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Age of Settlement (reborn)

Discussion in 'Works In Progress - Archive' started by virror, Jun 27, 2012.

  1. virror

    virror

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    After we got a new artist on the team we decided to sit down and really think through the setting of the game since that was not very clearly decided before. As you who have read the original thread knows the plan was for some kind of medieval/fantasy kind of game, but we came to the conclusion that we wanted to do something more unique. The general gameplay is pretty much the same as before, with focus on adventuring, managing your village and villagers and crafting but with more focus on survival from not only wild animals but also from the elements and lack of food/water.
    This is what we came up with:

    Environment
    Game setting will be based around the Pleistocene period and the european part of the Eurasian continent. Climate will be like northern europe with warm summers and cold, snowy winters. Fauna will be taken from that period but lot of other things will not be 100% accurate because of gameplay, like the humans and other stuff.

    Characters
    Big muscular built often with long hair and beards. Hard workers and skilled warriors.
    Often dressed in furs and have different accessories made of bones and wood.
    $concept_high_level_warrior.jpg

    Technology
    Tribe society, not very advanced at start of the game, ability to craft basic stone/bone/wood crafts, fire making and basic buildings like small huts and palisade walls.

    Later new “technologies” will be discovered either with the crafting of specific items or other means. Deep mining will allow stone to play a bigger role is house building and iron will be used in the crafting of tools, weapons and armor. Agriculture will also start to play a role to help feed the village and not just hunting.

    Buildings
    First buildings will be very simple huts that consists of wooden sticks and hides, but later they can be upgraded by adding bones to strengthen the construction. Even later stone, bone, wood and leather can be used to make the first house type buildings.
    $concept_basic_hut.jpg

    $concept_hunters_hut.jpg

    Tools/Weapons
    Tools are mainly wood/bone/stone at start, will slowly advance with discovery of iron but will still keep their tribal look with some bone details and ornate carvings for higher tier tools.
    $concept_tools.jpg

    Weapons will be based on the same materials as tools, and there will be some different types like knives, spears and axes. Later weapons will evolve into more medieval type weapons using more iron.
    $concept_basic_weapons.jpg

    Armor
    Leather, furs and bone are the main resources used to create armor at the start of the game, later iron will also be used but leather, furs and bone will still play a big part in armor design and iron will only be used for smaller plates and other small parts. High tier armors will be very ornate with bone parts like skulls, carvings and other things.

    Fauna
    Different kinds of wildlife, both predators and herbivores will be present.
    Some animals that might be included (names are image links):

    Irish elk
    Herbivore, 2.1m tall (shoulder)

    Saiga
    Herbivore, 0.6m tall (shoulder)

    Horse
    Herbivore, 1.5m tall (shoulder)

    Aurochs
    Herbivore, 1.6m tall (shoulder)

    Woolly Mammoth
    Herbivore, 3.0m tall (shoulder)

    Woolly rhino
    Herbivore, 2.0m tall (shoulder)

    Elasmotherium
    Herbivore, 2.2m tall (shoulder)

    Gray wolf
    Carnivore, 0.8m tall (shoulder)

    Cave lion
    Carnivore, 1.2m tall (shoulder)

    Cave bear
    Omnivore, 1.3m tall (shoulder)

    Cave hyena
    Carnivore, 1.0m tall (shoulder)
     
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2012
  2. Vanamerax

    Vanamerax

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    I really like your new concept, can't wait to see more of it! :D. i think the tools starting with an insensive use of bones is a cool idea
     
  3. virror

    virror

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    Edit: Using this post to show of some images:
    $FurryMammoth.jpg
    $Tools.jpg
    $smallHut.png
    $WaterPlants.jpg
    $TerrainWIP1.jpg
     
    Last edited: Mar 11, 2014
  4. Fallenrat

    Fallenrat

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    looks great! I need an artist on my team :( lol
     
  5. Khyrid

    Khyrid

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    http://neon.mems.cmu.edu/cramb/Processing/history.html

    http://library.thinkquest.org/08aug/01930/metalhistory.html

    Seems odd to go from bone to Iron, what about the bronze age? Seems like it would be stone, copper and bronze, iron would be very rare only found in meteors, but whatever, it's your game.

    BTW, art looks great.
     
  6. Vanamerax

    Vanamerax

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    Hey I just tried out your Mining Test you sent me, and I have to say it very nicely done! ;) I like the way you can place a torch wherever you point at when placing. Also the mining mechanism itself is a nice start! I guess it uses some sort of voxel data? Keep up the great work :D
     
  7. virror

    virror

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    Fallenrat: Just keep working on your game and advertise now and then and you will get one sooner or later : )

    Khurid: I know, iron was just an example of metal, of course there will be other metals and stuff as well in the game but thats for later anyway. One problem in games is how to "discover" new technologies, iron was available to stone gae ppl as well, they just did not know how to use it and they could not get high enough temperature to extract the iron.

    wasstraat65: Its actually a lot simpler than that, just a 3d array of cubes thats 2x2m, when digging on them i detect from were and just move some vertics on the cube in that axis, and when its mined to zero size i remove it.
     
