Development Info Epoch Star warps to v0.43.01

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Epoch Star

If you're looking for a little interstellar swashbuckling in your CRPGing, <A href="http://www.epochstar.com">Epoch Star</a> has been upped to <A href="http://www.epochstar.com/download.php">version 0.43.01</a> of this beta pre-release of the old schoolish space flight CRPG. Since this is our first post about the game, here's some juicy stuff about it:
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<div align="center"><a href="http://www.epochstar.com/"><img src="http://www.rpgcodex.com/images/screenshots/epochstar/tiny001.jpg" height="150" width="200"> <img src="http://www.rpgcodex.com/images/screenshots/epochstar/tiny002.jpg" height="150" width="200"></a></div>
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<blockquote>EpochStar is a cross-genre action/rpg being developed as a throwback to older space epic games such as StarControl 2 and StarFlight. The intention is to create a deep story line with a huge galaxy and extensively developed content. Currently the game is in pre-beta phase, and includes 20 Star Systems, 200 Ships, and over 800 devices and weapons. Goals for the game include increasing the number of Star Systems to 100, and the number of devices and weapons to over 2000. EpochStar is being developed independently by Rick Battagline, and storylines are being provided by John Battagline and Rick Battagline.</blockquote>
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Bring on the green slave women!
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Thanks, <b>chaedwards</b>!

 

[bgillisp]

I am thinking of downloading this when my DSL activates next week (I loved Star Control 2). Anyone try this game yet? If so, what did you think of it?

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

I haven't tried it yet, but I arranged an interview with the guys working on it and then made Spazmo do the questions for it.

It looks neat, though. It's about time someone tossed a character system in a game like this.

 

[Crnobog]

This game is so horrible it makes my eyes bleed, if you're thinking about downloading it - DON'T. I wouldn't even mind the crappy graphics, but the entire game is just poorly designed. Oh, and the controls are shit too.

[edit] and that comes from someone who enjoyed Soldiers of Anarchy

 

[Battleline]

This game is so horrible it makes my eyes bleed, if you're thinking about downloading it - DON'T. I wouldn't even mind the crappy graphics, but the entire game is just poorly designed. Oh, and the controls are shit too.

[edit] and that comes from someone who enjoyed Soldiers of Anarchy

Wow, that's harsh man. I'm the author, and it is currently a work in progress. Some of my goals for future versions before it's complete are configurable controls, and I need to hire myself an artist. I would certainly encourage you to email me any ideas for improvements.

support@epochstar.com

Sorry it's not your bag, but I'm still working on it.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Well, I wouldn't say it's as bad as Crnobog makes it out to be. I dinked around with a little mining vessel for a bit. It is a little clunky, but it's not horrible.

It would be nice if there were an option to have the weapons smart switch for things like compounds and enemy ships. Also, some planets are rather dark, which makes them impossible to see until you smack in to them. The default scrolling speed on the dialogue needs to be a tad faster. I had no trouble reading the scrolling speed on the fast forward option.

It would be nice if there were some mouse over tool tips in the game. I really have no idea what the skills actually do.

 

[Battleline]

Thanks for the feedback. I actually plan to address many of these in further versions.

It would be nice if there were an option to have the weapons smart switch for things like compounds and enemy ships.

Good Idea, I'll put that one on my list.

Also, some planets are rather dark, which makes them impossible to see until you smack in to them.

In the Options menu, there is a slider for the Ambient lighting in the game. Also, my Planet textures are not great right now, I have to work on those.

The default scrolling speed on the dialogue needs to be a tad faster. I had no trouble reading the scrolling speed on the fast forward option.

I can't win on this one... I get complaints no matter what I make the default scroll speed, so I put in the FAST FORWARD and HALF SPEED buttons. You can hit the FF repeatedly to greatly increase the scroll speed. Also, there is a stop button to exit the dialog completely.

It would be nice if there were some mouse over tool tips in the game. I really have no idea what the skills actually do.

Definitely on my Radar... future release to come.

