Escape Velocity Darkstar

Come check it out, description at post #7

A lot of TC ideas seem to be popping up around here, and people seem to be working on them. I don't know where the opinion came from that ARPIA II didn't revitalize the forums at least a little. It actually looks kind of nice.

So nice, in fact, that I'd like to bring up my own TC again: Escape Velocity Darkstar. The progress of I and the team was pretty slow for a while, up until around February, but we were still working on it. The last couple months, we have gotten nearly nothing done and have had very lacking communication between team members. The team has been reduced to just a handful of developers (only three have been coming by the Darkstar forums, but we might have one more still with us), and I'm the only one who's really able to work on the TC right now, because one of the three of us handles the website and the other is far too busy to be doing anything except provide support. However, there is a really significant amount of work that has already been put into the project, and there is enough of a universe that I consider the project to be, excluding graphics, half done. While I was tempted a little while ago to completely cancel the project, I didn't really have the heart to do so, especially after I thought about it and realized that it really would not be all that difficult to complete the thing, as long as I had sufficient help and a good amount of support and backup.

So, I've reorganized the project a little, and I'm looking for, to begin with, two people. There are some prerequisites. You need to understand the EV game format, for one: I can't spend any extra time trying to explain the game to someone who hasn't played it (which I tried, but that was a failed maneuver, and one that I deeply recommend no one attempts). You also need to have a registered copy of EV:Nova so that you can run the TC. Those two things I imagine are kind of a given at these forums. You also need to have a very good work ethic (enthusiasm goes hand in hand with this), and enough free time so that you can work quickly.

The first person I need is someone who understands the resource system of the EVN engine, and has a reasonable amount of creativity. I need you to help pull together the loose strings of the galaxy: set up trade routes with commodities, accurately populate the systems with various types of ships (which are already all in-game), and set technology levels accurately for planets. If you understand all of the resources, that will be great, because I will probably be needing work done in other areas as well, but just smaller jobs.

The second person I need is someone who will work with me to write the storylines. I've been writing most things, but again, if you are creative, have a good amount of time on your hands, can work quickly, and if you have a good sense of plot, the Darkstar project could really use you.

If you are interested, post here. If you have any questions about Darkstar, either ask me here or ask over at the Darkstar forums HERE. The forums there have very little traffic, but that will change if people visit them. Plus there's a significantly larger amount of discussion (though, as mentioned above, it has been very minimal for a couple of months) between the developers on the development forums.

This post has been edited by Crusader Alpha : 06 May 2007 - 03:51 PM

Alpha, if I was you, I'd remove that e-mail address; the LAST thing you want is to be plagued by spam-bots and the like who found your e-mail floating around.

Anyway, on topic: This sounds to be pretty interesting. If I had free time, I'd participate in writing the storylines, but seeing how I'm about halfway through Spring Quarter (stupid college...mumble grumble), I don't think I could help much.

However, if you want, I'd be happy to proof-read anything and fix errors.

I agree with you, even though it is gmail and it blocks spam excellently. I apologize for not replying sooner, I was about to and had to get off the computer quickly. Thank you for offering to proof-read, I'll keep you in mind.

In order to boost your enthusiasm, does anyone want to see a little bit of the project?

@crusader-alpha, on May 5 2007, 09:08 PM, said in Escape Velocity Darkstar:

In order to boost your enthusiasm, does anyone want to see a little bit of the project?

It would be very nice.

Yes, that would indeed be cool.

Right-o. I'll post some stuff that has never been posted before, and some that has.

You are a freelance starship pilot living in a huge expanse of space known as "The Vidhayen", with hundreds of star systems and dozens of habitable planets, stations, and moons. Many of the systems are independent, others are run by interstellar mining guilds, or massive, far reaching empires. Some areas are overrun with fugitives, mercenaries, and bounty hunters, overlapping wide-reaching areas of sometimes profitable but dangerous free trading. In some areas, a heavy fighter is a dangerous enemy; while in others superpowers are at war, and warships kilometers long can leave entire fleets in ruin. To the galactic south is the Farlan Nebula of the South Rim, to the galactic west a great empty expanse of space—the same to the north—and to the east is the immense unexplored mass known as the Vartinan Nebula. You know only some of the known 3000 years of history, some know more, some know less, but all history before this time has been lost.

EV:Darkstar carries you through a web of interconnected but distinctive storylines, through military operations, dangerous freelancing jobs, the spiritual journeys of warrior peoples, hundreds of light years and ages of the lost history of the Vidhayen, to secrets and dangers forgotten for millennia.

