OES cross-platform development?

[ComradeBadger]

OK, we here at the Operation Everlasting Shadow team have been doing a bit of thinking regarding what we'd like to do, and one thing that cropped up was a console version. Now, the Xbox was the one that stood out, since it is capable of running Half Life 2, and has a hard drive. The added bonus of Xbox LIVE! and broadband capability is another thing that swayed us.

Now we know some of you hate the Xbox, but I'm speaking to Xbox owners here, would you be interested in a console version of OES? (It would be different to the PC version, and developed afterwards, by the same team)

Please vote and comment

 

[IchI]

ye, it would proberly work but i don't know how u are planning on getting the money to get your game retail. It would be illegil to put anything on your xbox without microsoft aproval i think (no sure) also how would u get it on the harddisk without cd's? because u can't download on an xbox, well not like a PC anyway. I would just stick to making a hl2 version before u start going of thinking about an xbox live version. If your game don't get at least 500+ severs constantly then you don't have much chance. Also if u did get that kin da of popularity like DOD then valve would proberly take your work anyway. Or buy it. But I bet they make up some stupid contract like they are intitalled to everything. Thats valve for ya. Anyway I hope my opinion will help you out a good luck.

 

[ComradeBadger]

Hence us talking to both Valve and Microsoft when the feasability study is over We aren't going into this blind. It's not going to be retail, it's a mod, no profits for us, this is a free thing to give even more people a chance to play what I hope will be a fun gaming experience

 

[DarkelP]

sounds good, altho i have no x-box, its still a sound idea.

 

[Dark Raven]

I would really like this, live updates, and who knows what more

 

[ComradeBadger]

Glad that some of you like the idea

I'm waiting for nVidia to respond to my email

 

[Dante]

personally, i would work on my web appearance and some content before i started thinking about another system to put it on.

 

[SidewinderX]

I voted no for a few reasons:

1) I am almost 100% sure it would either be impossible or illigal or both. While the xbox uses the basic directX api, it is far diffrent and customized for the console. Thus the coding wouldn't be the same, and you would have to re-program anything coded using the hl2 xbox api, which will surely not have a SDK like the pc version has, and if it did, it would be un-reconizable.

2) Legality. Yes it would be a free thing, but to install anyhting to the xbox harddrive you would have to trick the 'box in to recognizing the disk, and to do so, users would have to use an illegal mod-chip (microsoft has since learned something from the morrowind mods thing)

3) Xbox Live updates. This wouldn't work merley because Microsoft would have to host the content on thier servers, and i'm sure they wouldn't do this, at least without ample $$ involved.


However, if you prove me wrong and get valve and M$ to hook you up, great! more power to ya!


Thoguh i seriously doubt it.

 

[ComradeBadger]

Just wondering Dante, was that a dig at the mod?

Oh, and Sidewinder, we'd be talking to Valve and Microsoft on this account, and our programmer has decided this would be feasible, and well within the talent we have.

1) It would be possible, we just need the appropriate development tools. And the legallity thing, well, of course we wouldn't go ahead with this without chatting to Microsoft about this. Yes, re-coding would be on the agenda...

2) I refer you to the above answer, we will not go ahead with anything without Microsoft support. It wouldn't be on disc, it would be downloadable, and I'm well aware of how hard that could be

3) Yes, the updates idea isn't terribly well formed, but it could well work if we get enough support.

 

[SidewinderX]

Originally posted by mrBadger
Just wondering Dante, was that a dig at the mod?

Oh, and Sidewinder, we'd be talking to Valve and Microsoft on this account, and our programmer has decided this would be feasible, and well within the talent we have.

1) It would be possible, we just need the appropriate development tools. And the legallity thing, well, of course we wouldn't go ahead with this without chatting to Microsoft about this. Yes, re-coding would be on the agenda...

I wonder where dante has been....? hehe

About the appropiate development tools: Yes, you would need them. However, the only development tools that would be available for the Xbox version (logically) would be the developer development kit, the kit that Valve sells to studios for $300,000+ a liscene. I can't see any reason why they'd make a SDK for modders. And i don't see any reason why they'd spend time/money making a mod SDK for xbox.



