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 PDS 7.2 polishing effort
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| mrWHO |
Posted on 02-05-2006 09:05
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 Posts: 485 Joined: September 02 2005 |
Icons working fine on my PC. If I'd guess, I'd say that Tel use 640x480 but c'mon, who still use such nightmare resolution? |
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| TelQuessir |
Posted on 03-05-2006 06:07
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 Posts: 2598 Joined: August 30 2005 |
1024. Now shut up unless you've something more constructive to say. |
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| Sun Tzu |
Posted on 08-05-2006 21:42
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 Posts: 528 Joined: September 08 2005 |
Icons: Thanks for the feedback. It would help if you could specify which version (tga or rot) you used. I have the same issues as Tel with the rot version, but not with the tga. I realise I forgot the icon of the dreaded praetor. This will be repaired. Background: Inert, it just looks perfect to me. You should make a version with the "v7.2" to "v7.3" change, for the future ;-). Theotherguy, I like very much some of your new screens (#2, 3 and 5). If you want some of them in the released version you could do a bit more work on them to harmonise their general feel with Inert's work (ie use same font for "PDS", half the basic picture's hue, and incorporate some background tactical/strategical items into the picture). Deliverance: Thanks for reminding that, mrWho. It will be done. Caplimits: This is a very valid point from a gameplay standpoint. Things are different if you look at the issue in terms of scenarios/RP. Maybe we should differentiate more the building abilities and caps of the subraces (HGNS and IVF) and/or add a few new types of caplimits, like "expeditionary force", "combat line" "auxiliary force", etc. What do you think? |
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| TelQuessir |
Posted on 09-05-2006 03:36
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Posts: 2598 Joined: August 30 2005 |
ST - on caplimits I intend to do JUST the same in V9, where build and research is really command authority limits tailored to player's fleet rank. So yes you can call in recon, light strike, cruiser, capital and special warfare units, all with their specific unitcaps - if you don't have authority to call in a specwar unit then it will not be populated. Easy. All build and research btw is accessible from mission start so it is just like a point buy system. Leeway for force configuration as aforementioned depends on virtual rank and the scenario. Some missions have fleet admirals organising defenses out of ragtag forces while others are final assault type missions that allow for leeway in choosing what units to bring into the breach. |
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| TelQuessir |
Posted on 11-05-2006 09:30
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Posts: 2598 Joined: August 30 2005 |
One request for ST: Can you do a gametype that spawns an unlimited number of enemy ships in waves with small RU injections for reinforcements? Been asking for that for a while. |
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| Sun Tzu |
Posted on 11-05-2006 10:46
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Posts: 528 Joined: September 08 2005 |
Tel: I started something similar a while ago but never managed to finish it. I'll resume it. Where would you want to spawn the enemy units, in the rear lines or close to the player's fleet? Inert: do not bother about ROT conversion. A plain dds file in DXT5 format is all what is necesary. Update about icons: the issue is fixx0red! I discovered (at last!) that the issue is with the ROT conversion with ROTTool. Again, plain dds files can -and will- be used. |
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| TelQuessir |
Posted on 12-05-2006 05:40
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Posts: 2598 Joined: August 30 2005 |
Spawning enemy ships - perhaps just spawn them in random directions around the player's fleet (simulating limitations in detection ability, but not too close!), while reinforcements hyper in some distance from ownship and then transit in in normal space. Possible? I'll leave final features etc to your judgement. I will of course be interested in doing proper AIs and a small solar system invasion gametype with your help for V9 - but finish this 7.3 effort first. |
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| DominicWhite |
Posted on 17-05-2006 14:24
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 Posts: 3 Joined: December 11 2005 |
