Star Control: Spring 2015 update

from StarControl Forums

Greetings!

First thing, I talked to Paul and Fred and they suggested I talk to Riku Nuottajärvi about doing music for the new game (he worked on Star Control 2's music) but I don't know how to contact him.  So if any of you could do me the favor of letting him know we are looking to talk to him I'd appreciate it.

Second, with Galactic Civilizations III nearly done, the dev team and art team will be moving on to new projects one of which is Star Control. So the staff up continues.  The core team is already in place and development has been ongoing for awhile (though very little art yet).

Third, the basic plot of the new game has been finalized.  We think people will like it.  Chris Bucholz (cracked.com columnist) is leading the writing effort. You'll be hearing a lot from him in the coming months.

Fourth, from talking to Paul about what sorts of things really matter to him about Star Control we've expanded on the community element of the game.  So in essence, the game will ship with all the tools necessary for modders to create their own "galaxies" (which we refer to as cluster groups until we come up with a better name) that has their own ships, aliens, etc. where users can download and add it to their in-game universe from within the game.

Fifth, the player's flagship will be very very customizeable both in terms of weapons, crew, etc. as well visually.  When players explore planets, they'll find lots and lots of cool stuff including ship parts.  These ship parts (think of them like lego pieces of various shapes) will let players make their flag ships look however they want.  So in terms of multiplayer battles as well as visiting other people's galaxies, we have no doubt we'll see people flying around in Serenity or the Millenium falcon as well as endlessly unique player creations.

Sixth, while we will be creating (and supporting) alien ship designs via Maya and 3D studio, the plan is to allow players to also use a GalCiv III-like ship designer so that when they create their own galaxies to share with the community, they can easily give each race their own unique ships along with their own stories, aliens, etc.  

Seventh, more controversially, the current plan is to have the aliens be pre-rendered. We are still debating this.  There are pros and cons.  The Civilization V team that created the leaders (which speak in real-time) now work here believe we can support real-time.  My issue with that is that it's very very expensive to do it well and I'm not personally keen on aliens speaking English (I realize they did this on some versions of SC2).  I personally prefer the aliens speaking their own language with subtitles.  This is an issue we'll be debating internally and with the community I'm sure for a long time.

Eighth, most of the races aren't humanoids. In fact, off the top of my head, only the Earthlings and one other are humanoid right now.

Ninth, there won't be any official announcements in 2015.  We're not sure if we'll have a public beta but we are sure that we will be offering beta access to the Ur-Quan community and related communities.

Tenth, The game will be using the same engine as Ashes of the Singularity (www.ashesgame.com). 

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks!

-brad

186,592 views 36 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

* Nice! Ashes looks pretty sweet. I'm very much looking forward to playing this on my Mac.

 

* I agree with your design direction of keeping the aliens weird and not speaking English. 

 

* If you have any downtime, I'd suggest taking a look at Escape Velocity. That's a top down spaceship game with a style of gameplay that I think could very much benefit Star Control. Link ---> http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/evn/

 

* Thanks for keeping us in the loop. I appreciate communicative developers. 

Reply #2 from StarControl Forums Top

I've sent you Riku's email via a private message, Frogboy. :)

Elemental: Reforged
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Thank you again for the update sir; much appreciated.

 

Are there any plans for passive NPC alien races? Species that are not spacefaring and/or sentient, but could play a role to some degree with a little "help" from the player?

Worst case scenario would be a creature akin to the xenomorph critters from the "Alien(s)" franchise; while they may not be pleasant for humans to deal with, a synthetic and/or mineral based species may find them interesting and/or lovable house pet material. Or, on the flip side, if a NPC species needs a bit of "persuasion", or a reason to pull off the enemy's front lines to take care of issues at home, some of the "grand master planet eaters" could be delivered via air-mail to the homeworld of said NPC's...all in the interest of galactic stability.

 

Of course, the idea of "uplifting" an immature (relatively speaking) species appears to be somewhat normal in Star Control. The Yehat uplifted the Shofixti, humanity was given a helping hand by the Arilou, somebody built the Mrmhrm, etc. Would it be possible to find a feisty non-spacefaring species, and if the circumstances required it, drop off a ship-load of weapons & old hulls, and generate some cannon fodder..."allies". I meant "allies."

