nordwindranger

man I've got to check this more often. I'm totally hopeless at providing timely replies. I'll admit that at times I do miss working on a sci-fi game. I was thinking the other day that it would be cool to have floating buildings, like in Tribes, but they didn't have those in WW2 so I'm out of luck.

hahaha if Moribundus feels like a ghost, I must be a zombie or something. I'd like to give my opinion on a couple matters: 1. community not working together/too many projects The rebellion 2 project that I was working on was a solo job for the simple fact that I was learning as I went, and my relative inexperience with game programming would have made it hard to collaborate on any level. Honestly I'm not sure how you could efficiently set up a collaborative programming project over the internet (but I don't really have any experience with this..). The fact of the matter is that any complex gaming project is going to take years to develop, unless if you have a large (centerally located) team, or are starting with a pre-existing engine. For example, I rewrote my project from scratch three times because my game programming knowledge kept progressing to the point that I saw huge flaws in my previous designs. I'm not saying that community involvement isn't important. I think the community can definitely help with art (2d work, 3d models, sound) ideas, and playtesting, but a game has to reach a certain level of development before it is worth it for the community to commit to the project. I guess what I'm saying is that once someone's project reaches a level where it can actually simulate the rebellion experience (using programmer art/mock-up models), it will then be ready for the community to get involved in fleshing it out. 2. at Steel and anybody else looking for help with their project: I'm happy to help out in a limited way. As I've got my own (non-star wars) game project that I am working on, I am not really looking to become a full-on team member, but I would be happy to troubleshoot code, or help figure out how to code specific things. My experience is mostly with C#/XNA, but if you are looking for some placeholder models, I would be happy to throw the ones from my project your way. The best way to get a hold of me would be to shoot me a direct email (should be available through my profile) or contact me through my site. cheers!

the bulk cruiser does seem worthless. It definitely pales in comparison to the dreadnaught, which is not much more expensive. I think early game rebels should mostly rely on fighters and carriers anyways, and probably wouldn't bother building any capital ships (dreadnaught, or bulk cruiser). If you gave it a weak ion cannon as well it might become a more viable option, as the first ion cannon equipped ship the rebs get is the nebulon b frigate

The strike cruiser has stronger ion cannons (max of 60 vs max of 40 for the VicII), and the cruiser has a longer range on its ion cannons. It also has a slightly better weapon recharge rate, but has a worse repair rate. Overall I think it might have a advantage in quick fights, but looses its advantage in long fights do to its lower repair rate. They have one more tractor beam than the VicII, but can carry one less fighter. I usually end up building them because I think they look cool.

Hmmm I would have to say that some of the game mechanics are actually quite difficult and involved. For example, here the "fleet" code from my old Reb2 project. This code managed a collection (or fleet) of ships, and mostly dealt with handling orders from the alliance http://nordwindranger.com/codeDump.aspx In either case I will be interested to read more about your project. Please post a website if you have one, or just keep us updated

hahaha well if that is in reference to me I did manage to get a bit farther than that. My ISD's could move in formation,detect and attack targets, and travel through hyperspace to other regions of the galaxy. They took commands from an overseeing tactical AI, and were capable of following simple mission assignments. If they were critically damaged, they would jettison escape pods before drifting off into space. I even made a couple videos: http://nordwindranger.com/idoe.aspx I can't speak for everyone else, but the reason I stopped my project was that I could not find enough information to support the concept that Lucas Arts would let it exist as a fan game. I decided that it was not worth putting more effort into a project that would ultimately have to be canceled because it was not my intellectual property. Instead I'm currently working on a WW2 tactical combat sim/rpg lite. Currently working on a blood modeling with my particle engine, and modeling bullet physics. As far as being negative, I'm sorry about that. I was considering deleting my post, but had decided against it. if you start a website to chronicle your progress, make sure to post it here! I am looking forward to following your development.

