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Diaspora, the freeware BSG space sim, officially released!

S

Swifty

Member
Hey GAF. For the past couple of years I've been involved in a big project. I've been working in my spare time as a programmer for a free game based off of Battlestar Galactica. I'm proud to announce that we've finally released! The standalone game is now available to download and play!



Background
It has been 40 years since the devastating war between the Colonials and the Cylons. 40 years where no one has seen or heard of the Cylons. 40 years where the armistice has held.

new_screen10.png


Game Features
  • Fly the MK VII Viper, the Raptor or the new MK VIIe strike variant.
  • Take part in furious battles against Cylon forces.
  • Play multiplayer missions against your friends as Colonial or Cylon forces.
  • Completely voice acted throughout.
  • Original soundtrack inspired by the show
  • Create your own missions and share them with the included mission editor.



System Requirements

You do not need a copy of Freespace2 to play. Diaspora is a standalone game.

(Windows)
Operating System: Windows® XP/Vista/Windows 7
CPU: Core 2 Duo, i3 or similar
Memory: 2GB Ram
Graphics Card: ATI 9600 or comparable nVidia with 256MB Ram
Sound Card: Windows® compatible sound card
Input Device: Windows® compatible mouse and keyboard
Installation: 3GB free HD space

(Mac OS X)
(Coming soon, but you can guess them from the PC specs!)

(Linux)
CPU: Core 2 Duo, i3 or similar
Memory: 2GB Ram
Graphics Card: OpenGL 3/GLSL 1.5 compatible graphics card.
Sound Card: OpenAL compatible sound card.
Input Device: Mouse and keyboard.
Installation: 3GB free HD space

Known Issues

  • Due to the size of the Windows installer it may take a long time for the installer to actually start. This may last several minutes (up to five minutes in some instances). There are reports that virus checkers may extend this delay so you may wish to turn them off during the installation process.
  • This problem hasn't been reported yet for Mac but might exist there too.
  • Multiplayer is currently very much in beta. Also, in order to enhance the eventual multiplayer experience, the team decided not to finalise the balance between ships.
  • Feedback from players is very welcome. The true multiplayer experience will be available in the next release. Till then, if you wish to experiment, here's how to get started.

How to Get the Game

A list of updated mirrors will always be available here: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=81859.0

Windows Torrent: http://diaspora.fs2downloads.com/Diaspora_R1_Windows.exe.torrent
Mac Torrent: http://diaspora.fs2downloads.com/Diaspora_R1_Mac.dmg.torrent
Linux Torrent: http://diaspora.fs2downloads.com/Diaspora_R1_Linux.tar.lzma.torrent

Windows HTTP Mirrors - [fs2downloads] [freespacemods]
Mac HTTP Mirrors - [fs2downloads] [freespacemods]
Linux HTTP Mirrors - [fs2downloads] [freespacemods]

Soundtrack

During the time we've spent developing Diaspora, we have frequently been asked which songs from the show we've used in our trailers. The fact is that almost all the music in the game or trailers has been original. So for that reason, we're also releasing the soundtrack. You can find details on it here.

Tech Support

If you guys have any significant technical problems with the game, posting in our Tech Support forum would help us a lot to consolidate existing issues so other users can find solutions.
 
B

border

Member
How is this different or better then Beyond the Red Line, the other Freespace 2-based Battlestar game?

I'm not saying it can't be better, but I haven't tried either one and I'm curious about the differences.
 
S

Swifty

Member
border said:
How is this different or better then Beyond the Red Line, the other Freespace 2-based Battlestar game?

I'm not saying it can't be better, but I haven't tried either one and I'm curious about the differences.
Click to expand...
This game is actually a product of the former team members of BTRL, myself included. BTRL was very light on assets when the demo released. Diaspora in contrast has Battlestar vs Basestar fights, plenty more ships to fly, plenty more ships to shoot and protect, and has a longer campaign.

