Voyager - a game overhaul

[Xephyr]

I'm working on an adventure extension that overhauls star systems into ocean environments. It isn't really a huge stretch - the game is actually very conducive to it, I've found.

Here's a look at how the HMS Victory would look in-game : http://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/9cc ... 8071642f39

I'm still working on the scales, but the playerships will include a sailing yacht, a gunboat, and some kind of cargo ship. The timeline will sit around the development of the steam engine, so there will be some interesting game mechanics. I'll post updates in this thread from time to time, but most of the work will be on modelling the ships.

Any thoughts or ideas are welcome.

[Aury]

Given the nature of slots and ships of that era, you might find my LinkedFireSlots library helpful

[RPC]

Sounds amazing :3

If you need help/want to collaborate you can poke me and I will do my best.

Questions:
How will gameplay feel?
Is there a story?
Will there be "stargates"?
I will ask more questions as I come up with them.

[Xephyr]

Sounds amazing :3
If you need help/want to collaborate you can poke me and I will do my best.

If you feel like modelling sailing ships and early steamboats, I'm not going to stop you.

How will gameplay feel?

I expect it to be very much like how Transcendence is now, with maneuverability slightly hindered. The action might be a bit slower, but just as chaotic, I hope.

Is there a story?

As of now, no, but it will probably be a voyage from Europe to the Americas.

Will there be "stargates"

The way systems are set up in the engine, I pretty much have to include them. I've mocked up a little whirlpool animation that will substitute the stargates. In one hole, out the other. Makes no sense but neither does FTL travel, haha.

[Atarlost]

I'd make the stargates purely game abstractions using a compass rose image. They still wouldn't make sense, but trying to disguise them as a whirlpool just draws attention to the problem rather than letting people ignore it as a game abstraction.

[Xephyr]

I'd make the stargates purely game abstractions using a compass rose image. They still wouldn't make sense, but trying to disguise them as a whirlpool just draws attention to the problem rather than letting people ignore it as a game abstraction.

The other option I have in mind is a "set a course" menu based on the stargate network, but I don't like the idea of being able to immediately leave an area if you're in trouble - thoughts on this?

[JohnBWatson]

I'd make the stargates purely game abstractions using a compass rose image. They still wouldn't make sense, but trying to disguise them as a whirlpool just draws attention to the problem rather than letting people ignore it as a game abstraction.

The other option I have in mind is a "set a course" menu based on the stargate network, but I don't like the idea of being able to immediately leave an area if you're in trouble - thoughts on this?

Unsure if it's possible, but given that the game alerts you when an enemy ship is in range, there may be a way to check for danger and deny the option to leave if there is any.

Otherwise, you could add a of "landmarks" in each system that serve a similar role to stargates, 'stations' the player has to dock with in order to get their bearings and determine the course that needs to be followed. Their dock menu could allow you to move to the next system((S)et course to). Basically stargates that the player docks with instead of going through.

[Atarlost]

If you do menu based navigation it should be possible to disallow the menu unless you're more than a certain distance from the map center.

[RPC]

If you want all of the action to take part in one system completely you can just remove the stargates, but barring that I think that they can serve as fast travel systems like in Assassin's Creed and make the Galactic Map a Global Map in that case.

[Xephyr]

So I'm pumping out a few of these small ships to populate the sea, since these are really quick to make. I'll put more detail into them later, but this is how they're looking now : http://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/cordyceps/sloop

It's difficult to put in a lot of rigging and make it look half decent, so I'll be concentrating on other things until I get that one figured out.

Also, if anybody has some good wood textures to share (or a good camera and some spare time) that would be immensely helpful.

[StealthX051]

Would the nebula textures be changed to be like water?

[Xephyr]

Would the nebula textures be changed to be like water?

Yes, I'm modifying nebulae into water. There'll be a few different types, like shallow seas and reefs and deep oceans. I'm also going to try taking the top layers and making those clouds, possibly animated with lightning flashes and will cause damage to the ships. And the LRS display will be enabled, though I replaced that with an old timey texture.

At any rate I'm going to try to get a little demo out so you guys can get a rough idea of how it'll look and feel, possibly within a week or so depending on how intensive my courses are.

[RPC]

FYI you can use the parallax property (using ObjSetProperty) on spaceenvironment like nebula so that they are "above" or "below" the playing field. I used this on nebula and set them "above" and it works great as a cloud effect.