Limit Theory. Project News
Greetings!
Last year, I supported the interesting Limit Theory project on Kickstarter . This is a space simulator, but with an interesting feature - almost all elements of the game are generated procedurally. The description of the game looked promising, so it collected 3 times the requested amount.
This game reminds me of the 1997 Parkan game . Chronicle of the Empire .
Yesterday, the author posted a monthly progress report , which looks very impressive. You can see it here:
The author of the project - Josh Parnell (Josh Parnell) - a young but ambitious programmer. In Limit Theory (LT), he is trying, and quite successfully, to implement the idea of procedural content generation. In this case, this is not only the generation of the universe itself (stars / planets, asteroids, etc.), but also spacecraft and stations, in-game NPC's fractions, and also partly the technology tree. This will give the game incredible diversity and replayability.
Each game is unique and is generated on the basis of one number (sid), i.e. the initial situation in the game (the universe, the location of NPCs, ships, etc.) is "deduced" from this sid. At the same time, the same initial game situation will be generated for the same sid each time, but for different ones. In the future, of course, the development of the game will go on differently each time.
Initially, Josh worked on the project alone, but in April a second developer joined him. Despite this, the size of the work done is impressive. To date, the generation of the universe (stars / planets / asteroids, at the same time you can go down to the surface of the planets), ships and stations (created on a modular basis from the generated parts) has been implemented. Also implemented the initial AI and the generated technology tree.
There will be support for modding the game (with some limitations due to the procedural feature of the project).
Now about this a little more detailed.
The game supports a fairly large scale. At the moment, the ship / planet ratio is 1: 10000, but, according to Josh, it will be possible to set large ratios (possibly even real ones) using modding.
It will be possible to descend to the planets, though only through the loading screen. It is not yet clear what kind of game mechanics will be associated with the surface of the planets and whether this will be possible in the first release.
Ships and stations are assembled from generated modules. Each module will have its own purpose - cutting, cargo compartment, engines, etc. All these parts can be changed, bought and sold.
AI is in an initial state of development, but it already knows how to solve some simple tasks.
The technology and research tree will consist of two parts: fixed and dynamically generated.
The fixed part is set by the author rigidly and corresponds to the technology trees of other games. This, for example, the development of various types of ships (frigate, corvette, ...), engines, protective fields, etc.
The dynamic part of the tree begins to be generated (developed) in the allowed nodes of the fixed. Development implies that as a result of research, scientists improve some characteristics of the selected object. This may be, for example, increasing the speed of the ship, increasing the cargo compartment, improving protection, ... Each time several branches of improvements will be generated and the player will be able to choose one or more of them. The game will “help” the player in the development of the chosen direction. That is, if he selected branches several times with an increase in engine power, then in the future more branches will be generated with an improvement in this parameter.
But this mechanism will not allow you to create unlimited cool things, since each branch will contain deteriorating in addition to improving characteristics. For example, an increase in the cargo compartment will lead to an increase in mass and a corresponding decrease in speed. Thus, it is supposed to maintain balance in the game.
Modding in LT means setting the constants of procedural generators. Therefore, in the game it will not be possible to create new types of ships or other dynamically generated content, but it will be possible to change the characteristics of the generators themselves. For example, as was said above, it will be possible to create universes from practically the real sizes of the planets or to make the physics of ships more realistic.
All these parameter changes can also be carried out in real mode in the game itself. Josh created an incredibly beautiful in-game data editor. It can be seen in the picture above and at the end of the video posted at the beginning of the article.
You can read about other features of the game in the FAQ or on the game forum .
I do not regret supporting this project. Every day he becomes more and more impressive.
Amazed at Josh's hard work. It works for 10 months almost every day for 8-10 hours. At the same time, he works for himself, and not for the company. Not everyone can do this, even if the work will be on an interesting project (although the financial part is a good incentive, probably).
When I first arrived in Kiev, I also worked for a gaming company ( GSC , STALKER project). It was an incredible time and a very interesting project. Unfortunately, after that I worked and work only in business projects ...
