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GalaxyExplorer
Deep space explorer
Joined: 08 Apr 2008
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Location: Yorkshire - UK
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 Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 7:05 pm Post subject: |
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| MPL3D wrote: |
Ok then, we will be posting there when the release is done. Of course, you may feel free to post anywhere whatever you consider remarkable or appropiated. All support and promotion is appreciated.
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Alright then. I created a thread on Frontier.co.uk about the 1st release of MPL3D Solar System, so it will probably be best to update that one with the new features introduced in the update. I was planning to put a short review in there anyway.
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I can tell by myself how much work does it takes just to construct a good, or even a working, base system. It would be amazing to see it finished. I've seen that they released a test environment for space combat or something like that. |
I can only imagine the amount of work it must create in order to achieve such goals and I know it must be an immense challenge. In all the years since First Encounters no other game developer has managed to simulate the Milky Way like Frontier did so I'm watching Infinity like a hawk. I think Spore, and I've only read about this, has produced something quite decent in terms of a galaxy simulation even though it's very cartoony graphics wise.
I've played the combat prototype from Infinity but it's very basic in terms of what you can do in terms of exploring anything. You are in a planets orbit but can't travel far. Graphics look good though. As far as I've read on the forums, there will be no small samples of being able to fly around one solar system or a planet so it's just the beta we will have to wait for - when and if it gets released.
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I agree nothing is and nothing has been comparable to the feeling of that game. I wonder if this has been idealized nowadays, because we won't be able to feel again in the same way that we did in the 80's or 90's anymore.
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That's probably true. I was in my mid teens when Frontier was released and didn't understand much about game design and programming. There's something special about not knowing how an entire galaxy ( in terms of coding ) can be stored on one floppy disc or how any of it is created. The imagination can also play a large role in ones enjoyment of a game as it was with me.
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I think that we can consider the Russian Mod as the awaited Elite IV, it brings the graphics up to date, while maintaining the game fidelity.
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Well it will keep most people going for a while anyway. After an afternoon reading the Russian boards, I know they have plans to add more features and content in to the game once the engine update is "locked."
Frontier have a design for Elite IV already and it's a project they are looking forward to doing. They have to finish "The Outsider" game first though since they are testing a lot of Elite IV technology in that game ( as they have with their previous few games ).
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Excellent initiative, and I'm looking forward to a 'whole package' publishing, full of media and that. I hate to be gathering good collaborations here and there.
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You mean all the modifications in one package ?
As I understand it, the next patch will include the best designs of the new ships that people have modeled along with some new graphic updates. There are a few good contributions for each ship but at the moment you have to manually download and move them in to the required folders yourself until that patch is released.
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Thanks once again for all your comments 
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Your welcome  .
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Allright, and now for the improvements. I want to show you the latest Earth. It is likely to be the 1.2 final, as there are more areas to cover, and they must be done in a reasonable period of time.
As you can see, in the previous version it was missing the specularity of the sea. Also clouds have been made more 'solid'.
Also here, background stars are attenuated by the brightness of the Earth
All feedback is welcome  |
That really is splendid work and augments the previous one nicely. I actually thought the previous one would be fine for release so seeing the Earth improved further is a real treat. I think taking snaps of this wonderful globe for the desktop is a must. |
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MPL3D
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| Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 6:06 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | I created a thread on Frontier.co.uk about the 1st release of MPL3D Solar System, so it will probably be best to update that one with the new features introduced in the update. |
I agree that will be fine, what a pity that it went a little bit off-topic.
| Quote: | | The imagination can also play a large role in ones enjoyment of a game as it was with me. |
Definitively it is, or it was. Imagination filled all the gaps in the old games, while nowadays everything must look astonishing realistic, leaving less room for that. I think that, in some cases, it makes the experience less deep. Oh well, the book publishers could have said something similar when the movie films came out
| Quote: | | Frontier have a design for Elite IV already and it's a project they are looking forward to doing. |
I wish you are right. Once a project starts, I think that there is a little race to finish it, because if it takes too long, it can become abandoned or outdated. As the public requirements, for such a game, are really enormous, so the investment has to be, increasing the risk in all aspects. It is not likely that a big company enters such risks, not to say a medium one.
