Load dosbox on your machine then set the clock in dosbox lower and they work fine...
Why has there never been a Traveller computer game?
- Thread starter MrMorden
- Start date
Load dosbox on your machine then set the clock in dosbox lower and they work fine...
RPG's Like Traveller
For now Knights of the Old Republic 1 + 2 might suffice till someone comes up with a Traveller specific game.
I was at first relectant to play a Starwars game but they turned out to be the best games I have ever played.
They uses the D20 system.
Awsome graphics, lots of weapons and some modifications, plus you get your own ship.
For now Knights of the Old Republic 1 + 2 might suffice till someone comes up with a Traveller specific game.
I was at first relectant to play a Starwars game but they turned out to be the best games I have ever played.
They uses the D20 system.
Awsome graphics, lots of weapons and some modifications, plus you get your own ship.
Also it takes time to develop a new game...and time is one thing that Traveller has not really had a lot of...meaning that the window for computer games was in the time during the time that Imperium Games and FFE has held the Intellectual Property.
Now we all know that IG was a non starter...maybe it had lots of promise but nothing ever came about it. FFE has done great work with doing reprints but I don't think Marc had the time to really investigate and push for a computer game. And, in the inbetween time the IP has really languished in relative obscurity. T20 did put Traveller back on the radar screen but only briefly. Many games would rather steal Traveller tropes rather than come up with a copy.
Now we all know that IG was a non starter...maybe it had lots of promise but nothing ever came about it. FFE has done great work with doing reprints but I don't think Marc had the time to really investigate and push for a computer game. And, in the inbetween time the IP has really languished in relative obscurity. T20 did put Traveller back on the radar screen but only briefly. Many games would rather steal Traveller tropes rather than come up with a copy.
However, all of the theoretical design elements are in place. A Far Trader has a shape, deckplans, a purpose and rules to govern it's operations. The Spinward is laid out, and could be taken(at first) in small bites - like a subsector - with later add-ons. Scout characters have creation rules and combat abilities. Etc. Etc.
As i see it, the only difficult coding feature (that could really sell) would be to incude a network model 'blank' with each account - allowing a person to use the standardized design rules for starships, but 'mod' thier own ship model into that 'blank'. The functions would still be the same (since a pulse laser is a pulse laser, etc.), but the network would display a unique model. The real problem would be bandwidth, syncing computers and network storage....so that might be rough. One would have to temporarily dowload to an active computer each new 'blank' when (and only when) it is encountered.
Of course, the whole thing rides on one element- where there is a will there is a way. Independent artists and modders should look to games like Freetrader or Orbiter...I tried to set something up with a modeller but he ran into RealLife(c) problems. i think that anyone so inclined may start another post for creating such a mod.
If Marc Miller gives it a thumbs up and retains rights, he can squash it for a Pro game later, if ever. Else, it would be grand just to make one cargo run out of Jewel!
As i see it, the only difficult coding feature (that could really sell) would be to incude a network model 'blank' with each account - allowing a person to use the standardized design rules for starships, but 'mod' thier own ship model into that 'blank'. The functions would still be the same (since a pulse laser is a pulse laser, etc.), but the network would display a unique model. The real problem would be bandwidth, syncing computers and network storage....so that might be rough. One would have to temporarily dowload to an active computer each new 'blank' when (and only when) it is encountered.
Of course, the whole thing rides on one element- where there is a will there is a way. Independent artists and modders should look to games like Freetrader or Orbiter...I tried to set something up with a modeller but he ran into RealLife(c) problems. i think that anyone so inclined may start another post for creating such a mod.
If Marc Miller gives it a thumbs up and retains rights, he can squash it for a Pro game later, if ever. Else, it would be grand just to make one cargo run out of Jewel!
The Traveller Universe doesn't translate to MMORPGs
Back in the day I used to program MUDs and I have thought long and hard about how to apply the Traveller universe to an online game and there is one major reason it wouldn't work. It's a feature of the Traveller universe that is central, but impossible to implement to an online game: The speed of communication is limited to the speed of travel.
