One of the major benefit of using Unity 3D is being able to deploy web based test builds. As we progress in our development we are mindful of the limitations of the web player.
One of the limitations is the amount (size) of the data we can save. Regardless, we are looking forward to getting some test web builds published.
Happy Holidays!
Friday, December 13, 2013
Friday, September 6, 2013
Game Concepts 01
Game design update #01
So, even though I can't really tell you exactly what Skyport-Alpha is. I can tell you where we are not headed.
We are not headed down the "epic battles in space" route. If you want that kind of experience, well then there's about a thousand existing titles ready for your ship-shooting-blasting pleasure.
No, Skyport-Alpha is going to be more about immersive space exploration, trading / trade routes and interacting with the other "factions"[1] that (you will decide) will exist in the game. Now this doesn't mean you won't be shooting at or other ships won't be shooting at you, no this will happen. It's just that it will not be the main focus of the game. In addition, one of my "peeves" about most of those shoot-the-crap-out-everyone games is there is usually an inherent unrealistic cost of space battles and weapons. I'm thinking that if you shoot a missile at another ship, you should think about the cost of that missile and is it worth it (what is the ROI of blowing up another ship? not sure yet).
Playable web-demo: The next post will be about just what to expect from a playable web-demo.
[1] Inspired by Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
So, even though I can't really tell you exactly what Skyport-Alpha is. I can tell you where we are not headed.
We are not headed down the "epic battles in space" route. If you want that kind of experience, well then there's about a thousand existing titles ready for your ship-shooting-blasting pleasure.
No, Skyport-Alpha is going to be more about immersive space exploration, trading / trade routes and interacting with the other "factions"[1] that (you will decide) will exist in the game. Now this doesn't mean you won't be shooting at or other ships won't be shooting at you, no this will happen. It's just that it will not be the main focus of the game. In addition, one of my "peeves" about most of those shoot-the-crap-out-everyone games is there is usually an inherent unrealistic cost of space battles and weapons. I'm thinking that if you shoot a missile at another ship, you should think about the cost of that missile and is it worth it (what is the ROI of blowing up another ship? not sure yet).
Playable web-demo: The next post will be about just what to expect from a playable web-demo.
[1] Inspired by Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Status Update
A quick design / status update: Aug-21-2013
1. Turrets: We have plasma (straight-line ball of plasma) turrets and (lock-on) missile turrets working. Moving and tracking the target, which has given me even more ideas....
2. ROS (Reactive Organic Ships) - this race of organic beings (they ARE their ships) will transform their appearance (from GREEN (friendly) to RED (threatened)) depending on their mood.
I'll try and get a Unity Web app posted so you can see what I mean.
A million ideas riffle through my head while I hone and improve my C# and Unity 3D skills. I had to work through several problems while working on the turret systems since nearly all of the tutorials and forum posts were written in (yuk) javascript... :-p
Note: I have also had to abandon my (very nice) Apple magic mouse in favor of a (shivers) MS Home (USB) 3-button mouse which is absolutely a must (3-button) while using ANY 3D application, including Unity.
:-)
1. Turrets: We have plasma (straight-line ball of plasma) turrets and (lock-on) missile turrets working. Moving and tracking the target, which has given me even more ideas....
2. ROS (Reactive Organic Ships) - this race of organic beings (they ARE their ships) will transform their appearance (from GREEN (friendly) to RED (threatened)) depending on their mood.
I'll try and get a Unity Web app posted so you can see what I mean.
A million ideas riffle through my head while I hone and improve my C# and Unity 3D skills. I had to work through several problems while working on the turret systems since nearly all of the tutorials and forum posts were written in (yuk) javascript... :-p
Note: I have also had to abandon my (very nice) Apple magic mouse in favor of a (shivers) MS Home (USB) 3-button mouse which is absolutely a must (3-button) while using ANY 3D application, including Unity.
:-)
Friday, July 26, 2013
Post WWDC13
Okay after re-visiting and thinking about the (now) free iPhone add-on for the free Unity... well I really like FREE... and let's face it, a 3D game is much more immersive than any 2D game...
;-)
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Galaxy Creator
Progress is being made... yeah!