Can i play as God?
Click to expand...
Sure, just open up our mission editor. :D
 
S

sp3000

Member
border said:
How is this different or better then Beyond the Red Line, the other Freespace 2-based Battlestar game?

I'm not saying it can't be better, but I haven't tried either one and I'm curious about the differences.
Click to expand...

Beyond the Red Line has been cancelled. Or at the very least, is on hold for an extended period of time. It stopped development after the release of it's demo.

So the difference is one exists and the other does not.
 
Sentenza

Sentenza

Member
About fucking time, I waited for this and/or Beyond the Red Line for years.

EatinOlives said:
What genre is this? It sounds very action-heavy.
Click to expand...

Space sim.
Think about it like some sort of X-Wing/Freespace 2.
In fact, it's a total conversion made with the freeware version of Freespace 2 engine.
 
Z

zoku88

Member
This game is kinda hard to play with just a KB. Totally not used to those controls...

I think I've evaded one missile (by miraculously pushing the X key at the right time for once.)

I didn't evade a single one during the tutorial mission. I felt like a total idiot.
 
Z

zoku88

Member
TucoBenedictoPacifico said:
Those games tend to shine just when played with a flightstick.
Click to expand...

Yea, I was thinking that while I was playing. Unfortunately, the only flight stick I own is a couple of thousand miles away... I think.


Billiechu said:
Ohhhhhhh shittt why have I never heard of this?!
Click to expand...
Linux version runs well, btw. Uses SDL, I think, so it captures all input, though. (though, this isn't the type of game where I'd switch workspaces, anyway.)
 
S

Swifty

Member
zoku88 said:
This game is kinda hard to play with just a KB. Totally not used to those controls...

I think I've evaded one missile (by miraculously pushing the X key at the right time for once.)

I didn't evade a single one during the tutorial mission. I felt like a total idiot.
Click to expand...
Have you tried using the mouse as well? Some of our players almost prefer using mouse over joystick.
 
S

SparkTR

Member
This game is making me miss the TV show, I love it. Works great with my flightstick as well. Trying to pull off some of Starbucks moves but I do not have a fine touch.
 
M

mandiller

Member
Looks awesome! I've missed my fill of space sims. It's been so long since Freespace 2 and Freelancer. Downloading now


I wish there was a kickstarter for a Freespace 3. It'd definitely get behind that!
 
S

Sidewinder

Member
This looks and sounds very promising, I'll download it...maybe it's time to finally buy a new Flightstick, I'm leaning towards the Thrustmaster Hotas X, it's cheap and works on PC and PS3. Any thoughts about this stick?
 
S

Swifty

Member
Sidewinder said:
This looks and sounds very promising, I'll download it...maybe it's time to finally buy a new Flightstick, I'm leaning towards the Thrustmaster Hotas X, it's cheap and works on PC and PS3. Any thoughts about this stick?
Click to expand...
You really can't go wrong with that setup. The Thrustmaster Hotas X has some really good reviews for being a throttle and stick at it's pricepoint. It working with the PS3 is a big plus.
 
M

Munin

Member
Wow you got the details down really well (radio distortion, shaky cam, soundtrack, effects).

How long is the campaign?
 
E

Ebris

Member
Gonna definitely try this out.

But if you guys can make an expansion/separate game where you command a Battlestar, I will love you eternally.
 
S

Swifty

Member
Ebris said:
Gonna definitely try this out.

But if you guys can make an expansion/separate game where you command a Battlestar, I will love you eternally.
Click to expand...
I don't think we'll be doing that ourselves but people in our community are thinking about making a mod that let's you do that. ;)
 
F

firehawk12

Subete no aware
So weird question - I run the installer and it's literally taking forever for anything to happen. I've been waiting 30 minutes or so and it's still not doing anything. The process is there, but other than that, there's no indication that it's working.

Should I redownload it?

Oh wow, it finally went through. That took ages. lol
 
S

sp3000

Member
Ebris said:
Gonna definitely try this out.

