Home » Stars! Clones, Extensions, Modding » FreeStars » Don't Let the Stars Fade Away
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| Re: Don't Let the Stars Fade Away |
Mon, 20 August 2007 14:27   |
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 ekolis |
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Messages: 51
Registered: May 2006
Location: Cincinnati, OH, USA |     
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| ken-reed wrote on Mon, 20 August 2007 00:00 |
I used to love doing stuff myself. Now I've got old and there just isn't the time. I use the .Net framework to save games and such like. Here is the code:
string turnFileName = ConsoleState.Data.GameFolder + "\\Nova.turn";
FileStream turnFile = new FileStream(turnFileName,FileMode.Create);
Formatter.Serialize(turnFile, GlobalTurn.Data);
turnFile.Close();
Easy!
Ken
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Heh, I guess you are using the .NET serialization... oh well! 
edit: eh, what the heck, I tried using the Java serialization now and it seems to be working... and another plus is, it doesn't require any external libraries! 
[Updated on: Mon, 20 August 2007 15:08]
Mr. Flibble says...
Game over, boys!Report message to a moderator
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| Re: Don't Let the Stars Fade Away |
Tue, 21 August 2007 09:29 |
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| m.a@stars |
 | Commander |
Messages: 2765
Registered: October 2004
Location: Third star to the left | |
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| Cathode wrote on Mon, 20 August 2007 21:54 |
After years of not thinking about Stars! I played a game (single player even) and was absolutely glued to it for hours.
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Welcome (back) to the Madhouse!  
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once the bean-counting started and monster races were discovered I was left behind... but I still had tons of fun playing other beginner to low-intermediate players.
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You might want to check other threads/forums to see how much things have improved (or not) since. 
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An open source Stars! clone would be awesome, I also love the idea of the game becoming something more.
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While Ken's ball was not the 1st to start rolling, looks like it could be the one to finally achieve the dream. And once we have a reasonable clone of Stars, WoW and Halo and HalfLife and GTA can start trembling! 
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I was Jeff's graphic designer for the UI of Supernova. I'd be willing to help out with visuals for this project if the need arises (I think some others stepped up as well) I also design and build valid xhtml/CSS websites if that is useful.
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That could be very interesting, indeed. Others have volunteered to draw varied artwork, icons, and even sounds, but there's been many ideas for improvement floating around that would belong to the realm of UI/usability, and thar's a different beast... 
So many Stars, so few Missiles!
In space no one can hear you scheme!  Report message to a moderator
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| Re: Don't Let the Stars Fade Away |
Fri, 31 August 2007 17:20 |
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I've been gone a while, nice to come back and see there's an executable binary.
(disclaimer: these are notes from the compiled binary)
Does turn generation work? There's no visible interface for it.
Also, the hull editor needs a way to input a value directly for cargo capacity rather than increment/decrement - especially if you're trying to move a privateer from 250kt cargo to 50kt. Also, a way to move ship slots and place them in more varied half-positions rather than the checkerboard grid would be nice. Additionally, it needs a way to modify the allowable items in a ship slot more directly - perhaps instead of the popup you have now, have a dialog off to the side with checkboxes to select what items it can hold and how many. Obviously engines, cargo bays, and base docks should not be combineable with anything else - you'd just set the size - but there's no reason to exclude scanner/bomb/miningbot(4) slots in principle 
Tech editor would benefit from a way to add brand new items, change trait restrictions, select if it's a MT item or not, and add (almost) any behavior to (almost) any item - maybe a "new behavior:" select box, where you can say open up a scanner and go to the dialog and select "new behavior: shield" and then you'd get a box to enter shield values, et cetera. I figure terraforming and planetary techs should be excluded, though you could still add new behaviors within the category, ie, a planetary scanner that upgrades defenses, or a terra tech that works on multiple environnent variables with different effectiveness. You would probably need to be able to add orbital abilities to ship sections anyhow in order to create the jump gate, and a mobile mass driver isn't that far-fetched for modding. Also, a way to add properties to ship hulls such as repair and fuel generation. For weapons, a firing effect selector would be nice (beam/torp effect, sound, and color), as well as a damage type selector: choose between beam, torpedo, cap missile, or sapper; OR checkboxes to select, ie: "damages shields" "damages armor" "split shield/armor damage" (if true, half damage to shields and half to armor as torpedoes, if false then damage hits shields first if it damages shields, then goes to armor if it damages armor) "double damage without shields" and "multitargeting" checkboxes. I like the fact that beams can have imperfect accuracy now.
Also, a race trait editor would be awesome. So would a host-defineable planet name list. One thing that would really shine is an ability to select galaxy shape at game creation - the default square, a circle, ring, spiral, or clusters... perhaps some others as well, and sliders to set the number and density of planets (which would determine total galaxy size).
I like the starmap background - can it be customisable?
Hmm, there's no hab immunity checkboxes either. Grrr.
[Updated on: Sat, 01 September 2007 05:29] Report message to a moderator
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| Re: Don't Let the Stars Fade Away |
Tue, 04 September 2007 21:43 |
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Also, if a beam has less than 100% accuracy, will it be affected by computers and jammers?
How about a "jammable" checkbox for weapon attributes?
