2016 Came and went

: UPDATE :
So development throughout 2016 was pretty much derailed. I was in a continuous design loop where I would go through a design aspect based on the original specs and completely rip them to shreds; thus ensuring my continued zero-sum progress.

: PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE :
I have built, tested and then rebuilt the skyportalpha.com (wordpress) web site at least 4 times now. I have also been testing no less then four mySQL / Unity (C#) database solutions in the past few years. None do exactly what I need and my limited PHP skills are now holding me back.

: CONTINUOUS TRAINING :
I have also started numerous Udemy Unity courses and to keep with the running theme, completed none (yet). The most recent one, the RPG course has re-invigorated my development and has helped me to get back on track.

Good god, finally!

Okay, finally done with updating our iOS apps/games so NOW we can finally focus on Unity 5 and development.

<shakes head> frickin' April already :(

What IS Skyport Alpha?

>> THIS IS A LIVING DOCUMENT <<

Skyport Alpha (SA) is a space sim game featuring both single and (limited) co-op multiplayer game play, that sadly I have been designing and working for more than a year. The game is being designed and developed from the ground (or space) up as a co-op multiplayer. SA is not another EVE® clone nor is it just another space shooter.

Game Mechanics:

• Player death <- we are still working on this and frankly we've gone from a simple "re-spawn at last space station(save point)" to "permanent death, ship and contents and pilot; gone forever". The point is; we want it to be fun and enjoyable HOWEVER, every decision you make must affect you and the 'verse around you.

Game Play:

• Trading (of course) - of goods, passengers and other cargo.
• Exploration - explore unknown regions of the universe.
• Mercenary - hunt down raiders.

Nearly all will be driven by an organic contracts system, that will be influenced by your interactions in the galaxy.

Multiplayer Features:

• Mission based, 2 to "x" (4-8 most likely) player (short) sessions.
• Open world, 2 to "x" (4-8 most likely) player defined sessions.

I say limited because SA is NOT an MMO or at least not my definition of an MMO.

As you've read the other posts we are using Unity 3D has our engine, focusing primarily on Unity 5. While I do hope to get some (tech-preview) web builds released, SA will not be a browser based game.

Game pricing: (yet to be determined)

• Monthly fee for online multiplayer (small amount)(1)

Notes:

(1) Small fee to offset monthly user fees - if you don't want to play/access the multiplayer features then you don't pay.

Still going... strong?

Actually, the recent Unity beta's (both 4.6 and 5.0) have re-energized my development process. That new UI "stuff" is great! I just never felt comfortable with any of the old options (NGUI, dfGUI and OnGUI).

I'll be posting a lot more (refined) game design ideas and concepts over the next few days.

Stay tuned...

New Seven-Eleven Space Sim??

So... it seems everyone (including the "slurpee-jerk" down at the 7-11) is making a Space sim AND making more progress than I am!

WTF!

I really just have to get something coded up and then move forward... seems I'm in a perpetual-design state... meaning I'm not getting anything done! :(

In the mean time; check out Astrox on Kongregate - he's basically got everything I want Skyport Alpha to be except the multi-player.

ScriptableObjects - you shiny cute thing!

Given my ultra-lack of experience with Unity (and C#) I spent a couple days researching and working on ScriptableObjects. There are useful pages on the Unity site along with some excellent blog posts and found a great YouTube video.

Working example:
I got my "factions" example up and working and can easily create new factions and alter the existing ones via the editor. (As seen in this video).

...and then it hit me!

SCRIPTABLEOBJECTS ARE FOR READONLY DATA!

Sadly it wasn't until I actually got my example to update an existing faction that it hit me. All scriptableobjects are stored in the READONLY bundle. FFS!, what an idgett!

EDIT: They are of course still very useful in reducing memory as described HERE.

Universe Creator - close to pre-alpha status

The Universe creator is coming along nicely. Just resolved the faction sub-division problem by using what I called a "FactionMatrix" prefab. This guy has "sub cubes" layer out in random patterns that use OnTriggerEnter to report a newly created "sphere" (system) so that I can set the systems ("sphere's") faction properly.

