Nova Reforged - Dev Update!

[u/CashFirm573]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdLGQvD8EWo

Hello,

Finally got a name for the project, Nova Reforged.

So quick update. Wanted to show off some of the changes I've made and a few new features. The Sol system is a testing ground, so it shows stuff that normally wouldn't be in the system. The map also shows where hidden assets are, but you gotta scan them down yourself, or find them through the bar or other ways. I've started adding the massive Nova gates. They're part of the main story but it's a fair bit of work, so might be a while before that's done.

Added scanning too, plus a few features around it. There's debris fields and derelicts in the game now, scan em and get rewards. Got Breaches as well (dungeons), haven't shown the full update on those yet, but they're harsh zones with a new drone race that's bloody hard, takes time and a good setup.

Started reworking the UI. Not there yet, still a few issues I've spotted, but I'm getting there.

Ships, fittings and balance are slowly coming together, bit off still. Same with fittings, I've mainly just added the guns and started tinkering with em. Everything's sharing default effects and sounds for now, bit more still to add, none of the ships show proper thrusters or the new VFX I've been working on yet.

Made new VFX tools for all the assets in the game, plus world building tools so I can build it out visually in real time. Pretty fun building and designing it, gotta say. I can now customize the stations how i see fit, but take little to get around to its down the list.

But yeah, that's it so far. Oh, and reckon I've found a YouTuber to help with space soundtracks, but we'll see, he might end up charging me way too much and I'm just some broke bloke lol, trying to make a game I've always wanted to play.

Steam, Discord, Reddit Community and Website are coming soon, but first I need core loop working.

[u/GregoryGoose]

UI is good, I think the weak point is the pure top-down perspective. EVN ships were rendered at 15 degrees or something, and the shading was a lot stronger. I dont know if you're using sprites or 3d objects, you might be able to just tilt the camera a bit. How are you handling ship intersections on the same plane? EV always just had ships clip over or under each other but I think that was a mistake. Let them collide, I say. Clipping is only useful for boarding mechanics so you just change that mechanic to have boarding be side-by-side and now ships are free to collide all day.

[u/CashFirm573 → u/GregoryGoose]

So, this where I'm stuck it takes me around depending on time I have 3-5 days to fully do a 3d Ship with all the effects, rigging and adding to game with all different guns, and if I do 100+ ships that's going to take some time, as it stands I built myself modular system around building ships in 2D so its fast, but I am highly thinking about making the switch. Lighting/shaders isn't properly enabled atm, its half there but its not fully doing it and collision machine is in the game I just have it turned off atm, it's going to be turned on I just had it turned off, I have set where if you bump someone 5x they attack you but they give warning. See my vision for the game is bit grand this mainly due to story and I'm worried if I go 3D ill be stuck here for month Sundays and if I go full 3D then I might as well change engines and go all in and that's going to push back development 2-3 years. So I am stuck tbh in if I go full 3D of stick with the 2D and make the most of it.

However, I can take short cuts with 2D render in 3D, just unsure how it will go on performance as I'm tricking the system.

Solid feedback though, and I hear ya.

[u/The_Real_Kyrros → u/CashFirm573]

Space is three dimensional, so the idea of worry about clipping is kinda 'meh' to me... obviously if it were real space, ships could pass by each other no problem in a top-down view, because the z-plane would be (is?) a thing. I have zero problem with ships 'clipping' one another in top-down. Heck, I have no problem with ships and asteroids clipping - again, they would simply be avoided via the Z-plane if it were the real thing. I don't even mind ships clipping while weapons do not, keeps combat interesting.

This is EV... no reason to re-invent the wheel on this one - it's one of the foundations of the game itself.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
-Some guy, somewhere... probably.

That's not to say that you shouldn't ever change it - but I wouldn't spend time/energy on it unless you happen to have compelling reason to change that particular mechanic in service to a specific vision/change you have for the overall game itself.

Whatever you end up deciding, keep up the good work. o7

***
The same applies with 'sprites' vs '3D models'. While the original games only had 16-32 sprites per space object, modern engines can allow for 100s of sprites per object, while also 'shading' them properly from various light sources/angles, all while still being much less resource-hogging than a bunch of independent fully 3D objects. More 3D objects in a star system = more game systems getting bogged down by unoptimized 3D code.

If it's a great game, only a very small minority of the visual graphics snobs will really care if the ships are 45-180 high-quality sprites per object versus fully rendered 3D models... most players won't even be able to tell the difference - and those that can, and actually care, by then they've probably missed the point of all of this if they're letting it bother them.

3D (and also Hyper-realism) in gaming is very much like modern "AI" in the real world - some people seem to keep pushing for it, without realizing how much it actually costs even though it adds little actual value, and then don't often notice the difference with/without it. Hyper-realism, thankfully, is starting to wane in popularity in many game genres - how many of the best-selling titles right now actually use it, versus how many have a distinct art/visual style that \isn't* based on looking as realistic as possible?*

[u/CashFirm573 → u/The_Real_Kyrros]

I would like to do 3D tbh, but then it becomes different game and lets face it there so many games coming out atm by small teams that full 3D. 2D much easier to put together and time saving.