Postworld Update

It indeed looks very good, but it doesn't say anything about other, more important factors: work organization, realistic goals, software development processes and all that things that make difference between properly managed project, and the project that is dommed to fail.

In my opinion such things HAVE to be taken into account as most important, otherwise, well...you've seen it here already so many times :(
 
@ K.C. Cool

Yeah I know....I'm nostalgic :D

All cursors are just place holders, this is not to say that we will invent something entirely different. All cursors will remain 2D, no fancy anims or other nicknacks.

The main cursor however (the red hex thingy) will have two variants and will be quite different from the current one.
When you are not in combat it will be something similar to the way it looks now, but in combat it will change as it will need to give you tactical info and whatnot. Lets say if you move it close to cover it will show you what your line of sight will be when you get to that point and stuff like that. Of course this will be optional and on Hardcore game setting will be disabled completely, so you will only see the standard cursor both in and out of combat.

Now regarding the whole hexes vs. modern engine debate. Although at the time the 'hex' was used due to tech limitations, it did in a way bring that board game feel to the PC. Although there are still a lot of ideas on paper right now we are definitely going to strive to keep that feel. Besides we can always blame it on the fact that our AI navigation meshes are like that (well not exactly but still pretty close).


@ scypior
...it doesn't say anything about other, more important factors: work organization, realistic goals, software development processes and all that things that make difference between properly managed project, and the project that is dommed to fail.

In my opinion such things HAVE to be taken into account as most important, otherwise, well...you've seen it here already so many times.
Click to expand...
You're right it doesn't. But in my opinion it's not supposed to either. Would it really change anything if I said that we have targets, internal wiki, commercial grade project management tools and source control? Nope, it wouldn't.
I completely agree with you mate. When it comes to game development or any other ambitious undertaking, enthusiasm alone won't get you far.
But we got all the tools we need (they aren't the most expensive ones out there but they ain't cheap either), we got the skill and motivation.
If you, or anyone else for that matter, are interested in what tools we licensed, what components we use, what are our plans for the future development of this project are. Let me know and will post a coherent answer that should hopefully put everyone's mind at ease at least for a little while :)


@ Everyone

Guys, since we are on the subject.

What is your opinion regarding us making this thing feel a lot more like a board game in combat?
Would you want to see more PnP features in the game itself?
 
AlexFeature said:
Would it really change anything if I said that we have targets, internal wiki, commercial grade project management tools and source control? Nope, it wouldn't.
Click to expand...

True, it wouldn't. I just wanted to "put my mind on ease";)
 
Not sure if anyone else mentioned this (don't have time to read past AF's reply to my post), but maybe you could have an option to let the camera rotate at the four basic 90 degrees? This way we could just use 2 keys to quickly switch the camera angle on the fly, so that we can quickly grab the obscured loot and then continue on our merry way. xP

Also, I noticed you mentioned "bringing the building down on their heads". Does this mean the environment will be fully destructible? Like Red Faction: Guerilla? Or will it be somewhat cheesy with only certain buildings being destructible? Having a fully destructible environments would mean even more options when completing quests. :mrgreen: (and that's always been one of my favorite things about the Jagged Alliance series.. although I always hated how there's never enough explosives and/or how buildings stay up, even without any walls).

Anyways. Sounds good. Keep up the good work. :D
 
What is your opinion regarding us making this thing feel a lot more like a board game in combat?
Click to expand...

Don't. Board games are limited by real-world constraints. For example when calculating if a shot hits or misses you wouldn't be able to factor in many variables, unless you'd have a rulebook the size of an encyclopedia and a bunch of accountants counting that.

Don't confuse turn-based with board game. Turn-based (as in Jagged Alliance) yes, board game no. Obviously the Jagged Alliance system would be difficult to do in real world because of the hundreds upon hundreds of rolls and complex calculations every turn.
 
@ PaladinHeart

Camera options...check.
Not cheesy...check.
Moar quest completion options...check.
Buildings down if no walls...check.
 
I don't have one thing clearly though. Is this going to be a fully fledged game or just some open engine for developing PA games? I mean, who knows if you run out of motivation in the future and don't want to make the game any further... you might just open-source your tools and let others do their own games with them if that were the case.

But maybe you're considering to get the engine done first, open-source it or release it with good capable editors, and then proceed to doing your dream game?
 
Hey, the hex cursor can stay! I'm not saying the PC should move in a grid, it should be a continuous freedom of movement, but if it's a fallout game that cursor should stay! It looks just too damn sexy in these videos. You are free to redraw the classic cursors, but stay close to their looks! :cry:

I'm not sure what you mean "board game" combat. I like me deciding who to shoot and the computer rolling the dice!

PS: If you decide to create a new game in the Fallout universe (or even an original post-apoc game), that would be awesome. But before going back to the "remaking FO1" idea, do consider making Van Buren instead... those dev docs have been there cold and lonely in the Internets just waiting for a project like yours...
 
It's been ages since my last post here, but daaamn, this project looks awesome.

Making a full game requires commitment, meaning that even having a part-time job (or school) could slow down the project considerably until it reaches a terminal halt. That's the norm for all promising PA CRPG projects.

Now that I've got my reservations in order, I move on to a relentlessly optimistic rant:

My suggestion would be to create a "modular" game where you release modules or episodes to fill up the game world. I suppose you'll want to cash in eventually, and this could be a way to stay motivated as well as economically sound. Not that I'm a big fan of episodic content (quite on the contrary), but it might be something to consider.

