Vapourware Limit Theory - An Infinite, Procedural Space Game - DEAD

[Drax]

I've been following this since the ks, the guy is fucking genius.
And he actually is a nice guy.

 

[Destroid]

He seems to be a pretty amazing graphics programmer, he's gonna have a tough road competing with Elite and Star Citizen though.

 

[Blaine]

Fast forward 17 years into the future: "It's coming out this summer,I just need to iron out a few bugs and rewrite the code to make the game compatible with Windows 16."

There's absolutely no indication whatsoever that this is the case. He had an impressive prototype to show at the beginning of his Kickstarter and has been releasing progress videos ever since.

Skimming over a few superficial blurbs and deciding that the project is doomed because you believe the guy's too optimistic or flowery in his presentation indicates that 1.) you don't remember being young, 2.) you're a shallow idiot, or 3.) both.

Or perhaps it's just standard stress-relief shit-flinging at some game you otherwise don't care about, singling out something to nitpick? Codex's favorite pastime, no shame in it I reckon.

 

[TalesfromtheCrypt]

Oh my, you're one deadly serious motherfucker, arent you? calm down already you fucking moron. I have no doubt the guy will finish his lttle tech demo in time, it was just a random Grimoire related joke that came to my mind. Stop being so defensive about everything.

 

[sexbad?]

Stop making shitty jokes

 

[TalesfromtheCrypt]

point taken.

 

[hiver]

Ill have to back this game at some point, although its a different type of space game then i like.

Wish i had that brain in a jar doing my bidding though.... but then again, that would last only until he would construct a new robotic body and proceed to kill all humans... which may not be that bad of an idea after all...hmm..


- worst update so far. fucking 19th century economy in far future, in space - for fuck sake...

then again, what can you expect from these kind of space games...

 

[Farage]

W-why is people hating?
The game project is really really cool.
You guys are looking at pre-alpha footage and calling it boring, don't do that.
As he said on some of his videos, he's keeping track of the development so people can give their opinion on what he's doing, he's not doing it to tease or show-off. Mainly because theres nothing yet to show-off.
Three days ago, he posted a new video explaining how the base market system would work... and its pretty impressive.
Don't judge the book by its cover.

- worst update so far. fucking 19th century economy in far future, in space - for fuck sake...

Do him a favor and log-in at his forum and give your opinion on what it should be.
It looks pretty fine to me, a simple economy that runs on its own giving players space to act as they choose.
19th century economy is still running till today, by the way.

 

[hiver]

Do him a favor and log-in at his forum and give your opinion on what it should be.
It looks pretty fine to me, a simple economy that runs on its own giving players space to act as they choose.
19th century economy is still running till today, by the way.

I know... thats the problem.

No, i cant suggest or advise him on any of that. It goes with the territory of such a kind of a space game.
Any suggestions i would make about it would necessitate a lot of other changes that would take the game out of the scope and style he set for and wants to create.

(it looks pretty darn good for that type of space game - probably better then what Elite and Star citizen will do)

I like what he is doing, regardless of that - so much so i will become a customer when it is released. Maybe even sooner.
Very impressive show of aptitude, capability, style, good thinking, and design - all around.

 

[mikaelis]

I like what he is doing, regardless of that - so much so i will become a customer when it is released. Maybe even sooner.

I believe he hates money.

http://forums.ltheory.com/viewtopic.php?p=5470&f=11#p5470



http://forums.ltheory.com/viewtopic.php?p=5470&f=11#p5470

 

[Drax]

For those with link-laziness, about the negative to infinite crowdfunding:

JoshParnell wrote:
There are a few reasons for this. First, I expressed my position while the campaign was still running, that I believe a crowdfunding campaign should set a deadline and stick to it. I think it's all too easy to get sucked into the "just a little more funding time" and end up continuing on for much longer than initially intended. In my opinion, it sends the wrong message. The LT funding campaign was intended to acquire funding to make the game. I did that, and I certainly acquired enough to make LT, so I'm not going to accept any more until I can offer a real product in return for your money!

 

[Blaine]

 

[mikaelis]

Just watched this. Calling hiver for the first draft of cRPG in LT universe. Especially now, when it looks like it is highly modable

Also, mods - shift it to the SIM section, FFS!. It is a simulation. It may not be SC, EliteIV etc., but it IS a simulation! Very excieted about that one.

 

[Drax]

Yeah, it seems the modding capabilities on this one are going to be much more deep than everyone (even josh) expected at first.
Which is all kinds of awesome.

 

[mikaelis]

Depends on the popularity, though...

 

[Drax]

Well, yes, but as long as the access is there, it's up to us.

Edit: Just saw the update video and it's incredible how stronger the feeling of movement is in LT than in Star Citizen...

