Limit Theory: An Infinite, Procedural Space Game (KS funded)

matthewfarmery · Post by **matthewfarmery** » Sat Nov 24, 2012 9:17 am

hi, not posted ina a while, but as elite dangerous has been posted here, I thought I would share another game that I think has a far better chance to be the next Elite then ED itself, (and I pulled my pledge from that game as I lost all faith in it and FD to make it)

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jos ... space-game

this is another space sim that is using Procedural generation techniques to build a universe,

if you check the video, this is a guy in his 20's doing all the work, the game will have planet landings, will have factions, you will be able to own stations (proposed stretch goal) ships will be different each time, as the universe will be based upon a seed, if you don't know what Procedural generation techniques is. then please check

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedural_generation

but basically, Elite / frontier / FFE used this to generate worlds, granted they did get similar after a while, but the principal stands

I think this is the next elite and I have more faith in this game then I do with ED and DB, at least the LT dev has something to show, and is on the KS comments a fair bit, also the video is VERY WELL DONE!! he really puts ED to shame

even Chris Roberts has backed this guy, and nearly offered him a job, (but knew he wouldn't take it, as he is working on this game) but if this raising star does take up CR offer at some point, then SC or its sequel will be even better,

but anyway, I backed LT at the $60 which is a good deal, and there is a lot more on its way, a lot more, including random generated cities and more, I hope he can manage, its a lot of work, but as he already got a lot done, I think at the end of the day this is going to be the closest elite game so far

I have backed this guy and have faith in him

there is still a long way to go from the time of writing this and already he got half way in the funding goal of $50,000 which is pretty small, but I can see this getting to 100k easy

please check the video, and I hope you support this guy, we need to see the return of the bedroom programmers, that helped make many old games reality back in the day, we don't really see them now, so with KS as a good platform, they are slowly making a return

I hope you back him,

[Edited on 11-24-2012 by matthewfarmery]

Munshine · Post by **Munshine** » Sat Nov 24, 2012 11:17 am

It seems that this guy is very clever, very talented, professional in his way of introducing himself and showing his demo. Maybe he is the next Vice or the next David Braben in much younger. I understand that his game would look like a Freelancer/ Frontier mix with RTS/RPG mechanics. I think he is a bit too ambitious as he wants his game being everything and underestimated his budget for its scope. Though it's not bad if he succeeds with half of his gameplay ideas well executed in his first game.

[Edited on 11-24-2012 by Munshine]

matthewfarmery · Post by **matthewfarmery** » Sat Nov 24, 2012 12:33 pm

I think this will be an awesome game, he has a lot planned, ship editor, station editor, been able to command fleets of ships to do your bidding, there might not be aliens in the game, and that is understandable (this is one guy afterall) but yes he could very well be the next CR or Vice, people like Vice have proven that they can manage one man project games, you don't need a huge studio with tonnes of money

I have a lot of faith in this game, as long as he keeps to what he can do, this guy will go far

I salute him

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Sat Nov 24, 2012 1:00 pm

Of all the space sims, this one could be the one that comes closest to being the successor to Freelancer. It looks so similar in so many ways. And I never played Elite, but judging by the replies the game is also similar to that, so I wouldn't be surprised if this guy would get a load of support.
Pretty amazing to see what a 20 year-old guy can do! The graphics in the video look really good the way they are now, just imagine how everything's gonna look by the time he's done! I think it's awesome there are people like him out there, and yes indeed I think we need and should support bedroom developers like him. Awesome, first Star Citizen, now Limit Theory - can't wait till these games comes out!

Thanks for sharing by the way, I'd have totally missed it.

[Edited on 11-24-2012 by Viper]

DynamicRanger · Post by **DynamicRanger** » Sat Nov 24, 2012 1:01 pm

In the FAQ, the way Parnell describes the flight model (semi-Newtonian with inertial dampening toggle) sounds a lot like EM. That's the make-or-break feature for me--regardless of how the software models the motion, if flying a ship feels like flying a weightless airplane or UFO, they've lost me. I have serious doubts about Elite Dangerous and Star Citizen because they both appear to be going for airplane dogfights in space. It's especially disappointing considering SC supposedly models individual thrusters, but automatically fires them to preserve the sense that you're stuck in the 1970's, reliving Star Wars and its imitators.