I'm pretty ignorant as to PnP and RPG rulesets. All I want is a new, "fresh" PA CRPG with some of that old school vibe to it. Isometric perspective and turn based combat with targeted attacks, yes please. Retro gaming is the new black anyway, so you could market it as a "new and innovative take on old school gaming".

And please, DON'T do "van Buren" or a Fallout remake. Using the Fallout lore could be cool and all, and it's definitely easier than creating a whole new game world. But making something that you can really call your own might be even more motivating and rewarding.
 
Open source development does not work for games.

Allow me to repeat.

Open source developemt DOES NOT WORK FOR GAMES.

ESPECIALLY content-based games. Transport tycoon? Sure. Multiplayer games? Sure.

Content-based games? No.

Your motivation WILL eventually run out. You NEED money.

Since you have most of it up and running, finish the engine and produce a 15-30-minute long demo and then go and look for sponsors to fund the development of the rest of the game. Also make sure everybody and his dog knows about and has played the demo. When it gains popularity, sponsors WILL want to capitalize on that.
 
Looks great, I hope you guys are able to make it modular similar to Torchlight.

Exactly how will this work though? I mean if you guys are selling the game you certainly can't use Fallout Assets or even things that resemble Fallout assets (those computer consoles, the blue / yellow jumpsuit with the number 13, Vaults, all of those things are owned by Bethesda now and they WILL send you a cease and desist (and unfortunately would be in the right to do so))

I wish you the best of luck though.
 
archont said:
then go and look for sponsors to fund the development of the rest of the game.
Click to expand...

And chain themselves to a publisher that will slave them for little money at best, or compromise their vision at worst.
 
Elhoim said:
archont said:
then go and look for sponsors to fund the development of the rest of the game.
Click to expand...

And chain themselves to a publisher that will slave them for little money at best, or compromise their vision at worst.
Click to expand...

It's not that bad, really.

Besides, this is just your first game. If it sells well after being published, you get a LOT more freedom afterward.

That's why you never sell your IP as part of the sponsoring deal, nor bind yourself to contracts that require you to produce more content in the future. This way, when your game sells, you can make a sequel with whatever publisher you want - choosing the one with the best Money/Freedom ratio.
 
You guys make it seem like a publisher is the only way, but there are a few indie rpg developers that have finished games and sold decent(i assume, since they made sequels). I'm thinking Spiderweb and Basilisk, but i'm sure there are others
 
Ooookey then. I'll address all the optimistic and not so optimistic rants of which there are quite a few in point form. (Don't know why point form though...OCD I guess)

1. We will make a total of two Tech Demos.

The first one will cover some basics like: interactions with world objects, moving around, camera control, and some other stuff such as video textures, sounds, basic character dialogs etc.
The second demo will introduce some parts of the combat system (no turn-based actions though). Weapons, death animations, NPC dismemberment etc.
Once those are out we will continue working on the rest of the game and look for more team members if by that time we are still short in that department.


2. We will look for a sponsor / indie publisher at some point.

Although this is probably not the best way to say it but we are in it for the money as it were. Our aim is to make games and you can't do that on your spare time alone. Even with a decent full time job funding something like this out of your own pocket is not easy.
Engine licences, motion capture data, tools, websites, sounds, voice over work all this we have to pay for and these things are not always cheap. So, if we have to sell some of our team mates into slavery so be it. At least we WILL release a game and that's all that matters in the end.


3. This will not be open source and the first installment of the game will not support modding to a great extent.

There are various reasons for that but they all boil down to the fact that a lot of the components / content that we use are licensed to us provided they are not made available to anyone else. Further more the deployment architecture of the engine does not lend deployed content to easy modification. And to make a game modable a lot of extra effort is needed and we just can't spare any time for this now.
We will try to allow some modifications though. You will be able to add new weapons, items, generic NPCs. Since these are part of random drop / generation tables adding more stuff to them will only be for the better.


4. The game will be episodic.

We all hate it...believe me I know. I mean look at Half Life. But this is the only financially viable way of getting this thing done. Unless of course the community donates about 500k to us so that 6 people can quit their day jobs for two years.


5. We are not using any Fallout assets now and will not use any in the future. The game will not be set in the Fallout universe.

This is not to say that we are making the next Sims or some shit like that. The game will stay true to what Fallout was all about but will be set in a universe of our own. Don't blame us...blame Bethesda. If they had done a decent job we wouldn't need to do this.
The blue jumpsuits and stuff are there for sentimental reasons nothing more.



I think I answered most of the questions posted above. It also seems that the whole board game thing got shot down. I don't think I explained it right though and since I can't really say anything more coherent on the subject at this time we'll put this discussion off for now.


Once again guys thanks for sharing your opinions, worries and relentless optimistic rants (those especially).

Later.
 
archont said:
Open source development does not work for games.

Allow me to repeat.

Open source developemt DOES NOT WORK FOR GAMES.
Click to expand...
Not commercial games, no. But this one surely isn't commercial... Bethesda would be on their ass like yesterday if it were.
 
Morbus said:
archont said:
Open source development does not work for games.

Allow me to repeat.

Open source developemt DOES NOT WORK FOR GAMES.
Click to expand...
Not commercial games, no. But this one surely isn't commercial... Bethesda would be on their ass like yesterday if it were.
Click to expand...

This game is commercial as the dev just recently stated it will be episodic, however the final product will not be in the fallout universe or use any fallout assets. The tech demo does but thats something else entirely.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top