‘TRADER’ has been inspired by my love of some very old Space/Trade/Combat games, namely the Games ‘Elite’ and ‘Privateer’.
To this end I began writing ‘TRADER’ to try to bring all those features I liked from the afore mentioned games into a single game and to play and experiment with the Irrlicht 3D Engine.
While initially ‘TRADER’ was little more than a TechDemo, I have since decided to continue development of ‘TRADER’ into a full game system. (As time/family/work etc allows)
This site is simply to showcase screenshots of the Development of ‘Trader’ as a type of Developer Log. All screenshots are © Copyright, 09/10, Rod. Watson and can not be used, linked or displayed on any site without express permission.
ALL Images of ‘Trader’ within are ‘in-game’ screenshots. I decided NOT to confuse the issue by including externally rendered images.
Concept behind ‘Trader’
The main concept behind ‘Trader’ was to design and build an entire Galaxy environment and then let the player loose in this Galaxy to make their way as a Trader, Freelancer, Privateer, Merchant, Pirate, Mercenary etc.
This image shows an overview of how the Galaxy is ‘built’ in ‘Trader’
'Trader' Galaxy Overview
| Default : | 256x256x16 |
| Sectors : | MAX 32 Systems |
| Systems : | MAX 8 Planets |
MAX Possible Figures
| Sectors : | 1,048,576 |
| Stars : | 33,554,432 |
| Planets : | 268,435,456 |
ACTUAL ‘InGame’ Figures
(Still Changing through ongoing development) Updated: 21/02/2012| Sectors : | 595,988 |
| Stars : | 3,593,122 |
| Planets : | 10,242,732 |
| Approx. 85% of the Stars above have a SolarSync Orbiting Space Station for Trade & Commerce. Thats about 3 Million possible destinations to explore and visit. | |
And here it is – The ACTUAL Galaxy used within ‘Trader’
Image Courtesy NASA
So.. Look Interesting? Why not come in and take a closer look.