A (relative) newbie chipping in with his pitiful opinion here. I just want to say that you absoutely rock, Sun Tzu. I had a ton of fun playing 7.2, and have found that the new direction that PDS is being taken in is just too much for me. Combat in 7.2 reminds me heavily of the new Battlestar Galactica series. It's realistic and solid enough to feel convincing and consistent, but not so far as to lose the sense of cinematic style and accessibility that is important in an RTS for me. In short, pseudo-realistic space naval combat is my bag, baby. Harpoon style massive-scale space simulations just hurt my poor mortal brain, so I'm hoping that your project to refine 7.2 into something more is a success. And now a couple of questions - I might have missed it (the downloads page isn't exactly laid out to be newbie friendly, I must say), but is there a 'complete' full install Work In Progress build of 7.2 'refined' that I can link people to? Not only that, but is there a newbie guide anywhere? Most of my 7.2 learning came through blind trial and error, and the manual wasn't that much help. Either way, hats off to everyone involved. No disrespect to you, TelQuessir, but I'm just not capable of handling your new battlespace. I'll stick to the earlier vision. With 7.2 polished up enough, I think it may well become something of an underground LAN/Internet play hit. But yeah. Enough of my rambling. Rock on, all of you. |
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| Sun Tzu |
Posted on 17-05-2006 15:53
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Posts: 528 Joined: September 08 2005 |
Don't be mistaken, Dominic. PDS 7.2 is Tel'Quessir's child and has been built by a team (see on the front page) I joined rather lately. I have just taken up some non-critical work on this version while Tel and most creative members of the PDS team are engaged in more avant-garde stuff. I targetted some sort of a release for end of May. As delayed as I can be by my work, vacations, wife, mother, the end of the football season (US guys can read soccer), renewed fun with a little old online RP game, banner competitions, newbishness with photoshop and the general lameness of macs for modding stuff, I'll do my best to at least finish the graphic and help menus parts at the end of this month. And many thanks for the feedback. Could you specify what kind of info you missed most at the beginning? That would help me filling in a starters screen. |
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| DominicWhite |
Posted on 17-05-2006 18:00
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Posts: 3 Joined: December 11 2005 |
Oh, I'm fully aware that this is his project - I'm just saying that the direction he's taking it in now isn't my style, and hence I'm sticking with this community initiative to tweak and refine the current main build, I suppose. As for whats most important to a newcomer? Hrrm, perhaps an elaboration on how orders and automatic defence works. It plays rather differently from base HW2, which throws a lot of people off. One thing that definitely needs covering in documentation is a simple, 'plain english' summary of each units role in the context of the game, minus the history lesson. I love the fleshed out setting, but in the context of a heated multiplayer game, you really want to know what has the longest-range guns, or the best missile defence, rather than what was pivotal in winning some past battle. Once 7.3 (thats what its called now, right?) is closer to going live, I think I might do what I can to help drum up interest. Possibly by an internal ad-banner on the Something Awful forums. That'll give you 75,000 potential new players instantly. I found PDS pretty much by accident, and word of mouth is slow.. And you have to admit that neither the mod, nor the site its on are exactly newbie friendly. I may not have much modding skills, but I'd like to think that I have a degree of PR-weasel blood in me, so I might be able to help create some fresh interest in the project. It'd be a crying shame if you went to all this effort, and only a hundred people played it. The way I figure it, it should practically sell itself. I mean, a lot of people like Homeworld 2, absolutely everyone I know loves the space battles in BSG, and plenty of folks are looking for a good, deep, cheap/free multiplayer game. Combine all of them and you've got something that people should know about. Hmm.. One additional question - any plans on adapting the rest of the campaign story to PDS 7.0 standard? I really like what I've seen so far, even if the difficulty was absolutely brutal. Edited by DominicWhite on 17-05-2006 18:13 |
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| TelQuessir |
Posted on 19-05-2006 06:59
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Posts: 2598 Joined: August 30 2005 |
You'll find that V9 retains the "cinematic" style of 7.2 and adds in the desirable elements found in 7.6. Quote And you have to admit that neither the mod, nor the site its on are exactly newbie friendly. I may not have much modding skills, but I'd like to think that I have a degree of PR-weasel blood in me, so I might be able to help create some fresh interest in the project. And to this I say damn it all and deploy the PR weasels! Thanks for the offer. I absolutely am not a PR person but delegation is just fun  |
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| Sun Tzu |
Posted on 21-05-2006 01:38
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Posts: 528 Joined: September 08 2005 |
This is the cleaned-up universe map that I intend to put as a background into a "PDS Universe" info screen. Or rather a work-in-progress as I will add the galaxy arms to the final version. The idea is that by clicking on a button (eg "Hiigaran space" ), the relevant space gets more visible and an info box is displayed about the nation/faction post-invasion story. I discovered how to do that by playing with buttons and image layers into a FE screen. Before I do that, please let me know if the map info is up-to-date or if any change is called. Thx.
