Here's some screenies of the new starcruisers. The ships are now made with custom models and attachment points. And the entire gameplay has been reworked to be more realistic. Each weapon has its own firing arc, and ship now move via thrusters. And the camera is now 3rd person instead of top-down. This is actually more like how it was envisioned in the first place.
Here's a preview of the second ship, a Yamato class battle cruiser. The cruiser will feature 5 Larger Weapon mount and a side cluster of auto cannons (on both sides). It'll also come with a super beam installed, but overall, it'll have less weapon slots. It'll also only have 1 reactor and a weaker power generation. The ship is more skinny but a bit longer than the standard cruiser.
The model still needs some refining, and its got some errors like the front of the ship needs fixing as well as better texturing for the back portion where the main engine is. Its not an exact replica, but a copy in design. If you are wondering what those 'boxes' are on the side of the ship, those are fixed weapon mounts where side weapons shoot out. Side+reverse thrusters are also added since the ship needs them to move and rotate.
Here's another preliminary look at a new spaceship, the space carrier. It's just a rough draft of the ship, the lights haven't been added. (the attachment points haven't been set for this model, and the lights all use attachement points) The bay doors will open and close to let out probes and scout crafts. Elevators will open up to let out fighter crafts and they'll launch on top of the carrier to quickly accelerate the fighters to combat speed. Likewise, the fighter crafts will land on the carrier and move to an elevator where they'll are lowered to the second deck.
Also not a gameplay video, but it shows the destructibiliy of the ship which is a big part of the game.
Nebuli2, yup! Full custom UI is in! The goal is to make the UI have that spaceship simulator feel.
Seeing success of warships has inspired me to continue Starcruisers once again! I'm funny that way, seeing similar well made maps really helps me want to work on my own maps. A new video is uploaded showing the latest features. A lot was changed from the original test version. And way more has changed from the original starcruisers.
This game no longer has ship design as part of the battle. Instead, all players will enter battle with pre-built ships. Ship design will take place as a separate game to be played solo.
The battle itself will have more of that spaceship simulator feel. I never liked the RTS feel of the original map. It was cool to design custom ships, but I think gameplay-wise, its just a very complicated version of Star Battle which Star Battle still does better.
But beyond gameplay, the most important thing about Starcruisers is showcasing awesome visuals! That had always been the goal, visuals above gameplay first. Then gameplay can be improved later. I think visually, this new test version goes beyond older test versions. Even the UI has more of that natural spaceship feel with readout displays embedded in the map.
Another goal of this map is to have a more user-friendly interface. For example, a 'smart fire' button is added. Instead of pressing different buttons to activate abilities, players just swirl the camera and depending on camera angle vs starship facing, different abilities will be activated. Furthermore, for plans in the future, special direct ship to ship ability will be displayed as part of the ship readout. To board an enemy ship for example, just get close until the 'boarding icon' appears and press the hotkey on that boarding icon. This would work for tractoring ships, storming neutral space stations, or picking up special items and loots.
Ship design is still the main focus of the map. So far, the test version is just focusing on the battle portion of the map. Enough weapon systems and ship hulls have to be added before Ship Design can begin. Right now, only the default starting cruiser is made. The yamato battleship and space carriers will be made next. The base models for them are already completed.
This concludes the current starcruiser update. Depending on how much inspiration I have for Starcruisers and how much interest in this map, the next update may or may not ever happen. :)
edit: Wow, I just realized the last post was over a year ago! Didn't know starcruiser Test was that old. Probably should just let Starcruisers die... :p
The startools release is instrumental in the update. Also finally got rid of that fog when viewing ships from underneath and made the ship metal actually appear metal. A lot of changes to gameplay too, for those who tried the 2013 test version.
Aww, this map got front paged. Sorry guys, thought this thread died and the new starcruisers 2014 shown in video was taken off-line due to no one playing. The next update will still happen in 2015! There's still 7 months left, so plenty of time. :) The next update planned is going to be awesome!
Also, originally the map was taken off-line to remake it into a smaller co-op game. It was basically impossible to get 6 to 8 players for a full game (the most players ever filled the lobby was 3). But then I realized, its too much work to make levels and monsters.. so the 2015 version is just going to be made as a 6-8 or 12 player pvp game. It probably won't be played so I won't really bother with balance and whatnot, it'll just be a vanity game to show off my vision.
My vision currently is as follow:
1) Larger and detailed view of your ship! Right now, the camera is pretty far and you can't really see details of the ship.
2) The game will be fully 3d! Thought of a new way to showcase this game in a full 3d world where ships can change its height while still able to shoot each other at different heights. This is the new awesome feature!
3) The world will shift down to the planet surface. The engines will be replaced by rotors, the inspiration is taken from captain america: winter soldiers. When those hover-carriers were shooting at each other, it looked so awesome.
4) The new combat mechanic will take into account heights and weapons built on the top/underside of the ship. And because there's gravity, weapons shooting down will do more damage, but it takes more power to maintain higher height.
5) The cruiser will have even more weapons built into its hull, and hopefully a better UI. The UI is really bad right now.
A tiny update, just finished a mock-up of the the latest rebuild!
