Hello everyone!
I have been working on a space sim part-time over the last 2 years...specifically learning the tools I would need to create one and prototyping out some gameplay elements. A Quick "about me": I am currently writing my thesis to complete my M.A.Sc. degree in electrical engineering (controls theory). My part-time work has really just been late at night during the week and the odd weekend when free time presents itself. My plan is to take at least a year off after graduating to work on the space sim full time. Here is a "brief" description of the game:
What kind of space sim?
My game could be described with 3 words: space economy simulator. Whether the player chooses to engage in that or not is up to them, I merely provide the universe (well just a small galaxy) as a sandbox. Factions will fight for resources, have rebellions, be destroyed, etc. Planet populations can be eradicated due a lack of food/water, new planets can be colonized, and players may be able to own/run planets/factories/fleets. Ambitious? Yes. I am currently developing the economy simulator in C++ external to any game engines since the entire game design relies on it. This will include laying down basic rules for piracy, colonization, rebellions, etc. I will be starting simple and building it up over time. The games that inspired me and have influenced my vision of the game would be mainly X3 and Limit Theory.
Okay so what do you have to show so far?
The first two years was familiarizing myself with game development, I spent some time learning some basics of CRYENGINE and its architecture and more recently UE4. I have brushed up on my data structures and algorithms, some design patterns, AI techniques, etc. Here is some work I did in CRYENGINE to simulate spacecraft flight (similar to Star Citizen's method):
And here is a second video where I talk and briefly demo missiles:
To sum up the videos, I implemented simulated space flight using thrusters placed on the spacecraft. These thrusters represent the positions where I applied physic impulses and all the movement seen is done via the physics engine, The missiles in the second video are exactly the same way, which is pretty cool! I have a total of 11 thrusters on a missile: 8 which are used for pitch/yaw, 2 for roll stability, and 1 as the main thruster. I had a lot of fun playing with the missiles :).
I have since switched to UE4 due to a lack of documentation in CRYENGINE. I have implemented the same spacecraft movement in UE4 and have been learning the AI tools available. My attention has turned to building the economy simulator in C++ (externally to UE4) as mentioned above now that I feel comfortable being able to implement all other facets of the game. First I am laying down the ground work to create companies which can own/build factories and hire miners/traders, and from this learn how to create a functional economy simulator before moving forward.
Looking for a collaborator!
I am looking for someone who is really passionate about space sims and game development, and is really excited about what I am trying to accomplish. My long term plan is to create a Kickstarter campaign (said every indie game dev on the planet...) once there is a playable demo. The playable demo may just be an economy simulator with no ship models (just icons) to start. I am a big fan of modular design and hence plan on being able to release a smaller scope game if things take a turn for the worst. I am making this game because I love space sims and I love game development. If you have similar feeling please let me know if you are interested! If not, I appreciate any criticisms/suggestions/resources you have!
Sound more like a 4X game and if you had not posted the videos I would have tended to assume that.(ps your video are too dark to see anything or is it my monitor?.)
Beware of generics, as I have said before you will need a hook, feature or idea, something which make your game stand out from the rest especially if you intend to sell the game.
Don't run to Kickstarter, take your time to develop your game, even if it takes another couple of years.
Thanks for the feedback PINBACK!
Yes I am developing the game as a 4X but with the option to have the player fly around the universe. This will be dependent on how development goes, I may decide to leave it as solely a 4X. The videos are not great, I mistakenly demo'ed them on a space background which is too dark to clearly see. The missile video is especially hard to see.
The "hook" has definitely been in the back of my mind. There are a ton of indie space games coming out and it is difficult to stand out from the crowd. I plan on heavily focusing on the economy side of the game, and then it will be a matter of pitching it well.
I'm with you on the Kickstarter topic. I've seen to many projects run to Kickstarter without having a solid foundation and just flop.
