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Dev Log
Jul 8, 2014 11:04:44 GMT 10
Post by Farbs on Jul 8, 2014 11:04:44 GMT 10
Hi, Over the past few weeks I've tried a few different things ways to communicate the game and its progress, both as a means of keeping everyone updated and as a source of motivation. Weekly videos were a cool experiment, however they took away too much of my development time and put me under a surprising amount of stress. Weekly builds were also very cool, however occasionally broken codebases and multi-week features have meant that some of those haven't appeared either. I'd like to get back to them though. Right now I'm experimenting with a short daily dev log. My plan is to post a paragraph or two on this forum thread, at the end of every work day. I previously did this in a private forum and I found it helped me keep day-to-day momentum. If you're interested in the tiny, fiddly, day-to-day details of TDS development then feel free to pop by and see how it's going. I'm also very happy to hear comments on the build and/or the production process. Thanks!
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Dev Log
Jul 8, 2014 13:51:33 GMT 10
Post by Ozzatron on Jul 8, 2014 13:51:33 GMT 10
So, this will be totally replacing the weekly builds, right? That is, there will be a "Build 8" but it won't necessarily be next week, so it's not the "Build for Week 8". I'm sorry to clutter up this topic so early in its life but I just wanted to check and make sure.
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Dev Log
Jul 8, 2014 14:11:21 GMT 10
Post by Farbs on Jul 8, 2014 14:11:21 GMT 10
So, this will be totally replacing the weekly builds, right? That is, there will be a "Build 8" but it won't necessarily be next week, so it's not the "Build for Week 8". I'm sorry to clutter up this topic so early in its life but I just wanted to check and make sure. That's a good question! I'd really like to get back to the weekly builds - not least because they only take about an hour to put together, as opposed to a full day for a video. What's stopping them at the moment is the render work, which I want to stabilize before builds resume. That might happen before the end of the week though, so if you don't mind getting a new build that's basically just the same game with a new seed, then yeah build #8 might arrive.
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Post by Foohman on Jul 8, 2014 16:57:04 GMT 10
I can get excited for that. New seeds are cowabunga. Thanks for the update, Farbs, it's good to hear from you!
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Post by Ozzatron on Jul 9, 2014 2:42:37 GMT 10
Well then what's the point of making that a new build? You shouldn't have to spend your time just making a new seed. Except for the fact that we all want a new seed. In my opinion, as much as I do love playing The Dawn Star, I'd say that an entirely new build just for a seed isn't worth it. So you can hold off on Build #8 until the graphics are ready to ship, in whatever state they may be in. I think the solution here is to have a build that can run many different seeds at once. Not like the old "side sectors" (although those were cool), but, if it's possible, something where we get to punch in the seed ourselves. Then it has infinite replay-ability, and it's okay if we don't get a new build for a month or so, because we have billions of sectors to explore.
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Post by DAxxnNOOBxx on Jul 9, 2014 5:28:02 GMT 10
I agree with Ozzatron, its quality over quantity. Although i shouldn’t rally say that since i have yet to play it myself... But nevertheless Farbs, don't let our needs drag you behind, feel free to explore and expand, I think we can wait.
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Dev Log
Aug 6, 2014 14:44:26 GMT 10
Post by Captain Michaela Nul'dolaer on Aug 6, 2014 14:44:26 GMT 10
Yes. We shall all wait for more of this epic adventure to unfold.
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Dev Log
Sept 23, 2014 23:37:29 GMT 10
Post by spaceycabbage on Sept 23, 2014 23:37:29 GMT 10
Hello there, mister Farbs
I'm just curious to hear how work on TDS is coming along. I would have to imagine you've accomplished a fair bit in the last two months, save for the possibility of completely overhauling the game engine to run on something other than Flash (which would be awesome).
The silence doesn't bother me so much, I get that as a game developer you need to just buckle down and get things done sometimes, and ultimately realizing your own vision is what comes first. I'm just curious to see what's changed and how this game is evolving beyond Captain Jameson.
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Dev Log
Sept 24, 2014 0:05:57 GMT 10
Post by Captain Michaela Nul'dolaer on Sept 24, 2014 0:05:57 GMT 10
Hello there, mister Farbs I'm just curious to hear how work on TDS is coming along. I would have to imagine you've accomplished a fair bit in the last two months, save for the possibility of completely overhauling the game engine to run on something other than Flash (which would be awesome). The silence doesn't bother me so much, I get that as a game developer you need to just buckle down and get things done sometimes, and ultimately realizing your own vision is what comes first. I'm just curious to see what's changed and how this game is evolving beyond Captain Jameson. I agree. But there is a problem: how the fck could Farbs make the game work on something other than Flash, since that is what the game uses for functions, displays, etc? Also, is there any word on TDS 9 yet?
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Dev Log
Sept 24, 2014 23:43:19 GMT 10
Post by spaceycabbage on Sept 24, 2014 23:43:19 GMT 10
Certainly it is easier to recreate existing systems in another language than it is to build a game from scratch. I'm not saying that there's no legwork involved in, say, re-creating the rendering engine in Direct X or Open GL, but all of the underlying math and fine-tuning has already been done. Porting isn't always easy, but it's not like you're starting from square one. In any case, this is just my own wishful thinking more than anything. I've wanted a stand-alone version of this game for a while.
