Game News Colony Ship RPG Update #6: Factions Overview

[4too]

Mission Creep


Form OVER function. People pay for electricians and plumbers, but really want painters and interior decorators.

Thank you Vault Dweller for this mythic, mystic vision of “building maintenance”
on the scale of Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy and Miller’s A Canticle for Lieberwitz.

Real life management want level 9 and 11 tech’s to ‘work down’ to level 4 or 5.
Real world management wants wall painting, cove base, picture and marker board hanging, done by mechanics certified for HVAC CFC’s and Boilers.
Wait, the accountants say when filters are changed, not when they fail and the fine dust is now visible streaming out the air diffusers.
Only lawyers know if your building is sick, you or I just have some seasonal allergy.

This is not Sci Fi this is real life for building mechanics WORLD WIDE.

May (insert your reigning Deity HERE!) Bless You Vault Dweller for true , “traditional’ , what if’ science fiction.

If the testosterone enhanced demographic want —ROMANCE—

say “ ’get thee to MFC, there’s a whole cyber wall full of ‘nice girls’ that will please for ‘tips’ ”.

(Cue up Zappa/BeefHeart’s Willy The Pimp?)




4too

 

[Diggfinger]

Thank you for your support. As for the engine, we're planning to use Unreal 4.

What?? Unreal 4 engine???

Thank you for your support. As for the engine, we're planning to use Unreal 4 GameBryo.

Ahhh...much better!

Btw. just learned that you guys at Iron Tower helped create Dead State. How heavily involved were you? These are truly great years for gaming...

Mission Creep


Form OVER function. People pay for electricians and plumbers, but really want painters and interior decorators.

Thank you Vault Dweller for this mythic, mystic vision of “building maintenance”
on the scale of Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy and Miller’s A Canticle for Lieberwitz Leibowitz

Real life management want level 9 and 11 tech’s to ‘work down’ to level 4 or 5.
Real world management wants wall painting, cove base, picture and marker board hanging, done by mechanics certified for HVAC CFC’s and Boilers.
Wait, the accountants say when filters are changed, not when they fail and the fine dust is now visible streaming out the air diffusers.
Only lawyers know if your building is sick, you or I just have some seasonal allergy.

This is not Sci Fi this is real life for building mechanics WORLD WIDE.

May (insert your reigning Deity HERE!) Bless You Vault Dweller for true , “traditional’ , what if’ science fiction.

If the testosterone enhanced demographic want —ROMANCE—

say “ ’get thee to MFC, there’s a whole cyber wall full of ‘nice girls’ that will please for ‘tips’ ”.

(Cue up Zappa/BeefHeart’s Willy The Pimp?)




4too

 

[Vault Dweller]

Thank you for your support. As for the engine, we're planning to use Unreal 4.

What?? Unreal 4 engine???

The choice of an engine is up to the programmer. He feels that Unreal 4 is the best option. If you have a strong opinion on the subject, you can voice it here:
http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php/topic,7110.0.html

Btw. just learned that you guys at Iron Tower helped create Dead State. How heavily involved were you? These are truly great years for gaming...

We built the game according to Brian Mitsoda's specifications. Basically, he provided design & writing, we put the game together.

 

[hivemind]

Can you share how much you charged for building the game?

 

[Vault Dweller]

I can't reveal financial aspects that directly involve other people. Suffice to say the deal was fair to both parties.

 

[axedice]

How much longer is the ship supposed to take before it reaches it's destination ?

Spoiler

It has already arrived. No, it's not a plot twist.

Can you elaborate? Quoting from Update 4

It will start simple – while scavenging you stumble upon something clearly valuable, a long-forgotten device that wasn’t meant to be used until the ship lands (but can be used in-flight). Not being an expert on such things, you need to know exactly what this thing is to figure out what one of the factions will pay for it, which is a good way to introduce you to the three main factions in Act 1

Once you know what that device is (at about 30% of the game), you’ll offer it to the faction of your choice, at which point your relationship with the other factions will go down, introducing an aspect we didn’t really touch in AoD – factions acting against you, attacking your base of operations, and turning locations under their influence against you, which will boost replayability.

At about 70% of the game, you might realize (via learning more about the ship if you’re smart enough) that what you’re doing might not necessary be what’s best for the ship (or you personally) and get an option to do things in a very different, "fuck all factions" way. The remaining 30% of the game will be dedicated to each path within this fork, presenting different challenges and choices.

If the ship has arrived at Alpha Centauri-4 and this is not a plot twist, then everyone knows about the arrival? Or maybe our definitions of plot twist differ. I'll say any unexpected situation that prevents the ship from landing/terra-forming etc. counts as a plot twist, especially if the player character doesn't have this knowledge at the beginning of the game.

If everyone knows it though, then what is their purpose? To keep on living and finding a suitable planet? Whats the point of using the quest device "in flight"? Or maybe only a few are aware of the truth and they're trying to keep everyone alive? (still a plot twist I say)

 

[Vault Dweller]

If the ship has arrived at Alpha Centauri-4 and this is not a plot twist, then everyone knows about the arrival?

