Outerra forum

Anteworld - Outerra Game => Game & gameplay discussion => Topic started by: Darren on June 19, 2013, 01:44:55 pm

Title: Roadmap
Post by: Darren on June 19, 2013, 01:44:55 pm

Is there project roadmap?

Can it be shared?

What resource limitations do you have? Can we help?
- graphic designers, developers, tester, game designers?

If you agree, please reply to that you are interested and the Outerra team can see.




Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: John514 on August 04, 2013, 03:09:41 am
It would be cool if we got all the features and their implementation date in one place.
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: Darren on August 04, 2013, 03:16:42 am
Agreed. If people can see the roadmap, they can feel progress is being made. And even contribute to the various objectives. Please Masters of Outerra, provide a roadmap. If you need assistance I will help.
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: mctash on August 04, 2013, 11:13:54 am
+1 for a road map
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: Krutan on August 09, 2013, 05:38:45 am
A roadmap would be really great. Would love to know where they are taking this project and what features we can expect in the upcoming months/years.
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: Sam on August 09, 2013, 10:08:16 am
Roadmap?....Ah, Roadmap!

No no, there are no Roads. There are only wide green fields or rocky hills. The roads you have to build at yourself   :P
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: Jagerbomber on August 09, 2013, 05:00:52 pm
lol... That wasn't the point.
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: Sam on August 10, 2013, 07:56:41 am
lol... That wasn't the point.
Sure!
Or can you see any roads on that map? If yes, so that must be a roundabout with some blindlanes to some small enterprises ;)
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: Jagerbomber on August 10, 2013, 10:16:38 am
And... now you've lost me. lol  :P
I think I need a map...
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: cameni on August 10, 2013, 10:58:46 am
There's a road, but there's not much of a map :)

There are several blocks being developed in parallel. The modules that are currently closest to completion are:

While the character animations will be shown soon, it will take a bit longer until they get into the public release, as we need to get us a model made for the game. Currently we are working with models and animations owned by our licensees.

As the actual game is slowly going to get a clearer shape, we increasingly feel the need for a graphics designer, someone able to come up with a unified and characteristic design for Anteworld characters, vehicles and buildings, including the colonizer module lander and the mothership. But for that we need to provide a better description of the game concepts and the game mechanics that can utilize all the engine features - a global world, the scale and detail, deformable terrain etc.

Networking

This is the part that we'd like to get out ASAP, but it's one of the most problematic ones as well. The problem is, of course, the scale and the detail. There's no server that would hold all the data used by the physics on all the connected clients, being able to arbitrate client action conflicts reliably. There are actually two parts to it. Static data of the world (buildings, roads, altered terrain etc) will be stored in the cloud, replicated to others and allowing them to see the world changing, the land being taken. This is for the main, common game part, but obviously there may be different realms where something is happening independently, as if in a different spacetime, and that something may be also a sandbox where a group of people modifies the world together to prepare it for their game or whatever.

The networking for a dynamic interaction between players is something going atop of that, allowing for a different gameplay within given realm, or on a snapshot of the world. We are still pondering how to make this work efficiently, to be able to have user-hosted servers adaptively handling a limited number of players that would be allowed to go anywhere.

Biomes

With Kelvin preparing lots of textures and data for regions all over the world, the biomes got a bit closer, but I still need a contiguous period of time to finish the work on them. Having to suspend it for 3 times already doesn't help. I hope that at least I'll be able to release the first phase with the global coloring taken from the satellite color maps  - i.e. no new textures yet but colors matching the view from space in ~500m resolution, further refined by the current fractal coloring. This can also remove grass from the deserts, but mainly it will remove that unified greenness.

Other stuff in the works

... and the other half I forgot to list here
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: Bartolomeus on August 10, 2013, 12:21:39 pm
That sounds all great Cameni! Thank you for the info about the Roadmap.

I'm looking forward to the FBX importer the first version of clouds and especially the watercraft physics and ocean improvements!
And it's nice to see the Network infos.

