19 replies to this topic

[Andy La Rubin]

Hello everyone!

Recently we've done porting our freeware game, based on Babylon 5 universe, to Mac OS X (with both Intel and PowerPC support). So, if you like space simulator genre with not a "planes in space"-type of physics, but fully neutonian one - six degrees of freedom, individual thrust in each direction etc, and/or you like Babylon 5 universe and want to unleash the power of a Starfury to those pesky raiders, feel free to test our newest version of Babylon 5: I've Found Her: the “Danger and Opportunity” 1.15 Release Candidate 2 available for download at our site!

Also, please visit our forums and leave any constructive feedback there (or here, if you like)

Some screenshots:

[Sargiel]

Very cool  - I loved the series and this sim looks top notch. Thanks to Andy for bringing the good news!

Downloading now!

[Frost]

AWESOME! Though I'm not a B5 fan, space combat with newtonian physics is all you have to say to get me onboard. I will go download this right now.

[teflon]

Looks pretty nifty.
Also quite ironic how these computer graphics generated in real time are much better looking than those of the actual series (even though theres a 16 year time gap since it began and now).

On the subject of newtonian physics in a space combat game, I believe the BSG total conversion of FreeSpace 2 (I think it was called "beyond the line" or something) also had a similarly realistic take on the physics, so you could cut the main thrusters, spin on any axis you choose and blast away at whoever was pursuing you.

[Frost]

BtRL doesn't actually use pure Newtonian physics, but a hybrid between Newtonian and "planes in space." With the specs and TTW ratios the Vipers are given, though, most of the performance seen in space combat using Vipers should be doable with Newtonian physics; they'd just have to play with the Vipers to make them pitch more into the turns than they do.

[teflon]

I never really got the BSG one working properly, so I wouldnt know first hand, but I guess they had to do a fair bit of hacking to get it to do even as much realistic movement as it does..

After quite a bit of digging on the site, B5:IFH uses a custom built engine (good work BTW), and so has a ground up (ha!) physics engine built to accomodate it.

[Janichsan]

The first space sim with a true 3D Newtonian flight model was to my knowledge Frontier: Elite 2 – even to the extent that the flight path of your ship was affected by the gravity of the planets. *sigh* There is still no game that is on par with Frontier, that unfortunately hasn't gracefully aged...

Back to topic: why the heck is the MacOS X version of B5: IFH 273.4 MB big while the Windows version only has 15.3 MB?

[Andy La Rubin]

Janichsan, on April 29th 2009, 02:21 PM, said:

Back to topic: why the heck is the MacOS X version of B5: IFH 273.4 MB big while the Windows version only has 15.3 MB?

That's because MacOSX version is a full package, released for the first time, and Windows version is a patch for 1.1 (which in turn weighs about 270 Mb )

BTW, a problem was found in this version, concerning wireless mice. So if your wireless mouse doesn't work, try to switch to a wired one for a time being. The fix will be available in a few days.

[Janichsan]

Andy La Rubin, on April 30th 2009, 11:39 AM, said:

That's because MacOSX version is a full package, released for the first time, and Windows version is a patch for 1.1 (which in turn weighs about 270 Mb )

I see. That wasn't very obvious from your webpage.

However, I have found another problem: the game doesn't register when I press the TAB key (my wireless mouse works fine, though...)

[Andy La Rubin]

Janichsan, on April 30th 2009, 01:47 PM, said:

However, I have found another problem: the game doesn't register when I press the TAB key

What do you mean by that? You can't activate afterburner in the game? If it is the case, then please be aware, that the afterburner is engaged only if the engine is working. So you need to use afterburner button in conjunction with, for example, accelerate forward button.

The main advantage coming from this is that you can use afterburner to accelerate backwards too

[Janichsan]

Andy La Rubin, on April 30th 2009, 12:09 PM, said:

What do you mean by that? You can't activate afterburner in the game? If it is the case, then please be aware, that the afterburner is engaged only if the engine is working. So you need to use afterburner button in conjunction with, for example, accelerate forward button.

Ah, that bloody instructor didn't say that. Okay, thanks.

[Andy La Rubin]

Janichsan, on April 30th 2009, 02:15 PM, said:

Ah, that bloody instructor didn't say that. Okay, thanks.

He's just a mechanic, please forgive him

[rampancy]

I've been toying around with the early betas of this game that were posted on the forums; I last downloaded IFH a few weeks ago and noticed that I'm *still* hit with the annoying bug where the game doesn't respond to any keyboard input. Has that been fixed?

[Andy La Rubin]

rampancy, on April 30th 2009, 10:24 PM, said:

I've been toying around with the early betas of this game that were posted on the forums; I last downloaded IFH a few weeks ago and noticed that I'm *still* hit with the annoying bug where the game doesn't respond to any keyboard input. Has that been fixed?

Probably not. Could you send me (larubin at gmail) a core_log.txt file from the application bundle/Contents/MacOS directory to investigate? Also, does the game respond to the mouse input?

[CaryMG]

It's a stunningly beautiful game but during traing while trying to rescue the Enchanter the flightinstructor [FI]
tells me to fly to the Io beacon and fly along the blue dotted line[BDL].
As near as I can figure that means aligning the BDL & the directionalarrow but nothing happens -- no dialog from the FI, etc., nothing.

What am I doing wrong?

[Andy La Rubin]

There are topics in our game forum dealing with the navigation in hyperspace. Please read one of them. There are also some other tips regarding the Enchanter here. I hope this would help.

[Andy La Rubin]

Hello everyone!

Release Candidate 3 is just released.

Gameplay
- Power plants added to all capital ships for realistic weapons usage
Bug fixes
- Fixed the non-firing EA station and EA Hyperion turrets
- Fixed mission 2 script error (EAS Monolith won't jump out if cheats are enabled)

[Marvin_Arnold]

Links are dead. Site is dead.

Had to dig through archive.org and use common sense and finally got it:

rc3 can still be found here.


EDIT: found out it's not dead, site has "just" moved without redirecting: ifhgame.ru

Edited by Marvin_Arnold, 05 March 2011 - 03:27 AM.
Fixed the URL.

[Frigidman]

Interesting necro. Thanks for the updated info Marvin.

[Marvin_Arnold]

Frigidman, on 05 March 2011 - 11:30 AM, said:

Interesting necro. Thanks for the updated info Marvin.

I thought, since it's practically a one-of-a-kind, it might still interest people. Besides, as I always say, it's not necro as long as it's on the first page...