Only a couple of people know (the House Ecclesiastes).

Or maybe our definitions of plot twist differ. I'll say any unexpected situation that prevents the ship from landing/terra-forming etc. counts as a plot twist, especially if the player character doesn't have this knowledge at the beginning of the game.

What I meant is that it's not a big reveal a-la "Revan is ... you!"

First, not every character will discover it. Naturally, if only a couple of people know it, this knowledge will be hard to come by. Second, if you do discover it, it won't be a huge revelation but merely a new factor because by the time you might discover it, you'll be knee-deep in shit. Plus as you see from the faction descriptions, they'd rather settle their differences first and let the winner claim the planet than start singing kumbaya and preparing to land. In other words, it's the kind of news that changes nothing for the major players.

Whats the point of using the quest device "in flight"?

The answer would give away too much. Once you know what this device is, you'd see the point very clearly.

Or maybe only a few are aware of the truth and they're trying to keep everyone alive? (still a plot twist I say)

A few - yes. Trying to keep alive - no.

 

[Infinitron]

Spoilers for a game 4 years before its release, has this ever happened before

 

[Jrpgfan]

I should probably start taking those spoiler tags more seriously from now on.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Spoilers for a game 4 years before its release, has this ever happened before

We want to make replayable games, thus we aren't relying on plot twists and shocking reveals. It is the journey that matters not the plot cutscenes. A player should be able to enjoy the game even he knows about some endings because his/her journey might be completely different.

 

[Jrpgfan]

AoD was replayable as fuck but discovering all the lore for the first time was one of the things I really enjoyed. I don't think it would have had the same impact had I know beforehand about much of the lore in the game.

 

[Infinitron]

Don't worry, you'll forget this by the time the game comes out.

 

[Vault Dweller]

AoD was replayable as fuck but discovering all the lore for the first time was one of the things I really enjoyed. I don't think it would have had the same impact had I know beforehand about much of the lore in the game.

We won't spoil the details and lore. What I outlined above is nothing but broad strokes. The ship simply has to be in orbit to open different possibilities as we can't do much with a ship still flying to its destination.

 

[Fenix]

It is the journey that matters not the plot cutscenes.

Oh, I can't Brofist you enough, oh...

 

[Diggfinger]

Thank you for your support. As for the engine, we're planning to use Unreal 4.

What?? Unreal 4 engine???

The choice of an engine is up to the programmer. He feels that Unreal 4 is the best option. If you have a strong opinion on the subject, you can voice it here:
http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php/topic,7110.0.html

Btw. just learned that you guys at Iron Tower helped create Dead State. How heavily involved were you? These are truly great years for gaming...

We built the game according to Brian Mitsoda's specifications. Basically, he provided design & writing, we put the game together.

Was merely kidding when suggesting GameBryo...since it's Bathesda's engine of choice, it usually sparks a reaction in people...

Unreal 4 looks beautiful and I think its even free to use now?
Will be exciting to see how an isometric RPG would work in U4.

 

[Lurker King]

Was merely kidding when suggesting GameBryo...since it's Bathesda's engine of choice, it usually sparks a reaction in people...

Unreal 4 looks beautiful and I think its even free to use now?
Will be exciting to see how an isometric RPG would work in U4.

That is not how it works. What makes the game beautiful is the talent and the sheer number of artists involved, not the engine. They are choosing Unreal over Torque and Unity because they believe it will be easier to use and provides more functionalities. The colony ship game will probably have better art than AoD, but not by much. That being said, I hope they use a fixed camera. That way the game can have a 2Dish look and better art.

 

[Aenra]

As usual, i like what i'm reading. My only question is whether i'll be alive by the time it comes out, lol

 

[Jrpgfan]

Was merely kidding when suggesting GameBryo...since it's Bathesda's engine of choice, it usually sparks a reaction in people...

Unreal 4 looks beautiful and I think its even free to use now?
Will be exciting to see how an isometric RPG would work in U4.

That is not how it works. What makes the game beautiful is the talent and the sheer number of artists involved, not the engine. They are choosing Unreal over Torque and Unity because they believe it will be easier to use and provides more functionalities. The colony ship game will probably have better art than AoD, but not by much. That being said, I hope they use a fixed camera. That way the game can have a 2Dish look and better art.

I remember VD saying the problem with fixed camera is that they don't know how to make meshes transparent where the player is standing. I don't know if it was a torque-only related issue, but if not, I don't know if it's worth making the camera fixed.

 

[vivec]

Spoilers for a game 4 years before its release, has this ever happened before

We want to make replayable games, thus we aren't relying on plot twists and shocking reveals. It is the journey that matters not the plot cutscenes. A player should be able to enjoy the game even he knows about some endings because his/her journey might be completely different.

No. I disagree with that. I am happy that you want to deliver a replayable game independent of the twists and I know you guys can do that, having played AoD. But that does not mean that the FIRST experience should be spoiled.