FringeSpace – Year 7
September 26th 2006, when RazorsKiss and myself started FringeSpace we knew we were
starting something big and we’d be over our heads from the get go. While that’s
certainly been a consistent theme over the course of our project, it’s been a
ongoing learning experience.
In review:
In late 2012, we closed our forums, rebuilt the website totally, and moved our
forums to Hard-Light.
In a collaborative effort with some helpful people at the Xentax forums, we
managed to figure out the audio format used for the in-game music, and recompiled
them, to release a complete soundtrack for Tachyon the Fringe.
Over the last year Z64 has rebuilt the model extractor from scratch pretty much
and allowed us to get small to medium content out.
From there, we got all 11 of the Tachyon powerups / refills in FSO.
We squashed about 45 bugs while keeping up with the new SCP releases.
Our Tachyon Facebook group of fans has grown to over 300 strong.
Lastly, we have recently completed rigging of 18 primary ships so they are
all in game.
For the interested, these are:
-Gal Span-
Pegasus
Orion
Poseidon
Archangel
Phoenix
-Bora-
Battleaxe
Mace
Cutlass
Warhammer
Claymore
-Pirate-
Demon
Manta
Marauder
Nighthawk
-Merc-
Gar
Corvus
-Other-
Mako
Worker Drone
…and we have another 7 about halfway completed already. This doesn’t include test models, new
higher poly replacements, or structures we’ve imported already.
As this is a large enough set to meet our initial alpha goal, we will be transitioning from
working on models, to polishing the interface; namely the HUD and game menus. While a good deal
of ship handling was polished in the past by staff, we’ll also be taking a look at this again,
since features and models have changed. For example, we didn’t have gun convergence in 2006…
What we will need however, is some additional talent. Namely someone with some familiarity with
FRED, and we’ll be needing some help with LUA scripting. If one or both of these is something you
can work with, we’d like to hear from you!
There’s also an opening for a texture artist for a handful of new models, but this isn’t
an urgent need currently.
So there you have it. Even though we’re one of the smallest mod teams, we still keep pushing
on towards our release. We hope the following year will be more productive and look forward
to sharing more progress with y’all.
Thank you… friends and fans alike, for all your support.
~ JGZinv
Bora Fighters Complete!
Woot indeed.
Instead of just giving you pictures of the models, thought this time
we’d give you something to play with. Click and drag in the model boxes
to move them around, scroll wheel zooms, and there are menu buttons for
each model on the side.
[iframe_loader src=”http://p3d.in/e/Jojgh/spin” width=”100%” height=”500″]
[iframe_loader src=”http://p3d.in/e/tHVpZ/spin” width=”100%” height=”500″]
[iframe_loader src=”http://p3d.in/e/oBP4Q/spin” width=”100%” height=”500″]
[iframe_loader src=”http://p3d.in/e/QfFl0/spin” width=”100%” height=”500″]
[iframe_loader src=”http://p3d.in/e/GJJMu/spin” width=”100%” height=”500″]
[iframe_loader src=”http://p3d.in/e/Nmejy/spin” width=”100%” height=”500″]
[iframe_loader src=”http://p3d.in/e/LYTNp/spin” width=”100%” height=”500″]
[iframe_loader src=”http://p3d.in/e/yRQKE/spin” width=”100%” height=”500″]
These should all be in game tomorrow. They are each about 80% rigged currently.
Model Converter Complete!
Back in 2002 Delphy made a partial PAK extractor that showed it could be possible to get models out of Tachyon and ever since, fans of the ship designs and those with big imaginations have wanted to be able to see them out of the game. Finally, nearly 13 years later, that becomes reality.
Shadow Z spent several months completely redesigning a new PAK converter from the ground up, just now completing the project. Click on an image for a larger version.
All 1,165 files work. Once we’ve got them organized better we’ll have more to show.
Needless to say this will be a huge help to our mod in the future, and we’ll be looking for additional staff soon so we can start back again towards our goal of an alpha demo for folks to play.
