Factories are most easily recognized by their enormous manufacturing plant modules. These tend to be three times the width, height, and depth of the station’s standard module size. Other distinguishing features are the dry storage containers, and the cargo bay from which newly purchased items are launched.
I have some fun ideas for the scrapyard (SCR), but am still not sure what the upgrade (UPG) and repair (REP) stations should look like. Any ideas?
<3 Farbs
Hi, i have never posted on here before but love captain forever. I was thinking for the repair stations that maybe they could have a little tube where the ship travels through like a carwash and gets repaired as it goes through. maybe a sweeping beam of light could go up and down the tube while repairing.
Hi Pod,
Thanks for the idea! The sweeping beam of light reminded me that the game already has visuals for repair systems – the beam from a repair module. I might see if I can extend the visual design of the repair module into a larger station concept. Ta!
I think the upgrade stations need giant Tesla coils with a similar effect to the clone drive in Captain Impostor
Yep, I think you’re right!
Hooray!
I guess that leaves the scrapyard stations. Perhaps they could have large, boxed off areas filled with unpowered parts of various levels? Maybe they could produce a little cloud of smog around them? I’m not sure.
You can come up with something, though. you’re a creative guy, after all.
Oh, here’s a rather impractical idea, since you’d have to do a fair bit of new coding- maybe scrap stations could be found on the surface of asteroids that are relatively isolated from the larger groups of asteroids.
I have a plan for scrapyards already that I’m pretty excited about. You’re not far off the mark.
Oh, right. I should have reread your post there.
Well, I look forward to seeing it then. And the rest as well
Wow farbs, looking great. Are you aiming at a release this month (better hurry) or is it going to be quite an elongated project?
I Kind of like the idea of a dry dock type station and you could incorporate some sort of tesla coil whatever thing… for the upgrade station…
Well, I’m officially Captin Successored out of a while now. I’ll take my new game now :P
Pilot this vessel (Supporters only):
http://www.captainforever.com/captainsuccessor.php?cfe=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
Oh my…. that ship is immense and rather unbalanced too, and if you reverse and shoot at the same time, you end up dying for some reason ._.
Anyway, it might be a bit late now, but I think some kind of smoke stacks or exhaust for factory stations would be swell :3
The tesla coil for upgrades, and car wash thing for repairs sound good, and on top of that, I was thinking some kind of miniature service drones, or snaking tendrils would be neat (would work for either upgrade or repair).
SCR’s could have a disorganized look like an actual scrapyard, bins of powered-down parts, randomly oriented and piled up. Maybe some kind of storage container of pulp vectors that have already been processed. Definitely gasses pouring out of exhaust vents them like they’re being smelted. Cannot wait for Jameson!
@Grinner: You sure it loaded correctly? It should have perfect left/right reflectional symmetry and I don’t seem to be able to get it to kill itself.
If there is already a REP station, will there still be repair tool for the player?
Some of my suggestions for REP stations are: Direct repair beam, repair drones, repair crews, fixing machine arms, just immediately repair the ship after you paid the credit (do you need to?), some non-collideable platform that can continously repair if you drag/fly over it, some platform like those of SCR stations to grab modules in and split it out fully repaired.
BTW I also like the carwash repair thing for the REP station, it will look really cool. However, if your ship is quite oversized, you may have some trouble entering the tube. Still, those tubes can be an advantage for small fighters, giving you another appeal for being sleek and small.
awesomeness.
I was thinking bits reminiscent of cranes and scaffolds, like modern shipyards, auto factories, and auto repair shops. From fiction, stuff like the scrapper station in “Our Mrs. Reynolds” and the salvage ship from “Out of Gas”.
Heres a pretty fun rammer-style ship. http://bit.ly/fpDpJJ
Its great because sparring with your clone ships is tons of fun.
Keep up the awesome work Farbs, you make my face happy ^_^
Hey, a quick question about upgrade stations-
Do they
A) Increase all modules by one level
B) Bring all modules to the same level
C) Bring only modules of a lower level than the station up a level
D) None of the above
?
In retrospect, I should probably have used examples from more than one media. The spacedock in Star Trek: TMP and the rejected Nomad design from StarCraft II come to mind. The latter can be seen at http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/TF-620_Nomad
We need updates farbs!!! its been a whole week lol..
I think the SCR updates are a bit big, give him time guys!
Heh, actually I’m working on something else for a bit. No hints until I’m sure it’s feasible.
Oh, and Chris – upgrade stations bring all modules up to the same level as the station, so similar to C. They’re quite expensive to use though, which offsets the advantage of being able to upgrade modules from any lower level.
