I just finished playing Star Wolves 3, and was struck by how much it had in common with the X games. The game play has a different focus, but the look and feel of the game universe is very much the same: sector layout, jump gates, the starmap, the sector view screen, and there's even a star base called "Brennan's Triumph".
I was wondering if the developers of the Star Wolves games had any connection to Egosoft, or if this is just a case of convergent development? There has to be some cross influence because of the similarities, so did Egosoft influence them, or did they influence Egosoft?
Star Wolves and the X-Universe
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Dragoongfa
- Posts: 3857
- Joined: Mon, 27. Nov 06, 22:28
Star Wolves and Egosoft game just follow Sci Fi standards set up by generations of Sci-fi games.
The similarities between the games can be attributed to technology limitations and copying (EGOSOFT has done everything first BTW, the first Star Wolves game came out in 2005, X:BTF in 1998).
The gate philosophy can be found in many games, not just in the X-games and Star Wolves.
Gates aren't needed only as an FTL gimmick for the lore, technology limitations need a system like that. Simply put no computer can process what happens in hundreds of systems simultaneously so the gate system cuts the work needed to just one system at the time. Here EGOSOFT is a definite leader in this regard with its OOS system which handles all other systems in the game with far simplified algorithms,
The sector layout is also pretty straight forward in both games, in the development phase everything is initially arranged in a 2D layout, then with a few tweaks the 3D layout is born. In this regard Star Wolves 3 suffers because of its genre, its a tactical game and not a space sim, so it makes far more sense to have almost everything set in a 2D plane rather than scatter everything in a 3D plane as many sectors in X do.
The sector map is an other straightforward answer, there is no other way to do it. You need a top down and a side perceptive if you are to have a proper 3D map.
The homeworld games have shown an ideal 3D map system but its implementation in games such as X is problematic to say the least, mainly because it would be an immense resource hog.
The UI on the other hand is extremely different and that comes down to design philosophy and the genre each serves.
I am pretty sure that the guys that made Star Wolves have played X games and the station is just some sort of Easter Egg amd I have no doubt that the guys in Egosoft have also sampled Star Wolves in the past.
The similarities between the games can be attributed to technology limitations and copying (EGOSOFT has done everything first BTW, the first Star Wolves game came out in 2005, X:BTF in 1998).
The gate philosophy can be found in many games, not just in the X-games and Star Wolves.
Gates aren't needed only as an FTL gimmick for the lore, technology limitations need a system like that. Simply put no computer can process what happens in hundreds of systems simultaneously so the gate system cuts the work needed to just one system at the time. Here EGOSOFT is a definite leader in this regard with its OOS system which handles all other systems in the game with far simplified algorithms,
The sector layout is also pretty straight forward in both games, in the development phase everything is initially arranged in a 2D layout, then with a few tweaks the 3D layout is born. In this regard Star Wolves 3 suffers because of its genre, its a tactical game and not a space sim, so it makes far more sense to have almost everything set in a 2D plane rather than scatter everything in a 3D plane as many sectors in X do.
The sector map is an other straightforward answer, there is no other way to do it. You need a top down and a side perceptive if you are to have a proper 3D map.
The homeworld games have shown an ideal 3D map system but its implementation in games such as X is problematic to say the least, mainly because it would be an immense resource hog.
The UI on the other hand is extremely different and that comes down to design philosophy and the genre each serves.
I am pretty sure that the guys that made Star Wolves have played X games and the station is just some sort of Easter Egg amd I have no doubt that the guys in Egosoft have also sampled Star Wolves in the past.
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theeclownbroze
- Posts: 1219
- Joined: Wed, 3. Nov 10, 10:42