LanWar & Other News
Few different things to cover today.
First, January 14th through the 16th I’ll be present
at the Louisville, KY LanWar 48 gaming event and tournaments.
LanWar Site Come see me at the Alpha Hall
Row 6 Seat 12 (JGZinv).
Along with trying a little world of mouth promotion of FringeSpace,
I’ll be hosting a Tachyon server there for as long as possible.
We should be able to use Novalogic’s lobby, so if anyone out on
the net wants to drop in and play we can explode together. Voice
servers will depend on what people at LanWar have the most of, and
I won’t know that till I get there. IRC and the usual will still be up.
For the folks that don’t have Tachyon:
The game itself is still available as a downloadable version,
from Steam, GameTap, and Novalogic itself among others.
$7 on sale at Steam Store
In addition to the 2 multiplayer modes (up to 32 players per map)
in has a full two sided campaign.
The FringeSpace Service Bay mod pack will be used to host
and play with different ships. It is recommended to have for
existing players. New downloadable copies of Tachyon seem to have
been patched by Novalogic, but I can’t confirm this.
With that said, since Novalogic moved the lobby in 2010, I’ve yet to
properly update the Service Bay and optional packs. I’ll be making
an effort to upload new versions prior to the LanWar event that are
also a little better balanced.
If there’s questions or further interest let me know.
Second – I didn’t properly introduce them before, but Shadow Z
and Angelus from Hard-Light have been helping out with models since
October. I thank them both greatly for their assistance.
I’ll have some pictures below, but be aware that some of these are in
the process of being remade, as we had a hard drive crash that
wiped some of the models out.
Furthermore, with their experience we’ve identified some problems
with earlier models (ie. fenris tower, etc) that have to be repaired.
Updates to just about all models in terms of normal maps and
optimization still need to be done, I just haven’t had the time.
Did get around 98% of Fenris Arena rebuilt, just waiting on the
remaining powerups, sound, and megagates, then she’ll be finished.
Due to responses to our YouTube video, Nutri is working on new theme
music to replace the “eerie” clip we had before.
Thirdly, we have had a separate forum up at Hard-Light since August.
HLP FringeSpace
We’re not taking anything from here or moving, it’s just a matter of
getting more exposure to the HLP/FS2 community. It’s easier to get help
when the people are already registered there, instead of asking them to
come here. If there’s something majorly important, I’ll copy it to both
sites.
Fourth – in case no one was aware, Tachyon has a Facebook page:
Facebook Link
It’s not something I have control over, I believe it’s SM plzdie’s page.
Lastly, here’s some of the things Shadow Z and Angelus been working on.
Crystal
Mega Powerup
Shield Powerup
NavBuoy
Quad Turret WIP
Different Turret WIP
Little Big Update
Well folks it’s been about a month since we had an update. Sorry to have
kept y’all waiting. On the bright side we’ve got a super size picture update
this time around for your ocular pleasure.
First off here’s Carl’s new Sappers, textured and ready to go:
Next I’d like to say that we’ve got the whole ship rigging issue
figured out. I’m also writing a tutorial so that when it comes time to
have fan made ships or campaigns, you won’t have to go through
all the troubled we did.
Out of this though we do have some things gradually getting in game.
Such as the Fenris Bouy:
First time it got in game, the scale was way off and the bouy was
the size of a small moon!
Later tried some tests to see if we could cause some lag. With 62
bouys shoved together, we were still getting about 60 fps, so no lag.
Also have the Archangel:
…and my favorite pic:
Also the Orion:
Do note that we may end up doing some more tweaking to the
textures, since the rendering quality is different between our
modeling programs and the game itself.
For Tachyon itself, our Saturday games seem to have reduced
their activity, but the Sunday games have picked up around 1:30 PM
Eastern Time (GMT -5). We’ve had 4 and 5 players in regularly lately.
Here at FringeSpace, we’ll continue working on getting vessels in
game and should have some more news shortly.
