Feedback documenting my journey towards making my dreamgame

40K fangame... my "practice game" but using all the parts and code I'll need for my "dreamgame"...…

Here we see a Voidship blasting away from a planet, we see 3 gigantic Hive cities on the planet with lots of traffic going on between... we zoom out.. the planet and weather is all dynamic...

we go to the Strategic map... we that hurricane now in Red wireframe.. the landmasses stand out a bit more in the Strategic view... We see the Icon for the Imperial Frigate Arnold... which then opens a warpgate, enters then we wee a Strategic map view of the entire galaxy in the year 40,000K...

I'm taking an online Udemy class! (C# survival Guide)… it's my first online class ever (and got it on sale 90% off)… so I'm excited... and this thread is a year old now...

still work in progress, but if asked I'd recommend taking a course like that at the start and not a year later.. you know, cause I'm more of an art person than a coder...

so work continues on my "practice game"... just getting ready for when I can make my "dream game".. with a little more coding knowledge I think I can do it.

 

and finally, something I've been wanting to do since I started making games.. dead crewmen being sucked into space, and drifting after a battle​

Asteroid Vs LightCruiser

 

View attachment 445703 I'm giving up on "skyboxes".. both in my 40K "practice" game and in "Starship Stowaway" my "real" game... I'm finding I get a lot more control, and a more fun background that changes over time with just using the partical system... I took the basic partical "fuzzy dot" and gave it some streaks in Photoshop with the "smudge" tool... works really nice.. gave the stars a range of colours, and a life cycle where they go from Blue to Yellow to Red and then fade away.. I kinda want to get carried away and model out the whole lifecycle and have some stars explode at the end of their lives... (it's a space-fantasy game, so I could get away with it)..

for fun I took a sphere and used a deform mesh modifier on it to give me a nice 3d spiral galaxy model, and I'm using that as a mesh shape for some of my stars... (so if you are at one end of the Galaxy and looking Corewards, there will be lots more stars towards the Centre than looking outwards)

used the same trick for making "lit windows" for the spaceships.. which really really helps give the ships some sence of scale.... and it's nicer than a "lightmap" or having the windows in textures because these windows turn on and off, and they are set to "change up" a few times a day to represents "shifts" or whatever... they change, which is nice

 

youtube video and dropbox link if anyone wants to download (400 megs) and check it out...

no "game" yet.. more of a "vignette" but here is download

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zxyjgnqaiqggk97/BuildsVee3July7th.zip?dl=0

 

it makes me feel good to scroll through this thread and see the progress (and I've not forgotten that my dreamgame is like this, but in a much more realistic and closer future setting)

and download link... everything is still very very rough.. and I took out some stuff temporarily like Warp Travel, while I work on planets and troops and enemies

download link.. it make a nice scenic screensaver
https://www.dropbox.com/s/68lq6r3oc00lh1y/July14Vee3.zip?dl=0

 

A step closer to my "dream game" ... day 6 of a parody/satire Star Trek Oregon Trail mash-up...

I thought I'd try doing a "game jam" kinda thing, and see if I can do a complete game in a week... so I took all my code and re-skinned my 40K game into a Star Trek game

and I couldn't finish in a week...

i'm gonna try and have it done in 10 days... Also, I'm trying to make the whole thing in Klingon...

 

Even a week is too long. You want to Jam properly, you gotta see what you can get done in 2 days. Anything more than that, you're not jamming, you're developing.

But looks amazing, as always!

 

the 21st Century is pretty cool... I found a Klingon coach, whose been helping me make my interface nicely authentic...

the pun in particularly nice in Klingon..(because "Organia" in Klingon sounds like "Oregon"...

I'm working on the combat... I've modeled some individual Klingons on the ship.. next to their consoles, so that when the component gets destroyed or damaged, the crew will be injured...

the two scores are "Honor gained".. the in-game currency, and "Blood spilt" which will give the player like 1 pt for every crewman (Klingon or Romulan killed)..

I need to do random encounters "pop-ups" with interesting decisions..

so call it a "practice game jam" and since it takes me about 5 times longer than a real coder to do anything I could sorta say that i'm on schedule..

but one steep closer to making "Good Morning, Captain" my dream game.. where the Player is given the opportunity to have the "Captain's experience" on a spaceship...


(yes.. I realize it's hilarious I went from an IP like GW's (who has a reputation for litigiousness.. and switched to Star Trek, which is even more active in the C&D category (I got 2 C&Ds over the decades of doing fan-stuff).. but I've been studying up on copyright law, and I think I have the right to make this game, non-commercially (of course).. lets see, it's "transformative", I think.. it's educational, in that it will teach the Player some Klingon, and satirical.. (as I'm going to ridicule "Modern Trek without Gene's influence)... I think I'm totally covered under Fair Use...
and Dropbox link to latest version https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jj1zuqkks6g51bu/AAAAF-ZrsFGQAejQO0EJ962Ca?dl=0

 

I'm not a lawyer and this isn't legal advice, but I wouldn't if I were you. "Fair Use" isn't a right, it's a defense. You get the C&D or lawsuit first, then you can try to get off the hook with the Fair Use defense, but the burden of proof likely is on you.

