Icie Juicy

I've just posted a new update on our blog and we are still seeking additional members. Please check out our newest update and contact us if you have any questions or wish to discuss potentially working on Ruin Regions. **http://ruinregions.blogspot.com/**

**Update 5/10/2011** Development has been continuing and a lot of progress has been made. For those who are interested in the project, either working with us, or the game itself, please visit our new development blog. Feel free to subscribe to our blog, take part in our polls or just check back frequently as we post new updates! **Ruin Regions blog** http://ruinregions.blogspot.com/ **Here is a little more about the Game Design and what is Currently Programmed:** >! **Game Design** The majority of the eight months that I have spent developing Ruin Regions, with or without the assistance of others, has been in building a foundation for the project. This foundation consists of the game design plans and storyline. While the game design plans and storyline are still under development, and will continue to be throughout the development process, many of these elements have also been integrated into the project and are functioning. >! **Currently Programmed** At this point in development, I've developed enough of Ruin Regions to allow for players to create accounts, with all of the Planet/District/Region specific information that I outlined above. Once the account is created, players are able to log in and begin actually playing the game. I have functionally programmed a few elements in game, listed below. >! **Domestic** _Building infrastructure (various types of buildings, all with their own cost/time to build and increased production/military benefits) Training (able to train Researchers) Employment (able to assign workers to work in specific production facilities, based on your Region's Population minus factors like Unemployment)_ >! **Military** _Review Active Troops (able to view the different military units that are currently assigned to tasks like training, defending…) Draft Troops (able to draft troops into your military, for a price, based on your Region's Population - factors like public support) Train Troops (able to send an amount of troops off to train, upon returning the troops will gain a level of experience) Build Items (able to build both weapons or equipment, for items that have been discovered through research)_ >! **Advisors** _Review Advisors (able to view all Advisors that are currently employed by you Region, along with a list of their skill ratings and abilities) Search (able to attempt to send your own Advisors out to search for additional Advisors in other Planets/Districts)_ >! **Resource Production** Currently all resources are able to be produced for your Region (Food, Timber, Minerals, Water, Currency) and the effectiveness of production can be altered by the player, based on their actions; building infrastructure, increasing/decreasing employment. >! **Battle System** Over the past week I have been actively developing the battle system, which has come a long way. This will be a 2D tile based system. It is nearing full functionality independently, though implementing it into the project will take some additional time. >! **Art and Graphics** At this point, I have been using dummy graphics for Ruin Regions, since this isn't too important for functionality and graphics are easily implemented once we are able to find someone to help develop them. I would show screenshots of the project, but displaying graphics used in already published games wouldn't represent Ruin Regions very well.

I'd prefer not to use a cracked or illegal copy of something, but I'd still like to find a quality program that is relatively inexpensive. Of course as quality goes up, so does price, so that statement is somewhat of an oxymoron. Anyways, if such a program does exist, let me know.

@Peteyyy: > Are you telling me you paid for Photoshop CS5? No.

I just spent a little time checking out Cinema 4D, which looks amazing. However, the prices that I've found aren't exactly realistic for me at this point (up into the thousands). I also looked into Indesign which doesn't appear to be along the lines of what I'm looking for at this point, from the previews on Adobe's site. Illustrator does look more promising though and I'll look more into that.

After working with a few flaky graphic artists/designers on various projects I figured I would try my hand at developing some graphics instead. Anyways, I'm wondering what tools and programs you guys would suggest for me to begin working with. I have Photoshop CS5 and I've played around with it a little. **Currently I'm looking to create a few planet graphics and terrain maps**. Eventually I'll be expanding into other graphic development, if I'm able to become skilled enough at it. Appreciate the help and let me know if this is the wrong section. :cheesy:

**Update 3/13/2011** I haven't posted an update on Eclipse in awhile so there has been a lot of recent progress. We have our own original website and forum now, both are still being developed. The website (www.ruinregions.net) is half way done. The Development Progress was just added to this topic, though I'm not sure how frequently I'll be able to update it. We have the nearly all of the main menu, account and Region creation process completed. Which is allowing us to begin working more on the actual game! Last week I released a small video walk through, mostly for development purposes, but for those of you who are interested, you are welcome to check it out as well. There is a link on our forum to the video. I hope to frequent these forums more in the future and get some more updates soon!

@MrMiguu: > The white corners on the GUI are very unclean. Make the background either white or blend the logo and the background better. I could not agree with you more. This is my first time using photoshop CS5 and unfortunately, as simple as it is, I didn't know how to solve that problem. I created a topic (below) for it the other day and I'll likely have things smoothed out later today. http://www.touchofdeathforums.com/smf/index.php/topic,68881.0.html

Just updated the preview with a screenshot of the new GUI. Enjoy!

@Chief: > Layer > Matting > Remove White Matting > > Try that. If that doesn't work so well, just use the pen tool to cut off the white yourself. I knew it would be relatively simple, thanks for the tip Chief. I'll be trying that when I get back home today.

Thanks man I really appreciate the input! And you just reminded me of a couple techniques I could try to remove the corner/background border issue. I'll post back up here if I get them to work.

For those of you who use Photoshop (any version I imagine) know the ability this program has. However, I don't know much about it at this point, I watched a couple of tutorials on youtube and then about 30 minutes later created this. It's relatively plain, I know, and still unfinished. >!  **Warning Noob Question!!!** There's a white border around the images I've made. I have deleted the background, so the image appears to have nothing behind them in photoshop. And when programing, I have the backcolors set to transparent. So I'm not sure why they appear this way in the program, I'm sure it's something rather simplistic as well…. :sad: Open for input/comments. I'm mostly looking for advice for techniques to use in Photoshop CS5 to give it more appeal. Thanks!

I couldn't have been happier with the first song you produced for Ruin, "North Polar Regions", and I would absolutely love for you to compose the next piece for this project. Please take as long as you need and please message me if you have any more questions. I do plan on throwing a donation your way for your time if you have a paypal or some other way of accepting a donation. Game Name: Ruin Regions Setting: These will be the main menu background music. Story Genre: This portion of the game has a more sci-fi feel and background. Format: MP3 Atmosphere: Like above, a slow and sci-fi and magic blend of music to play in the background while players create their regions.

I've been working on Ruin Region's actual in game interfaces. The graphics are still very poor, as we are still seeking people to assist with that area. Hope this helps give everyone an idea of what Ruin Regions' main interface will look like.

What section should we use for offering services, such as graphics and music?