I've always wondered if there is scope for a MMO version of Elite that is less ambitious (especially graphically) in some ways than the current Elite: Dangerous but still has the essence of Elite; I'm thinking 3D graphics with a retro vibe, maybe primarily text based menus for in-station activities (and certainly no desire for on-planet or first person shooter components). Even keep the generative universe of the original with its nutty planet descriptions.
Not MMO, OOlite can be "retro" with the right options on.
Extensions (aka "OXP" or "OXZ" in Oolite lingo) can give you in-station text based activities (the extension is named "Life in the Frontier" IIRC) and planet descriptions, among other things (there are about 400 extensions available from the integrated package manager, not counting older ones that haven't been ported).
Extensions are written mostly in Javascript and the community is very friendly and helpful. Last but not least, it's free and open source.
I'm currently working on an MMO that's in the same spirit but much less graphically ambitious. (2D 1980's "Arcade Space" -- especially vector graphics.) However, it's very ambitious non-graphically. Not only is there a procedurally generated universe of 2^100 locations, there will also be crafting involving a procedurally generated Tech Tree that's just as vast as the world. I'm also planning on incorporating user-scripting of most entities in-game and compiling those scripts to a format which can be subjected to Genetic Algorithms. The scripts and crafted items will be "productized" to be sold or licensed to other players with in-game currency. I currently have a server running on AWS, capable of supporting 70 players comfortably in the same instance, all at the same location. (You get O(n^2) when all ships are in the same location.)
I know what you mean. Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos [1] is very representative of that. Unfortunately, it's single player (there is a multiplayer arena but it's not great).
A few years ago a friend and I were working on a spiritual successor to EoC. When the Star Citizen kickstarter was announced, we gave up - no chance to compete with that, and we found they could apply our vision with a lot more money and a much more serious team.
Privateer would be fun transformed into a MMO, but I don't think graphics are much of an issue these days as you can pretty much scale for need.
The issue I see with Elite/Privateer/etc is that its hard to encourage group play which tends to be a near requirement for most MMOs to succeed.
If ships are the primary draw how do you group people up? Surely many would not want to just play a specific role or share a ship and even if they did there would be only so many cool positions to go around.
Anyone know of any other text-based trading style games? I think there could be a market for this, as even Eve Online is nicknamed "Spreadsheets in Space", and I wonder if there are other games that have embraced that and left out the quasi-dogfighting mechanics.
I'm working on a spaceflight game that features trading and can be operated from a text interface, though it features graphics by default. My vision is to be a bit more story-based than the procedurally-generated or MMO-type games would be, but it might be what you're looking for: https://technomancy.itch.io/bussard
It features programming as one of its core mechanics on top of the piloting features. I made a trailer for it here: https://p.hagelb.org/bussard-1.3.webm
My goal for the next beta is to make it so you can purchase an upgrade for your ship's computer in-game that would allow you to connect to it from an external program like Emacs over the nREPL protocol: https://gitlab.com/technomancy/jeejah You start the game without an autopilot routine, but eventually you find/write one, and at that point you can play from Emacs or Vim or the CLI or whatever. Right now the external connection only provides you with a REPL, but the protocol is extensible, and I plan to add features that would allow you to run more of a HUD-style REPL in your client of choice.
I've toyed with the idea of creating a browser-based version of the original Elite. Went as far as the galaxy generation, based on the C version. Then had trouble, because the algorithm is pretty much obfuscated (unintentionally) behind layers of bit manipulation. And you need to do it the exact same way, otherwise you won't get the iconic galaxy, starting on Lave and with Riedquat as the nearby anarchy.
From a quick glance, the elisp version is slightly more readable in some places. I guess I should try again.
Also, will dig up my Portal Ending recreated in Emacs, as I didn't know there were other crazy brains that found this sort of thing interesting. I wonder if I need to get Valve's permission first.
Elite in LISP, showcasing both serious coding skill and the power of LISP. If LISP can do this, what else would be possible if it could talk to one or more 3D accelerators, and send synthesised, mixed sound to one or more audio devices?
