Q: What is this game?
A: Galaxial is a 2D space strategy game. It features a sandbox mode allowing the player to explore, colonise and conquer planets in vast randomly generated galaxies.
Q: How many people are working on this game?
A: Just myself.
A: Galaxial is a 2D space strategy game. It features a sandbox mode allowing the player to explore, colonise and conquer planets in vast randomly generated galaxies.
Q: How many people are working on this game?
A: Just myself.
Q: What features
will the game have?
A: The features
include:
- Epic scale. Thousands of ships and many hundreds of colonisable planets in a single game.
- Protect your empire from enemy factions and raiding
pirates.
- Explore the galaxy and discover valuable planets and asteroid resources.
- Diplomacy system to form alliances or declare war with other factions.
- Diplomacy system to form alliances or declare war with other factions.
- Mine resources from asteroids to build planetary
facilities and new spaceships.
- Colonise new planets with each type of world having a
unique strategic bonus.
- 12 unique classes of spaceship (fighter, frigate, destroyer, cruiser, siege cruiser, support cruiser, miner, battlecruiser, battleship, carrier, dreadnaught, coloniser)
- Hundreds of different ship variants.
- Hundreds of individual ship modules including various weapon types, electronic warfare, shield/armor repair and propulsion upgrades to specialise each ship and enhance their abilities.
- Take manual control of any ship you own.
- Assign your ships to wings and squadrons so that they can fly in formation and work together to deal with threats.
- Take manual control of any ship you own.
- Assign your ships to wings and squadrons so that they can fly in formation and work together to deal with threats.
- Research new technology to enable new ship designs and
modules.
- Customisable ship, engine trail and turret colours to make your ships look unique.
- Full modding support for user made ships, weapons, items, factions and colonies.
Q: What game modes will there be?
A: Game modes include:
- Sandbox: No set goals, game ends if your empire is eliminated.
- Survival: Single planet game where you must defend against increasingly difficult attack waves. (not sure if survival mode will make it for release, might be added shortly after)
- More to follow...
Q: What resources are there in the game?
A: There are four main resources to gather from asteroids: common, reactive, radioactive and precious ore. This must then be processed at a planet refinery to create the corresponding metals to build with. Wreckage from destroyed ships can be salvaged and then processed for extra resources.
Q: Which games inspired you to make this?
A: EVE Online, X3, Sins of a Solar Empire, Total Annihilation
- Full modding support for user made ships, weapons, items, factions and colonies.
Q: What game modes will there be?
A: Game modes include:
- Sandbox: No set goals, game ends if your empire is eliminated.
- Survival: Single planet game where you must defend against increasingly difficult attack waves. (not sure if survival mode will make it for release, might be added shortly after)
- More to follow...
Q: What resources are there in the game?
A: There are four main resources to gather from asteroids: common, reactive, radioactive and precious ore. This must then be processed at a planet refinery to create the corresponding metals to build with. Wreckage from destroyed ships can be salvaged and then processed for extra resources.
Q: Which games inspired you to make this?
A: EVE Online, X3, Sins of a Solar Empire, Total Annihilation
Q: Will it be moddable?
A: Yes. Most things in the game can be added or modified very easily using XML files apart from certain parts that are hard coded such as the AI and user interface.
Q: Will there be multiplayer?
A: Multiplayer is not planned at this stage but is definitely something I would like to add in the future when I have more time, resources and knowledge to implement it.
Q: How do you develop this game?
A: Everything is programmed in C++ using my own OpenGL based engine. Libraries I use include:
- Parallel Patterns Library (Concurrency)
- FreeType (Fonts)
- LibPNG (Images)
- Expat (XML parser)
- OpenAL (Audio engine)
- LibOGG/Vorbis (Audio files)
For creating all the graphics I use Adobe Illustrator.
Q: What platforms are you going to release for?
A: PC with the possibility to port to other platforms after (if it does well and I can afford to buy a Mac)
Q: When will it be released?
A: Its hard to estimate as this is my first proper game and there is a lot of work to do. I hope to have a beta (pre-order) version ready shortly before the full release which will be sometime in 2013.
Q: Will the game be free?
A: No
Q. How much will the game cost?
A: I dont know yet.