Thanks for your continued support.
Instruments of Destruction 3 & Steam
Sort of a little update here…
First off I’d like to show off Carl’s latest weapons:
Tiger & Sunspot Missiles
Tesla EMP (minus glows) & Swarm Missile salvo
In addition, I’d like to make mention that evidently Novalogic
has licensed Tachyon to sell on the Steam service. Steam is most
well known for being a part of Valve, and games such as Team Fortress 2,
Portal, Half-Life, etc. Besides being featured on Steam’s main site, Joystiq
and some other games news sites have picked up the story and there’s a bit
of a surge in pro-Tachyon comments.
Evidently like GameTap, they’ve got the downloadable version of the game.
There’s been a few players dropping in the servers lately, so be kind – rewind,
and try to teach them some basics should they not know how to get setup.
I believe it’s only an introductory price, but Tach is currently $8.99 on Steam.
See here for more details: http://store.steampowered.com/app/32760/
They also have a forums section for Tachyon Steam users.
Instruments of Destruction 2 & Notice
Hope all you spacers had a pleasant month of May.
Got a couple things to discuss and some new toys to show off
this time around.
::: Challenge :::
First off I’d like to announce that we are establishing a schedule
for Tachyon games, in which we hope to further facilitate players
to meet up with each other.
Tentatively, if you’re up for a game, there should be people
online Saturday or Sunday, 8 to 10 PM EST (that’s GMT -5 time zone
for those outside the USA. No one of course is require to be online
at those times, just that you’ll have the most likely chance within that
time bracket.
DarkRaven also has also thrown down the proverbial gauntlet with
a statement squarely aimed at veterans:
“I am also issuing a challenge to all the old timers who just seem to talk and
talk but do not show up. Lets see if you are as good as you talk…”
So get your stick out of mothballs, clean yer’ rust bucket’s windshield,
and bring a body bag. This could get ugly fast.
I’m considering putting up a permanent server like NB Overkilled has,
but this will depend on many things coming up.
If you’d prefer another time period, or have a suggestion, please leave a
comment in this thread: http://www.fringespace.org/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=1389#1389
::: Our Status :::
Secondly – I’d like to explain some of the reasoning behind our
lack of updates.
As most folks are either experiencing or are aware of, the US economy
took and continues to maintain a nosedive. Thus leaving jobs and
stability a rare commodity.
In our case, here’s how we stand:
RK – has been “on leave” for both job, family, and education since
about July of ’08. Nothing much changed here. He’s not dead and still
posts and checks in about the time we start to wonder if Baron Hajod caught him.
Carl – still pluggin away at models. His job has forcibly required
more from him and he’s had to battle a computer virus which ate some of the
more recent stuff he’d finished.
Nutri – still available for working on audio and music. Most recently he’s
been able to complete out most of what we needed for the Wells Cargo test mission.
Backslash – Got hit by a megavirus and pretty much wiped out all his
computers. Also still around and trying to get back up running.
Sonic / Killjoy – Job situation managed to settle down some, but of course
it requires more time. In the process of moving houses.
Megaman / 5XL – Haven’t heard from in a while. Anyone want a
bounty contract? We’d prefer “alive” if possible, no desentigrations.
JGZ – What business I’m related in, has been very up and down week by week.
Some times it seems good and others you wonder if you’ll be in bankruptcy
tomorrow. My primary laptop PC, keyboard died on it, and then it caught
over 20 viruses. Got a new laptop for a month, returned it, then built a
desktop. Currently looking for a cheap laptop. So my files
have been displaced all over the map. Looked into taking some college
courses on game design and artistry, but just don’t have the income to
manage it right now.
So in a nutshell, that’s why we’ve been sidetracked since about March.
Technically, things started getting tough in September, but as you can
see we’re still around and pressing forward as we each can.
Main reason I do these kind of updates, is that I know as fans, you all
like to know there’s progress still being made. There’s legitimate
reasons for the delays, and we hate delays every bit as much as you do.
