The Ship

So I'm sure some of you guys have noticed, but for those who haven't, you can now preorder and preload The Ship on Steam. I started working here at Outerlight (the developers of the game) a month ago and so this probably comes across as a bit of selfish advertising (and well...it partly is!), but I figured some of you guys might be interested in checking it out!

For people who preorder/preload you get a $5 discount, which means it will set you back only $15 until the 11th of July. There will be a version coming out in the shops later with a single player campaign added on, but that should probably be made available as a small purchase on Steam too for those interested in grabbing it, and the combined cost over Steam should be lower than the price at retail. And to be honest, The Ship is all about the multiplayer anyway :wink:

Just so you know, none of my content is going to be in the initial release - you'll need to wait for some patches before that appears.

Let me know if you grab it and we'll hook up for a game some time. For those of you who don't know what the game is all about, check out our website and read the play guide...

http://www.theshiponline.com/

If you have any questions just shout and I'll do my best to answer them :smile:

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

As one who has played the HL1-Based beta release, this is a very cool game. Unfortunately I don't have the hardware for the HL2 engine.

Yes, i enjoyed this game quite a bit in HL1. Though i didnt really have te patience to play it as long as, DOD or TS.

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RUST Gamedesign
pepper design

The strength of the turbulence is directly proportional to the temperature of your coffee.

Sweet...Who made the boat?...because that is some brilliant level design right there!

I liked the HL1 version but there were so very few players when I tried it...

Wow! The gameplay looks imaginative and fun, and I really do like the style of the game. I think it is the first Source mod I've seen that didn't resemble HL2 in some way. Which is great!

Any word on a possible demo? While it looks really good from the website, I usually like to try before I buy.

This was a great game for HL1, one of my top 5 MODs I'd say. Great to see its still alive.

this game looks very good i havnt seen the preview but im thinking of buying this game i hope other ppl do to but im about to look at the little video about it

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|*{im a noob at life simply ut}*|

I don't want to be a dick or anything, but aren't any of the mods for HL2 going to be free dammit? Or are they all commercialized now?

One of the things that was fantastic about HL1 was the bang for your buck. That seems to have disappeared now.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

umm i dont know if they ever will have free mods,to tell u the truth i dont mind paying, i mean it coast them money to make the mods i would think, but i would want free XD and i think this game looks worth the 15$, but thats just me i dont know if age is a facter over that since i dont have job or any thing and i dont spend money.

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|*{im a noob at life simply ut}*|

I can appreciate the concern over mods these days costing money, but The Ship isn't a mod. Outerlight (the developers) have always been a commercial entity as opposed to an amateur team, and the original HL mod was always intended to be a proof of concept and test of the gameplay more than anything else. In other words, Outerlight aren't a mod team turned commercial, but a commercial company who released a free mod :smile:

You don't need HL2 to play The Ship, we have licensed the Source engine for the game. Its no more a mod than Call of Duty, for example, which was based on the Quake 3 engine, or Quake 4, for being based on the Doom 3 engine.

Not sure what I'm allowed to say about demos or whatever at the moment - I'll get back to you on that if I can.

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

I'm curious, how much work you did manage to get in the game? Or were you hired for future projects? :razz:

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''Everyone wades in s**t until they're competent enough to walk on it. Jesus style.''
Dystopia - Empires

Nothing in the initial release. The retail release is going to have some extra stuff - a couple of new maps and a single player campaign - so thats what I've been doing. The additional content will be made available to the Steam version owners too, however there may be a (small) additional cost to get the single player campaign due to commitments to our publishers. I'm told that the combined cost over Steam should still be less than the retail release price so you shouldn't worry about getting a better deal via Steam... as do we at Outerlight :wink:

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

Ive always been quite fond of this the Ship, but i didnt spend very much time playing it. The price of 15$ is quite OK, but it probably keeps me away from playing it, unless it gets VERY good reviews.

Its so great to hear that you, ReNo, are working on this project. I would like to know everything you do over there =P. Like how a typical day in the office looks like, how much freedom you get when creating. What you have been doing etc. Id really love to read an artikle about that.

I started out by mucking around with the assets, learning how to use the game's specific entities, and getting used to the systems (source control and all that jazz). I then started planning out a ship as one of the new levels to be released as a patch and in the retail release. This was all just done on paper and went through several revisions, and after walking the other design staff through the plan and taking their comments on board I got the go ahead to start blocking it out. After blocking it in I had a run around it with the design guys and we identified what was working and what wasn't. Many many changes later the map doesn't resemble the initial design all that accurately but such is the life of a map!

