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"Space" Open World / RPG Project

Discussion in 'Works In Progress - Archive' started by Sollthar, Oct 18, 2010.

  1. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    Hi everyone

    I'm relatively new to unity. I've come to the point where I'd really like to shape up a game idea I've had for a while and this is the beginning. The idea is about as follows:

    - A completely open and non-linear universe with different planets, anomalies and 5 factions in control of those
    - No linear story, just a world that offers the player different possibilities to get to the goal: rule the universe
    - Several different ways to achieve that goal: Military, Politically or Economically
    - An event system that will, sometimes, create random events the player can chose to react to (some small that can be solved within seconds, some large that might force a player to change his course)
    - All of this will be played in a 3rd person perspective, no matter if you're aboard your big ship, inside a small fighter fighting space battles or beaming down to a planet in order to trade, interact, do missions or fight and conquer a world.
    - Each faction will make decisions to attack, trade, invent or intrigue and each faction will have a couple of returning characters that will all act independently, so will the planets belonging to each faction.
    - The Player can hire and fire crewmembers with different jobs, trade with different times, research new items, interact with faction leaders, characters and his own crew, fight huge star cruisers, engage in space battles or ground battles, help those in need or enslave them.

    That's more or less the idea. A long way and a huge project. I'm still in the designing and "throwing ideas around" phase and I don't expect this to be done soon or even go anywhere notably in the short future. It's a long project.

    Never the less, I thought some on this board might be interested in it (and who knows, maybe someone would even want to help - which would be great of course) hence I thought I'll post some WIP stuff and update from time to time here.

    So here's the current state with a few screenshots and a webplayer - obviously all highly experimental and in a very, very earily stage (all content is original though). Still figuring out how it all should look and feel and play etc.

     
    Last edited: May 2, 2018
    botumys and User10101 like this.
  2. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    Slightly updated the dialogue script. Are characters are clones and use the exact same script for the speech options and different behavior, which will be added as a next step.
     
  3. reaper2259

    reaper2259

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    looks great so far keep up the good work
     
  4. Ostagar

    Ostagar

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    I walked around a bit. They may be clones, but you already have separate dialogues and voices for most characters. It's a good start. Still to do: you can walk through many meshes, but you can't walk in some spots where it seems like you should be able to, and I noticed something a bit off about the lighting:

    In this scene, the shadows are going both ways! I noticed it right away because in real life that's fairly unusual. Then I looked up and around for light sources and there was nothing that would explain this.

    Cheers, and good luck with your project. :)
     

    Attached Files:

  5. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    Yeah, there's no colliders in place apart from walls and the floor. At all. :)

    The two shadows is because there are also no seperate single lightsources in places. Everything is light by two opposing directional lights. Obviously, that won't stay like that though! But as I said, the whole environment is experimental.

    Thanks for the input!
     
    Last edited: Oct 19, 2010
  6. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    Restarted from scratch with how I approach the code and the modelling and started to integrate proper Lightmapping in order to rescue the framerate from dropping to hell. All objects the scenes are made of now share the same material with a huge textureatlas and can be batched while rendering. Dialoguesystem has currently been removed and the movement system has been tweaked in order to feel less bulky.

    What it does have now though is doors! YAY!
     
  7. KillerScript

    KillerScript

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    Nice game dude realy nice game ;)
     
  8. Zomby138

    Zomby138

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    Very impressive progress so far.

    One graphical artifact that is annoying me is the vertex normal right at the top of the ear where it meets the head, it gives a nasty bright / dark spot.

    It's most noticable in screen shots 2, 3, 4 and 5 just over the ear.
     
    theANMATOR2b likes this.
  9. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    Yeah! I noticed that spot above the ear too and it bugs me as well. Will need to do many many detail tweaks on all of it once I figure out how to implement it all.
     
  10. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    I started fleshing out one map - namely the spacestation the player comes from and may return to. The area has several rooms to explore (there are only about 4 rooms left which are completely empty still) and the modelling is about 60% there I'd say.

    You can move around with the WASD keys and control with your mouse.


    Object colliders aren't in place yet and the occlusion culling screws up in some moments still. But it's still fun to walk around the spacestation even though there's no one around but you so far. :)
     
  11. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    I've updated the player with the first very basic battle logic I plan to implement for the ground battles. The blue guys fight on your side, the red are the opposing force.

    They don't do that much yet and look obviously strange, but it's already a hot battle zone, hehe.

    Press F5 to restart the battle.
     
