Topic: Descent clone

[Violetta]

I've been contemplating putting a team together and making a Descent clone, anyone interested?

[-<WillyP>-]

Might help if you describe your vision, and what you are bringing to the table.  You might also be interested to know of other projects in progress, like the Open Descent Foundation (ODF)

[Kaiaatzl]

To be honest, there have been so many projects like this, so far none of them (except Miner Wars) has had anything to show for it.  I think many Descent fans are going to be skeptical unless you show you have a solid idea and proof of concept.

[-<WillyP>-]

Especially, Into Cerebron  looked so good, and it seemed they were well on their way, then it just kinda disappeared.

High Octane, full of grand ideas and... empty promise.

Miner Wars, seems like it might be the next 'D4' but it's an MMO, not really sure about that.

Even ODF, they have been at it for years, not really a whole lot of output, that I can tell, anyway.

[Violetta]

Well like a modern game created by Descent fans for Descent fans with Descent-like gameplay.

[Violetta]

Btw you know Descent 4 got uncanceled right? Interplay announced that they will be reviving the franchise.

[karx-elf-erx]

Reading threads like this one makes me wonder what their authors dream of at night.

[Sidhe Priest]

Uhm. "Into Cerberon", not "Cerebron" (that'd be something like "brainiac" in Latin-ish).

And High Octane was already released in the 90s... There was an air racing game by that name, released a year or so later than Descent...

[Sidhe Priest]

Oh well... Why Descent, and not, say, Ascent? You know, with open spaces and free movement and planet atmosphere re-entry and interplanetary travel...

[Kaiaatzl]

And High Octane was already released in the 90s... There was an air racing game by that name, released a year or so later than Descent...

I believe WillyP means High Octane Software, the would-be creators of Core Decision, a Descent-like game that never got off the ground.

[Ronin RedFox]

Even ODF, they have been at it for years, not really a whole lot of output, that I can tell, anyway.

You kinda have to join the forum to really see everything we are up to. We have 6DoF movement (Much like D1 or D2) and physics, working shield and energy powerups, and some netcode. And we have a nice menu design, designed by our very own Isaac Gallegos. We have a lot of content at our disposal, thanks to the Nexuiz project. (Over 1GB of textures, alot of sounds, and a lot of other things.)

And of course, we have about 85% of the weapon models finished. There are also a couple D3 map reworks going on as well, that will be included in Flight Back.

We're planning for Flight Back to be able to convert D1, D2 AND D3's levels to its own level format as well. (One of the best features in my opinion )

Im not sure why we are so quiet about the progress we have, I've been confused by that as well.

[Scyphi]

@ Violetta: Yes, Interplay has indicated that they would like to revive the franchise, but nothing has really become of it as of yet. The most they have done (that is publicly known) is re-register the Descent trademark and state they intend to release a port of Descent (presumably D1) to the Wii as Wiiware, which according to their own scheduling should've probably been released by now, or be at least be real close to a release (they said Fall 2010), or at the very least, give a more solid release date. Not a thing more than that has been done that we know of. I'd love it if they do pull off a D4, and I'm not saying they won't (Interplay's surprised us enough times already) but for the moment, if a D4 IS in the works, it's most likely a VERY long way off.

@ WillyP and all else who said or indicated as such: Just my personal opinion, but while Miner Wars looks to be a very promising game, I dunno if I'd call it the "next D4." It's very Descent-ish, but at the same time it's still very much it's own game, with it's own style. I wouldn't even call it a proper Descent clone. Still, as I said, Miner Wars looks very promising nonetheless, and I would love to see it be finished.

@ Darcshadow: Yeah, what is up with Flight Back? I've heard it be mentioned several times, but no one has really explained to me just what it's supposed to be other than the obvious presumption that it's a Descent clone. Since there's so much secrecy about it, I haven't really pressed the issue as I assumed there was a reason for the secrecy, but I am curious, and would like at the very least a rudimentary description.

Back @ Violetta: I suppose you are more than welcome to start working on a Descent clone of some sort, but I hope you go into it being FULLY aware of what you're getting yourself into, and with the GUARANTEE you can follow through on what you've started. Despite what it seems like, this is not as easy as it might seem. I learned that lesson the hard way with the now defunct Project: Pavilion that I myself started. It never even really got off the ground, and what we all very few of us had to show for it in the end was a whole lot of speculation and lists of ideas of what we wanted, but never got to building. As well as some music (which I still have). It all proved to be a lot harder than many of us were expecting. And that can't even begin to compare to the work of creating a Descent clone, as Project: Pavilion was only to be an elaborate mod for D3, something far less intricate than a full-fledged Descent clone. And we couldn't even pull THAT off.

So, in short, we'll all be much more interested when you've got something to show for it, beside talk, speculation, and the announcement of the intent to do this. No offense.

[-<WillyP>-]

Even ODF, they have been at it for years, not really a whole lot of output, that I can tell, anyway.

You kinda have to join the forum to really see everything we are up to. We have 6DoF movement (Much like D1 or D2) and physics, working shield and energy powerups, and some netcode. And we have a nice menu design, designed by our very own Isaac Gallegos. We have a lot of content at our disposal, thanks to the Nexuiz project. (Over 1GB of textures, alot of sounds, and a lot of other things.)

And of course, we have about 85% of the weapon models finished. There are also a couple D3 map reworks going on as well, that will be included in Flight Back.

We're planning for Flight Back to be able to convert D1, D2 AND D3's levels to its own level format as well. (One of the best features in my opinion )

Im not sure why we are so quiet about the progress we have, I've been confused by that as well.

All of what you have listed is resources, not output.  I didn't say the project was dead, I don't think it's dead.  Output would be material meant for the public: teasers, trailers or maybe a demo would be nice.  Perhaps you guys don't want to waste time on that sorta stuff when you could be modeling or coding, that's cool.  On several occasions I have asked for a press release or even an informal update but never really got a good enough answer to determine whether or not I should consider it a serious project with potential for completion.  But don't take this the wrong way, I'm not ready to dis the project yet, either.  All I am saying, is without any output, I have no way of knowing.  Compare to Miner Wars, I get an update from them once a week or so.  I don't blame you for not wanting to bother with that kinda stuff, but don't be surprised when someone questions whether or not your project is going anywhere.

[Foil]

I have more optimism about ODF than Miner Wars, but Scy is quite right in that we as a Descent community have plenty of reasons to be skeptical of claims about new Descent-like games.

[NUMBERZero]

I guess you could say that the ODF has made "backwards" progress