This is a quick mock-up on what the latest version would look like. The map now takes place on the ground surface. Mar Sara is chosen as the terrain because it has a full sky-box.
After lots tinkering with lighting and material shader in the game, the visual is finally shaping up. The sky cruiser only has few details right now, and most of the body is just a placeholder. The rough shape would look like this, a center hull, 4 rotor blades, main turrets on top, a bridge section, and an engine section behind. There'll be more tiny details added later, include more weapon hard points and exterior (nuclear) missiles.
As mentioned earlier, the camera is zoomed in close to the ship. The free-form camera is removed. Instead, the player will have limited control of camera. The game will be more 'rpg-like' with all weapons calculated using 'stats' to hit or miss. Then the visual will be made to show the hit or miss.
Welp, that's it for the tiny update! May have more tiny updates to follow as the sky cruiser 3d model gets worked on.
How it's possible to work on the same project 4 years and still have motivation to do it? I can understand if it was Squadron Tower Defence when people playing at this. But you are just developing black box already 4 years and still can't release it...
Cuz this guy making his dream come true and doesn't care about other people opinions i assume. If someone else will like what he likes it will make him happy, if not then well, whatever.
Oops, forgot to publish it again. I blame youtube! The preview shouldn't work if its not published, it fools me everytime!
@KorvinGump: Go
The once a year update is a joke. :) This is actually not the same starcruiser that was released years ago. This is vastly different, built from the same idea. That's where the motivation comes from, each rebuild is very different and new.
The preview is just a day1 mockup, its start to look good. Likely, I'll get tired of it in a week or two and move to something else. :) So I'm just going to release these pre-alpha videos to see how much its progressing.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Here's some screenies of the new starcruisers. The ships are now made with custom models and attachment points. And the entire gameplay has been reworked to be more realistic. Each weapon has its own firing arc, and ship now move via thrusters. And the camera is now 3rd person instead of top-down. This is actually more like how it was envisioned in the first place.
Woah, nice! Damn... I was about to make something similar when I finally learn modeling
Yes this is starting to turn out nice..
The new models look 100% better!
please i want video!
Looks like you took VoidCraft and EVE, pumped them full of viagra and left them alone in a room for a few months. I think I approve.
P.s. send me starcruisers so I can upload it on EU if you've moved on.
@sandround: Go
Do a full custom UI and this will be even more amazing.
Here's a preview of the second ship, a Yamato class battle cruiser. The cruiser will feature 5 Larger Weapon mount and a side cluster of auto cannons (on both sides). It'll also come with a super beam installed, but overall, it'll have less weapon slots. It'll also only have 1 reactor and a weaker power generation. The ship is more skinny but a bit longer than the standard cruiser.
The model still needs some refining, and its got some errors like the front of the ship needs fixing as well as better texturing for the back portion where the main engine is. Its not an exact replica, but a copy in design. If you are wondering what those 'boxes' are on the side of the ship, those are fixed weapon mounts where side weapons shoot out. Side+reverse thrusters are also added since the ship needs them to move and rotate.
Here's another preliminary look at a new spaceship, the space carrier. It's just a rough draft of the ship, the lights haven't been added. (the attachment points haven't been set for this model, and the lights all use attachement points) The bay doors will open and close to let out probes and scout crafts. Elevators will open up to let out fighter crafts and they'll launch on top of the carrier to quickly accelerate the fighters to combat speed. Likewise, the fighter crafts will land on the carrier and move to an elevator where they'll are lowered to the second deck.
Also not a gameplay video, but it shows the destructibiliy of the ship which is a big part of the game.
@sandround: Go
Very nice. Do you think you'll ever make a full custom UI? It'd be awesome.
Starcruiser update! New video:
@Nebuli2: Go
Nebuli2, yup! Full custom UI is in! The goal is to make the UI have that spaceship simulator feel.
Seeing success of warships has inspired me to continue Starcruisers once again! I'm funny that way, seeing similar well made maps really helps me want to work on my own maps. A new video is uploaded showing the latest features. A lot was changed from the original test version. And way more has changed from the original starcruisers.
This game no longer has ship design as part of the battle. Instead, all players will enter battle with pre-built ships. Ship design will take place as a separate game to be played solo.
The battle itself will have more of that spaceship simulator feel. I never liked the RTS feel of the original map. It was cool to design custom ships, but I think gameplay-wise, its just a very complicated version of Star Battle which Star Battle still does better.
But beyond gameplay, the most important thing about Starcruisers is showcasing awesome visuals! That had always been the goal, visuals above gameplay first. Then gameplay can be improved later. I think visually, this new test version goes beyond older test versions. Even the UI has more of that natural spaceship feel with readout displays embedded in the map.
Another goal of this map is to have a more user-friendly interface. For example, a 'smart fire' button is added. Instead of pressing different buttons to activate abilities, players just swirl the camera and depending on camera angle vs starship facing, different abilities will be activated. Furthermore, for plans in the future, special direct ship to ship ability will be displayed as part of the ship readout. To board an enemy ship for example, just get close until the 'boarding icon' appears and press the hotkey on that boarding icon. This would work for tractoring ships, storming neutral space stations, or picking up special items and loots.