  8. Vanamerax

    Vanamerax

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    Alright, but I think that might lead to performance problems when the world is quite big. Are you instantiating the cubes at runtime when the get visible, or are they all generated in the start?

    EDIT: I also forgot to mention that when I start a new game without restarting it, I get stuck on my spawnpoint. Dont know if it was a small mistake or something serious :p
     
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2012
  9. virror

    virror

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    The mine test demo is just a hacked version of the early game, so don't expect anything else to work : p
    Yes, the size might be a serious problem, currently i have a fixed size of the array and only instantiate new cubes were they are needed, so only cubes "around" the tunnels are generated, so a tunnel thats 100m long (50 blocks long) needs 418 blocks, also performance can be greatly improved by doing some simple visibility calculations i think. My thought was to maybe have some kind of mineshaft building that spawns a local mine thats around 200x200x200 or something like that. Currently this is far down on my priority list : p
     
  10. n0mad

    n0mad

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    Outstanding artworks !
     
  11. virror

    virror

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    Hope to release a new test version end of this week, beginning of next with the new terrain and some other small features.
     
  12. UnLogick

    UnLogick

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    Hey Victor

    Cool story / setting... I have a guess at who your new guy is. :)

    Are you still going for full terraforming/building or has that been abandoned?

    Cheers,
    UnLogick
     
  13. virror

    virror

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    Still going for the same basic features as before, just the setting that has been changed, everyone seems to make fantasy sandbox game these days : p We will also have some more focus on surviving.
     
  14. virror

    virror

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    Ok, working on a short introduction text to the game, could use some feedback on both content and grammar : )

    "The ice cap has withdrawn and animals and plants have returned to the now fertile lands once again. You have been chosen by your tribe for your strength and courage to be one of the first to explore these new lands up north. Things will not be easy, as there are rumors of huge beasts and cold harsh winters that will force you to prove yourself worthy of this task. After gathering some basic tools and food, you set out on your journey northwards. After many days of traveling you finally reach the new lands. Now is the dawn of a new age...
    The Age of Settlement."
     
    Last edited: Jun 29, 2012
  15. Vanamerax

    Vanamerax

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    Nice introduction. It puts you right into the game :D

    Since you asked about the grammar, shouldn't "has" be "have" ? I'm not an expert on English grammar, It's not my native language but it looks weird to me. Just saying :p
     
  16. virror

    virror

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    Think its "has", English is not my native language either : p
    But when looking it up, "has" should be used when talking about third person singular.

    Updated the text a bit with a few now sentences and some corrections, i hope to be able to release an early pre-0.2 release later today : )
     
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2012
  17. alexzzzz

    alexzzzz

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    animals and plants have returned
     
  18. virror

    virror

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    Haha, true : D
    Animals and plants are not singular at all : p
    Thanx.
     
  19. virror

    virror

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    Screenshot of the current terrain now using water4 and some modified parameters from before.

    $newwater.jpg
     
  20. ludiares

    ludiares

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    Looking pretty damn awesome. But you should try to make the tiling less noticeable
     
  21. Vanamerax

    Vanamerax

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    Nice! is it generating the water mesh in the "holes" or is it a plane placed on a specific height? So for example, will you encounter the water when digging down?
     
  22. virror

    virror

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    ludiares: Still WIP, we will probably change the grass texture, add a custom shader to the terrain with normal map and so on. Also grass is coming later that will help cover up the tiling.

    wasstraat65: Water is fixed height and i think it working very good since the terrain is so hilly, you hardly think about it. Also it solves the problem of not being able to dig below terrain height 0 because you will be blocked by water before that.
     
  23. virror

    virror

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    Last edited: Jul 5, 2012
  24. kilesmokev

    kilesmokev

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    What about a mac version?
     
  25. virror

    virror

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    Sure thing, i will build one for you ; )
     
  26. kilesmokev

    kilesmokev

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  27. virror

    virror

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    Updated my post above with another link : )
    Mac version is slightly newer with wood changed to short and long log : p
     
  28. Norton

    Norton

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    Nice to see it keep on going!

    I really like the concept of it, much reminding of wurm online however it does not matter because I love that kind of games, sandbox survivalism games set in pre-historic and medieval times, these games give entertainment and as well education on how people back in the harsh time used to live.

    Good luck, really mean it!
     
  29. Crispian

    Crispian

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    All im going to say is wow looks cool can i get a demo for mac?
     
  30. virror

    virror

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    There is a demo for mac, check my post above, the first link is PC and second is MAC.
     
  31. Norton084

    Norton084

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    Sadly not much you can do in the demo but thats understandable but tried it out yesterday and nice to see you have added building's however yet unable to do so, btw just a tip to people do not place dirt or sand anywhere to make something big because you will be sucked in by the land and you will be stuck :p
     
  32. Crispian

    Crispian

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    Oops sorry about that. Didnt see that. Trying now.
     
  33. virror

    virror

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    Alright, back from my honeymoon now, and its time to get back to work ; )
     
  34. ASchumacher

    ASchumacher

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    Congratulations!

