The developers released the source code and the public is taking advantage of it. A Babylon 5 mod, Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars and even a Wing Commander saga?
First, you just find yourself a retail copy of the game (from like Good Ol Games) then run the installer which will download a ton of content and convert your game to FreeSpace Open.
If you want more info, Hard-Light Productions is a great place to start.
Anyone remember the voxel? Gamers used to remember voxels from the Voxel Space engine that was used in Comanche: Maximum Overkill and Delta Force. Or maybe there’s some gamers out there that played Outcast? (maybe?)
In any case, it looks like voxels are not dead… but taking a little vacation. It’s only a matter of time till someone exploits the hidden potential. Real destructible terrain w/ density! Hellooooo? Well, one person seems to have figured it out and disguised his tech demo as a game called Voxelstein 3D. I can’t tell you what hope this game gives me. Imagine not just blowing chunks off off buildings, in pre-cut peices… but actually being able to carve into terrain.
Seems like the medical field hasn’t let this technology unused. A few Siggraph’s back I was able to get a demo from one of the software engineers of this intuitive application, but on ATI hardware. He moved points around to adjust the density and appearance of those densities in order to zero in on the skull and (with a little tweaking) the brain.
Lucky for me, Houdini has voxels in it… voxel fluids.
Looks like there’s still some money to be made in software & hardware using voxel technology.
Still wondering “What are voxels“? Well Wiki seems to have the usual depth, including a list of games that used the technology, like Crysis & Worms 4 Mayhem… ? Ok, now we need an update to Scorched Earth, but with voxels. Mmmm MMmm good.
Love the use of music in that trailer.
With the recent release of Bionic Commando: Rearmed, I’ve been thinking about other classic favorites. As a child of divorced parents who had joint custody, I alternated between mom’s and dad’s houses, every two weeks. The time spent with my dad was away from my schoolmates, so video games and Autodesk Animator were there to keep me occupied.
Looking around, it seems like Bionic Commando isn’t the only childhood favorite coming back. For the last few months I’ve been hearing rumors of the return of X-Com & just today, Syndicate.
Despite, the great job that was done on the update of Bionic Commando (multiplayer 7 co-op), there’s always a concern that the updates will fail. The games were much simpler, which means that tinkering with the formula risks destroying the feeling of the game. Wouldn’t it be nice to just be able to play some of the classics, unaltered? Well, DOSBox is one of many emulators that allows you to do just that. A simple “download” google search will help you find Syndicate, X-Com, Wing Commander, Dune 2 or whatever you’re feining. There’s also plenty of sites that will help you get stuff configured and working properly. Did I mention that people even have DOSBox working on their PSP?
Another neat thing about DOSBox… video capture!!
Here’s some of my favs.
Wing Commander 2
Dune 2
+ Dune 2 in-game footage
Syndicate
+ Syndicate in-game
X-Com
+ X-Com in-game
Comanche: Maximum Overkill
Ultima Underworld II
I remember making it to the end of this game and being completely stuck. I went to the local Babbage’s and picked up a cheat guide, only to read that the guide didn’t have any information past the point which I had already reached. 15 years later and I can finally see the ending!
Today was quite a trip down memory lane. The game industry felt more innovative back then. Nowadays, all the RTS games seem like a prettier version of Dune 2. The FPS games are a dynamic version of DOOM. The turn based strategy games are… are… uuh…. OH! That reminds me, it looks like they’re coming out with a Jagged Alliance 3! W00t!! Anyhow, if you want innovation, I highly recommend checking out the indy gaming scene. Start with Game Tunnel and then checkout The Great Games Experiment. Best part of indy games is that they’re small games. Simple enough where you can figure out the mechanics in minutes. A revival of the casual gamer.
Looks like Introversion Software (publishers of Darwinia & Defcon) have something else up their sleeves and they’re calling it “Love”. I’m geeked.
Check out the video for a tech demo. It looks like they’re using voxels to pull off the dynamic terrain. By “dynamic”, I mean that the ground itself can be raised and lowered, kinda like the ol populous, except at a more granular level. If you don’t have patience, skip about 1 minute into the video for the real goods.
Btw, if you want to play something a little different, and you haven’t heard of any of Introversion’s games, I would check them out. Multiwinia just came out too.
Thanks to PlanetDamage for the 411.
*Update*
Completely wrong on this one! It’s not made by Introversion Software and if I had taken the extra time to checkout the source links, I would have read the informative article posted on RockPaperShotgun. Not only that, it’s not voxels!
I will be posting a better researched update soon.
Love character rigging and especially good rigging… and above that, I love to see how others achieve great results.
Chris Evans has dug up some info on the character work that has gone into Metal Gear Solid 4. I’m on the fence about which console to buy, but the tech put into this game is enough to end the debate.
Thanks again to “Stumbling Into Awesomeness” for these great posts.
* UPDATE * Oct 16, 2008
CGTalk just posted a production focus article for MGS4. Looks like there’s some great stuff in here that I’ll have to take the time to read later.
MGS4 WearWolf
At the very least, you have to appreciate the Ghost in the Shell paint job. Came across this while searching for the discontinued Motoko PVC figure. From here, I also ran into the Cortana photos. If only they airbrushed a nice glowing effect.
More Major Motoko Kusanagi photos @ GirsEntertainmentNetwork.com
Halo’s Cortana photos @ GirsEntertainmentNetwork.com
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