Limit Theory. Project News
Greetings
Last year I supported on Kikstarter an interesting project Limit Theory . This is a space simulator, but with an interesting feature - almost all elements of the game are generated procedurally. The description of the game looked promising, so it collected 3 times the amount requested.
This game reminds me of the 1997 game of Parkan. Chronicle of the Empire .
Yesterday, the author posted a monthly report on the work done, which looks very impressive. You can see here:
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The author of the project - Josh Parnell (Josh Parnell) - a young but ambitious programmer. In Limit Theory (LT), he is trying, quite successfully, to implement the idea of ​​procedural content generation. In this case, this is the generation not only of the universe itself (stars / planets, asteroids, etc.), but also of spacecraft and stations, in-game NPC's fractions, and also partially of the technology tree. This will give the game an incredible variety and replayability.
Each game is unique and is generated on the basis of one number (sid), i.e. The initial situation in the game (the universe, the location of the NPCs, ships, etc.) is “derived” from this view. At the same time for the same sid the same initial game situation will be generated each time, and for different sidas it will be different. In the future, of course, the development of the game will go each time in different ways.
Josh initially worked on the project alone, but in April a second developer joined him. Despite this, the size of the work done is impressive. Today, the generation of the universe (stars / planets / asteroids, with the possible descent to the surface of the planets), ships and stations (created by the modular principle of the generated parts). Also implemented is the initial AI and the generated technology tree.
There will be support for modding the game (with some limitations due to the procedural feature of the project).
Now about this a little more detail.
The game supports a fairly large scale. At this moment, the ratio ship / planet is 1: 10,000, but, according to Josh, it will be possible to set large ratios with the help of modding (perhaps even real ones).
It will be possible to descend to the planets, though only through the loading screen. It is not yet clear exactly what game mechanics will be associated with the surface of the planets and whether there will even be this feature in the first release.
Ships and stations are assembled from generated modules. Each module will have its own purpose - cabin, cargo compartment, engines, etc. All these parts can be changed, bought and sold.
AI is in the initial state of development, but already now it can solve some simple tasks.
The technology and research tree will consist of two parts: fixed and dynamically generated.
The fixed part is set by the author rigidly and corresponds to the trees of the technology of other games. This, for example, the development of various types of ships (frigate, corvette, ...), engines, protective fields, etc.
The dynamic part of the tree begins to be generated (developed) in the permitted fixed nodes. Development implies that, as a result of research, scientists improve some characteristics of the chosen object. This may be, for example, an increase in the speed of the ship, an increase in the cargo compartment, an improvement in protection, ... Each time several branches of improvements will be generated and the player will be able to choose one or several of them. The game will "help" the player in the development of the chosen direction. That is, if he selected branches several times with an increase in engine power, then more branches would be generated with the improvement of this parameter.
But this mechanism will not allow creating unlimited cool things, because each branch will contain and worsen, in addition to improving characteristics. For example, an increase in cargo hold will lead to an increase in mass and, accordingly, a decrease in speed. Thus it is supposed to keep a balance in the game.
By modding in LT, we mean tuning the procedural generator constants. Therefore, it will not be possible to create new types of ships or other dynamically generated content in the game, but it will be possible to change the characteristics of the generators themselves. For example, as mentioned above, it will be possible to create universes with practical real sizes of the planets or make the physics of ships more realistic.
All these parameter changes can also be carried out in real mode in the game itself. Josh created an incredibly beautiful in-game data editor. It can be seen in the picture above and at the end of the video posted at the beginning of the article.
You can read about other features of the game in the FAQ or on the game forum .
I do not regret that I supported this project. Every day it becomes more and more impressive.
Marvel at Josh's hard work. He works for 10 months almost every day for 8-10 hours. At the same time he works on himself, and not on the company. Not everyone will be able to, even if the work will be on an interesting project (although the financial part is a good incentive, probably).
When I first arrived in Kiev, I also worked in a game company ( GSC , project STALKER). It was an incredible time and a very interesting project. Unfortunately, after that, I worked and work only in business projects ...