This is impossible to implement in a modern online game and breaking that contstraint would break Traveller.
So, as a previous posted suggested. I found that EVE online has the best platform to be an explorer, merchant/trader, mercenary, Naval commander. All the classic Traveller types...
Back in the day I used to program MUDs and I have thought long and hard about how to apply the Traveller universe to an online game and there is one major reason it wouldn't work. It's a feature of the Traveller universe that is central, but impossible to implement to an online game: The speed of communication is limited to the speed of travel.
This is impossible to implement in a modern online game and breaking that contstraint would break Traveller.
So, as a previous posted suggested. I found that EVE online has the best platform to be an explorer, merchant/trader, mercenary, Naval commander. All the classic Traveller types...
I too love EVE, as well as the Freelancer game. Both have Traveller feelings, but they aren't Traveller. Though EVE is very close.
But as stated above you run into the problem of jump time in Traveller. That just doesn't translate over well to a video game, unless its a single player game where there are cutscenes or adventures during jump time. If an MMO told you you had to wait even five minutes in empty space between areas, you'd have no players.
EVE can take a long time to get places just because of the size of the game. Also, those dirty gate campers will blow you to scrap if your not careful.
But as stated above you run into the problem of jump time in Traveller. That just doesn't translate over well to a video game, unless its a single player game where there are cutscenes or adventures during jump time. If an MMO told you you had to wait even five minutes in empty space between areas, you'd have no players.
EVE can take a long time to get places just because of the size of the game. Also, those dirty gate campers will blow you to scrap if your not careful.
Drakon
SOC-14 1K
I think Kafka47 has a point, that the time to start a new game has passed. However, I think there is a way to revitalize interest to make it a viable product.
Do a Traveller movie first. As Gatsby points out, we have settings, ships, and characters. All we need is a plot. What Traveller adventure would make the best movie?
If the movie is any success, a computer game will get developed.
Do a Traveller movie first. As Gatsby points out, we have settings, ships, and characters. All we need is a plot. What Traveller adventure would make the best movie?
If the movie is any success, a computer game will get developed.
Run them in DOSBox. Seriously. Run that emulation layer, rather than just trying to slow the hardware down. DOSBox does simulate a slower system clock WHEN CONFIGURED CORRECTLY.
I've run MegaTraveller on a PPC G3 Mac running DOSBox. I had to tune the speed WAY down, but it did work.
Also, there was a third, earlier, Traveller computer game: SPACE... released for the Apple II by GDW. Now free-license since the code devolved to MWM. Also runs just fine in an emulator.
Pardon the Pun...but certainly the best Traveller Adventure is the Traveller Adventure. However, it would be very costly to make and really need the dedication of Peter Jackson to pull it off. And, film makers like that are hard to come by. Therefore, if one is to a single adventure...they should do something more managable perhaps Type S from MJD would make a good movie.
However, what would really work well, IMHO, would be a serial of small movies (based around a series CT adventures eg. Mission Across Mithral, Shadows, Divine Intervention, Twilight's Peak), embedded in a single feature film.
Have some main characters to act as protagonists and have the characters that would act as NPCs in another featurette just bumping into one another even if they were the main protagonist in the previous featurette. {am I making sense here}
This way one could really explore vast tracks of the Traveller Universe without committing to a single storyline.
Mission on Mithral could easily be a nice 75-90 min movie.
Chamax Plague, Horde, Across the Bright Face: also could, easily.
Twilight's peak needs about 2 hours of screen time; 2:30:00 to give nice visuals.
Shadows could, but is too much the typical slasher flick, really.
Chamax Plague, Horde, Across the Bright Face: also could, easily.
Twilight's peak needs about 2 hours of screen time; 2:30:00 to give nice visuals.
Shadows could, but is too much the typical slasher flick, really.