    This looks really good so yeah ... back to work! :)
     
  35. Jona-Marklund

    Jona-Marklund

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    Sounds really interesting, I'm loving the concept art as well, it'll be interesting to see what you come up with!
     
  36. virror

    virror

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    Updated all the animal links on the first post as the webpage has been changed.
     
  37. Khyrid

    Khyrid

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    Kyrud is my bizzaro world alter ego.
     
  38. CSpence97

    CSpence97

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    Hello. I know you most likely do not need any help. But regarding this I think this project looks VERY good, and I would like to help out. I know modeling in 3ds Max, I know Unity, and I have and know how to use Photoshop, and I also know very basic C#. If you would be interested in my help, I would be more than happy to show you some of my work.
    Thanks!
    Connor :)
     
  39. virror

    virror

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    Alright, time to do some update in this thread. Figured there is not a lot of info about the gameplay at all so i thought i would give some points on what to expect.

    There are 3 major gameplay elements in the game:
    • Survival
    • Exploration
    • Village building and technology advancement

    Survival
    Survive in a hostile world against wild beasts, cold winters and starvation. Take help of hunting, gathering, agriculture, cooking, warm clothing, fire and a safe place to sleep to survive.

    Exploration
    Explore the beautiful , randomized world hunting for rare resources and other secrets to use in your crafting.

    Village building and technology advancement
    Build and manage your village and advance technology to make your village into a thriving place in the cold north. Get help from your villagers to gather basic resources and hunting dangerous beasts. Lots of building and other parts to choose from like houses and palisade walls. You can also terraform the world to fit your own needs.

    This is the basics for the first release that we internally call the "Stone age release". More features are planed for later like taming, mounts, shaft mining and other more advanced technology.

    This is a basic pickaxe to give you a what style we are going for (249 verts):
    $Pickaxe.jpg

    Also, our modeler has left because of personal reasons, so if anyone are interested in joining a serious game development, send me a pm : )
     
    Last edited: Aug 31, 2012
  40. Vanamerax

    Vanamerax

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    Good to see an update on this. Looking nice ;)
     
  41. virror

    virror

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    Things are moving forward in the shadows : p
    Bad news is that we lost our artist, so things will move a bit slower now : (

    Also i dont know why the last post has two attachments, there is only one in the "code".
     
  42. blacknirvana

    blacknirvana

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    Just tred it for the first time, looks and feels great guys! You got a long way to go yet but keep up the work
     
  43. virror

    virror

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    Well, we hopefully have something new to show in a week or two. Still working on tweaking the terrain and environment until that is perfect, then we will start working on implementing the rest of the features.
    What to expect in the near feature in some kind of order:
    -Building finalized and a few buildings added
    -NPC workers added
    -Crafting

    Then the rest will follow after that.
     
  44. blacknirvana

    blacknirvana

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    When can we expect to see animations of the tools you use?
     
  45. virror

    virror

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    As soon as we get a new artist that can take over the work from the old one we lost : p
     
  46. virror

    virror

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    Ok, time for a small update again.
    Project is now converted to Unity 4! So will take some time to play around with it and try out some new cool stuff ; )
    Also after working hour after hour on the terrain system i finally decided to throw it out the window, works pretty well but is full of bugs and code is very ugly, will find a finished system for this instead, that will allow e to focus on gameplay instead of just finding bugs and get the terrain working perfect.
     
  47. AndrewGrayGames

    AndrewGrayGames

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    Read the original post - and a thought came to mind, from the archaeology my own mom has sort of beaten into my head: shouldn't copper be the researched metal?

    After all, Iron was first used by the Hittite Empire, and had a major role in (as I remember it) 1000 BC, during Egypt's Old Kingdom; before that Bronze was the metal du jour, and was made by combining Tin with Copper. Copper was used before Bronze or Iron. (I'm in a lazy mood, but Wikipedia is your friend!)

    Of course, this could all be moot, as you're modelling a Stone-Age society, and this is still a game. :( Hope this helps in your efforts with the Willing Suspension of Disbelief!
     
  48. virror

    virror

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    You are of course correct!
    I have put in a LOT of research into different parts of this game, like the "ages", pleistocene flora and fauna and so on.
    First release will not contain any metals at all, only stone tools, but next version, 2.0 or whatever will be the "bronze age" release and then we will introduce metals and other stuff and of course we will have copper first then : ) Also planning on some kind of research system, but we have not finalized the details about that yet.
    But even if we try to be historically correct, its still a game, making a sim would be to boring to play, so there will be certain "fantasy elements" in the game to make it more interesting, not big things like dwarfs and elfs though : p But those will be introduced a bit later.
     
  49. alexzzzz

    alexzzzz

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    Yeah, the standard terrain does its job until you decide you want to modify it in real-time, after that point it becomes a pain.
     
  50. ludiares

    ludiares

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    Well, i've been following this from the beginning, and seeing you need another artist, i would be pretty damn interested in helping you. I'm pretty good in non-organic models and texturing, and being better and better on organical models, so, if you're still interested, contact me.