What, you think you should have variety in your life or something? WELL THINK AGAIN! You can only push this game back so far before I cannibalize your fiancé. Or just kidnap her. Or make empty threats.
That is, unless this new something or other ends up being worth the extra wait.
I think you’re going to like it.
Oh, okay. Sorry for making vague threats then.
By the way, do you know anything about depth sorting or flat shading? I’m working on a 3D renderer, and it’s proving to be a complicated undertaking. Turns out there’s a lot more to rendering 3D models than drawing triangles.
Sorry, I’m asking everyone I know with programming experience. Not that I know you that well, but I figured I’d ask anyway.
You are a more skilled programmer than I
If you’re just working with opaque or masked materials then you can start by just using a z-buffer, which will stop pixels being drawn behind things that are in front of them. If you’re optimizing (which you probably shouldn’t worry about at this stage) you might want to draw nearby things first so you avoid redrawing a pixel every time you draw something closer. Some kinds of transparency (like additive and multiplicative) don’t need to be sorted as they have the same effect regardless of order, but otherwise transparency requires all kinds of work to get right. Often large scale commercial games ship with little transparency sorting glitches.
By flat shading do you mean just setting a single colour per triangle? If so, the easiest way I’ve found to do that is to use the vertex colour interpolator. The annoying thing about this is you end up creating multiple copies of vertices where they’re used by multiple triangles of differing colour.
I wish I had access to the Z buffer. But the language I use (Blitz Basic) does not give me any kind of GPU access. So I’m doing everything on a software level.
Now, the idea of not redrawing pixels that are unchanged interests me, but I’m not quite sure how I’d achieve it. I have some vague ideas, though.
My biggest problem right now is to do with the math of splitting a triangle in two by the plain of intersection with another triangle. It’s a sort of math I have very little experience with.
Oh wow – so you’re using something like a 2D polygon renderer to make a 3D engine? That’s bold!
In that case I think you’ll probably want to start with backface culling, which checks whether a single sided polygon is facing towards or away from the camera and opts not to draw it if it’s facing away. If you’re just drawing a single convex model that’s all you need to do.
If you have non-convex models then you’ll want to start sorting triangles based on depth. My guess is you’ll do okay by sorting all the triangles in your scene based on the avergage screen space depth of each triangle’s vertices. This can get extremely slow however, which is why most 3D engines only sort transparent objects, and even then avoid sorting per triangle.
Backface culling is something I’ve put some thought into. Though to make proper use of it I’d need to code my 3D modeler to be able to decide which face is the front face and incorporate it into the save data. After that it just comes down to calculating which direction a surface is facing relative to the camera… Another thing I need to work out how to do.
Though I think I can figure it out building off of my firm grasp on trigonometry
Anyway *double post again*, I’ll stop buggin you about my programming problems now and let you do your thing.
Maybe I’ll come back to bug you more once I get my game into a presentable state. I’d love your opinion if you had the time for such things.
Awesome. A solid trig foundation should give you a good start, but if you haven’t already read up on game specific 3d maths I highly recommend it. I’m sorry I don’t have any useful links on the subject but I’m sure there are many lengthy tutorials about it on the ‘net.
Well I am good at learning these things just by building off of what I know and applying it. That’s how I learned trig originally.
But if I hit a brick wall, I think I will do that. Any specific concepts you think I should look into?
Sure! I think you’ll definitely want to know about transformation matrices and projection matrices. The vector cross and dot products come in handy quite often too.
Okay, thanks a lot for being so willing to help.
I guess now I really can’t make empty threats with you being so nice to me. I guess I’ll just have to employ mildly passive aggressive tactics instead. Or just wait it out like a normal person.
But c’mon, that would be boring.
I LIKE HOW FARBS IS THE TYPE OF DEVELOPER THAT WILL HAVE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT UNRELATED TOPICS WITH HIS FANS IN HIS BLOG COMMENTS. HE’S A PRETTY COOL GUY.
That aside, once again, any ETA of C Jameson after the extension?
All this Matrix talk reminded me of xkcd #184 =D
I need some help please!