However, if you cna do it, that would be greatr, it would open all kinds of doors for modders!

 

[ComradeBadger]

Originally posted by SidewinderX143

However, if you cna do it, that would be greatr, it would open all kinds of doors for modders!

That is the idea, it's not just for OES, it would make mods a big subject, and make more people sit up and take notice... and I really want people to play OES, so the more the better

Well, I've begun talking to Microsoft about this, I await their reply

 

[Panthers_Domain]

Don't get too hopeful...

 

[THEFFGURU]

iv talked with badger himself and he seems fairly certain it will and can work, so im all for it even though i dont like xbox too much, shame there isnt a ps2 possibility at the mo... ah well such things can be dreamt about

 

[Panthers_Domain]

A console version doesn't really concern me at all.

Why play this mod on an inferior platform? It's much easier to aim using a mouse and keyboard, plus updates are much easier to perform on a PC.

 

[Dante]

not to be finicky, but yes, the idea sounds kewl blah blah, but we only see a shotty website at best with very few items posted up (most in progress).


With the conversion to XBox, i talked it over with some of my associates that i have here and there...

and without the core source engine license (which means full Source code legally) and an XBox License, you aren't going anywhere, and if you have a programmer that will redo the Source engine, he must work for valve.


Hey, if you can actually do it, great, but honestly at this point, i see it as a hopeful dream, not even close to a reality, the above stated reasons are mostly why you don't see more PC/Console games, due the intense amount of recoding of the core engine, as well as the actual game.

 

[ComradeBadger]

Originally posted by Dante
not to be finicky, but yes, the idea sounds kewl blah blah, but we only see a shotty website at best with very few items posted up (most in progress).


With the conversion to XBox, i talked it over with some of my associates that i have here and there...

and without the core source engine license (which means full Source code legally) and an XBox License, you aren't going anywhere, and if you have a programmer that will redo the Source engine, he must work for valve.


Hey, if you can actually do it, great, but honestly at this point, i see it as a hopeful dream, not even close to a reality, the above stated reasons are mostly why you don't see more PC/Console games, due the intense amount of recoding of the core engine, as well as the actual game.

Yeah, I'm aware that we don't have much content up at the moment and thats partially due to hosting constraints. When we buy oes.com then expect to see a lot of new stuff

I'd also like to point out that renders do not make a mod... it's the gameplay

Anyway, yeah, it is a hopeful dream, and just an idea at the moment, but well... this is something I'd like to do.

 

[Dante]

Originally posted by mrBadger
Yeah, I'm aware that we don't have much content up at the moment and thats partially due to hosting constraints. When we buy oes.com then expect to see a lot of new stuff

I'd also like to point out that renders do not make a mod... it's the gameplay

Anyway, yeah, it is a hopeful dream, and just an idea at the moment, but well... this is something I'd like to do.

ok, just reminding you that cross/platform, let alone console conversion isn't to be taken lightly, its a huge pain in the arse, and most likely all of the dx code as well as removing what ever q3 stuff still exists would have to be done, which essentially means completely redoing the engine to support the proper dx libraries for the xbox.

 

[ComradeBadger]

Originally posted by Dante
ok, just reminding you that cross/platform, let alone console conversion isn't to be taken lightly, its a huge pain in the arse, and most likely all of the dx code as well as removing what ever q3 stuff still exists would have to be done, which essentially means completely redoing the engine to support the proper dx libraries for the xbox.

Yeah, I'm fully aware of that..

Like I said, an idea..

 

[obscene]

I admit, it would be cool...but it will never happen. Besides all the technological conversions, how would you distribute the mod? While I too wish there could be a modding community within Xbox, it's never going to occur.

 

[The Dark Elf]

well i say good look to ya, so what if it doesn't work out, atleast you tried instead of sitting on your arses like some people just belittling the idea before its even done, who knows maybe you'll work some deal out and make it happen, never know. But one thing you do know for sure, if you do like some others on this thread suggest then you can be sure it'll never happen. So go for it, you've nothing to lose.

