INTRODUCTION

This document lists all the development information for a 3D space combat game currently being produced by the people listed below. All the information in this document is liable to change at any time and should not be considered the final basis for the actual game.

The information within this document is a (C)Copyright of the people listed below. This document is not intended for non-developers and is unimportant to those not directly involved with the development of the game.

DEVELOPMENT TEAM:

Kroc2k
kroccamen@gmail.com
http://commodoreweb.topcities.com
Joseph Farrow - 17
Crawley, England

JoolsKnight
joolsknight@yahoo.com
Giulio Poletti - 21
Edmonton, Canada

jk_raptor
samgregory@ansonic.com.au
Sam Gregory - 17
Victoria, Australia

m_r_ducs
clarenb@okstate.edu
Clarence R. Benson II - 19
Oklahoma State University, OK, USA

Raptor_359
md1359@hotmail.com
Matt Seigler - 18
Clemson, SC USA



CONTENTS

DESIGN / CONCEPT:

PLAYING THE GAME:


PROGRAMMING / DEVELOPMENT: UPDATES:

02/11/01    -    Playing the game & Programming / development section added.
31/10/01    -    EnergyScoop added to the Equipment section.
31/10/01    -    DevScript uploaded for the first time.


GAME CONCEPT

As mentioned at the start the game will be a 3D space combat game, we have looked at many other space games to inspire us, this includes:

We want our game to be a lot like Elite, where you can trade between planets to earn cash and fight of enemy ships that attack you. Rather than strictly follow the plot our game will allow the player to take the story line at their own pace. Missions will be offered to the player and they have the option of accepting or declining any of them, also how the player does a mission is completely up to them. By offering this type of play, the player will not get to the end of the game so quick and if the player does not feel like playing the missions, they can go off trading or practicing their shooting skills.

Games like 'Blast Radius' on the PlayStation allow you only to play the missions and as such a player can get bored of constantly replaying a mission when they die, or always just doing missions. Our game has the advantage of having more freedom, but this of course increases the workload of the programmers. But hey we don't care, we want this game to reach as many people as possible.

Back to contents


SPACECRAFT AVAILABLE TO PILOT IN THE GAME

 


Back to contents


EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE TO BUY IN THE GAME

Here is a list of items that can be bought, these are non-weapon equipment.
There are 10 TecLevels that determine how advanced the equipment is.

You have four energy banks; Primary, Secondary & 2 reserves. Every time your ship is attacked you lose some energy. If you run completely out of energy you are dead! You will naturally gain energy from background radioactivity in space. Flying close to a sun will speed up energy intake.


Back to contents


WEAPONS AVAILABLE TO BUY IN THE GAME

All weapons are subject to overheating, if fired for too long they will stop working until they have cooled down. Some weapons overheat quicker than others, some use up some of your energy to launch.


Back to contents


GAMEPLAY IDEAS

The following massive list, states all gameplay ideas we want to include in the game.

  1. When you start the game, you have the option to play as an Alien or a Human.

  2. Even if you're an alien or a human you can help any side you want.

  3. If you help nobody, you are considered neutral (Except if you're an alien who are always considered enemies of humans)

  4. Each planet can be occupied by Aliens or any of the following races:

  5. You are rated on your competence as a pilot, your Clean/Offender/Fugitive rating for the cops & your rank in the Alien/Human empire.

  6. If you kill another of your species or anybody in alliance with your species you will be sought after by the Intergalactic Federal Agency.

  7. When you destroy another ship, it's cargo will fly off in all directions, you can pick it up and trade it as yours.

  8. If you get blown up yourself, you can survive by using an escape pod, if you own one.

  9. If you trade illegal goods (Depends on who you are and who you are trading to) then the IFA will be after you.

  10. generally people won't attack you unless you attack them, there are exceptions:

  11. The missions you get will vary depending on how you did the last mission and which empire/species you are for.

  12. If you are a human than the basic idea is to become a hero by killing lots of invading Aliens.

  13. If you play as an Alien then you must rise the ranks in your empire by eradicating as many humans and others as possible

  14. If you try and sell goods that are considered illegal on a planet, you will be fined 100cr and have the illegal goods confiscated. You will be let off but your legal rating will begin to slide toward offender.

  15. Each inhabited planet has a space station that orbit it. Docking with a station will allow you to sell your goods and buy new equipment. Shooting a space station will ensure the cops will be after you.


