Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

[Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz]

quote:

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Originally posted by Triumvir Emphy:
He can not publish his personal development tools, since he doesn't own the rights to them.

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Was thinking more of the utilities he uses to edit components etc. All developers spend time on such things - often the work required to make them idiot-proof makes them unsuitable for general release though.

The map editor would have been a prime candidate. He might have ticked off a few but he could have added the editor to new distributions of the full game and charged a nominal $5 for existing owners to download via the old Malfador mechanism.

I'm justing tossing ideas around here. I'd hate to see Aaron forced to give it all in and train to become a CPA.

At least we don't have to worry about him getting VC funding for a .com.


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Resistence is futile.

[dmm]

Reminder of topic:
I'm trying to get us all to distinguish between irritating "pet peeves" and things that we want badly enough that we'd pay for them.

Regarding the SaveGame file editor:
Because SEIV is so complex, the possibilities are awesome. For instance, you could make up your own disasters and roll dice for them, then implement them with a SaveGame editor. You could have quests; you could have sci-fi literary scenarios. You could play it like D&D with a "galaxy master." You could override the results of SEIV combat and insert results based on your favorite combat game. You could use the editor as a "deus ex machina" to turn an end-of-game mop-up into an epic struggle (the aliens from the galaxy next door are scared of you and so they just gave your pathetically weak opponents a large advanced-tech fleet and maybe some ringworlds), and you could use it to set up the game anyway you want -- tech levels, resources, starting planets, etc.

Regarding PBEM if a SaveGame editor existed:
There are ways to verify if a file has been tampered with. These could be used to prevent PBEM fraud. (Plus, mail fraud is a felony, but PBEM fraud is a mortal sin. ) However, there are "legal" ways to "cheat" by using strategies that take advantage of loopholes in the game. Most players in PBEM outlaw these with "house rules" and simply trust their opponents to obey them.

[chewy027]

I would pay to be able to play with more than 20 races at a time. Let me use all of my custom races in one gigantic game!

Also, when I finally conquer a galaxy I would like to be able to somehow move to another galaxy. Kind of like invading the neighbor. This way the game could be never ending! Or at least be able to transfer ships from one galaxy to another and stay in the same spot in the tech tree. This would at least alleviate the 20 maximum races problem. Because a new galaxy would have new races. Anyway, I know this sounds pretty far out, but what do you think? I would pay anything reasonable to have these capabilities.

[dmm]

quote:

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Originally posted by chewy027:
Also, when I finally conquer a galaxy I would like to be able to somehow move to another galaxy. Kind of like invading the neighbor.

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What you're really asking for is a SaveGame File Editor. You could generate a new game in a new galaxy, then edit the SaveGame file to give yourself the tech from the Last game in the Last galaxy. You could also give the aliens in that galaxy some tech and a bunch of ships (or else it'll be kind of boring -- you'll wipe them out too easily).

[dmm]

Anybody want more realistic space combat? Aren't there any twitchers out there who'd like to be able to set up the space combats in a RTS game and import the results?

Maybe I'm wierd. I like turn-based strategy, real-time strategy, and also real-time first-person (e.g., X-Wing). Is that wierd? Do I need professional help?

My kids and I thought up the ultimate computer game the other night. The only problem was, it would be so complicated that you wouldn't be able to have a real life!

[AJC]

Raynor - you are correct. Delphi was used for SE4. It was mentioned at a game review site that had a rather long interview with Aaron.

[E. Albright]

quote:

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Originally posted by Kellicus:
I don't recall the name of the game, but I used to play a space game that had automated strategic ground/ship assualt combat. The company had a tatical ground combat game that would tie in and allow you to experience tatical combat if you owned both games. It was really cool.

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You wouldn't be refering to Breach 2 and Rules of Engagement (or for that matter Breach 3 and Rules of Engagement 2), would you? Published by, IIRC, Omnitrends (and Impressions for B3/RE2)?

[Marty Ward]

I would pay getting the AI to have a coherent strategy, use all the items in the game, read troops and ship capture, and a better diplomacy model, with history, global effects, forethought.

[dmm]

quote:

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Originally posted by Marty Ward:
I would pay getting the AI to have a coherent strategy, use all the items in the game, read troops and ship capture, and a better diplomacy model, with history, global effects, forethought.

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Yes, I think you're speaking for everybody on these issues. A truly intelligent AI probably would really win a Nobel prize! But some other games have done aspects of AI better than SEIV, so we all know that it can be done. However, I've never yet played a complicated PC game that didn't have gaping flaws in the AI.

[Spoo]

quote:

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Anybody want more realistic space combat? Aren't there any twitchers out there who'd like to be able to set up the space combats in a RTS game and import the results?

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I always thought it would be neat to use "Homeworld" or "Homeworld: Cataclysm" to run the combat simulations. You'd have to find a way to pull the ship designs from se4 and put them in Homeworld, but as I recall, it is possible to mod the ships in Homeworld.

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Assume you have a 1kg squirrel
E=mc^2
E=1kg(3x10^8m/s)^2=9x10^16J
which, if I'm not mistaken, is equivilent to roughly a 50 megaton nuclear bomb.
Fear the squirrel.