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Topic: Timewarp (Read 7381 times)
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GeomanNL
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Timewarp
« on: January 30, 2006, 01:30:29 am » |
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Heed this message, hunam,
for those who are interested, I've made a new release (windows-installer only) for the old-version of Timewarp, the one with the many ships. It'll probably be the last release I'll make, because most bugs are fixed, and that was my goal for the last ... year. Yeah, it's been a year already, time flies.
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=13354&package_id=11311&release_id=389276
If you haven't played Timewarp for the last year, give this version a try because it's more stable than it used to be, and most of the ships are tweaked to make them a little nicer to play... and if you don't like them, you can blame me, because I'm the one who tweaked them, haha.
You could also give TW-light a try. This is a lighter weight version, but with more advanced sound support and other goodies. This version of timewarp might ultimately become an adventure, getting curious ?
And last but not least ... the Linux and Mac support of Timewarp (not tw-light, that is being developed under Linux) are broken, and I was hoping, maybe someone who reads this message could do the job ? And not only fix it, but also commit it to CVS ?
If someone would like to spend some time on giving the interface a big overhoal, or just to re-arrange some code, or to fix some minor bugs if they pop up, that would also be appreciated ... it never hurts to mention it, does it 
I was also hoping to find people, who would like to become part of the Melee Revision Team of Timewarp, who are dedicated to tweaking the ships to ever higher levels of perfection. This is not only for the good of Timewarp mind you, but for the whole Star Control community, because good Star Control ships don't have to be limited to those created by PR&FF, we can make them also !! Who doesn't want to have a say in the looks and feel of the next generation of craft ? And you know what is best - later on, they can be copied into UQM or other games, because they are all open source. This tweaking occasionally requires some programming, so people who know a little how to code are also needed. It is by no means required, mind you: most work goes into fine-tuning ship settings.
And last but not least, the PPI is revived recently by *Dancer*. If you don't know what the PPI is, that's the Public Plot Initiative, which is created by contributions from several people, including me, but I'm a minority, really !! Ok, an important minority, because I had to attempt to create something coherent from the material, and had to fill the gaps with some of my own ideas - but here's the good part, I really don't have time for it anymore, so I'm very glad that *Dancer* wanted to spend some time on it - unfortunately, *Dancer* doesn't have that much time either, and that's where you can come in. You can help make the story a better one! And the best part is, I don't care if one rewrites a big part of the current PPI plotline - as long as it becomes cool. It's already cool, btw. You don't believe it ? Ok, check this http://twppi.schtuff.com/plot_dev and this http://twppi.schtuff.com/gameplay_dev.
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GeomanNL
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UAF has abandoned work on TW:Legacies, so I think you, or someone else, can modify it to your taste. That is imho of course - you'll probably need permission from yB or Yurand for that, otherwise it won't be "official".
Edit: but I think the ppi is more interesting. I don't think the legacies plot got very far over the past year, so perhaps it's a good idea to insert some of the better elements of the legacies plot into the ppi, and focus on the ppi instead. This is just an idea, mind you.
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« Last Edit: January 30, 2006, 04:16:44 pm by GeomanNL »
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Deus Siddis
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I don't know too much about this subject, but what if you just started an entirely new plot, whose focus was entirely to create the SC3 that TFB never got to make?
Death 999 and Art seemed to be interested, and I'm sure that you could find other purists that have developed a very good handle on this Universe over the years. You could maybe write Paul Reiche of TFB when you had a question about something (assuming he didn't mind putting some of his ideas into a purely freeware project.)
The other plots could be made into separate fanfic games, using the same engine.
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GeomanNL
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Halleck: if there were good ideas, try those first, maybe you will like the general picture of the revised tw:legacies plot and then there is no need for a merger. If you don't like the result, then you should just abandon it. In any case, talk to yB or Yurand about it, it affects them, too - I'm really more in the position of an outsider where Timewarp is concerned... I'm (only) member of twx, and as such I may (or may not) have a future interest in a finished plot.
You could also read a little about the PPI, and analyze which parts could be improved - compare that to how much work you think tw:legacies needs, or how well ideas can be exchanged, and then which direction to take - tw:legacies, ppi, or neither. That will take some time, but could be very useful on the longer term. E.g., you could start with a derelict Mrn ark in the ppi, which appears after the dimensional collapse, and starts functioning again - that could be one of the emerging threats, and used to make something coherent for races that aren't really used yet.