Reply #5 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

The Nitrous engine is indeed dx12.

 

BabylonsLament, that's a good idea. In SC2 there was life all over the universe, I guess that with a return of "bio" it would be really cool if these were in different stages of evolution still unable to escape their planet. 

Reply #6 from StarControl Forums Top

Quoting Precursors_TiLT, reply 2

I've sent you Riku's email via a private message, Frogboy. :)

Thanks! Hope to have good news on this front shortly.

Reply #7 from StarControl Forums Top

Quoting BabylonsLament, reply 4

Thank you again for the update sir; much appreciated.

 

Are there any plans for passive NPC alien races? Species that are not spacefaring and/or sentient, but could play a role to some degree with a little "help" from the player?

Worst case scenario would be a creature akin to the xenomorph critters from the "Alien(s)" franchise; while they may not be pleasant for humans to deal with, a synthetic and/or mineral based species may find them interesting and/or lovable house pet material. Or, on the flip side, if a NPC species needs a bit of "persuasion", or a reason to pull off the enemy's front lines to take care of issues at home, some of the "grand master planet eaters" could be delivered via air-mail to the homeworld of said NPC's...all in the interest of galactic stability.

 

Of course, the idea of "uplifting" an immature (relatively speaking) species appears to be somewhat normal in Star Control. The Yehat uplifted the Shofixti, humanity was given a helping hand by the Arilou, somebody built the Mrmhrm, etc. Would it be possible to find a feisty non-spacefaring species, and if the circumstances required it, drop off a ship-load of weapons & old hulls, and generate some cannon fodder..."allies". I meant "allies."

 

Re passive NPCs.  I'll be introducing Andrew, Zoboki to the group shortly, he is the lead designer so we'll be talking more on that soon.

Re Lore.  The galaxy is planned to be full of "Stuff".  A lot of our work is on creating the tools.  If you've followed the amazing work on the Ur-Quan masters community, you can imagine what amazing things they could do if there were tools designed to allow them to expand the universe with more life, adventures, aliens, etc. that all can become part of the game as in-game downloadable content should the player choose.

Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top

@Frogboy - RE: the "Eighth" point - thank you for the nod to my other post on this very forum, concerning the humanoid vs. non-humanoid conundrum. You've put me at ease, my good man, and I can't tell you how happy I am hearing your response. The stars are in auspicious alignment, the various significant moons are in the correct houses, and ambient psychic energies are in balance. All is well, and the universe is at peace!!!

I have never once, in all my years on the Internets, been so completely, wholeheartedly elated by a post. And one about a new STAR CONTROL of all things! What kind of mysterious portents are these?!

I can't tell you how extremely excited about these developments I am - to incorporate the tools to create my very OWN Star Control universe as I envision it? Are you kidding me? I've dreamed of this since I was 12, and since I don't know how to write one single line of code, I finally will be able to do so. I've got 50 pages of notes and napkin ideas saved in my StarCon2 file, and I'll finally get to put them to good use.

PLEASE let us know when we can buy into an Early Backers' Beta/Alpha/whatever and if we'll be able to submit some of our own stories and plotlines so that maybe an idea I've had for 21 years could be incorporated into the ACTUAL Star Control game? I'd die for the chance!!

Can't wait to hear about all of the "stuff" you'll be cramming into this galaxy... I just know it'll be worth it!

-Matt

Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top

Frogboy: Sounds great. Looking forward to what Mr. Zoboki is willing to say/let slip unintentionally. :-D

 

I love the idea of player-generated content. The ability to share original stories would be a fantastic addition; but I have to ask what your vision of the mechanic for sharing is. Are you suggesting a system akin to the "Nasty Winter Weather, Inc." arcade,  "Big Fruit Company" app store, or "Boiled Water" streaming service?

Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top

Hi Brad,

Thanks for the update!  In regards to the speech issue, whether to have aliens speaking English or their native tongue with subtitles, why not both?

Allow the player to procure a universal translation device early on in the game, and allow them to choose which they prefer.  They can always turn the machine on and off to swap back and forth.

