Posts by Machine Medic

Going with the theme of visual enhancements, you might want to implement some sort of functionality to control or disable the gray 'fog-effect' filter used in this game:

I realize that this is an important function used to conceal the unloaded edges of the world, but with a linear propagation characteristic, it washes out a lot of the colors in the game.

If there is some way to implement an exponential 'fog' density curve instead, I think it might be an option to consider. Alternatively, a linear density gradient similar to the one already existing, but with a starting point far away from the camera.

Nice work with the textures, otherwise.

Sorry if this post isn't clear, or this feature has already been addressed... I've been short on sleep all week.

Great to hear that you guys are making progress in the mining department!

My only concern is in the refinement of aluminum, cobalt, and tungsten.

These three in reality are highly advanced metals. Aluminum is generally extracted from the mineral Bauxite through high temperature electrolysis, Cobalt as a byproduct of the refinement of other base metals through chemical means (Sherritt process), and Tungsten by the thermal reduction of powderized Tungsten Oxide in the presence of a Hydrogen atmosphere.

I can completely understand the need to get all of these materials implemented and debugged within the game before more technological tiers can be added to handle them, but do be aware that this may be a recurring source of criticism from some people if you choose not to add more realistic processing methods for these metals at some later date.

Apologies if this has already been addressed elsewhere. Disregard this post if the matter has already been settled, as I have not been active on these forums lately.

EDIT:

Here's a cool spot on steel production just for fun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l7JqonyoKA

Again, not asking for automatic weapons and hand grenades.

Just classic repeaters like lever/bolt-action rifles, break-action/pump shotguns, etc. See Mosin Nagant 91/30, Henry rifle, Coach guns, or 1897. For those with absolutely no experience with firearms at all, this means beautiful, shiny, aim-carefully guns with wood - not scary, black, shoot-fast ones with plastic.

When I think RW, I think diesel generators, computers, electrical transforming stations, fluid power, Boolean logic and automation, electric motors, etc. The above weapons are simply much more relevant and less out-of-place in such a world than smooth-bore muskets and Griswold&Gunnison revolvers.

There is no COD-syndrome involved at all.

Again, those who want to build castles out of stone and throw rocks at each other can disable the modern tech, those who want to build factories, power plants, and deep underground cities can leave it in.

Quote from Killem

Machine guns, rocket launchers, atomic or even nuclear bombs, name it ,send it, as long as we have the right to not accept them if we want
on our "No PvP" server i am all for them.... Can't be rascist & must please every kind of players out there if Devs want to maximise
their incomes & profits!

Couldn't have said it better.

It makes absolutely no sense to have electric lights, televisions, power plants, substations, etc. while specifically omitting period-specific firearms.

Simple repeating arms like pump-action/break-action shotguns, bolt-action rifles, and cartridge-operated revolvers would be a fair compromise with the option for server ops to disable them at will. Think Wild-West themed guns, or things based off of John M. Browning models from the late 1800s/early 1900s, etc.

As far as balance is concerned, the manufacture of gunpowder would require the mining of Saltpeter and Sulfur, both of which could be restricted easily enough through spawn rates, etc. to allow firearms to keep a realistic level of power:

If it takes a statistical average of 10 minutes to gather and refine the resources for 1 shotgun cartridge, I think that lethality in 4 shots would be fair, assuming half of the pellets hit, or 2-3 shots at point blank. Powerful, but very expensive.

Not to mention the intricacy of the firearms themselves playing a factor in their balance... In reality, the intricacy and complexity of the parts inside of even a model 1897 shotgun are such that it is effectively a mechanical computer. Thus, very high-end tools could be made necessary to fabricate anything beyond a muzzle-loading musket.

Keep in mind, I'm not asking for fully automatic machine guns or rocket-propelled grenades and air-strikes... Just good old cowboy weapons.

If this is not agreeable, then it would be nice to at least have some support for modders to implement their own weapons in the game independently.

Quote from Red

like muskets and revolver

Pump shotgun?

Please?

I'll give you internet kittens if you implement an M1897!

PC/Linux > all!

All praise lord Gabe Newell!

Piggybacking off of this topic, I also think it would be interesting if the devs were to include some sort of easter-egg or extremely rare/valuable commodity at absolutely ludicrous depths below the surface.

Anyone who has ever played Motherload in their lifetime knows exactly what I'm talking about.

It would absolutely add another layer of depth (pun intended) to the game and extend it's play-value when combined with the fact that these resources could be necessary for more advanced construction and crafting.

Just my 2 cents.

Well, I've never even heard of vibrating headsets before, but if you're looking for high fidelity, you could try a set of Sennhieser HD280s or HD380s.

Again, for the 4th time, I'm no programmer...

But as far as implementing water goes, some sort of a spherical particle system with client-side post-processing might be plausible, like what is used in Phun.