Just a possible idea for an additional gametype is a "adventure" mode. Something kind of like the Dwarf Fortress version, except you're a mercenary ship/fleet. Rather than it being a set of prehashed missions though, you could try to generate missions. Make it perma death like the advanture mode in DF and you'd have a winner right there.
ReplyDeleteYes, thats pretty much what I had in mind for the more RPG style mode.
DeleteThe big empires would all be computer controlled the same as in the main strategy part of the game and the player can work with or against them as they fight each other or just go and explore, pirate, survive, train/hire/levelup crew...
Would love to add a full working economy for trading purposes also.
This would certainly have to come after the initial release though as it will be a huge amount of extra work alongside the main RTS part of the game.
What other libraries are you using?
ReplyDeleteParallel Patterns Library - concurrency
DeleteOpenGL - rendering
Freetype - reading fonts
LibPNG - reading images
Expat - xml parser
OpenAL - base for the audio engine
LibOgg/Vorbis - audio files
And how do you handle events, like clicks?
DeleteEvents sent to the window (such as clicks) are handled using the message loop.
Deletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Message_loop_in_Microsoft_Windows
What program are you using for creating the images?
ReplyDeleteAll the graphics are made in Adobe Illustrator
DeleteDid you also a framework or just the engine?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what you mean
Deletewill ther be alpha or beta relas to test this game im allredy in love with it great work keep up the good work :)
ReplyDeleteThere will most likely be a paid for beta at some point.
DeleteCan tell us at what prize will you sell tis game for current dey ??
ReplyDeleteI havnt decided how much the game will cost yet.
DeleteWill the resources for each asteroid be unlimited? I notice that you were inspired by games that never ran out of resources (I absolutely love games like this rather than having to aggressively mine in fear or running out). Are you going to have supply or anything to / from your ship or planets? Diplomacy perhaps? Or is it too early to say?
ReplyDeleteDamn I'm excited for this game and it's book-marked as one of my home pages now. I hope to get the game in the near future...
Each asteroid will have a set amount of ore you can mine from it then will disapear and take a while before it respawns. This is to prevent you having all your mining ships in the same place. Also the ore refineries have a maximum amount of ore they can refine per second, so you will need to spread out to other planets.
DeleteI had originally planned to have supply and a working economy (much like X3) but decided it would be too complex to make, especially on my first proper game. (maybe in an update/expansion)
I havnt started developing it yet but there will definitely need to be some kind of diplomacy for declaring war, peace and alliances but not sure how in-depth I would like it to be yet.
will ther be limit of the resources you can haw at the moment and will be able to increas that amount thru reserch or bulding magazines or will ther be set maximum limit of resources for evryone.
ReplyDeleteCurrently the maximum resources limit is very high and unlikely to ever be reached.
DeleteI am thinking of lowering the limit and adding a new storage structure that can be built on a colony to increase the maximum resources.
Still not sure if its worth adding though as it will probably have little effect on actual gameplay...
well in my opinion resorces max limit shuld be like in suprem commander 2 no limits xD its nice to not wory about reaching resources capacity :)
DeleteWould not it be better to use SDL library instead of WinAPI?
ReplyDeleteAs a result, your game will become multiplatform..
I dont really see the need and would prefer not to use SDL. If I do eventually port the game to mac/linux any platform dependant code like window and input handling would be swapped with alternatives such as X11 (X Window System)
DeleteAre you using Static or Dynamic libraries?
ReplyDeleteI always use static linking, much better performance.
DeleteWhat coding style are you using(eg.: Allman, K&R,..)?
ReplyDeleteAllman, I find its cleaner/easier to read.
DeleteHow are you naming your functions, classes (eg. CamelCase, some function, ..)?
ReplyDeleteFor functions and classes I capitalise the first letter of each word eg.
Deleteint someVariable;
int m_someClassMember;
static int ms_someStaticClassMember;
const int SOME_CONSTANT_VARIABLE = 123;
void SomeFunction(int parameter);
and for Classes are you using the C prefix?
DeleteNo
DeleteStuart, I've been following this since you created your thread on the TIG forum. I wanted to ask, which compiler are you using; MinGW or Visual Studio?
ReplyDeleteI use Visual Studio 2010
Deletethe Express edition?
DeleteFunny I found MinGW easier to utilze for Win32 API stuff. It was kind of cumbersome doing that from the get go with VS2010... hmm perhaps I should look at it again.