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Reply #11 from StarControl Forums Top

Lip syncing is very very expensive. :)

Reply #12 from StarControl Forums Top

I really like HuffiMuffiGuffi's idea of being able to choose between voice acting and reading text. I'm pretty sure both SC2 and SC3 had the option to choose between voice and text, so it would seem like a step backward to not take the same approach.

I also personally like the idea of hearing the aliens in their native tongue and reading the text, but at the same time I'd also miss having the voice acting, which was probably the one thing SC3 did well. I think that being a dialog driven adventure, it would be unusual not to have voice acting especially considering the previous games had it.

It wouldn't bother me terribly if the aliens spoke a native language with text translation, but I think it would bother the gaming community in general to be forced to read through the dialog if they don't want to. Text translation in unique font styles should be an option, not the only choice.

Lipsyncing would be pretty low on my list of desired features especially considering the expense, and it would probably not be necessary if aliens would be speaking in their native language. Maybe a translation device could be worked in as a humorous story element early on in the game after listening to some alien making bizarre gurgling noises at you...

"Wow, you sound like a pile of month old hamburger meat trying to mate with a soiled diaper. Let me just turn our text translator on. Ah, see? That's so much better."

:grin:

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Reply #13 from Stardock Forums Top

Hmm..I'm not sure how I feel about this. The aliens speaking their own language is an interesting idea. But at the same time I always enjoyed the Star Control 2 3DO versions speech option. Their varied dialects and comical accents were always a joy to listen to. While I enjoyed the game on PC without speech originally, after playing the 3DO version and then having Ur-Quan Master's with its speech pack I've grown far more accustomed to hearing them talk and enjoying the banter with the emotion and personality given to the characters via the voice actors.

I have to hand it to you, I wouldn't want to be the one making the hard choice of voice or no voice >.<

Reply #14 from Stardock Forums Top

I don't like the voicing of Star Control 2. It has two major problems, in my opinion:

 

1) Adding voice acting to a game which has been made with written dialogue means that the actors have to read lines that don't sound well when spoken. The best way to solve that is, in my opinion, to have competent voice actors that can make the dialogue their own and change wording when needed. Then one can choose whether to update the written dialogue or just let the spoken dialogue and the written dialogue differ. They did not do this for Star Control 2, which resulted in much awkward dialogue. Perhaps they could have remedied the situation by having good voice actors, but

 

2) Star Control 2 had bad voice actors. Some were OK, but others were not. (I remember the Pkunk as being incredibly lackluster).

 

I loved the fonts and music and animation in the PC version, and really like the idea of having alien languages with English text in the new game.

 

I also wanted to say that I'm really looking forward to the new game! Star Control 2 is one of the very best games I have played, and I have a lot of faith in Stardock. I also enjoy your opinions of the project, Frogboy!

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Reply #15 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I hope you have something like you did for GC 3 on this...where people can be Founders and help out a bit financially and get into the alpha and such.  I know I would if possible as Im a fan of most of what you make.

Reply #16 from StarControl Forums Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 11

Lip syncing is very very expensive. :)

Understood.  Given, then, that you guys would have to choose one style over the other, I have to agree with Fargetv.  I really enjoyed reading the dialogue in unique fonts in SC2.  It was always more funny in my head than any voice actor could ever deliver. 

So I'd rather see (hear?) the VO actors delivering dialogue in native alien tongues with a focus on trying to convey emotion and humor through foreign-sounding grunts and noises.  Give each species their own fonts, and let the laughter roll.

To cite an example from a well known piece of pop culture we can all probably relate to, I refer you to Return of the Jedi.  Jabba's scenes in particular.  The impact of his dialogue, delivered in Huttese with subtitles, was incredibly more effective at producing a sense of dread and disdain in the audience than a performance in English could have delivered.  It only added to the belief that Luke and company were truly in an alien environment full of danger and the unknown.

Reply #17 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting HuffiMuffiGuffi, reply 16

Give each species their own fonts, and let the laughter roll.

