| 25 Novemebr 2000 |
Did
we mention…?
Just though I'd mention this issue as I don't
think we have brought it up yet…all the
lasers in SWTA will be full 3d. For those of you
who don't know or never really thought about this
lasers in TA are actually drawn in pixels.
"So why are we bothering" I here you
ask. Well TA actually renders 3d objects faster
then in draws lines, so it will in fact help to
reduce lag. There are a few sceptics
around that actually believe it contributes to
more lag in extreme circumstances. Also though it
leaves the possibility for creating a base shield
type unit open. Without going into to much detail
this sort of unit would only work if all the
weapons are made from 3do's. 
Here's a variety of some of them
As you know we are
using a custom exe for the game and as well as
changing the actual image (talked about in a
previous update) there are a few more things that
have been changed or we plan to change for the
pending release. Here's a list:
- Various in
game captions have been replaced (e.g.
"Surrender this battle and exit to
Windows?" is now "Join the dark
side?")
- New death
messages (e.g. "x forces have gone
to a better place" replaced by
"x forces have been eliminated from
the sector")
- Lounge
captions replaced (e.g. "Game
continues after Commander is
destroyed" has become "Game
continues after MCV / TMB is
destroyed")
- Disabled
functions we don't need like the original
credits and intro movie.
We'll probably
change more stuff as we discover what else we can
customise.
I'd like to congratulate ARE (our sister site) for
putting out some excellent models for their
SWTA:WIS (Star Wars Total Annihilation: War in
Space) TC. If you haven't seen them yet check out
The Third Party Alliance (I Don't know why they
haven't updated their main site yet).
Element 115 out...
|
| 11 Novemebr 2000 |
Your new favourite
icon and front screen.
Yensid has been hard at work with various
different graphical aspects of the game.
The SWTA program icon is his latest
contribution…which he done
completely in hex a might add. For those
of you who don't realise what that would
be like, imagine getting a A4 sheet or
graph paper (the type with 1mm squares)
and then putting a dot in every singe
square on the page. Here it is
anyway…along with the finished
frontend screen that now displays a three
button layout with the SWTA font and
version number.
The first
version of the Rebels has begun
circulation within the group, as you may
expect it's quite buggy at the moment.
Despite the bugs it's be quite fun
playing with the Rebels and giving the
Imperials a good whooping. :o)
Element 115 out...
|
| 25 October
2000 |
Whassssup!
Well work is going well, Quitchy
from AI Central has
joined us and has put together a
great AI. Although this has
created a new problem, we now
spending more time playing(s)
'bug testing' then actually
working on the project.
Although during my 'bug testing'
I did get a chance to make you a
few screenshots, although If
you've been visiting the bulletin
board lately you will
already have seen most of these
already. Just another good reason
to go visit the boards.   
Yensid has also been
working on a new font for the
game that is looking kinda funky.
Here's a pic of it in it's early
development stage. He's currently
in the process of importing it
into the game.
Finally the results
of the poll, which was pretty
unanimous with nearly 75% of you
believing we should try "Try
to justify them by including
something in the intro, regarding
'new technology'", Now I
guess we just have to come up
with something.
Element 115 out...
|
| 27
September 2000 |
| It's poll
time again!!! This is a
serious issue though peoples so
please consider you answer
carefully.
There are good arguments for each
point I and the rest of the group
feel, on one hand this 'new
technology' will not be
officially 'Star Wars' and I know
some of you will hate that.
However the other side of the
argument with ignoring them is
that the game will still largely
resemble TA.
You decide.
Element
115 out...
|
| 24
September 2000 |
Just an
update
Well work is continuing well on
the pack, especially now we have
a new member to the team.
Influenza who most of you will
know from Unit
Universe, TAU's sister
site. Here's a couple of models
he's done for us: 
So
now basically the Imperials are
all set and ready for balancing,
which will start when then Rebels
have been finished off.
Also my email address hasn't work
for about two weeks, I do reply
to all the emails I get sent so
If you've sent me something and
wondering why I haven't replied
the chances are I never got it.
Anyway my new email address is Element_115@email.com.
And the final piece of
information is to advise you all
that the Spaceport pack will be
re-called in the not to distant
future. "Why would you
re-call the only units you have
available for download
though?" I here you all cry.
Well three main reasons a) It's
very old and out dated, b) the
starter pack is just round the
corner, and finally completely
selfishly on my part :þ c) I'm
fed up with getting email from
people regarding "why does
the spaceport pack not work in
skirmish?". So if you have
since lost your copy for what
ever reason and think you would
like to have that pack back
before it follows Cavedog to the
boneyard, you better get it soon.
Element 115 out...
|
| 11
September 2000 |
Chug Chug
Chug
Just though I better make an
update to tell you all we're
still working on the project and
SWTA is still alive.
Although since my last update way
back in June the community has
lost many of its great pillars;
Annihilated, Boneyards and TARBC.
Well enough with the bad news
already onto the good stuff…
Probably the best piece of news
is that the Imperial units for
the starter pack are pretty much
done, just a few script tweaks
and problems to sort out and
hey-presto.
Anyway here they are in all their
glory:
(Rub to
enlarge)
I'd
also like to stress that these
are only about a third of the
Imperial units that will be
available in the end as this is
just a 'starter pack'. Basically
what you can see there is all the
level one structures and
resources, minus a few of the
'upper end' vehicles and
infantry.
The rebel units are no being
compiled for the starter pack,
only one of them still needs
modelling and a couple of scripts
are still required. The majority
of the work is mainly the build
pics that are just tedious to do.
The news has been also been
archived as the page was getting
quite long and old the first date
on the page was from April. So if
you want to look anything up it's
not lost it's over on the sidebar
in the archives section.
*Plug* A new site has opened at
UU (or it was new when I was
first asked to do this sorry
Me22) ARE 'Antirral
Royal Engineers'. Anyway these
guys are going to be working on
SWTA:WIS or 'Star Wars Total
Annihilation: War in Space' for
short ;o). These guys are working
on combining elements from this
and the TA:WIS conversions, plus
some additional add-ons of there
own. Probably the most appealing
aspect to most people will be the
fact the scale will be much
smaller then SWTA so you will be
able to use capital ships. *Plug*
Element 115 out...
|
|
|
|
