Oh hey! Been a couple of weeks. But then, I did warn you.
The number of shapely female cyborgs I drew during my absence from this Tumblr was nonzero but unfortunately less than I would have preferred (it was three.) But on the other hand I did finally get to watch the entirety of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, which is awesome, and play Serious Sam 3. So there’s that.
Anywho, a friend and I were talking yesterday about game design and whatnot, and he posited that it’s a real shame how few indie developers are exploring the traditional, and in all honesty largely dead, space fighter genre. You know, Wing Commander and such. After all, it’s not like you need a lot of assets or complex environments: it’s possible to focus more on the gameplay and story. So after careful consideration I thought I’d spend a bit of time noodling around with this.
Despite the hideous programmer art hideous… ity seen in the screenshot above, this is actually not a bad start. I’ve set up a new framework project, ensured that I can easily place decorative elements in the skybox, and gimmicked up a first-person control scheme that has full 6DOF maneuvering. The amount of screaming at the computer was about average for a new project that involves math, I’d say. Next up should be getting some stars up in there, and some nearby space dust/debris to give a sense of motion, then cleaning up the player’s movement somewhat so I can see how it feels to fly around and potentially blast things.
Much to my surprise I do have some ideas for a story, too, but I’ll hang onto those cards until this gets a little farther. If it does.
