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[Star Control] Origins is out NOW. Be sure to enjoy the sauce.

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Posts

  • DonnictonDonnicton Registered User regular
    Man if they're going to have that many planets, I sincerely hope the game won't have a hard time limit like Star Control 2 did. Much as I loved SC2 I really felt the hard deadline grated against the exploratory aspect of it, especially if you're playing blind for the first time and don't have clear direction on where to go.

  • ErlkönigErlkönig Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    Donnicton wrote: »
    Man if they're going to have that many planets, I sincerely hope the game won't have a hard time limit like Star Control 2 did. Much as I loved SC2 I really felt the hard deadline grated against the exploratory aspect of it, especially if you're playing blind for the first time and don't have clear direction on where to go.

    And then start noticing that stars you've been to before have started disappearing...

    When I first noticed that and I was in a fail-state, I was piiiiiiiissed.

    | Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
  • PhyphorPhyphor Building Planet Busters Tasting FruitRegistered User regular
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Donnicton wrote: »
    Man if they're going to have that many planets, I sincerely hope the game won't have a hard time limit like Star Control 2 did. Much as I loved SC2 I really felt the hard deadline grated against the exploratory aspect of it, especially if you're playing blind for the first time and don't have clear direction on where to go.

    And then start noticing that stars you've been to before have started disappearing...

    When I first noticed that and I was in a fail-state, I was piiiiiiiissed.

    Eh, while the game doesn't come right out and have a timer, between the melnorme explicitly listing a date they are leaving due to catastrophe, the zoq-fot-pik, supox and utwig events and talking to the ur-quan themselves there's lots of clues. We've just gotten used to "no timer = infinite time"

  • ErlkönigErlkönig Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    Phyphor wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Donnicton wrote: »
    Man if they're going to have that many planets, I sincerely hope the game won't have a hard time limit like Star Control 2 did. Much as I loved SC2 I really felt the hard deadline grated against the exploratory aspect of it, especially if you're playing blind for the first time and don't have clear direction on where to go.

    And then start noticing that stars you've been to before have started disappearing...

    When I first noticed that and I was in a fail-state, I was piiiiiiiissed.

    Eh, while the game doesn't come right out and have a timer, between the melnorme explicitly listing a date they are leaving due to catastrophe, the zoq-fot-pik, supox and utwig events and talking to the ur-quan themselves there's lots of clues. We've just gotten used to "no timer = infinite time"

    That's assuming that I got far enough to talk to the ZFP, Supox, Utwig, or Ur-Quan (the true Kzer-Za). When I was first playing SC2, I was running to all the planets and scooping up resources so I could upgrade my ship to actually get around (fuel cells and thrusters) and survive encounters with whoever I ran into (spare ships and weapons for the mothership).

    | Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
  • OrogogusOrogogus San DiegoRegistered User regular
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Phyphor wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Donnicton wrote: »
    Man if they're going to have that many planets, I sincerely hope the game won't have a hard time limit like Star Control 2 did. Much as I loved SC2 I really felt the hard deadline grated against the exploratory aspect of it, especially if you're playing blind for the first time and don't have clear direction on where to go.

    And then start noticing that stars you've been to before have started disappearing...

    When I first noticed that and I was in a fail-state, I was piiiiiiiissed.

    Eh, while the game doesn't come right out and have a timer, between the melnorme explicitly listing a date they are leaving due to catastrophe, the zoq-fot-pik, supox and utwig events and talking to the ur-quan themselves there's lots of clues. We've just gotten used to "no timer = infinite time"

    That's assuming that I got far enough to talk to the ZFP, Supox, Utwig, or Ur-Quan (the true Kzer-Za). When I was first playing SC2, I was running to all the planets and scooping up resources so I could upgrade my ship to actually get around (fuel cells and thrusters) and survive encounters with whoever I ran into (spare ships and weapons for the mothership).

    I feel like SC2's time limit was crazy long. In my first playthrough I dicked around a lot with resource gathering, but finished the game with plenty of time to spare. I had no idea where to go at first but I didn't ignore the leads I had on hand, either. And once my flagship could crush both types of Ur-Quan for money I stopped going down to planets other than for plot reasons. I kind of don't want to play a Star Control game that's balanced around the player turtling up and strip mining the nearby systems before steamrolling the plot.

    Re: the Stardock game. Planet generation is possibly the last thing I care about in these games. I get that they probably have to hold back the good stuff for last, but that was like reading an article about the default save game naming scheme. The article even glossed past the part I would have found interesting, about how the procedural generator works with the star type and what we know about planetary formation to pick starting templates.

  • PhillisherePhillishere Registered User regular
    edited March 2018
    Orogogus wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Phyphor wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Donnicton wrote: »
    Man if they're going to have that many planets, I sincerely hope the game won't have a hard time limit like Star Control 2 did. Much as I loved SC2 I really felt the hard deadline grated against the exploratory aspect of it, especially if you're playing blind for the first time and don't have clear direction on where to go.

