Bridge Commander Central
Recreational Forums => Other Sci-Fi Discussion => Topic started by: newman on January 17, 2009, 11:14:06 AM
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Some of you may know already about this, but just in case I'd like to mention "Diaspora" - an open source,
BSG themed space sim. Basically it's going to be a space shooter enabling you to do all the cool things we
saw in the show - fly vipers and raptors, launch from a battlestar as a colonial pilot, or be an evil Cylon
as you pursue the puny humans across the galaxy :)
The reason I mention this now is that we've just released our first trailers, so if anyone would like to take a look
here are some links.
Main site:
http://www.diaspora-game.com/
Direct link to videos:
http://www.diaspora-game.com/videos.html
and for those who just want a quick look at the vids (you'll find the higher res versions at the site I linked above):
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And finally, of course, feel free to join us on the forum (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/board,175.0.html).
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Frak! That's beautiful! Never played FS2 myself, but ... Wow. Definitely makes me want to buy it to try the mod out on completion! ...Have a cookie.
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Frak! That's beautiful! Never played FS2 myself, but ... Wow. Definitely makes me want to buy it to try the mod out on completion! ...Have a cookie.
Actually, Diaspora will be completely standalone, so strictly for Diaspora you won't need to get fs2.
But if you like space shooters fs2 is still a pretty cool game, and you can get it on
Good old Games for like 5-6$.
(http://i39.tinypic.com/13z4hog.png)
(http://i41.tinypic.com/v58spf.png)
(http://i44.tinypic.com/2dsr04n.png)
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Ahhh, so it's standalone? Handy. Well, you guys have my download! :D
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And mine as well! Sh*t those models are GORGEOUS! Poly count?? :3
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And mine as well! Sh*t those models are GORGEOUS! Poly count?? :3
Well, I don't know all the counts right now. We are using the heavily revamped fs2_open engine,
with features added like normal map support etc - and it handles a bit higher polycounts well.
So, with a 4 LOD system things do run smoothly, even when you have a whole fleet in the scene
(and some ships are pretty polygon - heavy.. for instance the battlestar Pegasus most detailed
LOD is in the neighborhood of 100,000 triangles. Works fine.)
On the pics below, the 3rd one from the top - the freighter - is called the Prometheus, she was done
by me so I remember that the count was just below 40,000 triangles for lod0 (most detailed one).
Still, she's quite a big ship with a fully modeled and lightmapped hangar in which you can fly into,
so those polygons were well spent :)
The raptor cockpit you see in the video has the whole interior modeled, and it's at 8557 triangles.
The armistice station is somewhere in the vicinity of 9,000 triangles iirc.
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As an big BSG-fan i have to say i love it :D
I will definatly keep an eye on that one!
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Modelled cockpits... Oh man, I can't even begin to imagine how chaotic it would get...
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And mine as well! Sh*t those models are GORGEOUS! Poly count?? :3
Well, I don't know all the counts right now. We are using the heavily revamped fs2_open engine,
with features added like normal map support etc - and it handles a bit higher polycounts well.
So, with a 4 LOD system things do run smoothly, even when you have a whole fleet in the scene
(and some ships are pretty polygon - heavy.. for instance the battlestar Pegasus most detailed
LOD is in the neighborhood of 100,000 triangles. Works fine.)
On the pics below, the 3rd one from the top - the freighter - is called the Prometheus, she was done
by me so I remember that the count was just below 40,000 triangles for lod0 (most detailed one).
Still, she's quite a big ship with a fully modeled and lightmapped hangar in which you can fly into,
so those polygons were well spent :)
The raptor cockpit you see in the video has the whole interior modeled, and it's at 8557 triangles.
The armistice station is somewhere in the vicinity of 9,000 triangles iirc.
Oh wow. You guys are doing really well, then! Amazing work; I really look forward to seeing this develop. :D
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Wasn't there another BSG Freespace 2 mod at one time? What happened to that? I think it was called 'Red Lie' or something.
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Beyond the Red line. They released a demo about a year ago. It was fun.
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Wasn't there another BSG Freespace 2 mod at one time? What happened to that? I think it was called 'Red Lie' or something.
