at
http://www.malfador.com/starfury/sfdemo.html
I belive 2 D movment is preferable over 3D movment especialy if were doing the whole system (system tend to be flat) the actualy Graphical objects (planets, ships) could be 2D or 3D depending on how ambitius our graphical department is. Full 360 Degree Homeworld style camera control would be desirable if objects are 3D regardless of the degree of movment freedom (because 3D objects from a fixed topdown perspective migh as well be 2D if you cant see anything but the top).
Fear is the Mind Killer - Frank Herbert -Dune
- Geoff the Medio
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As in above image, I'm thinking of an angled top-down view, so you'd be able to see your ship / planet / asteroid / shield bubble / whatever models from all angles, though only be able to "scroll" the view in the 2-D plane. We'd either have a fixed angle camera, or let the player rotate it around in a limited (less than 180 degrees) way above the plane.Impaler wrote:Full 360 Degree Homeworld style camera control would be desirable if objects are 3D regardless of the degree of movment freedom (because 3D objects from a fixed topdown perspective migh as well be 2D if you cant see anything but the top).
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4th best PC game. In my list of games Star Control 2 is on a 1st place, 2nd place - Elite (on Spectrum).han_krum wrote:Impaler, you haven't played Star Control 2? Here's a link to a demo. I guess we'll hear from you in a few weeks again?
Try Ur-Quan Masters here - it's a former 3DO version of Star Control 2 (PC version source code was lost).
http://www.classicgaming.com/starcontrol/
i made a small mockup how it could look like.
take a look: combat.rar 14mb/.mov
take a look: combat.rar 14mb/.mov
I wrote:notice, that i am proposing this only from a graphical point of view and therefore i want to know what you game designers think of this.
For those in Linux who have troubles unraring this file, try the shareware rar program for linux instead of freeware one.pd wrote:i made a small mockup how it could look like.
take a look: combat.rar 14mb/.mov
prenid, it looks nice, I like the concept - interested to see ideas others have.
- Geoff the Medio
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The planet and starscape / nebula look nice. However, for gameplay purposes I think it would be better to have the scales of things set up so planets / asteroid fields / nebulas and the like are ostacles you have to move around or through. Map "terrain" features make battles much more interesting, strategic and fun, imho.
i'm still not quite convinced of this. could you please go more into detail how this could work. i mean is it just about moving around barricades and hiding behind them?Map "terrain" features make battles much more interesting, strategic and fun, imho.
also we could make it very strategic without any terrain, by using taskforces, formations, attack/defence maneuvers or even special weapons.
last but not least we could still have roids as terrain in my proposed system.
personaly i just don't like the idea of scaling planets down to a similar size like ships. i know it's a realism argument, but compared to ships planets are gigantic.
@PD
Imagine if that movie was the real time part of a phased Real Time (part turn based part real time, etc) space combat. Since the players would not need to control the real time part, we can have it in 3D, just like your movie. It would be eye candy and immersion.
Also, your movie only demonstrates the scale of the space combat. It doesn't demonstrate any rules, just the graphics. The graphics is cool though, man it looks awesome. You made it in 3D Studio Max or something, I guess. If we were gonna do space combat in 3D, where the player controls it in 3D, I would like it in that view you demonstrate PD, 3D at the default locked camera angle of Isometric/top down.
Imagine if that movie was the real time part of a phased Real Time (part turn based part real time, etc) space combat. Since the players would not need to control the real time part, we can have it in 3D, just like your movie. It would be eye candy and immersion.
Also, your movie only demonstrates the scale of the space combat. It doesn't demonstrate any rules, just the graphics. The graphics is cool though, man it looks awesome. You made it in 3D Studio Max or something, I guess. If we were gonna do space combat in 3D, where the player controls it in 3D, I would like it in that view you demonstrate PD, 3D at the default locked camera angle of Isometric/top down.
thanks for your thoughts utilae.
in this mockup i just pulled and pushed the camera from one corner to another to show what's going on in the background ;)
yep, as i said, i just had this look in my mind and wanted to share it. since i'm not a game designer i haven't thought that much about game rules and this is why i wanted opinions from you guys.Also, your movie only demonstrates the scale of the space combat. It doesn't demonstrate any rules, just the graphics.
i imagine a similiar navigation like in 3d packages where you can easily rotate, pan and zoom via alt/ctrl + one mouse button. if you are going 3d we should benefit from it and not limit the player to a locked iso view.If we were gonna do space combat in 3D, where the player controls it in 3D, I would like it in that view you demonstrate PD, 3D at the default locked camera angle of Isometric/top down.
in this mockup i just pulled and pushed the camera from one corner to another to show what's going on in the background ;)
hrm, all you had to do was link to a homeworld movie, heh. Very
nice looking background.
Speaking of homeworld, asteriods and dustclouds could form the terrian.
If combat occurs on a planet by planet basis, then each combat ought to be very short....the units starting off close and just plowing into each other (as in the movie pd posted.). It could be fun: we don't really need advanced tactics to make the combat look cool and be fun to play.
Basically, the combat would be decided by the ship designs and quantity, which isn't too far from how a typical RTS game ends up anyway.
nice looking background.
Speaking of homeworld, asteriods and dustclouds could form the terrian.
If combat occurs on a planet by planet basis, then each combat ought to be very short....the units starting off close and just plowing into each other (as in the movie pd posted.). It could be fun: we don't really need advanced tactics to make the combat look cool and be fun to play.
Basically, the combat would be decided by the ship designs and quantity, which isn't too far from how a typical RTS game ends up anyway.