Wow, have you heard of this?

[theotherguy]

]I just found a gem of an indie game being developed, and I was wondering if any one else has heard of it.

It's called "Infinity", its an RPG being developed by a one-man team that features a universe that is entirely procedurally generated (like spore, but MUCH MUCH MUCH bigger and prettier). There will be 100-billion planets, all of them generated on the fly, and it looks gorgeous. He's already released a combat test, and has shown very real results in his procedural engine.

However, it will be a long time, if at all, when he will finish this game. In fact, I think maxis was planning on hiring him.

Site:http://www.fl-tw.com/Infinity/index.php

Videos:
Spacestation and planet landing
Earth-like planet orbiting a ringed world

Screenies:

 

[StardogChampion]

Where's the prettier than Spore part?

 

[Vegeta897]

That looks incredible... That ringed planet is so huge and close, quite an amazing view. Kind of erie.

 

[theotherguy]

Where's the prettier than Spore part?

I meant more realistic. Spore is very pretty, but the planets are small and cartoonish.

 

[DeusExMachina]

I'm not a big fan of space sim RPGs. Unless you can land on the planet and do stuff outside the ship. Mass Effect n_n

 

[DEATH eVADER]

You can pseudo land I guess

You can fly in and out of the atmosphere. Theres a vid of it somewhere.

 

[Adrik_Senturu]

I read about that a while back >_> Will be a long time before its finished but I know I'll be looking into it when it is.

 

[theotherguy]

I'm not a big fan of space sim RPGs. Unless you can land on the planet and do stuff outside the ship. Mass Effect n_n

in the FAQ it says that there will be missions on planets, but that all of it will be vehicle based, ie in ground or air vehicles...which is really a shame.

 

[Gargantou]

It annoys me you compared it to Spore, if anything it's taking cues from the Elite series, and besides, Spore was not first with procedural generation, Elite 2 and Elite 3 both had entire universes procedurally generated, being able to land in real time on every planet, real orbits etc etc.

But back on topic, yes, it looks pretty darn cool

 

[AKIRA]

holy sh1t...how can 1 guy make all that?!

 

[Loke]

Very impressive.

 

[Pi Mu Rho]

holy sh1t...how can 1 guy make all that?!

Procedurally. Space, the planets, the planet surfaces, are all generated by the engine.

 

[Cole]

Infinity is a massively multiplayer online game set in a futuristic persistent universe. Players can discover a huge galaxy with billions of planets and can explore, combat, trade, socialize.. the possibilities are endless!

A procedurally generated MMO?? Cool.

What type of missions will be available ?

The list will be very long; most of the missions will be generated dynamically depending on the system you're in and what you've been doing. Trade, hunt, mine, escort, scientific research, rescue, political, tourism, spy missions, and a lot more. In addition, an in-game interface will be available to propose your own services to the other players, or to non-player characters.

The game is open-ended and is not focused on combat at all, although combat and action is certainly a possible (and viable) way to play. It will not be easy to play as a pirate, though, and players will be free to explore other domains (trading, mining, doing business, exploring unknown worlds, etc.. ).

s it possible to walk around your ship or in cities/stations/planets ?

No, this is not planned at the moment. It could add some depth to the gameplay, but would need a lot more resources and in-game content than a small independant team can realistically produce. We prefer to focus on space and planet surfaces and ship-to-ship fights/gameplay. Some vehicles (flying cars, shuttles, etc..) might be added, too.

What will the combat look like ? Real-time, action based ? Point and click ? Turn based ?

Combats will be purely real-time, action based, much like in a flight simulator or a first-person shooter. You will be in full control of your ship.

How many races, classes, skills and levels will there be ?

None. The game will be very much role-playing oriented in philosophy and soul, but there will be no hard defined classes, skills or levels to limit you. Your own skills will make the difference, not those of your avatar.

Will it be possible to land on planets ?

Yes, this is actually one of the main interests of the game. Expect a lot of missions on planets. However, the game will not feature non-vehicle gameplay like walking with an avatar on planets or inside buildings.

How is the transition between space and ground level done ?

It is completely seamless, with no loading times - actually, what you see from space is really what you see when you land. This is one of the key technologies behind the game engine.

