The hype is with this one...

[bhodi]

WTF is this? I've never heard of it and neither has the search function.

Infinity: The Quest for Earth

A few guys have been working on a very impressive project during their free time, "Infinity: The Quest for Earth". The game is a massively multiplayer online game set in a futuristic persistent universe. Here's the impressive part: their game engine can render entire planets in real-time.

[edlavallee]

Can't wait to watch the video, but the game site is here.

Mankind has eventually mastered interstellar travel and colonized thousands of planetary systems, bringing a new Era of prosperity for 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 condamned to age and die out in a few decades if no solution is found.

Heh, condamned.

[Strazos]

They kinda cheated by making the atmosphere very thin, and the planet fairly flat.

Still looked good though, especially for a somewhat-early build.

[HaemishM]

It would only be really impressive if 1) they had actually already released a game and 2) they got down to the planet's surface and there was shit going on (wild life, characters etc.) going on in real time too.

[Soukyan]

They kinda cheated by making the atmosphere very thin, and the planet fairly flat.

Still looked good though, especially for a somewhat-early build.

And Saturn is a bit close as well. In any case, they've done some damn nice work so far. I'll be interested to see it as it develops further.

[Viin]

It would only be really impressive if 1) they had actually already released a game and 2) they got down to the planet's surface and there was shit going on (wild life, characters etc.) going on in real time too.

Stuff like that doesn't happen over night. Geez you guys are cynical.

[Xilren's Twin]

A few guys have been working on a very impressive project during their free time, "Infinity: The Quest for Earth". The game is a massively multiplayer online game set in a futuristic persistent universe. Here's the impressive part: their game engine can render entire planets in real-time.

Coded in their free time.  Can't imagine why people haven;t heard of it....

Xilren

[Soln]

It would only be really impressive if 1) they had actually already released a game and 2) they got down to the planet's surface and there was shit going on (wild life, characters etc.) going on in real time too.

Stuff like that doesn't happen over night. Geez you guys are cynical.

maybe, but I'm about to release something from my spare time.  And I haven't talked to the press:p  I have to ask teh Schild about it.

[schild]

Sup, Soln?

[Soln]

christ yer quick

PM en route in a min

[schild]

Cool.

[HaemishM]

It would only be really impressive if 1) they had actually already released a game and 2) they got down to the planet's surface and there was shit going on (wild life, characters etc.) going on in real time too.

Stuff like that doesn't happen over night. Geez you guys are cynical.

No, just hardened by the harsh reality of past experience. Hype is easy. Execution and release is what counts.

[Venkman]

You connect to an online server on which thousands of people are playing, 24H/24.

Which planet in our system has the 24 day week? I can't remember.

Otherwise, reads like Vendetta Online, which isn't a bad game if it just looks a little amateurish. My bar for aesthetics and feel is Eve. That feels like the quintessential modern-interpreted space game. They just nail the aesthetic so well, in look and general quality.

The fully modelled worlds is only compelling if it matters to game play. I don't necessarily need to land and disembark for some fun ground combat, though I'd love that. Rather, in a game that wants to sound like it offers space-sim like flight (which Vendetta really doesn't, not by the bar I measure that with, which is Freespace 2), then I want to know that, when chased, I can dive into the atmosphere, into a canyon, fly like I did in Descent and win the battle because of it.

Anything short of using the ground as part of the game experience is a wasted effort.

[stray]

Eve is too slow, complicated, and spread out for my tastes.

Oh wait....Nevermind. It's Space.


Seriously though, just give me something like Wing Commander. "Massively Multiplayer" optional! I want joysticks, dogfights, et cetera. And leave the Ambient score out while you're at it. That shit sucks.

Better yet, get rid of any hint of Euro sensibility. I'm sorry, there are a lot of great things over there, but the Sci-Fi is usually lame. It's like French Rock 'n' Roll. They just don't understand it. Han Solo (and his brand of cockiness) is an American thing. The culture of pilot fighting is an American thing (because we have like real planes and shit).

[Hoax]

I heard about this thing called the RAF once, I heard they kicked some ass back in the day...?

[Margalis]

When I was in college I wrote an engine that could render an entire planet at once. That's not too interesting.

What they don't say is that while they can render the planet at once, they do so at a super-low resolution where all of Montana is a single triangle.

[edlavallee]

Eve is too slow, complicated, and spread out for my tastes.

Oh wait....Nevermind. It's Space.


Seriously though, just give me something like Wing Commander. "Massively Multiplayer" optional! I want joysticks, dogfights, et cetera. And leave the Ambient score out while you're at it. That shit sucks.

Better yet, get rid of any hint of Euro sensibility. I'm sorry, there are a lot of great things over there, but the Sci-Fi is usually lame. It's like French Rock 'n' Roll. They just don't understand it. Han Solo (and his brand of cockiness) is an American thing. The culture of pilot fighting is an American thing (because we have like real planes and shit).

/agree

Just enough physics to be somewhat realistic, and a liberal splash of arcade for fun factor. Like BF-DC in spaaaaaaccceeeee.

[voblat]

Maybe its just me, and the game was a perculiarly British phenomenon(I am unsiure of where and when the game was released outside the UK, it was available on every known platform at the time though.I happily played it on a BBC micro), I have no idea.

but this game is Elite , online.

Which if it actually ends up being a functional game, to me at least, would be a good thing.

Its also somewhat of a surpise, http://www.frontier.co.uk/ have been teasing trailers for the real Elite 4 online for 5 years or more.

[Sky]

It would only be really impressive if 1) they had actually already released a game and 2) they got down to the planet's surface and there was shit going on (wild life, characters etc.) going on in real time too.

Hurray for Spore!

[Slayerik]

Eve is too slow, complicated, and spread out for my tastes.

Oh wait....Nevermind. It's Space.


Seriously though, just give me something like Wing Commander. "Massively Multiplayer" optional! I want joysticks, dogfights, et cetera. And leave the Ambient score out while you're at it. That shit sucks.

Better yet, get rid of any hint of Euro sensibility. I'm sorry, there are a lot of great things over there, but the Sci-Fi is usually lame. It's like French Rock 'n' Roll. They just don't understand it. Han Solo (and his brand of cockiness) is an American thing. The culture of pilot fighting is an American thing (because we have like real planes and shit).

I have to agree here....Wing Commander/Privateer/Star Control 2/Trade Wars mixed game FTW.

[SnakeCharmer]

Will have to keep tabs on this one.

At least there is no fooking floppy eared elves...

[Viin]

Will have to keep tabs on this one.

At least there is no fooking floppy eared elves...

Don't get your hopes up just yet .. I bet the cover art has a space elf ..

[Slyfeind]

I want to know that, when chased, I can dive into the atmosphere, into a canyon, fly like I did in Descent and win the battle because of it. Anything short of using the ground as part of the game experience is a wasted effort.

Seems like if you're lucky, you'll find an awesome canyon like that. Most probably though...you won't:

Won't the game be very repetitive, then ?
This is a danger. But reality is sometimes boring too. I will try my best to recreate variety in the game, so that visiting a new planet is always a new experience. However, with a hundred billion worlds to explore, you can bet some of them will be pretty uninteresting.

Yay, some of us wanted to see another try at emergent gameplay, so...we'll see. It definately looks cool, and it's on my radar fo sho. But...we'll see.

I don't necessarily need to land and disembark for some fun ground combat.

You have ground combat...WHILE FLYING? 

[sarius]

Anything short of using the ground as part of the game experience is a wasted effort.

Although I appreciate the vista, I would agree here.  Having said that, it's nice to see potential for a game that combines space and planetary interactivity seemlessly.

[Yegolev]

While I am glad that someone is working on this sort of thing, I'll bet cash money that CCP will add ground combat to EVE before these guys get a working game out.  Both should happen around the time UNIX systems roll around to epoch again.

[raydeen]

Interview with the game designers:

http://www.gamemusketeers.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=112&Itemid=2

"Infinity will have a hundred billion star systems to explore." Carl Sagan would've loved this game. "Billions and billions and billions and billions and...."

[Riggswolfe]

Seriously though, just give me something like Wing Commander. "Massively Multiplayer" optional! I want joysticks, dogfights, et cetera. And leave the Ambient score out while you're at it. That shit sucks.

A small part of my hate for UO is based on the fact that Wing Commander died after it was successful. God, I loved that series. I even loved the cheesy ones with the FMV mixed in. Hell, I still reinstall WC Prophecy once in a while. I bought Starlancer in hopes it'd be Wing Commander minus the name. Unfortunately it was more like the WC movie than the games.

[Der Helm]

I heard about this thing called the RAF once, I heard they kicked some ass back in the day...?

Thats all. :-D

[Endie]

I heard about this thing called the RAF once, I heard they kicked some ass back in the day...?

Thats all. :-D

Ah yes, the Me262, which with its 1.5:1 kill ratio defeated the RAF and won the Second World War for Germany.  Oh no, wait a minute...  :-D

[Gutboy Barrelhouse]

The Me262's kill ratio was low because after a while the allies decided since they were so difficult to kill in actual air to air combat the best way to shoot them down was to loiter around the 262's airfield and "gank" them as they came into land.

[Falconeer]

Oh that must be why the WWII was canceled after 6 years: non-consensual PvP and too many nerfs to the formerly strongest faction.

[Engels]

Not that too many folks are interested, but Ubisoft has re-released IL-2 Sturmovik compendium, including all 1946 jets and so forth. Its on sale at new egg for like, $20 and includes all previous expansions.

[Endie]

Oh that must be why the WWII was canceled after 6 years: non-consensual PvP and too many nerfs to the formerly strongest faction.

Genius.  :-D

WWII Patch notes v1.14

...
German Fighter Pilot class is now duellable on landing approach.
...

Forum Respone

AdolfGalland: Wtf this is it I am one of the vets who has been with this crappy game since release, and stuck by the German faction even through the nerfs to Panthers and 109s.  I have had enough now, though.  Well done, devs, I am cancelling all my accounts.  Clearly the devs all have US and UK characters tbqh.

Don't bother with the "can i have your stuff" line, you'll all be laughing less when the proposed nuke buff creates a stupidly overpowered alpha strike class.

[Tannhauser]

I'm sick and tired of the Democracy and Communist factions ganging up on the Facist faction.   

[Endie]

I'm sick and tired of the Democracy and Communist factions ganging up on the Facist faction.   

You can always use the character transfer option like the Italians did.  Although good luck grinding all that allied faction if you've reached SS Officer rank in PvP by ganking defenseless crafters.