Planet X
Author
[font="Arial, Verdana, sans-serif"]Silver Ray Studios'[font="Arial, Verdana, sans-serif"] current main project is a massive video game called Planet X. Planet X is a science fiction first person shooter set in the not-to-distant future on an unknown planet abundant with extraterrestrial life. The story in a nutshell: The player crash lands on the planet and is captured by the planets inhabitants who have stolen classified human data. As the player explores the planet he is captured by the aliens and sent to be executed. Other humans free the player and quarrel with the aliens on Planet X. Throughout the game the player finds out that another alien force is planning to attack Planet X and Earth which causes the player and the inhabitants of Planet X to become allies and work together to defeat the aliens. At the end of the game, Planet X is destroyed along with another alien planet instead of Earth and the humans retrieve Earth’s location and safely make it home. The game will be created with the X7 Engine and has no specific release date. At the time of this writing I have three members on my team. The game will be programmed in C++ using Direct 3D/ Direct X 11 and Visual Studio and will deploy the Havoks physics engine. Our developers use Autodesk 3DS Max/ Maya and Lightwave for 3D modelling. The game is to be released on the Xbox 360 ( whatever is out at the time ) and PS3 ( again, whatever is out at the time ) consoles. As of right now we are still working on the engines GUI, terrain engine, level editor, etc. There are 17 levels currently in consideration, writers will be needed to create: characters, backstories, species, detailed plot, and other miscellaneous things. We currently have no idea for how the aliens, weapons, vehicles, cities, levels, etc. will look like. So obviuosly we'll need concept artists. All game logos, names, and references will be copyrighted once official production has begun. For updates or more info check or contact us on our website SilverRayStudios.com<div id="myEventWatcherDiv" style="display:none;"></div>
I was a little unsure of my answers, so I just went with my gut. If I knew more about how the game would feel I might have answered differently. As far as I'm concerned, more guys in the campaign is better, but there comes a sort of critical mass where having more dudes makes it unwieldy, since it's tough to keep 32 people focused on a task, and a task that requires 32 dudes to complete will likely ruin your face if just 12 are trying it while the others are screwing around. 4 is a good number, and I've enjoyed cooperative gameplay with 4 guys in the past. If the difficulty scales or AI stand-ins are available, fewer people can handle a four-man job without breaking the fun.
As to choosing a character, are you talking about cosmetic changes, like armor color, gender, bling, etc. or class distinctions? Either way, choosing them is the way to go. There might be a "right" way, the most advantageous one, to go about the job, but it's often fun to have four snipers try to get through a level together, or to have three stealth guys and a high-defense guy develop unconventional tactics for winning.
Third person is kind of a tricky issue, in my mind. If it's only good for screenshots, then it might not be worth the effort to come up with the added camera code to accommodate it. If you do it badly, people will either not use it, or only use it for metagaming, like looking around corners or through walls. If that's the case, it'll be a hindrance to your game, rather than an asset. One the other hand, if you have a cover system or tricky platforming sections where seeing your whole avatar is a useful feature, then by all means include it. There was a Riddick game on Xbox that used first-person most of the time, but when you were doing acrobatic moves or climbing ladders it switched to third-person. In Halo games, a vehicle section or a heavy turret weapon gives you a third-person camera, which I found very intuitive and handy.
As to choosing a character, are you talking about cosmetic changes, like armor color, gender, bling, etc. or class distinctions? Either way, choosing them is the way to go. There might be a "right" way, the most advantageous one, to go about the job, but it's often fun to have four snipers try to get through a level together, or to have three stealth guys and a high-defense guy develop unconventional tactics for winning.
Third person is kind of a tricky issue, in my mind. If it's only good for screenshots, then it might not be worth the effort to come up with the added camera code to accommodate it. If you do it badly, people will either not use it, or only use it for metagaming, like looking around corners or through walls. If that's the case, it'll be a hindrance to your game, rather than an asset. One the other hand, if you have a cover system or tricky platforming sections where seeing your whole avatar is a useful feature, then by all means include it. There was a Riddick game on Xbox that used first-person most of the time, but when you were doing acrobatic moves or climbing ladders it switched to third-person. In Halo games, a vehicle section or a heavy turret weapon gives you a third-person camera, which I found very intuitive and handy.
Author
Yeah thats pretty much where I got the first/third person idea from, Halo. I was thinking only using it while using vehicles and mounted weapons and being able to switch to first person as well ( because I love driving in first person ). Thanks for the feedback, very helpful.
Ever since Star Wars Battlefront, I've liked the idea of being able to switch between 1st and 3rd person in shooters.
Unlike you I hate driving in first person mode. Whenever I'm playing a racing game I always zoom out as far as i can go. Driving without peripherals can be pretty dicey.
Personally I'm not a huge fan of the title "Planet X". It's a very cheesy name. So unless your game is a comedy or a throw back to 1950's sci-fi, you might do better with a different title.
Good Luck with the project! Hopefully we'll see big things from you in the near future!
Unlike you I hate driving in first person mode. Whenever I'm playing a racing game I always zoom out as far as i can go. Driving without peripherals can be pretty dicey.
Personally I'm not a huge fan of the title "Planet X". It's a very cheesy name. So unless your game is a comedy or a throw back to 1950's sci-fi, you might do better with a different title.
Good Luck with the project! Hopefully we'll see big things from you in the near future!
Author
Thanks for the replies ,but the basic idea I was trying to state here was that the game needs developers. If you can program C++ or model in any of the above listed applications, and you are willing to work for free until the game is released... You are perfect to join. The game's engine development is underway, but it's going very slowly. If anyone here can join, that would be great. You can check our website for other game developing occuppations.
As a heads-up, neither the Xbox 360 nor Playstation 3 provide OpenGL implementations, though to be fair I believe that the PS3 does have a basic, highly inefficient offering. Additionally, while I hate to burst your bubble here, neither Sony nor Microsoft are likely to give you the devkits/tools required to develop for their consoles. More realistically, I would advise changing your target platform to either the PC or Mac, as these are both open plaforms that actually support the technology you want to use.
EDIT: Don't shoot the messenger
EDIT: Don't shoot the messenger
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