Yes its the Express Editon.
Deletewill there be space stations, or automated turret batteries?
ReplyDeleteThere wont be any space stations but I would like to add static defences that can be deployed in space such as turret batteries.
DeleteWill ther be race's with difrient ships or will every one be using the same race and ships ??
ReplyDeleteEach race or faction will have their own unique ships and modules.
DeleteHi Stuart. I am assuming your using shaders also? It's probably not all all fixed function. If so could you say for which elements in the game your using shaders and why?
ReplyDeleteI was also wondering, time permitting, if you could explain in a high level way, how you did the smooth zooming.
Sorry for asking such nerdy tech questions, I just find it refreshing to see that a developer uses Win32 combined with OpenGL, over libs such as SDL etc.
Hi. I am not using any shaders, its all fixed function.
DeleteI have experimented with entirely shader based rendering in the game but it just wasnt as fast and quite problematic. Its almost impossible to sort/batch objects to minimise the shader program and state changes as everything is rendered using the painters algorithm (drawing from back to front)
Smooth zooming was done by gradually increasing/decreasing the zoom value by the distance between the target and current zoom value. Renderable objects are dynamically scaled each frame based on the zoom value, the camera doesnt move anywhere.
Oke all fixed function, I did not expect that.
DeleteThanks for explanation the smooth zooming, I was wondering how that could be done. So if I understand correctly you just scale the objects within the viewport depending on the feedback from the scrollwheel so to speak. I though this was always done by also actually zooming in/out with the camera.
Sorry for thinking out loud like this.
Actually I was wrong about the camera not moving, it does move but only for culling and visibility purposes. All objects (ships/asteroids etc.) which are basically just textured quads rendered at the same depth are scaled based on the current zoom level.
DeleteHi Stuart. Can you please explain why you prefer to use the Win API and not any other library for example SDL?
ReplyDeleteI dont see any need to use SDL when I have invested a lot of time into my own engine and codebase that does exactly what I need. I generally avoid middleware and like to code from scratch with complete control.
DeleteReally like what i am seeing, keep up the good jobb!
ReplyDeleteDo you have any plans on converting it to the android platform in the future?
Would be awesome to play this on a tablet someday!
Sorry theres no plans. I think it would be a huge challenge getting the game to run on android and most features including controls would require simplfying to the point that it just wouldnt be the same game.
DeleteWould you implement making your own designs for ships?
ReplyDeleteYou can very easily make your own ships or modify existing ones by modding but this has to be done from outside the game.
DeleteHaving an in-game editor would be challenging and I think the quality of the ship graphics would suffer.
I'll probably write a blog post about the modding possibilities at some point closer to release.
have you considered Kickstarter? I like what I saw and I'd like to chip in!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteKickstarter is only an option if you are based in the US, which I'm not. Also I'm still rather sceptical about it and would much prefer a paid for alpha/beta access if/when I need to raise funds.
DeleteAre you going to use real images for the space background for example NASA has loads of fantastic images that are free to download http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/wallpaper.php?id=PIA10181, http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html .
ReplyDeleteNo I wont be using any background images. Earlier in the development of the game I tried using various textured backgrounds but it just didnt look right with the minimal abstract art style of the rest of the game.
DeleteHave you more details on the release date of Galaxia?
ReplyDeleteI dont know when its going to be ready for release, lots of things I still need to add.
DeleteWill you give acces to lite deamo of your great game im shure ther are many fans of your great work dying to sink thier teth in your game even a lite bit:)
ReplyDeleteI'm one of them :)
and did you consider making this game free during beta and alpha test like minecraft good wey to reklam your game and show people its a great game also very fast wey to find 90% of errors or bugs in the game bevor relising it I wont to know your opinion if posible :)
P.S sorry for my bad english :(
DeleteNot sure if there will be a demo/lite version although I would like to release a rolling tech demo showing some big battles mainly for checking hardware compatability.
DeleteI do plan on having a beta version which will be shortly before the release although I expect the game to be very close to final and polished for this, so it wont be made free.
you miss understood me im not asking to make it free im asking to give acses to alpha and beta for free and sell it when it will be redy like orginaly planed and by demo i ment to reles what you haw now so we can see how great work and progres you made.