And if you need a forum area to give your game a home, SSC will gladly create a forum for you... wish I could help with the rest but I have enough on the plate just keeping up with SSC 🙂
And if you need a forum area to give your game a home, SSC will gladly create a forum for you... wish I could help with the rest but I have enough on the plate just keeping up with SSC 🙂
Thanks DarkOne. I want to release a few updates and come up with a name before I bother you to create a forum for it. I'm hoping to have some results from my economy simulator in the coming weeks!
Slow and steady with the course, a good example of slow and steady is Far Colony. Farcodev has been working on his game for years and it is slowly shaping into a really well thought out game. Pinback is right, you need something to focus on and make it very good. Us spacegamers seem to love the small details or well thought out and implemented features. Because your in a game space that has been done over and over again, yeah there is some games try to wow you with visuals and fall way short on plot/story/gameplay/innovation. If you want to make a space economic game then do just that and make it the best space economic game and people will notice, the key is impact on the galaxy, truly having your actions or inaction have consequences and to be able to feel that impact in the game.
Like always with everyone if you need forum space for your game you just have to ask 🙂
Slow and steady with the course, a good example of slow and steady is Far Colony. Farcodev has been working on his game for years and it is slowly shaping into a really well thought out game. Pinback is right, you need something to focus on and make it very good. Us spacegamers seem to love the small details or well thought out and implemented features. Because your in a game space that has been done over and over again, yeah there is some games try to wow you with visuals and fall way short on plot/story/gameplay/innovation. If you want to make a space economic game then do just that and make it the best space economic game and people will notice, the key is impact on the galaxy, truly having your actions or inaction have consequences and to be able to feel that impact in the game.
Like always with everyone if you need forum space for your game you just have to ask 🙂
This reminds me of Salvation: Prophecy. Damn how the screenshots and trailers made me excited! What a glorious moment it was to find a closed-beta invitation in my inbox! And then I stopped playing... After 4 days. Sure the game was full of wonderful views and vistas. But when it came down to gameplay... It was just generic and boring.
A request - can you maybe add some screenshots to your topic post? It gets more attention and takes less time rather then watching a video. I mean video is awesome also but why not to have both? 🙂
I agree that screenshots would definitely be more effective! As you might be able to tell from the videos, all the assets I was using are placeholders, and don't make for good screenshots unfortunately. I've also shifted my attention to working on building a space economy simulator, which is being developed outside of any game engine. I have been dealing purely with excel files...maybe EVE fans will like that :D. I am expecting to show some graphs in the coming weeks.
Slow and steady with the course, a good example of slow and steady is Far Colony. Farcodev has been working on his game for years and it is slowly shaping into a really well thought out game. Pinback is right, you need something to focus on and make it very good. Us spacegamers seem to love the small details or well thought out and implemented features. Because your in a game space that has been done over and over again, yeah there is some games try to wow you with visuals and fall way short on plot/story/gameplay/innovation. If you want to make a space economic game then do just that and make it the best space economic game and people will notice, the key is impact on the galaxy, truly having your actions or inaction have consequences and to be able to feel that impact in the game.
Like always with everyone if you need forum space for your game you just have to ask 🙂
Hmm I am going to have to check out Far Colony then! Definitely going to keep that in mind 🙂
I agree that screenshots would definitely be more effective! As you might be able to tell from the videos, all the assets I was using are placeholders, and don't make for good screenshots unfortunately. I've also shifted my attention to working on building a space economy simulator, which is being developed outside of any game engine. I have been dealing purely with excel files...maybe EVE fans will like that :D. I am expecting to show some graphs in the coming weeks.
Depends what do you need but I can provide you with some assets. I am music composer, voice actor, graphics artist and whatnot. Just tell me what do you need and I'll tell you can I make it for you, and when.
Thanks DroneLocker, I will definitely contact you once I'm a little further along!
I may be a bit late to the thread, but I'd be happy to help. I can make 3d models, and am an OK coder, with experience with Java, python, html, and a little bit of javascript. I am working on linux, so I may only be able to help with some things. However, if a time comes when you would want to develop a Linux Binary for the game i'd be happy to help.
Thanks,
Bashterm
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