Capital Authority - moddable tactical top down shooter

[bladum]

Hi,

Capital Authority is game that looks like Star Control 2 super melee but its much deeper then that (watch videos). Game is free but i have not think about license for it. Name is taken as a closest synonym to Star Control and it sounds cool.

Git hub page GitHub
Reference for original game Wikipedia
Download Download Link

Focus:

1. core engine features
2. moddability
3. API documentation
4. single default mod (SC2 based)
   
5. get more contributors
6. larger battles scale
7. AI support
8. advanced objectives system

Out of focus:

1. performance
2. effects, shaders, particles
3. audio & music
4. network support
5. new ships for default mod other then in SC2
6. gameplay balance for default mod

I made game in Game maker already, now moving to Love2D for moddability and network support and.... best community ever.



Thanks for feedback
Tom

[skyHights]

It's looking cool, I will point out however that when you or another ship leaves the minimap area the dot still displays, just outside the box.

For modability you might want to look into monkey-patching, where files can be placed into a certain folder and they are run at launch, while it's more plugins than modding it does allow for very easy use when done, and would allow (if documented well) for people to very easily add ships and the like into the game.

To do that to the extreme you can make all the ships in the game load the same way as modded ones would, e.g. a ship's folder where the ships are, it leads to more files than otherwise needed, but makes it a lot easier to understand for other people, and makes it a lot easier to mod/edit.

[bladum]

Minimap will be cropped, thanks
I have added poll regarding best method of modding. If you guys prefer folder approach i will do it so, thanks

[davisdude]

Take a look at how big games like Garry's Mod handle modding. I would not recommend having users edit existing files. What happens when the game updates? The user has to re-copy and paste each mod they've downloaded, and it also makes it a pain to handle.

[bladum]

mode structure updated to folder based. Now new ship is being add to the game (for current mod) just by adding new folder with contents.

Thanks for feedback.

[bladum]

update version 0.2.

Looking for contributors

WSAD to move
LMB + RMB = use weapons
wheel mouse = zoom
MMB = reset zoom
space = switch ship
enter = switch side
esc = quit

F12 = debug mode

ps: forget to crop minimap

[airstruck]

Looks promising, but frame rate is really low on my (admittedly crappy) laptop, any room for improvement there? I've seen similar things run at 60fps, but this runs at about 10fps.

[skyHights]

Looking for contributors

What are you looking for from contributors?

Code for mechanics, code for items, code for ships.
Art (same list as above)
Music/Sound effects?

[bladum]

It can be anything

My Focus is on building platform / environment for modders not for players. If you like concept of converting any possible game idea into space ship with two unique abilities, then go ahead and contribute even when its only an idea.

Imagine mod in which units are based on starcraft in regards of gameplay not graphics. We need for example burrowing ability for zerg ( which is API to chsnge type of unit to another one) or life regeneration when close to base. Protos needs shields and terans fire on damaged ships. So if you need some new API just let me know.

I am not going to reject any future pull requests which are not directly againts rules defined in first post.

Regarding data my only Focus is on sc2 mod. If you like IT you may update arts already exist in the gamę or provide feedback about gamę balance, which at that moment is non existing. My mod would be vanilla data to help invite more contributors. But after that i want Focus only od moddability and core features.

I hope i have answered your question

Another example is ww2 mod

We need API for different Control method for tank / plane / soldier. Rotating turrets. Running crouching and jumping for walking units. Fiction based on terrain ( in space IT is constant ) and different collision model. Same with plane with minimal velocity and ability not to collide with land units ( check total anihikation )

[4aiman]

The idea is really nice!


My 2 cents on making a platform:

• 1. Engines are not fun for majority. One cannot play the engine.
  2. Engine+deafult_game is not fun for majority either. Two words one will hear from every other modder: missing features. All "thanks" will probably go to modders, not the core dev. Keep that in mind if you want feedback and/or appreciation.
  3. It's a good idea to create some API and enforce it's usage. State officially that non-API mods are not supported at all.
  4. It's a good idea to encourage pull requests creation. Especially those requests which add new API methods.

Good luck with the project!