LWJGL Forum

Programming => General Java Game Development => Topic started by: avm1979 on November 19, 2010, 01:53:09

Title: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: avm1979 on November 19, 2010, 01:53:09
I'd like to tell you about a game I'm working on.  It's a single-player, sandbox-style sci-fi roleplaying game - think Star Control/MOO2 meets Mech Warrior, with character advancement.  It's been in development for about a year, and a beta version will be out in the coming months.  Here's a link to our site: http://fractalsoftworks.com (http://fractalsoftworks.com)

And a screenshot to whet your appetite:

(http://fractalsoftworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/screenshot021.jpg)

If you like what you see, consider following our RSS feed (http://fractalsoftworks.com/feed), and please let me know if you're interested in getting your hands on the game early for beta testing.

Thank you!
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: Matzon on November 19, 2010, 07:14:52
DAMN! - that looks nice!  :o
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: Matzon on November 19, 2010, 07:16:14
I would be cautious about comparing with moo2 - its only one of the best games ever :)
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: Evil-Devil on November 19, 2010, 09:25:18
I like that spaceships. Looks like heavy firepower enemies ^^

So how will the gameplay be? Like classical shmups or something similar or totally different?
Like to see more :)

//edit: Ah, no shmup. Looks more like Freelancer and co.
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: kappa on November 19, 2010, 09:39:47
Wow, absolutely beautiful. Love the artwork and ship design.
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: avm1979 on November 19, 2010, 16:02:59
Thanks guys!

Quote from: Matzon on November 19, 2010, 07:16:14
I would be cautious about comparing with moo2 - its only one of the best games ever :)

It is, it is - I still play it now and again.  It's so deep, and stood the test of time amazingly well.  It's just been such a big influence on me that it feels weird not to mention it.  I certainly didn't mean to say, "like MOO2 only better!!!" :)  In fact, it's probably least like MOO2 of the 3 games mentioned.

Quote
So how will the gameplay be? Like classical shmups or something similar or totally different?
//edit: Ah, no shmup. Looks more like Freelancer and co.

Yeah, like that, except you're not limited to a single ship, and (as is obvious from the screenshots) it's top-down 2d.  If you can imagine Star Control (or Space War, even) with ships having groups of turrets controlled using the mouse, that'll give you a pretty good idea of the basic combat mechanics.
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: kappa on November 19, 2010, 16:16:31
also don't forget to post over at JGO (http://www.javagaming.org), its a slightly larger dev community and they're always happy to see new java games especially ones that looks this nice :)
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: avm1979 on November 19, 2010, 16:59:40
Quote from: kappa on November 19, 2010, 16:16:31
also don't forget to post over at JGO (http://www.javagaming.org), its a slightly larger dev community and they're always happy to see new java games especially ones that looks this nice :)

I'll definitely spam them post there, thanks for the tip :)

Question - can I send you guys an email to get Starfarer listed on the projects page, or does it need to be more... downloadable... first?
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: Matzon on November 19, 2010, 17:23:13
well, since it will be downloadable in the "near" future, I dont have a problem with that - just send some information and screenshots along.
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: avm1979 on November 19, 2010, 18:41:32
Quote from: Matzon on November 19, 2010, 17:23:13
well, since it will be downloadable in the "near" future, I dont have a problem with that - just send some information and screenshots along.

Great!  I'll send something along as soon as I finish agonizing over the contents of the description and screenshots.
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: appel on November 19, 2010, 22:41:04
Very nice.

Personal hobby/indie project or working at a company doing that?
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: avm1979 on November 19, 2010, 23:46:57
Quote from: appel on November 19, 2010, 22:41:04
Very nice.

Personal hobby/indie project or working at a company doing that?

Thank you.  Indie project :)
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: avm1979 on December 06, 2010, 17:12:41
Wanted to point you guys to the trailer we just finished :D

You can check it out here (http://fractalsoftworks.com/2010/12/06/combat-trailer)
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: kappa on December 06, 2010, 18:51:21
oh nice, looks even better in motion.
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: spasi on December 06, 2010, 21:05:11
Awesome, love the explosions!
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: avm1979 on December 07, 2010, 16:34:56
Thanks guys :)
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: basil on January 02, 2011, 21:51:53
 :o :o :o :o :o ;D
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: avm1979 on January 20, 2011, 03:40:13
I've just finished up shooting some more in-game footage.  Now that I've finally gotten Fraps, it's pretty quick to do, especially if it's just raw game footage that's not particularly worried about production values  :)

There are sounds in this one, too.

You can check it out here (http://fractalsoftworks.com/2011/01/19/spotlight-fighters-pt-2-and-more/), if you're so inclined!
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: Matzon on January 20, 2011, 06:30:34
Man! - that looks totally sweet!

