Time For A Complete Re-write!

Well with the Prototype looking and sounding good it`s time for a re-think.
I have decided on two main actions in this next stage of development.

1: A complete re-write of the game code, from the ground up. Starting with a blank screen and programming all the new features and code from scratch. The main reasons for this is to make the engine far more flexible and easy to use/change. We have better Large number systems and more detailed Physics routines too. With the code looking nicer it will be far more flexible and easy to add new ideas too!

2: Welcome to Luke Stephenson, who is now co-designer on the project. He will be helping with the design process from start to finish as I re-write the game code. Please head over to our Forums at SpaceUnlimitedGame.com where you will see a new forum topic called Design Questions. In here is a whole series of questions about the design process for everyone to take part in.

I will be posting updates and pictures as we re-write the game. This should help all you budding game makers to see a development process. (maybe not the best method, but a method at least!)

Planet Texture Generation Routines

I`ve not posted much recently, but that doesn`t mean that Ive not been thinking and planning new ideas for SpaceUnlimited!

I have great plans for planet texture generation routines, which I am very eager to test out.

I will try to explain...
Basically you have say 10 continent maps (grey scale) X 2sets + 10 Craters/Valley Maps (0-255 grey scale) + 10 surface detail maps (again grey scale)

Final texture for a planet = 2 Random Continent Maps merged with 2 Other Continent Maps + 2 Crater/Valley Maps + 2 surface Details Maps.

using 2 of 10 maps merged = 10+9+8+7+6+5+4+3+2+1 = 55 different basic shapes per map set.
ie Final planet texture possibilities = 55 * 55 * 55 * 55 = 9,150,625

ie Over 9 Million possible planets!!!!!!!! Then use a similar routine for the Colour Maps (by using colour gradient charts instead) ie 20 colour maps = 55 * 55 = 3025 colour charts...

9,150,625 * 3025 = 27,680,640,625 or 27.6 Billion different planets. Generated from 40 greyscale Maps and 20 Colour gradients!

Plus I might add some sort of Fractal generation at some point too.

But basically 27.6 BILLION planets should be just about enough! hehe :-)

I hope I explained it well enough?

Anway to give you an idea here is a Work in progress picture to demostrate the princicple...

If you would like to comment then please head over to out Forums at www.SpaceUnlimitedGame.com and have your say in the development process!

New GamePlay Video 7

The latest gameplay video to watch!

Big Ships!

After months in the pipeline we finally start work on the Very Big Ship routines!

Our test model is the Large Space Oil Tanker design.

You can see the scale of this ship by comparing it to the two standard size enemy fighter ships on the left of the picture.

A second ingame screen shot of the Tanker ship being attacked...

Visit the Space Unlimited Forums

The Space Unlimited website may have failed this time. But to make up for it we have now got our own Forums instead.

Please join us and share your thoughts at...

www.SpaceUnlimitedGame.com

Space Unlimited Gets a DOT COM site!

WEBSITE cancelled for now, was not looking good enough!

Video 6 - The Space Wars

A pre-release video as we work hard on the space battle scenes!

Expect the weapons to look bigger and better, and more ship types too!

Concept Art & Models

The 3D model starts to take shape from the 2D concept works.

New Video 5 - Ships get Interia

New Team Member Joins

Welcome to the team Roop Bhogal www.RoopBhogal.com who will be working on concept art.

Current Team:

Stephen Vickers (Me), Design & Programming

Liz Vickers, Assistant Design & Languages

Mike South, Assistant Design & 3D Models

Gilles Ketting, Concept Art (Part Time)

Seth Krueger, Concept Art

Roop Bhogal, Concept Art

PJ @ Full Motion Audio, InGame Music

Luke Stephenson, Additional Game Music

Ships Get Thrusters

Particle System gets its first use.




Currently Blue for goodie ships and Red for the baddies.

Particle system starts to work well as we add thrusters to the ships.

Upto 3000 particles vissible on screen at any time.

Players Ship almost complete

After working closely with my 3d design person (Mike South) we have finally almost finished the players main starting ship.
The model uses various Texture maps, Light maps, Normal maps and Specular maps to create what becomes a great looking space ship.

I have had news from PJ (one of our music guys) that the first ingame score should be finished over the next week.

The music from PJ combined with the model by Mike should add a great deal to the games progress and overall feel.

More Green plasma, it matches the Green laser too! :-)

Particle system begins taking some sort of shape.

You just can`t beat some nice Green Vapour in a space game :-)

Concept Art

Concept art work comes in to us.

Gilles Kettings amazing concept work here shows the players main starting ship.

I am currently working on the main particle system, which when complete, should allow us to add thrusters to the ships in game so far. Expect to see pictures here.

Various bits have also been improved over the last week or two, including fixing the main ship. Which use to judder around slightly, is now perfectly smooth. (no more camera shake, unless we want it!).
We are in talks with more artists for 3D Model work and Music ideas and hope to have news soon.

New GamePlay Video.

A brief video to show the planets and asteroids.

Added 302,400 individual Asteroids!

Woke up on Sunday morning, about 8am I think. While lying in bed I thought of a great way to generate thousands of individual asteroids, each with it`s own size and orientation etc etc


Each of the current 302,400 asteroids have their own unique position and orientation in space. If you where to mark one asteroid, fly away, and then come back to the same location later you would see that same asteroid. ie they do not randomly re-generate each time you aproach them, they are constant entities.

In this photo you can see just some of the 302,400 asteroids. Some of them are rotating about X,Y,Z axis (or any combination of) .

The problem was that an asteroid belt can contain hundreds of thousands of individual asteroids and I can not store that many coords and their respective orientations and size! (not to mention their chemical compositions! and ore contents)









The soluton...


As I lay in bed it became obvious how to solve this problem. The key is that asteroids form Asteroid BELTS and Not asteroid FIELDS! ah-ha, A belt being a simple sin & cos 2d circle formula!
1. Break asteroid Belt into segments, I decided on 0.1 degree per part. ie 0-360degree circle = 360 degrees at 0.1 degree increments = 3600 centre points!
2. check if this centre point is visible? If no then, just display the location by way of a text name in the distance to the player every 1 degree increase.
3. if the centre point is in visible range then, loop through 84 asteroids, placing each one at a generated offset from centre point. Also generate starting oriention and size, then rotate in real time based on Game time.

All this runs at an amazingly fast speed and so doesn`t even slow the game down.
Expect a blog statement at somepoint, when I fully intent to increase the asteroids count by ten fold at least.
ie expect it to go to 3,024,000 asteroids per Belt and expect upto 5 belts per system,
giving an amazing 15,120,000 (15 million) individual asteroids in on solarsystem.

Each of the 15 million asteroids will have its own fixed position,size and orientation. Also its own unique chemical composition (to be mined by player if they wish to!).

Finally added the Moon Routines!

The Planets have been in for awhile and so has the moon data. Now I have finally added the first moon drawing routines in. Enjoy your flight :-)

Gameplay Videos on YouTube