This gets into the fundamentals of the design; as to how many factions and their layout based on the universe "seed" number. Given that every galaxy will have two additional factions:

1. None
2. Unknown

If the GC (Galaxy Creator) aka player chooses to use three factions, the galaxy will actually contain five total.

Creating and debugging the faction alignment process was fun and had me stumped for a bit but the solution is rather light-weight and fast. Especially since it only has to be run on the creation of each new universe.

Oh and StartCoroutine() and yield are my new best friends... :-)

Hey, don't be a SQUARE man...

Working on developing the method to sub-divide the galaxy into the appropriate factions. I started our thinking okay... the galaxy is like a sphere so hey lets sub-divide the sphere...

WTF was I thinking... sphere's are just a PIA to figure out location, volume, size, etc...

...and then... it HIT me!

What about a CUBE??? FY! Let's use a cube and fill it with sub-cubes and whatever systems are in each sub-cube belong to the appropriate faction!

Sweetness..... behold a WIP

So now all that's left is to add a box collider; run an OnTriggerStay and collect the objects (aka systems) that are inside (each box) and they all belong to that faction!

OMG, it's looking like a real flippin' galaxy! super-sweetness!

BTW - I freakin' love this shi, er stuff.... :-)

EDIT: Galaxies are NOT usually inside spheres but laid out in a flat disc like structure and so...

there we have a shiny new "flat" Galaxy dics.

For the love of While loops!

Wow... I suck at C#, there's just no sugar coating it!

I spent several hours this afternoon modifing the system generation function to add in a DISTANCE check (e.g. so that two system are not too close to each other).

Sounds simple right? Sure....

Um yeah... I've never had to FORCE QUIT Unity more times than this afternoon than in ALL the times I've been using Unity.

So... here's what I learned:
To use a WHILE loop inside of a FOR loop - create a separate function and have that function run the WHILE loop and RETURN the result (solution).

Here's some screenshots of code:

        if (i > 0) {
            Vector3 validPos = ValidateNewPosition(ExistingPos,i,newPos);
            newPos = validPos;
        }

And here's the function:

    Vector3 ValidateNewPosition (Vector3[] ePos, int currentIndex , Vector3 target) {
        // Yeah - this frackin' works!!!!
        while(true) {
            bool FoundOne = false;
            for (int sysNum = 0; sysNum < currentIndex; sysNum++) {
                if (Vector3.Distance(ePos[sysNum],target) < distanceBetweenSystem) {
                    Debug.LogError("[" + sysNum +"] Failed Check " + Vector3.Distance(ePos[sysNum],target));
                    FoundOne = true;
                    sysNum = currentIndex + 1;
                }
            } 
            if (FoundOne) {
                target = ScalePosition(urand.PointInASphere());
                ExistingPos[currentIndex] = target;
            } else {
                break;
            }
        }
        return target;
    }

Finally! Progress...

Back on track and (finally) making measurable progress. Here's a screenshot of the Galaxy Creator tool. Using a seed based random generation we will be able to replicate the start of any universe created in Skyport Alpha.

Here's the high-level overview of the Skyport Alpha Universe[1]:

• Single Universe in each game
• "X" Number of Galaxies (now set from 1-3)
• Between 16 and 256 Systems per Galaxy
• Travel between galaxies will require a GALAXY PORTAL
• Travel between Systems (in same Galaxy) will use a JUMPGATE

Notes:

[1] Game design is in fluid state and can (and probably will) be changed or altered.

Unity - web player

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!

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

Post WWDC13

Damn you Apple.... I was all set, headed down the Unity (3d) trail and along comes SpriteKit. Arg, yes it's only 2d but I'm seeing a very cool multiplayer 2d game that Mac's and iOS devices can play together. Plus I have a tonne of unused 2d assests that will make the ship-builder portion, sweet!

Oh, wait... I didn't mention the ship-builder... Did I ;)

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...

;-)

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

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.

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.