I was in the process of building some huge ship as shown here: http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/8246/shipbug1.png
Then I saw something wrong in the export menu, the ship looked like this! http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/8706/shipbug2.png
When I load the ship, it really became what I saw in the export menu. http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/7870/shipbug3.png
Here’s the code http://www.captainforever.com/captainsuccessor.php?cfe=7nxba0kobn1if1a2ly5h2pvcyyag2nns2w32dmobvpjf1eofxxr5450r5q5vhw15npxvipnfd20ktnmrh5cjhjzuk51wfknxrbd40r2q5zr245ph3q5unjziq1yz3ofnre015rjzj5rjzlicezlin1rdy0frdspnhjhzkg133kxxryp5zrys5whw05tpxvfpufd2skenmrl4sjhj4tk51wefnxrbu40rtp5zrts5phep5unjrfq1yrkofnrj415re5lire5j5cj5lin1rpx0frprpnhjkykg1cugt5hgqvuzyvhbdnhjxaehjx2ehjxpehjxqehjxmehjxoehjx3jt2vmihco2k0x41p3gtnr30wnr3cwnr3swnr3pvnr3svnr3cvnr30vnrc4vnrcdvnrpcvtrpsvjjapvurppvtrp0vtrppwtrp0wtrpswtrpcw3rb0xftzaguen42weorcotiqxf1cfmttredxtre4xtreqwtre1xtreqx5hlcycoxvlngdhewnuhewtuhewbthewcuhewuur5xdvr5wdvh5wcfh5xcuh5wufh5xuuh5xtztexb54crnlphnjtvgnjtrgnjtagnjtognjtzgnjtkgnj2emnjtuhnj2tmx1b3lt1hbswc
Really no idea what caused the problem
I still left the browser open but I will not reply until tomorrow.
Thanks in advance.
Oh dear – there seems to be a bug in importing station decks.
The good news is that your export code is probably okay, it’s only when you load it that it fails. I’ll see if I can get a fix in later today.
Arg. I’m sorry colossuey, it looks like your ship link is actually missing a lot of data (due to my bug). The fixed version of successor is online now, but it will only affect ships exported with the new version of the code. I’m afraid I can’t think of any way to save your ship.
The only thing I think you can do is remove the decks (the large square bits) and rebuild your ship without them, as it was a bug in deck exporting that was causing the problem.
Sorry again.
Oh I see, nevermind and thanks for fixing it so I can build it in the future.
All i can say is wow.. that is a Huge ship!. and also Farbs, we need another blog post. I need info. Theres only so much ship spinning in eve I can do. If we don’t get info soon I’m goingto get so Deep into minecraft that I’m going to be lost to the casual pick up and play gaming world forever.
Captain Farbs,
I hope this note finds its way to you well. You may remember me as Captain Kallevig. If you remember at all, I was one of those who patched into the Nemesis’ web terminal back when it required special authorization. In the since then I have been spending most of my free time helping Captain Lan. I trust you have found plenty of capable hands to keep the Nemesis safe since you made the terminal publicly accessible.
Now though it even seems Captain Lan has ample help, despite his lack of trust for the general public (for which I can hardly blame him). Let me cut to the chase here. I have heard rumors of another captain… Jameson, I believe his name was, setting up a similar web terminal. Supposedly it was supposed to go live nearly two months ago, but didn’t due to… something along the lines of a system upgrade. Everything I’ve heard to this point is very vague. But what I’ve heard is intriguing. Might you know anything about the current status of Captain Jameson?
On a different note, the pilot training software you released a while back has really been a great asset to me. I feel my skills as a pilot have sharpened significantly since I began training with it. Thank you very much for putting that out there.
Hope you’re getting the rest you need
-Captain Kallevig
^^ Now THAT is how all comments should be written.
this is the most amazing game ever, but i must ask, what engine are you using to make this game?
I know he uses Box 2D for physics, but I believe the rest is his own code. I could be mistaken, though.
But you must realize that you don’t need a premade game engine to make a game like this.
Ha! Thanks Captain Kallevig. The Jameson interface is still in development, but there isn’t actually a Captain Jameson. The interface is named after the classic fable, in which an otherwise unremarkable pilot helps rebuild a derelict sector, and is rewarded not with tributes but through access to a functioning economy.
olumpus10001 and Chris K – Chris is right, I’m just using Box2D and flash. Flash has a very high level API so you don’t necessarily need an engine, though I hear good things about Flixel and FlashPunk.
Farbs, do you use HaXe or AS3?
I use AS3, though I wonder now whether I should have considered HaXe. I have too much code to port it now though.
I currently compile with mxmlc, via a .bat file rather than commadline since I can launch a .bat and read the output from within SciTE. I’ve experimented with the Flash Builder plugin in Eclipse though and might migrate to it in future. I think on balance I prefer SciTE’s light footprint and speedy performance to Eclipse’s autocomplete and automatic incremental compilation though.