I'm suggesting all this because in my opinion it'd be nice to make the game as flexible as possible to allow for interesting scenario games as well as full-out mods. I found messing with StarEd to be frustrating for two reasons - the inflexibility of the limits on what I could change, and the clumsiness of setting up games with different rules. Apparently all Nova requires for the second is to ship out the rules file to each player on game generation so not only will there not need to be any busywork for the players but the changes will be easily visible. As for the first - it's your code, it's in your hands.
Now... for the kicker, a fully customiseable race traits editor in addition to the tech editor would go a long way to not only allowing modifications to cost and balance issues, but also make things very easy to advance toward a new level. The less you have to hard-code into the game, the more we can tweak as necessary to do all sorts if interesting things with the game and possibly end up with different evolutions of the game that take it far beyond the original.
[Updated on: Tue, 04 September 2007 21:55] Report message to a moderator
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| Re: Don't Let the Stars Fade Away |
Mon, 10 September 2007 11:38 |
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| m.a@stars |
| Commander |
Messages: 2765
Registered: October 2004
Location: Third star to the left | |
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| Coyote wrote on Fri, 31 August 2007 23:20 |
Also, the hull editor needs a way to input a value directly for cargo capacity rather than increment/decrement - especially if you're trying to move a privateer from 250kt cargo to 50kt. Also, a way to move ship slots and place them in more varied half-positions rather than the checkerboard grid would be nice. Additionally, it needs a way to modify the allowable items in a ship slot more directly - perhaps instead of the popup you have now, have a dialog off to the side with checkboxes to select what items it can hold and how many. Obviously engines, cargo bays, and base docks should not be combineable with anything else - you'd just set the size - but there's no reason to exclude scanner/bomb/miningbot(4) slots in principle
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That would be nice, indeed. But "improved" ship hulls would need altered costs and tech reqs, possibly requiring extensive testbedding to ensure game balance is preserved. Not a trivial undertaking, IMHO, even if costs/techs could be assigned "per slot" and their totals combined for the hull. 
For weapons and other items, things would be the same or even "tighter". How to value each trait of a weapon or a shield?
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You would probably need to be able to add orbital abilities to ship sections anyhow in order to create the jump gate, and a mobile mass driver isn't that far-fetched for modding.
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The Jump Gate is a "mechanical" item. The Mass Launcher could be another, I guess, so the hull definition itself needn't be "special".
Trouble is, the Jumpgate more-or-less "extends" a capability ships already have, whereas the mobile mass launching is a somewhat different business. Also, would anyone want an expensive mobile cannon that can only shoot at planets, and not minefields, fleets, or wormholes? 
So many Stars, so few Missiles!
In space no one can hear you scheme! Report message to a moderator
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| Re: Don't Let the Stars Fade Away |
Mon, 10 September 2007 19:40 |
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m.a@stars[/email] wrote on Mon, 10 September 2007 08:38]| Coyote wrote on Fri, 31 August 2007 23:20 |
Also, the hull editor needs a way to input a value directly for cargo capacity rather than increment/decrement - especially if you're trying to move a privateer from 250kt cargo to 50kt. Also, a way to move ship slots and place them in more varied half-positions rather than the checkerboard grid would be nice. Additionally, it needs a way to modify the allowable items in a ship slot more directly - perhaps instead of the popup you have now, have a dialog off to the side with checkboxes to select what items it can hold and how many. Obviously engines, cargo bays, and base docks should not be combineable with anything else - you'd just set the size - but there's no reason to exclude scanner/bomb/miningbot(4) slots in principle
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That would be nice, indeed. But "improved" ship hulls would need altered costs and tech reqs, possibly requiring extensive testbedding to ensure game balance is preserved. Not a trivial undertaking, IMHO, even if costs/techs could be assigned "per slot" and their totals combined for the hull.
For weapons and other items, things would be the same or even "tighter". How to value each trait of a weapon or a shield?
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I mean in the the tech editor, not in the ship design screen in-game. 
As far as the conventional hull designs, honestly, how much playtesting and balance work do you think the Jeffs actually put in?
I don't see a problem with a game host altering the ship hulls a little to make for a different playing experience, since each player would be able to look at the tech browser.
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Also, would anyone want an expensive mobile cannon that can only shoot at planets, and not minefields, fleets, or wormholes?
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The sick freaks that play PP sure would! 
[Updated on: Mon, 10 September 2007 19:44] Report message to a moderator
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| Re: Don't Let the Stars Fade Away |
Wed, 12 September 2007 02:54 |
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| m.a@stars |
| Commander |
Messages: 2765
Registered: October 2004
Location: Third star to the left | |
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| Coyote wrote on Tue, 11 September 2007 01:40 |
I mean in the the tech editor, not in the ship design screen in-game.
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But any "improved" rules you craft, be they for hulls, items, or techs, is going to have a non-trivial impact in-game. You know how tight things are in terms of balance and counterdesign. Unless you want to create the perfect cookie-cutter that'll win all games...
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As far as the conventional hull designs, honestly, how much playtesting and balance work do you think the Jeffs actually put in?
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Enough to at least make sure not one of them was the "be-all" and "end-all", except possibly the Nubian.
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Also, would anyone want an expensive mobile cannon that can only shoot at planets, and not minefields, fleets, or wormholes?
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The sick freaks that play PP sure would!
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Sure, but, would they be competitive enough? Or would they just sink their resources in an expensive toy that didn't win them enough power to be worth it? 
So many Stars, so few Missiles!
In space no one can hear you scheme! Report message to a moderator
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