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Fractalus 0.7.0 alpha released!

Posted: 2015-Aug-03 11:09
by Luke
Fractalus 0.7.0 alpha build is now available for download from the Fractalus project page.

Here’s what’s new in 0.7.0;
  • HUD
    • Added cockpit, cockpit instrument panel models and textures.
      Added cockpit mesh, rotates slightly depending on ship turn motions.
      Added artificial horizon instrument.
      Added compass cockpit panel.
      Added wing clearance cockpit panel.
      Added HUD mode option, can be set to 0.5, 0.6 or 0.7.
      Added option to toggle cockpit model in 0.7 mode.
      Added option to toggle cockpit motion in 0.7 mode.
      Added named indicators to cockpit HUD on left side.
      Cockpit instruments turn red momentarily when ship is damaged.
    Sound
    • Added ship impact sound when colliding with terrain.
      Added ship damaged by laser sound.
      Engine sound now changes in pitch based on velocity.
      Saucer alert noise is no longer a constant droning noise.
      Saucers now have a deep humming engine noise when they get close.
    Graphics
    • Defaulted graphics settings to HD terrain and Dust enabled.
      Fixed texture repeat frequency on high-detail terrain.
      Starfield on title screen now slowly rotates.
      Stars now rotate along with sun.
      Highlighted menu entry now has subtle pulse.
      Fixed saucers occasionally appearing black.
    Joystick Support
    • Implemented joystick controls for all game functions.
      Implemented joystick support for menus.
      Added joystick control mapping options.
      Added joystick haptic feedback.
    Gameplay
    • Smoothed terrain map slightly.
      Severely reduced terrain collision damage.
      Saucers now do 300 damage upon collision instead of 2500.
      Saucer collision now results in a much smaller alteration of player flight vector.
      Saucers will now ignore player if systems are off (regardless of whether player is landed).
      Saucers now move 37.5% slower, allowing the player to outrun them.
      Saucers now spawn slightly less frequently.
      Saucer behaviour slightly improved, will not follow you into deep trenches.
      Increased turret target lock and firing range.
    Technical
    • Updated Fractalus to compile under GCC 4.8.2.
      Fractalus now uses SDL 2.0 instead of SDL 1.2.
Let me know any thoughts, comments or feedback.

Enjoy!

Re: Fractalus 0.7.0 alpha released!

Posted: 2015-Oct-29 22:20
by Nick
Cool, a bit late to the party but I've downloaded it and will try it in a bit :)

Re: Fractalus 0.7.0 alpha released!

Posted: 2015-Nov-01 05:28
by Nick
Played it for a bit, it's still looking good. I'm glad you're still chipping away at this.

The only thing is the game crashes everytime I try to change the controls, but other than that it's all working fine :)

Re: Fractalus 0.7.0 alpha released!

Posted: 2016-Jan-11 16:13
by Loafmeister
Hi,

One of my top 20 favorite games of all time, it's a sight to see that you have worked on this recreation! I'll be testing this out tomorrow night (it's almost 3am here!) but wanted to post a thank you.

Question: I see from one of your blog posts that you were considering changing engines (Unity?). is this something you are still considering or have dropped? I ask because I've become quite taken by virtual reality (Oculus DK2 owner) and I've heard both Unreal Engine 4 and Unity 5 have support for the Oculus Rift built in. Virtual reality games are not limited to cockpit games, however these tend to work very well. When I was a young adult playing the original "RoF", I often imagined myself if the technology would ever catch up that would allow me to play a game like Rescue but in a virtual world. Well, the time is now!

Just curious, your work as is seems like it will scratch this itch but anyway, never hurts to ask. From the screenshots and videos, I congratulate you on the work done so far. Carry on!

Re: Fractalus 0.7.0 alpha released!

Posted: 2016-Jan-14 07:07
by Luke
Loafmeister wrote:Hi,

One of my top 20 favorite games of all time, it's a sight to see that you have worked on this recreation! I'll be testing this out tomorrow night (it's almost 3am here!) but wanted to post a thank you.

Question: I see from one of your blog posts that you were considering changing engines (Unity?). is this something you are still considering or have dropped? I ask because I've become quite taken by virtual reality (Oculus DK2 owner) and I've heard both Unreal Engine 4 and Unity 5 have support for the Oculus Rift built in. Virtual reality games are not limited to cockpit games, however these tend to work very well. When I was a young adult playing the original "RoF", I often imagined myself if the technology would ever catch up that would allow me to play a game like Rescue but in a virtual world. Well, the time is now!

Just curious, your work as is seems like it will scratch this itch but anyway, never hurts to ask. From the screenshots and videos, I congratulate you on the work done so far. Carry on!
Hi Loafmeister and welcome to the forum!

I'm definitely still considering switching to a different engine and I have begun prototyping a Unity-based version of Fractalus. So far it looks promising but it's very early stages yet.

Oculus support would be really cool, I have an Oculus DK1 myself. I don't think I would be able to implement it on my own engine which Fractalus is currently built on, so I would need to move to Unity to do that. All the more reason to push toward a Unity-based version!

Thanks for the suggestion and your support! :D

Re: Fractalus 0.7.0 alpha released!

Posted: 2016-Jan-14 07:11
by Luke
Nick wrote:Played it for a bit, it's still looking good. I'm glad you're still chipping away at this.

The only thing is the game crashes everytime I try to change the controls, but other than that it's all working fine :)
Sorry I missed this message! Do you have a game controller connected to your machine when it crashes when changing the controls, and what type if any?

Thanks for the feedback!

Re: Fractalus 0.7.0 alpha released!

Posted: 2016-Feb-04 14:31
by Loafmeister
Luke wrote:Hi Loafmeister and welcome to the forum!

I'm definitely still considering switching to a different engine and I have begun prototyping a Unity-based version of Fractalus. So far it looks promising but it's very early stages yet.

Oculus support would be really cool, I have an Oculus DK1 myself. I don't think I would be able to implement it on my own engine which Fractalus is currently built on, so I would need to move to Unity to do that. All the more reason to push toward a Unity-based version!

Thanks for the suggestion and your support! :D
Very happy to hear this Luke! I'll keep an eye out on your further development. if you keep progressing and are looking for someone to test, I would be glad to help.

VR or not, it's nice to see one of the classic greats get some love, so know that your efforts are appreciated. It's not a high concept game so it really surprises me that big companies haven't "borrowed" more from it, as is typically the case. LOL

Re: Fractalus 0.7.0 alpha released!

Posted: 2016-Feb-04 14:57
by Loafmeister
I almost forgot! I did try your game and IMHO it's a lot of fun, has the same feeling as the original (minus the little rescued pirates and of course the big scary). I think the core gameplay is captured right and that's what counts. I had fun flying the craft around, the fractal landscape looks great and I love the day/night cycle too!

Well done, I will be spreading the gospel of your work to my friends! :)

Re: Fractalus 0.7.0 alpha released!

Posted: 2016-Apr-01 21:03
by Nick
Luke wrote:
Nick wrote:Played it for a bit, it's still looking good. I'm glad you're still chipping away at this.

The only thing is the game crashes everytime I try to change the controls, but other than that it's all working fine :)
Sorry I missed this message! Do you have a game controller connected to your machine when it crashes when changing the controls, and what type if any?

Thanks for the feedback!
Sorry for the delay in replying, it seems it was my turn to miss posts.

Anyway, I did have a controller plugged in at the time, a Playstation DS3 using Scarlet Crush Productions program thingy to make it work, but I've just got a new laptop so I tried it again and there were no crashes. This time I was using a DS4 controller and an updated version of the SCP software. Hopefully this helps