This devlog is fast becoming a detailed Frequently Asked Questions, but such is life. The dimensional frame of reference chosen for our game is two. We chose a two-dimensional reference frame because of the simplicity of the graphics design, -- which is necessary for a four-person team to bring a game to market -- the simplicity of new players to quickly pick up the user interface controls, and the mirroring of some of our model games in the past.
FATES: Carpe Moerae is designed to be easy to learn and extremely difficult to master, and having a two dimensional frame of reference is a significant part of fulfilling the former. The 2-D frame operates on a HTML5 JavaScript canvas with mouse and mouse wheel-based zoom and pan using mathematics to lay out a galaxy shape with any number of stars. I kept the generation algorithm as generic and scalable as possible in order to allow us the greatest level of flexibility when tweaking game universe parameters going forward through our testing phases.
As far as star numbers, I have tested development clients using 10,000; 40,000; and 100,000 stars, so at a minimum there will be ten thousand stars with anywhere from zero to ten planets available for individual players to colonize. So, we are looking at around 70,000 and 1,000,000 planets available for players to colonize. Assuming players run up empires of 100-400 planets under administration at a given time, we expect to have anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 players per server.
The galaxy generation algorithm itself clusters stars heavily near the center of the galaxy with stars scattered much more sparsely further out from the center. We have input parameters that can be tweaked to control variational density each time we generate a new galaxy, so these parameters can be tweaked based on player input.
The stars are possessed of specific colors, which are based on scientific astronomical observations made over many centuries with us utilizing six basic star colors, including: red, orange, yellow, white, blue, and binary. Each star color has been assigned a set a statistical input parameters that control how each specific star color generates planets orbiting it, such as biosphere, resources, planetary special properties, etc.
Going forward into the future, we will be working more closely with the scientists that the MMOS.ch guys have access to in order to further hone the accuracy of our stellar and planetary models and to help bring awareness of these scientists work to our players. All of this will take place in future development cycles though, as we continue pressing forward.
This should give you an idea of how the galaxy will be generated and what you can expect from FATES: Carpe Moerae in terms of play field.
á na márië,
gumshoe, out.
No comments:
Post a Comment