You might find something helpful somewhere on this channel (he is a lawyer):
https://www.youtube.com/user/ljfrench009/videos

And this will most likely have something useful/applicable too:

I don't understand why you don't make your own IP. I mean StarCraft was essentially rebranded Warhammer 40k too, just make your own grimdark thing while avoiding all the kinds of similarities that could cause "an idiot in a hurry" to confuse it with the actual Warhammer 40k, and you should be good.

Also... have you asked to get the Warhammer license?

 

"I woundn't if I were you"... heard that all my life

"contacted GW"... not yet.. they want a "strong concept" according to their IP rules.. and I don't feel like I have that yet.. now I've got some ideas, and I have made games for them in the past. well, one published game

I would actually like a lawyer to contact me.... I think a Lawyer and I could make a little bit of money together, going after bigger fish than me. (I've done a lot of research and watched copyright laws, especially "creator's rights" in Europe)

and I do have *my* game, which I call "starship Stowaway" and it's a WIP while I'm making my "practice" game, my own IP, and it's not a game for me, it's a game for other people.. so please check it out.. a retro-style arcade game with simple adventure elements...

I think this is the first time I;ve mentioned Starship Stowaway on here.. My buddy Dave did the music, he's a real Julliard trained bassist and DJ... this game and my fangame use preactically the same code.. so I develop new stuff in my practice game, and port it over to my Starship Stowaway game when it works... it limits burn-out and when I was a professional artists I used to prefer working on 3 or 4 different projects at a time


(I'm trying to go for a "Jack Kirby" style background.. but, I'm not quite there yet..)

now my practice game, that's a game for me, that I can do whatever I like, like do the interface in Klingon.. see, that's a stupid idea that most people wouldn't do.. but it makes localization easy

yes... I am utilizing Ethan.. I like Ethan, it's been a nigh constant companion of mine for a year now... I'll probably re do it all, later, when I know how

 

Ever since I first saw the Crew Roster screen in Silent hunter, I knew that I wanted something likethat for my dream game.. so here is about 500 "Klingons" and a few shuttles... basicly my "crew management" first draft mock-up of a screen..

it runs surprisingly well... given there are like an extra 15,000 polygons and some effects on screen when the panal is activated...


hmm.. I should add a simple "orders: button to each Shuttle icon down there.. and I need to learn how to make them all "drag and droppable" to I can put warriors onto the shuttle, then give the shuttle a location to go to..

 

week 2 progress on "casual Star Trek game"
downloadlink https://www.dropbox.com/s/yv2f17wr4cbhrqf/3DStarTrekAugust06.zip?dl=0
The player is the captain of a D-7 Klingon cruiser during the hot and cold war before the Orgainian Armistice.. you have a crew of up to 500 people, a ship to maintain and refit... and I'm trying to get all the classic 4X elements in as well.. so, assign crew to an Expeditionary Force... matter/wave energy transport to the planet (or use the shuttlecraft if you expect a lot of loot) and forage...
in the vid we see the galaxy map, which is a geo.. spatial-political map showing nearby colonizable worlds, and the various ships in the game... we move the focus over to one of the Green guys, and our ship just misses to make contact with him... but we drop a "beacon" and a couple ally ships fly over and one of them gets the Green warbird. .. and right now that's the limit of the player's influence on the Galaxy map.. the player can defend colony worlds with their proximity and summon allies to the location.. it's actually kinda interesting gameplay.. and while this is happening there is exploration, and crew management for Player to do
I'm hoping to have new life forms and a couple new civilizations for the Player to exploit soon... but assign an officer, a few crew and 10 marines to a shuttlecraft and go land right next to that enemy research station.. (my goal is to do stuff like give the Player the option to invade the research station, destroy it, and actually grab the research and return it to the homeworld.. like a "cerebral CTF")
any feedback appreciated, let me know if none of this makes any sence

 

Sounds fantastic. My only feedback at this point is to be sure to make a Mac build so I can play it!

 

Star Trek fans are really supportive.. especially the Klingons who have been giving loads of help

it says "Windows Linux and Mac" universal.. does that mean it will run on Mac? I don't have a Mac to test it out on..

latest versions here, Not complete, but the "Missile Command" style gameplay in the Galaxymap is going to be fun,, I think.. need to think of and add some "cold war" gameplay

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jj1zuqkks6g51bu/AAAAF-ZrsFGQAejQO0EJ962Ca?dl=0​

 

Not one build, no; those are three completely different build formats. There's a "Target Platform" pop-up in the build settings dialog:


​

 

I only have Windows as an option right now, but I will read up on that.. most of my friends are Mac people \


also, the "Missile Command" style gameplay in the overland campaign map turned out to be pretty fun...


working on the Encounter areas

 

still chugging along.. (really appreciate the help and support of the community here, thanks)

https://derrickmoore.itch.io/week-128-game-jam-heresy-part-2

 

OK..
It'll be one year.. in just 2 weeks that I've been pursuing my dream game
, and I'm finally starting to get somewhere. With some basic troops and orbital bombardment stuff.
https://derrickmoore.itch.io/highborn

 

asteroids

https://derrickmoore.itch.io/testing-highborn

 

I updated the Klingon game over the last month.. reduced it from 450 megs to 25, and made it playable as a webbrowser game.

https://derrickmoore.itch.io/klingon

maybe 50% done so far...

