WIP: 3D RTS space game

[yildiz_online]

Hi everybody

Im a java developper and Im currently developping a game of mine "Yildiz-online".


Just to give you an idea about Yildiz, it is a massively multiplayer strategy game(MMORTS). It's a combination of classical startegy game(like: Homeword or Starcraft) and management game(like: Ogame).

The game takes place in outer space colonized by humans, a lost expedition found abandonned space bases built by unknown civilization. After some centuries they developped and colonized the entire system.

The game is entirely in 3 dimensions. Goal is to develop and assure the management of its base,or if you wish, to create an army to attack other players to steal their resources.

It can be played on windows and linux platform.


I would like to get your feedback about the game(Ideas, suggestions...) if you have any questions, please let me know


Here are some screenshots:

[TheSHEEEP]

Looks good so far
Of course, it is going to need more work, but for a start or a proof of concept or what you are aiming at, this would be fine, I say.

Just a small hint when you post screenshots to "show off": Use anti-aliasing

If you make a sci-fi game, make sure that people understand what is good for what.
With fantasy, real world or medieval scenarios, people usually know what is good for/against what. Pikes vs. cavalry, arrows vs light armor, fire vs ice, stones to build houses, food for units, etc.
But in science fiction, this does not work. At all. Many sci-fi games fail at this.

Have a look at Universe At War to see how you should not do it. The game itself is very promising, but the player has no clue whatsoever which unit or technology is good against what. Even in Starcraft, this is not actually solved that good. But the game is so wide spread that its tactics are more or less common knowledge
A game that did this very good is Wh40k: Dawn Of War and Dawn Of War 2. In the description of its units, it puts in green the type of unit it is good against, and in red which it is not good against. Very helpful, and very neccessary

Also, how much experience do you have in making games?
Everything with an "MMO" in it usually is a world of pain to develop, as it involves so much more than "just" programming. Especially for a small team.
Again, if you want to do a proof of concept first, I'd suggest to ditch the MMO and make the (non-MMO) RTS core of your game. If that works out fine and is fun, then you can move it in any direction.

[Thoran]

The screenshots look nice, congratulations so far. Out of interest, what GUI-system are you using? Is it an own development or a known library?

[yildiz_online]

If you make a sci-fi game, make sure that people understand what is good for what.
With fantasy, real world or medieval scenarios, people usually know what is good for/against what. Pikes vs. cavalry, arrows vs light armor, fire vs ice, stones to build houses, food for units, etc.
But in science fiction, this does not work. At all. Many sci-fi games fail at this.

excellent idea, when i play SCII, i m always lost with the numerous possibilities, i ll do that, thx.

i've not experience making game, this is my first one, i am java JEE dev, so my background is to work on serverside distributed applications, so the main challenge for me is not so technical but more about game play. management, architecture and implementation are ok.

The current server implementation is MO, not MMO, multi node worlds is not yet implemented, but architecture is ready for it(i hope)

The screenshots look nice, congratulations so far. Out of interest, what GUI-system are you using? Is it an own development or a known library?

Thank you, the GUI is own dev, the game is made of java with binding to native libs(ogre, openal, bullet...) widgets are java classes only using ogre overlays for rendering.

somes video:

[youtube]4cVMDkk3oy4[/youtube]

[youtube]7-6uiLj5kLE[/youtube]

[youtube]zs_49tkGpM8[/youtube]

[yildiz_online]

Updates:


-Server is deployed.

-A handbook was written to explain game mechanics and how to play.

-Then account creation app will be the last step before alpha.

[areay]

Hi there, you've made a good start, you've got a long way to go, but you're on the way. Big kudos for getting the multiplayer client/server stuff in at the start, I really wish I'd attacked my current project like that

I watched the vids you posted and was wondering if players are going to be able to move in 3 dimensions?

[yildiz_online]

Hi areay

Thank you, yes multiplayer architecture is completely different than single player and need to be done from the start or it can get really difficult to add later.
Way to go is not so long now, engine is complete and stable, work to do now is adding game stuff and balancing it, but no so many lines of code to add(it is already about 60000 loc now, most in java)
May be server scalability will have to be worked on, but needs lot of players first.

It is not possible to move on Y(up) axis, i ve locked it, complete 3D was harder to move and didnt gave anything interesting in gameplay in this case.

[yildiz_online]

Updates:

-The game has been made ready to accept 100 accounts(it is far too many for a first test week but it is currently the maximum number of bases allowed in a solar system).

-Public alpha will start today at 7pm GMT.

-For more info check my website: http://yildiz.bitbucket.org

-You can report bugs or give your suggestions on: http://yildizonline-alpha.xooit.com/index.php

[yildiz_online]

Last version deployed, new features:

-Press M to display tactic map(still need some corrections).

-Press mouse middle button to move camera.

