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Total Members Voted: 257

[Aavak]

I'm afraid I'm still away from home until sometime in the night on the 28th. I do have the host files and had a little chance to look around inside the game before I left to visit family, though it'll take me a little time to decide if there's anything useful I can change (as opposed to changing something just for the sake of it) but once I'm back then I could get some temporary hosting up and running fairly quickly from my home, and some time in the new year may be able to arrange a permanent host on a decent server.

Only a few people let me know what times would be best for them though, if anyone who hasn't has a regular time they'd like to be available let me know. I'd rather not set up a permanent host 24/7 until we have a better idea of who will be around to admin (though I remember someone mentioning having all B12 as mods, which might be a good idea. It's worth more discussion certainly) as an RP server will go down hill fast if it's publically hosted and there's no one to actually enforce that it's real RP and not 'I'm role-playing a random sociopath with amnesia and a tendency towards pyromancy who knows how to make bombs, and run the engine, and use the medical bay, and where the captain keeps his spare ID card!' (Is pyromancy a word? If not it should be!!)

[Dr. Johbson]

Yeah, as I had said it would probably be more feasible to start from scratch, or create a new albeit similar game.  Anyway, it was only a thought.

There hasn't been much activity, actually, and Johbson's changed his modus operandi to "host when asked."  I think he handed out the code to a few people, but they haven't done much hosting yet (although it's so close to Christmas most people have probably been too busy to) and while I DO have the code, my computer and network are crap for hosting.  If you're really itching for some SS13 action though, the Penny Arcade guys have started running the game again, and they're pretty good to play with.

I can't host for a while longer. Not at home, like many of us now. I didn't give anyone else the files, so I believe an old version is going around at the moment. Its good to hear the Penny Arcade dudes are hosting, though, I've always wanted to try playing with them.

I'm afraid I'm still away from home until sometime in the night on the 28th. I do have the host files and had a little chance to look around inside the game before I left to visit family, though it'll take me a little time to decide if there's anything useful I can change (as opposed to changing something just for the sake of it) but once I'm back then I could get some temporary hosting up and running fairly quickly from my home, and some time in the new year may be able to arrange a permanent host on a decent server.

Only a few people let me know what times would be best for them though, if anyone who hasn't has a regular time they'd like to be available let me know. I'd rather not set up a permanent host 24/7 until we have a better idea of who will be around to admin (though I remember someone mentioning having all B12 as mods, which might be a good idea. It's worth more discussion certainly) as an RP server will go down hill fast if it's publically hosted and there's no one to actually enforce that it's real RP and not 'I'm role-playing a random sociopath with amnesia and a tendency towards pyromancy who knows how to make bombs, and run the engine, and use the medical bay, and where the captain keeps his spare ID card!' (Is pyromancy a word? If not it should be!!)

My hours are crazy and unpredictable, so I can be of no help with that.  But yes, I agree that we should try out the mod-thing, so if anyone who plays BS12 wants to become a moderator, PM me and I can add you to the list later.

[Trorbes]

Alright, so because trying to figure out what the power consumption rates are by source-diving is an exercise in futility, I'm leaving the APCs blank for now, so I can see what they consume automatically during the test run.  That should speed things up significantly, as I'm fairly close to completion right now.  I believe all I have left are the prison shuttle and station, filling out CentComm/resupply, assigning the access levels/IDs/extra values to stuff that's necessary, and some cleanup, and I should be done.

Also, for the sake of Fun, I'm not going to preview the AI Satellite.  There's got to be SOME mystery to the game, at least.

EDIT: Okay, so my idea to have windoors be controlled by buttons was based on something I saw in a different server, and I had thought it was a neat but unused function, and wished to incorporate it.  However, it turns out that in this version, windoors cannot be remotely controlled like poddoors.  This... creates a few problems.  For right now, I'm going to forget it, because I don't want to subject you to testing out my programming AND my mapping at the same time.

[cib]

You know, with so many people wanting to do something about SS13, what do you think about collaborating on a rewrite from scratch, in something else than BYOND(possibly in something more portable, too)? I'm not sure yet whether such a project would be viable, but it sounds like it could be fun.

