Hi,

I've been following this development for over a year now.

Things seem to be going slowly, at least from an end user perspective.

Can you give some kind of definative timetable regarding the merging of game/AI/combat for this game?

I'd like to playtest, but until that happens, I don't really see the point.

AI and Combat being so critical in this type of game.

Welcome TheOne, we are glad to hear from you.

We hope to have a multiplayer version by August. You will be able to play against other human player only. Combat will also be without a 3D engine so the ships will not be seen fighting.

We can not say how long the development of the combat engine will take but we have a user working on it.

A play testing phase will need to take place after August to refine the final game design. Once that is in place work on the AI would begin. Until all the components of the game that the AI will control are in place the AI can not be completed.

I can not say how long that will take but we would like you to help play test.

Looking forward to August!!

So say we all.

It's 20th of september now and I have a similar question:

Will I get a nice birthday gift or not? (my birthday is 28th of September)

And we all know what I want (and probably what will the answer be - so here is a back up question: How long do you estimate till it's ready)

1) No, sorry
2) When it's ready. I honestly don't know.

Think it will be sooner than 6 months? 5 months? 4 mo? 3? I know... No fair.

Angry and/or evil thoughts...


Just release the damn thing when its, ready, you are doing a great job as it is, till that time - well back to drooling (and bitching )

As you already noticed, Mike IS posting screenshots of his recent updates to the game. The new shipyards and shipviews are a fantastic update over what BOTF had, and that's certainly not the only update that has been in the works. I know it seems like it's taking forever, but the rewards will be worth the wait.

I've gotta say, I've been loading up the game just to watch the ships spin around in 3D. For such a simple feature, it really adds to the experience.

Ok, so that just hurts... LOL Bashir

And I've only got like six ships imported so far. Just imagine how much time I'll waste watching the Dominion and Cardie ships.

Matress wants Romulans!

Strings made a model viewer when he made his combat system. It's on Sharepoint Here. Unfortunately it's not compatible with .Net anymore and instantly crashes when you try to run it. But I used to just sit and watch the models he had in there spinning round. And it included some damn fine models. There was even a 3D model of the Federation emblem lol.

So I know exactly how you're feeling Mike. It's mesmerising. People are going to LOVE this update.

I already love the updates. The problem is I'm a little annoying, because I wish to play BOTF and after trying BOTF2 pre-alpha the old 1 just doesn't cut it anymore.

yeah, your right. But until Supremacy MP is out, botf is the only mp ST game out, which brings fun over time.



We all want the Romulans!

Actually, the existing version of Supremacy already has a fully-working multiplayer mode. All you need is someone to play against and their IP address. Feel free to post a new thread if you want to try playing against someone, and remember to post feedback if you do.

By the way, I was wrong in my previous post. Strings' Combat System and Model Viewers both still work regardless of what version of .Net you have. You simply need to install the XNA 1.0 Refresh to make them usable.

thanks for your replys Matress,

how many players is minimum for playing in multiplayer mode?

There's a two player minimum. Since there's no AI (Artificial Intelligence) though, the other Empires will simply sit there and do nothing. Once the AI is implemented, it will automatically take control of any Empire that isn't human-controlled. We also plan to eventually improve multiplayer by adding a lobby system so you can see any currently-being-played games and join them, but for the moment, you'll just have to ask each other for your IP addresses.

Oh, and since there's no combat OR planetary invasions, you can't fight or win/lose either.

AI won't be coming for a long while yet. Planet invasions will be coming sooner, but probably not in the next update (They're not in my current versions of the game anyways). Combat is anyone's guess as to when it's coming. We've had to scrap CdrWolfe's Combat system because the underlying engine was XP-compatible ONLY, and the developers of that engine do not plan to update it so we've had to drop it. We've still got all the ship/station/alien models though. We can use them in any combat system, as long as the models can be converted to a file type that the underlying engine can accept.

If you haven't seen them, you can watch demos of Wolfe's Combat System Here.

We don't currently have a replacement system in the works, but if you know anyone with programming skills, you're welcome to give them a nudge for us.