I would imagine that a lot of work has been done compared to the previous builds this year in any case, though of course I'm sure mister Farbs has a personal life, and obviously he has other projects as well... And on that note, I haven't heard much about Captain Forever Remix in a while either. I wonder how that's coming along.
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Dev Log
Sept 25, 2014 9:54:00 GMT 10
Post by Captain Michaela Nul'dolaer on Sept 25, 2014 9:54:00 GMT 10
Certainly it is easier to recreate existing systems in another language than it is to build a game from scratch. I'm not saying that there's no legwork involved in, say, re-creating the rendering engine in Direct X or Open GL, but all of the underlying math and fine-tuning has already been done. Porting isn't always easy, but it's not like you're starting from square one. In any case, this is just my own wishful thinking more than anything. I've wanted a stand-alone version of this game for a while. I would imagine that a lot of work has been done compared to the previous builds this year in any case, though of course I'm sure mister Farbs has a personal life, and obviously he has other projects as well... And on that note, I haven't heard much about Captain Forever Remix in a while either. I wonder how that's coming along. Agreed.
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Post by Farbs on Oct 9, 2014 8:29:39 GMT 10
Hey!
I did actually experiment with porting the original Captain Forever to Haxe a few years ago, since it's syntatically very similar to AS3 and supports a very similar set of APIs. Unfortunately the native vector renderer turned out to be quite awful, so I abandoned that (for now) and returned to AS3/flash.
TDS is intended for a standalone release, which you can absolutely do with flash via Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR). I'm still doing web builds for now though since they're much easier to distribute, and since the new fullscreen functions pretty much make browser and standalone experiences the same.
Captain Forever Remix is a total port to Unity, and yes, they were able to save a lot of time by starting with my original balance and design efforts. They're navigated off onto their own awesome tangent since then, and the game is looking and playing great.
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Dev Log
Oct 9, 2014 11:42:37 GMT 10
Post by Captain Michaela Nul'dolaer on Oct 9, 2014 11:42:37 GMT 10
Hey! I did actually experiment with porting the original Captain Forever to Haxe a few years ago, since it's syntatically very similar to AS3 and supports a very similar set of APIs. Unfortunately the native vector renderer turned out to be quite awful, so I abandoned that (for now) and returned to AS3/flash. TDS is intended for a standalone release, which you can absolutely do with flash via Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR). I'm still doing web builds for now though since they're much easier to distribute, and since the new fullscreen functions pretty much make browser and standalone experiences the same. Captain Forever Remix is a total port to Unity, and yes, they were able to save a lot of time by starting with my original balance and design efforts. They're navigated off onto their own awesome tangent since then, and the game is looking and playing great. Then: why can't you use Unity> Also, I have an idea for a new game. Remember how Captain Impostor had it where killing ranks of ships gave you Clone Power? Well, why not do it with parts. (Ex: overlaying 2 Juliett lasers to make a Kilo laser, overlaying 2 Sharlie girders to make a Delte, etc.) I got this idea from exploiting a glitch in the URL coding: you con placa many parts in the exact same point. I made a ship that has 10 Kilo lasers overlayed. If you were wondering about why I say the ranks differently, it's b/c I use the alternative spellings.
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Post by spaceycabbage on Dec 4, 2014 7:45:41 GMT 10
Hey Farbs, I've got a quick question:
Has the change in art style and tone you're making inspired any changes to the core game? Also, speaking of the new art, how's that coming along? I really love the new command module that we've been shown, and though I've seen the other screenshots you posted a while back, I imagine that things have changed since then
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Dev Log
Dec 4, 2014 14:25:50 GMT 10
Post by Captain Michaela Nul'dolaer on Dec 4, 2014 14:25:50 GMT 10
Spaceycabbage is here! Well, he hasn't been here in weeks...
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Post by spaceycabbage on Dec 5, 2014 3:09:16 GMT 10
Oh god, you know it's bad when it's exciting that I'm here. I suppose I should post here more, even though there's not much new to say about Captain Forever.
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Dev Log
Dec 5, 2014 12:48:08 GMT 10
Post by Captain Michaela Nul'dolaer on Dec 5, 2014 12:48:08 GMT 10
We have entered deep space hibernation. I feel that something may have happened to Farbs..
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Post by Captain Avior on Dec 6, 2014 5:47:09 GMT 10
Maybe he permanently damaged his computer the last time the Nemesis was destroyed.
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Post by spaceycabbage on Dec 6, 2014 7:23:55 GMT 10
I'm pretty sure he's just really busy between life and other projects, and I suspect at this point he's not going to be happy enough with anything to release it publicly until all the modules have been redone to his satisfaction.
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Dev Log
Dec 6, 2014 10:07:09 GMT 10
Post by Captain Michaela Nul'dolaer on Dec 6, 2014 10:07:09 GMT 10
I'm pretty sure he's just really busy between life and other projects, and I suspect at this point he's not going to be happy enough with anything to release it publicly until all the modules have been redone to his satisfaction. That too, but the in-universe theory is way cooler in my opinion..
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