I believe you refer to "Beyond the Red Line". Unfortunately, due to creative differences (and no, neither me
or any other team member is willing to expand on that :) ) almost every member of that team left to form
our own project called "Diaspora". That means we get to use anything that any of our ex-BtRL members
built while being part of that project.
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..we recently released. Hope you like.
(http://diaspora-game.com/images/screens/screen_015.jpg)
(http://diaspora-game.com/images/screens/screen_014.jpg)
(http://diaspora-game.com/images/screens/screen_013.jpg)
(http://diaspora-game.com/images/wip/wip_001.jpg)
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Holy procreation, that's awesome. Time to undig that old Freespace cd.
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That looks suspiciously like a Viper frame... Argh, the torture! But it's so good at the same time! :lol:
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Yes, the last pic is the viper mkII cockpit being done by Lt.Cannonfodder, on of our artists.
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I never liked BSG.
But this...
DO WANT!!!
:D
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Any chance we'll see this in BC Newman?
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Any chance we'll see this in BC Newman?
Afraid not. Don't see the point to be honest. First of all, what we're doing is a space shooter concentrated on
simulating small fighters - the engine and game dynamics are concentrated on that. BC is more geared towards
starship combat. Secondly, we're not merely importing new models into FS2 - we're making a completely new
standalone game using a heavily revamped fs2_open engine (which is at this point more advanced then BC's -
we have stuff like normal mapping which our models take full advantage of).
Basically, you'd never be able to get the same game dynamics, OR get these to look as good in BC.
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Oh, I know that. If it's anything like the BTRL Demo, this will be quite fun. (Though I ran out of fracking ammo half way through the first mission. :P)
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(Though I ran out of fracking ammo half way through the first mission. :P)
Happens to all new players. As you adapt to the game, you learn to aim and shoot only when there's a chance of a hit.. Later
on I never ran out of ammo, no matter what I did or how high my kill score was. You just can't spray without pause like in
some other games :)
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From the videos, the combat looks spot on. I'm trying not to get my hopes up for the Blackbird though, I dunno, remembering Starbucks first 2 minutes makes me shudder.
But frak, I don't know if I'm more eager for this or the hour delayed broadcasts of Season 4 on Australian TV :S
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..we recently released. Hope you like.
(http://diaspora-game.com/images/screens/screen_015.jpg)
Goshdangit Newman! Makin' me have to change my pants all the time... yeash...
No, seriously, that Pegasus is frakkin' MINT! :D
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So after all the talk about this games (Seeing as it's standalone it's not really a mod) predecessor, I gave the demo a whirl. Frak. If that and more is what's to come...
DO WANT. You have no idea how much the videos have hit the ideal space combat feel. Fast, hard, and loud. While I haven't had the chance to run out of ammo like Kirk did, I did struggle with figuring out the whole location of waypoints, and did lose the mining crew. :lol: But shredding toasters looks even more amazing and fun in Diaspora, Newman, somehow you know what I want, and it's scaring me greatly. If I could buy you and the team a round of drinks, I sure as hell would.
I'm definitely hooked.
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...No, seriously, that Pegasus is frakkin' MINT! :D
These are the little moments I do this kind of thing for. Glad you like it sir!
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Here's a few pics of the detailed model of the Cylon Basestar that will appear in the game - the one you saw in the videos was just a placeholder.
Added the raider racks recently, there's 864 of them in total so that's quite a lot of smoothing and general mesh issues to worry about - it was a much bigger deal then I thought it would be. At least that's done now - uvws are almost done too so texturing should begins shortly. Hope you guys like.
(http://i43.tinypic.com/2mh7ipx.jpg)
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Like?! How could I not LOVE?!
Very detailed, love it!
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I think I can guess what you won't be modelling. :P
Spoilers for the last episode (or near the end anyway):
http://darthmojo.wordpress.com/2009/04/05/how-big-was-the-colony/
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Oh my frakking GODS!!!! Newman, I bow to your absolute superrior modeling skills... you bring forth true inspiration! Well done!
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Out of curiosity, will there be Mac compatibility like BtRL? ( And is there anyway to get the patch installed on Mac? =/ )
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Yes, we'll have a mac version. Not sure what are you talking about when you say "patch", since Diaspora hasn't made a release yet there's also no patches..
