Has anyone heard of Masterspace?

[ToyotaSupra]

It's a long shot, but I think the devs can glean some inspiration from this game. It's called Masterspace, and I don't think I've seen it posted before. Check out the vids:
And the site...
http://www.master-space.com/about/

Ugly, isn't it? Old school 90's/early naughties style mixed with 'special needs programming school' gameplay. But look at the features that are possible:
*Full liquid simulation, including being able to pump out and in liquids
*FULL 360 PLANET GRAVITY, yes it works and quite well.
*Block based player additions blend quite well with procedural smooth terrain.
*TOTALLY SMOOTH PLANET TERRAIN, FULLY DESTRUCTIBLE.
*Rudimentary animal and NPC hostile system, bad pathing but still.
*In game pre-sets such as towers and basic ship rooms.

And a few I personally liked, you mileage may vary on the importance of these.
*Ship décor, including carpet and wood styles.
*Real life minerals. It's probably just me who hates the names of the elements.
*Low tech meets high tech.
*Start on a planet, survive and make your way towards building a spaceship so you can leave.

Now keep in mind I played 10 to 2o minutes of this only, so I don't know what bugs come with these awesome features. I'm just here to say 'hey, this might look cool in SM' and 'See? It is possible.' I'm not a programmer, so I don't know how much of this is possible with Schine, but I do know that some of these features would look cool and might be good to look into, either as direct features or just minor inspiration. I'm not expecting anything, but what I do know is that the devs have a habit of listening to the community so just aiming for the moon.

What do you think Starmates?

 

[Saxopi]

I think IGN will have a blast reviewing this one.

 

[CyberTao]

I'm no programmer, but from I know; features are limited by the Game's Engine primarily, and dev skills and coding second. It was already said that the engine (The engine is in which everything is programmed, kinda like a very basic core that Devs build onto to make games afaik) Starmade uses cant simulate running water, nothing Schema could do about that (hence the planned animated blocks).

So yeah, while those do look like nice features (gonna have to poke at that game later o-o), I'm not sure exactly how many are doable within the engine, or Schema's skills right now. Would be nice to see what is/n't possible though.

Wow this post sounds negative o- o

 

[sagethe13th]

I'm no programmer, but from I know; features are limited by the Game's Engine primarily, and dev skills and coding second. It was already said that the engine (The engine is in which everything is programmed, kinda like a very basic core that Devs build onto to make games afaik) Starmade uses cant simulate running water, nothing Schema could do about that (hence the planned animated blocks).

So yeah, while those do look like nice features (gonna have to poke at that game later o-o), I'm not sure exactly how many are doable within the engine, or Schema's skills right now. Would be nice to see what is/n't possible though.

Wow this post sounds negative o- o

Even more basic than the engine, there's the coding language. SM is coded in Java which is great for accessibility but pretty limited. Master Space is probably coded in C# or something. So the two might not be that comparable.

 

[ToyotaSupra]

I think IGN will have a blast reviewing this one.

11/10 it's ok but there just isn't enough mention of the female side of gamergate and absolutely nothing on Doritos. The gameplay is very similar to COD BLOPS but not quite enough for us to enjoy it. Like skyrim, with dynamite in space.

 

[Keptick]

"Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you'll end up among the stars" -unknown

 

[Criss]

Alright so things I noticed.

90% of this trailer is placing or breaking things. Something we can already do.

Graphics wise it looks like its on a garys mod/half life level. Honestly I think the texture work done by the SM devs is so much nicer and works well with higher resolutions. In fact I would say its the nicest implementation of a texture pack I have ever seen in a voxel based game. Screw the realism. That just gets grainy at a distance.

Unless you can save blueprints, I am not sure why the game comes with medieval towers as a built in feature for you to place. Also this is technically something that StarMade can do with templates.

Actual water is nice. It may not ever bob around like this but schema wont leave it as it is forever.

The crafting blocks are nice. But I can design my own factory in StarMade.

For the last time. We cannot have 360 degree gravity in a cube based world. What happens when you approach the edge? Are you going to slowly rotate as you walk along a face of the planet? If you don't then the full 360 degree gravity doesn't actually exist. It works in that game, not in this one.

NPC's are already confirmed. We have 2 in game already plus the AI that we can create. Nothing new there.

