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Work in Progress / Worlds Apart Online

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KISTech
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Location: Aloha, Oregon
Posted: 21st Mar 2010 01:57 Edited at: 21st Mar 2010 02:43
After many, many months of rewriting...




Is back.

= Done
= Work in progress
= Planned for the future

The Server
Complete rewrite of server code
Optimized database usage
Integrated with the game's website database
Small semi-automated dynamic economy (will grow to fully automated)
Networking is optimized and encrypted
Automatic file update is faster

The Client
Complete rewrite of client code
Improved graphics settings (uses desktop resolution)
1st and 3rd person views
New HUD design with better graphics
Shaders used for most objects
Custom particle system
Completely rewritten ship movement using mouse or keyboard controls
Ship control using Joystick (with force feedback)
Optimized dynamic frame rate system
All new graphics!!

Here are some screenshots from the current 0.0.84 version.

1. The new modular ship design


2. Another shot of the new ship


3. One of the home worlds of the 3 races


4. The new planet menus. (showing a player managing the settings for one of his factories)


For a better look at these images in higher resolution.
Visit the Image Gallery


Players will :
Roam the game universe in their ship
Upgrade their ship, to travel further and faster
Accept and fulfill cargo contracts to earn money (credits in the game)
Upgrade their ship to carry more cargo
Battle to defend their ship from pirates (unless they are the pirate)
Create or join a corporation, banding together to earn more money
Build colonies on newly discovered habitable planets
Build factories, farms, or mining operations on new colonies
Manage factories to maintain optimum supply for current demand


The website is now officially open for tester signups.
www.worldsapartonline.net
The Alpha begins April 2nd.

All comments and constructive criticism are always welcomed.

KISTech
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Posted: 21st Mar 2010 02:24
[Reserved for future use]

JLMoondog
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Posted: 21st Mar 2010 03:58 Edited at: 21st Mar 2010 03:59
Great work, I'm glad this is finally coming together, you've been working for some time on this game. Looks flyable.

I like the features you have listed and the chance to be an evil pirate, * sinister cackle*.

I said this last time, your game reminds me a lot of Eve, but less complex(good thing, as the massive amounts of windows can get overwhelming).

Sadly, tried to signup and it said my email address was invalid...strange.


KISTech
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Posted: 21st Mar 2010 05:42
Probably one of the security settings in the system being over cautious or not working properly.

Give it another try.

JLMoondog
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Posted: 21st Mar 2010 13:45
Alright was able to register this time. Hope to hear from you soon.


KISTech
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Posted: 22nd Mar 2010 17:52
I'm interested in hearing feedback on the website as well. Any errors that pop up, any broken links, any issues with registration.

Thanks.

Dr Tank
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Posted: 22nd Mar 2010 19:46
This looks cool. I've never really played these "elite" style games, but the spaceships and planets look pretty.

KISTech
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Posted: 22nd Mar 2010 23:08
It's been quite the task getting it this far. I just hope DBPro holds up under the pressure.

OceanJeff
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Posted: 23rd Mar 2010 12:14
Hey, game looks and sounds awesome, but I've been trying to register on the website, and it won't take my birth date, it says use format YYYY-MM-DD, and that's the format I entered, I also tried using the pop up calendar, but it still doesn't take.

HELP

Later,

Jeff c
KISTech
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Posted: 23rd Mar 2010 19:12
Probably a regex problem. Sorry bout that.

I've removed the regex requirements for now until I can test them more thoroughly.

Indicium
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Posted: 29th Mar 2010 01:05
I'm quite excited to see this. Site looks really professional. Did you make it?

Windows 7 32-Bit Home Premium Intel Pentium Dual-Core @ 1.46Ghz 2038mb RAM
KISTech
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Posted: 29th Mar 2010 19:42
Quote: "Site looks really professional. Did you make it?"


It's an e107 site. http://www.e107.org/

However I've modified one of the default themes a fair amount, and modified some of the underlying php code to better serve the purposes of a game site.

Grayvyn
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Location: Southern California
Posted: 1st Apr 2010 00:41
Yeah! Finally!
I've been itching to play a space sim too. Tried out EVE and it is quite overwhelming and busy. I was gonna start back on my space sim but was delaying, hoping your 2010 Q2 promise would come thru. I would rather help someone else out with a new game.
Good luck and see online Friday, if it all goes well.

KISTech
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Posted: 1st Apr 2010 03:38
I'm fighting off a cold or something, but it will start Friday as advertised.

Keep in mind this is an ALPHA. Most of the game systems have been disabled to start out so network performance testing can happen. Then we'll start turning things on one at a time, and move on from there.

Indicium
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Posted: 6th Apr 2010 19:40
Downloading this now Looks like there's alot to download! But it's really neat the way it's self updating!