Combat looks like a lot of fun. What about the rest of the game ? :)
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: avm1979 on January 20, 2011, 16:50:51
Quote from: Matzon on January 20, 2011, 06:30:34
Man! - that looks totally sweet!

Glad you like!

Quote from: Matzon on January 20, 2011, 06:30:34
Combat looks like a lot of fun. What about the rest of the game ? :)

Ahem.  Let's just say most of the development (but not necessarily design) focus so far has been on getting the combat just right.  There's also a side to combat that hasn't been revealed yet - a "war room" style interface that lets you control your fleet - which is now almost ready for prime time. 

The alpha version that's in the works will have a set of missions that are representative of "real game" situations.  Once that's wrapped up and released, work will start in earnest on the star... faring... strategic aspect.
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: avm1979 on February 22, 2011, 01:10:56
We've got a lore piece (http://fractalsoftworks.com/2011/02/21/the-state-of-affairs/) wrapped up.  A little preview of the illustrations that go with it:

(http://fractalsoftworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/sf_scene05_gate.jpg) (http://fractalsoftworks.com/2011/02/21/the-state-of-affairs/)

The game proper is progressing quite nicely, by the way.  Closing in on that elusive alpha release :)
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: avm1979 on March 27, 2011, 15:21:11
New gameplay video!  You can take a look here (http://fractalsoftworks.com/2011/03/26/turning-the-tables-mission-playthrough-video/).

It's a full playthrough of a single mission.
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: avm1979 on April 30, 2011, 02:14:00
The alpha (http://fractalsoftworks.com/2011/04/29/starfarer-alpha-released) is finally out!

Been a bit of a whirlwind trying to get everything all tidied up :)
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: Matzon on April 30, 2011, 08:21:43
Congratulations for getting an Alpha out - must have been a lot of work - and it shows from the videos you've shown so far.

Would it be impossible to ask for an (shared?) activation code for the LWJGL team?

Thanks for including license and even lwjgl logo on splash/activation screen, much appreciated.

I don't know which API's you're using, but you should be able to exclude these jars:
* lzma
* lwjgl-debug
* lwjgl_util_applet
* (lwjgl_util -often used, but not always)
* lwjgl_test
* AppleJavaExtensions

As for the lzma part, you'd need to include their license if you use it.
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: avm1979 on April 30, 2011, 14:58:03
Quote from: Matzon on April 30, 2011, 08:21:43
Congratulations for getting an Alpha out - must have been a lot of work - and it shows from the videos you've shown so far.

Thank you! It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks just getting it ready for release.

Quote from: Matzon on April 30, 2011, 08:21:43
Would it be impossible to ask for an (shared?) activation code for the LWJGL team?

PM'ed. Hope you guys enjoy it. Despite the liberal use of immediate mode ;)

Quote from: Matzon on April 30, 2011, 08:21:43
I don't know which API's you're using, but you should be able to exclude these jars:
* lzma
* lwjgl-debug
* lwjgl_util_applet
* (lwjgl_util -often used, but not always)
* lwjgl_test
* AppleJavaExtensions

As for the lzma part, you'd need to include their license if you use it.

Ah, thank you for pointing that out. Not using any of these except for lwjgl_util (I think - iirc that's where Vector2f lives? - will have to double check). Side effect of a copy *.jar somewhere in the build process, I'm sure.
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: Matzon on April 30, 2011, 19:33:39
damn, that's a hard game!
getting absolutely creamed in the 2nd mission - medium. I basically cannot complete the other missions except for tutorial and easy ...
I know this is an alpha, so there is still a long way, but I think you need to work on easing the game for the players. Right now the learning curve is very high.

That said, DAMN this is nice - beautiful game and sound effects.
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: avm1979 on April 30, 2011, 20:35:23
Yeah, that seems to be the consensus - the difficulty gap between missions 1 & 2 is waaay too large. I think I'll have to add a mission to go in between those to help ease a new player into that game. It doesn't help that it's called "medium" where in reality it turned out much closer to "hard". Still, it seems like at least a few people have been able to beat it :)

Quote from: Matzon on April 30, 2011, 19:33:39
That said, DAMN this is nice - beautiful game and sound effects.

Thank you, happy you like it!
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: Matzon on May 01, 2011, 08:16:22
Right - so I read through the manual and tried a bit more. It got better, but still no victory. Until I modified the Missions ;D

My general thought is that the tutorial needs to be a lot bigger and include more topics, including enabling autofire.
Furthermore there needs to be missions/tutorials focusing on dealing with torpedo runs, figthers, gun-positioning, war-room tactics etc etc.

Also, sometimes battle gets a bit too hectic - the pause function helps a lot here, however I sometimes feel the big ships are too brittle compared to the smaller ships. Sure the small ships are easy to kill, but if you're busy with "something" else and you get hit by a torpedo run, you're basically screwed.

