Hello fellow GameDevers! I'm happy to announce that the devdrones have released a completely new set of screenshots of our self made Engine (Forge), Editor(ForgED) and our first project called 0X. You can find them at http://www.devdrones.com I introduced the devdrones and our project in another thread already, but unfortunately very few people responded and it quickly was lost in the depth of the GD forums. I hope we could raise your interest now, because we are always open minded towards suggestions, feedback or even contributions. Thanks for reading! [EDIT]It even get's better! We have now released our second techdemo of OX. If you're interested, please don't hesitate to check it out at www.devdrones.com! Here's the changelog: + many internal engine improvements + many bug fixes + level and graphic improvements + implemented GUI + new and improved level + added gras for the landscape that moves with the wind + many new ForgED features + made the glider faster + background music (still pretty quiet, but it will be adjustable later) Please post bug reports here. Thanks! NOTE: You do not have to be registered to post. [/EDIT] [Edited by - gfxdrone on June 25, 2005 2:51:04 AM]

i've tested OX - ok it ran, only a minor graphical glitch it had :> - the cursor in the start game screen had a red background instead of being transparent.

regarding the gameplay, 2 problems here: first, the discrete rotation of the drone around its axis makes the movement extremely bizarre. second, the movement of the camera separate of the movement of the drone is not appropriate for this type of game, not to mention adding to the difficulty to control. i would have chosen a "change the direction with mouse", "W/S - move in the direction you look", "A/D - strafing".

otherwise, the graphical design of the drone should be improved, it does not quite fit in the overall graphics. i also saw in one screenshot (http://www.devdrones.com/index.php?mainmode=5&shot=shot25.jpg) multiple explosions looking all the same. that's no good, looks too artificial.

the sky could also be improved, it seems that it's just a dome with a photographed texture on it. i think it will benefit some more details, possibly a layer of clouds.

hope this helps.

Thanks for your comments on OX. I'm happy we could at least wake the interest in one person enough, to give us some ffeedback. ;)
That the cursor has a red background is rather weird, I would appreciate it very much of you could post that bug here, including all necesary information, which is stated in the thread.
Concerning the movement of the glider, this is something the game is still really lacking in. Many people have complained about it already and we created a whole new (and a lot more complex) concept for the glider physics. Right now, it feels like the glider is pushed around the landscape and the player is able to change direction. But that's no good. If you have a vehicle that lets you hover a couple feet over ground, it also has to feel that way, when driving. The curves have to be smeared much more and the overall feeling should be like moving on an air pillow. We also planned that the physics should allow the player to jump over ramps and such. Further the height that the glider can reach when driving up a hill is fixed, but it should depend on the speed of the glider and the gradient of the slope. These are all things that need to be done, but it will still take a while.
Also the sky is more or less a dummy up to now. Plans were that we would still implement clouds and a sun in this techdemo, but time was against us. It might be in the next one though. ;)
And the explosion... Well, that's a thing I've been ranting about for months already. ;) It looks totally strange. But not only because it's so repetative, but also because there is no smoke or sparks or anything. Loads to improve there, but if these were the only things you dind't like about the techdemo, we have actually done pretty well. ;)
Thanks again for the feedback!

Thanks for the comments. I'm only the graphic artist of the team and don't know much about the mipmapping. I will ask our coder about it though.
And we will include a loading screen in one of the next releases. You're right, if you don't know that the game is loading it's likely to think that it froze, because it takes a couple of seconds to load.

Ran great. I would agree with all of werekargs comments. Certainly the movement mechanics are the biggest problem. Also, smoother mouse movement would be nice, it seems a bit "clicky" and rigid and tends to hurt my eyes - I could never play Raven Shield for very long for this reason (but thats just me!)