So take comfort in knowing we’re still on the right track, with goals in mind.
::: “We Need Bigger Guns” :::
So enough with the mushy stuff, how about some eye candy!
Here we have the newly textured torpedo weapons from Carl:
Please note that we’re not sure if the electric green is better than
blue right now. It’s something that can be changed if it becomes an issue,
so don’t be too concerned if “that’s not right!” popped into your mind.
Plus we have the new textured Bora lasers to pair with the earlier Galspan set.
Thank you for your continued support, and we hope to see you
in some weekend games soon.
Instruments of Destruction 1
Got a big update in terms of pictures to show off…
Carl’s been working on the weapons models and has them finished off.
Now the texturing has begun.
If it seems like these are low poly (less detailed) it’s because they
don’t have a texture yet (see below). Plus with having lower poly models,
that means you can have many more weapons on screen, more players, more
AI ships, etc… without as much slowdown on your hardware.
In reality, evereything being made is of a higher poly standard than what
was used in Tach. So on with the show and tell…
Click on the images for a larger view.
All the basic weapons except for the plasma and helios rockets.
Misc weapons (railgun, chatter cannon, emp projector etc).
That’s all for now folks. Should have some more weapons updates
with the textured versions soonish.
How do you spell awesome? C.a.r.l.
Fresh off the Tachband, we’ve got a special treat courtesy of
Carl… he’s really outdone himself this time.
We proudly present the completed Fenris Observation Tower.
Go on, click those images for a better view… you know you want to.
…and in the Fenris gate corner
We have the Fenris Bouy, all decked out and scuffed up by Carl.
Ain’t she a pretty piece of polysteel?
Concerning that gameplay video I mentioned I’d be putting up a
while back, still haven’t managed to get one. Mainly because I’d like
to get the HUD in place, and FRAPS seems to have developed a major
problem so I’m looking into other recording app options.
We’re in the process of tweaking all the weapons and I’ll probably be adding a couple more from Tach to the set we already have.
Nutri’s been getting the Voice Actor clips in and we’ve just about got a
full mission acted out.
That’s about all I can comment on for now. Short but sweet. Quick and dirty,
to the point… you get the idea.
Little Update & Notes
Sorry about being a tad behind on the update folks,
lots of stuff keeping us occupied.
First off Carl’s posted hi final shots of the Fenris tower and
he’s already working on the skin for it.
Been doing a lot of tweaking to the archangel settings lately, getting
one of our alpha maps setup properly, and some weapons edits. Hopefully
if things go well, I’ll be able to make a pre-alpha play video from one of the
test missions soon and have that up for your enjoyment.
Ho ho ho….
Merry Christmas citizens of the Fringe…
Carl’s gone and given us a present early in the form of
an update on some of the new map models we’ll be using
for the alpha testing.
We’re also in the process of acquiring several people to voice
act some roles for use on said maps.
Click on the images for a higher resolution version.
WIP wireframe of the Fenris Bouy:
Fenris Bouy against a Archangel:
The new ECM powerup all finished:
A Fenris Tower WIP shot:
Hope y’all survive the holidays and we’ll see you in 2009.
Can You Supersize That?
An extra thick update w/ half the trans fat:
First off for those who don’t watch the forums, the tournament
ended quite some time ago. We’ve awarded the winners as such
and established a internal forum just for the alpha testers.
*Alphas – Note that you need to be signed in to see it*
Secondly, Carl has finished the base texture for the Star Patrol
Capship!
Click on the images for a higher resolution version.
Thirdly, it wasn’t particularly announced, but we’ve added
Megaman ND to the mod team as our resident map producer.
One of the maps we’re working on for alpha is the Fenris Arena.
We’ve also been able to secure someone to make what we needed
in the way of code to get all the original powerups working for arena,
including a new one or two in there as well.
Lastly, all tournament related threads in the forum have been
moved to the archives section in order to better fit the expanded
forum layout.