-----

The basic subdivisions of the Vidhayen are as follows, in crash-course format.

The Sovereign Worlds: An area filled with independent systems and governments, and home to crime rings, pirates, mercenaries, traders, and bounty hunters.

The Mining Guilds: Three mining guilds, who act not as corporations but rather as clans: Zercinel Mining, Halofarth Mining, and Onhaul Mining. They are near the Sovereign Worlds and there is some overlap of bounty hunters, pirates and the like.

The Southern Rim: An area that is technically part of the Sovereign Worlds, but with accentuation on the prescence of crime rings and pirated areas. It is a profitable area, however, for more rugged traders.

The Kos Republic: The second most expansive government in the Vidhayen, and the most heavily populated. They are a republic, as the name suggests, but corruption is evident, if hidden, in some areas. The largest powers in Kos, however, are for the time being honest. The Kos Republic is one of the newer governments in the Vidhayen.

Galelica: The most expansive government in the Vidhayen, Galelica is a powerful empire, completely culturally different from Kos. It is ruled by the Galelican Code and lead by the three Prime Watchers of the code, who are compelled by the utmost in honor for Galelica. All citizens adhere to the code and know it by heart: it contains the honor principles of the empire, and the empires preceding it.

The Dehrsarin: An ancient people, separated from the rest of humanity and unknown to it, though they know about the aforementioned governments. They are technologically the most advanced and dangerous within the Vidhayen, and culturally the most "primitive". The Dehrsarin people are, in times of need, defended by their Dehrsarin Militia and the elite warriors known as the Bredunen, who make up a very small portion of their population.

-----

The storylines all begin at the same point, but split off later on, and at times cross over. The storyline system is intricate, but there are six distinct endings, which all take place at the same location but are all very much different.

These are some images, some of which, like the above information, have been posted before, and some which haven't.

The Vidhayen, the massive expanse of space where the game takes place:

A screenshot of the new interface:

A shield ship. There are several of these behemoth stellar objects created by the Old Dehrsarin, the ancestors of the Dehrsarin. These are somewhat cryptic, and immensely powerful.

A few ships--

The Ctraill Corvette of the Kos Republic:

The Weahr Heavy Fighter of the Kos Republic:

The Stag of the Bredunen:

Hopefully that is enough to get your attention.

This post has been edited by Crusader Alpha : 07 May 2007 - 07:15 AM

Jesus pizza !!

Wow!!!! Looks good so far, keep it up Crusader Alpha.

go for it! you can finish! school ends soon!

OMG! It's freaking huge!

The graphics are beautiful. I can hardly wait to learn how to make 3D images in school.

Looks really good. Keep it up!

(On a side note, on the new interface, you misspelled fuel )

This looks flippin' awesome. I can't wait to see the final product.

Alpha, when will you be recruiting for beta-testers? I'll happily volunteer myself to be one, as well as a devoted grammar-/spell-checker.

And I've already spotted one error:

Sheild -> Shield

Just thought I'd let ya know.

Bad. Ass. I can't wait. Keep up the fantastic work.

Thanks on shield, I'm a great writer and speller except for ie/ei issues. I did already notice fuel though, that is an old screenshot, but thank you.

Nice, it makes Colosseum look so tiny in comparison. Hey wait a minute...it is tiny in comparison! No wonder...

Those graphics look professional, to say the least. Too bad I'm busy with my own TC to help out...

I sent an email to your inbox so please read it but basically it would be flippen' awesome if you'd let me work with you. The only things that I'd need to know is what your using to make your graphics (my computer won't show the pics that you posted unfortunatly but it probably would if you sent them in a file). Ive been waiting to make a game like Ev Nova but havn't been able to find the tools or the time (by myself) to create one yet. So here I am jumping to help out with your game!

So... we still need a serious coder. I can work on the coding, but I'd prefer to spend my time leading the project and writing storylines. If you have a reasonable enough amount of time, we could really use your help.

I can do mďsn/cron/desc/përs/düde/flëts

I'm not much of a ship and outfit designer (not great at balancing) nor can I think up a galactic inter-system map, but I can code what you give me.

This post has been edited by LNSU : 10 May 2007 - 09:03 PM

Right. I sent you a PM.

Alright, we've had good response, and for now have all of the developers we can use. Support is still appreciated of course, and feel free to ask questions. Also, I might refer back to this topic later on for testers and things like that.