I'm currently going through and making it all functional - placing weapons, items, interactions, soundscapes, etc... - as well as laying in the higher level detail. We'll then test it out with internal playtests (we have big playtests every Friday afternoon and small ones at other times) and figure out what needs to be changed. Once thats finished it will get handed over to the art team who will make textures and props to make the map look sexy, consistant and unique.

I get a lot of freedom to do what I like really. It's a very laid back office and everybody is encouraged to chat about the game and give suggestions and feedback on people's work. I needed to get the initial design cleared but I'm given a lot of freedom to change that design, and normally I just let the design guys and environmental art team know if I'm making any major changes and they tend to be cool with them (normally I am making them for good reason after all!).

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

sniffs quietly

/me is proud.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

This is very cool. I remember you getting the job, Reno, but missed you are working on The Ship! I always found the game to go in a direction I really like. Really unique. This must be a great project to work on.

I'd wait for the boxed version, not because of your extras, I'm just a boxed version enthusiast. A Source engine demo would be nice, too.

Many many changes later the map doesn't resemble the initial design all that accurately but such is the life of a map!

Man... you can say that again! The maps I create at work are such a dynamo of complexities that to EVER think you might get it right first (second, or thrd) time around is pure foolishness. Get used to the process of smashing, then hacking, then whittling, then polishing your levels into existence. It feels good to finally get it just right, then to look back at your early versions and see just how much things changed.

Congrats on the job btw. I'll be sure to check out this game.

Any of you guys catch the spelling mistake they had on the steam front page ship advertisment? It had written in huge font:

PRE-PRUCHASE NOW!

And these are the same people who code steam... shocking!

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-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-

I didn't know it wasn't a mod.
That's good to know that is it stand alone.

Modifications costing money never sits right with me. I don't care how much time is put into it. If I was making even the most complex mod I wouldnt' charge money ... unless it was stand alone, in which case I would have had to shell out many dollars to do.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Any of you guys catch the spelling mistake they had on the steam
front page ship advertisment? It had written in huge font:
PRE-PRUCHASE NOW!

And these are the same people who code steam... shocking!

Well considering how many times steam has screwed itself over on update I'm not shocked to least.

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''Everyone wades in s**t until they're competent enough to walk on it. Jesus style.''
Dystopia - Empires

PRE-PRUCHASE NOW!

I enjoyed the ship mod -- I disliked how all the weapon animations were stock, and how the smg had no model replacement :razz: But ultimately it was a fun mod. Don't know if I'll be buying it though :o

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Breaking the laws of mapping since 2003 and doing a damn fine job at it

No reused assets this time - can't remember the exact number but there are about 40 unique weapons (including the classics such as poison syringes, umbrellas, and explosive purses, but with added frying pans, flare guns and mannequin arms!) with brand new models, as well as all new textures, characters and props.

Myrk, Valve made another couple of typos in the system requirements - apparently they recommended at least Windows 1000, and required at least Windows 200

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

taboo I heard it was leaked somewhere, it this true reno?

and did you leak it?

It was leaked, sadly :sad: The leaked version isn't much of an alternative to the proper release as it is a different version and so won't be compatible online, but I'm sure that won't stop some people. The game is, we think, very reasonably priced, especially with the preorder discount, so I hope any of you who are interested do pay rather than hunt down the leaked version.

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

Can I try it out first?

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-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-

There's no demo at the moment I'm afraid, maybe somewhere down the road, I don't know.

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

I read that someone from outerlight (or another company, im not sure) said that Steam was a very good platform since you could let people try their game out for a weekend and then decide wether to buy or not.
Like Valve does with Day of defeat: Source next weekend.
I really think that is a great option. No extra work for outerlight, and more people get to try the game out, and eventually buy it.
If the guy I really hope that outerlight does something like this.

This is after all a quite risky buy from my prespective. I really dont know about the mechanics of the game, since its quite unique. Because of this i would love to try it out before buying.

Hmm, forgot that Chris had said that in an interview, so I was kinda holding my tongue as its not really wise to spout off about something that may or may not be happening! I don't think there are finalised plans right now, but open days are certainly one idea that has been thrown around. I'll just quote Chris's interview answer...