Deleteand im sory if i ofended you in any posible wey
No sorry there wont be a free early alpha/beta version.
DeleteHi there!
ReplyDeleteJust stumbled across this game thru spacesector.com...
And darn, I was impressed, even more when I heard this is done by just one person. Stuart, keep up the good work. From the trailer I saw, this is going to be an awesome game ! I'll keep a close eye on this one !!
cheers,
Andy
Just saw the alpha video on Youtube. This looks awesome. Sort of a mix of Sins of a Solar Empire and Eufloria if that makes sense. Is this close to release, less than 1 month?
ReplyDeleteDefinitely going to keep an eye on this one.
This game looks so good it's painful. I loved Homeworld and this is in the same vein. You should think about doing a Kickstart campain or something similar. Alpha funding on Desura. All in order for you to have more meat on your bones so it perhaps does not take as long being released. When you do you'll have my money as surly as in the bank! Keep at it! :D
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of threads do you use (if any)? Is there an audio thread? One thread per ship, or just one thread for all ships? I/O thread?
ReplyDeleteWill networking (multi-player) be an option in the future?
I use the Visual Studio Parallel Patterns Library for updating ships and other intensive tasks. The number of threads scales to the amount of processor cores the game is being run on.
DeleteThere is an audio thread which is handled by the OpenAL Library.
The only significant I/O work required is loading large textures when starting a new game, so theres no background loading or resources during the game.
I would like to add multiplayer in the future but it will be huge challenge due to the large amounts of objects and complexity of the game.
Did you find it difficult to hook the freetype and libpng libraries into OpenGL?
ReplyDeleteI found it fairly straightforward.
DeleteIs there a Galaxial Twitter?
ReplyDeleteNo theres not. I have a personal account @stuart_morgan but I've hardly ever used it.
DeleteSo how's is going?
ReplyDeleteDevelopment is going well. Experimenting with some fairly large changes at the moment, which I will explain in the next update post soon.
DeleteI have a question about the ship class up till now you showed 4 classes of ships :
ReplyDelete1.fighters
2.frigate
3.destroyer
4.cruiser
then are next classes :
5.battleships
6.colonization
7.transporter
8.resource/collector
and what are other 4 classes and are you going to add new classes im dieing to know :)
Currently in the game there are: Fighter, Frigate, Destroyer, Cruiser, Siege Cruiser, Support Cruiser, Miner, Battlecruiser, Battleship, Coloniser, Carrier, Dreadnaught
DeleteThere also needs to be a Scavenger (for collecting wreckage) but I may give that role to Miners also.
Nothing is final yet and could change.
Scavengers you can make as an upgrade to miners :)
DeleteWhich OpenGL version you are using?
ReplyDelete2.0
DeleteAny chance that you'll open this game up to preordering the beta soon? I'd be very interested in helping beta test this game...
ReplyDeleteSorry it wont be really soon. I hope to have a preorder beta period when the game is feature complete about 1 to 2 months before the final release. Cant say when that will be yet...
DeleteOr you need to Kickstart this. You can do it in England now!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI would feel a bit uncomfortable using Kickstarter for this considering I am so far into development with the funding already needed to get it finished. (which isnt much as I'm doing all the work myself)
DeleteOkay, but Kickstarter is also quite the marketing tool, as well. You can use it to tighten everything up, contract a professional QA team before launch, and generate a little bit of buzz. Don't set it any higher than you'd need for extra polishing and a QA pass and give everyone willing to buy-in a copy of the game, including early beta access. You have something here that people would be interested in...
DeleteDoomstars would be awesome, too! I bet everyone here loves either Star Wars or Master of Orion 2 or both!
ReplyDeletewell in my opinion insted of domm star i think a super Dystroyer wuld be coll but it shuld be acesable thru ancients blue prints witch are very hard to find but wuld give acces to extremly large and power full ships with many wepons :)
DeleteIs there going to be a public beta? It looks so awesome!
ReplyDeleteThanks! There will be a pre-order beta period shortly before the release. I dont have an estimated date for it yet.
DeleteI suggest adding pitch variations to the sound effects in order to help with their repetitive nature.
ReplyDeleteYes, I was planning on doing that. Have just finished overhauling the sound engine today and added the pitch variation support!
Delete