[Ideas/Brainstorm] 3D DO Clone + FPS

[0wnix]

Edit: Follow the project on the Discord, Seprom Wars :

Hey,

I've been thinking of building a 3D "clone" - actually more like a 3D game inspired by the DO's universe lately.

The game would be based on many of the original DO (2008-2013) concepts:
- eic/vru/mmo
- no bullshit (only pheonix to goliath, only flax and iris...)
- ranks
- clans
- NPCs
- Minerals to be collected
- Bonus boxes
- Cargos...
- Multiplayer

But there would also be many improvements and modifications of existing concepts. Indeed, it would be a real 3D game + a FPS mode + a planet mode, here is a list of a few mechanics/things that would be possible:

- walking around in your ship while it flies
- flying in cockpit mode
- landing on a planet and walking in a fps view with guns etc - could be your faction's planet or an enemy faction, or even clan station / pirates wrecks, meaning battles could happen both in space and on ground
- maybe EVA (extravehicular activity = getting out of your ship in space)

There may be many other things but hence my post, I would like you, original DO players, to tell me about your DO dream features as well as the pains you had playing DO.

Development hasn't started yet, I'm waiting for ideas/feedbacks and will eventually start working on it in a few weeks if it generates interest.
If that's the case, the game would be developed using Unity, source would be hosted on github/gitlab, it would be closed-source in the beginning but open to serious contributors (software engineers / artists (3d, animations, textures, UIs...)). It would use WebGL and be developed with optimization in mind, making it accessible to many people.

So, please tell me about your craziest dream for DO, even if they seem impossible or out of touch. Please also tell me about the worst things / the most annoying things you experienced while playing DO.

Finally, if this project interests you and you would like to contribute to its development, please let me know in this thread with a short explanatiln of how you may be able to help (skills, experience...)

[gueuledange]

Nice idea.
The way you describe it I imagine it more like a Star Citizen or EVE online style game but way simpler, which is a good thing because those space simulators are way too complex for most of the average players.

Will the shooting be like dark orbit lock and shoot or it will be aim and shoot like most 3D space games ?

I like the idea, it has potential, and it can only be a good experience for you to make such a game. My advice would be to start as early as possible and get a first version running as fast as possible even if the game is not perfect, and most importantly keep it simple otherwise you will never start/finish the project. for example you should probably give up on the landing on planet and walking around and only keep the space flight mode for your first release of the game. If you make 1 to 1 dark orbit classic concept + full 3D with nice graphics it's already more than enough for a first version in my opinion, and maybe later add more features.

I'll be following this project, good luck

[0wnix]

Hey gueuledange

You're right that games like star citizen et al. are so complex that it may refrain users from even trying them. The game would be a space simulator but with simpler physics and accessible to all (i.e. The focus would more be on gameplay rather than on flying simulation). Regarding the lock system, I don't like it that much as the gameplay could be way better without it, it would add dodge mechanics etc. Perhaps there can be different types of weapons to equip your ship with, some might need the user to aim manually, some might aim automatically, attack power may vary based on the difficulty to reach the target...

About the development, ideally it should be testable asap - whenever a MVP is available, there shall be a discord with private testers to continuously test releases and provide feedbacks/ideas/bug reports. Since the game won't be released on stores and will target a niche audience, said audience should have a huge impact on the direction the game will take or nobody will play it.

I've been building games with unity for 4+ years so development of features is not the biggest challenge, getting players is! To me, fps and grounded combat are core features that will bring much more gameplay that DO lacks, they should not be amazingly developed at start but simply being able to wander around and shoot in the first versions should be enough! Things may get better if other dev/artists/lore writers contribute to the project!

[buyaki1996]

I like the ideea! But get rid of FPS stuff,My opinion is i dont want to play darkorbit clone in fps. 3D concept and ideea si very good. And if you can make it like 2011-2014 darkorbit with lf4,apis ,zeus and upgrades will be awsome. This is my opinion!