    And then start noticing that stars you've been to before have started disappearing...

    When I first noticed that and I was in a fail-state, I was piiiiiiiissed.

    Eh, while the game doesn't come right out and have a timer, between the melnorme explicitly listing a date they are leaving due to catastrophe, the zoq-fot-pik, supox and utwig events and talking to the ur-quan themselves there's lots of clues. We've just gotten used to "no timer = infinite time"

    That's assuming that I got far enough to talk to the ZFP, Supox, Utwig, or Ur-Quan (the true Kzer-Za). When I was first playing SC2, I was running to all the planets and scooping up resources so I could upgrade my ship to actually get around (fuel cells and thrusters) and survive encounters with whoever I ran into (spare ships and weapons for the mothership).

    I feel like SC2's time limit was crazy long. In my first playthrough I dicked around a lot with resource gathering, but finished the game with plenty of time to spare. I had no idea where to go at first but I didn't ignore the leads I had on hand, either. And once my flagship could crush both types of Ur-Quan for money I stopped going down to planets other than for plot reasons. I kind of don't want to play a Star Control game that's balanced around the player turtling up and strip mining the nearby systems before steamrolling the plot.

    Re: the Stardock game. Planet generation is possibly the last thing I care about in these games. I get that they probably have to hold back the good stuff for last, but that was like reading an article about the default save game naming scheme. The article even glossed past the part I would have found interesting, about how the procedural generator works with the star type and what we know about planetary formation to pick starting templates.

    My biggest hesitation with Stardock in general is that their games feel very generic. Even when they have elaborate backstories, the worlds and in-game fiction are always sterile. They feel like one of those studios that thinks it can get away with not having writers by leaning heavily on generic sci-fi tropes.

    That's going to be a big hurdle to clear if they want to make a good Star Control game.

    Phillishere on
  • FrogboyFrogboy Registered User regular
    Wow, was just looking at what it looked like in March. Yuck.

    So here are some answers to questions from the thread:

    Is there a time limit?
    No. There are things you can trigger that will cause you to have to do something to progress but you can explore as long as you'd like.

    Isn't Stardock mostly known for strategy games?
    Yes. This was why Stardock actually created a new studio to build this game and recruited some amazing staff and writers to work on the game.

    Some of you here may be interested in this particular challenge and how it was addressed:

    First off, good writers are not necessarily technically inclined. So how do you solve that? In our case, we had the software side of the company develop a new application called Adventure Studio which allows writers to create stories that can branch out and create assets on the fly (inventory items, dynamic variables, etc.). This way, the writer can focus on writing.

    Second, you have to have a core of good writers. As Adventure Studio has matured, we've gotten more writers involved. Eventually, it should be easy enough to be a fairly mainstream tool for interactive story writing on its own.

    How do you make planets interesting?
    This is probably mildly controversial but we ultimately decided that planets wouldn't be super-realistic. We wanted to make sure that the planets were means to an end and not the ends itself (i.e. the point of the game isn't to spend a ton of time on planets but rather the planets are there to get something or lead you to towards more adventures).

    Let me give you an extreme example:
    unknown.png?width=2188&height=1231

    Star Control II had planet classes like Ruby and Emerald and such and obviously, there's no such thing as a jewel biome (though I could be wrong as I have heard that there may be planets made of diamond). But once we made the decision that we could have really far-out planet types, we stopped having the problem of every planet either being Earth-like but with different colors and props or ice/desert/forest/moon planets. We could, in essence, have planets made out of metal or made out of sapphire or other crazy stuff which is visually quite pleasing.

    When and where does it take place?

    unknown.png?width=2266&height=1045

    So as has been previously discussed, when we acquired the Star Control IP we made Star Control 1/2 into a different universe than Star Control 3 thus SC3 doesn't affect SC 1/2/ canon. Star Control: Origins is its own universe as well so that again, it won't disturb the SC 1/2 canon.

    Star Control: Origins takes place earlier than SC 1/2/3 do -- 2088. This allows us a clean slate so that new players aren't expected to know anything about the DOS games and old players won't know what they're going to run into. So while our position is that the SC 1/2/3 aliens may appear in the future, the focus on SCO is dealing with a very new crisis (which isn't to say the Melnorme and Arilou aren't in the area).

    When does it come out?

    This Summer. Shortly after PAX Prime -- which I'll be at and hope to see some of you guys there.

    That's all for now.

  • DonnictonDonnicton Registered User regular
    "It was too hard to give the planet generation some sort of logic so we said fuck it."

  • FrogboyFrogboy Registered User regular
    It's pretty easy to do planet generation that makes logic.

