ok thats better... but

Still some things to do but finally got the transitions to work as I want them to. The SitRep mode will clear up the immediate view of the active ship & allow it to have intel on what ships its in range of, and what ships have it in range/targetting it.. That way when the normal view mode gets a bit cluttered you can zoom out a bit and take stock. Should be nice.
Standard FAQ
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What is this?
It's a Raspberry Pi4 game project I have been working on since Dec 2020. It will be freely distributed when ready on a contribution basis, not for sale or resale. It's a large scale RTS style game set in space where you must expand your Empire to control the known galaxy. You can do this by diplomacy, trade or conquest. And while there's a high level of graphic interaction, the game is more strategic in nature, with the option to take control and get to the front line if you prefer a more arcade style of play.
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Where can I get more info?
You can follow progress on CZcams here, the channel is not monitized but you risk the occasional video of me singing.. you have been warned! Or you can follow progress on / brianbeuken which at this point is not seeking contributions to the project, there is a free tier now, but you do have to register to make comments/suggestions/be considered for testing.
There will be updates and download options in due course at www.empirespi.co.uk/ and no singing!
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Why are you doing this?
I teach game programming, at Breda University of Applied Sciences, we use Raspberry Pi4 to introduce 1st year students to graphics programming because its a hard machine to do graphics on. While it is indeed a hard machine to do graphics on, it teaches you to be careful how you do graphics and I found it interesting to see how far I could push the graphic abilities... and forgot to stop. Its also fun to be able to directly show to students the good and bad side of attempting a large project alone.
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When will it be ready?
I'm hoping mid 2024... but if I get sidetracked or add more features it might take longer. It is very much a part time, when I have time, kind of project so some weeks I might spend 20+ hours, some weeks 4 or 5, even a few weeks of none. It will be done when its done.
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Can I sign up to support this?
Yes, but for now I don't need any more funds, my patreons paid for about half the cost of the assets when I first set it up, for which I am most grateful, but as it was taking longer and longer to finish I stopped the collections.
I very much appreciate any support, and would ask you to sign up to the Patreon site for free, or for $1 or $10, as noted you will not be charged until it is released.
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What Engine is this?
Its not an engine, its straight C++ code written from scratch and built up. It does use some important libraries, but the code and all bugs were written by me.
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Can I get the code?
No, not for a while, I am working on a new book about programming Raspberry's and this will form part of it, much (or all) will be released then.
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Will it run on older Rapberry Pi's?
No sorry, it needs to use OpenGLES3.1 and around 800MB of video memory, older Pi's don't have that.
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Will it run on newer Rapberry Pi5?
oh yes, yes indeed it does :D
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Will it run on my xxxx SBC?
Possibly, I do try to keep the project as machine independant as possible, even though Pi4/400 is the primary target. As long as you have a multi core CPU with hardware drivers for OpenGLES3.1 and around 800MB of GPU ram it may be possible. But not all SBC's are equal and it will depend on the specifics of the OS and drivers available.
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Can you test it on my xxx SBC if I send it to you?
No, I'd rather not... it can take as little as an hour or several days which end in frustration, to set up a brand new SBC, even if on paper it has the specs. So until its complete I don't want to tinker too much with other units.
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Will there be a PC version?
Maybe, I am using a small mini PC with Debian for rapid debug and deployment, but the main target will remain the Pi4
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Can I help?
No, despite the idea being slightly insane, I am quite deliberatly doing this on my own, mad eh!
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I have questions...
ask.. I will try to answer in the comments.

[@galaxiesandempires2651]

This looks amazing.

[@BrianBeuken]

thanks, still some eye candy and game info tags to put in there but doing that over the next few days.