Windows 7 32-Bit Home Premium Intel Pentium Dual-Core @ 1.46Ghz 2038mb RAM
KISTech
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Posted: 7th Apr 2010 00:05
This method of delivery has lots of advantages.

More game content will be coming soon, and those that have already installed the game will only have to download the new stuff to be ready for it.

Aside from not having compression (yet), it's pretty fast too.

KISTech
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Posted: 10th Apr 2010 17:28 Edited at: 10th Apr 2010 17:29
Worlds Apart Online is in ALPHA testing right now. Today is the first server stress test. If any of you have the time, drop by today and help out by just signing up, downloading the game, and hang out in the game for a little while.

The goal today is to get 20 people on the server at the same time for performance benchmarking purposes.

http://www.worldsaprtonline.net

It starts at 10 AM Pacific Time (6 PM GMT)

Thanks.

Silvester
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Posted: 10th Apr 2010 18:20
Interesting, I believe I've seen an older version of this as well, and it looks a lot better now. I've registered just now, and will log on in about 40 minutes for your little test.


EDP Map Editor[2D]
KISTech
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Posted: 11th Apr 2010 05:29
Yes, it's a complete rewrite from the version a year ago. It now makes use of shaders, and there's real artwork in it now.

Dark Dragon
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Posted: 11th Apr 2010 05:42
@KISTech

This looks Really interesting! From the screenshots, Amazing!

KISTech
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Posted: 11th Apr 2010 18:59
Thanks.

Michael P
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Posted: 13th Apr 2010 12:29
Really good to see this still going Keep up the good work!

TechLord
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Posted: 14th Apr 2010 10:09 Edited at: 14th Apr 2010 10:10
Hi KISTech, I would be interested in the technical details behind your update system implementation.

I'm considering the idea of using Placeholder media to offer players several update/download options such as: UPDATE 1)On Launch, 2)On Demand, 3)At Runtime(stream), 4)At Downtime, 5)On Exit.

My reasons for offering multiple means of updating is to take in consideration the time requirements for Level Area Transitions, Loading Screens, Media Updates. I figure providing multiple Update Options will be less intrusive or more tolerable if the player has some, say so.


PS: I really like the new modular ship design.

KISTech
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Posted: 14th Apr 2010 19:36 Edited at: 14th Apr 2010 19:46
Hmm.. How best to describe the update system...

- It uses DarkNet
- On the server I have precalculated a manifest file that has the directory and name of all the game files, and a CRC32 hash of each file (IanM's Matrix1Utils required)
- Whenever I copy a new file into the server folders, I just press the spacebar in the file server and it recalculates the manifest
- The client and server use a packet size of 32K
- The client connects and requests the manifest, then reads it's own directories and keeps in memory all the filenames and the CRC32 of each file
- Then it compares the 2 lists, and creates a 3rd list of items to request. If the CRC doesn't match, or if there's a file on the server that isn't found on the client it's added to the 3rd list

The File Transfer
- The client requests a filename from the 3rd list
- The server loads it into a bank (IanM's Matrix1Utils required) and sends the directory, filename, and file size
- The client opens a bank to match the file size
- The server reads from it's bank 32K at a time and sends that in a packet
- The client receives the packet and writes it to it's bank
- When the file is complete, the MAKE FILE FROM BANK command saves the file on the client

There's not really much more technical about it to say without showing some code, which I could do. It's not any super secret process or anything. It's not something that would be difficult to incorporate into a game/app main loop to download content in the background while playing. You could just have the client connect to the file server, telling it that it's in the game so the file server places an interval between file packets. That way you aren't bogging down the client with file packets to process and interfering with game play. A 1 MB file could be sent in 32 seconds, with a 1 second delay between packets. That's not to bad. Depending on the packet traffic of the game you might be able to do it with a smaller interval without causing lag.

If you would like more details about it, just let me know.

[edit]

I thought I would also add, the main idea for the file update system came from the way that Guild Wars does it. During the initial install they only download the media you need for that "area". If you leave that area, it downloads the next one you're headed into. Then the next time you head into that area, it loads locally. While I really haven't gotten quite that sophisticated with this download system, it is in general what I have planned. The amount of textures that will be required for this game are going to be huge because there are 6,250,000 zones in the game so far, with the ability to expand that at any time, and each zone can have a solar system in it. So in the end there will be a few thousand planets, and each planet uses up to 5 textures. Even if I reuse planet textures, that's still a lot of data.

TechLord
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Posted: 15th Apr 2010 11:55
Wow, KISTech thats a really sophisticated Update System and awesome explanation! S3GE is being designed to support multiple genres of single player to various network scale. Although some games will not be MMOs, I speculate that any type of Addon or Update system (via the internet) works in a similar fashion.

DIGIROSS
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Posted: 15th Apr 2010 20:30
I've created a similar updater for a corporate server application i've written in another language. It works the way KISTech explains the file manifest. I find it to be very efficient, and has worked near flawlessly.