  12. bgivenb

    bgivenb

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    Last edited: Nov 17, 2010
  13. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    Updated an improved version of the battle AI and some actual models.

    The stuff they're shouting is obviously still a placeholder. :D
     
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2010
  14. MrSmive

    MrSmive

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    really nice mate, got lost in there lolz, and the combat is pretty fun, though if you hug a wall on the left you can shoot without worry of being hit.
    graphics are pretty awesome mate, don't like how you can walk through tables and doors though, but sure ull fix that soon enough, great work again mate.

    as for those ears, how about a hat?
     
  15. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    Thanks! I corrected the UV around the ear now (it's not perfect, but I'll manage to adapt it when I get to final touches).

    I've updated the player with an arena map with proper colliders and two armies of 50 (new soldiers will spawn and reinforce until the resource is depleted, which is more or less how the ground fights in the game will be handled)

    Also updated the players ability to take part in the fight.
     
  16. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    Another Update to the webplayer with some light effects and the players ability to lean out of cover with the Q and E keys.

    Also, the player is now able to die.
     
  17. Blacklight

    Blacklight

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    This is awsome, although I hope you have more health in the final game.

    I do get a bit of lag though, how many soldiers can be active at one time? And does this use the same AI you had in your western project?
     
  18. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    Thanks! I have to figure out the ideal Health and general balances for the game. Glad to hear its Fun so far. :)

    This uses an updated version of the Western AI. its a few Lines of Code that do what i need plus are updateable quote easily. Rather Simple actually.

    The lag is difficult to judge. Runs smoothly on my Mac Pro and the two PCs I have here. 20 soldiers at a Time are nö Problem.

    Thanks for trying and the Feedback!
     
    Last edited: Nov 22, 2010
  19. Zomby138

    Zomby138

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    Ears are looking a lot better now :)

    I also noticed that you can't see the back of their collers, I guess because of the back face culling on the mesh. It might be worth modelling in some extra pollys to go down the inside of the coller.

    I'm always obsessing over details :p
     
  20. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    Well spotted sir! I shall correct that immediately. :)

    I suspect the models will be tweaked a lot until the final version. I'm already having a few different designs.
     
  21. bgivenb

    bgivenb

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    I like the update, makes it look more polished
     
  22. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    Reduced the polycount for the characters to 900 so I can render more of them without performance issues.

    Also added a rudimentary ability to give orders ( No animation or audio confirmation yet )

    F1 - Attack
    F2 - Follow Me
    F3 - Hold Ground
     
  23. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    Started developping the "In Space" Engine with some basic combat abilities. Obviously it's rather rough still and you don't exactly fly the most advanced ship, but it's a start. :)

    WASD to control, mouse to look, LMB to fire.
     
  24. KarelA

    KarelA

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    Hey Sollthar.

    Could you also put up the previous version again? I would like to walk around in this spaceship :)
     
  25. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    Heh, sure. I'll soon upload a version where you can chose between the "social" level, the "ground battle" one and the new "spacecraft" one - since those are the 3 modes the game will switch between. :)
     
  26. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    Okay, done. You can now choose the 3 work in progress areas.

    You can get back to the main menu at any time by pressing F5
     
  27. boco

    boco

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    Last edited: Dec 12, 2010
  28. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    I have updated the code for the space battle and you can now be part of a shootout between UPF Shuttles and some larger, quicker and more withstanding NRO attack fighters. Good luck. :)


    You can look around without changing course by holding the RMB.
     
  29. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    Updated the spacebattle code again with slightly different ship behavior as well as an upgraded color code (red and blue) to help you quickly find enemy or friendly ships.

    Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. In case anyone actually reads this. Heh.
     
    Last edited: Dec 15, 2010
  30. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    Not to sound impatient, but I'd really love some feedback on where to improve. Even if it's just on why no one's giving any. ;)

    Is something generally wrong with it? Is it so bad it's not even worth saying? Or does just no one share my interest and such a kind of game?
    Any pointers would really help and be much appreciated.
     
  31. Blacklight

    Blacklight

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    What you've got in your dogfight isn't so bad, but seemed a little bit slow. I would like to see some stronger weapons there, because that puny blaster doesn't really cut it for me. I liked the environment visuals, and the design of the enemy ships (wasn't really flattered by allied). The effects weren't bad, but I'd save the big lens flare for when the fighter explodes, and have a smaller one for when it gets hit.

    I loved the indoor combat. Maybe the characters could have energy shields too? Visuals were great, but I reckon animations could use a little bit more work. Also, the players gun can't shoot very far, which I found quite annoying.
     