Links:
Last year, I supported the interesting Limit Theory project on Kickstarter . This is a space simulator, but with an interesting feature - almost all elements of the game are generated procedurally. The description of the game looked promising, so it collected 3 times the requested amount.
This game reminds me of the 1997 Parkan game . Chronicle of the Empire .
Yesterday, the author posted a monthly progress report , which looks very impressive. You can see it here:
The author of the project - Josh Parnell (Josh Parnell) - a young but ambitious programmer. In Limit Theory (LT), he is trying, and quite successfully, to implement the idea of procedural content generation. In this case, this is not only the generation of the universe itself (stars / planets, asteroids, etc.), but also spacecraft and stations, in-game NPC's fractions, and also partly the technology tree. This will give the game incredible diversity and replayability.
Each game is unique and is generated on the basis of one number (sid), i.e. the initial situation in the game (the universe, the location of NPCs, ships, etc.) is "deduced" from this sid. At the same time, the same initial game situation will be generated for the same sid each time, but for different ones. In the future, of course, the development of the game will go on differently each time.
Initially, Josh worked on the project alone, but in April a second developer joined him. Despite this, the size of the work done is impressive. To date, the generation of the universe (stars / planets / asteroids, at the same time you can go down to the surface of the planets), ships and stations (created on a modular basis from the generated parts) has been implemented. Also implemented the initial AI and the generated technology tree.
There will be support for modding the game (with some limitations due to the procedural feature of the project).
Now about this a little more detailed.
The game supports a fairly large scale. At the moment, the ship / planet ratio is 1: 10000, but, according to Josh, it will be possible to set large ratios (possibly even real ones) using modding.
It will be possible to descend to the planets, though only through the loading screen. It is not yet clear what kind of game mechanics will be associated with the surface of the planets and whether this will be possible in the first release.
Ships and stations are assembled from generated modules. Each module will have its own purpose - cutting, cargo compartment, engines, etc. All these parts can be changed, bought and sold.
AI is in an initial state of development, but it already knows how to solve some simple tasks.
The technology and research tree will consist of two parts: fixed and dynamically generated.
The fixed part is set by the author rigidly and corresponds to the technology trees of other games. This, for example, the development of various types of ships (frigate, corvette, ...), engines, protective fields, etc.
The dynamic part of the tree begins to be generated (developed) in the allowed nodes of the fixed. Development implies that as a result of research, scientists improve some characteristics of the selected object. This may be, for example, increasing the speed of the ship, increasing the cargo compartment, improving protection, ... Each time several branches of improvements will be generated and the player will be able to choose one or more of them. The game will “help” the player in the development of the chosen direction. That is, if he selected branches several times with an increase in engine power, then in the future more branches will be generated with an improvement in this parameter.
But this mechanism will not allow you to create unlimited cool things, since each branch will contain deteriorating in addition to improving characteristics. For example, an increase in the cargo compartment will lead to an increase in mass and a corresponding decrease in speed. Thus, it is supposed to maintain balance in the game.
Modding in LT means setting the constants of procedural generators. Therefore, in the game it will not be possible to create new types of ships or other dynamically generated content, but it will be possible to change the characteristics of the generators themselves. For example, as was said above, it will be possible to create universes from practically the real sizes of the planets or to make the physics of ships more realistic.
All these parameter changes can also be carried out in real mode in the game itself. Josh created an incredibly beautiful in-game data editor. It can be seen in the picture above and at the end of the video posted at the beginning of the article.
You can read about other features of the game in the FAQ or on the game forum .
I do not regret supporting this project. Every day he becomes more and more impressive.
Amazed at Josh's hard work. It works for 10 months almost every day for 8-10 hours. At the same time, he works for himself, and not for the company. Not everyone can do this, even if the work will be on an interesting project (although the financial part is a good incentive, probably).
When I first arrived in Kiev, I also worked for a gaming company ( GSC , STALKER project). It was an incredible time and a very interesting project. Unfortunately, after that I worked and work only in business projects ...
Links: