Outpost Universe Forums

Projects & Development => Inactive Projects => GORF => Outpost Colony Wars => Topic started by: Gagagigo3 on October 19, 2007, 10:37:34 PM

Title: Colony Wars 'reanimation'
Post by: Gagagigo3 on October 19, 2007, 10:37:34 PM
Hello everybody :D  :D ,

I'm really really REALLY interested in Colony Wars. When i was checking this section of the forum (when i was thinking it was under development) i was suprised the project was pinned. ( This was months ago to be  honest :blush: )

Now, i got up with an idea of 'how the game could be'

Outpost 2: Colony Wars
Type: Web-browser type game
ID: OP2/CW :whistle: (Sorry, i like these things somehow)

OGame:
I based my idea on the game OGame (http://www.ogame.org)
Its an web-browser game you can play anywhere, you start with you're own planet and build level 1 buildings to get a basic income of resources.

OP2/CW
(Ripped from the OGame idea :whistle:  :heh:)
You will start with you're own colony. You command you're colony from the Command Center (from where else?) The Command Center doesnt have to be build.
You have 4 types of 'resources':
Common Ore
Rare Ore
Food
Electricity (or power)

Authors note:
This is my quick explanation, try OGame for a few days to get the idea. Also, you can check my website at googlepages for an expanded  (http://gagagigo3.googlepages.com/) explanation.

Edit: I forgot to post my site's link. It can now also be found beneath my Check this out thingy.
My Webpage (http://gagagigo3.googlepages.com/)

Feel free to post!
Title: Colony Wars 'reanimation'
Post by: Leviathan on October 20, 2007, 12:31:41 PM
I would love Colony Wars to be reanimated.

Galactic was working on a browser based game called Outpost Online, I dont know how far he got but I think as a community we should work together to produce just one browser based game set in the Outpost universe. I totaly agree that it should be a browser based game like the many other browser based games out there for obvious reasons.

Well allready Gagagigo3 you have simplified the game too much. Colony Wars should be similar to Outpost 2. The resources should be for starters: Common Ore, Rare Ore, Power, Food, Colonists (Children, Workers, Scientists).

Like many games of this sort you have land and your buildings take up one unit of land each. I think Colony Wars should be like this also. I do not think Colony Wars should be a clone of Outpost 2 but without the graphics. It should be simplified a bit. My idea was it would be set a bit in the future of Outpost 2 where many colonys are fighting over the world of New Terra.

To relate the land thing back to the strucutres in Outpost 2 we would make each strucutre the same size on the map, think in terms of the sizes of the structures in Outpost 2. Factorys are biger than Arigdomes. For it to make sence that one structure uses one unit of land in the game they should all be the same size, say 5x5. We would not actualy see the game map in Colony Wars but its just a relation to the Outpost 2 world. My idea was the colonys built everything in super structures, it is a standard unit hull that you place and then a building type is put in it after. This would allow you in game to get theses structures built before fiting them out for a set purpose, say a Residence strucutre.

The game should be like other games. It runs 24/7, each game tick takes one hour. Your colony is grouped in a zone/realm with other colonys, these other users should be your allies.

The game acro was allways OPCW, its Outpost Colony Wars... its not Outpost 2!

I can't spent much time working on this project. I hope people are intrested and that we can get a community based open source web based game going.

We need to design the game first, building list, unit list, how things will work, like reseaches etc. Then game calculations, we should not jump in and code it. We should take it slow and produce a quality game :)
Title: Colony Wars 'reanimation'
Post by: Hidiot on October 20, 2007, 01:00:32 PM
I can't say I really like this idea... played OGame and came to the conclusion it's just stoopid... And also takes a lot of your life away, fearing not to get destroyed.

But if you find it fun, then I wish you best of luck in making it happen!
Title: Colony Wars 'reanimation'
Post by: Gagagigo3 on October 20, 2007, 02:52:03 PM
Well, of course it was not my intention to make it the same way like OGame, but i just created a 'basic' fundamentation. And well, i had about 3 warnings saying it was just some 'beta' ideas.

And about the name Outpost 2 Online or Outpost 2: Colony Wars, thats my fault :heh:

But anyway, what leviathan is saying is well, also good for it. But it all rests on the same idea.

I have spoken ( so far  :whistle: )
Title: Colony Wars 'reanimation'
Post by: Psudomorph on October 22, 2007, 04:30:00 AM
[[Does not know what he is talking about. Consider post withdrawn]]

Random thoughts, some short and some long...

- Why make all buildings the same size? That strikes me as almost a cop-out, unless you really can't make multi-square buildings for technical reasons. IIRC, even Outpost 1 was originally intended by the developers to have variable building sizes.

- What would the interface and gameplay look like? (I'm not going to risk signing up for that OGame thing to find out, lest I once again get sucked in to the vortex of MMORPG addiction. )
I'm envisioning essentially the OP2 interface incorporating OP1 elements to compensate for the fact that everything is static. The would be a map with different terrain types, displayed in a way similar to OP1, but with more smaller squares viewable at once. Since most of the commands that you can give units in OP involve map-interaction in some way, I would personally want to see  structure/unit information/command screens be integrated into the main view in some way, so that you could for example issue the command "move to", and then click a location on the map, as opposed to typing in coordinates or some other equally irritating method.

- Would the game focus on a single colony, or would the player be able to build multiple colonies?

======[If so...]======
- I once heard of a game that intended to use procedural generation to create a huge playing area without having to program an entire map. Maybe a similar concept could be used here to give players access to a theoretically a planet-sized map.

-If the above occurs, some faster method of travel would have to be devised to make sure players actually come into contact with each other.

- A lot of online multiplayer games have multiple "worlds", and if this one ends up getting enough players for that, why not give each one a different tileset and simulate multiple planets? (far future I know, but still)
======[If only one colony, then never mind]======

- I worry that an online version would be far too slow-paced gameplay-wise, and I have an idea that might alleviate that. I don't know if any other online game use it.
I would want some sort of long-term planning ability, so that you can work out what your colony and vehicles will do, then leave the game alone as they fulfill the commands. I'm thinking a sort of series of macros controlling different processes within the colony, incorporating basic programming concepts like if-then, for-loops, etc, but packaged into some kind of relatively friendly interface.
===[Skip if you know what I'm talking about]===
For example: The process of building a mine:
First you start a new macro (or process or whatever you want to call it). A macro builder window appears (with options that will be described later), and your colony display changes slightly to reflect that you are in a sort of "planning mode" rather than real-time. You would give the vehicle factory instructions to build a robo-miner, and a sort of "ghost" robo-miner would appear on your map, symbolizing where the vehicle will be when it is completed. You instruct the ghost-miner to move to a location and build a mine, and a ghostly mine appears instantly, whereupon you set the route for your cargo trucks.
In the macro builder window, each of the instructions you issued would appear, and one option would be to create a "branch" in case of certain events.
For example, between the "move to" and "build mine" instructions, you could put something like "If mining location gets taken by someone else...", which would start a new macro, possibly containing instructions to build and dispatch combat vehicles to take back the mine.
===[Resume reading here]===
In this way, the player could spend a significant amount of time "playing" the game by planning out what their vehicles do, while also being able to leave the game for long periods, and not feel like they are wasting time, or leaving themselves vulnerable to an attack (assuming they programmed a good defensive strategy). It would also help encourage advancement through skill, rather than the ability to be logged on frequently or for long time periods.
 
Title: Colony Wars 'reanimation'
Post by: Leviathan on October 22, 2007, 06:14:32 PM
Take a read around the old threads in this forum before posting please.

There is not map for this game. It is a text based game. You set how many buildings you want to build and click Build etc.

Having each building take up one square is common for web based games like this, as you have land units. And each strucutre takes up one land unit.
Title: Colony Wars 'reanimation'
Post by: Hidiot on October 22, 2007, 07:45:00 PM
You can have it more intricate, making different buildings take up different land values. You still have to balance out just how you get that land though...
Title: Colony Wars 'reanimation'
Post by: Tellaris on October 23, 2007, 09:48:42 AM
Heres a thought.   Instead of having one player control one colony, make it possible to share.   That way a group of, say, online friends can command the colony throughout the day.   Also makes micromanagement much easier.   This would go the same for Clans.   Naturally, you'll have those that choose to strike out on their own...   EX Age of Empires series.   Players could control same "empire" by selecting same colors.

Additionally, have it so existing colonies can "join" others, much like a country choosing to unite with another.   They'd change their colors/flags to match those of whom they joined.   They wouldn't lose their personal tech tree, though, but other colonies wouldn't be able to build their stuff.   (Eden tech restricted to Eden only, Plym tech to Plym only...)   Might be a bit of a nightmare to code though.
Title: Colony Wars 'reanimation'
Post by: Gagagigo3 on October 25, 2007, 05:12:35 AM
Quote
Instead of having one player control one colony, make it possible to share. That way a group of, say, online friends can command the colony throughout the day.

This is not a good idea. If one player does something against the rules ( like swearing for an example ) all players get punished.

Quote
Additionally, have it so existing colonies can "join" others, much like a country choosing to unite with another. They'd change their colors/flags to match those of whom they joined.