 

[mikaelis]

Ok, so as I see it now, he is basically making a next-gen game engine with streamlined interface and easy to access source code.

But I approve, nonetheless

 

[Destroid]

I don't understand why people persist with implementing their own scripting languages when there are so many off the shelf options.

 

[Blaine]

I don't understand why people persist with implementing their own scripting languages when there are so many off the shelf options.

The kid's a computer programmer attending Stanford who just pulled in 187 large to develop a space game. What's not to understand? His ego must be preening itself bald right now. I'm surprised his case fans haven't suffered a bird strike from all the feathers flying around in that room. People with joie de vivre (think the opposite of most Codexians) get excited about this kind of shit.

Granted, Lua or what-have-you would already be familiar to far more people. I learned to tinker with it a bit years ago while playing some text MUD. Maybe he has good practical reasons for a custom scripting engine, too, though I wouldn't know what they might be.

 

[Drax]

If you already can code in LUA, LISP or Python, you'll learn LTSL's syntax in like 5 minutes.
The fact that all procedural algos are exposed is pretty sweet, with such an optimized engine, it provides an amazing framework for modders.

Brief introduction and syntax summary, in Josh's words:
http://forums.ltheory.com/viewtopic.php?p=57813#p57813

 

[Destroid]

This guy is an absolute machine, posts what he's been working on almost every single day in addition to producing the monthly video updates.

 

[Drax]

Josh's back at full speed!
I just read the devlogs for the last few days since he returned from banging ladyboys in thailand and oh my sweet jesus onna stick...!
Right now, the LT engine is for the most part a parser for the new LT scripts which are now responsible for pretty much everything, every object, every interaction, everything is exposed and defined in plain text files, from the dynamic UI to the algorithm that generates how your penis looks underwater. And every change in the script files is automagically updated in real-time, meaning that content creation can take advantage from lightspeed iteration.

I'm amazed at how quickly the game went from "I'd like to implement modding sometime along the line" to "EVERYTHING IS A MODGAWDHEAVANNZ".

This guy rocks.

 

[Volrath]

Vapourware™

 

[Drax]

New Update!!!



Development Update #20: August & September 2014

Well, this one sure took its time, didn't it? But, my dear fellow stellar explorers, you all know the drill -- when you're late, you bring presents!



The Video.
Clocking in at a whopping 36 minutes, this update is nothing short of a monster. It's the first regular monthly update to be segmented into pieces for the sake of coherence. And it's got five of them, plus an intro and outro :D I'll admit that I'm quite proud of this one, as I think it's reflective of a lot of the strong work that's happened in August and September, and it's also reflective of...a lot of love put into the video-making process!

Really, from the bottom of my heart, I hope you guys enjoy it and that it somewhat eases the pain of last month's cancellation.


The Summary.
I'm not even going to try to summarize these two months in the usual two-to-three-picture format. It just doesn't suffice. We need to break out: the list!

• Merged all existing UI concepts into final LT UI engine, combining the best elements from the older linear UI, the node UI, the layer-based UI, and introducing a few new elements in its own right
• Developed several isolated, small testbed applications in LTSL to rapidly iterate on specific elements of gameplay
• Fell into the groove of the new LTSL-driven workflow and have already written around 90 files of LTSL (far faster than I could have written in the equivalent C++!)
• Implemented colony 'cultural traits,' 'local items,' and AI player spawning
• Plenty of new graphical polishes

And some pictures to follow....enough for two months' worth! NOTE : Click thumbnails to view full-resolution images!


New Lighting Techniques

Hot System

Cold System

Stand-alone HUD Testbed

Object Quick-Action Menu

UI Feature Testbed
*** Concerning Future Monthly Updates! ***
For those who do not watch all the way to the end, please note that, at the end of this video, I discuss how the process of doing the monthly update is getting more and more involved as LT grows in size, and it's come to a point where I'm regularly missing the 'last-day-of-the-month' timings. It's both stressful for me and disappointing for the community, so, to that end, I'm saying from here on out that the monthly updates will come out near the end of the month, but not necessarily on the last day -- it may be several days later. I'm hoping this will relieve a bit of the angst of the whole process!

--

August & September Retrospective

It's takecomingn a long, long time to get to where we are today in LT's development process. It's taken oh-so-many wrongs to make the rights, but we're finally in a phase of development where those rights are coming to dominate the scene.

The content sprint has truly begun. It started with UI. It started with little testbeds that isolate pieces of game functionality. From here it will grow, piece-by-piece, isolating and polishing every facet of the game until we have enveloped the whole of Limit Theory.

No, there's not a great deal of time remaining on the clock -- but with the right tools, with the right insights, with the right frame of consciousness...there is no limitation to the potential of the mind. After all, that's precisely the meaning of Limit Theory.

~Josh

 

[Sranchammer]

I stopped reading at 'Stanford'