Star Control: October 2015 update
Greetings!
Another month has come and gone and here is the monthly update -- just in a nick of time.
The Star Control team has continued to staff up as we've hired more animators and artists.
Here are the topics to lead us into November:
Topic #1: The Founder's Program
Yes. The Founder's Program will get going within the next month or so.
If you are interested in joining, please fill out this survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VCQQG7D
Topic #2: The Tech
The game will be using the same graphics engine as Ashes of the Singularity. That means it'll be both state of the art but also (Because we're not having to deal with 30,000+ units at once) be able to run on relatively modest hardware (it'll still require a 64-bit OS, DirectX 11 or later but you should be able to run it fine on an Ultrabook).
The visuals are already quite stunning. Remember,. Nitrous's claim to fame (the engine)_ is that it renders similar to how CGI in movies is done except in real-time. You can see that already in Ashes despite it having relatively simple 3D models. Wait till you see what we can do with the aliens.
Topic #3: Lore Update
Since this is a reboot, the game will take place before the events of the original Star Control 1. Without giving too much away, something happens in 2085 leading the Humans to form Star Control to begin exploring space and making contact with alien worlds. The story will unfold from there.
Topic #4: Core elements
The founders will get a lot more information on all of this but below are the essential elements in the new Star Control.
- Super Melee. Without spoiling it, Super Melee will take place within a solar system, not around a single planet. It will support Internet multiplayer and will likely be the first component released to Founders (2016).
- Planet Exploration. This part is actually pretty far along and one of the coolest looking things I've ever seen and, after you see, it, it's "duh, of course that's how it should be done".
- Encounters. This is the most complex part of the game (or at least expensive). Combining Nitrous with real-time emoting (not just lip syincing) is definitely proving worth it. For the record, I was originally against this because I thought it would be cheesy. I've now seen it in action and it's really amazing.
- Ship Customizer. You wlll have a flag ship which will also pick up fleets of ally ships. However, this time around, you'll be able to visually customize the ship such that everyone's ship will look different (which should prove fun in multiplayer and when exploring the multiverses created by others). Think GalCiv III level customization combined with Nitrous fidelity. This part of the game is already working (though primitively).
- Exploration. This part is working minus non-programmer art.
- Music. We scored a real win getting Riku back after 25 years to score the new Star Control music. It's part of the charm of the original series.
- Writing. Chris Bucholz of cracked.com is in charge of the writing. The aliens are, well, pretty awesomely insane and ridiculous already. There are already some catchy memes that have spread across the office. It'll be interesting whether they spread once others are exposed to them.
- Founders Program begins (4Q2015). This will be access to our vault and a private forum where we can bounce ideas off those passionate, like us, about the Star Control reboot.
- Founders Prototype (1Q2016): Founders under NDA will start to be able to give feedback and try out some of our tools and early prototypes of what we're working on to give feedback and suggestions.
- Founders Alpha (2Q2016): Founders, under NDA, start getting Alpha builds.
- Early Access (4Q2016).
- 2017: 25th anniversary of Star Control 2.