Strategy Informer: Are you planning to release a demo for The Ship?

Chris Peck: Because of the way steam works, we can have open days, where players can play the ship for free, which I think is a great system. We will use this to promote new features, and attract new players.

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

<div style="text-align: left;">That's good news about the open days, I'm looking forward to playing the game. We should get the snarkpit to join the same server on one of those weekends and all frag ReNo in congratulations.
</div>

WOO HOO!!!

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Dark_Kilauea
DVS Administration
http://www.dvstudio-production.com/

I'm not sure if many people care around here but how big will The Ship be in file size? Steam is killing my flatrate limits, it was the reason (well, one of the) I couldn't check out the DOD:S free weekend.

I need a better provider :biggrin:

reaper47 said:
I need a better provider :biggrin:

Or, we all need a nonSteam related game choice. :rolleyes:

You may run out of bandwidth due to limits but try keeping up to date 2-3 k at a time.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

You may run out of bandwidth due to limits but try keeping up to date 2-3 k at a time.

I feel with ya. People laughed at me for years for being on a 56k modem. You get used (addicted) to broadband pretty fast.

I never realized you worked on The Ship either, ReNo. Sounds good. :smile:

I tried the HL mod once - left it alone after that since I'm not a multiplayer person - and found it interesting because of it's gameplay emphasis. Good to hear you get freedom in the design and there's cooperation with others. I'm enjoying similar things only from a different perspective. It's great to brainstorm on stuff with others, to be with like-minded designers. :smile:

You are going to tell us what level you worked on... and some background (design) info on it, right? :wink:

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Create-ivity - a game development blog

One day I'll join the ranks of other snarkpitters as a proffesional level design. That'll be one of the best days of my life.

One day I'll join the ranks of other snarkpitters as a proffesional level design. That'll be one of the best days of my life.

I second that.

One day I'll join the ranks of other snarkpitters as a proffesional level design. That'll be one of the best days of my life.

I second that.

:smile: I'm not so certain about myself(many reasons... too many), but it still would be a dreamjob.

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''Everyone wades in s**t until they're competent enough to walk on it. Jesus style.''
Dystopia - Empires

Today in Chinese history class I started day dreaming about getting a job in the videogames industry, specifically what it would be like telling people that at my 5 year high school reunion.

Then my day dreams were interrupted that getting a job in the industry requires skill and hard work... :smile:

ReNo, I'm just curious... are you paid an hourly wage? Or is there a different system? Is it enough to live on? How do your parents feel about the job? I hope you don't think I'm prying, and if so, feel free not to answer.

It's probably not a dream job. I bet the job security sucks.

I third that.

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Dark_Kilauea
DVS Administration
http://www.dvstudio-production.com/

Today in Chinese history class I started day dreaming about getting a job in the videogames industry, specifically what it would be like telling people that at my 5 year high school reunion.

5 year reunion, what the hell?

What can you do in five years after high school? Nothing, that's what.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

ReNo, I'm just curious... are you paid an hourly wage? Or is there a different system? Is it enough to live on? How do your parents feel about the job? I hope you don't think I'm prying, and if so, feel free not to answer.

Not prying at all :smile: I get paid a fixed annual rate in monthly installments. Its certainly enough to live on, and while I'd rather not be putting figures to it, I'm happy to give you more info in PMs or whatever if you'd like. My parents are thrilled to bits I got the job, as they know its what I'm all about and its a job that will make me happy :smile: They've never had a problem with me going into games and felt I made the right choice going to do a games tech degree at uni.

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

My parents still roll eyes when I tell them my History degree will be
perfect for becoming a librarian / researcher. I don't think they
appreciate the value of moping round books all day and being short with
the public as real hard work.

I love to see people go to school but.. I have two friends who call themselves "Career Students"

They never plan on not going to school. They get grant after grant after grant and... Have yet to get a job and support themselves.

Its sad to see people in their 30's and 40's still living with mommy and daddy.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

They never plan on not going to school.

So they're always in school?

French Toast said:
<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quote:</DIV>
<div class="quotetext">They never plan on not going to school.

So they're always in school?</div></div>

So far, yes.

</div>

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Oh. It was just an awkwardly worded sentence :smile:

Hmmmm, Gwil is a moderator and he has been here for a long time yet he has no maps, no picture of himself, and hasn't written any info about himself either.

What's up with that.

He's an alter-ego of Lep.