Remember me? I'm the Minecraft Enterprise guy :) - I'm working on a new project

[halkun]

Hi guys, it's been a while.

So For those who my not know. Once upon a time I made a big claim to fame where I made a 1:1 scale model of the Enterprise-D in Minecraft. Earlier than that though, I used to hang out here and I was working on a model of the Enterprise-D in Sketchup which was the foundation of the Minecraft thing. Sadly the Sketchup project came to an untimely end when my hard drive died.

Anywho since I've made projects you guys are interested in. I've recently picked up another and wanted to get some input on it...

In 1991 a Trek-Like game came out by Omnitrend Software called "Rules of Engagement" It sported a LCARS-like interface (back when Paramount didn't care so much about things). Here you were a fleet commander and had command of a few ships while you were in charge of a flagship. What was cool was the whole game was LCARS based, and even though touchscreens were not really a thing back then, the little cursor was a pointing finger, which helped with the immersion somewhat.

Fast forward to last year. For some reason Rules of Engagement popped in my head I decided to see whatever happened to the company that made the game. As it would seem they are still around. The company appeared to have moved on to making communications software, and the old games they used was nowhere on their website. On a whim I decided to send an email to the generic looking sales@ email address and asked of the game even existed anymore or if anyone at the company even heard of it.

Turns out I able to contact one of the original developers of ROE. Though what I can only guess as my winning charm, I was able to procure the original C source code and project files. I pitched that the idea of porting this game to modern architectures and giving it a bit of a face lift is a good idea, and they agreed.

The game is in alpha right now. I have a daily development blog you can read. You will notice that it still has the old LCARS-line interface, which will sadly be replaced... However, I am implementing an interface theme system so... you know

 

[marsh8472]

ahh "Rules of Engagement" I remember that

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oops not that

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I never heard of this one. I've played NES's Star Trek 25th anniversary made the same year. Err regular C that's gotta be rough.

We should make a command line game to explore the entire world of star trek

@echo off
:bridge
echo You are now on the bridge, what would you like to do next?
echo 1) Set a course
echo 2) Fire phasers
echo 3) Fire photons
echo 4) Sit in the captains chair
set /p bridgechoice=Enter Choice:
if %bridgechoice%==1 goto SetCourse
if %bridgechoice%==2 goto FirePhasers
if %bridgechoice%==3 goto FirePhotons
if %bridgechoice%==4 goto SitInChair
goto bridge
:SetCourse
echo setting a course and engaged
echo
goto bridge
:FirePhasers
echo firing phasers ---------- sheeshhh
echo
goto bridge
:FirePhotons
echo firing photons phew o phew o phew o
echo
goto bridge
:SitInChair
echo ahh sitting in the chair now
echo
goto bridge

 

[halkun]

That video of someone playing ROE has no idea how to play the game. They are clicking on things that are not buttons and having a hard time of the interface. I'm actually fixing that up with a tutorial system. Also the interface is going to be getting an overhaul and much needed graphical boost. I should record a Let's play of the game to show how in depth it actually is. I'll put that on my Trello board.

BTW, my development task list is public too. You can find it here.

 

[Owain Taggart]

If you're the same guy I'm thinking of, I think you inspired me to do something similar. When I was still into Minecraft, which was years ago now, I decided to have a go at a full-scale Titanic. It was quite a job, and I only got as far as creating the outer hull, but it was big enough that you couldn't see it in full even with full draw distance. Was quite an epic build.

 

[halkun]

I think I inspired a lot of people when I made the Enterprise. I'm pretty sure "Space Engineers" got some ideas from it. I was part of a community called "Minetrek" for a bit, but it got so overwhelming I decided to kid of go on with life. Now that I have a personal project I'm slowly unwrapping, I'm seeing if anyone remembers after 7 years of silence.

You know... "Hey, that Minecraft Enterprise guy is making a Star Trek like game"

BTW, this is a recording of a test of the game with the touch interface. It kind of shows what I'm trying to accomplish.

Like I said the graphics are using the old 1991 theme as a placeholder, but you know, I'm sure some creative people out there will be able to make it look a little more... appropriate

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[Haggis and tatties]

Do you know what the MC level did to my poor GTX760. lol

 

[halkun]

Hey guys, just wanted to give an update... The game is entering Beta and I may have a demo release (As soon as I get the installer programmed). In beta I still don't have the graphics finalized and I'm still using the classic 1991 interface as default, but I do have the theme system in place. Now *I* can't release the game proper with an LCARS interface. But hypothetically speaking if I released a demo with the theme system unlocked, and if someone maybe made an HD LCARS theme.... Well, you know... mods happen I guess.

I mean, anyone up for some beta testing of the theme system?

 

[Haggis and tatties]

Loved ROE back in the day so i can't wat to give this a go, good luck, it is looking very good.

 

[halkun]

I Now have a demo available. It's very much in Beta and not really a "public" release. You can play a mission and mess around with the various editors. You just can't save anything. I'm looking for beta testers right now.

Good news is the Theme system is unlocked.
After the install the game manual is located in C:\Program Files (x86)\Omnitrend\Rules\manual.pdf
The walkthough of the demo mission starts on page 9 (paragraph 2)

If you want to make your own theme, you make a copy of the "C:\Program Files (x86)\Omnitrend\Rules\default" folder. You can rename name that folder to something new. Make sure that your new folder is still in in ""C:\Program Files (x86)\Omnitrend\Rules\" (Along side the default folder) you can go in and edit the graphics and set up some colors. If you want to use that theme, in the game you select "Options" and change the theme folder name at the bottom.

Here's a link to the demo.

Download here

Post any feedback here please. Have fun!

 

[halkun]

As a note: The tutorials are not complete, which is why I advise using the manual for now

 

[halkun]

Hey guys... Just to let you guys know, I think I squashed the final outstanding bug in this game, and I'm releasing the full version as a kind of psudo "early access" for you guys to play and give feedback. The graphics are not complete, but the theme system is unlocked and so is the ability to create and share missions.
That means if you think there is a more appropriate touch-based computer interface you can make for the game, more power to you...

Here's an up to date video on playing the shakedown mission.

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You can download the full early access beta below:

Download here
Note:
As this is a port of an old school DOS game, The manual is located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Omnitrend\rules\manual.pdf
If you want to play with and change the theme, the folder is located at %appdata%\rules\themes
If you want to trade missions with friends, you will find the mission files under %appdata%\rules\data\*.mis

 

[starbuck]

Looking good