Ladies and gentlemen of the board (pun!), I am planning on a Total Conversion of EV:O to another wonderful space game, "Master of Orion." Let me break it down for you:

Master of Orion was originally created for Windows, but was converted a while back. My father recieved a copy through unclear methods, and gave it to me, which I thoroughly enjoy. The game itself is different from EV:O in the fact that you are the president of a race, rather than a random pilot. Instead of taking orders, you give them. A truly awesome game, which I would recommend to anyone who likes the board game, RISK.

I was playing MOO, when I beat yet another scenario, and switched to EV:O. That's when the greatest idea I have ever had about video games hit me: Why not combine my two most favorite space-faring video games? I instantly snatched up a notebook and began laying out the rules, and even started drawing a system map.

Unfortunately, I will need to create my own sprites for this one. I was wondering what you would suggest for the following:

1. Creating sprites from scratch.
2. Converting SimpleText Pictures to sprites.
3. Creating a new splash screen.
4. A plug-in editor better than EV-Edit and Res-Edit (If possible).
5. The place in code for the new splash screen.
6. Where to edit the "opening poem".

Thank you for your time.
BOGWarrior

P.S. I am working with MissionComputer 9 right now.

Is there a particular reason that you are using Override as opposed to Nova?

Presumably because of the effort involved-EVO is somewhat easier to get into, and he did say he switched to it-not necessarily Nova.

It wouldn't be too hard, I'd think, to port it to Nova afterwards. Of course, getting there is the major problem.

-Bob

I have a confession to make: I don't have the money to register Nova. And, EV:O does seem simpler to work with; Nova's graphics are probably beyond my current skill and patience level. Plus, this is pretty much my first plug-in, other than the simple addition of the forklift to EV:O and a small Emalgha-based plug-in.

Hmmm...

Hmmm...

refrains.

Please, you can tell me anything. All help will be appreciated.

Wait, are you porting the EVO scenario to the MOO engine, or the MOO scenario to the EVO engine?

BOGWarrior, on Jan 13 2006, 12:27 PM, said:

Plus, this is pretty much my first plug-in, other than the simple addition of the forklift to EV:O and a small Emalgha-based plug-in.
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If you don't have much plug-in experience, I wouldn't recommend starting out with a TC. Even making one for EVO, there is still a lot of work involved with making one of good quality, and I suspect that a MOO scenario would have to be very, very big.

I'd recommend making a small TC or even just a medium-sized plug-in for EVO.

What is this obsession with making TCs? What ever happened to making just plugins? Plugins that can be realistically made without promising the Earth.

These days, it would easier to make a new OSX game from scratch than it would be to develop a good TC.

Perhaps the only difference between me and others is that I'm drawing it all out on notebook paper before I ACTUALLY DO ANY CODING. Plus, I don't think it'll take THAT long; the desc and misn will take the longest, with a close second by the sprites, but as for now, it is running along smoothly (only because I haven't encountered any bugs.) As for plug-in experience, I know enough not to use EV-Edit. Doesn't that qualify me? :laugh:

i might be willing to help, i never played MoO, but if you give me some good reference photos i could model some ships, i'd need somone else to do the sprites and masks (as there are no existing tools i can find that do it on Windows) but i'd be willing to help if i could find the time.

tycho61uk, on Jan 13 2006, 03:24 PM, said:

These days, it would easier to make a new OSX game from scratch than it would be to develop a good TC.
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Remove the "OSX" and you'll have the thought that's been floating in my mind for the last 3 months.

BOGWarrior, on Jan 13 2006, 04:09 AM, said:

2. Converting SimpleText Pictures to sprites.
   View Post

Copy/paste into ResEdit (or MC). Or if you have a series of individual images rather than a sprite set you will need to download w00tware's Sprites tools.

BOGWarrior, on Jan 13 2006, 04:09 AM, said:

4. A plug-in editor better than EV-Edit and Res-Edit (If possible).
   P.S. I am working with MissionComputer 9 right now.
   View Post

Er, what else do you want? Latest version here.

BOGWarrior, on Jan 13 2006, 04:09 AM, said:

5. The place in code for the new splash screen.
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The splash is just a PICT (I think in Override Titles).

BOGWarrior, on Jan 13 2006, 04:09 AM, said:

6. Where to edit the "opening poem".
   View Post

Opening poem? You mean the haikus? That's also a PICT. Or the scrolling text when you begin the game? That's a STR# resource somewhere.

OOC: How do you quote?

To Edwin_again:
Alright, but the pictures aren't grand; it is the original, and the ships are rather small. I'll do the best I can to get pictures for you.

To Guy:
The opening poem, the one displayed when you start a new pilot.

Thank you guys. Not a lot of time right now, I'll get back to you later.
BOGWarrior

The 'opening poem' can be edited by entering EVO Data 1 and going to the STR# resource. It is at the very bottom, titled Intro Text.

Mostly I refrained because what I had to say wasn't going to be of any help.

Talk to UncleTwitchy about TCs - really, PM him and ask him about Star Fleet Adventures. I'm sure he could give you buckets of advice. Honestly, he's the only Nova TC person to even look like he's going to come through.

And, if you can't even afford Nova... Vision is a big thing, very big thing. Without big vision, you don't have much going...

Do you have your map down cold?
(I'm working on mine when I have the chance..{and I remember..})

This post has been edited by ScratSkinner : 18 January 2006 - 01:46 PM

Which MoO are you doing it of? 1, 2, or 3? I never played one, two is my personal favorite, but three has the most diverse scenario (perhaps too diverse...)

JoshTigerheart, on Jan 19 2006, 04:39 PM, said:

Which MoO are you doing it of? 1, 2, or 3? I never played one, two is my personal favorite, but three has the most diverse scenario (perhaps too diverse...)
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I'm doing one, for it was the BEST. Honestly, if you haven't played it, God will rest your soul (only if you haven't played it and played the other ones, mind you.) I tried MOO II: Battle for Antares and thought it was a big jump backwards. It was too restrictive; the BC in the original was in the thousands, so wasn't that big of a problem.

I don't know, the original seemed more like you were the president, making the game seem all that more cooler.

And yes, my map is set in stone; I may upload it later, but don't expect that to be too soon.

I'll give him a ring; thanks Shrout1. (Not that I can't afford it, it's just that I'm lazy)

Here's the update:

As of right now, I have all the governments (34 of them) laid down and ready. I began mapping out the systems, but ran into a problem with names; I'll be drawing names for the original Master of Orion, but I have a feeling there isn't going to be enough to name 222 systems. As far as sprites go, I got really REALLY crappy individual images, I'll post one for you guys to laugh at, so I'm going to be working with Bryce 4 to create actual ship images; I'll need someone else to do the sprites.

Oh, and for those who want the original, just ask me, and I'll send you a copy via E-mail. My address is BOGWarrior89@hotmail.com. I'll be back to give you guys a low-down on what's happening later, I left my notebook at home.

EDIT:

Official syst count: 225 starting systems.

This post has been edited by BOGWarrior : 20 February 2006 - 01:20 PM