Well I do wish you the best of luck, I can not in good concious pass by without attempting to correct the errors in your perception of the current indy gaming scene. 1. Direct X 9 works under vista. No one is forcing you to use Direct X 10. DirectX 10 is an option if you wish to use advanced geometry shaders and other modern techniques. 2. XNA is not an acronym. The "X" does not come from Direct X (although obviously it uses DirectX, why wouldn't it?) 3. XNA has been massively successful in revitalizing the indy game genre. The XNA community is thriving, and is well supported by Microsoft. 4. .Net is a blessing, not a hassle. Managed code is significantly easier to develop with that straight C/C++. C# is a very popular language, making it easy to find tutorials on the web. 5. No one is stopping you from using XML with C++ or whatever you want (or maybe you knew this, it was hard to tell) 6. No one is being forced to use Vista. I work on game programming every week on my XP machine 7. Visual Studio isn't expensive. Microsoft has released free express versions of the most recent versions. They are more than adequate for game programming, and I have used them with good results for a variety of projects. By all means, don't use Microsoft products if you don't want to, I just don't want anyone else to get a wrong impression of XNA based upon what you said. on a lighter note, I could email you a couple 3d models from my aborted Star Wars game if you are interested. They are not the greatest however, so probably not worth it. Best of luck

eh i don't know. It looks pretty easy to use. I haven't had much of a chance to play around with it yet. Ignore the half life 2 and XNA addon stuff. It's just a pile of extra crap that won't be of any use. (I'm doing xna stuff, and I'm not using the xna addon). All you really need is the ability to export files to .x, as this is one most common formats. I'm sure it can export to a whole bunch of other formats as well. There are some intro tutorial videos to get you started with the program, I think the link to them pops up when you start the program..

neither. ModTool is a standalone 3d modeling software. You can export straight to .x files (a common 3d model format) (yup when i say xna I mean XNA. "xna" doesn't actually stand for anything, so it's kind of akward to use in conversation sometimes)

I tried blender once awhile ago and hated it. I bought a copy of gamespace, which turned out to be ok, but not really great. Recently I've been working with this: http://www.softimage.com/products/modtool/ It looks pretty nice. It says that its for hl2 and xna, but it supports other formats as well..

Lol!!!!!! Just to clarify for ya JanDeis, AFAIK means As Far As I Know. Blender is just "Blender" (not AFAIK Blender), and you should be able to easily find it using google or live.com To back up Moribundus, I am also available if anybody has questions. I don't do lua/C++, but I do have extensive knowledge regarding the direct x/Microsoft/C#/XNA side of game development. I don't hang around these forums as much anymore, but if you shoot me a PM, drop me a line via my website, or post on this thread I should get back to ya

alrighty got that taken care of. thanks guys

ok I guess I've lost a lot of brain cells since the last time i edited any of my account info because I can't figure out how to do it. I need to edit my signature, because the webpage that it points to no longer exists. However clicking on the "your account" link doesnt seem to bring up any editing options.

Hey guys. Over the last couple years, there have been a lot of Reb2 projects. I believe they are all dead however. Most of the projects failed because people underestimated just how much work goes into making a game like this. However, I think the number one in creating REB2 is that quite simply you aren't LucasArts and therefore don't have any legitamite claim to the Star Wars intellectual property. It can be argued that what your doing falls under the category of a "fan game", and therefore should be ok. But it would really suck to get a "cease and desist" letter after putting a lot of time into your game. If your interested in seeing what I did with my REB2 project before bailing, check out my website: http:// http://nordwindranger.com/idoe.aspx There is one active project, although it is more of a general space-sim than a rebellion sim. If your interested, here's the link http:// http://terrastrategy.sourceforge.net/

started out going counter-clockwise (anti-clockwise? silly australians), but then switched to clockwise when the animation slowed way down. the real question of course is why is it an exotic dancer, and not a ballet dancer as the article seems to suggest

