Starshatter Source Code Project

rscaper1070

Spaceman
I just wanted to stop by the CIC and make sure that everyone here was aware that the source code to Starshatter was released. A Starshatter Source Code Project is forming so anybody with coding skills that's looking for a hobby should check it out. The game engine has a lot of potential and the game itself is extremely easy to mod.

Here's a video of a patrol(HD). Dogfights are at 1:49 and 4:09 if you don't want to watch the whole patrol. A lot of the effects in the video (planet texture, starfield, sound fx) are unique to an effects mod I'm currently working on so they're not in the vanilla game but will be available soon.


The full game can be downloaded for free (with the creator's blessing) at http://www.starshattermods.com.
 
WOW! I've been wondering when SS would go Open Source. I remember following the game when it was on the 3D Engines list and finally got to the point to release the game. I still have the CD for it and remember downloading the alpha's and beta's and playing around in Magic getting my 3-D models up and running on it. Loved the Newtonian Physics and Cap Ship Combat. Awesome!
 
Here's another video. This was a pretty fun battle. Before editing, to get it on Youtube, it was a little over twenty minutes. At about 7:00 you see me figure out where my fuel and hull are at and that the carrier is gone. So I decide to gamble and cross no man's land to get to the Farcaster (that's a device in the game that allows small craft go FTL).

 
Well, unfortunately, starshattermods.com is no more. All former members, and anyone else that's interested, are encouraged to register at Starshatter Open's new home Hardlight Productions (the people that bring us Freespace Open). Keep in mind that due to anti spam-bot counter measures registration can be a bit of a pain.

Check it out at http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?board=234.0 .
 
Somehow I missed that game. And since I am registered at HLP anyway, I think I'll look into it. If it is indeed that easy to mod it would be an interesting engine for a WC mod maybe.

EDIT: I just noticed there even was some kind of WC project going some... years ago.
Too bad it seems it went nowhere. Like sooo many other projects. :(
 
Too bad it seems it went nowhere. Like sooo many other projects.
The fact is, a good idea only gets you so far when it comes to this sort of thing. Everyone sees Standoff and Saga, reads that they're a fan project and thinks 'hey, I could do that!' But there's a big disconnect when it comes to appreciating the amount of time and effort that went into those few successful releases...​
 
That's so true. I have quite a bit of history concerning modding of various games (including Saga where I did some 2D stuff as you know), but from the idea to the finished beta version it is a far way. I've been working on my Kilrathi mod for Saga (which means that 95% of the assets are already there) for two months now and I think I will need at least another month before I have a beta to test.
And compared to a totally new mod (like Saga was) this is really not that much, and I can do most of the stuff myself.

So yes, it is a lot of work, and one of the main problems is also to coordinate the team. As soon as there is more than one person doing stuff in a mod you have to wait for each other. That slows down considerably. And then suddenly someone's girlfriend gets pregnant or someone has a new game to play, or someone gets a new job and the project is gone because there is no one to replace him.
I've been part of at least three mods where this happened, mostly in early stages. One was a Baldur's Gate mod, one was a StarCraft 1 mod, and then there was a Jedi Knight 1 mod. I'm not even counting small projects like missions or campaigns or FSX airports or airplane skins that were started but never finished.

The same happens in "real life" hobbies of course, mostly for the same reasons. Anyone who hasn't some unfinished plane-/ship- or car models somewhere in his house? Or someone who started a band and never even got to the first gig?
 
So yes, it is a lot of work, and one of the main problems is also to coordinate the team. As soon as there is more than one person doing stuff in a mod you have to wait for each other. That slows down considerably. And then suddenly someone's girlfriend gets pregnant or someone has a new game to play, or someone gets a new job and the project is gone because there is no one to replace him.
It's not about time, it's about determination. Working on UE and Standoff, we endured any number of periods where key team members were out of action. Heck, I moved countries, repeatedly, during this time. There was even a period (right at the time of UE's release!) when I had no access to FTP (I was living on campus, and the university network blocked such things - I could download, but not upload), and I had to take a twenty minute bus ride a couple of times a week to get to an internet cafe, plug in my laptop and upload whatever I needed to get to the team. Then there was Standoff - Standoff endured through Morrowind, my master's thesis, more country moves, then a full-time job and moving between cities in Poland a few times, then Oblivion and Mount & Blade... and that's just on my end. You cannot begin to imagine how many things happened for other team members, where we would be wondering whether they're out of action for good or just for the time being.

We got UE and Standoff done not because we had time, but because we all wanted to, and whenever things got bogged down, even if most of the team was fed up and tired, there was always at least one person (a different one each time!) bugging everyone else to get back to work. So, it's all about determination. You gotta want it.
 
It also helps if you have a fanbase that gives a damn. That's one of the reasons why SF3 still hasn't really gotten off the ground: a lot of the people we had routing for us turned into naysayers...and suddenly folks on the development team started dropping like flies. No one wants to build a game for a bunch of ingrates...
 
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