But if you guys can make an expansion/separate game where you command a Battlestar, I will love you eternally.
Click to expand...

here you go

It needs Nexus: The Juipiter incident though. It's on steam for like $10. Tactical fleet RTS like homeworld mixed with BSG style combat
 
J

Jackpot

Banned
Amazing modelling of all the individual turrents on the battlestars and detachable cylon raiders on the basestars.

jIQ8z.jpg


Shame there's only a handful of missions. Would have figured there'd be more seeing as the gameplay was pretty much complete in the demo from years back.
 
S

Swifty

Member
We just released a patch with some fixes, especially fixes that address some crashes people have been reporting.

http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=82014.0

Shame there's only a handful of missions. Would have figured there'd be more seeing as the gameplay was pretty much complete in the demo from years back.
Click to expand...
The first release is always the hardest to do. Beyond the Red Line didn't really give us much of a head start as we had to come up with completely different assets for ships, sounds, effects, and gameplay values because of the split. Plus, Beyond the Red Line only had like... ten models? Some asteroids, the Mk VII, Mk II, the Raider, and the Mining Ship. In this release, we have about 100+ different models.

I think we went far beyond what BTRL ever did by having more and bigger content and more missions. That shot you put up of the Theseus was a real beast to rig so thanks for noticing. :)

Remember, this is all going to serve as the base for future campaign releases. The future looks pretty bright for Diaspora.
 
V

VillageBC

Member
A space sim! I'm giddy with excitement!

I wonder if I should get my PS3 controller to work with PC so I have psuedo joystick/flight stick over my kb/m combo.
 
S

Swifty

Member
A lot easier said than done. Problem is that we're using the old FS2 retail interface code. During development, a tons of old systems were rewritten to become a bit more modern but there's just only so much we could do. Gameplay was triaged to be most important so that got all our focus while the interface got the backburner. So we were only able to reskin the FS2 interface rather than cooking up our own.

So far, no one has stepped up to the plate to do that. I would do myself it if I weren't so busy working on the graphics, the HUD, and the collision detection. :p

Orgun said:
Holy space meatballs! This looks awesome
Click to expand...
You check check out the same user's video of the second mission. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqDoWvBTQt8
 
P

PBalfredo

Member
It took a while to get my flightstick working with this (for some reason it wouldn't work in the tutorial, but I skip that and it works like a charm), but now I'm ready to sink my teeth into this. This looks like it will perfectly scratch that X-Wing/TIE Fighter itch I've been having. Just look at those mission briefings and ship databases. Hmmmm. Yes.

Though I think I may be trying to play this a bit too much like X-wing/TIE Fighter. I try to dogfight like in those games, only to have my "prey" cruising backwards, firing back at me. Fits, considering the maneuvers seen in the show, but I'm not picking up on how to counter that, let along how to do sweet inertia drifts myself. Advice?
 
J

Jackpot

Banned
PBalfredo said:
Though I think I may be trying to play this a bit too much like X-wing/TIE Fighter. I try to dogfight like in those games, only to have my "prey" cruising backwards, firing back at me. Fits, considering the maneuvers seen in the show, but I'm not picking up on how to counter that, let along how to do sweet inertia drifts myself. Advice?
Click to expand...

I redid the key layout in wasd form. W and S control thrust, A and D do lateral thrust to strafe out the way of ships firing backwards. Mouse to pitch and yaw. Q and E to roll. R and F to thrust up and down. Hold down Alt to turn without changing trajectory ("glide").
 
M

matrix-cat

Member
So you can actually do the 'flip around and fly backwards' manoeuvre from the show? This sounds amazing, I'm downloading now.

The only thing that could make it better is a Viper Mk II skin :p
 
S

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
So at the end of the campaign, can I
completely ignore all the mission objectives that have been driving me for the last 4 years, warp to a random part of space, scuttle my ships, and scatter my crew all over the place for no reason
?
 
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