Oblivion... inn... SPAAAAAAACCEE

[Kitsune]

Instant money house.

Only trick being that it'll cost millions upon millions to make.  Unless anyone has an engine laying around that won't crap itself dealing with individual people moving around in a spaceship which is itself moving, docking with other ships, landing on planets, etc, all of which also are full of people.  I know more than a couple of people who'd probably be found dead at their computers if someone made a 'living world' sci fi game.

[Trippy]

I thought that was Universal Combat.

[Kail]

I know more than a couple of people who'd probably be found dead at their computers if someone made a 'living world' sci fi game.

Well, that's a risk I'd be willing to take.

Open ended Sci-Fi would ROCK.

I do kind of wonder why nobody but Bethesda is doing this kind of thing.  Do the Elder Scrolls games not make money, or what?  I got the impression that they sold like free beer.  Not to knock Bethesda, but I would really, REALLY like to be able to buy an open ended game made by someone who is not them (and not have to pay to subscribe to it).

Only trick being that it'll cost millions upon millions to make. Unless anyone has an engine laying around that won't crap itself dealing with individual people moving around in a spaceship which is itself moving, docking with other ships, landing on planets, etc, all of which also are full of people.

Theoretically, this depends on how you model the maps.  I'd assume that the interior of the spaceship would be a separate map from the rest of the universe (in the same way that the interior of a house in Morrowind is a separate map from the outside).  You can correlate damage with the players ship in ship-to-ship combat with damage to the map of the interior of the player's ship fairly easily, and the other way around, if you're restricted to fairly modest sized ships.

[Margalis]

What you are describing is called "cell and portal" rendering, or more generally some sort of scene graph and/or proper occlusion culling. The size of the world is not a problem at all as long as you can't see all of it at the same time.

Keeping track of 2 million people at the same time would be a problem but that's not how the game would work. In Morrowind if you are in one city it's not like the people in some other city are actually walking around animating in real-time.

The technology shouldn't really be a problem here. And I agree it would be awesome, I had an old game for the Mac that let you go around in a spaceship doing random things, it was great.

[Tale]

Oblivion in Space = Elite.

Read this review, which prompted me to buy the original and play it obsessively for several of my teenage years in the 1980s: http://www.zzap64.co.uk/zzap1/elite.html

[Krakrok]

Privateer?

[Samwise]

Escape Velocity?  I loved that game.  It and Snood are my two fond memories of Mac usage.

[Tale]

Privateer?

Fairly good in its own way, but did not capture the feeling Elite fans were looking for.

[Alkiera]

Escape Velocity?  I loved that game.  It and Snood are my two fond memories of Mac usage.

The most recent version of Escape Velocity, EV:Nova, is available for PC.  There are mods available for it that let you play in the worlds of the first EV games using the Nova engine, even.  And converters have been written to convert mods back and forth from mac to PC.  It's good fun.

Alkiera

[Samwise]

The most recent version of Escape Velocity, EV:Nova, is available for PC.

AROO?  Thank you!  I'll have to give it a whirl.

[geldonyetich]

X3 would be the most, erm, freedom of influence Elite-alike around.  Granted, the grid-like space is no match for a setup like in Elite or (even better) Elite 2 where they included the solar system level of spaceflight.  However, being able to build space stations and remote control other ships feels more open-ended Elder Scrolls like than most.

Although, in order for it to be a real Oblivion-alike, you'd need to be able to step out of the ship.  Think Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter, open-ended.  Except, not sucking so much... perhaps an on-foot environs that fells more like Halo. 

Kitsune's right, it could be done, and it would rock.  I, too, am hoping for such.  However, I'm not sure if it would sell well in the states just because Fantasy tends to be the favorite genre when people are genuinely depressed about world events.

[Strazos]

Didn't someone already try that sort of hybrid idea?

No way I am naming the game or dev though. 

[geldonyetich]

Since I already mentioned Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter, you're probably thinking of Westwood's (RIP) Earth & Beyond (RIP).   Unfortunately, the "on-foot" portions were tacked on in E&B, and didn't serve any practical game purpose.

I'm sure some indies have done a better job, but I haven't found em'.  I seem to recall hearing about a Roguelike in space.  There's some interesting Roguelikes, like this Mecha one.

[Samwise]

The most recent version of Escape Velocity, EV:Nova, is available for PC.

AROO?  Thank you!  I'll have to give it a whirl.

It turns out you CAN go home again.  Sweet.  I just registered my shareware copy.

[geldonyetich]

I had trouble with the combat in EV: Nova (PC).  Seemed the only way I could kill anything is by massively outgunning the opposition.  Maybe I just suck?  Anyway, not nearly the level of fill immersion I'd want with an "Oblivion in Space" game.  Neither was Space Rangers 2 (which was much better than EV IMLTHO).

[Alkiera]

I had trouble with the combat in EV: Nova (PC).  Seemed the only way I could kill anything is by massively outgunning the opposition.  Maybe I just suck?  Anyway, not nearly the level of fill immersion I'd want with an "Oblivion in Space" game.  Neither was Space Rangers 2 (which was much better than EV IMLTHO).

it's partly that, partly knowing who to pick on, what the strengths and weaknesses of various opponents are, and where to fight.  Also, building a ship sturdy enough to take on multiple heavy opponents is Expensive, and generally requires access to one faction or another's good military hardware.  Basically, if you want to pick fights on the intersteller level, you need to have friends with intersteller power levels.  If you just wanna pick off random pirates... more power to ya, you can probably do that with civilian and borderline legal equipment.  Just be careful of the occasional pirate cap-ship.

EV is more like Serenity as far as gameplay... get from pt. A to pt. B with the goods, within the required time, without getting shot at.  And yes, sometimes your cargo is illegal, and yes, governmental ships can and will scan you, and shoot you for it.  Sometimes the mission specifically requires that you not get scanned.  Occasionally, if you are, the government will wait till you land, and offer the choice of turning on your hirer, or being set to criminal status.

The EV series is great stuff.  The fact that you can play all 3 in the Nova engine is just great... tho the older games obviously lack the graphical quality of Nova.  Gameplay is spot on.

--
Alkiera