Battleships Forever Info | 0.90d released 14 Apr

Discuss all things Battleships Forever that aren't Ships and Shipmaker - Missions, Development, etc.!

Moderators: th15, Moderators

Post Reply
Boba Fettuccini
Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Posts: 775
Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2007 1:27 pm
Location: Everett, WA
Contact:

Post by Boba Fettuccini »

after playing, I have concluded I like ht new beamer. The railguns seem very unnecessary though. they do little damage and have a slow reload time.

I liek the animated command buttons! Coolio.

And just as a suggestion, i would like to see a course plot feature. in some games, you can tell a unit to patrol back and forth between a set of point that you choose. Something like this would be quite helpful, because I have slow reflexes and can't get my patrol craft to move in time. So if I could just tell them to go back and forth...
[center][url]www.boba-fettuccini.com[/url][/center]
Captain Trek
Commodore
Commodore
Posts: 534
Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2007 12:39 pm

Post by Captain Trek »

You know, 'real' railguns use magnetic pressure to acellerate a projectile to great speed. Based on the Wikipedia article, it would seem to me that as long as the 'ferrous liquid' in BF can conduct electricity, there's probably no reason why BF's railguns can't be 'real' railguns...
th15
Administrator
Posts: 947
Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 12:01 am

Post by th15 »

There are limits to that. To achieve that kind of acceleration you still need a LOT of power. The advantage of the railgun is that you lose very little energy to friction.

All the other problems still apply though, recoil, though more gradual, is still a factor. Firing objects at relativistic speeds from any platform in space is still going to pack a hell of a kick.

So, yes, they are indeed 'real' railguns, as far as that term goes. The idea behind the ferrous liquid is that it uses the viscosity of the liquid to "hang on" to the rails. Firing a liquid instead of a solid bolt means less friction, no need for lubrication and better contact with the leads.

Either way, it's just designed to be cool :) I try to incorporate as much hard science as I can into the game but if it gets in the way of gameplay, then gameplay takes precedence.
Captain Trek
Commodore
Commodore
Posts: 534
Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2007 12:39 pm

Post by Captain Trek »

What about the other weapons? They got any 'real science' behind them as well?
th15
Administrator
Posts: 947
Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 12:01 am

Post by th15 »

Honestly most of the hard science went out the door when I chose a non-Newtonian physics model.

Most of the weapons are your run of the mill particle projectors that project energetic particles at the target.

Military grade lasers will probably use a frequency outside of visible light so they should be invisible. Invisible beamers would just be no fun.

Deflectors and such are complete fantasy. We don't even have the beginning of any inkling as to how force fields would work. Lets not even start on the gravbeam or flux projector.

To my knowledge, Tachyons don't even interface with physical matter to any appreciable degree, so how the aliens use them as weapons is fiction too.

Some of the modules aren't so far fetched, but the graphical representation of them is usually hyped up. The Booster however, was intended to use wireless transmission of power though an induction circuit, hence the effect outside the hull.

Then there's the quandary of manufacturing ordnance while in combat for the Demeter launchers (which really fabricate the Demeters on the spot, hence the firing delay) and Platform Deployers.

Jumping is also complete conjecture, but it's so ubiquitous in sci-fi that its not very noteworthy. Even if jumping were possible, it would encourage a very different kind of warfare (probably involving a lot of jump-capable interstellar missiles).

Point defences are just about the most realistic mechanic in the whole game. Efficient active PD will likely continue to be the least complex method of defending starships from attack.
Captain Trek
Commodore
Commodore
Posts: 534
Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2007 12:39 pm

Post by Captain Trek »

Honestly most of the hard science went out the door when I chose a non-Newtonian physics model.
The game probably wouldn't have been as fun if you had chosen Newtonian...
Military grade lasers will probably use a frequency outside of visible light so they should be invisible. Invisible beamers would just be no fun.
Indeed. Actually, it might be fun for a while to watch enemy ships blow up for (seemingly) no apparant reason, but the novelty'd wear off pretty quickly...
Then there's the quandary of manufacturing ordnance while in combat for the Demeter launchers
Unless they have sometime like Star Trek's replicators. But then again, creating matter out of energy is also something we at present have no idea how to do...
Boba Fettuccini
Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Posts: 775
Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2007 1:27 pm
Location: Everett, WA
Contact:

Post by Boba Fettuccini »

I assume you are no Star Wars fan, but maybe you've heard of a Devastator? Its a huge weapons platform that consumes materials and uses internal recycling/building facilities to pump out automated fighters.