| Quote: | | ... the next patch will include the best designs of the new ships that people have modeled along with some new graphic updates. |
I look forward to that. And yes, having a lot of add-ons and plug-ins around is quite nice, but usually they make you spend a lot of time, they eat many disk space, leaving garbage when you try them, and the worst is that each one installs differently, so I usually prefer a whole thing out of the box.
| Quote: | I think taking snaps of this wonderful globe for the desktop is a must.
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Hey thanks 
Well, already improved 
Take a look to the website news http://www.mpl3d.com/index2.htm See something new? |
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GalaxyExplorer
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Joined: 08 Apr 2008
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| Posted: Wed May 06, 2009 12:53 pm Post subject: |
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| MPL3D wrote: | | Quote: | | I created a thread on Frontier.co.uk . . . |
I agree that will be fine, what a pity that it went a little bit off-topic.
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It was a pity but I think that will be fixed soon enough  . I've just searched and opened the topic in a browser tap in anticipation of the new release.
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Definitively it is, or it was. Imagination filled all the gaps in the old games, while nowadays everything must look astonishing realistic, leaving less room for that. I think that, in some cases, it makes the experience less deep. Oh well, the book publishers could have said something similar when the movie films came out
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It's all eye candy these days and bad game play is the result of that with a lot of titles, more so on consoles. Although I'm someone who likes to have advanced graphics with games, game play must also be maintained otherwise I see it as a waste of investment. Interest wanes very quickly with those types of games.
I think when movies were in their infancy a lot of people complained they would be taking away from their children's imagination and books were always encouraged instead. Today nearly everything is visual.
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I wish you are right. Once a project starts, I think that there is a little race to finish it, because if it takes too long, it can become abandoned or outdated. As the public requirements, for such a game, are really enormous, so the investment has to be, increasing the risk in all aspects. It is not likely that a big company enters such risks, not to say a medium one.
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All true, though their main title "The Outsider" has been in development since around 2006 and there's no set release date yet, although it's been suggested as this year. It looks interesting, is certainly ambitious and truely a "next generation" title. I will be checking that one out for sure. Since the last several games released have also served as test beds for Elite IV technology, hopefully the actual Elite IV won't take so long to develop. My God, I hope I'm right  .
Updated screen shots of an even further refined Earth . |
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MPL3D
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| Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 6:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Updated screen shots of an even further refined Earth |
Thank you, well the surprise is that those clouds, besides revised brightness once again, have now normal maps
It makes them specially nice at raising and set times
This has been published in the spanish forum side, I wanted this side to know as well:
A pic of the latest Mercury, tha halo is still pending revision. More pictures of all the new lookings are to come soon |
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GalaxyExplorer
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| Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 6:37 pm Post subject: |
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Looks like I'm going to be spending some time in Earth orbit .
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A pic of the latest Mercury, tha halo is still pending revision. More pictures of all the new lookings are to come soon |
That looks great, I think these revisions are going to really satisfy those people that like advanced graphics. What I've seen so far, you've certainly delivered. |
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MPL3D
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| Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 5:47 pm Post subject: |
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| GalaxyExplorer wrote: | | Looks like I'm going to be spending some time in Earth orbit . |
Glad you like it
I've set a little poll here for the color of the oceans:
http://www.s8.createphpbb.com/mpl3d/viewtopic.php?t=78&mforum=mpl3d
| GalaxyExplorer wrote: | | That looks great, I think these revisions are going to really satisfy those people that like advanced graphics. What I've seen so far, you've certainly delivered. |
I hope you are right, graphics have turned into a constant race to match the latest technology.
I've updated as well the V.12 features status report:
http://www.mpl3d.com/Featuresv12.htm
Planetary shaders and new textures are almost finished.