Sun Tzu attached the following image:
![PDS_Map_Clean[200].jpg](../forum/attachments/PDS_Map_Clean[200].jpg)
Edited by Sun Tzu on 21-05-2006 01:39 |
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| yasotay |
Posted on 21-05-2006 02:22
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 Posts: 637 Joined: September 09 2005 |
This is a much policed version of the original. It certainly remains within the orginal effort laid out by Tel and the PDS team. My only concern is that this map as it is, presumes that the Vaygr controlled space is not contested. I think that the bit that points into Hiigaran space should be contested Hiigaran space. I do not think that the Imperial Taiidan space in Vagyr territory should be contested, They would not last long I think. It has been rumored in PDS'verse that the Imperials and Vaygr are working together. In fact we play'ed with the technical advances of the Vaygr as having come from the Imperials who escaped into Vaygr space at the end of the Beast War. The Imperial space would have come about since the Vaygr invasion, because the Hiigaran's and the other star nations who overcame them would not tolerate them. It was my impression that the Itaar where part of the Cush Confederation. This Confederation was a loose grouping of nations that had grown out of the remains of metropolitian Taiidan. All this of course is subject to change. My only real grip is that the space pushing into Hiigaran space is not considered contested. Sun Tzu - It is my opinion that the Elyssian are not allied with Hiigara. They are economic compeditors with Hiigara is my thought. They are not openly hostile or friendly with either Hiigara or Vaygr, more or less waiting on the sidelines hoping the Vaygr and Hiigaran's will beat each other into economic ruin and allow them to become the power house. Edited by yasotay on 21-05-2006 02:29 |
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| TelQuessir |
Posted on 21-05-2006 04:13
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Posts: 2598 Joined: August 30 2005 |
We can spend months on griping on the map like we did on Norsehound, but I would like to give a stamp of approval for this one. Well done and you were reading my mind on the map - was about to do one and had contacted Norsehound... Its 95% plausible, lets use it and make amendments/additions along the way. For instance, indication of strategic aims and maneuvers, and addition of "minor" powers like the Kassi and Ravinder Democratic Republic. I will handle this, rest assured |
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| yasotay |
Posted on 21-05-2006 04:21
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Posts: 637 Joined: September 09 2005 |
I do not want to leave the impression that I disagree with the map. I do think that we ought to make some allowances for the continued efforts of the Hiigaran's to regain their lost territory. As the map looks at the moment, there is no disputed regions for the Vaygr and Hiigaran to be fighting over. Certainly do not want to spend the same sort of time we did with Norse to get to a product. |
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| TelQuessir |
Posted on 21-05-2006 08:31
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Posts: 2598 Joined: August 30 2005 |
Or join the army of evil! Or I will eat all your children! XD |
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| Ironwatsas |
Posted on 21-05-2006 09:41
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 Posts: 856 Joined: October 21 2005 |
If any of us had children, then why would we be here? |
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| Sun Tzu |
Posted on 21-05-2006 11:22
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Posts: 528 Joined: September 08 2005 |
I attach a revised version. It includes the Federation of Cush. I have added a war zone marker following yasotay's main comment; I hope this is enough to show where the main battles are in the post-invasion era. I'll upload the psd file on Filefront, so it can be easily modified/completed/updated.
Sun Tzu attached the following image:
![PDS_Map_Clean2[203].jpg](../forum/attachments/PDS_Map_Clean2[203].jpg)
Edited by Sun Tzu on 21-05-2006 12:53 |
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| yasotay |
Posted on 21-05-2006 13:13
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Posts: 637 Joined: September 09 2005 |
With this as the new 'galactic reality' map, I would recommend that the locations of some of the minor star nations are. It would help some of us to better understand where some of the discussions are taking place. Also time permitting I would recommend that the map be made as large as possible. On the old map I have included star systems that pertain to my fiction to help me retain spacial balance. If we continue to grow this 'verse it may get busy... A compass would also allow for quicker understanding. By this I mean is the Elyssian Union at the 180 degree point of the galaxy? Finally, I want to say FANTASTIC WORK! It is easy to be critical of good work and forget to compliment the person who took the time to do the work. My compliments to you Sun Tzu. Merci (with appologies if I have misspelled or misused my exceedingly limited language skills) |
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| Sun Tzu |
Posted on 21-05-2006 14:39
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Posts: 528 Joined: September 08 2005 |
Thanks. The orginal map is twice bigger (1600*1200). So that leaves some room for additions. As for the compass, I'll give it a try. I will also add the galaxy arms or something like that (for the moment I have no idea to do this neatly with my current software  ).EDIT: new version with compass attached EDIT: in fact, galaxy arms confuse the eye, so I will leave the map as is
Sun Tzu attached the following image:
![PDS_Map_v3[204].jpg](../forum/attachments/PDS_Map_v3[204].jpg)
Edited by Sun Tzu on 21-05-2006 17:09 |
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