Update: Star Patrol Cruiser
As promised, here’s some shots of Carl’s recent work on the
Star Patrol Cap Ship.
Pirahna
Here’s some shots of the last fighter off the assembly lines.
As usual, click on an image to get a hi-res render.
Visual Progress Report, May
You should be able to see all the ships we’ve got in the works, here.
In comparison to the Star Patrol Cruiser. Cool stuff.
Star Patrol Cruiser.
As usual, click on any of these to see really overkill sized renders. kthx.
It’s kinda scary in this one. Like it’s going to reach out of the render and bite me. Or vaporize me. Or something. Mommy?
Closeups…
Another closeup…
6,475 polies. In the last picture, those 3 little specks are Archangels. Oh, and its 1,511 meters long. No, that is not a typo. I have a fun job 😀
The Phoenix
Another Carl Gonzalez masterpiece.
All the textures are completed, etc. Yet another for the stable – she’s a beaut!
Archangel Inbound
Hey there Tach fans, the FS Team is pleased to announce another excellent model from our lead modeler Carl – the GS favorite Archangel!
Also in the pipeline to be showcased soon is the Phoenix.
To explain our lack of updates a bit, a number of the team members are making lifestyle changes due to jobs, moving, or computer failure(s). Weather hasn’t been all too cooperative either with Internet services dropping off for weeks at a time.
But we’re still working behind the scenes to bring you the very best.
Like postal carriers “neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these modders from the swift completion of their appointed task” so check back often. Should have a lot of these little obstacles taken care of in a couple weeks.
Update Again
Well, it’s been a while, but we’re still plugging away.
We’re recently finished several ships, and have them entirely ingame. I’ll get some shots of those very soon. We have 6-7 other ships at the modeling stage, as you know, but untextured as of yet; namely, the Gar, the Dart, the Demon, the Mace, the Nighthawk, and two Drone ships. Just reminding you! I’m also proud to announce the Poseidon is at model complete stage now, as well – the latest masterful work by Carl Gonzalez, our Lead Artist.
She’s a great ship, and I can’t wait to fly her! He says that the next up will be the reworked Archangel.
In other news, we have the Claymore model in the pipe, as well as several environmental models.
We’d also like to extend a warm welcome to the talented Ed Ainsley (Features Coder), the indefatigable Nutritious (Music and Sound), and enigma (Modeler) to the team – and welcome our good friend Killjoy (aka Sonic) to the team; an old and new friend – and now teammate – of ours.
Just a quick update
I know we haven’t posted much lately – but here’s a bit of info.
First, the *new* Pegasus is completely ingame.
It includes Level of Detail models 0-4, has full color, shine, and normal maps, and is fully rigged and playable.
Secondly, Carl (The Ubermodeler!) has the Posi modeled, and is in the progress of texturing it.
Third, I’d remind you that we have a post on our forums that I keep updated fairly frequently, showing the status of our progress in modeling all of our fighters.
You can find that here.
Here’s a visual update of how far we are, sans the Posiedon. The darker models are ones we’re finished at least the initial LOD on, and you’ll find several of Carl’s textured models in there as well.
Hope you’re liking it, thus far!
Also, please feel free to stop by our chat channel, on Espernet. The information, including how to connect via the web, is on your lefthand side, partway down.
~ RK
More models
Carl’s done it again, boys and girls. Perhaps the most popular, and arguably the prettiest fighter in the game:
The Pegasus
(as usual, click on an image to get a hi-res shot)
1986 polies.
She is drop dead gorgeous, folks. I’m rigging her now.
Next, we have the Nighthawk – she’s only modeled, but I’m sure some textural love will get her looking even better.
2750 polygons.
Orion
I’m very happy to announce that the orion texture is done! Here are some pics of the finished bottom:
All that’s left to do is the bump and spec maps, which shouldn’t take too long…
~carlg
Now, tell me – this ship looks great, doesn’t it folks?
~ RK
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