It isn't inconceivable that a ship segment contains a small manufacturing facility.
Captain Trek wrote:creating matter out of energy is also something we at present have no idea how to do...
Dunno. My science teacher predicts that it would take ridiculous amounts of energy to create a small amount of matter. Such as half the energy in our quadrant for a peanut. But thats just speculation.
[center][url]www.boba-fettuccini.com[/url][/center]
Game_boy
Moderator
Posts: 83
Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 9:20 pm
Location: United Kingdom

Post by Game_boy »

Ah, but the reverse is also true. You can turn a very small amount of matter into a lot of energy. So perhaps you could get a load of waste rock back on the base planet, convert it into energy for storage and produce Demeters from it on arrival.
Such as half the energy in our quadrant
Or maybe we're all insane Star Trek fans who happen to be nuclear physicists.
[b]Ubuntu. Linux for human beings.[/b]
Captain Trek
Commodore
Commodore
Posts: 534
Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2007 12:39 pm

Post by Captain Trek »

It isn't inconceivable that a ship segment contains a small manufacturing facility.
Certainly not for the Arcas, but the Thetis is pretty small...
th15
Administrator
Posts: 947
Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 12:01 am

Post by th15 »

Okay guys, I'm planning to submit BF as an entry to http://www.indiegameshowcase.com/

As such, I need a stable, full-package distribution to submit. I don't want to release this to too many because there could still be changes (and that's going to make version numbers get confusing really fast). So, I'm only putting it here just for you guys.

Get it here: http://www.wyrdysm.com/battleshipsforev ... 69full.zip

There's plenty of reasons to get this version too, the missing icons and stuff has been polished over, there's new weapon sounds for the new weapons. Raid has been improved, it now has it's own online highscore table. The mechanics of Raid has been tweaked too, the enemy transports now drop Treasure which adds a small bonus to your score. The main menu background looks much better with a larger variety of ships.

Enjoy the new features and please post any bugs you find, it's very important that this version be very stable. The actual release will follow.
pwhk
Commander
Commander
Posts: 126
Joined: Sun May 20, 2007 2:46 pm

Post by pwhk »

A big increase in File Size too...

Again, I have all graphics options off.

Are you about to release the unfinished mission 7-10?

Why the sandbox is still so unprofessional?

Sandbox: Ctrl-Ins, then 3 still give me Zeus, 7 still give HeliosTheta Error, 9 still give 6-blaster Hestia Gamma

Raid: you should describe the rules and scoring in the first stage, just like Grinder.

In ship selection screen, "Finish Career Missions to unlock more ships" should be deleted because there is no ship unlockable

GUI: Line that connect the turret and the icon in GUI looks strange

Icon of Gatling Blaster is still wrong!
Last edited by pwhk on Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:19 am, edited 2 times in total.
th15
Administrator
Posts: 947
Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 12:01 am

Post by th15 »

This distribution has everything. The music and shipmaker are both included in the package.
pwhk
Commander
Commander
Posts: 126
Joined: Sun May 20, 2007 2:46 pm

Post by pwhk »

Firing Gluon Bolter into the sun making the gluon bolters practically invisible
Game_boy
Moderator
Posts: 83
Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 9:20 pm
Location: United Kingdom

Post by Game_boy »

Bugs: v59-Full:

- All missions are unlocked from the start (did you want this?)
- When Ctrl+Right Clicking to move in formation, when attacking ships rather than moving, some ships speed away and some go at the normal speed.
- I don't want to have to continually hold Ctrl to keep them moving in formation
- Pressing Ctrl+S in ship maker v1.8a on a "new" ship i.e. just the core produces errors relating to l_syshp on startup of sandbox.
- Loading ships from v1.6 STILL produces the corner-parented error
- Mission 4 produces a fatal error when rapidly skipping messages
- Core of Tmolus is green when greyed out on ship select screen
- When Hong blows up the Hecate in Mission 5, it comes up with a series of errors about l_target.
[b]Ubuntu. Linux for human beings.[/b]
pwhk
Commander
Commander
Posts: 126
Joined: Sun May 20, 2007 2:46 pm

Post by pwhk »

Ship Maker:

Cannot select some of the weapons in the ship maker

Words at the top right messed up when loading a ship made with v1.6, and have the same corner-parenting problem as Game Boy said

HP of Hestia Gamma in the custom ships is wrong (3 HP?!?!)

And, well, what the hell the sadasd.sbl is?

Game Boy: Hong blows up Hecate at mission 6 - you have made a mistake.
Post Reply