Star Control: Origins - Star Control reboot from Stardock

[Zombra]

(In fact, I'm not actually sure what Cracked.com publishes. I had in my head that it was like an imitation of Mad magazine?)

Yeah, you're thinking of the original Cracked magazine, a MAD imitator back in the day. You're not crazy, that was a thing. Now it's just a "magazine" site like any other where folks write articles about things.

 

[MRY]

Star Control 2 speaks for itself.

Star Control 3 was made by Legend Entertainment, which had some Text Adventure veterans behind it, meaning that the writing was not a bad point of the game.

What little writing Project 6014 had done was at least on par with the above.

Nope.

Star Control II has GOAT writing.

Star Control III's writers were not text adventure developers. The three writers' prior projects were: the manual for Barkely Shut Up and Jam 2 (not the jokey jRPG, the actual game), production on a White Men Can't Jump game (there was such a thing?), and QA on a soccer game. Most of their experience up that point was in QA. The writing in SC3 is mediocre at best.

Project 6014 is a fan fiction of high fan fiction quality.

That is not remotely SC2 quality, or even SC3 quality. I'm not even sure what the last joke means, but perhaps that's my own shortcoming. (Also, not to be nitpicky, but the Orz aren't *campers*. *Campers* refer to people from our plane of space (e.g., "The *Playground* is for Taalo and for Orz, but *Campers* can go), possibly only people from our plane who have interacted with Orz.) This is just the first dialogue screenshot I could find. Maybe others are much better.

Not saying things can't get worse with Stardock. They probably will. But to fight decline, you can't lump everything together into a catchall "better than crap" category.

 

[MRY]

a dead franchise that few remember

Now you're just being mean!

 

[HansDampf]

Is this a mobile game?

 

[LESS T_T]

Two page interview at Ars Technica: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017...ol-origins-player-crafting-and-upcoming-beta/



Pre-order on Steam and GOG:



https://af.gog.com/game/star_control_origins?as=1649904300

Also the original games are now on Steam:

 

[Infinitron]

Also the original games are now on Steam:

What's with the removal of the sequel numbers? Did they remove the 3 because Ford & Reiche are making the real 3?

 

[Infinitron]

Procgen universe is pretty neat too though I wonder how well the rest of the game supports replayability. If replayability isn't the goal then procgen is kinda pointless.

I think maybe he means that they're generating the universe once using procgen and packaging that with the game.

 

[MRY]

Not gonna lie, pretty excited. Planet landing looks silly but there hasn't ever been a particularly good one AFAIK.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I'm getting huge Star Control vibes from this...

Star Control 3 vibes, that is.

That line "Yeah, we disappoint a lot of people that way" may hit a little TOO close to home.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

I might actually buy this if MELEE looks fun enough.

However pre-order comes with NDA:
https://af.gog.com/game/star_control_origins?as=1649904300

By purchasing the Star Control®: Origins pre-order, you understand and agree to be bound by the following Non-Disclosure Agreement

Spoiler

Star Control: Origins - Stardock Entertainment Non-Disclosure Agreement
By purchasing this product (Star Control: Origins), you agree to not post any screenshots, stream
videos until this product enters public beta. This restriction DOES NOT extend to discussion abou
game; feel free to talk about it all you like!
If you have a question regarding this agreement, please visit the official Star Control forums at:
https://forums.starcontrol.com/forum/1053

 

[Makabb]

 

[Unkillable Cat]

The video's only comment sums it up:

I love that they have made the hyperspace theme from SC2 the Vampire Killer/Bloody Tears/Beginning melody of Star Control. Fan service is the hallmark of a good company.

They've had TWENTY-FIVE YEARS to come up with new music, and this is what we get?

 

[Quigs]

Played the original ages ago and loved it. 2's story mode though I couldn't handle. I'm *really* bad at the space battles, and some of the story twists had you fighting at pretty steep disadvantages that I could never overcome. Any word if they're going to have an easier mode for idiots like me?

 

[Jasede]

HOW DID I MISS THIS
IS THIS A JOKE?

I AM SO HAPPY

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Played the original ages ago and loved it. 2's story mode though I couldn't handle. I'm *really* bad at the space battles, and some of the story twists had you fighting at pretty steep disadvantages that I could never overcome. Any word if they're going to have an easier mode for idiots like me?

Haven't played SC2 in quite some time, but IIRC you could not only adjust the difficulty rating, but also have the computer fight the battles for you.

If it's true, Star Control 2 is one of the first games to have Story Mode-level difficulty.