I think its going to get a bit tricky to get all of these smaller adjustments "just right". But so far I really like what I see!

The big question is: Whats going to be wrapped around the combat system? :)
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: avm1979 on May 01, 2011, 19:38:28
Quote from: Matzon on May 01, 2011, 08:16:22
Right - so I read through the manual and tried a bit more. It got better, but still no victory. Until I modified the Missions ;D

Cheater! Well, that's why it's single player :)

Quote from: Matzon on May 01, 2011, 08:16:22
My general thought is that the tutorial needs to be a lot bigger and include more topics, including enabling autofire.
Furthermore there needs to be missions/tutorials focusing on dealing with torpedo runs, figthers, gun-positioning, war-room tactics etc etc.

Autofire is actually in the tutorial. I was a little concerned about it being too long, so people would miss things. But you're right, really need to cover more of the core mechanics. Perhaps it ought to be split into sections.

Quote from: Matzon on May 01, 2011, 08:16:22
Also, sometimes battle gets a bit too hectic - the pause function helps a lot here, however I sometimes feel the big ships are too brittle compared to the smaller ships. Sure the small ships are easy to kill, but if you're busy with "something" else and you get hit by a torpedo run, you're basically screwed.

Ahh, but those are core mechanics. Knowing what the big threats are (given the ship you're in), where they're coming from, and avoiding/neutralizing them in time is the heart of combat. Torpedoes/bombs/etc are what gives small ships a chance against larger ones - if not for those, large ships could pretty much ignore small ones completely.

For a real-world reference, think WW2 naval battles with torpedo bombers/boats, battleships, etc.

Quote from: Matzon on May 01, 2011, 08:16:22
I think its going to get a bit tricky to get all of these smaller adjustments "just right". But so far I really like what I see!

Yeah, no question, there's a lot of work left - and the devil is in the details :) Thank you for your feedback!

Quote from: Matzon on May 01, 2011, 08:16:22
The big question is: Whats going to be wrapped around the combat system? :)

Why, a character advancement system set in an open-world sandbox, of course! There's no way to misconstrue what that means, no sir.
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: CodeBunny on May 02, 2011, 21:53:45
Are you against an open alpha? I downloaded the alpha, because I've been really very impressed with what I've seen and wanted to get a closer look, but apparently I need a key. Could I maybe receive one?

The game looks fantastic and very well designed. Incredible work, and I hope it does very well.
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: avm1979 on May 02, 2011, 23:46:37
Quote from: CodeBunny on May 02, 2011, 21:53:45
Are you against an open alpha? I downloaded the alpha, because I've been really very impressed with what I've seen and wanted to get a closer look, but apparently I need a key. Could I maybe receive one?

The game looks fantastic and very well designed. Incredible work, and I hope it does very well.

Thanks!

Well, let me put it this way - after about a year and a half of work and spending oodles of my own money to make things happen, I'd like to maybe, just maybe, make a little of it back :) In addition to getting player feedback, the alpha is also about financing continued development.

I'm not opposed to a free demo type of thing - in fact, you can count on a demo being out when the game is closer to being feature complete. That's probably going to be a while, though.
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: CodeBunny on May 04, 2011, 04:03:47
Ah, I see. I didn't get that it was a purchasable alpha, I thought it maybe was closed to particular people. My bad.  ::) And yes, it does look like you spent a lot of money and effort, and you deserve some reward for your efforts.

I have no problem with waiting for a bit. I'll keep my eye out for the demo.

Good luck with development.
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: Mickelukas on May 04, 2011, 13:27:45
I'm not so much into buying something blindly either so I'll await an open alpha/demo. Good luck with the sales! :)

Mike
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: avm1979 on May 04, 2011, 15:29:36
Quote from: CodeBunny on May 04, 2011, 04:03:47
Ah, I see. I didn't get that it was a purchasable alpha, I thought it maybe was closed to particular people.

Ahh, that makes sense. If that were the case, you would have been more than welcome to participate :)

Quote from: Mickelukas on May 04, 2011, 13:27:45
I'm not so much into buying something blindly either so I'll await an open alpha/demo. Good luck with the sales! :)

That's perfectly understandable. Thank you!
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: avm1979 on May 10, 2011, 23:08:42
Dominic from DIYGamer was kind enough to shoot a "First Look" style video of Starfarer. You can find it here (http://www.diygamer.com/2011/05/starfarer_alpha_video/). It's very nicely annotated and tells you a lot about the game.
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: basil on September 01, 2012, 22:01:12
what a great game!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwFqzilbnnk
Title: Re: In Development: Starfarer
Post by: Rednax on September 22, 2012, 22:26:36
Im still waiting for someone to make a game named "The Amazing Space Simulation Game" or "The ASS Game".
Anyway, the game looks awsome.