Whenever I get to the point of distributing a game I feel is worthy, this is the method I'd use

Mess with the best, die like the rest!
KISTech
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Posted: 23rd Apr 2010 01:47
Alpha build 102 has been released.

Included:

- Weapons have been activated
- Some map bugs have been cleared up
- The Options screen off the main menu has been added
- You can now change the Resolution and Aspect Ratio to suit your monitor
- Other various small fixes

Hopefully having more to do in the game will encourage more active testing.

Fantasy Multimedia
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Posted: 23rd Apr 2010 02:29
I will try this out when I get home, I just signed up for an account on your website - I am awaiting an activation email. Looks pretty cool, I played eve for awhile (14 day free trial) and I really enjoyed it, I just can't justify paying their monthly fees though.
Fantasy Multimedia
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Posted: 23rd Apr 2010 04:59
I downloaded this and signed up for the test account. It took a while to update to build 102, but after it did I was able to get in and play. It ran ok on my machine, it is a dual-xeon 2.8 ghz, 4 gigs and an old Nvidia FX5500 PCI video cards (not PCI-E). I think the lowest I saw my FPS drop to was 21 with both a planet and my ship in full view.

I doubt this machine meets your minimum specs, but it did work! I flew from planet to planet, pretty cool so far. I am not going to offer any suggestions just yet, I am sure you have a full plate and I do not want to tempt you with features.

This is definitely one of the more professional projects that I have utilized from the WIP boards. Great work so far!
Alfa x
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Posted: 1st May 2010 01:53
KIS I want to be a tester.
Will register in your website.
KISTech
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Posted: 1st May 2010 19:25
@Fantasy
Thanks. It's taken quite some time for me to wrap my head around some of the game concepts, and I finally gave in and started using shaders. (could kick myself for not doing that sooner)

Post your suggestions in the forum on the site. There's a spot for them. Right now I'm working on a rewrite of the contract system. It didn't quite come together as I had hoped, and I made a big mistake or 2 in it's overall design.

@Alfa x
I see that you have registered, but not yet verified by email. As soon as that is done I can move you to the testers group so you can download the client and start testing.

Syncaidius
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Posted: 1st May 2010 20:21 Edited at: 1st May 2010 20:22
I had a play around on it earlier, very good game so far. I agree with Fantasy, that it is one of the more professional projects going on around here at the moment.

KISTech
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Posted: 2nd May 2010 20:09
Thank you so much guys. That kind of feedback keeps me motivated.

baconboy2
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Posted: 30th May 2010 16:34
I also downloaded the game yesterday, and thought it was great! Very professional-looking!
I've sent you an email KISTech, about helping out with the project (assuming that this is still going on!)

Keep up the good work mate!

My Portfolio Website - http://boomerang-studios.webs.com/
KISTech
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Posted: 31st May 2010 00:15
Oh yes. It's still going. After 4 years of development I'm not giving in on it now.

I'll email you soon about your offer to help.

KISTech
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Posted: 1st Jun 2010 21:26
Friday June 4th through Sunday June 6th is our next stress test event.

Drop in any time (but especially during this event) to test out the game and help identify bugs.

I'm very busy adding new content until then, so there should be at least something to do for everyone.

zapakitul
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Posted: 1st Jun 2010 22:06
^KISTech, gonna download the game on my laptop. Haven't been on much lately since I need to stay on my Linux box for a while (end year degree project).
KISTech
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Posted: 1st Jun 2010 22:58
Sounds good.

I get the feeling that once school is out, there are going to be a lot of very cool projects and useful plugins completed on here this year.

Morcilla
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Posted: 2nd Jun 2010 12:16
I'll try to pop-up eventually, which should be the time with the highest server load? Does anyone connects around GMT/Europe time zone?

KISTech
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Posted: 2nd Jun 2010 18:32
There are testers from the US, Canada, Chile, Brazil, UK, Russia, Austria, Ukraine, and Australia to name a few so at any given time I'm guessing there will be someone in the game.

I still don't have as many testers as I would like, and probably half wont be bothering to come back because they aren't the patient type, but I'm still of the mindset that "If you build it, they will come.".

Matty H
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Posted: 2nd Jun 2010 19:19
This looks awesome, its like the game everyone wants to make in theory and here you are doing it and getting impressive looking results.
Good luck with this

Isocadia
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Posted: 2nd Jun 2010 19:38
Well, I'm in Holland ( GMT+1 ) So I will probably be there sunday morning xD

Isocadia

KISTech
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Posted: 2nd Jun 2010 21:52
Quote: "its like the game everyone wants to make in theory and here you are doing it and getting impressive looking results."


Thanks. It's been on the back burner for a very long time, and I'm very happy to finally be bringing it to life.