On the other side, base features number 10 & 11 have been re-scheduled for the next update. |
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GalaxyExplorer
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| Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 12:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Nearly there . |
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MPL3D
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| Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 9:22 am Post subject: |
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| I wish we were quicker. Oh well, good things take time |
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GalaxyExplorer
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| Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 10:21 am Post subject: |
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| Anticipation is a natural thing with new releases, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't eager. However the best attitude is "It's done when it's done" and give the developers their time to fulfill their vision and do some polishing. |
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MPL3D
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| Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 8:22 am Post subject: |
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Your realistic point of view is very welcome, you have understood it all along. The current phase includes to firmly close all new features, eliminating all misbehaviour and giving it the final touch.
As promised, new pictures of the solar system have been published here:
http://www.mpl3d.com/index2.htm
Those are mostly the final lookings. |
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GalaxyExplorer
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| Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 10:02 am Post subject: |
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Yes, those are excellent .
One thing of note though, the icecaps on Mars aren't present - are these due to be added later ? |
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MPL3D
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| Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 4:39 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks again,
the icecaps on Mars are already there (someday they should appear just in the martian winter ).
If they cannot be seen in the picture, is because its north pole is currently in the dark, and also because of the FOV and distance, and the atmosphere fresnel effect.
Here is north pole (february 2010):
And south pole (today, June 2009):
There seems to be a tiny distortion in the south pole, due to the normal map. But here is a sweet result, enough to live with that issue:
The great martian canyon, seen from an orbit around 600 km of altitude.
Field of view 55º. |
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GalaxyExplorer
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Location: Yorkshire - UK
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| Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 5:47 pm Post subject: |
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| MPL3D wrote: | Thanks again,
the icecaps on Mars are already there (someday they should appear just in the martian winter ).
If they cannot be seen in the picture, is because its north pole is currently in the dark, and also because of the FOV and distance, and the atmosphere fresnel effect.
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Ahh, I see. Great
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Here is north pole (february 2010):
And south pole (today, June 2009):
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Wonderful .
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The great martian canyon, seen from an orbit around 600 km of altitude.
Field of view 55º. |
It looks like some ancient Martian civilization has been mining down there for material in order to build their spaceships. Thinking of the car chase scene from the new Star Trek movie there . |
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GalaxyExplorer
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Location: Yorkshire - UK
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| Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 3:40 pm Post subject: |
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| I like those shots of the exo planets that were posted recently. |
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MPL3D
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| Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 5:49 pm Post subject: |
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Hey thanks, I was about to post it here.
We have given every planet his own touch, although many atmospheres are similar, each one is different.
This should provide new nice views like the ones published (for those who have not seen it just go to http://www.mpl3d.com/index2.htm, date 25th June 2009).
Still, just stepping towards the perfect concept, and so, some places do not behave as nice as they could, but definitively it is an improvement.
Other new improvements so far:
Base Features
- Visual magnitude revised for variable stars: Corrected magnitude (based on General Catalogue of Variable Stars) for stars like Betelgeuse.
- Visual magnitude calculation and output: Apparent magnitude from the point of view is calculated and can be read when 'Scientific data' is ON ("d" key).
Secondary features
- Dynamic Level of Detal System (LOD): Level of detail system dynamically changes the quality of objects and textures based on their angular size.
Menu options
- Freeze Time: Freezes the simulation time.
- Atmospheric shader: Option to turn On/Off independently the atmospheric shader for planets with atmospheres.
- Relief shader: Option to turn On/Off independently the relief shader for planets with solid surface.
- Level of Detail ->Max: Fixed maximum detail for planetary objects and textures.
- Level of Detail ->Max: Dynamic detail for planetary objects and textures.
- Level of Detail ->Min: Fixed minimum detail for planetary objects and textures.
As usual, the full report: http://www.mpl3d.com/Featuresv12.htm (currently being updated by web server).
Have another unreleased pic of the new looking of the atmospheric shader in this clarified jovian:
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