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I was referring to the BtRL patch, with windows you can just copypasta the files, but alas, Mac users like myself have more of a problem =/
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Wouldn't know about that, that is our coders domain. I wouldn't worry about patches just yet though. BtRL is a different game, so if you had a problem there it doesn't necessarily follow you'll have the same one with Diaspora. We do have dedicated mac coders, though, so they'll probably make any eventual patches for that platform easy to install.
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Now this looks amazing...Thanks for letting us know I am also a BSG fan as well and will keep following your progress. Will this have character creation or selection like in FS a storyline and mission selection?
Guess I better check out the website it probably answers these questions and more.. 8)
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Now this looks amazing...Thanks for letting us know I am also a BSG fan as well and will keep following your progress. Will this have character creation or selection like in FS a storyline and mission selection?
Guess I better check out the website it probably answers these questions and more.. 8)
Website has some answers, and a link to the forum where you'll find everything :)
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I think I can guess what you won't be modelling. :P
Spoilers for the last episode (or near the end anyway):
http://darthmojo.wordpress.com/2009/04/05/how-big-was-the-colony/
Holy... Shit. Thats huge.
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I'm definitely not volunteering to model the cylon colony - I don't exactly see it as the most inspiring bsg design ever, and it's a huge amount of work. But I don't doubt it will be in the game eventually. Someone else will have to model and texture the thing, though :)
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Oh that's a shame; I thought you'd do a marvelous job with that. with modeling abilities like yours... maaaannnnnn that'd be brutal... in the good sense of the word.
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Thanks for the compliments :)
Don't worry though - we have high art standards all over the team. (meaning our other 3d guys rule :D )
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great job newman, must have been fun putting all those racks in
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Remember when I said our artists rule? Here's proof :)
First up, a sample of the new interface being done by Lt.Cannonfodder - I'm sure you'll all agree he's done a fantastic job with it.
(http://i40.tinypic.com/wrddp2.png)
Also, it's time to show our own battlestar design that will be the hero ship of release 1 - the Sobek class battlesar Theseus, designed by Starslayer and modeled by Meleardil. The ship is just about 1 km long (so smaller then the Galactica), and while it's a newer ship then the Galactica it's still old - it came into service at the end of the 1st Cylon War, only a few of the class were launched in time to see action in the war.
(http://diaspora-game.com/images/wip/wip_theseus_001.png)
(http://diaspora-game.com/images/wip/wip_theseus_002.png)
(http://diaspora-game.com/images/wip/wip_theseus_003.png)
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just frakkin awsome :D
you guys have done a tremendous job so far, I really looking forward to that game :)
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Wow, loads more "ribs" than Galactica. I might have assumed it was bigger than the Pegasus!
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Wow, loads more "ribs" than Galactica. I might have assumed it was bigger than the Pegasus!
http://www.shipschematics.net/bsg/images/colonial/battlestar_galactica.jpg
Are you quite sure about that? :)
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I was going along the pylons holding out the hangar bays. :) Looks like theres more detial on this Battlestar but then again, thats just me being odd. Again. :P
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What the HELL!? That is bloody amazingggggg!!!!!111`1ojrawi3
No seriously I love it. Its such beautiful work... how long did that BEAST take to construct!?
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What the HELL!? That is bloody amazingggggg!!!!!111`1ojrawi3
No seriously I love it. Its such beautiful work... how long did that BEAST take to construct!?
A few months, and it's still lacking textures, LODs, debris, etc. It took that long, however, because it isn't a canon design where a modeler just has to follow the references as closely as possible - this was our own design (well, Slayer's, with our suggestions on certain modifications as the ship was being built), so it took time and several versions until we were happy with the shape. Now that it's finally modeled, the rest of the work should proceed more quickly. Shouldn't be too long before my basestars are pummeling the crap out of it.. muhahaha.
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I like the look and feel of the menu, but I think the shape still looks too FreeSpace to me, as if it's not hexagonal enough. ;)
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Fantastic! the more I see the higher I jump up and down waiting for it :D
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What the HELL!? That is bloody amazingggggg!!!!!111`1ojrawi3
No seriously I love it. Its such beautiful work... how long did that BEAST take to construct!?