Team beige ... I was member once, of team Beige. That was ages ago, I didn't know that team still exists.
Starting a new plot is not an option, because that will take too long. It's better to work towards a finished product with the material that is available. I've seen the start and demise of several plots, and none was able to produce something better than what we have today. I think that overall the PPI is best, tw:legacies second best, and the rest lagging far behind.
"the SC3 that TFB never got to make"
There is no such a thing, and nobody can make one for them.
edit: because I think that if that were feasible, it would've already been written during the last 10 years, by somebody, somewhere. I also think that if you limit yourself completely to "canon", then you will not get very far, because you will often find that an idea that looks good at first sight, turns out to be not entirely fitting gets rejected because of some detail and Then you have to start the whole process again - and that means, it will take a very long time before something "perfect" is created. Therefore, in theory that sounds cool, but in practice I think it's not feasible.
There's a funny discussion about the topic to be found on the star control discussion boards. http://starcontrol.classicgaming.gamespy.com/forum/index.php?topic=860.0
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« Last Edit: January 31, 2006, 11:22:55 am by GeomanNL »
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Death 999
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We did. You did. Yes we can. No.
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Unfortunately, grad school is heating up and I'm having a kid (see INTELLIGENCE INTERCEPT thread), so I don't know how much time I'll have. Also, I've got a few other hobby projects...
I'd be glad to chat, brainstorm, critique... but I'm not in a position to devote myself right now.
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GeomanNL
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Okay... I asked above if someone would like to redo the Timewarp interface, but there's no replies.
Well then, I'm prepared to spend some time on the Timewarp interface myself, however, to change all of it, is a big undertaking and I do not have enough time to do that on my own. It will involve redoing the graphics and the sounds in the game, in small steps spread over a period of about one year. The first step is the most difficult one. At the same time, I want to take this opportunity to introduce someone who is interested in the finer details of the Timewarp code.
So... if someone around here would like to spend lots of time on (an improved) Timewarp in the future, please send me a PM or a mail 
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Deus Siddis
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Perhaps you should consider sharing resources with the other star control projects, if there are no complaints. It might not allow for as much of an individual "feel" to each project, but it would allow resources to be concentrated on other endeavors for improving TW (like bug hunting, ship graphics, whatever else is needed.) Maybe Madgap would give you some of the interface art used for his Aftermath game.
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GeomanNL
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Well... timewarp has 2 interfaces, currently. One is the default allegro one, and the other is one I wrote. I want the latter one to replace everything.
edit: using something from another game is not something I would like to do, because rewriting an interface from a 3d engine so that it can work with a 2d engine (or even one 2d to another 2d engine), each graphics lib having their own different commands, is a big job in itself. And it's already a big enough job.
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« Last Edit: March 13, 2006, 09:07:32 am by GeomanNL »
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Deus Siddis
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Timewarp
« Reply #10 on: March 13, 2006, 05:08:15 pm » |
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Ah, so you're looking for interface coding. I thought you meant graphics.
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GeomanNL
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It involves new graphics, too, you can't really separate those, but I'm not worried about that part - because many people can make decent graphics. We'll use simple temporary bitmaps to start with, and those can be tweaked afterwards, when the job is done.
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GeomanNL
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Thanks, contributions are always welcome
However, I'm (also) looking for someone who can program, and who wants to spend some serious amount of time on the project, cause I intend to spend less and less time on timewarp in the future, and I want someone to take care of the project.
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guesst
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Aargh! Gob doesn't work any more! Some sort of color depth problem loading a bitmap. Gob was the best part of Timewarp. Well, that and the 100+ ships it introduced. Some of them were pretty good. (Some were crud.) has there ever been a sort of "Top 10 new ships" sort of vote going on?
Maybe i should just use TW-Light so I can have GOB back.
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Pages: [1] 2
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) Also, I was thinking that it might be cool if we could leave everything in UQM the same except that it uses the TW models for the SC2 ships. The models in TW are CLEARLY better. Well, considering that the UQM team is using all of the original Vessel models, I can see why their models are somewhat subpar, no offense to anyone.