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Topic: Project 6014 – Ur-Quan Masters mod (Read 203044 times)
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dczanik
*Smell* controller
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Posts: 306
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Haven't posted on these forums for at least several years (EDIT: actually 8 years): Last time I was active, current version of UQM was 0.4 or maybe 0.5 . When v0.7 UQM arrived, it peaked my interest to try Star Control 2 once more. Then after I finished it, I just wanted mooore!!! Then I founded Lurg dialogue on youtube, which got me curious about 6014 project. After trying 0.1, it was like I played some long lost expansion pack for original SC2. It just fits well to SC2 story, and same engine made it really feel like expansion to original game. As soon as it was released, I tried 0.2 in high resolution, and it is magnificent! Now I'm bummed that p6014 will still be work in progress for a long time, and that at the same time original SC2 is not yet ported to high resolution. Well, at least super melee is complete in HD, if played from p6014.  Only thing I don't like is that some of new p6014 comm screens have lost some of their animations in HD version , compared to VGA versions. But I guess it's due to it being work in progress. Also, I really like some of the new content in 0.2, like Shofixti colony, or Yehat starbase. Anyway, keep up good work. Let us hope that next year we'll get extended campaign. 
Glad we got you excited about Star Control once again!
Well, Im working on the HD mod for Urquan Masters. It will just take some additional time. Right now the biggest issues is really the code. I just need to merge some of the 6014 and 0.7 code in. But I fear the coders are a little frazzled by everything right now. Not all the artwork is complete either. If it doesnt exist in 6014 then it's probably not done yet. My main focus was 6014.
Animation is something I hate. The tools are just not there yet and it takes so long. Yes, some of the animation is missing from the HD version. Blame that on an overzealous deadline (my fault). It will get added in later.
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Grand Master Planet Eater
Frungy champion
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Posts: 85
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Hey, can I make a suggestions for P6014? There should be a planet completely covered in purple resources, but if you try to land on it you die automatically
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Death 999
Global Moderator
Enlightened
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Gender: 
Posts: 3874
We did. You did. Yes we can. No.
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The lander, or the flagship? Either way, I'm not certain what that would add to the game... to put it mildly.
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Delphot
Zebranky food
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Posts: 1
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Few days ago i was showing my gf (she also likes videogames) the best game of alltime.
Then i saw the Lurg video and i found P6014.
I must say i'm amazed and so happy to see this jewel of a game restored, up and running. You've given me something to look foward to.
Keep up the great job guys!
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CelticMinstrel
Enlightened
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Posts: 522
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Whoa, I last posted in this thread on page 6, which is three years ago, and now it's all the way to page 27! Is it my imagination, or have I heard rumours of the Chmmr turning evil?
The problem is there is no high res version of those fonts. So we've had to look for alternatives. If you'd like to go pixel by pixel and create high res version of those fonts, I'd love to have them. At around 10 minutes per letter, multiplied by the entire alphabet (including European characters, Cyrllic characters, and other extended characters), and multiply that by 30 alien races... You're looking at around 1,200 hours worth of work.  So, no. Not going to happen PRH. Sorry. |
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dczanik
*Smell* controller
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Posts: 306
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Whoa, I last posted in this thread on page 6, which is three years ago, and now it's all the way to page 27! Is it my imagination, or have I heard rumours of the Chmmr turning evil?
Would it not be possible to use something to turn the pixel fonts into a vector image and then use that for a new font? I'm not really sure if that could work, but it feels like it might have a chance.
Rumors are rumors. I try to keep out of the writing part, so I'm not sure exactly what's going to happen. I want to be as surprised as everybody else. Even what's in the demo may change drastically to what's in the full game.
We have a guy on the art team, Kwayne who has taken it upon himself to reproduce some of the fonts as close as possible. And with the HD project... some fonts, like the Pkunk I think look better than the original, and fit the alien perfectly. If you ever looked at the quality of 'vectorizing' stuff like fonts. It's really hit-or-miss. When it works, it's great. When it doesn't...it looks horrible. Some of the stuff for the HD project, like the Ilwrath, I've never been able to find anything even remotely close enough...so I created my own. Extended characters, European characters, and even Cyrillic characters are issues we deal and struggle with. Too much stuff to do, not enough people working on it. So if you want to help... I'd love it.
If you haven't been read this forum in 3 years... check out the demo. You'll see lots of changes 
Or at least check out the youtube video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQBQYi88AAI&feature=youtu.be
Thanks Delphot! We always appreciate the comments.
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CelticMinstrel
Enlightened
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Posts: 522
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Yeah, I downloaded the demo just before posting that... haven't tried it yet though.
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CelticMinstrel
Enlightened
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Posts: 522
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Why are you forcing the tiny resolution upon people who haven't installed the hi-def packages? What happened to the scaling options? It's especially jarring because the option to choose the scaling method is still there even though it's clearly completely ignored.
