One eye in the flight manual

Pirate Thunderbolt
Pirate Thunderbolt

As we hurtle towards the demo release we have a shortage of large features to report on, but we’ve done a bunch of smaller tasks that I’m going to outline here.

Firstly we have been integrating Defiance Industries‘ latest models; to say that they are a massive improvement would be an understatement.

All of the ships have been rescaled to proportionally match the original models. (Matching their exact size is impossible because it turns out the models in the demo are significantly larger than in the full game and we need to scale differently depending on if you are playing the demo or not. The reason for this discrepancy is unknown).

Pirate Arrow
Pirate Arrow

While models such as Thunderbolt are just improvements, some of the models, such as the Arrow, are making their way into the remake for the first time.

New Hangar (Bluepoint)
New Hangar (Bluepoint)

I had actually been sitting on the new version of Bluepoint station for some time. It doesn’t appear in the demo, however as we were rescaling all the objects in the game I opted to import it at the same time. This image from the hangar should give a hint as to the improved lighting and texture definition that you can expect from Intrepid hangar which will be making an appearance in the demo.

The crowded cockpit
Demo cockpit

There has been no rest for the wicked on the code front either. Here are some of the latest features:

  • Demo timer
  • Demo score tracking
  • Communications panel
  • Taunts loaded from the original data
Manufacturing plaque

Somehow ODVS has found time in his busy schedule to create a manufacturing plaque for use in the cockpit.

Last, but most certainly not least I am excited to announce that we have gained a new team member, FilmCompos3r, who has offered to help out with replacement music where only the original, low-bitrate files are available.

You’ll find a sample of his work at the bottom of this page.

MajorVictory.wav by FilmCompos3r