References:
Last year I supported on Kikstarter an interesting project Limit Theory . This is a space simulator, but with an interesting feature - almost all elements of the game are generated procedurally. The description of the game looked promising, so it collected 3 times the amount requested.
This game reminds me of the 1997 game of Parkan. Chronicle of the Empire .
Yesterday, the author posted a monthly report on the work done, which looks very impressive. You can see here:
')
The author of the project - Josh Parnell (Josh Parnell) - a young but ambitious programmer. In Limit Theory (LT), he is trying, quite successfully, to implement the idea of ​​procedural content generation. In this case, this is the generation not only of the universe itself (stars / planets, asteroids, etc.), but also of spacecraft and stations, in-game NPC's fractions, and also partially of the technology tree. This will give the game an incredible variety and replayability.
Each game is unique and is generated on the basis of one number (sid), i.e. The initial situation in the game (the universe, the location of the NPCs, ships, etc.) is “derived” from this view. At the same time for the same sid the same initial game situation will be generated each time, and for different sidas it will be different. In the future, of course, the development of the game will go each time in different ways.
Josh initially worked on the project alone, but in April a second developer joined him. Despite this, the size of the work done is impressive. Today, the generation of the universe (stars / planets / asteroids, with the possible descent to the surface of the planets), ships and stations (created by the modular principle of the generated parts). Also implemented is the initial AI and the generated technology tree.
There will be support for modding the game (with some limitations due to the procedural feature of the project).
Now about this a little more detail.
The game supports a fairly large scale. At this moment, the ratio ship / planet is 1: 10,000, but, according to Josh, it will be possible to set large ratios with the help of modding (perhaps even real ones).
It will be possible to descend to the planets, though only through the loading screen. It is not yet clear exactly what game mechanics will be associated with the surface of the planets and whether there will even be this feature in the first release.
Ships and stations are assembled from generated modules. Each module will have its own purpose - cabin, cargo compartment, engines, etc. All these parts can be changed, bought and sold.
AI is in the initial state of development, but already now it can solve some simple tasks.
The technology and research tree will consist of two parts: fixed and dynamically generated.
The fixed part is set by the author rigidly and corresponds to the trees of the technology of other games. This, for example, the development of various types of ships (frigate, corvette, ...), engines, protective fields, etc.
The dynamic part of the tree begins to be generated (developed) in the permitted fixed nodes. Development implies that, as a result of research, scientists improve some characteristics of the chosen object. This may be, for example, an increase in the speed of the ship, an increase in the cargo compartment, an improvement in protection, ... Each time several branches of improvements will be generated and the player will be able to choose one or several of them. The game will "help" the player in the development of the chosen direction. That is, if he selected branches several times with an increase in engine power, then more branches would be generated with the improvement of this parameter.
But this mechanism will not allow creating unlimited cool things, because each branch will contain and worsen, in addition to improving characteristics. For example, an increase in cargo hold will lead to an increase in mass and, accordingly, a decrease in speed. Thus it is supposed to keep a balance in the game.
By modding in LT, we mean tuning the procedural generator constants. Therefore, it will not be possible to create new types of ships or other dynamically generated content in the game, but it will be possible to change the characteristics of the generators themselves. For example, as mentioned above, it will be possible to create universes with practical real sizes of the planets or make the physics of ships more realistic.
All these parameter changes can also be carried out in real mode in the game itself. Josh created an incredibly beautiful in-game data editor. It can be seen in the picture above and at the end of the video posted at the beginning of the article.
You can read about other features of the game in the FAQ or on the game forum .
I do not regret that I supported this project. Every day it becomes more and more impressive.
Marvel at Josh's hard work. He works for 10 months almost every day for 8-10 hours. At the same time he works on himself, and not on the company. Not everyone will be able to, even if the work will be on an interesting project (although the financial part is a good incentive, probably).
When I first arrived in Kiev, I also worked in a game company ( GSC , project STALKER). It was an incredible time and a very interesting project. Unfortunately, after that, I worked and work only in business projects ...
References:
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/200588/
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