This is what we call a clan, you can also input something like a ingame clan;
One creates 'a clan'
Others join
And the 'host makes up ranks'

Also

Quote
(Eden tech restricted to Eden only, Plym tech to Plym only...) Might be a bit of a nightmare to code though

As an example i will point at weapons.
The laser and microwave could have same damage which you could also do so for the railgun and RPG, in CW you will be more talking about skins then weapon damage when looking at (example) laser and microwave.

( Please hold in mind im not a programmer and dont know anything about coding, but so far i know this is not a real big problem )
Title: Colony Wars 'reanimation'
Post by: Gagagigo3 on October 28, 2007, 03:43:13 AM
So... when are we gonna work on this  :heh:  :whistle:  :op2:  :op2:  :op2:  
Title: Colony Wars 'reanimation'
Post by: omagaalpha on October 28, 2007, 06:32:01 AM
Quote
Quote
Instead of having one player control one colony, make it possible to share. That way a group of, say, online friends can command the colony throughout the day.

This is not a good idea. If one player does something against the rules ( like swearing for an example ) all players get punished.
 
That why each person will have there own account so that not all people who are work on colony will get in trouble.  Thought of share colony idea depend on how game interface goes and the actual game works but  it is good idea to having not everyone spend 100% of their time on it and I guess that yous don't want games to be that type of game ether lol.
Title: Colony Wars 'reanimation'
Post by: Leviathan on October 28, 2007, 08:49:46 AM
Quote
So... when are we gonna work on this  :heh:  :whistle:  :op2:  :op2:  :op2:
Start designing.
Title: Colony Wars 'reanimation'
Post by: Sirbomber on October 28, 2007, 09:21:41 PM
Quote
So... when are we gonna work on this  :heh:  :whistle:  :op2:  :op2:  :op2:
I'm not making your game for you, and neither is anyone else.
Title: Colony Wars 'reanimation'
Post by: Leviathan on October 29, 2007, 03:38:43 AM
Then its not gonig to happen then is it.

It is not my game. Currently it is just a idea, same with galactic's idea for a web based game.
Title: Colony Wars 'reanimation'
Post by: BlackBox on October 29, 2007, 10:24:45 AM
I think Galactic has made some progress on his game. (Dependent on how much time he has to devote to working on it). There are a lot of other things with OPU that we have to get fixed and up-and-running again (read: the website).

If you are interested in making a game however, you will have to recruit some people to help you with it (or just start on it yourself). People are not simply compelled to start working on a game (that they may or may not have interest in).
Title: Colony Wars 'reanimation'
Post by: Leviathan on April 05, 2009, 04:18:42 PM
Well would be nice to hear some news from Galactic about it.

I won't be working on Colony Wars or similar project :( Just dont have the time. I would try to help if someone else was leading a similar project tho.

You can move this forum section to Inactive Projects. Thanks.
Title: Colony Wars 'reanimation'
Post by: Celledor on April 06, 2009, 01:34:50 AM
If this is going to be made and its going to be made in say ASP.NET and C# I can help a little now and then if its needed.
Title: Colony Wars 'reanimation'
Post by: Sirbomber on April 06, 2009, 07:41:47 AM
He just said it isn't.

Don't you have other projects you should be working on?  :P  
Title: Colony Wars 'reanimation'
Post by: Celledor on April 07, 2009, 03:27:16 AM
He did... oh.

Other projects...  <_<  hmm what could that be, ah yes. But this one also sounds fun... getting back to work.
Title: Colony Wars 'reanimation'
Post by: Leviathan on April 07, 2009, 04:14:46 AM
Yes indeed "If this is going to be made".

It could indeed be ASP.net / C# or VB.net. Ive been wanting to play with making a site with .NET :)

Galactic did start a similar project called Outpost Online. Maybe as a group we could work on that? Because him working on his own sure aint got it done :P
Title: Colony Wars 'reanimation'
Post by: WooJoo on April 07, 2009, 03:26:22 PM
op2 got plenty of stuff which could be used to create an browser game with an extensiv tech tree an everything needed to make it a long term game i think its a good idea ... if anybody cares

but i think a 1 planet based game where everyone fights for the goal of domination would be closer to the main idea of an op2 game
Title: Colony Wars 'reanimation'
Post by: CK9 on April 08, 2009, 09:11:00 AM
Well...if this project is going to be successful, it needs to be fully planned out first.  I don't mean make it perfect right away (leave room for updates, players LOVE updates), just be sure to think out all the bugs before starting.
Title: Colony Wars 'reanimation'
Post by: Arklon on April 10, 2009, 12:54:03 PM
Honestly, when there's already OP2 around, I have a hard time seeing this game getting much anywhere even if completed.