This week was the week before the week before the week we really have to polish stuff. This means that this week and next week were and will be spent trying to cram as much functionality in the game as we can before the beta.
Coincidentally, this week was the week that I listened to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy again so all of my speech has been long winded gibberish. Don't panic though. I've managed to get some pretty cool stuff done, yeah?
First off, I've reworked a lot of the rendering so that we would display properly, if not absolutely correctly as far as artists are concerned, on lower end video cards. I still have to finish the background stars, but I think that's a driver issue where the driver can't handle point sprites. It could also be that my point sprite implementation isn't exactly correct. Don't fear though, we should get this type of thing sorted out before the next beta which is the beta after this one. Right. Here are some screenies so that you can compare. I won't tell you which one is the high end and which one is the low end, but if you've followed the conversation so far, you should be able to figure it out simply by looking at the two.
But wait, that's not all. I've also added the explosion technology as well as a pretty nifty ship dying sequence. I can't show you the sequence. Technically I could, but I don't have the time, well, don't want to spend the time setting up the CamStudio so that I can make a movie of the sequence. For now, I'll just show you a screen shot. I hope you like it. I rather enjoyed making it. It gave me more than one occasion to chuckle.
As if that weren't enough, I also managed to get the bling bling technology in the game. I know you guys will love this stuff Scott T can't stop playing with it. You want custom ships, you've got it. And, if you get into the beta early enough, I'm going to allow you to do us much bling as you want. You could have more bling than today's hottest rappers and sports superstars. You'll love it. Maybe we'll even do a GalCiv2 DUB Edition. Probably not though. I just through that out to take up space. Sorry. Anyways, using bling, you can do some really wacky stuff. Check out the before and after below.
There were more things done also, like screen tinting technology and using the race logo as the icon on the tactical map, but I'm running out of time and my hands are getting tired. If you've made it this far, you must be a strong willed fella or you can read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with no trouble. You should check out the trailer on www.amazon.com. I agree with most of the cast, but Zaphod with a Californian accent doesn't sit well with me. Also, Ford Prefect has an American accent. Something I don't expect from a guy from Guilford. Maybe they talk that way on Betelgeuse 7. I do like Matt Freeman as Arthur though. He was pretty good in The Office. Try to guess who Marvin is going to be. You won't believe it when you find out. Actually, you may believe it. He fits in the suit. Go figure. Bye.