I'll take any opportunity to get on a soapbox about more realistic spaceflight models. In any case, this game sounds very interesting and I'll definitely consider pitching in. Thanks for letting us know about it. I don't know how to navigate the KS website, so any time I scan it for space games with potential I never turn anything up.

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Sat Nov 24, 2012 1:06 pm

I just read this:

Will There be Multiplayer?

Not likely. If we exceed our goal by a significant amount, it's possible that I will announce multiplayer support as a far-off stretch goal, but I don't anticipate reaching it. I need to make sure that I can complete LT in a reasonable amount of time...and, realistically, adding multiplayer would increase the development time by a significant amount!

Which is the biggest deal breaker for me. I'd still buy it though, I'd just be utterly disappointed about this, since multiplayer adds a completely other dimension to games like that. Balls!

-splosives- · Post by **-splosives-** » Sat Nov 24, 2012 1:09 pm

Looks very promising indeed. Looks like a hybrid of evochron and X3.

matthewfarmery · Post by **matthewfarmery** » Sat Nov 24, 2012 1:31 pm

personally the lack of MP I think for this game is a good thing, yeah it does seem more like freelancer then Elite, I forgt about that game,

but if you take a look at Elite Dangerous, while there will be MP, the game seems more and more focused on MP, and if the server and client are the same, or you are forced to link to their servers, I think balance is a problem, I also have major concerns about ED, and how its been handled,

but oh yes, someone posted a link to Josh's (LT dev) blog

http://joshparnell.com/blog/2012/03/09/binary-sunset/

well worth a read, there are some fascinating stuff there, from suns, to how he doing the terrain and more, if you got time, its well worth a browse

but anyway, I have far more hopes for LT now then ED, sure it might get funded, but a few have dropped their support of it, at least 10 plus, (that I know of) but the total number I think is far higher, but FD aren't acknowledging the concerns, people leaving or anything, at least Josh has posted a few times answering questions and more, you also got to remember he is a one man team, so I think at the moment he has a lot on his plate, and why there might not be aliens in the game, but still, I can easy see the project reaching 100k, and I really hope it does

got high hopes for this raising star, very high hopes

edit
@DynamicRanger
I got this from the SC comments thread, but yeah navigating KS itself is a bit of a pain, so once I found out about it, I been posting the link to as many forums as I can, to help spread the word

[Edited on 11-24-2012 by matthewfarmery]

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Sat Nov 24, 2012 8:00 pm

This is very cool and interesting!....Thanks for sharing!.....

Busch · Post by **Busch** » Sat Nov 24, 2012 8:28 pm

Yep - Freelancer, Elite, X-games, Homeworld, Black Prophesy.... Maybe he's flown the Evo-verse as well. That procedural generation schtick looks intriguing. Thanks for sharing this.

matthewfarmery · Post by **matthewfarmery** » Sun Nov 25, 2012 7:25 pm

getting pretty near to 44k and Josh might do an update any day soon, hopefully before we do hit 50k, but hopefully if he does do a content update in a day or two, then we will hit the gaol, PS if you not checked his forum, you should

http://forums.ltheory.com/index.php

but he is aware not to over burden himself with too much, so while the editors might be included in a stretch goal, and owning of planets, / stations, I think anything else that will require a lot of work, might be added later in content patches,

he also says because of the generation system he has in place. you shouldn't really find exact copies of stuff, well you might, but it will be very rare, he calculates there will be 4 billion items of each, but can increase that if need be, so this might really be the first true limitless game out there, OK elite frontier tried, but I wouldn't really class it as been unlimited, as things did start looking like the same pretty quicklty,

in LT there will be different stuff all around, and the generation system will handle a lot, so yeah maybe this could be classed as the first limitless space sim?

so keep your eyes peeled for the next update, it might drop in a day or towo or sooner, not sure

matthewfarmery · Post by **matthewfarmery** » Sun Nov 25, 2012 11:19 pm

just a heads up, there will be a new update in an hours time or more, the dev is uploading the new video so keep an eye out for it, should be really good

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 2:19 pm

Yep, looks great!......

matthewfarmery · Post by **matthewfarmery** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 2:54 pm

got to say that is one impressive game engine, and from one person too, utterly amazing what he has done, I pledged for alpha access, going to be fun to test drive this baby