Just a quick update on the first post. Myself and others have been working diligently on a promotional demo that we'll be releasing very soon.
We hope this will generate some interest for the project to gather talented and much needed artists. It will undoubtly prove we can bring your artwork to life within a PSO universe. Feel free to check it out on the front page. I even left a teaser for you guys on the first post =)
Looks great man! You captured the mood perfectly fine. Exactly the mood I felt when I first entered forest, 14 years ago. Is this still mostly with the original models/textures? The trees and foliage seem new?
Hope you will find some good artists. I will se if I can help if you really can't find anyone. Would be sad if this project would crash because of a lack of artists.
If there is anything I can say about, it looks really bright. I mean I guess thats the way it was when I look back at the original, but looking at it now... idk, the saturation seems a bit much. Maybe its just something caused by putting the preview clip into those formats. Hopefully its just that. Otherwise, looks great! I'm getting a good PSO vibe already.
I'm glad it was able to capture the original's spirit =)Originally Posted by qoxolg
We used what we needed and changed what we could. The terrain itself is based on the original. The way we were able to convert Forest 1's map into a Unity3D terrain was a neat process lol. I think it'll be alright, this demo should be a smash hit.
That clip is a bit old. The tree's are less bright and many of the plants have had their materials changed to reduce their brightness as well and darken their color. We'll be making adjustments like that shortly before we release since it's not a major development issue atm. Glad it has the PSO vibe, I'll take a look at what everything looks like with lower saturation in color on the terrain.
I've been watching this thread for the past month or so. Thumbs up on the progress. I can't help out with coding but I would love to help out with testing should you need testers.
I don't really care to see photon arts in this remake, but it's all up to you as the coder of course. Good luck with the project though, I'll be keeping an eye on this.
Just make something really similar, but don't infringe any IP. It's a battle you won't win. Game developers do that all the time.
Developer of Nevergrind
A Free Indie Browser RPG
I wonder this has been shaping up?
That's kind of what I said in their post about the Demo. I said they should make a spiritual successor instead.
It has been shaping up slow but steady. We released the shoddily made promo as well as an analytic build for a Caves 01 level design which can be found in a thread linked on the first post of this thread.
Basically, here is what has been going on. I've decided to rewrite the networking library which our original servers were based on. We were a decent chunk along on networking before we diverted attention to a promo. Within that gap of time I learned a considerable amount, since I'm rather fresh to programming, and realized I had no choice but to rewrite GladNet, our netlib for the project. The repo for this can be found here: https://github.com/HelloKitty/GladNet2.0 (ignore the sparse readme for now)
The main goals for GladNet2 is to not only write highly testable and mockable code but to test at the varying levels. GladNet2 currently has 180+ test cases and thus far can be deployed on either Windows or Linux. On top of this GladNet will retain the original feature sets, though less emphasis on custom serialization and encryption, and will in general will be of higher code quality, more extensible and resistant to regressions in future revisions. On top of this GladNet2 will allow for increased productivity on serverside development due in part to its testability; allowing mocks that can let you easily write integration tests, or help you write unit tests that depend on the networking layer. On top of that GladNet2 will have a far more documented source, as it does currently compared to GladNet1, and several supporting design docs explaining header structure, flow and design decisions made. I do not generally write these beforehand. Possibly I'll do so for the rewrite of our server applications. This will be my first attempt at doing so, better later than never.
Additionally we will be making a foray into writing testable code for Unity3D. Some talk about the design of doing so was recently had in our Skype conversation. This will allow us to become engine-agnostic (still tied to C# though) and better maintain our codebase which will, assuming we succeed, inevitably grow to a considerable scale since this project is not simple.
The reason for the emphasis on testability is our goal is to not just remake Phantasy Star Online but to also open it up to the community for extension. Maintenance and regression prevention will become key should the project succeed so naturally we'd like it to be simple for a newbie to potentially make a change and and not break existing functionality.
After the last failure I'm taking this project as seriously as I can, to the best of my effort, trying my best to develop something that not only works but that works in a well designed fashion that can last for a long time to come. It's very possible in another year I'll discover my faults and realize that I did not have what it takes to make this a possibility, like I seem to do every 6 months, but this time I'm pretty confident this can be done right.
As for what you can expect, in a long-ish while from now you can expect a networked character customization demo that includes a launcher and patcher and a patching server to boot. The importance of this is our plan is to incrementally add features on top of what already exists. We're aiming to write clean production ready code, no more quick hacks, and will slowly increment features until we've a playable game. By putting out a patcher as soon as possible we open up the possibility for delivering these builds to you for anyone willing to test them and provide feedback.
For a more short-term update, aside from GladNet2, last night I started the level design for Forest again. It's not finished but I think it's going in a better direction so far.
Original: http://imgur.com/X21ette
Current: http://imgur.com/ps1fesi
This project is not and never has been dead. Kion, Pol and myself are putting forth our best effort when we can find the time to make this a reality and as always we're looking to expand our team with other like-minded and competent developers.
We are in need of (bear with me, I'm a programmer so the terminology may be a bit off):
3D Modelers: Generally we're in need of 3D modelers capable of organic modeling some of the original foliage that made Phantasy Star Online unique. Additionally we need some modelers capable of remodeling some of the core assets. We can and will provide original models and textures that can be used as reference.
Texture Artists: The original textures are definitely import to emulate though none of us currently have the ability to produce quality textures for the project. We have to work with what we can find and sometimes that doesn't fit into the unique artstyle of Phantasy Star Online. Experience in DDO or Substance is a huge plus but not required.
Programmers: If you've experience in Unity or are just a C# guru we're looking for you. If you like to talk design and think towards the future when writing code you're a perfect fit. If you don't mind writing unit tests and documenting your source then definitely consider offering your skillset. For non-Unity programmers the serverside, with the exception of a small portion, is in pure C#. Don't hesitate if you don't know Unity3D. The only true requirement is advanced C#.
Level Designers: I'm not great so it'd be fantastic if someone better than myself took over level design. Understanding concepts of occlusion culling, use of Unity materials and constraints for Desktop games is a must. Experience in Unity is a must.
Various other unmentioned Game Development roles: Do you make music? Do you make concept art? Do you maybe do something else I didn't think of? We're more than happy to welcome anyone with a tangible development skillset. I only asked for the bare minimum above but we'd be happy for skilled people with a passion for Phantasy Star Online contribute what they feel a remake would need.
For everyone else thank you for the support and patience. There is a high chance this project will fail, and to be honest you could say we did and are rebuilding currently, but we will continue anyway. We've regeared to the long-term and plan to stay that way.
Made a video of the Forest 01 level design: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV6skAtkGrQ
It's mostly done. I'm a programmer so I feel I've taken it as far as I can for now. We're looking for 3D modelers though who might want to contribute and remake some of the original assets.
I plan to return to developing GladNet2 and various other libraries and tools that will be needed for the longterm success of the project. I hope we'll have something exciting to post about in a couple months.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Connect With Us