This article finds me in a middle of a dilemma, pondering whether to develop my web application with AWK through cgi-bin (functionally of course), or use ANSI common LISP...
Common Lisp can do all of those things, as it has bindings for SDL 2.0 (https://github.com/lispgames/cl-sdl2) and OpenGL (https://github.com/3b/cl-opengl). As a newly converted Lisp programmer, I think that, after you get past the unusual syntax, you'll be much more productive and have much more fun with Lisp than any other language. You should try it!
[+] [-] jimmcslim|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kleiba|9 years ago|reply
https://dukope.itch.io/return-of-the-obra-dinn
It has nothing to do with Elite or space adventures or anything like that, though.
[+] [-] astrobe_|9 years ago|reply
Extensions (aka "OXP" or "OXZ" in Oolite lingo) can give you in-station text based activities (the extension is named "Life in the Frontier" IIRC) and planet descriptions, among other things (there are about 400 extensions available from the integrated package manager, not counting older ones that haven't been ported).
Extensions are written mostly in Javascript and the community is very friendly and helpful. Last but not least, it's free and open source.
[+] [-] stcredzero|9 years ago|reply
The project is called "Emergence Vector."
https://www.reddit.com/r/gogamedev
[+] [-] vityaz_|9 years ago|reply
looks cute
[+] [-] scrollaway|9 years ago|reply
A few years ago a friend and I were working on a spiritual successor to EoC. When the Star Citizen kickstarter was announced, we gave up - no chance to compete with that, and we found they could apply our vision with a lot more money and a much more serious team.
[1] GOG: https://www.gog.com/game/independence_war_2 - Highly recommended if you're into space sims.
[+] [-] Shivetya|9 years ago|reply
The issue I see with Elite/Privateer/etc is that its hard to encourage group play which tends to be a near requirement for most MMOs to succeed.
If ships are the primary draw how do you group people up? Surely many would not want to just play a specific role or share a ship and even if they did there would be only so many cool positions to go around.
[+] [-] boyce|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cstross|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jimjimjim|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] moscaf|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cha5m|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zeveb|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] imglorp|9 years ago|reply
See also:
M-x butterfly
M-x doctor
M-x tetris
M-x hanoi
etc. etc.
[+] [-] twoquestions|9 years ago|reply
Anyone know of any other text-based trading style games? I think there could be a market for this, as even Eve Online is nicknamed "Spreadsheets in Space", and I wonder if there are other games that have embraced that and left out the quasi-dogfighting mechanics.
[+] [-] technomancy|9 years ago|reply
It features programming as one of its core mechanics on top of the piloting features. I made a trailer for it here: https://p.hagelb.org/bussard-1.3.webm
My goal for the next beta is to make it so you can purchase an upgrade for your ship's computer in-game that would allow you to connect to it from an external program like Emacs over the nREPL protocol: https://gitlab.com/technomancy/jeejah You start the game without an autopilot routine, but eventually you find/write one, and at that point you can play from Emacs or Vim or the CLI or whatever. Right now the external connection only provides you with a REPL, but the protocol is extensible, and I plan to add features that would allow you to run more of a HUD-style REPL in your client of choice.
[+] [-] outworlder|9 years ago|reply
I've toyed with the idea of creating a browser-based version of the original Elite. Went as far as the galaxy generation, based on the C version. Then had trouble, because the algorithm is pretty much obfuscated (unintentionally) behind layers of bit manipulation. And you need to do it the exact same way, otherwise you won't get the iconic galaxy, starting on Lave and with Riedquat as the nearby anarchy.
From a quick glance, the elisp version is slightly more readable in some places. I guess I should try again.
Also, will dig up my Portal Ending recreated in Emacs, as I didn't know there were other crazy brains that found this sort of thing interesting. I wonder if I need to get Valve's permission first.
[+] [-] Annatar|9 years ago|reply
This article finds me in a middle of a dilemma, pondering whether to develop my web application with AWK through cgi-bin (functionally of course), or use ANSI common LISP...
[+] [-] fouric|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] technomancy|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] qwertyuiop924|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jobesian4lyfe|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Emma11|9 years ago|reply
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