Big in many ways... as in ambitionistic, using nearly every resource, heavy plot, etc. AND in distribution size.
As I posted awhile back, I'm considering making a replacement plugin (I've dabbled, never released) for EVO and have even gone so far as to enlist the help of an ex-SGI employee who just happens to be giving a presentation at FF2K (Flash Forward 2000) shortly. In other words, the graphics would be killer, literally professional level work. I don't want to drop names, yet, but you can see some of his work in this bit of wallpaper he did for evolt.org. (url="http://"http://www.evolt.org/files/evoltorg_wallpaper_2112fx_800x600.jpg")http://www.evolt.org...2fx_800x600.jpg(/url) (about 270k or so... change 800x600 to 1024x768 or 1280x1024 if you want bigger.)
And, oh, helping with the overall plot? Another friend who's a professional writer.
Now don't start drooling and asking for builds---nothing's started, and I won't be able to touch even the dregs of the beginning till this fall. When I do, I'll need testers for a private beta and then go through a few public builds. Fair? Yup.
But anyway, I already know that the distribution size of this plugin will have to be quite large in order to completely fulfil the artistic sensibilities of both myself and my 3d loving compatriot. Basically this means
(list=1)
()truly utilizing EVO's quicktime support (moreso than Frozen Heart, no offense to its author, of course, as it's a fantastic plugin)
()A large range of sprite sizes, all the way from an 8px to a 480px. (Yes, I am a sadist)
(/list=a)
The ship graphics won't be too awful, as the plug would still be below 10MB. But the quicktime movies? That's going to push the distro size into the 20MB range. And then of course there is the concern for users of more... challenged Macs---machines that would lock hard with a 480px sprite.
To solve these problems, it's likely that I'll fracture the plugin into a mix-and-match of several smaller plugins which one can download to create the version that's best fitted to your Mac. i.e., separate plugins for big sprites or standard sprites. Full QuickTime movies, or basic QuickTime movies (gotta keep the movies even for basic---large parts of the plot will come through cut-scenes. don't worry---quicktime can display what's known as a "text track", which is just straight ascii text). You get the picture, right?
I guess, then, what I'm basically asking is whether or not this will confuse the hell out of the community. Developer side, I can keep track of it as making sprites and the correct spins is really nothing---it's a resource for resource swap, and just a matter of adjusting the size in the spob. The quicktime movies will plug right in without problem.
thoughts?
(Yes, I have ambition. Bite me.)
(This message has been edited by foo12 (edited 07-18-2000).)