We could settle for a 3d engine using Unity, though I haven't tested it yet, since it doesn't support Linux. Other than that, Unity seems to be really nice though and does have good documentation for setting up networking support.

Regarding a 2d engine I'm not sure though. I don't know about any good ones with networking support, so it would probably be a start from scratch. Using openGL the engine itself wouldn't be too troublesome, but creating a map editor as sophisticated as BYOND one's would be difficult.

[Trorbes]

That would be neat, although I personally don't know much about programming, let alone making a game, let alone making a multiplayer game.  I would probably suggest sticking with a 2D engine, myself, or if we did use a 3D engine, it would have to be simple and blocky - both for the feel of the game, and in order to do pretty much anything involving moving/installing things.

[qwertyuiopas]

I could help with that, I think I am getting the hang of splitting code files to split the platform dependant stuff from the rest...

But before that, I must still learn networking...


Still, an alternate BYOND rewrite may also work well.

I DECLARE here that I will at least look into SS81 a bit later today.

[head]

I could help with that, I think I am getting the hang of splitting code files to split the platform dependant stuff from the rest...

But before that, I must still learn networking...


Still, an alternate BYOND rewrite may also work well.

I DECLARE here that I will at least look into SS81 a bit later today.

I love you.

If you need an extra hand just give me ring(pm).

[QuakeIV]

Is the server back up?

[cib]

I would probably suggest sticking with a 2D engine, myself, or if we did use a 3D engine, it would have to be simple and blocky - both for the feel of the game, and in order to do pretty much anything involving moving/installing things.

Agreed. If Unity doesn't work out, I'm all for a 2d engine, too. If Unity does work out, I would prefer to use a very small amount of polygons, and something in the direction of "tile"-based. We can't really afford full physics simulation with extreme accuracy and all, I think.

qwerty: It's nice to hear you're going to work some more on SS81, looking forward to read about your updates

[Volatar]

If you are going to try a rewrite, do it with a 2d engine, trust me 

Though I have heard doubts on its scrpting language, the Torque engine (they have both 2d and 3d versions) may be a good choice. Josh Ritter created a very robust, powerful, and efficent networking library for Torque that is now publicly available when he created Minions of Mirth. Look into the idea.

However, I will express that I do not think a full rewrite will likely succeed (and WILL NOT if you try it in a 3d engine). Overhauling the existing code is the best option.

[cib]

If I remember correctly, the Torque engine was not even free for non-commercial use, right? I don't really want to pay for writing a game in my free time.

Regarding 3d: I'm currently playing around with the Unity engine and seeing how things can be done there. So far, the editor seems to be quite similar to DM, just far more powerful and in 3d. Oh, and not tile-based, which might even be a drawback. I need more experience with it in order to tell whether it would be viable to implement something like SS13 in it.

== edit ==

So, my first experiments with Unity actually yield good results. While editing tile-based maps isn't its greatest strength, I have managed to create a simple example.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This is in fact already very close to the way I want it to look in the end. Everything you can build, including the walls in the example, will be "tile"-based.

This means that on the x-z axes, the game will look like e.g. SS13, while on the y axis, there will be "content layers"(where all the players, objects, etc. go) and "floor layers"(for ceilings and floors).

On the screenshot you can see such a setup: The side-walls of the room are on the content layer, while the floor and the ceiling of the room are on floor layers.

Next up: Understanding how scripting and physics in Unity work.

[Trorbes]

If you can make it multi-Z leveled (or "Y" in this case) I think it would greatly enhance the station's functionability, but even right now it's looking good.  Just a q, though; what are the technical requirements to run Unity?  I'm afraid that my computer's a low-end piece of crap, especially in the graphics department, so if this thing requires a decent graphics card I'm afraid it's going to keep me from helping or playing much, should the project get off the ground.


Anyway, I'm heading off for the night.  I managed to get almost everything except for a few key elements (the blob positions) and some minor details (story snippets found across the station*) completed, so I'm 100% certain for a monday-or-whenever-someone-can-host-it release.  I've also been working on the MOTD, mostly on the lore, which I hope would be an acceptable addition:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

-The year is AD2550.  Mankind has begun to leave its cradle in the Sol System and travel beyond the stars thanks to remarkable advances in faster-than-light travel.