How can you fit so much data on a CD ?

But this is the trick: i'm not storing any data at all! What I am storing is algorithms and code to generate this data in real-time, as requested by the game. This is similar to what 64k demo coders do, and this technique is called procedural programming.

But if the data is generated procedurally, when I come back near a planet, for example, won't it look different ?

No, it won't. Do not confuse procedurally generated data with random data. The planet and all its details will be the same than when you left.

What about vegetation on planets ? Will it exist ? Will it be procedural ? What about cities ?

There will be procedural vegetation on planets, but the textures (with some exceptions) will probably be hand painted. Cities will play an important role on the game (much like space stations) but buildings will be created by artists, and only assembled into cities procedurally.

Will I be able to play off-line, or is this game only online ?

Although i'm currently developing Infinity as an MMO, I plan to release a special version to play and train off-line. Most of the features will be fully available in that version.

Will the game be free ? Or if not, how much will it cost ? Will it have a monthly fee ?

This is currently unknown at that time. Running an MMO is expensive. It might be possible to play for free for a while or without some advanced features, reserved to paying customers ( premium memberships ), or to support the game through sponsors/advertisement, but nothing is set in stone.

MMO ? Are you crazy ? Nobody ever completes these games..

This is generally true, although there are a few exceptions. It is very, very hard for an independant MMO project to succeed. But I do believe I have one advantage compared to the competition; most projects fail because of the enormous amount of resources needed to make in-game content. Think about it: your typical fantasy RPG requires hundreds of buildings/props, thousands of items, dozens of characters and monsters with their animations.. and for all of these, you need meshes and textures.. But in Infinity, I generate most of the content procedurally. Yes, there will still be many 3D models and textures created by artists, but the amount of work is one or two orders of magnitude lower. This also allows me to rely less on other people to complete some work.

How many developers are working on the game ?

I am currently the only programmer (Flavien Brebion), but there are many people helping in the other areas like 3D modeling (Shawn Sullivan, JoeB), 2D art/texturing (Kevin Haelterman, Andreas ?sterman), music (Oskar T?rnros), storywriting (Russell Morahan) and more who expressed their interest and want to contribute. In addition, I might hire other developers/artists on a contract basis to add content to the game.

Mankind eventually mastered interstellar travel and colonized thousands of planetary systems, bringing a new Era of prosperity lasting centuries. Today, this age of light is coming to an end. Recently, a strange disease has appeared and spread like wildfire, keeping women from becoming pregnant. The population is condemned to age and die out in but a few decades if no solution is found. Fortunately, scientists have come across some references to a cure, which would naturally be abundant on the mysterious planet of Origins, where it is believed that life appeared for the first time... Unfortunately, the exact location of this planet has been lost throughout the generations.

Now, the only glimmer of hope lies in the hands of a small group of fearless adventurers relentlessly exploring the galaxy, trying to discover the location of this mythical world forgotten by all.. a small blue planet better known as Earth.

Infinity is an open-ended game in which you control a spaceship throughought the entire galaxy, trying to make a name for yourself. You connect to an online server on which thousands of people are playing, 24/7. The game does not stop when you log off, but continues to evolve: it is a persistent universe. The game mechanics do not emphasize any particular gameplay style. Combat, trade, exploration, social relationships.. you are free to choose your own carrier path and goals. The only limit is your own imagination!

Infinity is not a traditional role playing game. Although all players are expected to act in concordance with their avatar's motivations, there are no classes or skills to restrict your choices. Combat between spaceships is in true real-time, and the outcome is determined by your own intelligence and reflexes. Forget turn-based action and experience the great excitement of a first person experience!

Using procedural techniques, the game universe has been designed to be huge and realistic. There are billions of solar systems and planets, each unique and awaiting to be discovered by a player... maybe you ? Coherent scales and distances are used, orbits of celestial bodies are correctly modeled and change continuously, allowing you to attend a sunrise on the moon of a giant planet, for instance.

 

[CyberPitz]

That's really pretty...

 

[Vegeta897]

If these planets and moons move, there will surely be collisions, what happens when planets/moons collide?

 

[CyberPitz]

If these planets and moons move, there will surely be collisions, what happens when planets/moons collide?

