Haha yeah, I'm sorry I tend to talk in circles sometimes...
Anyways, You've made me realize something which I think has happened to most developers in their early stages at one point or another which is, my taste is too commercial. What I mean by that is, OF COURSE, everyone wants clean textures and smooth edges and great quality, but some things are only realistic on a commercial level of production....
Also, I do intend to write a back story as to why you and the rest of your team is there and so on. What I meant by theirs going to be no "true" storyline is, I'd like it to be planet and level dependent. So you may go to one planet multiple times for different missions, but each missions gives you some insight to the way that world works and what's going on in it. However, when you go to other planets their stories don't have much to do with outside their own world.
you probably want to avoid loading screens (they threw the player out of the game, they stop him/her dead in their tracks, they make the player realize it's not real - it shatters the illusion you built!). However, as this is more of a technical detail, I wouldn't worry so much about it NOW
I couldn't agree with you more. I'm a bit confused by one thing you said though. What did you mean when you said,
a cleverly disguised loading screen (perhaps the ship's displays need to switch when entering the athmosphere?) could work well for a while.
How could I disguise a loading screen while the player is still playing?
One thing I will agree with you and Superku on is I'll definitely need to lower my expectations graphically speaking..(for now
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Yeah, there is. From AI to movement, to physics, to interface design, to sound and music to everything. The key rule is, you'll always forget stuff that you'll find yourself having to create at some point. There's no avoiding that, but how much stuff you forget, that you can control (up to a point), by carefully planning.
You're absolutely right and I appreciate the tips man.
Now, back to the "video settings" topic:
If it really is possible, couldn't I make the game as "heavy" as I want? Since the users can choose to turn AA on and off, LoD, Resolution, texture quality, shaders, etc. they could run the game at "pristine" settings or however they needed to to get it to run smoothly on their computer. I'm not saying straight out of the gate with all this, but obviously starting small with low graphics, couldn't I just go back in or make an update for players to be able to completely control the graphics settings? Realistically, anyone could still play it as long as the video setting were set properly. I'm sure this probably a lot more complex than it sounds or everyone would be doing it, but ya know what they say, curiosity killed the cat (or overly ambitious developer....take your pick).
What I'm saying is, if this is a project that motivates you, then who am I to judge if that's how you learn about game development? Yeah, if you make a Pong-game, the chances are infinitely higher for you to finish it, but you're doing this for fun, aren't you? So do whatever makes you the happiest. If you need help, we're here - you seem patient & humble (... as humble as possible with game-developer-typical game-creation wishes ;)) and that's a very good combination.
I really appreciate this statement given the fact that most others on other sites and forums will tell you how badly and horribly wrong you're going about things yet, never bother to explain why or help out. This already seems like an awesome community based on the people I've talked to so thanks guys!