Ship design is still the main focus of the map. So far, the test version is just focusing on the battle portion of the map. Enough weapon systems and ship hulls have to be added before Ship Design can begin. Right now, only the default starting cruiser is made. The yamato battleship and space carriers will be made next. The base models for them are already completed.
This concludes the current starcruiser update. Depending on how much inspiration I have for Starcruisers and how much interest in this map, the next update may or may not ever happen. :)
edit: Wow, I just realized the last post was over a year ago! Didn't know starcruiser Test was that old. Probably should just let Starcruisers die... :p
Its another year, so here's another update!
The startools release is instrumental in the update. Also finally got rid of that fog when viewing ships from underneath and made the ship metal actually appear metal. A lot of changes to gameplay too, for those who tried the 2013 test version.
Next update, 2015, stay tuned!
This looks absolutely amazing. Hope you still have motivation to continue.
PS. Also pls don't use that nuke animation in space :D
@sandround: Go
Any updates on this MASTERPIECE ????!!!!
Marie T. Freeman If you're too busy to give your neighbor a helping hand, then you're just too darned busy. https://www.facebook.com/wargirlmaps.maps
Spread the love join DISCORD
https://discord.gg/Jtzt8Su
Aww, this map got front paged. Sorry guys, thought this thread died and the new starcruisers 2014 shown in video was taken off-line due to no one playing. The next update will still happen in 2015! There's still 7 months left, so plenty of time. :) The next update planned is going to be awesome!
Also, originally the map was taken off-line to remake it into a smaller co-op game. It was basically impossible to get 6 to 8 players for a full game (the most players ever filled the lobby was 3). But then I realized, its too much work to make levels and monsters.. so the 2015 version is just going to be made as a 6-8 or 12 player pvp game. It probably won't be played so I won't really bother with balance and whatnot, it'll just be a vanity game to show off my vision.
My vision currently is as follow:
1) Larger and detailed view of your ship! Right now, the camera is pretty far and you can't really see details of the ship.
2) The game will be fully 3d! Thought of a new way to showcase this game in a full 3d world where ships can change its height while still able to shoot each other at different heights. This is the new awesome feature!
3) The world will shift down to the planet surface. The engines will be replaced by rotors, the inspiration is taken from captain america: winter soldiers. When those hover-carriers were shooting at each other, it looked so awesome.
4) The new combat mechanic will take into account heights and weapons built on the top/underside of the ship. And because there's gravity, weapons shooting down will do more damage, but it takes more power to maintain higher height.
5) The cruiser will have even more weapons built into its hull, and hopefully a better UI. The UI is really bad right now.
Dont let this project die! This game is to AWESOME for that to happen. Keep us update and dont take 7 months for it. ;-)
Marie T. Freeman If you're too busy to give your neighbor a helping hand, then you're just too darned busy. https://www.facebook.com/wargirlmaps.maps
Spread the love join DISCORD
https://discord.gg/Jtzt8Su
ouaaaa
A tiny update, just finished a mock-up of the the latest rebuild!
This is a quick mock-up on what the latest version would look like. The map now takes place on the ground surface. Mar Sara is chosen as the terrain because it has a full sky-box.
After lots tinkering with lighting and material shader in the game, the visual is finally shaping up. The sky cruiser only has few details right now, and most of the body is just a placeholder. The rough shape would look like this, a center hull, 4 rotor blades, main turrets on top, a bridge section, and an engine section behind. There'll be more tiny details added later, include more weapon hard points and exterior (nuclear) missiles.
As mentioned earlier, the camera is zoomed in close to the ship. The free-form camera is removed. Instead, the player will have limited control of camera. The game will be more 'rpg-like' with all weapons calculated using 'stats' to hit or miss. Then the visual will be made to show the hit or miss.
Welp, that's it for the tiny update! May have more tiny updates to follow as the sky cruiser 3d model gets worked on.
@sandround: Go
How it's possible to work on the same project 4 years and still have motivation to do it? I can understand if it was Squadron Tower Defence when people playing at this. But you are just developing black box already 4 years and still can't release it...
P.S. Your video is private and we can't see it.
http://www.youtube.com/user/RussianMapster
Cuz this guy making his dream come true and doesn't care about other people opinions i assume. If someone else will like what he likes it will make him happy, if not then well, whatever.
This project is epique tho
I cant see the vid!
Marie T. Freeman If you're too busy to give your neighbor a helping hand, then you're just too darned busy. https://www.facebook.com/wargirlmaps.maps
Spread the love join DISCORD
https://discord.gg/Jtzt8Su
Oops, forgot to publish it again. I blame youtube! The preview shouldn't work if its not published, it fools me everytime!
@KorvinGump: Go The once a year update is a joke. :) This is actually not the same starcruiser that was released years ago. This is vastly different, built from the same idea. That's where the motivation comes from, each rebuild is very different and new.
The preview is just a day1 mockup, its start to look good. Likely, I'll get tired of it in a week or two and move to something else. :) So I'm just going to release these pre-alpha videos to see how much its progressing.