Back to contents


ALIEN RACES IN THE GAME

There are many different Alien races inhabiting each of the planets in our game, here's a list of each of them:


Back to contents


GOODS TO BE TRADED BETWEEN PLANETS

The following list states all items that can be bought and sold between planets. Their price varies greatly depending on the type of planet.
 
Product Unit Notes Price
Grain T (TONNE) Food, Good for industrial, unwanted at agricultural worlds Cheap
Fabrics T Clothes and woven materials Cheap
Radioactives T By products, Illegal in mammal worlds Cheap
Slaves T Illegal in mammal & human worlds Cheap
Alcohol T Illegal in mammal worlds Medium
Ore T Needed in Industrial worlds mainly Medium
Machinery T Low-Tec machinery for agricultural worlds Medium
Luxuries T Basic luxuries for poor worlds Medium
Firearms T Simple hand weapons, Illegal in mammal & human worlds Medium
Computers T Hi-Tec equipment for industrial worlds Expensive
Narcotics T Illegal in mammal & human worlds Expensive
Precious Metals Kg Mainly gold, good to sell to agricultural worlds Expensive
Artifacts T Pieces of artwork and historical artifacts Expensive


Back to contents

PLANETARY INFORMATION

The following information is stored about each planet and is what is used to calculate its friendliness (or lack of) to you and its trading prices.

Agricultural worlds produce lots of foodstuffs and fabrics.
They require low tech machinery and basic luxuries

Industrial worlds produce lots of low tech machinery, they require plenty of ore and high tech equipment.

Commercial worlds produce lots of high tech machinery, they require plenty of food and drink.

Poorer worlds will have a larger desire for goods than rich worlds.


Back to contents

HEADS UP DISPLAY

There are currently no details about the look of the Heads Up Display.
However the following information is required on the HUD.


Back to contents


STORY



Back to contents


FLIGHT CONTROL

All controls are reprogrammable, these are the default and on keyboard. (Joypad can be used.)

General Flight Controls:
Pitch up      -    Down Arrow / JoyDown (Reversed up/down like airplanes)
Pitch Down    -    Up Arrow / JoyUp
Bank Left     -    Left Arrow / JoyLeft
Bank Right    -    Right Arrow / JoyRight
Accelerate    -    A / JoyRShoulder
Decelerate    -    Z / JoyLShoulder

Weapons controls:
Fire Lasers   -    Space
Fire Missile  -    M         - press to switch on, again to fire when locked else switches off.
Change Weapon -    [ & ]     - loops through secondary weapons. (Missile types and drones)
VacuumBomb    -    Cntrl     - Launches a VacuumBomb

Equipment Controls:
AMS           -    Return    - Activates the Anti Missile System. (If you've got one) 
Escape Pod    -    ¬         - Launch Escape Pod. (Launches automatically when you die.)

Other Controls:
Pause         -    Esc       - Pauses and brings up the pause menu.
Show Controls -    F1        - Shows a list of controls.
Internal view -    F5        - 1st person viewpoint.
External view -    F6        - 3rd person viewpoint.
Far view      -    F7        - Far 3rd person viewpoint.
Rotate view   -    F8        - Camera rotates around the ship.
ScreenCapture -    F12       - Saves a screen shot to the game directory.
Show Debug    -    Cntrl-F12 - Shows FPS and other Debug info.
Eject Cargo   -    Pause/Brk - Ejects cargo into space. (Pirates will then leave you alone.)


Back to contents


TRADING

To trade you must dock with a space station, when docked the following controls apply:

Page1 - Status:
Shows status information - Fuel, ratings, equipment & weaponry

Page2 - Sell:
Sell your cargo to the space station.

Page3 - Buy:
Buy cargo from the space station

Page4 - Local Chart (Shows planets in fuel range):
Shows local star chart. When you select a planet the planet info page appears.

Page5 - Galactic Chart (Shows the entire galaxy):
Shows galactic chart. When you select a planet the planet info page appears.

Planet Info Page:
Shows info on a planet, see Planetary Information from the contents.


How much you get for your cargo and how much it costs to buy from the planet depends largely on the type of planet. Agricultural worlds require low tech machinery and sell lots of food and materials.
For more info see the 'Goods to Trade' page in the contents.


Back to contents