  32. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    Thank you very much for the feedback. That gives me something to work with.

    The ship you're flying is indeed the weakest and slowest of the bunch. It's what you start with. I simply haven't modelled the more advanced ones so far, but you will be able to upgrade ships with better speed, shields and weapons in the game. It's mainly to check of the basic code is all there, the rest is controlled by variables that are upgradeable. Good point with the lens flare. I'll tone that down, thank you!

    Glad you like the indoor combat. I've already increased weapon range of the player, you're perfectly right.
    Is there a specific animation you'd like to see improved?


    Thanks again for your feedback - much appreciated. It's important at this stage for me as I'm first trying to get all the game elements coded and then start filling it with the content.
     
  33. Blacklight

    Blacklight

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    What I wanted to see improved was the walking animation, and the addition of strafe animations. He uses the same one regardless of if he's moving forward or to the side.
     
  34. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    I've updated the speed of the space battle to be more exciting and fastpaced. I've not come around to adding/changing the walking/strafing animations in the ground battle yet, but that'll be next on my list.

    Thanks. The Input has been very helpful!
     
  35. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    Completely updated the ground battle with a new level that has exploding barrels... Everything needs exploding barrels.
    Different weaponry, grenades and special abilities come next.
     
  36. Blacklight

    Blacklight

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    The ground battle doesn't seem to want to work for me. When I load it up I get the environment and the barrels, but no allies, enemies, not even the character. I can still move around, but can't shoot. Tested it in Internet Explorer and Firefox.
     
  37. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    Really? Hm... How odd. Maybe the player hasnt finished loading all assets on the background?

    Thanks for the info. I'll check asap when I get back home!
     
  38. earthcrosser

    earthcrosser

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    Hey Sollthar,
    I spent a little time playing your game this morning had fun. I like your sound and shield effects. I have a small space themed game that I put on the web www.earthcrossers.com I've been working on it here and there for almost a year, whenever I can get some spare time...if only I could quit the day job

    Cool space ships too by the way, I got mine from turbo squid. Also I like how you have the stars that fly by you as you increase speed I thought about adding an effect like that in my game. OK well if you try my game let me know what you think
     
  39. Essal

    Essal

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    This is awesome!^^
    Really like the look of it, and the space-combats actually pretty well done:)
     
  40. earthcrosser

    earthcrosser

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    Thanks Essal I'm glad you enjoyed fighting the space pirates.

    I haven't really shared a lot on the forums until recently so it feels good to finally get some feed back from others who understand just how much work goes into these things.

    Cheers!
     
  41. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    Were you talking about his game or mine now, heh. :)

    Im on my iPhone still, but I ll gladly check your game out when I get home as well as check the webplayer.
     
  42. earthcrosser

    earthcrosser

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    sorry about that :)
    by the way I posted a link to this thread from my website, so I'll be keeping my eye on Frontiers... I didn't get to play that long this morning.. I was late to work as it was. So I only got to play the ground combat scenario one time very neat.. I would like to try a game with people/characters in in next, guess I should probably go through the Lerp tutorial ... so many ideas so little time...
     
  43. Blacklight

    Blacklight

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    Its working for me now. Must have been a problem on my end.

    Not much to say that hasn't already been said. I'll be looking forward to those extra weapons though.
     
  44. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    So far: Major Texture and light effects Update for the ground battle level.





    I played your game earthcrosser and it looks nice, allthough I can't seem to figure the controls out. My starship kinda flew away from the camera and the lasers seem to be going wherever they want. :(
     
  45. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    Another Major Update to the Ground Battle Level:

    FiInally, 6 different weapon types to choose from plus Grenades! And a first HUD with all the Info you need.

     
  46. Stolenbows

    Stolenbows

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    Hey can i ask you something could i use the space fling shooter thing for my game i always wanted a space shooter ;]
     
  47. PolyMad

    PolyMad

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    Characters look great, and graphics is generally ok.
    You need a good spaceship conceptist/designer though.
     
  48. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    Heh, the Spaceships are still placeholders - I've been mainly working on the Ground Battle one so far. I'll get to that once I'm more or less happy with the Ground Battle stuff.

    But I'm open to anyone who would wish to help of course. ;)
     
  49. bgivenb

    bgivenb

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    I finally beat the ground battle! its pretty fun.
     
  50. Sollthar

    Sollthar

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    Heh, good to hear! I'll have a hard time balancing it all out once I'm done with the Ground Battle Code. And then of course, add a bunch of different levels and situations and more enemy types etc.

    Fortunately I don't have a life...