Marko
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: PytonPago on August 10, 2013, 12:44:31 pm

As the actual game is slowly going to get a clearer shape, we increasingly feel the need for a graphics designer, someone able to come up with a unified and characteristic design for Anteworld characters, vehicles and buildings, including the colonizer module lander and the mothership. But for that we need to provide a better description of the game concepts and the game mechanics that can utilize all the engine features - a global world, the scale and detail, deformable terrain etc.


... well ... just write on the DeviantART site for that. Plenty of nice good people whyte painting skills for characters to made for the modellers.  ;) ( ;D  !! i want a dragon !!  ;D )
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: PytonPago on August 10, 2013, 12:48:01 pm
With Kelvin preparing lots of textures and data for regions all over the world, the biomes got a bit closer, but I still need a contiguous period of time to finish the work on them. Having to suspend it for 3 times already doesn't help. I hope that at least I'll be able to release the first phase with the global coloring taken from the satellite color maps  - i.e. no new textures yet but colors matching the view from space in ~500m resolution, further refined by the current fractal coloring. This can also remove grass from the deserts, but mainly it will remove that unified greenness.

Well, Kelvinr should take all the time he needs on that .. it will be Epic, i know that already. Just waiting for the wave !



  • extended ground vehicle physics - support for tracks, solid axles; proper friction
... yes !
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: Jagerbomber on August 10, 2013, 02:25:22 pm
Dang... Improved road functionality pretty far down there... Oh well.  I'm still chuggin' along.  I've just finished getting through the "O"s of the initial road layout of my town again.

Which Way to Millinocket? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6V2Ew1M0sE#)

(No, that's not my town...)
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: cameni on August 11, 2013, 04:05:03 am
Oh that list is not in any particular order ... plenty of cross-dependencies there.
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: Sam on August 11, 2013, 12:35:40 pm
Oh, look at that! That roundabout reobtains real roads!  ;D

Thank you Brano for that statement!  :)
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: belgarionriva on August 11, 2013, 08:48:50 pm
The provided "roadmap" shows how the engine will be updated, but in no way shows what is expected to be devellopped from a "game" point of view. The way I see it, once the "roadmap" is checked off, then a game can start to be made. What will this game actually consist of? In other words, you have now made a world. What do you plan to do with it?
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: ZeosPantera on August 11, 2013, 10:26:45 pm
Half a list is still a list. This should be its own post.
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: Tacklebait on August 12, 2013, 02:31:23 am
  As this is my first post I just wanted to say I am very excited for this engine and have purchased the alpha and love it for what it is so far.

I'm very happy to see the road map listed above but i'm kind of curious to what the end state will look like.

If you could picture yourself 2 years down the road and maybe with a few more people working with you.  How would you say the game/engine would look.

I see the direction your going, i'm just wondering how far your are looking at taking the finer details.

Will there be hundreds of different types of vegetation customized to the different biomes?
Animals?
Caves?
Clouds/wind/fog/rain/ snow?
Will the world change with the seasons?
How many unique players could be in the world at one?
Could this be used to create an ever evolving universe of different planets over the next 10-20 years?

This is a very ambitious project and I know it gets me dreaming about the potential.  I'm sure when you started brain storming with your friends about this huge undertaking you had a vision that started you writing that first piece of code and that keeps you working on this project.

Sorry if its too much to ask for.  I know your probably pretty busy, so there is no offence if you don't feel so inclined to share!

Cheers
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: Deutschmark on August 12, 2013, 04:53:49 am
  • ballistics

... and the other half I forgot to list here

I like that one  ;D
Will there also be damage model for vehicles / planes and so on?  ;)

Deutschmark
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: PytonPago on August 12, 2013, 05:50:05 am
  • ballistics

... and the other half I forgot to list here

I like that one  ;D
Will there also be damage model for vehicles / planes and so on?  ;)

