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- 21 Apr 2006
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Yesteryears
As you all know, Yesteryears was a Mod for Star Trek: Armada 2... Was! Well, that is no more. But rather, instead of letting our hard work go to waste, We are making Yesteryears the first MSFC Game Studios RTS game.
We have been getting emails and PM, and even MSN chats with questions about all of this. So, hopefully, I can shed some light on the matter.
In simple terms, Yesteryears has been upgraded to a new game engine owned by Us. YY will be the first RTS in Our quest to evolve into a legit Game Developer Company. That's where MSFC Games Studio came from. YY will be our first full RTS Title. It will be free none the less.
Armada and Armada 2 are great games, but let's face the facts.
1.) We don't have access to the game engine *code*.
2.) Only animations with a $7000 piece of software are possible, but even that is limited.
3.) We can not actually add desired concepts to the game. We can only work with what is already there, and that is even limited.
4.) Those games are old and out-dated.
With that in mind, here's a small example of what we want in YY that are not possible
in A1 or A2----------------
1.) Shuttle and fighter functions - To be able to launch, use, and retrieve small craft.
2.) Full animation - Everything gets animation, and can all be done with Milkshape as well as the more expensive render programs.
3.) Realistic scaling - A planet should be very big with a ship next to it.
4.) Orbits - Planets go around the stars
5.) Full galactic maps - meaning we want more than small limited range missions, The Galaxy is yours for the taking!
6.) Station add-ons - Starbases able to build attachments, like research facilities and weapons platforms
7.) Break models - We want to be able to blow the nacelles off an enemy ship.
8.) Salvage - Yeap, we want to recycle.... It's good for the Universe!
9.) Customizable Modality - We want the game to be moddable an a new level compared to A1 and A2. Everything will be scripted.
10.) Multiple LODs - Like many games today, they have LODs, or, Levels o\Of Detail. Meaning, when a model is "right in front of you", It looks full of details... Eye candy! But at the same time, using LODs to increase the number of displayable on-screen without impacting frame rates.
11.) Many other things - We are currently looking into. Several small things that work in the background and things that impact the game play, like real random debris and space "stuff".
With a private "owned" game engine, all things become possible. Now I hope this helps everyone understand what we are doing with YY. And to also simplify it, we don't have time to mod Armada 2 and develop new games at the same time.
Now, we will use this thread to discuss Yesteryears, post updates, etc.