    However, how many ice worlds and rocks do you want to land on?

  • Steel AngelSteel Angel Registered User regular
    Donnicton wrote: »
    "It was too hard to give the planet generation some sort of logic so we said fuck it."

    Coming across the Orz planets and discovering both allies and that the cluster of systems was filled with planets made of gold to mine was a pivotal moment in my Star Control 2 games so I'm okay with this.

    Big Dookie wrote: »
    I found that tilting it doesn't work very well, and once I started jerking it, I got much better results.

    Steam Profile
    3DS: 3454-0268-5595 Battle.net: SteelAngel#1772
  • DonnictonDonnicton Registered User regular
    Donnicton wrote: »
    "It was too hard to give the planet generation some sort of logic so we said fuck it."

    Coming across the Orz planets and discovering both allies and that the cluster of systems was filled with planets made of gold to mine was a pivotal moment in my Star Control 2 games so I'm okay with this.

    These are going to be procedurally generated universes aside from the plot systems(I believe), so there's no guarantee that specific scenario will ever even happen. But that also was just planets rich with gold, not planets that were physically just a big ball of gold like they're implying here.

  • FrogboyFrogboy Registered User regular
    I'll try to post some pictures of Auric worlds (gold). They're...well...golden.

  • TOGSolidTOGSolid Drunk sailor Seattle, WashingtonRegistered User regular
    Frogboy wrote: »
    It's pretty easy to do planet generation that makes logic.

    However, how many ice worlds and rocks do you want to land on?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhjiQHjNkV0

    But seriously though, I'm excited to explore some truly weird shit.

    wWuzwvJ.png
  • FrogboyFrogboy Registered User regular
    TOGSolid wrote: »
    Frogboy wrote: »
    It's pretty easy to do planet generation that makes logic.

    However, how many ice worlds and rocks do you want to land on?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhjiQHjNkV0

    But seriously though, I'm excited to explore some truly weird shit.


    Yea, I think one could easily compare the Star Control vibe to the way the Rick and Morty universe works. It's ridiculous at times but also can be very dark.

    It's the juxtaposition in R&M that makes it work so well because things can seem really cute one moment and horrifying the next. Same sort of thing happens in SCO. There's some pretty dark stuff and yet the source of that horror might be something that, on screen, appears cute.

    Not being "realistic" was the driving factor on the art style (which not everyone will like but if we had gone pure realism, then some of the absurd places you visit would really be off-putting we think).

    Then you have the fact that since it takes place in 2088 and we are running around on a borrowed hyperdrive which we attach to what is our state of the art ship.

    unknown.png?width=2268&height=1353

    But your willingness to adapt the ship is what ultimately, by late game, makes is formidable.

    unknown.png?width=2402&height=1352

  • ObiwanShenobiObiwanShenobi Registered User regular
    Just saw the new trailer from E3. Nice!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-EnCjcxsJE

  • Steel AngelSteel Angel Registered User regular
    Just saw the new trailer from E3. Nice!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-EnCjcxsJE

    That is a good use of a remix of the Star Control 2 hyperspace music.

    Big Dookie wrote: »
    I found that tilting it doesn't work very well, and once I started jerking it, I got much better results.

    Steam Profile
    3DS: 3454-0268-5595 Battle.net: SteelAngel#1772
  • HandkorHandkor Registered User regular
    The mini planets with overscaled features look really good.

  • FrogboyFrogboy Registered User regular
    Good news guys!

    Dan Nicholson, who did much of the music for Star Control: Origins is now on board. He joins Riku which means that between the two of them, nearly all the classic Star Control music will be in with a full new update plus hours (literally) of new music.

  • BasilBasil Registered User regular
    I remain endlessly amused by the Orz. Both adorable and chilling!

    9KmX8eN.jpg
  • The_InfidelThe_Infidel Registered User regular
    Ain't Star Control without Reiche and Ford.

    And fuuuuuuck Brad Wardell.

  • QuiotuQuiotu Registered User regular
    Ain't Star Control without Reiche and Ford.

    And fuuuuuuck Brad Wardell.

    I've made my peace with whatever the hell is going on. Stardock was given rights to make a Star Control game, and it's unreasonable to just have them stop after years of development, no matter what Reiche and Ford think. The slap fight between Toys For Bob and Stardock haven't helped either company. Both sides arguing that they own everything Star Control is stupid. Not a fan of Brad Wardell, but then again the announcement of Ghosts of the Precursors during the talks seems an awful lot like Reiche and Ford poking the bear... like they saw that Origins was looking good and went 'well we'll make our OWN Star Control game, except with hookers and blackjack!'

