joerg on 12/11/2023 at 19:27
Dear fellow fans of Terra Nova,
I am more than happy to announce the release of UNIVTN: the Unofficial Noncommercial Incomplete Viewer for Terra Nova! It is a rather faithful reimplementation of parts of the game engine that reads the original game contents and allows for playing it in full HD and also in VR. It can be downloaded for free on
(
https://schmittler.itch.io/univtn)
There is also a readme that gives more details about the project. I hope you have fun with it!
Al_B on 12/11/2023 at 20:09
That's excellent - looks like a lot of effort has gone into creating this.
joerg on 13/11/2023 at 08:20
Thanks AI_B! You're right: it took quite some time to get the project that far and I learned a lot about how complex and how much effort it is to deliver a full featured game like Terra Nova. And that's the reason why it is called incomplete ;-) However that makes me even more happy that UNIVTN is finally in a state where I can share it and hopefully others can enjoy it too.
Shadowcat on 13/11/2023 at 10:40
I won't have a chance to check it out anytime soon, but that sounds really awesome.
I've always loved this game, and it makes me really happy whenever I see people working on projects for it.
Thanks for sharing this, and for all the hard work that's gone into it.
henke on 13/11/2023 at 11:04
Whoa, does this update the controls as well? If so, that's great! :D
joerg on 13/11/2023 at 12:29
Thank you shadowcat!
joerg on 13/11/2023 at 12:32
Quote Posted by henke
Whoa, does this update the controls as well? If so, that's great! :D
Yes, controls use today's standard: mouse look/aim plus WASD on keyboard (and some more keys). Alternativly it can be played using Xbox controller.
henke on 13/11/2023 at 15:00
Alright, I tried it!
-Yes, using WinCDEmu to open the GOG CD .img file did work.
-it runs smoothly and the 3D menu interface works well enough.
-how about adding 2560x1440 resolution to the list?
-jumping just makes you jump super high, instead of the expected jetpack functionality. I'm assuming this will be added?
Are all the physics just driven with Unity rigidbodies? If so I could help out with getting the jetpack feeling right and improving movement, if you want some help. I've actually thought at times about doing some kinda Terra Nova remake/tribute myself. :)
joerg on 13/11/2023 at 17:03
henke, thanks for trying it out and writing your feedback! Good to know that using the GOG-version works well with WinCDemu. About the jump jets I have to admit that they were added quickly a long time ago and were tagged "good enough" on my list. However after your feedback I guess I have to make them more true to the original game. By the way I don't use Unity's physics engine as most things were simply coded "oldschool". I'll come back to you when I had some time to make any changes.
Edit: I just played the original game again and yes my jump jet implementation is way off...
henke on 14/11/2023 at 07:08
Heh yeah. The jump jet is a big charm of the original gameplay for me. I'd say there's an initial burst of upwards force if you're standing on the ground, and small increases to the upwards force when holding the jump button in the air, which depletes your energy. Adding some jump-rocket particles would be appreciated as well, so when flying backwards you'd see the trail of smoke arching through the sky.
I also noticed you've got that issue where you move faster diagonally than when moving directly forwards/sidewards. I solved this problem myself recently making (
https://henke.itch.io/first-person-prototype) this game, by clamping the movement vector with Vector2.ClampMagnitude.
Here's the relevant snippet of code:
Quote:
MoveVector = new Vector2(Mathf.Lerp(MoveVector.x, InputSide, Time.deltaTime * 10), Mathf.Lerp(MoveVector.y, InputFwd, Time.deltaTime * 10));
MoveVector = Vector2.ClampMagnitude(MoveVector, 1);
transform.Translate(new Vector3(MoveVector.x * MoveSpeed, vertSpeed, MoveVector.y * MoveSpeed) * Time.deltaTime, Space.Self);
A lot of old games had this issue, including the Thief games. Heck, maybe Terra Nova had it as well, but it's an unsightly bug, and I'd get rid of it.