 

still chugging along.. but now I'm at the "procedural solar system" stage..

 

Still more Solar Systems..

 

I cant stay away from 40K for long.. I even got some Space Marines to paint during lockdown
https://derrickmoore.itch.io/journey-to-terra-an-unofficial-40k-fangame

 

wow... it took a couple of days.. but I solved the biggest problem i've had so far.. the zero float errors that occure if you try to scale the Planet 10,000 times larger than the spaceship.. so I needed to reset the players location.. and then move the world relative to the player...

but, big day for me.. getting that to work. it needs some clean up, and the player trail is not working right with this script.. (I might have to get rid of the trail...mayebe i can deactivate it or something. )

```
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;
using UnityEngine.UI;
public class EverythingmovesbutPlayer : MonoBehaviour
{
private Vector3 v3_Original;
// rigid bodys for the Player and World. will beed XYZ for each
public Rigidbody rbPlayer;
public Rigidbody rbWorld;
// locations of World and Player
private Vector3 WorldLocation = new Vector3(0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f);
private Vector3 PlayerLocation = new Vector3(0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f);
private Vector3 BPlayerLocation;
// variables needed
// Player distance fro Orgigin point.
public int x;
public int zero00DistX;
public int zero00DistY;
public int zero00DistZ;
public Transform BTransform;
// Start is called before the first frame update
void Start()
{
// v3_Original = gameObject.transform.position;
// Debug.Log(v3_Original);
PlayerLocation = rbPlayer.GetComponent<Vector3>();

WorldLocation = rbWorld.GetComponent<Vector3>();
BTransform = GameObject.FindGameObjectWithTag("Player").transform;
}
// Update is called once per frame
void Update()
{
if (rbPlayer.transform.position.y > 1000000)
{
Debug.Log("Y unup ");
WorldLocation = WorldLocation + new Vector3(0.0f, -100000.0f, 0.0f);
// now move rbWorld; to this new world location
rbWorld.transform.position = WorldLocation;
rbPlayer.transform.position = new Vector3(0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f);
}
if (rbPlayer.transform.position.y < -1000000)
{
Debug.Log("Y undown ");
WorldLocation = WorldLocation + new Vector3(0.0f, 1000000.0f, 0.0f);
// now move rbWorld; to this new world location
rbWorld.transform.position = WorldLocation;
rbPlayer.transform.position = new Vector3(0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f);
}
if (rbPlayer.transform.position.x > 1000000)
{
Debug.Log("X unup ");
WorldLocation = WorldLocation + new Vector3(-1000000.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f);
// now move rbWorld; to this new world location
rbWorld.transform.position = WorldLocation;
rbPlayer.transform.position = new Vector3(0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f);
}
if (rbPlayer.transform.position.x < -1000000)
{
Debug.Log("X undown ");
WorldLocation = WorldLocation + new Vector3(1000000.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f);
// now move rbWorld; to this new world location
rbWorld.transform.position = WorldLocation;
rbPlayer.transform.position = new Vector3(0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f);
}
if (rbPlayer.transform.position.z > 1000000)
{
Debug.Log("Z unup ");
WorldLocation = WorldLocation + new Vector3(0.0f, 0.0f, -1000000.0f);
// now move rbWorld; to this new world location
rbWorld.transform.position = WorldLocation;
rbPlayer.transform.position = new Vector3(0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f);
}
if (rbPlayer.transform.position.z < -1000000)
{
Debug.Log("Z undown ");
WorldLocation = WorldLocation + new Vector3(0.0f, 0.0f, 1000000.0f);
// now move rbWorld; to this new world location
rbWorld.transform.position = WorldLocation;
rbPlayer.transform.position = new Vector3(0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f);
// transform.position = transform.position + new Vector3(horizontalInput * movementSpeed * Time.deltaTime, verticalInput * movementSpeed * Time.deltaTime, 0);
}
}
}
/// psuedo code. Ok..
/// get player location and rigidbody
/// get game objects location and body
/// if player location x y and z is over 100000, move game object -100000 in that axsis
/// and for Y
/// and for Z
/// .
/// .
/// .
/// .
/// .
/// ```

 

wow.. thank you all. I feel like I'm almost there.. like, in another year I'll be ready to start my dreamgame.. I really appreciate this forum and the people on it...

https://derrickmoore.itch.io/battle-oer-the-barren-moon