Otherwise, if this would end up consuming too much serverside processing power, you could try some sort of system that functions on the block-building grid, I.E. something similar to Minecraft's fluids in basic function, but much, much more versatile... With client-side render effects to make it appear more realistic.

For instance, when water is placed in the world, it will be assigned to a given block position, and that block position will then check for terrain and other blocks around it based on a tick/clock system of some sort. Depending on the results of the check, it could be programmed to spread/disperse to adjacent block slots that are lower or on plane, level out, etc.

As much as I hate the living hell out of Java, there is nothing really out there at the moment that surpasses it's flexibility and cross-platform compatibility, even if it is extremely buggy and unreliable more often than not. Not to mention it can be rather inefficient under some circumstances... but fortunately this game seems to be reasonably well optimized, even as an Alpha.

I can't really imagine attempting a project of such an unconventional nature on a mainstream engine like Unreal 4 or CryEngine, etc. I'm not a programmer, but I'm sure the block-building system and dynamic terrain functions would require at least some source code modification on any engine that you choose. Mainstream FPS platforms aren't exactly built with those features in mind AFAIK.

Though I certainly wouldn't complain if they *did* somehow manage to upgrade to UE4... So long as that didn't involve the better part of a year spent recoding everything.

Coordinate systems have always worked well in the past.

The only problem with allowing teleports on a server is that the entire purpose of some parts of the game are defeated, like road and rail systems.

Quote from Rotacak (Developer of Murnatan for AAA Games)

And don't worry, humans (without debuffs) are not slow. It is very iritating when player will move like slime. It can be realistic but playability is not good.

Source Cited

Coming from someone who has played at least 800 hours in an IOQuake3-based game, I certainly won't complain if the movement speeds are boosted a bit.

...Though I doubt the developers here have any plans to implement strafe jumping or rocket hopping any time soon.

Agreed, I'm all for powerplants, factories, electrical transmission and control systems, programmable digital logic, generators, transformers, switches, and other industrial power, production, and control equipment.

Being able to engineer and build my own industrial complex would be an *amazing* experience in this game.

My only request to the developers is that a realistic electrical system is implemented within the game, rather than the weird packet-based systems in most Minecraft mods. Volts, Ohms, Amps, Watts, VA, VARs, etc, rather than Eu, Eu/T, Eu/P.

Well, It looks like they are at least planning to add explosives at some point - I've managed to spawn myself a few sticks of dynamite through the console.

Hell, they said they were going to go up to a contemporary level of technology. I certainly would not complain if they decided to add bulldozers, road graders, and excavators. *That* is definitely substantial progression there if that's what you want... Expensive machines with intricate parts that require expensive fuel to operate.

I agree, the frequent updates are definitely a major plus for those of us following your progress.

It's a small detail, but it goes a long way towards showing all of us that you are constantly putting effort into this game every day, and not just banging your heads against a brick wall and staring at the ceiling like one studio in particular that I will not name here.

This is the second third double-post you have created.

It is common courtesy to avoid starting duplicate topics on public forums, as having two or more separate discussions on the same topic usually just ends in unneeded confusion and wasted time.

Rather than starting a new thread every time you do not get the answer you want, I would suggest you phrase your questions more carefully and clearly within the discussions you already have open.

I'm a Steam buyer.

I believe i purchased around the 5th or 6th of this month.

I agree with Quezax, if this game is going to support technology spanning from medieval times to present date, then firearms would be a logical choice to include at some date.

However, I do not believe that the devs should focus on implementing firearms until the rest of the game's content is roughly completed. Putting firearms into this game will probably end up being a significant time sink, and should not take priority over all of the core mechanics and content of the game. If this game is going to succeed, then people need to be able to play in the alpha and beta worlds without getting bored or feeling cheated by a lack of things to do other than shooting pumpkins.

That was a mistake that Starforge made, and combined with their lack of innovation and motivation in other fields, they ultimately failed to deliver just about all of the other content and features they promised, and now have a 34% (and falling) approval rating on Steam as well as a constant stream of hate mail.

TL;DR: guns would be a great addition to this game, but don't loose focus on more important functionality and content yet.

On a complete side note (assuming the devs choose to implement firearms in this game), I would appreciate it if shotguns get treated with a modest level of respect within this game. It always seems like every other game out there consistently nerfs and cripples them because they are inherently very powerful devices. Instead of limiting their knockdown power, I think it would be fair to consider other limiting factors such as ammunition capacity. In reality, shot shells are large and heavy compared to rifle cartridges, even if they do hit like a freight train.

Thanks for the update on that.

Red mentioned that the Linux client for Steam is still a work in progress and would take about 1-2 days to release, but that was close to a week ago.

I'm pretty sure it's still on it's way, but an official confirmation from Red would be reassuring.