[0wnix]

Ok! Just to make things clear: you could still fly in the space with the DO view (camera from above), first person view would only be if you get on a planet / want to move in your ship / cockpit view

[Akame_Ga_Kill]

Originally Posted by 0wnix

Ok! Just to make things clear: you could still fly in the space with the DO view (camera from above), first person view would only be if you get on a planet / want to move in your ship / cockpit view

The way you describe reminds me of SPORE which is a super amazing and discontinued game, if you`re going that way i'm sure it will have a great potential.

[-_Real_-]

Sounds like a great idea. I am interested in the idea of adding FPS to a game like DO. Feel free to reach out to me if you do proceed to the development process. I have been working in Unity for a while now.

[Healianth]

One of the key aspects of DarkOrbit that made it so attractive was its simplicity. You could load it up in seconds and the mechanics were pretty straightforward and easy to understand (in the beginning, anyway - these days it's a lot more complex). I think changing the style of the game deviates too much from the original and means you likely won't attract very many former players of the game.

That said, the DarkOrbit universe/IP is open-ended enough that you could take it in any one of a million directions and have something solid, so I wish you good luck, but the format is honestly not for me.

[0wnix]

Originally Posted by -_Real_-

Sounds like a great idea. I am interested in the idea of adding FPS to a game like DO. Feel free to reach out to me if you do proceed to the development process. I have been working in Unity for a while now.

Ok I will let you know when/if I start!

Originally Posted by Healianth

One of the key aspects of DarkOrbit that made it so attractive was its simplicity. You could load it up in seconds and the mechanics were pretty straightforward and easy to understand (in the beginning, anyway - these days it's a lot more complex). I think changing the style of the game deviates too much from the original and means you likely won't attract very many former players of the game.

That said, the DarkOrbit universe/IP is open-ended enough that you could take it in any one of a million directions and have something solid, so I wish you good luck, but the format is honestly not for me.

Agree that simplicity is key, and that DO is nothing but simple nowadays, hence why the game shall be "bullshit free". However, I do believe times have changed and people no longer want to spend 7 hours a day killing Kristallons in order to get some stuff, so this should be addressed as well!

[0wnix]

Development has begun! Codename: Seprom Wars
It's a WebGL project with an Angular app on top of it for the UI as I've always found the Unity's UI to be impratical.

Will setup a Discord later for those that want to follow the project.

[-_Real_-]

Since making this thread you got me interested in working on this again. Also in unity... :P

[0wnix]

Originally Posted by -_Real_-

Since making this thread you got me interested in working on this again. Also in unity... :P

Cool! Do you have ideas in mind or making a clone for now?

Discord Seprom Wars :

[toverux]

Hi @!

This!!

> It's a WebGL project with an Angular app on top of it for the UI

I too, had the idea of making some clone of DO with no bullshit content and features.
My idea was to make something modern and easily playable in the browser, with WebGL and an optimized Angular frontend on-top (*), that would be what was the management website you'd get when logging onto your account (where you find your equipment, auctions, everything that's not IG). That way there would be no clear separation anymore, and we'd have the power of the modern web to build a fantastic UI.
Thing is, I'm not a game developer and I must face it, that could take me years to get something decent.

I am seeking to ally with a game dev, so I could focus and database persistence, API, frontend & deployment and some community management stuff.

Are you still working on your project?
If yes, what did you plan for the server? (the game part of it, not the web server and database)

(*) I would have gone for "native" WebGL with a lean abstraction library. I work in a company that does interior design (and more stuff alike, you could build your home from scratch in it) with an Unity applet running in the browser, with a web shell around it. Our product is nice but Unity... The monolithic payload for the applet, the instantiation time, the main-thread-blocking stutters at load, the memory footprint and other problems are hard to deal with. Also it's not well integrated in the browser since it's just a bitmap image render in a canvas in the end (so no accessible inputs, text, etc and no direct access to browser features). Also errors and crashes are a pain in the *** to debug. Unity may run on the web but was definitely not made for the web. But I get that it's also much simplet to create a game with Unity. Just pay extra attention to those points.

[darkobit11]

nice to see other people doing stuff in unity, here's something from me (with a standalone server)

edit: there's a desync between some packets, thats why theres more aliens on one of the screens kekw