A few months, and it's still lacking textures, LODs, debris, etc. It took that long, however, because it isn't a canon design where a modeler just has to follow the references as closely as possible - this was our own design (well, Slayer's, with our suggestions on certain modifications as the ship was being built), so it took time and several versions until we were happy with the shape. Now that it's finally modeled, the rest of the work should proceed more quickly. Shouldn't be too long before my basestars are pummeling the crap out of it.. muhahaha.
Hahaha, nice. :] Might I ask, is the entire ship one mesh or constructed of several components?
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Hahaha, nice. :] Might I ask, is the entire ship one mesh or constructed of several components?
I'm not the one who built it, so I can't really give detailed technical answers on the mesh, but the answer to this question is almost certainly that it's constructed of more mesh elements. No reason for it to be a single object game-wise (actually it's easier to export with several lower poly parts then one really high poly one - the exporter gets confused if a single object has 70,000 polygons and it's supposed to calculate collisions on it :) )
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Ooohhhhh, I sees I sees! So it works much differently than BC does, then... Although I suppose that's more of a face-palming obvious note that everyone BUT ME would get right off the bat. xD xD
Sorry if I'm picking your brains too much... I just love this work you guys are doing and I'm getting loads of ideas for my own little doo-dads... truly excellent stuff you guys are working on!
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No probs man - ask away, I'll answer what and when I can :)
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Texturing progress on the basestar - i'm still tinkering with a lot of stuff there, and aligning things over uvw areas. But this should give you an idea of how it's going.. The shiny metal look will be achieved with the spec map, this is merely a render of the diffuse texture.
(http://i41.tinypic.com/ouxidu.jpg)
I'd also like to add that artists-wise, we are a bit short handed; sure we can do everything, but it'll take time. So, if you want to help us out, we could certainly use good 3d modelers/texturers (you'll need to know how to uvw map as well to integrate the two).
Drop us a line at team@diaspora-game.com if you feel you have the skill and time to help us out. We'd also appreciate if you include some examples of your work so far, that's the easiest way to see what you can offer.
You can find out more here (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,63222.0.html).
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Aww poo, I don't have much of anything to show. >_>; Lmao. Nice work so far newman!
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I dont really like BSG but that looks very cool and would like to try it out :-)
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Oh man, newman, this needs to get done asap! LOL dying to play this!!!!
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It would be cool to have this in MVAM where at the push of a button you see a bunch of AI cylon raiders detach from the hull and start attacking other ships. Amazing work! :D
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This isn't for BC. Hence the title, "BSG Space Sim".
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:lol: :lol: :lol: I know, i jest thought it would be cool.
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I'll be on a lookout for this mate ;) Nice work :D
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Been a while since I updated this. I've finished my basestar, these are all shots from the game.
(http://i31.tinypic.com/jgjpeh.jpg)
(http://i26.tinypic.com/2qteq0g.jpg)
(http://i27.tinypic.com/2psoi7t.jpg)
(http://i31.tinypic.com/23tp3ed.jpg)
(http://i32.tinypic.com/zno6ch.jpg)
(http://i27.tinypic.com/5a41s2.jpg)
(http://i29.tinypic.com/2jd0y1s.jpg)
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im not a big BSG fan, but damn newman, this looks great! :D
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My keyboard just short circuited.
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I can't wait to see a basestar explode.
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God, that Base Star is just... oh man. Love it.
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:eek Holy f*ck, that is awesome! Wow. Beautiful work, newman.
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The fan game Diaspora came out today
http://diaspora.hard-light.net/
Look awesome.
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Played the campaign through. Short but extremely epic. Made me feel like an Apollo (I'm not good enough to be a Starbuck.) I'm assuming that more content will be added in the future. Anxiously looking forward to the further development of multiplayer as well.
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Played the campaign through. Short but extremely epic. Made me feel like an Apollo (I'm not good enough to be a Starbuck.) I'm assuming that more content will be added in the future. Anxiously looking forward to the further development of multiplayer as well.
If you have FRED the mission editor for Freespace 2 you can create some pretty epic space battles.
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I took some screenshots
http://steamcommunity.com/id/Tuskin/screenshots/?appid=sc_159585&sort=newestfirst&browsefilter=myfiles&view=imagewall
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Played it and I though it was awesome.
But now I want a game based on controlling a Battlestar. Kind of like Bridge Commander but with a lot of changes to make it more like BSG.
Someone needs to make the CIC for Bridge Commander.