That’s a (World) Wrap

January 2, 2018 | Author: HDIAndrew

Developer Diary 6

A couple developer diaries ago I wrote that ships in Fading Suns: Noble Armada could sail off one end of the map and come back on the other side. There really is a viable, completely legitimate theory that the universe wraps around upon itself. That’s the only reason we have FSNA game space connect with itself, allowing a ship to sail off one side and come back on the other 😉

Okay, that’s not quite correct. Yes, the wraparound universe theory has its place in cosmological discussions. Our FSNA wraparound, however, is based purely on gameplay considerations and bears no resemblance to it. Read more »

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Teaching Archaic Skills

December 28, 2017 | Author: HDIAndrew

We have been developing a list of skills we want RPGBaby to learn, but we are quite aware many of them will be of little use when she grows up. For instance, RPGMom wants to teach her short hand so she will have a secret language. I want to teach her to dial a phone, just to show her what agony we used to have to suffer. Today, however, I taught her two that she will probably never need. First I had her sit in my lap and steer the car while we drove in the snow. Okay, the flake of snow that was in our driveway.

I also had her steer the car in reverse without looking at the backup camera. Who thinks that there will be cars without backup cameras in 14 years, or that we will even need to drive ourselves anywhere then? What other archaic skills should we teach?

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Kickstarting the Suns in January

December 28, 2017 | Author: HDIAndrew

Merry Christmas and a happy Lux Splendor to everyone. At the beginning of the month we posted that we were thinking of running a Kickstarter to fund ports and further development of Fading Suns: Noble Armada. We got a good response to that, so we are seeing if we can get it going in January.

A couple friends in the GGDA are thinking about running a Kickstarter in 2018, so they asked me to share what we do for our campaign. As a result, I am going to start a Kickstarter Diary to run parallel to this Developer Diary.

Read more »

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FSNA: Noble User Interface

December 20, 2017 | Author: HDIAndrew

Developer Diary 5

As I noted in an earlier dev diary, the traditional RTS movement interface has a player select a unit (or group of units) and then select a point on the map where they should move or an enemy unit/structure for them to attack. There may be other bells and whistles (formations, speed, roles, etc.), but that is the heart of the UI. You can see a video of me explaining the UI HERE

The intricacies of spaceship maneuvering in the frictionless void requires something different. We debated automating that process, but doing so really seemed to eliminate one of the funniest aspects of the miniatures game. Instead we allow the player to freely change her ship’s facing (in one of eight directions) and then apply thrust in that direction.

Read more »

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Battle & Brew is Brewing Again

December 15, 2017 | Author: HDIAndrew

Battle and Brew in Sandy Springs has always been a fun mix of LAN party, restaurant and pub. It has been a favorite place for GGDA members and meetings, and there was much consternation when the owners announced they were having to shut it down. New owners stepped in, however, and it reopened. GGDA member Ashley Stapleton interviewed the new owner, and I think more than a few people who read this blog will find it interesting: https://ggda.org/blog/press-start-to-continue-an-inside-look-at-battle-brews-reopening/

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