I definitely agree with you on this. Seeing each of the fonts used for the races was something that definitely helped sell their outlook and mood. The significance on this is something that definitely is core to Star Control.  :grin:

Reply #18 from Stardock Forums Top

It's a brilliant idea to have the aliens speak in their native tongue and it be translated with subtitles. Every original fan would probably be fine with no voiceovers at all, but I like the idea of each language conveying that race's general demeanor whether it be whimsical like the Pkunk or Supox, hauntingly foreign like the Mycon, warlike such as the Thraddash or Yehat, friendly with a heaping helping of mystery like the Arilou or Orz... or daunting and... foreboding like either of the Urquan.

Reply #19 from LittleTinyFrogs Forums Top

When players explore planets, they'll find lots and lots of cool stuff including ship parts.  These ship parts (think of them like lego pieces of various shapes) will let players make their flag ships look however they want.  So in terms of multiplayer battles as well as visiting other people's galaxies, we have no doubt we'll see people flying around in Serenity or the Millenium falcon as well as endlessly unique player creations.

 

I'm going to be honest: the ship parts thing sounds lame. When I'm wandering around a planet looking for cool stuff, finding something that's purely cosmetic is a pretty shitty reward. It's just a distraction and I'd rather not have it at all -- seamless uninterrupted exploration is more enjoyable.

Visual customization should be COMPLETELY optional, and it shouldn't impinge on the player's attention AT ALL unless the player chooses so. I'd much rather have an NPC at the Starbase give me ship parts in exchange for exploring more of the galaxy -- you'd earn them completely passively while you're off doing other stuff, so you don't have to think about them until you get back to base and remember that there's an extra shiny thing waiting for you. This way it's pure gravy, and you get a bunch at once, which is more fun. I think with this approach a lot more people would actually use them.

This would work especially well if it had an element of randomness to make it more exciting. The NPC could give you "arcade tickets" that can be redeemed for ship parts rather than giving you the parts directly, and you could choose to spend them on standard parts or on a random grab bag that could have something cooler in it. There could be unique ship parts that are only in stock at random times, like a classic RPG junk shop. I think something like this would work better than throwing ship parts at you while you're on a mission, so you just store them away for later and never bother sifting through all your junk.

Reply #20 from StarControl Forums Top

In fairness, finding technological artifacts on alien worlds was a staple of Star Control 1. It was handled differently as there was no flagship to attach them to, but it was commonly known that the Precursors had left bits of their technology all over the galaxy.

One could argue that after the Hierarchy defeated the Alliance, the Ur-Quan were able to appropriate what few artifacts still remained scattered around the galaxy, which could serve as one possible narrative explanation as to why there weren't really any to be found in SC2, and why you were reliant on the starbase to fabricate upgrades for yourself.

It will be awhile yet before we have an idea of the new narrative, but from the way the gameplay has been hinted at, I'm sort of picturing this new title to be a hybrid of the first two games: combining some of the strategy, tactics and randomization of SC1 with the adventure, exploration and diplomacy of SC2.

This may be a different branch of the timeline that forks away from the established Precursor history, but I think finding a way to incorporate the element of racing to find Precursor tech to give yourself an advantage before your enemies have a chance to get it for themselves would be very cool, and if it brings visual upgrades along with it, then why not? I don't see why it would make any sense to have an NPC reward you with tickets for exploring the galaxy, unless you mean something like the Melnorme who want you to find things or go on quests in exchange for something else. I'd be extremely shocked and disappointed if this wasn't a common element in the new game.

Something tells me there won't be just one way to find parts. NPC upgrades, artifact finds, salvage from destroyed ships, etc. are not mutually exclusive and I do not think Brad meant to imply that the parts will be solely cosmetic. I think it's fair to say there will be functional parts to discover as well. So long as they don't turn it into a freemium-style cash grab where they're charging for a constant stream of dollar upgrades for pointless cosmetic add-ons like so many titles do, I don't understand how any of this could be seen as a negative.

Customization is a huge part of gaming culture nowadays and it would be a great enhancement to the visual language of the universe to be able to modify your fleet in your own unique way, and if Stardock wants to make the franchise more contemporary then they are going to have to incorporate elements like this to give it more relevance for modern gamers. SC2 was great despite being made on a strict timeline with a very tight budget, but I don't think it should be an exact mold from which the new game must be cast and I don't see how customization could possibly detract from the gameplay or impinge on the player's attention.