-Humans have set up many space stations in many different systems; some for habitation, some for research, some for exploration, and even some for war.

-Planet terraforming is a new science, and most off-Earth planetary colonies are still self-contained research facilities.

-Alien lifeforms have been discovered on many planets - most of these have been microorganisms or simple plant-like lifeforms, but some small animals have been discovered.  The search is still on for intelligent life.

-Scientists have discovered a highly-combustive and unstable chemical substance - dubbed "plasma" by the media - in several gas giants.

-NanoTrasen, your employer and the largest plasma-mining corporation in the inhabited galaxy, authorized the construction of twenty-some plasma mining and research stations orbitting gas giants several decades ago.  Yours was the twelfth.

-Deep-Space Plasma Research Station no. 12 was designed for extended crew stays of up to half a year.  Many other stations have been equipped for much longer habitation cycles.

-Your station has been dubbed "Bay Station 12" by the crew, after the first captain's home town of Bay City, Texas, USA.

-The station is powered by a heat-differential engine fueled with plasma.  Despite plasma's incredible properties, your station's engineers have been requesting a more efficient engine model for years.

-Your station was, in the beginning, supplied with an early model Artificial Intelligence satellite, cabable of uplinking to the station remotely and running much of the station itself.  Needless to say, some bugs have been found.

-Along with the plasma research lab, your station is equipped to handle more conventional medical research, such as chemistry and genetic modification.

-You left NanoTrasen Central Command, or CentComm, some time ago.  You probably won't be making it back any time soon.

-NanoTrasen is rumored to have had very shady dealings in the past.  NanoTrasen vehemently denies these claims.

-NanoTrasen has a very relaxed hiring policy.

-Many of your crewmates have shown erratic behavior, much of which they displayed on arrival.

-The Syndicate are a group of terrorists intent to destroy the station and ruin NanoTrasen's shit.

-Sometimes you've noticed a mysterious ship travel by.  It never stops at the station, and there's nobody else here within several parsecs, but you've learned to ignore it.

-There are several reports of espionage perpetrated by NanoTrasen employees on other stations.  These reports are generally taken to be the ones NanoTrasen has failed to contain.

-There are reports of a "Wizard Federation," neo-luddites with magical powers; these are too rediculous to be taken seriously.

-Zombie media has become a big fad on Earth, to the point where several people have reportedly "witnessed" the living dead.

-Microorganisms have been found to inhabit the gas giant you orbit.  They grow rapidly in the presence of human biomatter, and are capable of eating a hole in the hull if left unchecked.

-"Space Fever" is a strain of Influenza commonly found on extended-stay deep-space stations and ships.  It spreads rapidly, and induces fevers and dizziness, but isn't commonly fatal.

Big thanks to the folks at Wikistation 13 for the backstory writeup which aided in the creation if this list.

If you guys have anything you want to see added/changed, let me know.


_{*A couple "What the guys before you were doing" sort of things in a few places which I thought could liven up the station a bit.}

[cib]

If you can make it multi-Z leveled (or "Y" in this case) I think it would greatly enhance the station's functionability

That is basically the point. Well, that, and putting pipes to the ceiling, heh.

Just a q, though; what are the technical requirements to run Unity?  I'm afraid that my computer's a low-end piece of crap, especially in the graphics department, so if this thing requires a decent graphics card I'm afraid it's going to keep me from helping or playing much, should the project get off the ground.

My guess is that the requirements are extremely low. Unity is a very lightweight framework(300 MB or so, with samples and everything) and it runs without problems on my 4 year old business laptop(Mobility FireGL V3200).

But well, try for yourself:
Link removed, see post below.

I figured out how scripting works and implemented a little box you can move around.

Here's a screenshot for those who don't want to bother downloading:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Xegeth]

I get an error message when I try to run it. "There should be 'test_Data'
folder next to the executable"

[cib]

Oh, sorry, I thought it would pack the whole thing into the executable.

http://cib.bplaced.net/test.zip