-Press CTRL + number to save selectionned units, and press the number again to retrieve the selection.

[yildiz_online]

Updates:


- Asteroid capture is complete and added to the game.


- The new Yildiz's version is released.


- Alpha test is still available, do not hesitate to give it a try


- Check the website for more details: http://yildiz.bitbucket.org

[TheSHEEEP]

Good to see you're making progress

[yildiz_online]

Updates:

- New panel to display resources gathering info.

- Arrow keys to move camera.

- Coming up: a new ship!

[yildiz_online]

Updates:


- A new ship is available: the vulture, the mesh is not final and there will be a change on speed, range and damages.


- Soon, it will be able to "jump" to distant location, using an amount of energy.


- Download the game to check the new version which JUST has been deployed on: http://yildiz.bitbucket.org


*Your feedback is always welcomed!

[yildiz_online]

Updates:

Working on a powerful AI system; goal driven. This will give a better behavior to the units.

[yildiz_online]

Updates:

-The latest version is deployed with pretty much improvements.

-Check it on : http://yildiz.bitbucket.org

[yildiz_online]

Updates:


- An important part of the software has been rewritten:

*the destruction of units, the code is now way better and less error prone, it was necessary to hunt some bugs really hard to identify.


- Now the focus is on new features and visual improvements; 3 major bugs are left(unit not destroyed when HP = 0, unit not responding to a move order in some case when attacking and the loss of mouse/keyboard when using the unit list window). They shouldnt be too hard to fix, but the exact cause still needs to be identified through more testing.

- Launcher side: The news will now be displayed in the same language as the one chosen for the game(English and French are currently available)




Safoura.
Yildiz-Online Community Manager.

[yildiz_online]

Updates:

-The newest version is now deployed. It is mainly focused on internal changes and some minor visual improvements.

-Check it on: Yildiz project, and for those who didn't try it yet, you can always download it from the same website.

-A new video is going to be posted soon!



Regards,


Safoura.
Yildiz-Online Community Manager.

[TheSHEEEP]

Great to see the steady progress

[yildiz_online]

@The Sheep: Thank you!


Updates:

Bugs fixed:

-When a ship changed its destination, the speed was reset to 0.

-When 2 sessions were existing for the same player, only the first one was recieving info, now only one session is possible at a time.

-In the city management window, icons were not correctly placed in the case of high resolution screen.

-A new texture when the mouse is over a unit

Improvements:

-Second planet added for the second group of space bases.

Technical:

-Game client code cleaning.
-Updated Server database connector to last version.


-The last version is deployed!




Safoura.
Yildiz-Online Community Manager.

[yildiz_online]

The newest release!

Try Yildiz-Online new version by creating an account then downloading the game from the website: Yildiz project


Bugs fixed:

-Wrong texture in unit list window.
-Exception server side fixed.
-Velocity was not sent with a move action when initialising game.
-Move request ignored when a unit was attacking.
-Wrong staff value for mining guild level 3.

Optimisations:

-Poly count for several objects reduced(firefly is now 3800 instead of 14000!)
-Physic engine compiled with optimisations on.

Improvements:

-Asteroids are now in correct position for 1st planet.
-Improved camera zoom.





Safoura.
Yildiz-Online Community Manager.

[yildiz_online]

Updates:


Bug fix:

-The mouse selection lost precision when being far away from the universe center.


New features:

-Added the vulture skill: FTL jump: it cost 150 energy points(vulture have 200 max) and allow you to teleport everywhere on the map in an instant!

-Display game FPS.



The new version is deployed and here is the GamePlay video as promised!



[youtube]v99a8NstScs[/youtube]







Safoura.
Yildiz-Online Community Manager.

[yildiz_online]

Updates:


Bug fixed:

-mouse and keyboard input were ignored in some cases after using unit list with tactic map open.

-Move lines were buggy, removed.

-Selection was lost after using selection rectangle with empty result.

-Camera positioning was not always set correctly in tactic map.

-Fixed a regression server side causing a high CPU usage(nearly 90%)





Safoura.
Yildiz-Online Community Manager.

[yildiz_online]

Update:


The new ship abilities system is progressing(vulture already had a jumping ability but the former system wasn't allowing to add new features easily).

The new ship will be an abilities based ship with no direct attacks but will mainly focuse on zone damages with missile launch.







Safoura.
Yildiz-Online Community Manager.

[yildiz_online]

Updates:


- Missile system is progressing well, there are only some few visual improvements to be done before the new release.

- The GUI will be also slightly changed so that to allow the access to management screens without any need to select the base.








Safoura.
Yildiz-Online Community Manager.

[yildiz_online]

Updates:


- Messaging system is nearly complete.

- Client: needs some minor visual fixes.

- Server: needs some logic to be able to receive the messages written on the website.

- Try the newest version on the website: http://yildiz.bitbucket.org