I'm confident that Stardock understands the balance between all the different genres that SC2 dipped its toes in to defy convention, but with the added ability to customize as much as possible it will actually involve players even more, and not including the ability to do so would likely be seen as a huge strike against the game in this day and age. Try to remember that they are dropping many hints about developing this with community content creation in mind, so I think it's a lost cause to suggest that they not emphasize the ability for players to make as many modifications as they want in whatever way they choose.

Reply #21 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting archon2, reply 19


Quoting ,
quoting post
When players explore planets, they'll find lots and lots of cool stuff including ship parts.  These ship parts (think of them like lego pieces of various shapes) will let players make their flag ships look however they want.  So in terms of multiplayer battles as well as visiting other people's galaxies, we have no doubt we'll see people flying around in Serenity or the Millenium falcon as well as endlessly unique player creations.



 

I'm going to be honest: the ship parts thing sounds lame. When I'm wandering around a planet looking for cool stuff, finding something that's purely cosmetic is a pretty shitty reward. It's just a distraction and I'd rather not have it at all -- seamless uninterrupted exploration is more enjoyable.

Visual customization should be COMPLETELY optional, and it shouldn't impinge on the player's attention AT ALL unless the player chooses so. I'd much rather have an NPC at the Starbase give me ship parts in exchange for exploring more of the galaxy -- you'd earn them completely passively while you're off doing other stuff, so you don't have to think about them until you get back to base and remember that there's an extra shiny thing waiting for you. This way it's pure gravy, and you get a bunch at once, which is more fun. I think with this approach a lot more people would actually use them.

This would work especially well if it had an element of randomness to make it more exciting. The NPC could give you "arcade tickets" that can be redeemed for ship parts rather than giving you the parts directly, and you could choose to spend them on standard parts or on a random grab bag that could have something cooler in it. There could be unique ship parts that are only in stock at random times, like a classic RPG junk shop. I think something like this would work better than throwing ship parts at you while you're on a mission, so you just store them away for later and never bother sifting through all your junk.

I think you're maybe reading too much into this.  I would imagine cosmetic ship parts are only a small fraction of what you'll be exploring the planets to find.  I would think there will be minerals to farm and Biologicals to capture, as it just wouldn't be Star Control without them

Also, it would be nice to have different avenues to pursue tech advancements.  Buying them for currency at your base sounds cool, but being to able to randomly find ship upgrades on a planet in addition to this would be even cooler.

Example: While saving up for a new Torpedo Launcher, I found one on the surface of Beta Orion VII.  Cool. Now, I can use my savings to buy engine upgrades instead.

Reply #22 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting HuffiMuffiGuffi, reply 21

I would imagine cosmetic ship parts are only a small fraction of what you'll be exploring the planets to find.  I would think there will be minerals to farm and Biologicals to capture, as it just wouldn't be Star Control without them

I agree with this statement. :) 

Reply #23 from Stardock Forums Top

Why lipsyncing? SC2 didn't have it and nobody missed it. But UQM-HD version had incredibly awesome voiceovers and different font styles that fit the game perfectly. I'm NOT looking forward to listen to SIMS-like language and read every dam conversation to know what's going on. First, to still be immersed in the game's atmosphere I'd have to listen to aliens's blabbering and then read the text. That's "double" time of every conversation. Who has time?... UQM-HD had it just right, why reinvent the wheel?...

Reply #24 from Stardock Forums Top

Well, that's a matter of opinion. I really dislike much of the voice acting in the 3DO version, and the (in my opinion) poor voice actors struggle with a script that is written to be read, and not spoken. My argument further up is that if they have voice acting, the voice actors should be good, and be allowed to alter phrasings to make the script sound natural. I strongly oppose having voice actors for the sake of having voice actors.

It's all a question of available resources. The budget for this game is not very big.

Reply #25 from Stardock Forums Top

^ Maybe you should do some voiceovers. Show the world how it's done...  :rolleyes: