Oooh, Nifty.

[Suicide Junkie]

I remember playing the demo of the original game.

I was more into the combat than exploring part at the time...
I found there was a decent variety possible for weapons, but defenses were limited in scope and effectiveness.

If the modding power is expanded as the news post says, I'm sold.
I'll have to arrange a gritty, strategic-minded combat setup; where shields and armor are leaky, hull and system damage is guaranteed in combat, and you have to use strong ships to cover the retreat of the damaged ones.

I'd probably also make a map style where you control a mixed task force of carriers, destroyers and gunships, trying to penetrate the enemy lines and complete your orders... rescue a hostage, or extract a spy, or find and blow up a fortified enemy base in the randomized sector.

Mmmm... that sounds good http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[MagnaZero]

I loved the first one, and I'm really looking forward to this one too.

Although I was wondering if I was the only one who heard about it.

[Ripcord O'Reilly]

Hey guys, thanks for checking in.

MagnaZ, better tell your pals!

SJ, you'll be able to do all that and more.

[Ed Kolis]

Whee! It's like Star Control times Starfury take out the realtime aspect but leave in the modding! Say, are you using hexes, or just squares, or something completely different (like perhaps a vector based turn-based system like Stars! and Begin2 had - you remember Begin2, that Star Trek based shareware combat simulator? Man I loved that game... it kept me occupied when I was 15 or so before my mom let me buy MOO2... she thought the Antaran on the cover looked too scary and therefore the game must be violent http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif)

I bet one of the first mods for this game will involve playing the role of a pilot from the Black Spathi Squadron... I really think so http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[Nerfix]

The game sounds and looks very intresting to say the least.

[Suicide Junkie]

I think you can still grab the demo of the original for a quick *pre*-pre-view of it.

Assuming it will be vaguely similar to the original, the strategic map will be on a continuum, rather than hexes or squares, with smooth animation. You only stopped at stars or other points of interest, however.

Going to turn based/hex would be a step down.

The original's combat was also on a continuum, with full control of time (except no reverse). No rushing the player, and no wacky turn based tricks.

[James Sterrett]

Yes, Weird Worlds is generally similar in nature to SAIS. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

[General Woundwort]

Just saw the press release for this.

If the modding is as good as implied, there are all sorts of sick possibilities...

FreeFall Mod
SchlockMercenary Mod
Spaceman Spiff Mod
Star Trekkin Mod
Quark Mod
Red Dwarf Mod...

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

And how about:

Star Wars Mod (X-Wings! Whee!)
B5 Mod (if this is possible)
Perhaps an adaptation of the Adamant Mod for SEIV
Farscape
Battlestar Galactica
Space Battleship Yamato (hey, it's possible, right?)
Battlefleet Gothic

et cetera.

[Fingers]

Well, anything with spaceships is possible.. within reason http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Making new races, ships and weapons is relatively simple. There is a "quest" scripting system that can be used to set up special encounters and events, although it'll probably take a while for people to learn.

[zircher]

Any plan to have a developer's handbook so we can easily go about our heart's content modding this after we master the orginal setting?
--
TAZ

[Fingers]

Mod support will likely be done on a website or a forum (like right here) and it'll grow over time. There are way more things you can do in WW than in SAIS, so trying to cover it all at once in a manual type thing would take a long time to write... Not to mention it's impossible to anticipate everything that modders will try to do.

So when people start fiddling with the game we'll try to answer their questions and keep all the information in one place where other people can find it. We also have various notes written down while developing the game system that may be useful although they'll take a lot of cleaning up and editing.