Question for New Space sim …..
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A better example of a brilliant core idea with poor execution is Infiniminer. Minecraft re-executed Infiniminer in a more compelling way, and has done a number of things exceedingly well. I personally wish the tech tree was expanded in Bettter Than Wolves-fashion instead of nose-diving into enchanting and potions, but with the widespread availability of mods, it’s hard to complain.
I do, however, see your point, and I agree that comparisons between a well established genre and a previously nonexistent one are probably somewhat worthless. However, I do believe that Minecraft’s influence can be seen in certain aspects of Kinetic Void, namely rich procedural generation, as well as the deep interconnection between resource collection, processing, and utilization, especially as a means of advancing through a tech tree and being able to creatively build better ships. It’s that kind of symbiosis of various play options that I’m excited about.
I’m with you on Starlight Inception. It seems like a straight rehash of Wing Commander/Freespace, a story on rails with combat missions; the pitch actually made it pretty clear that this was the case. I don’t agree on Kinetic Void. While it may not stand out from the genre as much 0x10c, it does aim to do a number of innovative things, or at least collect a lot of novelty and put it into one place. A procedurally generated galaxy and factions, along with module-based ship design in five vessel classes opening up very different avenues of play–that’s enough innovation to impress me. When you add in mining, manufacturing, and economy, you’ve essentially got a game that allows the player to create a mobile micro-empire.
The trouble I see is not whether the game is bringing something new to the table. It’s the question of whether it will deliver something solid and compelling to the genre, like Freelancer or Independence War 2, or break apart on launch, like Battlecruiser 3000AD. The other question, of course, is whether or not it will get funded at all. I’m willing to drop 10 bucks on the mere possibility that it will be decent. For that amount of money, I’m happy enough just to help fund someone’s taking a stab at making a game I’d like to play, because there’s a pretty good chance it wouldn’t happen any other way.
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Then it comes back to my original point: this is a very ambitious design doc from an unknown person to do with a mere 60k$. SOMETHING, somewhere, will have to take the hit from this low funding. It’s essentially saying he can only do it alone and has to do it in a year. That’s a lot to ask, and I fear that graphics especially will suffer as a result.
It might sound shallow, but visuals sell and immerse. Part of the reason many games, especially space sims, are remembered, is because they were almost always cutting edge with graphics. Wing Commander. X-Wing versus TIE fighter. Freespace 2. They were all at the forefront. This game will need to fight against established games like FS2Open and X: Rebirth, as well as Starlight, all with a tiny tiny team.
As I said, I wish the guy luck, but I have too many doubts to back this.
Oh also, I’ll merely point out that procedurally generated galaxies and procedurally generated lands are not the same at all, both in terms of complexity and possibilities. The former ends up feeling extremely generic extremely fast. You can’t replace an artist’s and a designer’s touch with machine code, not yet.
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And your original point stands as a good one. It’s not just him, though; the team is comprised of three people. However, that’s still three guys, six months, $60,000, and a very ambitious project, especially for a genre that seems to have both a high and occasionally catastrophic failure rate.
That doesn’t sound shallow. I do think what I’ve seen of the playable shipyard is fairly pretty, but I’ve been trying to convince the guy to be more dazzling in the visuals department–some kind of concept art, poster art, or serious in-game eye candy, since, well, first impressions and all. Beyond that, you’re right. The game needs to look good, or it will leave exploration and ship building pretty flavorless. I believe they plan to add some rudimentary play to the shipyard in the next few days, so it’ll be interesting (for me) to see what that’s like.
As for procedural generation, that’s a great point. I think Battlecruiser had some form of this, and I’m not sure it did much of anything to make it a fun game. I think the developer of Drifter is approaching this problem by having handcrafted core systems, with procedural generation for the rest of the galaxy.
Anyway, thanks for the conversation. I respect hesitancy about this and any Kickstarter/alpha funding project. I’ve quietly backed away from far more projects than the handful I’ve given money to. I guess we’ll find out in the next year or so how successful this model is at producing worthwhile games.
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I haven’t seen anyone mention TAIKODOM, I only played it for a few hours but from what I’ve seen it’s very much like FL, only drawback is that it’s in Brasilian, so the constant jumping between the game & google translate just to understand the mission briefing spoiled it for me.
