Fury's Sky: Vagabond (AKA Fury's Sky 2 - GZ-based flight action game)

 

Greetings and salutations! Welcome to the development thread for Fury's Sky: Vagabond, the successor to my older GZ-based flight game, Fury's Sky.

 

 

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FAQ

 

Q1. Why a new game? Why not just finish the old one?

A1. There are a couple reasons for this. A large part of it was that the code base for FS1 was an unmaintainable mess of spaghetti that was only going to cause problems and induce aggravation going forward. This is largely because, when I started work on FS, I had been seriously programming for less than a year. Mistakes and bad practices were bound to happen. While I'm overall pleased with the work I did, especially considering my lack of experience, it was time to move on. Another reason was to just start from the drawing board creatively and come up with newer, more interesting scenarios and gameplay.

 

Q2. What's gonna be different about Vagabond?

A2. Vagabond will be a vast improvement on the FS concept in terms of gameplay and feel. Even in it's relatively early state, it still has a number of unique features such as an auto-targeting system that reveals enemy health and provides a target for lock-on weapons, a more in-depth and streamlined weapon system for easy development and prototyping of aircraft weaponry, improved controls and handling, and, like I was aiming for, a more streamlined codebase. Further down the line I'm gunning for a more non-linear mission structure, multiple plane classes, and a LOT of weapons.

 

Q3. What are some returning features in Vagabond from the original?

A3. A lot of the basic controls and gameplay functions are still the same. Steering is still done with the mouse, throttle is still manually controlled, players can still somersault and barrel roll by holding Shift and tapping one of the WASD keys, and the airbrake is as functional as ever, with the energy shield and all.

 

Q4. Are there any playable builds available?

A4. As of this writing, not yet. Vagabond is still in a very early stage and it will be a while before a single mission is even in the game. Good news is, the game is progressing quickly, and I might just have a build out sooner than I think. In the meantime, follow this thread for development news and check out some early screenshots.

 

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Model: F/I-8 Enforcer

Default Weapons:

1. Force Cannon: A rapid-fire pulse weapon that can shred opponents in the hands of a skilled pilot.

2. Force Missile: A powerful lock-on pulse that requires a target in order to fire.

Equippable Weapon Types:

Primary: Cannon.

Secondary: Missile.

Top Speed: 65 UPT

Maneuverability: 0.5 deg/T

Health: 120 units

Energy: 200 units

 

Model: F/A-22 Taurus

Default Weapons: 

1. Scatter Pulse: A spreadshot weapon that deals heavy damage if all shots connect.

2. Homing Darts: A launcher that fires 4 darts in a cone, which home in on a target after a delay.

Equippable Weapon Types:

Primary: Pulse.

Secondary: Missile.

Top Speed: 60 UPT

Maneuverability: 0.4 deg/T

Health: 150 units

Energy: 250 units

 

 

Model: B-9 Aries

Default Weapons: 

1. Flak Shards: A spread of homing, explosive pulses is launched to ensnare and obliterate a target.

2. Flak Bolt: A small, yet powerful, explosive pulse is launched forward at a respectable fire rate.

Equippable Weapon Types:

Primary: Bomb.

Secondary: Bomb.

Top Speed: 50 UPT

Maneuverability: 0.35 deg/T

Health: 200 units

Energy: 300 units

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Screenshots and media: 

 

 

Edited January 2 by Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy) : Updated hangar screenie

Wow! Nice look!

Just updated the thread with a basic video and some info on the current player planes. Check it out!

REAL SHIT GUYS 
 

 

 

So yeah, weapon and plane upgrade systems are coming along nicely. I might as well take a minute and explain how they work.

 

1. When the game boots up, you're dropped into a room with a mission computer. Accessing the computer and choosing a mission will allow access to the hangar, which is where aircraft and weapon handling is done.

2. There will be props of the individual craft in the hangar for planes you have unlocked. Interacting with them will bring up the menu shown above. 
3. Using the menu will allow you to upgrade the plane, choose a primary and secondary weapon, as well as buy new primary and secondary weapons. Note that only weapons that are compatible with the plane you've chosen will be displayed for purchase. 

4. Once you're done, hitting the button that says "Sortie with this aircraft" will launch the mission with the plane you've chosen.

 

And that's it! 

One last thing; weapons come in four types so far (Cannon, Pulse, Missile, and Bomb), and planes can only have certain kinds of weapons in their primary and secondary slots. For example, the Enforcer can only have a cannon in its primary slot and a missile in its secondary slot. Another example; the Aries can have missiles and bombs in both primary and secondary slots. Go ahead and experiment!

Made some renovations to textures and materials. Check out the new screenshots!

 

Development is going well. Note that I will be updating the stats of the player planes in this thread with the new speeds and handling.

Merr after-Crimbo! Hope you guys enjoyed the holidays. I sure did! 

 

Now, back to work...

 

Happy new year one and all! Today saw a large smorgasbord of UI improvements to Vagabond! Follow me on X for the goods! 

Alright, so in the interest of transparency, I feel I'm getting very close to being able to release a public build of FS:Vagabond. There are still a few more things I need to do before it's ready. These are listed below: 

-Develop a tutorial level and a sample level.

-Add environment materials to facilitate these levels.

-Polish the mission menu and add some graphics.

-Add materials/skins for friendly units.

-Get a texture and model for the mission computer.

 

Once all that's done I should be able to have a rudimentary build up and running. I'll be sure to inform you all if any complications arise...

EDIT: striking off tasks!

Edited Wednesday at 09:41 PM by Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy) : Progress update

 

It's coming...