Drakon
SOC-14 1K
Any movie will need some kind of intro to get the audience into the universe of Traveller. I think that would be the hard part, to get enough information out there so the audience does not get lost. After that, you have characters, plot, spaceships and settings should be fairly easy. Dialogue might be easy to do if you bring a recorder to your next gaming session and use that as a basic script.
People will sit for a longer movie, but only if it is epic, like Lord of the Rings kind of epic.
What would be the bare minimum information one would need for an intro?
People will sit for a longer movie, but only if it is epic, like Lord of the Rings kind of epic.
What would be the bare minimum information one would need for an intro?
[fade into starfield, with a lowly free trader precipating from jump space]
Voice (Denis Hopper): "This is Free Trader Beowulf hailing Aramis Starport, we are carrying a full cargo of lima beans and assorted machine parts requesting berthing number and broker services. Comeon, Aramis control, turn on the beacon...Damn it Gashii, did you miscalculate the vector again. Natashii get on the scopes, what is in the neighbourhood?"
[bridge akin to the Firefly bridge replete with plastic dinosaurs]
Natashii (Angelina Jolie in a Jumpsuit) [clears away the plastic dinosaurs]: "We have a Gas Giant not .75 AU off our current bearing. With our current fuel reserves, I would suggest that we utilize 2G thrust and preserve the remainder for when we scoop. Captain, I am getting a bogey closing in fast...vector 85* she's a launching something..."
Captain (picking up the ship intercom): "Mule, to the turret NOW." [whole ship shakes with impact].
Mule (Adam Baldwin): "Captain, turret number one is gone...and turrent number is not responding." [another vibration shakes the ship]
Gashii (Winona Ryder): "Sir, that last blast just took out our main drive and we are leaking."
Captain: "Heads up, people... Vacc Suits everyone.
This is Free Trader Beowulf,
Calling anyone...
Mayday,Mayday...
We are under attack...
Main drive is gone...
Turret number one is not responding...
Mayday...
Losing cabin pressure fast...
Calling anyone...
Calling anyone...
Please help...
This is Free Trader Beowulf...
Mayday....
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far-trader
SOC-14 10K
Even skipping the plastic dinosaurs on the bridge (and you'd have to) any Traveller movie will probably open to panning by the critics and preview audiences as a rip-off of Joss and Firefly.
As usual, the film industry gets its facts wrong. Forboldn Down is nothing like what the manuscript describes:
http://jtas.sjgames.com/login/article.cgi?157
;-)
Hans
PS. To head off certain comments: Yes, I'm aware that articles published on JTAS Online are not canon.
Andrew Boulton
The Adminator
Ah, but that's after the War...
How about a nice dramatic intro, showing the vista of Capital and the Imperial Palace. You follow a young noble from his shuttle landing, up the many steps to the palace and through. The intro music builds as he reaches the throne room. Once inside, the noble kneels to the Emperor and accepts his greetings. As he rises, he draws his pistol and fires. Cue a general firefight and the escape of the noble, Dulinor. The shuttle lifts from Capital and the opening credits roll.
Start the film with a quiet scene on a world in the Spinward Marches. The Archduke Norris receives notification of the Emperor's death. The remainder of the film, the Imperial Civil War. The scope of great fleets moving against each other, destroying whole worlds. The Archduke Norris, creating the Regency and trying to hold the line.
Epic enough?
Alternatively, there's the Fifth Frontier War or the Solomani War.
IMO, a film about Traveller would have to go big to introduce the scope of the universe before it could go small and tell a normal gaming party scale story. One of the story arcs could perhaps follow a small trader Captain as he tries to keep his ship going through the events that surround him, but a small scale film wouldn't have the impact to pull an audience in. Maybe, if the film franchise caught on, a later film could do so.
Oh, and regarding a computer game. Maybe with Mongoose becoming part of Rebellion, the gaming side of the company might look at doing something with the Traveller license.
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No, it is all of them. Authoritative but not canon.
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