Topic: SFC 4 Project

[toasty0]

I'm not sure where things stand, but with you onboard I know the project would be complete. 

[Scott_Bruno]

Well it's not up to me. It's not my game or my plan and I have no idea what they have in mind. All I'm saying is, I'm willing to help out.

[marstone]

You have no idea how much trouble this has caused us. There is a whole thread devoted to cracking it. AFAIK they barely scratched it.

I have alot of it figured out so far the Q3 part, I think the Quil part is coded in the main program somewhere or in the chernobyle box part.

working on the RLE of the images now.  Slow, slow.

But still no word if it is all for naught when SFC4 does come out.

[Scott_Bruno]

You have no idea how much trouble this has caused us. There is a whole thread devoted to cracking it. AFAIK they barely scratched it.

I have alot of it figured out so far the Q3 part, I think the Quil part is coded in the main program somewhere or in the chernobyle box part.

working on the RLE of the images now.  Slow, slow.

But still no word if it is all for naught when SFC4 does come out.

I'm not sure if we even had the source. I thought the real bowels of SWIL lived in a library or two that we linked with. I could be wrong; it's been quite a while. There was some kind of goofy wrapper added later on that really didn't change anything, but that would have been SFC3 code anyway.

[marstone]

I'm not sure if we even had the source. I thought the real bowels of SWIL lived in a library or two that we linked with. I could be wrong; it's been quite a while. There was some kind of goofy wrapper added later on that really didn't change anything, but that would have been SFC3 code anyway.

that is possible, I haven't tried to look in DLL's (that would be a new experience I don't look forward to hacking on).  I have only dug in the Q3 file proper so far.  Interesting that Quicksilver in the information they set us here said we shouldn't have Quil in the game ( ) but from the rest of you in the know, it is there. 

Not sure what all it did, but might be interesting to check it out (would that be the scripting language used for the AI and such?)

Grr, now I am going to have to go looking for it. 

[marstone]

Have you guys considered leveraging existing technology with free licenses that would be 100% compatible with your project? Like, using Ogre as the renderer or something. Ogre is seriously f*cking over-engineered if you ask me (and I realize you didn't) but, I can almost see in my head right now how you could adapt it to SFC fairly easily. And poof, you have a cross-platform renderer.

Wondering how hard it would be to get Ogre to use the MOD format (guess we can always port the models over to other formats also).

[Scott_Bruno]

Wondering how hard it would be to get Ogre to use the MOD format (guess we can always port the models over to other formats also).

Assuming the project went that way, new mesh & material formats would be a given. There are far better ways to do models that have options like animated bits and destruction anyway.

[marstone]

Wondering how hard it would be to get Ogre to use the MOD format (guess we can always port the models over to other formats also).

Assuming the project went that way, new mesh & material formats would be a given. There are far better ways to do models that have options like animated bits and destruction anyway.

that is true, was just looking at the Ogre page, and thoughts of ships that would twist and bend as they took damage came to mind.

[Centurus]

The next one who says the word 'pay' gets a torpedo for his trouble; I would never take a dime from you people. By the end, and like most people, I hated the company. But I always loved this game.

Also, I forgot that my normal, sailor-inspired speech patterns were against the forum rules here. By way of apology I’ll have myself agonized later.

To be honest, about a year ago Frey did ask me if I would be interested and I passed. It was a little bit because I wasn't sure of the legal situation, a little bit because I was really fed up with the game industry at the time and I couldn't fathom taking more work home with me, and a little because I didn't think I wanted to do it if it was just going to be the Mother of All Mods rather than a full-tilt project.

Part of me (a few parts) would love to tear into it and replace the whole darn renderer. So much has changed since then and the thought of applying what we’ve learned to SFC is very exciting to me. One of the truly neat things about a space game is that most of the world is empty space. You’re not spending all that time drawing walls, trees and waving blades of grass. You don’t have a screenful of human-ish skeletons to update. You can therefore go hog-wild on the relatively few things you are drawing; especially today, with the state of hardware being what it is.

I don’t know. I don’t know what the plan calls for but it seems too exciting not to go for it.

1.) I ain't got no money, but I could give you my thanks and undying gratitude.  And even make a custom set of registries for you of a ship if ya wanted.  I'm poor, so there's only so much I can do.   

2.) You have got to join the development team.  Now's your chance to put all the golden stuff you dreamed of into SFC.  I'm sure your input would be more valuable than gold. 

[Centurus]

Wondering how hard it would be to get Ogre to use the MOD format (guess we can always port the models over to other formats also).

Assuming the project went that way, new mesh & material formats would be a given. There are far better ways to do models that have options like animated bits and destruction anyway.

that is true, was just looking at the Ogre page, and thoughts of ships that would twist and bend as they took damage came to mind.

So long as the necessary tools, MAX plugins, etc., were made available and easy to use to get ships into the game and fully working, hell, I'm all for it.

[Corbomite]

Well it's not up to me. It's not my game or my plan and I have no idea what they have in mind. All I'm saying is, I'm willing to help out.

Scott I know for sure that they would love to have you. It is a small team working in their spare time. Projected release of an alpha or beta testing version is at least a year off. Just contact Frey. It's not like you'd have to fill out an application or anything, I mean your sample work is the freakin' game! 

[Scott_Bruno]

[I mean your sample work is the freakin' game! 

Lord, I hope not. I was still a noob then; there's no telling what kind of crap I wrote. Alright, I'll talk to Frey.

You know, I've spent more time thinking about this today than about work.

[KBF-Crim]

Captain Krumb lives again!

[Ramagar]

Hey all!

My opinion is this.  The reason SFC3 and ST Legacy were so dismal is they were dumbed down

Thanks! And I'm sure the last couple years' worth of whatever work you do were complete sh*t.

 

WTF is that all about?

[Centurus]

Hey all!

My opinion is this.  The reason SFC3 and ST Legacy were so dismal is they were dumbed down

Thanks! And I'm sure the last couple years' worth of whatever work you do were complete sh*t.

 

WTF is that all about?

Scott was on the SFC development team.  He helped create SFC3.  You insulted the game, and by default, the time and effort he put into the game.

You figure it out.

[KBF-Crim]

Plus he cant fly any better than ensign crusher...

[Corbomite]

You know, I've spent more time thinking about this today than about work.

Then all is right with the world. Some of my best days at work have been spent thinking about SFC.  Thanks for changing your mind.

[Scott_Bruno]

Plus he cant fly any better than ensign crusher...

I started to retort then I remembered he was right. Dude, that banner brings back so many memories... wow.

Thanks for changing your mind.

Well I offered; doesn't mean they want me along. For all I know they're ten minutes from done, you know? Mostly I'm just dying to see some new life in the old girl. I've often thought about what it would be like to take a whole new stab at it.

[toasty0]

My fav quote from your site Scott:  Scott: "Oh yeah. I forgot we don't live in a sci-fi movie."

There a bunch more gems, but for some reason I don't quite understand that one stood out.

[Centurus]

Well I offered; doesn't mean they want me along. For all I know they're ten minutes from done, you know? Mostly I'm just dying to see some new life in the old girl. I've often thought about what it would be like to take a whole new stab at it.

If the SFC4 development team doesn't accept you, I will personally impregnate every Playboy Playmate from January 1980-present, and, this is the ultimate sacrifice, I'll watch an entire season of American Idol.

*shudders at the thought*