 

[Jasede]

After reading the thread I need to dial down my expectations. It seems a bit of a lousy cash-grab, but I will be happy to be wrong.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

HOW DID I MISS THIS
IS THIS A JOKE?

I AM SO HAPPY

Did you miss this?
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...cursors-sequel-from-original-creators.118642/

 

[Makabb]

After reading the thread I need to dial down my expectations. It seems a bit of a lousy cash-grab, but I will be happy to be wrong.

It's made by Stardock, their own games are not exactly great either.

 

[Jasede]

HOW DID I MISS THIS
IS THIS A JOKE?

I AM SO HAPPY

Did you miss this?
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...cursors-sequel-from-original-creators.118642/

Oh, I thought this was that.

... wait, so BOTH companies are-

What

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Yes.

Stardock has the rights to all things Star Control.

They're working on their own game, which this thread is about: Star Control Origins. It's a prequel of sorts to all the Star Control games we know and love.

Meanwhile, OUT OF THE FUCKING BLUE, Toys for Bob have announced that they have a deal both with Stardock (the current rights-holders) and Activision (whom pretty much own Toys for Bob) that they can finally create the sequel that Star Control 2 deserves.

Like I said in Shoutbox: In terms of announced titles, 2017 wins the entire decade for the announcement of a true sequel to Star Control 2.

 

[Beastro]

Looks lie cartoony shit.

The writing team, led by Cracked.com's Chris Bucholz, has a compelling sci-fi story that is also very much in the style you expect from a Star Control game.

The problem is that I expect the writing in a Star Control game to be good.

I'm worried about the kind of writing that's gonna be it.

By today's standards SC2 had a lot of risque, un-PC stuff in it, especially the story related Syreen stuff and ending that felt like a 50s/60s era boys fantasy that I would enrage a bunch today.

 

[Infinitron]

Yes.

Stardock has the rights to all things Star Control.

They're working on their own game, which this thread is about: Star Control Origins. It's a prequel of sorts to all the Star Control games we know and love.

Meanwhile, OUT OF THE FUCKING BLUE, Toys for Bob have announced that they have a deal both with Stardock (the current rights-holders) and Activision (whom pretty much own Toys for Bob) that they can finally create the sequel that Star Control 2 deserves.

Like I said in Shoutbox: In terms of announced titles, 2017 wins the entire decade for the announcement of a true sequel to Star Control 2.

Is it really Toys for Bob making the game, or are Paul & Fred putting together their own team outside the company on their own time?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Is it really Toys for Bob making the game, or are Paul & Fred putting together their own team outside the company on their own time?

To be honest I have no idea, but I figure that by now they have the leverage to be able to broker a deal with Activision for the "one-off" development of a game that's outside of their range.

Obviously that goes with the disclaimer that (at least) a part of Toys for Bob will still be involved with Skylanders, and I figure that this arrangement could not have been reached without TFB paying for it one way or another down the road.

We'll probably just have to wait and see for where the lines are drawn.

 

[LESS T_T]

Looks like Super Melee beta is live:



http://steamcommunity.com/games/starcontrolorigins/announcements/detail/2919884421337166986

About Star Control: Origins & Fleet Battles Mode

Star Control: Origins is a science-fiction adventure game set in an open universe that puts the player as the captain of Earth's first interstellar vessel on a mission to find allies to help save humanity from certain annihilation.

The beta unlocks the Fleet Battles feature, where you'll assemble ships in a fleet and engage in battle with fleets controlled by either the computer, humans via the Internet, or even friends sitting at the same PC.

You can literally design your own ships to use in combat using the Ship Crafting system, or you can download ships designed by others to play with. Ship Crafting not only allows you to decide what weapons and defenses a ship has, but allows total control of how a ship looks.

Check out CEO Brad Wardell's guided tour to the beta here![forums.starcontrol.com]

And some other recent forum posts:

Beta schedule: https://forums.starcontrol.com/485793
Post about some Origins lore: https://forums.starcontrol.com/485923
Star Control 2 retrospective: https://forums.starcontrol.com/485810/Star-Control-II-25th-anniversary---On-the-shoulders-of-giants

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Star Control 2 retrospective: https://forums.starcontrol.com/485810/Star-Control-II-25th-anniversary---On-the-shoulders-of-giants

I had planned to post my own retrospective here, but the text linked blows that completely out of the water. Just read that instead.

But yeah, one of the best and most unique games ever made is turning 25.

If by some strange reason you haven't played it yet, there's no excuse not to do so over the weekend.