Hopefully awesome crashing things!

 

[Vegeta897]

It would be incredibly epic if it was simulated like that. How can we find out?

 

[Iced_Eagle]

If these planets and moons move, there will surely be collisions, what happens when planets/moons collide?

The universe implodes on itself!
Honestly though, I have no idea and I wouldn't doubt it if the engine is programmed to make that never happen.

I've known about this for quite a while because he is always on the Eternal-Silence boards since we're all into the space sims over there

 

[Adrik_Senturu]

I doubt entire planets would collide but it would be cool to see an asteroid or something >_> That would be a sight too see.

 

[Hazar]

this looks really awesome... the planet transitions are incredible...


sign me up!

 

[Majestic XII]

Game dev going old skool scener-style with procedurally content... I like that.. I feel just at home

 

[Acepilotf14]

I loved EVE online, and hopefully, this game won't be centered on combat. (As most games say they aren't, but they are, in the end.) I wanna be like a miner/crafter/trader kinda guy. That would be awesome.. Or maybe be a governer! w00t!
Me: MUAHAHAH!!!! MORE TAXES!!!
Within 30 mintues, I am booted from office.

 

[pvtbones]

http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=115002&highlight=infinity

*ahem*

search is your friend.

I also had more pictures.

 

[Lucid]

Very cool.

 

[Qonfused]

Very, very cool

 

[Acepilotf14]

I wonder what the system requirements will be..

 

[theotherguy]

http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=115002&highlight=infinity

*ahem*

search is your friend.

I also had more pictures.

oops, you're right...sorry


As for the sys requirements, the seem rather high....the combat simulator alone brings my system to a crawl if I set the resolution any higher than 1024x768

 

[Cerpin]

Come on people, face it. This is going to suck. These kinds of projects always turn out like shit unless some big time developer (aka Valve) picks them up and saves it.

 

[Adrik_Senturu]

After playing around with the combat simulator for a while I'd say there going in the right direction :\

 

[Unfocused]

Uuuu... Looks sweet.

 

[Uriel]

Im not much of a spaceman...unless its a SPACE MARINE! On Mars! With Demons!

 

[Adrik_Senturu]

Its pretty simple, no complicated hud controls pretty much pick a ship get out there and start shooting shit.

When I first entered the server there weren't alot of people on so I explorered a near by small asteroid field. Half way into it I notice a bunch of people are on and Im being chased into an asteroid. I spot a small opening in one of the asteroids and head in there. I take a look back to see that its two small ships chasing after me. After manuevering through the asteroid I reach what Im guessing was the center, because it was a huge open space with a bunch of little tunnels, so I enter one and hear a crash. One down. I ended up getting lost inside the asteroid, and actually ended up crashing head onto the guy who was chasing me. We both died D: But it was fun.

 

[Acepilotf14]

Thank god I got a better PC. I bet it will be a great game.

 

[Core407]

Sounds like Children of Men.

 

[Acepilotf14]

No.

 

[mortiz]

Are you sure it's a 1 man team? And not 1 programmer? The concept art and textures look as if they were done by an artist. It's rare to find a programmer that can draw that well.

 

[Loke]

Are you sure it's a 1 man team? And not 1 programmer? The concept art and textures look as if they were done by an artist. It's rare to find a programmer that can draw that well.

How many developers are working on the game ?

I am currently the only programmer (Flavien Brebion), but there are many people helping in the other areas like 3D modeling (Shawn Sullivan, JoeB), 2D art/texturing (Kevin Haelterman, Andreas ?sterman), music (Oskar T?rnros), storywriting (Russell Morahan) and more who expressed their interest and want to contribute. In addition, I might hire other developers/artists on a contract basis to add content to the game.

Link.

 

[Gunner]

Come on people, face it. This is going to suck. These kinds of projects always turn out like shit unless some big time developer (aka Valve) picks them up and saves it.

:hmph:

 

[Jintor]

I'll take a looksie... when it's done.

 

[Gargantou]

I'd prefer Elite 4 over this tbh, though Elite 4 is about as big vaporware as DNF!

May I ask how many people here have actually played Elite 2 or 3? Particulary you, Iced_Eagle You say you're a space sim fan so you have to have played'em!^^