Quote: "I'm in Holland ( GMT+1 ) So I will probably be there sunday morning"


Cool. See you then.

Morcilla
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Posted: 6th Jun 2010 12:08 Edited at: 6th Jun 2010 12:52
Well, I have to say that everything looks cool and solid.
Register for beta tester and everything in the web looks quite professional to me. (I wish my web worked half good as worldsapartonline.net does).

The update system seems to work properly as well, and after a while, the game can be run.

I have a problem login in. Although I've openened an account in the website, I enter the username and password in the program, and it never passes 'Authentication', asking for username and password again...
Now it is aroung GMT 10h here, I will try to connect again later.

As said, looks like you got a good base stablished. Still pending to try the current gameplay, but it looks promising

[Edit: Looks like to open a game account as beta tester, you must agree to a non-disclosure agreement as explained here
http://www.worldsapartonline.net/nda.asp?id=81
Solid once again, and I understand that those steps are needed, but some people could not have the same point of view (too many steps). Now loggin in.]

[Edit2: Played No one else around, but I'm used to the lonelyness of the space.
Well, it only took me a few minutes to press all function keys and get into the gameplay. I managed to port some water cargo to a planet called Dakar.
Everything still looking coherent. I see many options and parameteres, cool descriptions for planets and such, that reveal a huge amount of work.
Ships and planets look nice so far, and the game helps the player to travel here and there without much effort.
Although I have seen only a small percentage of the game, I understand there is a lot of pending work, and that you are already aware of many details that I could say. Perhaps I would start talking about the camera control, as I didn't feel like having too much control over it, is there a way to move it?
As said, excellent work so far, I'll try to connect again in the future ]

Matty H
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Posted: 6th Jun 2010 15:30
Quote: "Played No one else around, but I'm used to the lonelyness of the space."


Lol, I have'nt tried MPL3D for ages but I guess it would get lonely.


@KISTech - I tried it, downloaded everything but when I tried start I got a missing dll, I apologise for not noting it down as I thought I would be able to try again only it stopped responding and I had to re-start my computer.

I was going to try it again before I realised I had to download all the media again.

I would recommend you let people know what is involved to test this game in the top post along with the server dates maybe. I will try this again when I have more time and I'll let you know what dll I'm missing.

The website is awesome, very professional, I look forward to trying the game out, what time are the servers open until, I may have time tonight around 10pm GMT, don't keep them open just for me though as then I would feel bad if I couldn't make it

KISTech
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Posted: 6th Jun 2010 20:14 Edited at: 6th Jun 2010 20:21
The servers are actually running 24/7 all the time.

This weekend in particular was just to try and get as many testers as possible to show up around the same times so the server networking could be tested against more than just a few players.

Feel free to jump in any time. It's always up and running.

@Matty,
When you are able to try again, let me know what that DLL was.

@Morcilla,
The website isn't bad, but it's not my favorite setup. When I have a little more time it will get a complete rewrite. It's currently based on the e107 open source website software, but it's buggy and incomplete, and actually a pain to try and customize. To load a single page requires the server to touch no less than 30 files, which is slow and ridiculous on an epic scale.

As for the game. Thank you. There is a TON of information that has gone into it, with sketches, Excel spreadsheets, and lots of work on a whiteboard to get to this point. There is still quite a ways to go, but most of the rest is the content that binds all the other stuff together to make it a complete system.

Right now the economy is fixed, and prices and colony populations don't fluctuate. Once some more systems are put in you will be able to form corporations and establish new colonies. Then build new factories, harvest new raw materials, and set your own prices for goods. That's where you'll see the rise and fall of colonies based on the supplies they need, vs. the supplies that actually get delivered.

The only AI that will be involved in the game are ships that will appear as needed to maintain supply chains in the homeworld sectors. The outlying planets are basically on their own, and are at the mercy of the players. If they don't get enough supplies, those colony populations may leave, and eventually the colony will be "abandoned".

When I get the game to that point, the beta will begin. That will be the initial release state of the game.

After that, expansion packs will come. (not gonna say what those will include just yet, but you're gonna love it..)

Matty H
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Posted: 13th Jun 2010 23:51
d3dx9_38.dll

I was missing this, is it my fault for not meeting some specification or is it a problem your end?

KISTech
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Posted: 14th Jun 2010 00:53
It's you.

On the downloads page on my site there are links to the prerequisites. Click on the one for the DirectX9.0c update and install that. You should be up and running then.

Matty H
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Posted: 14th Jun 2010 01:14
Ha ha, sorry, look forward to trying this.
I'll just mention that when it could not find the dll I could not shut down your window, no big deal but thought you might want to know.

KISTech
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Posted: 14th Jun 2010 01:33
Ok. That might be a misbehaving dll. On my Vista laptop, I get a "Program didn't close" type of error. Can't really find what's going on with that, so it might be related.

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