*looks around. whistles quietly to himself, blows dust off forum and returns to lurking*

new video. the game has been pretty much rewritten since I was last on here, but might still look the same. One of the more obvious changes is that weapon shots now point where they are going, and recharge rates are now calculated per turrent. Unfortunately my enthusiasm for the project kinda died down over summer, and I'm starting to drift in the direction of some other game concepts, so I'm not sure how much farther this game will get. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5587063130731424652&hl=en

so far my planets have... slaves, ore, gas, generic materials, and spice

well I'm looking at an absolute minimum of Pixel shader 1.0 for my game. If you want to use the bloom lighting (makes everything a little smoother and blurs color transitions a little) its shader 2.0 (Errr now that I think about it, I think you need shader 2.0 for the shaders that I'm using so it's not optional) Seeing as how cards for this type of stuff has been out for years I would say shoot for a dead minimum of pixel shader 1.0 I don't know about openGL, but direct X has pretty much gone straight shader orientated (using high level shader language or HLSL). Therefore it's a definite minimum of pixel shader 1.0 (really 1.1) unless if you write a seperate fixed function pipeline renderer which would be absolutely silly. I would stay in the realm of DX9 though (I assume with the Vista stuff you were talking about DX10).

looking good so far.

no cheats as far as i know.. try focusing on getting the three flags on the upper level of the map. If you get those three, you can pretty much sit and wait until the imperial reinforcements bleed out, as its hard to get them back if you have them all

heh yeah thats my problem to, not enough time. "knee jerk reaction" is american slang. it means a automatic response that wasn't really thought out. It comes from the idea that when you tap your knee your leg automatically jerks out, you didn't really think about doing it. good luck on the game. I've got a feeling that I'm going to be without internet all summer, but I'll be back in september

hmm well I've always thought that the rebels have the advantage once you get the moncal. Until then, it might not be a bad idea to hide in the rim. In the only online game i've ever played, my buddy came up with a good rebel strategy. From the beginning of the game, send all of your combat heroes to sabotage troop buildings and troops. Before long the Empire will be crippled, because it needs troops to hold the planets it starts with

good read. xjs have concussion missles and proton torps and flares? next it will be a bank of turbolasers.. good stuff. its amazing how fast you can pound this out

Theed--yeah that one can be tricky. I usually try and get a vehicle and rack up about 20 or so kills just running over people/ shooting up turrents. I think its best to play a supporting role in that map, you can do really well being a sniper or a anti-vehicle trooper. Occasionally the enemy will competely leave a flag undefended on the side, and you can swoop in and cap it before they notice. I hate the other gungan map. If your playing imperials you get swarmed by gungans. Its an open map, but every flag is super-defended with turrents. It's almost as bad as my absolute least favorite map of all time: Kashycck Islands (spelling). The rebels get free wookies (super health tank uber-furballs) to help them, which is completely unbalanced. I always get absolutely raped on that map. I think I got up to "yavin 4: arena" with the galactic civil war campaign, and just couldn't beat that map. The trick to it was capping the center flag, but the map is so tiny, its almost impossible to last more than a couple minutes. I've always found the bespin map with the ties and xwings to be very hard. All of the troops are funneled down that center corridor, and it's just a huge meat grinder. The trick is to take a fighter and land on one of the more distant flags, take it, and then try and defend it for the game. If your a sniper, you can cover most of the map if you've got a steady hand. For the bespin map without the vehicles, you can almost just make sure that you have an even amount of flags, and then just wear down the other side by attrition. It's really easy to get upwards of 50+ kills as a sniper on that map. Alternatively you can try and rush one of the upper flags early on, but it doesn't always seem worth it because you lose so many troops running down the hallways. My favorite map has gotta be tatooine (with vehicles). Sarlacc pit + tusken raiders + speeder bikes== awesome. I've never bothered to repair anything, because the bots seem to do a real good job of setting up turrents/repair on their own. As far as the darktrooper goes, I usually just use the pistol. Once you get used to it, it only takes 3 shots in the head to kill someone, and the pistol is reasonably accurate at medium distances if you zoom in.