Your opinion on some gameplay elements for a possable remake of SF1

[Arcosanti]

As for the planet renderings and ship flight, why not make it user configurable?

[Arne]

It's important that the mining isn't just labor. Making it more complex while also increasing the amount of micro management and labor is not an approach I'd choose. Maybe... try to think of some kind of mini game. In Star Control you had to avoid the quakes, lighting and blast the aliens. There could be other less action oriented approaches which requires the player to play some kind of deduction game.

Personally, I'd probably use mining machines like in Elite II. First you scan the planet from the surface, then you land and plant a machine near certain rare mineral concentrations (there could be a 2D mineral map). The mining machine would be left behind on the planet for a time period, and maybe even signal the player/base once it's nearly full. Then you pick it up. Some planets (or even regions of a planet) would have a danger rating. Later in the game you can buy more durable mining machines which survive hostile life forms, nasty atmospheres / great depth.  Alternatively (if returning to old planets to pick stuff up is too boring/laborious), someone else could manage the mineral pickup from now on, and you get a %... although that mechanic wouldn't work for planets which are in very hostile territory which only a pimped out ship could survive.

While not very true to the original mechanic, I think there's already enough driving around and picking stuff up (artifacts). I'd prefer if the mining was different and less laborious.

I was thinking about doing a SF1 gfx set a while ago, but... did not get very far.

As for the dogfight mechanic, I don't know. I'm not a fan of real time tile based, because it makes subtle movements hard to see.

[cosmobreeze]

Interesting idea, anything vaguely regarding StarFlight interests me, so an another remake would definitively have my attention.

[MNMinstrel]

I've gone through a few computers since I last worked on it, so I'll have to do a little digging.

[mutantant]

Yeah, I shot him an email, not from his site (since I didn't see any contact info there), but from his profile here at ICC.
I would love to see what you have made Minstrel, if you want to shoot me a link or an email

As I stated before, its not a promise at this time, but I have had a strong desire to make a SF style game for a long time, even starting one way back 7 or 8 years ago, so I am seriously considering it.

I know Stainless is busy so I will continue rolling around ideas and maybe get some planning going on what I will need to do if I use that lua engine.

[MNMinstrel]

Might not be a bad idea. I had seen that the remake project had died, and it was looking interesting. I never have finished a project using anothers code so who knows. Either way, the engine I am thinking of using is quite versitile, but reinventing what someone else already worked very hard on is a bit silly. I will look into that. Any idea of what language Stainless was using?  If anything, using your well made music and resources would be a possability. I will see whats up with the sources. I think I remember seeing the project page where Stainless offered to send out the sources to someone who is interested.

Thanks for the reply.

Not sure what language he used for this, here's a link to his current site though if you want to contact him.

http://stainlessbeer.weebly.com/

I know he's really swamped right now so it might take a while for him to respond.

Let me know which way you go with this, I'd really like to see my work on this in a project that reaches completion, so I'd be happy to help you with it whichever route you want to take. If you're interested in coding comms with realtime 3d, most of the models I used for this are rigged and ready to have animations added to them.

[mutantant]

Lol @ 0st.

Anyway the engine is called 'love'. Not my favorite name by far but it is very nice. Physics, scaling, particles and all sorts of good stuff are built in, but it is not a 'creation kit' style of thing, which would make it limited. Rather it is just an engine with much of the needed stuff like graphical routines and sound already coded for you. I am not married to it, but it does seem promising for this type of project.

Thanks for the post. I definatly am leaning towards a more complex mining system since it is such a big part of the game. Not something overly complex or time consuming (aka boring) but something better than selecting 'pick up cobalt' out of a menu. 

[Deus Siddis]

0st: Which Lua based engine were you thinking of using out of curiosity?

1st: Mining could definitely be more interesting. Scanning could be interesting, maybe also using explosive charges to bring the buried ore to the surface.

2nd: I don't think you'd have to worry about new starflight art too much. There's quite a bit of it around here already by artists who could probably help you out in this department.

3rd: I for one definitely prefer a more realistic flight model. And more realistic movement model for the terrain vehicle and other planet's surface stuff as well.

[mutantant]

Might not be a bad idea. I had seen that the remake project had died, and it was looking interesting. I never have finished a project using anothers code so who knows. Either way, the engine I am thinking of using is quite versitile, but reinventing what someone else already worked very hard on is a bit silly. I will look into that. Any idea of what language Stainless was using?  If anything, using your well made music and resources would be a possability. I will see whats up with the sources. I think I remember seeing the project page where Stainless offered to send out the sources to someone who is interested.

Thanks for the reply.

[MNMinstrel]

Still have it. That page got screwed up the last time I edited my site and I never got around to putting it back up.

[capi3101]

This is slightly off topic; been meaning to ask. Whatever happened to the Thoss Used Spacecraft Sales commercial, MNMinstrel?

Haven't had any time to post today; still don't, but I don't want to lose this thread in the shuffle.

[MNMinstrel]

Welcome to the SF3 forums.

Several years ago, Stainless started coding a remake of SF1, and I later jumped in and did most of the graphics(Comm pictures, ships, and a few animations that we added to the game to make it more current) as well as all sound effects and music for it. It is very close to completion, but it's been shelved for the last year or so as we haven't had the time to work on it. The music and sound effects are 100% complete, there were a few things I wanted to do with the art that I haven't gotten to. I do know the last time I checked he was thinking of passing the code on to someone else to finish. You might want to take a look through the area of the forum they have here for it:

http://icc.starflight3.org/index.php?board=26.0

Also, I still have some of the music and art I did for it up on my site:

http://web.mac.com/jh4music/iWeb/Site/Starflight%3A%20The%20Remake.html

http://web.mac.com/jh4music/iWeb/Site/Edge%20Of%20the%20Map.html

[mutantant]

First off, hello all as this is my 1st post here.

I am thinking of doing a SF1 remake, using a 2d game engine that is lua based, and has a ton of great features built in.  This engine is also cross platform, so our Linux and mac friends would not be left out  However I would like to get an idea of what kind of things people would like to see in such a remake.

I am of course thinking of staying fairly true to the original, but there are a few things that could be improved or modernized a little.

1st is mining.  On the PC and Amiga it was a drive-over-and-select-pickup system, while on the genesis a more in-depth system, where you had to scan the ground for minerals, remember where you saw them, and mine them from the ground.  While I know the PC version is considered the ultimate SF1 by many, what is your opinion on the mining system.  Pick-up?  Scan and dig?  Or maybe something more complex, more realistic or tactical, since mining is a big part of the SF experience.

2nd is graphics.  I could in theory import graphics from both the PC and genesis versions, and allow the selection of either.  Or get a much more modern set, something bigger and bolder.  I have seen an amazing page, but its 1am and I cant remember who runs it, but it has some truly amazing art for a SF game he is or was thinking of doing, real top notch, and something like that may be great for a SF remake.

3rd is the flight model.  How many people prefer the more realistic inertia based flight from the genesis title, or of course, the truly wonderful SF The Lost Colony.  Or for purist reasons would a remake be better with the PC style flight.

So anyway, like I said I am thinking about this idea, I dont want to promise anything and be another dead Internet project    However, SF is a game that I have always come back too, year after year, and I would love to bring it up to date.  Please feel free to chime in, as I know my own preferences but that hardly matters if 90% of the SF1 fans (who are obviously avid fans to still, like me, think of a game decades after its release) hate the idea.  Throw any ideas at me, things you think would be a sin to change, and thing you think would make a great remake.

Later all!

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