Also, in the works are improved glow effects, improved art, more consistent user interface, better ship texturing, improved AI Pathfinding, configurable controls, and many other things I can't remember off the top of my head. I have a list at home.

Anyway, the more feedback I get, the better I can make this game. I promise to keep working on it if people keep playing it. :D

-Rick Battagline

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Also, in the works are improved glow effects

The glow effects for the engine thrust is definitely distracting. A small line trail would be much better. It's hard to see the damage smoke trails with the big engine puffs, really.

 

[Battleline]

Also, in the works are improved glow effects

The glow effects for the engine thrust is definitely distracting. A small line trail would be much better. It's hard to see the damage smoke trails with the big engine puffs, really.

Yeah, I've read an article about how they did the Glow Effect in Tron 2, and I'm trying to implement that now. Maybe that will be out in a week or so.

 

[Seven]

Since it sounds like you're geniunely interested in feed back, I'll download it and give it a whorl in the next day or so. BTW, are humans a playable race?

 

[Battleline]

are humans a playable race?

Not at present. Humans are in the game, and I have a storyline for them that is outlined. But it will be quite some time before I can get that storyline into the game. Right now I still have a lot to do to the core game. I do appreciate you offering feedback.

 

[Battleline]

...it sounds like you're geniunely interested in feed back...

Absolutely! My goal is to create a game that people love to play. The reason I am asking people to play the game when it's in the pre-alpha phase of development (I think the initial poster said this was a beta, but it's really not because it isn't feature complete) is because I want input so that I can make the game the best it can be. Hopefully no one else will bleed from the eye balls as a result of my early releases.

 

[wesleyclark]

Good luck with your game.

 

[Battleline]

Good luck with your game.

Thanks. So much work... so little time. :D

 

[Sol Invictus]

Looks pretty neat. We'll be keeping this on our radar, but be sure to give us (By us I mean Saint) a ping.

 

[Seven]

I played it for a little while and then it crashed. I think that all of Crnobog's critisisms a re unfounded since it's still in beta (or alpha?). It doesn't look awful and the design isn't poor (except that it tries to be too expansive). My biggest gripes are: combat's a little too twitchy, there's no planetary mission scene (it seems like you're just offered missions once you dock), crashing into things is a really big problem (the maps seem to be cluttered with obstacles, and often times I find myself running into things in hopes that they might be dockable), I haven't been able to salvage or capture other ships, and it why can't I attack non-hostiles?

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Yanking all the weapons off a ship seems to crash it. That's about the only thing I've seen so far that's crashed it - but that crashing does seem to carry through when you try to load the game again.

 

[Battleline]

Yanking all the weapons off a ship seems to crash it. That's about the only thing I've seen so far that's crashed it - but that crashing does seem to carry through when you try to load the game again.

If it's crashing that's a huge problem. I know it drives me nuts when a game crashes on me so I thank you all for your patience. The more information you can provide me about when it crashes, the more likely it is I'll be able to fix the problem. I'm hearing when you equip certain weapons it's crashing. Does anyone know what weapon that is?

alos, seven made some good points, I'll try to address them in the next post.

 

[Seven]

Specifically, for me it crashes when I try to jump to jump from one system to another; it's pretty random though and it's only happened twice both times when trying to jump to the enlar system.

 

[Battleline]

This post is to attempt to address some of Seven's comments. Good points, but on some I could use a little more elaboration.

...tries to be too expansive...

No doubt I bit off more than I can chew with this game, but I want the Game to be HUGE. I should probably do some trimming for the initial release and expand the Universe in later add-ons. I would appreciate any suggestions on where I could trim the game with minimal gameplay impact.