 

[Fat Tony!]

Xbox sucks

 

[Faravid]

Originally posted by Fat Tony!
Xbox sucks

Well oh my, that was very creative comment indeed, could you train me into secrets of intelligence in forums?

 

[ankalar]

You guys are getting way ahead of yourselves. The idea of making OES for the Xbox, the whole contest to win a special CD with behind the scenes stuff from OES, etc. are all the result of an overconfident and ignorant attitude. Let us hypothetically say that OES actually makes it to the release stage. How do you expect Valve, let alone Microsoft, to give you access to the Source Xbox SDK. I do not think they would give one modification special treatment to this degree. Now if Valve gave you the Xbox SDK, think of how hard it would be to convince Microsoft to give your modification the rights to a downloadable package for OES? I do not think this is even close to a feasible idea. Valve would most likely give the priveledges to DOD if they give any mod the chance to be downloadable on Xbox Live. I have nothing more to say.

 

[Grey]

I'm with ankalar on this. Less talk more work . I've found the more some one (and I've been guilty of this in the past) talks about something rather than doing it, the more likely it is that it'll never get done. My advice is to concentrate on making your mod, the rest will fall into place if it's ment to.

 

[ComradeBadger]

Hmmmm. Well, sorry if you take offence to the way we work. Anyway... DoD isn't a mod, I'm sick of people saying this, they work for Valve now, they are in the offices... working with Valve... they have the Source engine.. anyway... regards to the more work less talk, I agree, I have been doing a lot of talking.. but I'm PR

Thanks for your comments, they are appriciated nonetheless

 

[phantomdesign]

Well..I had an extensive critique, but it would probably encourage flames of this MOD. I'm sending it provate message, and I'll let MrBadger post it if he wants to.

Basic idea=you are getting too far ahead of yourself + numerous suggestions.

 

[ankalar]

Originally posted by mrBadger
Anyway... DoD isn't a mod, I'm sick of people saying this, they work for Valve now, they are in the offices... working with Valve... they have the Source engine..

I'm sorry, I did not clarify what idea I was going towards. I meant that they would choose DOD and make it available for download to modify Counter-Strike for the Xbox before they would choose an unfinished, let alone barely started, mod like OES.

 

[ComradeBadger]

Originally posted by ankalar
I'm sorry, I did not clarify what idea I was going towards. I meant that they would choose DOD and make it available for download to modify Counter-Strike for the Xbox before they would choose an unfinished, let alone barely started, mod like OES.

Yeah... I know, we haven't really started anything... but it was a idea, something we'd do AFTERWARDS.

 

[hax]

lol is this in addition to the mobile version *chuckles*, like someone said way to ahead of yourselves and arrogant

 

[The Dark Elf]

Originally posted by hax
lol is this in addition to the mobile version *chuckles*, like someone said way to ahead of yourselves and arrogant

I certainly wouldn't call wanting to try something new and different "arrogant" If Carmack didn't try do something new and different, we'd all be waiting for HL2 on the wolf3D engine.

 

[Grey]

What exactly is new and different? Also Carmack is a do-er not a talker - talk is cheap.

 

[The Dark Elf]

Originally posted by Grey
What exactly is new and different? Also Carmack is a do-er not a talker - talk is cheap.

Carmack talked plenty before he did it. You don't just jump into something without talking about it first and getting others opinions. Besides as has already been said, they are doing things toward this not just talking about it. They can't just jump in blindly without a plan.

whats new and different? Well what their trying to do I would consider new and different, it could be a big step for the serious mod teams, and even if it doesn't work its better than giving up without even trying. I think more of those who try and fail than those who wont even try.

 

[Grey]

Carmack talked publicly about development of doom before beginning development? Quake too? Would you mind finding me a link or two showing he did? Because although I'm not a total Carmack fan boy, I know enough about him that I'd be surprised if he did.

Obviously talking and planning amongst the team is needed for success. Doing it in public is another matter. But maybe that's just that I don't subscribe to the FokkerPro school of PR .

I think that OES has good potential, but IMO this kind of thing is putting the cart before the horse.