Next steps:
Database (ugh) for persistence.
Respawning asteroids.
Jump node between starting point and asteroid field.
Chat system.
Defining minerals and randomly populating the asteroids with resources.
Not necessarily in that order.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Baby Steps
I got the starfieldAI program moved to the server. I tested with 2 clients. A bit of an anomaly starting the second one, but it sorted right out, and everything worked fine. What was nice is that I just moved it to the Linux box with FTP, and started it up. No re-writes, re-compiling or anything.
Next steps:
Database (ugh) for persistence.
Respawning asteroids.
Jump node between starting point and asteroid field.
Chat system.
Defining minerals and randomly populating the asteroids with resources.
Not necessarily in that order.
Next steps:
Database (ugh) for persistence.
Respawning asteroids.
Jump node between starting point and asteroid field.
Chat system.
Defining minerals and randomly populating the asteroids with resources.
Not necessarily in that order.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Of Servers and Storylines....
I now have an Ubuntu server running the server program. It is still inside my firewall, but I have tested it for a full 10 seconds and it worked perfectly! Next step is moving the starfieldAI program to the server and running it there as well. Once that is operational, I may wait for 1.7.0, or I may find a way to distribute a patched version of the development code along with the client for external pre-alpha testing.
So, storyline:
I have a new basic premise for the game. During the height of the Galactic Empire, many colonization ships were sent off to far flung star systems to expand the controlled territory. Colonists were put into cryogenic hibernation during the light speed transport to the new system, with supplies and instructions to establish a colony and activate a intergalactic jump node to link the new colony into the empire.
Expansionism, however, created a strain on the empires economy, and during the unrest and eventual revolt, the Emperor was assassinated. The fight for succession that followed ended in a five way split of the systems in the empire, with several systems cut off from all others. As you awaken to begin a new colony for the glory of the Empire, you discover that not only is there no empire to swear your allegiance to, there are no empirical support ships following you. You may be able to align yourself to one of the new kingdoms that control most of the old empirical star systems. You may be able to become self sustaining, with no need of royal "protection". Or maybe there is room for a new kingdom... Perhaps even a new Emperor.
It needs work, but I think it works. There are many stories that could be told within this framework that can add some depth. It gives a plausible explanation for the multitude of players starting in there own star system. It allows for purely individual play, or bonding to an NPC kingdom for support. Or, you can trade with independent systems in a more rogue/pirate state arrangement.
Thoughts? Let me know....
So, storyline:
I have a new basic premise for the game. During the height of the Galactic Empire, many colonization ships were sent off to far flung star systems to expand the controlled territory. Colonists were put into cryogenic hibernation during the light speed transport to the new system, with supplies and instructions to establish a colony and activate a intergalactic jump node to link the new colony into the empire.
Expansionism, however, created a strain on the empires economy, and during the unrest and eventual revolt, the Emperor was assassinated. The fight for succession that followed ended in a five way split of the systems in the empire, with several systems cut off from all others. As you awaken to begin a new colony for the glory of the Empire, you discover that not only is there no empire to swear your allegiance to, there are no empirical support ships following you. You may be able to align yourself to one of the new kingdoms that control most of the old empirical star systems. You may be able to become self sustaining, with no need of royal "protection". Or maybe there is room for a new kingdom... Perhaps even a new Emperor.
It needs work, but I think it works. There are many stories that could be told within this framework that can add some depth. It gives a plausible explanation for the multitude of players starting in there own star system. It allows for purely individual play, or bonding to an NPC kingdom for support. Or, you can trade with independent systems in a more rogue/pirate state arrangement.
Thoughts? Let me know....
Friday, July 24, 2009
Broken Empire
I am thinking of using that as the name. Has a decent ring to it, and unlike my other ideas, there didn't seem to be any other games by that name... Thoughts?
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Game Title
I really need to be figuring out a real name for this game at some point. Spaceflight is not what I want to end up with. It would sort of be like calling World of Warcraft "Groundwalk". Just not very...... inspiring.
Leave a post and let me know of any suggestions, please.
Oh, and
Free PIE!!!
Leave a post and let me know of any suggestions, please.
Oh, and
Free PIE!!!
Multi-Playerdness -or- Free Pie!!!
Hey, remember me?
The distributed object code is now working as I had hoped, as of this morning at about 6:30 am. If anyone ever comes across this blog (most likely by accident, by clicking in the wrong place, or if I manage to trick them into it by making a link that says "Free Pie" and instead brings them here) I want to give massive props to David Rose, of Disney Interactive, who has been absolutely instrumental in helping me understand how this stuff works.
So where is it at? I have a server, which does practically nothing but pass messages between clients. I have a starsytemAI client that currently manages all of 18 asteroids in the game. This will be grown to handle all of the "astral bodies" in the game (asteroids, stars, planets, etc). I have a Player Client (forevermore referred to as the PC) that allows you to log in fly around, and use magic to harvest minerals from the asteroids (there are no animations in place yet, so it just kinda vanishes). As asteroids get harvested, they are removed from the other clients, and if someone new logs in, the asteroids field is accurately represented.
I know that doesn't sound like much, but you don't even want to know what it took to get there...
Anyway, I am waiting for the 1.7.0 release of panda before I can start distributing code. I am using the development version right now, since it is required to support the distributed object stuff. If someone is rabidly desperate to try it out, drop me a note, and I will get everything packed up and sent off. Otherwise, 1.7 is supposed to drop in a couple weeks, and by then, I hope to have a server built and running with an IP address to connect to. Also, I want to start making player state be persistent across logins, which means a database.
Moving ever forward!
The distributed object code is now working as I had hoped, as of this morning at about 6:30 am. If anyone ever comes across this blog (most likely by accident, by clicking in the wrong place, or if I manage to trick them into it by making a link that says "Free Pie" and instead brings them here) I want to give massive props to David Rose, of Disney Interactive, who has been absolutely instrumental in helping me understand how this stuff works.
So where is it at? I have a server, which does practically nothing but pass messages between clients. I have a starsytemAI client that currently manages all of 18 asteroids in the game. This will be grown to handle all of the "astral bodies" in the game (asteroids, stars, planets, etc). I have a Player Client (forevermore referred to as the PC) that allows you to log in fly around, and use magic to harvest minerals from the asteroids (there are no animations in place yet, so it just kinda vanishes). As asteroids get harvested, they are removed from the other clients, and if someone new logs in, the asteroids field is accurately represented.
I know that doesn't sound like much, but you don't even want to know what it took to get there...
Anyway, I am waiting for the 1.7.0 release of panda before I can start distributing code. I am using the development version right now, since it is required to support the distributed object stuff. If someone is rabidly desperate to try it out, drop me a note, and I will get everything packed up and sent off. Otherwise, 1.7 is supposed to drop in a couple weeks, and by then, I hope to have a server built and running with an IP address to connect to. Also, I want to start making player state be persistent across logins, which means a database.
Moving ever forward!
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