My biggest gripes are: combat's a little too twitchy

I could use a little elaboration on this. Right now I'm aware that my game AI is sub par. If this is what you mean, I'm in the process of working on it. Or if you mean that you don't like the way the controls work in combat, I'm open to suggestions. If it's something else, a little elaboration on the combat being "twitchy" could help me a lot in my fine tuning.

there's no planetary mission scene (it seems like you're just offered missions once you dock)

There are missions that do not start on docking, but the first few do to get the player used to docking with a space station. I don't currently have any missions that start out on a Planet. I'm not sure how necessary this is. I know it was a stable of SC2, but so far I haven't included it. However, there is no technical reason why I couldn't

crashing into things is a really big problem (the maps seem to be cluttered with obstacles, and often times I find myself running into things in hopes that they might be dockable)

I've heard this many times before, and I've been thinking about a way to fix it. One way I could potentially fix this is to NOT have a collision with an object result in a ship bouncing off the object. Instead the ship would just STOP at it as if it were a wall. As a personal preference, I actually like the collisions, but I'm getting a lot of negative feedback around them, so it is likely I will drop them in the future. I also could extend this to ship collisions. I have also had people complain that they don't like how ships collide with each other and bounce off. I'm really looking for advice in this area, because I happen to like the way it is, but it seems as if the majority of the people who play it do not.

Further suggestions please.

I haven't been able to salvage or capture other ships

I haven't coded anything like this. I like the thought though. I'm not sure exactly how that would work from a game play perspective. Frequently when you destroy a ship, in the wreckage there are compounds, or weapons, but the idea of salvaging an entire ship is intriguing. Once again further thoughts would be appreciated.

why can't I attack non-hostiles?

This again seems to be one of those "Damned if you do or Damned if you don't" situations for me. When I had it so that the player could attack non-hostiles, I had people complain that on missions where they where protecting friendly ships, they would accidentally destroy them. Anyway, I would love to hear an arguement for why you should be able to attack non-hostiles.


Thank you very much for the ideas / opinions. I find this kind of feedback EXTREMELY helpful and informative. :D

 

[Battleline]

Specifically, for me it crashes when I try to jump to jump from one system to another; it's pretty random though and it's only happened twice both times when trying to jump to the enlar system.

Crap... I'll have to look into that. Sorry for the inconvenience.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Being too expansive isn't a bad thing. Look at Elite, 100 stars per 8 galaxies. The problem with most space trading games is they aren't big enough, and that's why Elite is the benchmark.

 

[Battleline]

Being too expansive isn't a bad thing. Look at Elite, 100 stars per 8 galaxies. The problem with most space trading games is they aren't big enough, and that's why Elite is the benchmark.

I agree. That's why my goal is to have over 100 Systems in the first galaxy, and then add more galaxies later. The only problem with having that much content, is it takes a lot longer to polish it all (which is what I assumed Seven was referring to). Right now Epoch Star seems very unpolished, and part of the reason for that is the amount of content I'm attempting to put into the game is somewhat overwhelming for a single person to manage.

Seven, any comments?

 

[Psilon]

Note: Haven't downloaded the demo yet.

One of the traditions of space traders is the piraty/psychopath approach. Since unarmed merchant ships aren't going to pick a fight with a Missile Boat, the player needs some way of initiating combat so he can loot, pillage, and/or plunder.

I agree, though, that missed shots shouldn't cause a bloodbath, especially on escort missions.

Suggestions:
1. You could make the ships being escorted just a little bit tougher. Not so much that they become invincible, but let them take some stray rounds without losing structural integrity.

2. Similarly, let the nonhostile AI give the player the benefit of the doubt. If the player isn't targeting the victim, let the victim take a shot or two before calling in reinforcements and going hostile.

 

[Balor]

Got the demo, looks promising... just like a big, ugly rock with a few glittery specks have a potential to become a diamond . Cut&polish galore!
A few questons:
1. Where can I see prices on ships? And their size?
2. Why running into some colored clouds (are they zones of ratdiation or something?) drain my shield/armor first, and in other - instantly get my structure to nearly zero (doesn't kill me, but repair costs are nasty).
3. What all those skills actually do? (Are they working yet?)
4. What is the meaning of numbers that show when you buy a new ship? (They are similar to skills.. but don't tell me that's minimum skill requirements! ).
5. When you'll fix those nasty crashes?
And about collisions - just lessen 'rebound' effect. Right now, it's like playing pinball with your ship... which is fun, but leads to death pretty fast.