Deutschmark

..will try to do that one on my urals ! ...
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: mctash on August 12, 2013, 08:49:29 am
Thanks for the info
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: ProfSmiles on August 12, 2013, 09:41:52 am
When you mention importing data, including from OSM, does it include building, road, airport, etc. data from OSM? (:
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: cameni on August 14, 2013, 10:12:44 am
The provided "roadmap" shows how the engine will be updated, but in no way shows what is expected to be devellopped from a "game" point of view. The way I see it, once the "roadmap" is checked off, then a game can start to be made. What will this game actually consist of? In other words, you have now made a world. What do you plan to do with it?
The game is being done in parallel, once the engine has the features required for a particular gameplay element. For example, with characters and animation and ballistics we can implement the basic shoot-whatevers-moving thing.
Also, the exact gameplay style (or a combination of) will be determined and refined along the way based on the developed game story and feedback from people. Anteworld aiming to be a demo game for OT engine has goals to show the engine's capabilities, so the gameplay style should be able to utilize the large terrain and the ground details, deformable terrain and ability to build stuff dynamically etc.

Will there be hundreds of different types of vegetation customized to the different biomes?
Animals?
Caves?
Clouds/wind/fog/rain/ snow?
Will the world change with the seasons?
Ultimately the biomes will provide multiple different & customized vegetation cover.
Animals - would be nice to have a wide variety, but that requires lots of custom made animations. I think we will start with some birds and will slowly add more. However, since it's not essential for the gameplay and for the demonstration of capabilities, it won't likely reach the richness we'd all like to see anytime soon.
Caves - counting with them, the tech is needed also for tunnels.
Weather - yes.
Seasons - a gradual transition is expected to work in a similar way how transitions between the biomes will work, a parameter driven fractal mixer process that blends between two or more types of terrain material, with accompanying changes in colorization etc.

Quote
How many unique players could be in the world at one?
Could this be used to create an ever evolving universe of different planets over the next 10-20 years?
Now this is fairly game & gameplay specific. Needless to say, at the moment we have nowhere near enough resources to make it s massively multiplayer thing in the usual sense. Anteworld will start as "massively singleplayer": people able to conquer a part of the world where they will start building and playing against AI. The changes done to the world will be stored in the cloud, so that other players can see what everybody has done in a shared world, and also to interconnect routes and establish trade later on within the strategic part of the game.
Once we get more resources, this will be further extended to get an interactive multiplayer modes in.

Will there also be damage model for vehicles / planes and so on?  ;)
Ultimately - yes, it's needed for many kinds of simulators that we are going to support. We'll see about the degree to which we'll be going, certainly starting with a simpler damage model initially.

When you mention importing data, including from OSM, does it include building, road, airport, etc. data from OSM? (:
Everything that is suitable for import. Stuff like man made fields/pastures, roads, lakes and rivers. Once the importer API is ready, we are going to test an external sw that reads building data and attempts to reconstruct the buildings from OSM.
However, the consistency and quality of OSM data and metadata is a big question.
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: ZeosPantera on August 14, 2013, 10:30:46 am
"basic shoot-whatevers-moving thing"

Best FPS game EVER!
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: Zapa93 on August 14, 2013, 01:32:15 pm
Who knows, maybe in the future when this game progresses so much, it will be a world of its own, evolution happens and new stuff arrived :D kidding, but that would be awesome if it could be implemented(although highly unlikely).
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: Evildropbear on November 20, 2013, 08:19:43 am
Who knows, maybe in the future when this game progresses so much, it will be a world of its own, evolution happens and new stuff arrived :D kidding, but that would be awesome if it could be implemented(although highly unlikely).

Spore 2.0 on the Outerra engine, yes please!
Title: Re: Roadmap
Post by: PytonPago on November 20, 2013, 08:53:34 am

Animals - would be nice to have a wide variety, but that requires lots of custom made animations. I think we will start with some birds and will slowly add more. However, since it's not essential for the gameplay and for the demonstration of capabilities, it won't likely reach the richness we'd all like to see anytime soon.


.... maybe just post the first model up to look-up whyte some specifics when the animation system gets to work. People may hop into that effort to help.

"basic shoot-whatevers-moving thing"

Best FPS game EVER!

 ... and "Space return Turkey-shooting gone rogue" will become Antenworlds under-title  ? :D