Development Info Michael McCarthy's 'Dropship'

[DarkUnderlord]

Tags: Dropship; Laidback Gaming; Michael Sean McCarthy

<a href="http://rpgcodex.com/content.php?id=130">Remember that game we dubiously dubbed Project T-BAR 3/4</a>? Well it has a name now. It's called "Dropship" and Michael sent along some screenshots of their work-in-progress with a promise that more is to come.
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<table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="5"><tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="http://rpgcodex.com/screenshot.php?file=dropship/Dropship_Screen_12-20-06.jpg"><img src="http://rpgcodex.com/images/screenshots/dropship/Dropship_Screen_12-20-06tb.jpg" border="0"><br />In-game Screenshot</a></td></tr><tr><td align="center"><a href="http://rpgcodex.com/screenshot.php?file=dropship/test%2040437%201.jpg"><img src="http://rpgcodex.com/images/screenshots/dropship/test%2040437%201tb.jpg" border="0"><br />Cutscene</a></td><td align="center"><a href="http://rpgcodex.com/screenshot.php?file=dropship/Dropship%20tear%20apart_2.jpg"><img src="http://rpgcodex.com/images/screenshots/dropship/Dropship%20tear%20apart_2tb.jpg" border="0"><br />Dropship prototype</a></td></tr></table>
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... and if any of that intrigues you, you can sit and wait for the "coming soon" website: <a href="http://www.laidback-gaming.com/">http://www.laidback-gaming.com/</a>.

 

[denizsi]

Laidback Gaming, isn't that the dev company Warren Specter founded after leaving Ion Storm?

 

[Atrokkus]

Dropship, huh? Reminds me of Starcraft and SlayerS_Boxer (korean progamer legend) he named his strategy book "Dropship".

That's a good name because if the game turns out crappy we can always call it "Dropshit" or something.

Laidback Gaming, isn't that the dev company Warren Specter founded after leaving Ion Storm?

Where did you hear that?

 

[MountainWest]

Ah, Deepshit, now that's a promising title. Wonder what M.M's plans are for Laidback-gaming, to prevent a deja vu de Troika. More mainstream (which doesn't seem likely with the "coming soon"-text in mind)? Lesser budgets? Better decisions?

And what constitutes as a turn-based action/rpg? XCom?

 

[Atrokkus]

DU, see PM.

 

[ixg]

Hehe, I like the temporary website.

 

[Elwro]

Iiiit's aliiive!11!

 

[don_tomaso]

Yay.. Thought this was gonna be vapourware for sure.. Good to know they got their shit together

 

[Claw]

Those platforms remind me of Syndicate.

Is it a tactical game where I can send a squad of pimped-out cyber soldiers into battle? I am all for that.
How about flamethrowers? Does anyone know if there'll be flamethrowers? I like flamethrowers.

 

[spacemoose]

is it going to be mission based? because that would suck

 

[Bradylama]

I can't wait to see how decompression works.

 

[Dhruin]

Laidback Gaming, isn't that the dev company Warren Specter founded after leaving Ion Storm?

Junction Point Studios.

 

[Shoelip]

That guy in the first pic makes me think of Darleks for some reason. Either that or a deep sea diving suit.

 

[denizsi]

Junction Point Studios

Ah yes. I must've been burnt out while writing that. Thanks for the correction.

 

[Jim Kata]

Those platforms remind me of Syndicate.

Is it a tactical game where I can send a squad of pimped-out cyber soldiers into battle? I am all for that.
How about flamethrowers? Does anyone know if there'll be flamethrowers? I like flamethrowers.

That syndicate music started up the second I saw that.

 

[sheek]

Hmmm...

 

[Jason]

It's nice to see Bioshock is still on track.

 

[FrancoTAU]

Screenshots look fine (really good for basically an indy). I'm more psyched to hear that the project is still active. I liked what I was hearing from the original Codex preview. I just hope Mike gives the soldiers some personality like in Jagged Alliance.

 

[Atrokkus]

It still makes me wonder how will the game fare in terms of roleplaying value... It's still unclear how will the PC communicate with his superiors or other people OUTISDE the aforementioned interface (that is, through his team). And how serious are the repercussions of his actions, and how extensive are the choices affecting larger issues than just the availablility of reinforcements and the like.

 

[Roqua]

What would it matter? Its a TBS, not a rpg. Did any of what you ask apply in terror from the deep? This isn't JA, from the interview he isn't trying to add personality to the soldiers. You direct, they obey, like in the ufo/x-coms.

 

[Deacdo]

I'd be happy with a quality X-Com clone, even if UFO: E turns out well.

That said, I'd rather have a JA2 clone (I'm affraid I don't have much hope for JA3).

 

[OccupatedVoid]

Its a TBS, not a rpg.

Then why the hell is it on the RPG Codex?

 

[sabishii]

Uh...

5. What can you tell us about your planned action-RPG, such as what kind of setting will it take place in?

...

On the RPG end, all communication with people you encounter comes from you. Any member of your team can fire up the communicator and you can speak through it to NPC's in the field. What you say, who you kill or who you let live, how you handle the mission, etc., all play into what missions you receive, what kind of help you have during your missions, available equipment, and a number of other factors that will reveal themselves as the game progresses.

 

[FrancoTAU]

What would it matter? Its a TBS, not a rpg. Did any of what you ask apply in terror from the deep? This isn't JA, from the interview he isn't trying to add personality to the soldiers. You direct, they obey, like in the ufo/x-coms.

The impression I got was it was more of a RPG with a tactical combat system. I could be wrong since Mike hasn't really gotten too much into detail about the game yet. Do I need soldiers with fantastic personalities? No, not really. It's a nice little extra perk thrown in though. I liked Fallout enough and it didn't exactly have interesting party members.

 

[Atrokkus]

Its a TBS, not a rpg.

Read the interview first. It's not a clean TBS like, just like Hammer & Sickle isn't (in fact, I consider H&S a true CRPG).

I liked Fallout enough and it didn't exactly have interesting party members.

Well, FO1 sure didn't have a lot of interesting party memebers, but FO2 did have those. In fact, tehy were some of the best I've ever seen. That's perhaps one of the few advantages of FO2 over FO1.