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ColinWilson1980
Zebranky food
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Posts: 1
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Seems like I have a similar story to many. I used to play SC2 with a couple friends back when the game was new, we'd kill en entire weekend on Super Melee. I downloaded UQM a few years ago, and every six months or so I'd give it a go. I just played through the P6014 demo, and my god you guys have done an amazing job. The new ship is very, very neat, and I missed the good' ole Avatar.
I'm really looking forward to trying your next version, there can't a SC fan who won't be thrilled by this version!
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CelticMinstrel
Enlightened
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Posts: 522
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I have to say, the graphics are a bit hard on the eyes, despite (or perhaps because of) the higher resolution... I'm mostly thinking of poor contrast between certain things, particularly some of the planets. Also, the new quake graphics make them almost invisible.
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CelticMinstrel
Enlightened
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Posts: 522
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And now I've found it confusing to have it in a different menu item. 
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CelticMinstrel
Enlightened
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Posts: 522
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Well, having played through the demo twice (once going straight to the goal, and once taking time to visit the various allies first), I have lots of things to say. Doubtless there's more that I've forgotten, though I opened up the game to remind me of a couple of them.
Things I like
- The Lurg. I'm not even really sure why, but they just seem right somehow.
- Umgah selling the Slylandro modified Marauder vessels (though I was slightly disappointed to discover that, if attacked, they immediately warp away and lack their own victory ditty, mainly because I liked the idea of them having their own victory ditty)
- Moving planets and starbases
- The various new comm screens; Syreen homeworld, Syreen ship, Earthling ship, Shofixti colony, Yehat starbase... I think that's all of them? Commander Hayes doesn't count as "new" since it's just a minor modification of the existing one.
- The fate of the Kohr-Ah's talking pets seems logical, though it makes me wonder how they translate now that they don't have them.
- The use of "spheres of influence" to convey other information.
below.ogg and its implications.  (Although it's a little short... not that that truly matters.) - Multiple starbases! Though there's nothing to actually differentiate them (other than appearance/location)... whether that's good or bad, I'm not sure.
Things I dislike
The Chmmr... in particular their use of slave shields, at least in part because both cases of their use imply harmful effects on the respective species (the Mycon as mentioned by the Chmmr needing planet to reproduce or something, and the VUX explained by their starbase as needing sunlight), but also what the Yehat (and Hayes) have said about them. - Use of what appears to be the planet images from orbit mode in solar system mode; it makes the planets hard to see.
- The supposed fate of the Ilwrath and Thraddash... I'm of the school who believes that their fleets would have been totally destroyed but some survivors would've remained planetbound on their respective homeworlds.
- Syreen starbase comm screen. I hope this is just temporary, because it's the worst art in the demo. It doesn't even look human, really.
- The Utwig's withdrawal seems too forced to me, though I suppose it does sort of fit them.
- Not being allowed to land/converse on allied homeworlds. On the whole, I would prefer being forced into conversation rather than the computer refusing to dispatch a lander.
- Vela in general... it's a significant human colony, so why is the only thing you can do there land and return home to find a note from Talana? Speaking of which, why is Talana not with you?
Things I'm not really sure about; ie, I don't really dislike them, but neither are they particularly nice.
- The nebula backgrounds in solar systems
- (not entirely P6014-related) Some of the high-definition graphics are really nice, but I don't much like Commander Hayes or the planet quakes. On the whole I think I prefer the original graphics, but my mileage varies quite a bit.
- The way that ally spheres of influence usually focus on their home star and contain only that star... until you talk to one of their ships, at which point the actual sphere becomes evident.
- The Explorer.
- The Melnorme somehow seem a whole lot less adept at information gathering than they were in UQM.
- The Lurg's reasoning for the Ur-Quan missing them... I should think it's not the actual reason though, so I guess it's not that bad.
Random rambling, feel free to ignore
(Spoilered just in case)
What on earth happened to Alpha Vulpeculae!? There's supposed to be a supergiant star system there with a planet and (more importantly) a Melnorme Trader, and instead all I got was Mycon music with Arilou-like dialogue warning me away. And no planet or even star. (Apparently Hayes even mentions the anomaly, which I missed on the second playthrough.) Where'd the other scout group go? I checked out the constellations where the Melnorme mentioned one had been seen, but there was nothing there. Is it something that hasn't been added in yet, or is there some explanation for its absence? I was sort of hoping to also find the wreckage of the third scout group, but no such luck. But that's something that could logically be impossible to find (perhaps it was destroyed by a stray Kohr-Ah or something). Why are there no options to inform various allies about the Slylandro's new ships and/or actually convince them to leave? Presumably that's just something you haven't gotten around to yet, but just in case I'm bringing it up. (Personally I think they should eventually get their ships painted to distinguish them from Kohr-Ah. ) I'm not sure if it's intentional, but you can just barely manage to intercept the Lurg ship before it leaves the system. This actually seems to me to be something that shouldn't be possible, since I get the feeling that it's that ship that summons the Lurg ships in time for the cutscene. I still think the Centauri constellation should be under the Earth sphere of influence... not really sure why, exactly. Is it my imagination, or is Betelgeuse closer to Epsilon Gruis than it was in the original game? |
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