Custom blocks/textures were just made a feature. You want those textures? Make them. At least until a mod or the devs add them.

Many games introduce us to new materials that do not exist. To name a few - EVE, Warcraft, Minecraft. Giving us real world materials implies that we are in a more realistic environment. Last time I checked we couldn't make rockets out of iron, gold and aluminum alone. But I have no idea how Hital works chemically. Maybe these minerals/crystals have properties that actually allow something like a jump drives to function, at least in the StarMade universe.

 

[Megacrafter127]

I'm no programmer, but from I know; features are limited by the Game's Engine primarily, and dev skills and coding second. It was already said that the engine (The engine is in which everything is programmed, kinda like a very basic core that Devs build onto to make games afaik) Starmade uses cant simulate running water, nothing Schema could do about that (hence the planned animated blocks).

So yeah, while those do look like nice features (gonna have to poke at that game later o-o), I'm not sure exactly how many are doable within the engine, or Schema's skills right now. Would be nice to see what is/n't possible though.

Wow this post sounds negative o- o

The engine is also made by programmers. In the case of the Schine™ engine, the programmer is schema. He can extend the engine if he puts his back into it.

Even more basic than the engine, there's the coding language. SM is coded in Java which is great for accessibility but pretty limited. Master Space is probably coded in C# or something. So the two might not be that comparable.

Java IS powerful. Using it at full extend just requires some skills.
Java's syntax is extremely similar to C#'s syntax. Apart from processing speed(because of the JVM), programs from both languages are comparable.

 

[Comr4de]

Masterspace is deadarino as a doornail. Probably the 13$ price tag for something comparable visually to Limbo of the Lost killed it.

Looking at the steam reviews (most of them from around May-July) it seems that at some point this was being updated semi-regularly. Recent reviews or reviews that have been updated are all negative. Last game update was 6 months ago. There isn't a lot that this game has that skubmade doesn't.

 

[sagethe13th]

The engine is also made by programmers. In the case of the Schine™ engine, the programmer is schema. He can extend the engine if he puts his back into it.

Java IS powerful. Using it at full extend just requires some skills.
Java's syntax is extremely similar to C#'s syntax. Apart from processing speed(because of the JVM), programs from both languages are comparable.

Yeah, what you are saying about the engine is true. As an example some Minecraft mods add some crazy features to the game. As far as Java goes though that JMV is a real drag. It makes to whole language slow and clunky. So, more advanced physics are often out of reach or much laggier when compared to lighter weight languages. I'm not a programmer really. So I don't know what is and isn't possible exactly. But, you can't just say, "Hey, look! These guys did X. Schema should too." when they are using a different set of tools to do the job.

 

[Megacrafter127]

As far as Java goes though that JMV is a real drag. It makes to whole language slow and clunky. So, more advanced physics are often out of reach or much laggier when compared to lighter weight languages. I'm not a programmer really. So I don't know what is and isn't possible exactly. But, you can't just say, "Hey, look! These guys did X. Schema should too." when they are using a different set of tools to do the job.

True, but one of java's functions is to run native and/or external code. Essentially making one able to get rid of the clunky JVM for some time.

 

[ToyotaSupra]

"Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you'll end up among the stars" -unknown

Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you'll end up in the cold, dead and lifeless vastness of space.

@Comr4de I'm not saying it should have ALL the features, just the few cool things like decorations, smooth terrain, sphere gravity ETC. No need to have that Helghast trooper point his MG at me. Limbo of the lost, oh my god GOTY every year. That ending was comparable to Deux Ex in terms of story.

@Vanhelzing I said the graphics were ugly. They remind me of TES Oblivion on PS3. Also, it isn't the placing and breaking I want to focus on, it's how it's handled. For example, fairly realistic smooth mining instead of ugly ass perfect square holes. And the fact that liquid moves around the blocks.

The 360 degree thing could work if the planets weren't such a big mess. If we had smooth terrain on planets then we could have it. We cannot have the current system we have forever, sorry we just can't. It's ugly, buggy and horrible to work with. But what I know is that this is a hell of a lot of work to fix, and I mean A LOT of work so I'm not complaining. I also don't know shit about game dev.

@sagethe13th I did not know Java had such limitations. I knew it had memory problems, but not this many other problems. My point wasn't to say DO IT NOW but rather inspire and show that it is possible. But it seems it is impossible, on a fundamental and foundation level.