We have the basics of a rudimentary Galaxy creator that is seed(1) driven.
One of the many benefits of using Unity is that we'll be able to deploy web-player previews of our development. Stay tuned for a demo of the Galaxy creator... :)
(1) takes a "seed" that will generate randomness
We have the basics of a rudimentary Galaxy creator that is seed(1) driven.
One of the many benefits of using Unity is that we'll be able to deploy web-player previews of our development. Stay tuned for a demo of the Galaxy creator... :)
(1) takes a "seed" that will generate randomness
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Still here, part Duex
Wow, designing a multi-player (server) game is quite the challenge but I'm really starting to "see" how it will all come together. Here's what I'm seeing, at this (early) stage:
Skyport-Alpha will be a 2-6 player, server based space simulation game. You will trade, explore and/or transport around a vast universe with both friendly and hostile alien environments. Not unlike both Elite Dangerous and RSI: Star Citizen (both of which we backed on kickstarter), Skyport-Alpha will be a space trader type game however it will not be an MMO, perhaps a new breed of Small Local Network Game (SLNG).
We will use Unity3D for development for numerous reasons one being it will allow us to offer a "lite" (free) version where the server can be run in a browser window (limited save/galaxy size).
Some of the early design we are working on now are seeming simple thing like launching the server, creating accounts and then connecting with the clients. To allow single player games we may have to develop a process to run the server inside the single player game, or simply run the server on the same computer.
Skyport-Alpha will be a 2-6 player, server based space simulation game. You will trade, explore and/or transport around a vast universe with both friendly and hostile alien environments. Not unlike both Elite Dangerous and RSI: Star Citizen (both of which we backed on kickstarter), Skyport-Alpha will be a space trader type game however it will not be an MMO, perhaps a new breed of Small Local Network Game (SLNG).
We will use Unity3D for development for numerous reasons one being it will allow us to offer a "lite" (free) version where the server can be run in a browser window (limited save/galaxy size).
Some of the early design we are working on now are seeming simple thing like launching the server, creating accounts and then connecting with the clients. To allow single player games we may have to develop a process to run the server inside the single player game, or simply run the server on the same computer.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Still Here...
We've spent the last several weeks designing, discussing along with learning Unity 3D.
We are moving ahead with some initial design concepts and really striving to make Skyport Alpha not your run of the mill space trader.
The one design concept that is at our forefront is Multiplayer. It's critical that we get a really fun game where a single player and a team (2 - 6) can play.
Our initial concept is where you can run a stand alone "server" and then join that server with your client.
While we are re-focusing the targeted devices to be Mac and PC, ideally we still want to release an iOS version at a later date.
We are moving ahead with some initial design concepts and really striving to make Skyport Alpha not your run of the mill space trader.
The one design concept that is at our forefront is Multiplayer. It's critical that we get a really fun game where a single player and a team (2 - 6) can play.
Our initial concept is where you can run a stand alone "server" and then join that server with your client.
While we are re-focusing the targeted devices to be Mac and PC, ideally we still want to release an iOS version at a later date.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Unity3D - Up and Running
We are headed down the Unity3D trail for Skyport Alpha and while we have not forgotten about our iOS roots, we'll be targeting a Mac and PC rollout first and then to iOS.
Nothing to show just yet, have spent the past several days watching and learning C# and Unity3D.
Nothing to show just yet, have spent the past several days watching and learning C# and Unity3D.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Unity 3D
... is not out of the running, just yet.
Since indie devs know exactly what I mean by the "oh wouldn't that be cool" aka OWTBC where by even the most well planned development process can go awry, I've spent the last few days reviewing some (excellent) Unity 3D tutorials. I have a lot of concern but it makes a lot of sense to create, develop and manage the project in one (tool) place and Unity 3D offers exactly that.
... more to come ...
Since indie devs know exactly what I mean by the "oh wouldn't that be cool" aka OWTBC where by even the most well planned development process can go awry, I've spent the last few days reviewing some (excellent) Unity 3D tutorials. I have a lot of concern but it makes a lot of sense to create, develop and manage the project in one (tool) place and Unity 3D offers exactly that.
... more to come ...
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