Cooperative Project

[Fyron]

Imperator Fyron said:
Will this be an open source project? How is the coding of the game going to be handled?

Can I get an answer please?

[Tim Brooks]

Imperator Fyron said:
Will this be an open source project? How is the coding of the game going to be handled?

Not open source, no.

The coding will be handled however we can make it work, with Shrapnel people, those that wish to code, or both.

[Fyron]

It seems fairly strange to me to have a proprietary community project... Oh well.

[mac5732]

Since there are a number of different types of games out there that the public buys we lst have to decide what type/s we want to get into.
Wargames (War in Pacific, Steel Panthers, etc)
Fanatasy adventure (Heros, Dominionns, Disciples, etc)
Space Warfare (Space Empires IV, etc)
Shootemups (quake, Duke Nukem, etc)
Real Time games (Starcraft, Warcraft, etc)
We all like different kinds, so a consensus would have to be made as to the direction of the game/s to go

There are many ideas for each type of game, maybe, and I'm just rambling, we should decide the type lst, then look into the components, makeup, etc.
Just some ideas

[Atrocities]

I have to say that I would love a world domination game based on the 4 x model. The current games are all RPG, RTS, or turn based. I would like to see a game where the player builds ships, troops, armor, planes, subs, and etc, then expands out to conqure other provinces. A cross between SE IV and Dominions but with an entire world map, huge.

Territory could be handled simularly to civ but with the restriction that you can establish a city, colony, in a colonizable area. This will restrict planting cities every few feet.

I hate games like Civ, sorry to say it, but that is not what I want to play. I want to play a game with the game play of Axis and allies but on a uber grand scale, feel, game adaptablity, and the control and depth that comes with Space Empires IV.

[Tim Brooks]

Imperator Fyron said:
It seems fairly strange to me to have a proprietary community project... Oh well.

Only if everyone was working for free. Shrapnel will end up putting alot of money into a project like this. That is if we get enough interest to even do it.

[mac5732]

AT, you mean something on the order like Empire or Empire Delux, or the old Colonial Conquest game, or even the old Star General? (similiar in scope? ) If so thats sounds , I always liked that type of game and really enjoyed playing those.

[Baron Munchausen]

Tim Brooks said:
Hi All!

This is something SG Development has been kicking around for a while, and since we are now looking at what comes after All American, it is probably time to get some feedback on this.

The Project we have in mind is a coop strategy game, design, art, programming, all with input from some of Shrapnel Games' fans.

How we came up with this idea, was seeing the kind of mods that you guys (and gals) have put out for our games over the last 5 1/2 years! Alot of these are quite impressive, and we thought, hey, lets harness some of that creativity and game development desire.

So, what do you think? A good idea or not?

And before you ask a bunch of questions about what the game is about and other things, well, that will be decided by those that participate on the project.

Best regards,

Writing a game from scratch will be a huge project. Look at Free Orion, the response to the Master of Orion 3 debacle. It's now working towards version .3 after a couple of years development. I wonder if Shrapnel Games can afford to think in the 'long term' to this degree?

We have a few programmers in the Shrapnel forums, but we have vastly more artists than programmers. What would be better would be to license someone else's code to save development time and leverage your real advantage in the artistic community on these forums. I would still like to see the Star Fury engine adapted to a submarine simulation, for example. Do you suppose that relations with Malfador Machinations are good enough that you could license this code from him? (I sure hope he hasn't signed any 'exclusive' deals with Strategy 1st?) Some relatively minor changes in the physics of this engine, combined with artwork from the many prolific artists on these forums, could produce a very nice submarine game in a fairly short time. Under a year, I'd say.

How's that for an "idea"?

[Combat Wombat]

Oh man a submarine simulation its so perfect. I wonder how would would do depth in the starfury engine though, it likes to keep everything on one plane.

[Baron Munchausen]

Yeah, true 3D with multiple 'levels' is one of the changes you'd have to make to the Star Fury engine. And you'd have to give ships 'weight' so they'd naturally tend to sink if they aren't moving. And you'd need to make 'bubble trails' for torpedos that slowly rise and dissipate.