 

[Criss]

Gotta disagree with the mining part. Unless the entire engine was converted to that design format, placing two types of changeable terrain sounds like a terrible idea to me. Planet based gameplay shouldn't be so different to play or to look at as the space part. With blocks comes a non-360 gravity mechanic, hence planet plates. Rounding planets out is not a simple fix to the problems players have with planets.

 

[SilentRider_14]

The planets may be round but they are also rooooooound.

Spoiler

If you start building anything it will align on one point and the ground will quickly curve away like putting a ruler on top of an orange. Dont really recall if you could make the planets big enough to fix this

Ship weapons are also so straight forward and generic single place objects non-customizable; has been already done by a lot of other games.

 

[Lecic]

The 360 degree thing could work if the planets weren't such a big mess. If we had smooth terrain on planets then we could have it. We cannot have the current system we have forever, sorry we just can't. It's ugly, buggy and horrible to work with. But what I know is that this is a hell of a lot of work to fix, and I mean A LOT of work so I'm not complaining. I also don't know shit about game dev.

Ok, and then what happens when someone flattens out a section of the planet and the 360 gravity starts pulling on people and ships in weird ways?

*Real life minerals. It's probably just me who hates the names of the elements.

Fake elements are better. We don't have to deal with complaints about the usage of real life materials being unrealistic within the crafting system.

 

[Mariux]

It's a long shot, but I think the devs can glean some inspiration from this game. It's called Masterspace, and I don't think I've seen it posted before. Check out the vids:
And the site...
http://www.master-space.com/about/

Ugly, isn't it? Old school 90's/early naughties style mixed with 'special needs programming school' gameplay. But look at the features that are possible:
*Full liquid simulation, including being able to pump out and in liquids
*FULL 360 PLANET GRAVITY, yes it works and quite well.
*Block based player additions blend quite well with procedural smooth terrain.
*TOTALLY SMOOTH PLANET TERRAIN, FULLY DESTRUCTIBLE.
*Rudimentary animal and NPC hostile system, bad pathing but still.
*In game pre-sets such as towers and basic ship rooms.

And a few I personally liked, you mileage may vary on the importance of these.
*Ship décor, including carpet and wood styles.
*Real life minerals. It's probably just me who hates the names of the elements.
*Low tech meets high tech.
*Start on a planet, survive and make your way towards building a spaceship so you can leave.

Now keep in mind I played 10 to 2o minutes of this only, so I don't know what bugs come with these awesome features. I'm just here to say 'hey, this might look cool in SM' and 'See? It is possible.' I'm not a programmer, so I don't know how much of this is possible with Schine, but I do know that some of these features would look cool and might be good to look into, either as direct features or just minor inspiration. I'm not expecting anything, but what I do know is that the devs have a habit of listening to the community so just aiming for the moon.

What do you think Starmates?

ROUND??? What sorcery is this?

 

[Commodore Decker]

Even more basic than the engine, there's the coding language. SM is coded in Java which is great for accessibility but pretty limited. Master Space is probably coded in C# or something. So the two might not be that comparable.

If it's coded in C#, it has little linux support (C# is Microsoft proprietary tech), making StarMade a 100x better than this.

 

[Qweesdy]

If it's coded in C#, it has little linux support (C# is Microsoft proprietary tech), making StarMade a 100x better than this.

The library it uses for voxels (PolyVox) is a C++ library, so I'd expect the game is written in C++.

Note: Out of curiosity, I tried the demo version. It was insanely buggy (crashing within 5 minutes, even if you're just standing on a hill doing nothing). I didn't want to pay just to find out how buggy the version on Steam is.

 

[Crimson-Artist]

I remember clicking on a video featuring this cuz it said "Starmade" for some reason. The super awkward gameplay made it seem amateurish and the ASStastic graphics just turned me off

 

[Commodore Decker]

The library it uses for voxels (PolyVox) is a C++ library, so I'd expect the game is written in C++.

Note: Out of curiosity, I tried the demo version. It was insanely buggy (crashing within 5 minutes, even if you're just standing on a hill doing nothing). I didn't want to pay just to find out how buggy the version on Steam is.

Just because a library is programmed in C++ doesn't mean that the game is coded in C++. OpenCV is written in C++, but most of the code I've seen using OpenCV has been written in Python.