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[Sallen]

I've been curious for some time now as to how interested would people be in a free, open-source clone of Spacestation 13 that doesn't try to enhance the game visually or from a gameplay point of view (unlike the long time upcoming remake (http://www.spacestation13.com).

I'm talking about a clone that stands on its own, freed from the laggy shackle of the Byond framework and with a somewhat more accessible and coherent GUI. Oh, and data driven modability. Same OK graphics and as good a sound design as the community would ultimately give it.

Leaving aside from now the issue of whether I (or somebody else) is capable of delivering, would you be interested in such a thing existing? Or are you content in what we have, and if you had to welcome something new, you would rather have the new remake that's in the making and nothing less?

I'm very interested in hearing people's opinions as well as their stance on the matter, so feel free to discuss.

[scrdest]

I don't mind the upcoming remake, and making a THIRD remake is a bit excessive (the one you linked, Centration, and the one you propose). Also, you'd need a battalion of coders and artists.

[Sallen]

Well, I'm not talking about a remake (more of a clone). I'm talking about an open-source framework that doesn't rely on Byond, and doesn't improve any areas except lag and GUI (usability). If you cast aside those doubts about its feasibility (imagine it just popped into existence right now), would you be interested, or just don't care?

EDIT: Let me expand a little on the concept. Unlike what I linked, I'm not talking about a long term project with releases, blog updates and all that. I'm talking about laying down a foundation on code that can be expanded and perfected over time with feedback from the community, to which the game can be ported gradually. Sort of a mod, except that what changes is solely the underlying engine.

[rabidgam3r]

The upcoming remake seems to have died, really. And the artists wouldn't be needed so much as coders for seperating this from Byond. I could get behind it if there were enough people for it.

[10ebbor10]

Their twitter is still active. And talking about vagely related stuff.

[Sallen]

Last tweet from RobustGames is from last year's June. Is there another Twitter account I'm missing?

In any case, would you care giving me your thoughts on the concept I tried to describe?

[Rakonas]

I'd be for it. I like 2d spessmans for the 2d, you could just keep all the sprites really. You could keep the interface the same for the most part, too, just get it off byond.

[scrdest]

Last tweet from RobustGames is from last year's June. Is there another Twitter account I'm missing?

In any case, would you care giving me your thoughts on the concept I tried to describe?

They posted on Facebook late April, found it through their forums (I am an anti-FB heretic).

[qwertyuiopas]

Another one? BS12 has tried to rewrite it in both C++ and Java, and both times it died due to inactivity.

BYOND has a certain convenience to it, which makes it a great language for quickly making prototypes. It also handles a lot of stuff that would be rather difficult to write yourself, and people playing it do not have to trust the game developers, since the client comes from BYOND.

Most SS13 code could not handle multithreading, which is the main thing that could be done to speed it up.

Still, if you try to rewrite SS13 in some other language... Good luck. (you'll need it)

Edit: Just checked the forum, and it seems that some of the BS12 people saw a shiny new 2D engine, and are considering trying to do a third rewrite using it, once it is more mature. I doubt it'll work out either.

[Ozyton]

I will believe an SS13 remake/clone/awesomeification when I actually see it. In the meantime I am skeptical at best after all the attempts I've seen.

[coolio678]

I've never been able to get into the game for many reasons (lag, not really liking byond, etc.), so anything that makes it better would be great.

[Sallen]

I'm not saying I'm going to do anything (I probably wouldn't have the guts to even start). I'm just interested in public opinion about it.

However, if I got inspired and went strong on it for a couple of weeks, If I did anything, I wouldn't say a thing until I had something playable. And then it would be open source since day one, so anyone with fresh energy could bring it in. I think it has been established that that's the only way any kind of SS13 rewrite will actually see the day of light.

And I hope to be wrong because spacestation13.com is looking gorgeous.

[Empty]

Actually. A remake wouldn't really be that hard to make.
Html5 canvas is just like flash and would be excellent for it. Though it does need a gpu on a computer for decent fps
Websockets can give a fast connection to the server.
I made a sort of tech demo where you could click on the screen with your mouse and blocks would appear. And other people who were logged into that page could see the changes instantly and also change it instantly.
Later made it so that you could move a character around with the direction keys and jump around on the blocks you placed with the mouse.

I've actually thought of making a ss13 remake myself.
But Too little time. And I'm artistically challenged

Though I am sort of working on a multiplayer rougelike platformer tower climber.

[Alkhemia]

The main reason I don't play SS13 and just watch PlumpHelmetPunk videos is the ungodly lag so yeah a "fixed" version of ss13 would be amazing I'd pay money for it even.

[miauw62]

Join our SS13 server, Urist McStation. Our main server is nearly lag-free and we only use the alternate server if the main one is down.