TorchShips game development

[Urwumpe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Linguofreak

 I think you're referring to KSpaceduel, which is a reimplementation of Spacewar! for KDE.

Spacewar! itself first appeared in 1962 as a standalone program for the PDP-1.

Thank you, I wasn't sure about the name.

[Jarvitä]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urwumpe

 Why not try it in orbiter first? I have a nice small idea for one such gaming idea, I just lack the time to implement it before 2020:

Isn't this basically the goal of the orbiter war simulation thing?

edit: Orbiter Battle Simulation Project

[Urwumpe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jarvitä

 Isn't this basically the goal of the orbiter war simulation thing?

edit: Orbiter Battle Simulation Project

i thought it was rather about classic air/ground warfare.

[francisdrake]

Hi Codz,

Quote:

I've been looking for that. Can you give me a link?

The link is near the toop, just below the picture. For your convenience
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...d-space-combat

Urwumpe:

Quote:

Why not try it in orbiter first?

Would be great!
But probaby no easy thing. There were initiatives in Orbiter to create a some kind of spacefight. Seeking missiles were implemented, but they lacked the tactical aspect. I guess it would have to start by creating a damage point system, a hit probability algorithmus, detection likelihood rules, tactical MFDs, etc. ...

[Urwumpe]

K-I-S-S

You could make a mod for the Shuttle-A to carry missile launchers instead of payload modules, and just launch and guide the missiles by IMFD targeting. Nothing too fancy for the start, just requires some minimal meshes and a MFD for controlling the launchers by clbkGeneric. No full guidance needed for the start, just a "burn for x meters per second" would be enough.

Wouldn't be a hard job to start, and you could use many existing components there. It just needs about 20 hours of development and testing.

Sure no full game then, but already a base to work with.

[Codz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by francisdrake

 Hi Codz,

The link is near the toop, just below the picture. For your convenience

Actually I was reffering to any Harpoon download stores. Thanks.

[jedidia]

Quote:

i thought it was rather about classic air/ground warfare.

As far as I know the plans, they started with that to gather expierience and have a solid testbed (not that it wouldn't be interesting to have all on its own), but the long-term plans do indeed involve space warfare. Long-term plans are always a bit of a tricky thing in add-on development, of course, but so far it seems they're pulling it slowly but steadily.

As about the whole kickstarter games funding thing, I think it's generally a great idea to put out games that never would see funding by a publisher, but raising those funds with the intent of developing the thing in your spare time really defeats the purpose. I would agree with Hielor, you really don't need money for that.

Also, credentials are majorly important when raising funds this way. Tim Schaefer and Brian Fargo didn't raise bucketloads of money because they had a good Idea, but because they have shown to be reliable developers in the past. I don't see much credentials here...

[francisdrake]

The 'classic' Harpoon is sold as 'Harpoon Commanders Edition' (HCE). Go to
http://computerharpoon.com/products/hce.html

On this page there is also a link to the HarpGamer site with a 30-days demo version.
HCE is pretty much the old Harpoon with some textured maps and updated databases. It is still an excellent game with a simple but amazingly effective detection and damage system based on points and modifiers (e.g. big ships are easier to detect than small ones, high speed increases the probability of detection, bad weather decreases it).

[Hielor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by francisdrake

 These are interesting points raised here. Makes me think about why I really support this project:
- It is a theme I am definitely interested in, and there is nothing comparable available.

- The market for this kind of game is small. Reality is not too popular
I doubt this game will be sold a lot.
Heck, they even canceled MS Flight Simulator and Wing Commander!
Spaceships that do not zoom by and woosh and do not turn like fighter planes will be only for a small number of people.

- In the 90s I played a lot 'Harpoon', a naval wargame with minimal graphic interface, but exceedingly thrilling tactical gameplay. So I am used to bare-bone interfaces
(Btw. Harpoon is still alive, sold as download and supported by an active fan base, 20 years after its initial release; only few computer games can look back on such a history).

I hope they can reach the funding and start the game development.

I agree that this would be a cool thing to have, but I'm not sure that this is the person I would want to be doing it, or via this method. He hasn't provided any credentials other than the vague "dozens of applications in the store."

Plus, Kickstarter for this kind of thing feels like a shakedown, or a threat: "If you don't give me this much money, I won't make this thing."

As much as I would love to see a space combat game based on realistic newtonian physics at a realistic scale, I'd much rather have it be developed by someone who's passionate enough to dedicate their time to it whether or not they get paid--"I want this thing to exist so much that I'm going to make it, and if I get paid, that's a good bonus" rather than "I'm going to get paid to make this thing." Maybe the difference isn't that big, but to me it seems like an important distinction. If the guy has dozens of applications in the store, has he ever really dedicated a lot of time to any one? What guarantee do you have that this project will continue to get the attention it deserves after V1 is complete?

If the game gets completed, I'll probably buy it--but I'm not about to drop $10 or more on something that's little more than vague promises and placeholder graphics at this point. If he had a playable demo? I'd consider it.