    I just want more Star Control, and I want it to be GOOD. I don't give a fuck who makes it, I just WANT it. And no, I don't think Reiche and Ford are completely in the right. You don't just let an IP sit for 25 years, then suddenly care again when someone else wants to do something with it. You worried the IP would be ruined, didn't SC3 pretty much do that anyway? It just screams of them piggy backing on Stardock's press and trying to get their name out there again, which from a PR perspective looks kinda shit.

    wbee62u815wj.png
  • ObiwanShenobiObiwanShenobi Registered User regular
    I just finished the journals that have been posted so far. If you're interested in this game they are a fascinating read.

    This latest one is about the Adventure Studio.

    https://forums.starcontrol.com/489938/star-control-origins-prelude-3-of-13---creating-interactive-stories

  • QuiotuQuiotu Registered User regular
    edited July 2018
    I just finished the journals that have been posted so far. If you're interested in this game they are a fascinating read.

    This latest one is about the Adventure Studio.

    https://forums.starcontrol.com/489938/star-control-origins-prelude-3-of-13---creating-interactive-stories

    I'm not gonna lie... that sounds EXACTLY what I want in this game. Gives me more hope that they're taking the actual mission structure and story in the game seriously. And by seriously, I mean they're actually working to make the dialogue interesting.

    Quiotu on
    wbee62u815wj.png
  • ObiwanShenobiObiwanShenobi Registered User regular
    Quiotu wrote: »
    I just finished the journals that have been posted so far. If you're interested in this game they are a fascinating read.

    This latest one is about the Adventure Studio.

    https://forums.starcontrol.com/489938/star-control-origins-prelude-3-of-13---creating-interactive-stories

    I'm not gonna lie... that sounds EXACTLY what I want in this game. Gives me more hope that they're taking the actual mission structure and story in the game seriously. And by seriously, I mean they're actually working to make the dialogue interesting.

    Yeah, I definitely agree. That's why I like these dev journals as they give an interesting peek into the game.

    I see beta 3 for fleet battles came out yesterday. Haven't played it though. Maybe I can find some time this weekend.

  • ArbitraryDescriptorArbitraryDescriptor changed Registered User regular
    edited July 2018
    Frogboy wrote: »
    When does it come out?

    This Summer. Shortly after PAX Prime -- which I'll be at and hope to see some of you guys there.

    Between this and the next Stellaris update, which I presume drops in the fall:

    Thanks for dropping all the new space opera hotness in my busy season, Space-Opera-jerks. :(

    I'm hype though. That trailer feels right; right down to the absurdly tiny planets with, relatively speaking, even more absurdly large critters.

    ArbitraryDescriptor on
  • KafkaAUKafkaAU Western AustraliaRegistered User regular
    Saw this pop up on steam and instantly bought. Fleet battles takes me back to the 90s playing that for hours on end against my buddies. Looking forward to the adventure game mode.

    steam_sig.png
    Origin: KafkaAU B-Net: Kafka#1778
  • ObiwanShenobiObiwanShenobi Registered User regular
    Gamescom trailer is out today.

    https://youtu.be/9E09Cgk_qZs

  • HandkorHandkor Registered User regular
    I think the trailer checked every box of things I wanted too see in a Star Control 2 sequel.

    Hyper space
    Planets (exceeds expectation)
    Star Control like battles
    Alien Races
    ...

  • ObiwanShenobiObiwanShenobi Registered User regular
    They released another trailer this week.

    https://youtu.be/khMlj0UEPFs

  • HandkorHandkor Registered User regular
    So it's out, I am busy with something else that I need to continue working on but tonight is going to be dedicated to exploring the galaxy.

  • envoy1envoy1 the old continentRegistered User regular
    Wait what? I'm not ready yet!!

  • GONG-00GONG-00 Registered User regular
    *triggers a Shofixti Scout's glory device in celebration*

    Black lives matter.
    Law and Order ≠ Justice
    ACNH Island Isla Cero: DA-3082-2045-4142
    Captain of the SES Comptroller of the State
    xu257gunns6e.png
  • ObiwanShenobiObiwanShenobi Registered User regular
    Having a blast so far!

  • KafkaAUKafkaAU Western AustraliaRegistered User regular
    Played an hour last night (unlocked at 1am!). That first hour was so good. Can’t wait to get back in, which unfortunately won’t be until Sunday :(

    steam_sig.png
    Origin: KafkaAU B-Net: Kafka#1778
  • ErlkönigErlkönig Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited September 2018
    Not gonna lie...

    I may be addicted to sending landers on suicidal planetary landing vectors.

    edit - not all of the planets/moons have atmospheres.

    Erlkönig on
    | Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
  • BigityBigity Lubbock, TXRegistered User regular
    Ugh, I sold uranium or whatever is needed before I saw the thing on the moon. Is there somewhere to get some early on?

  • ErlkönigErlkönig Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited September 2018
    Bigity wrote: »
    Ugh, I sold uranium or whatever is needed before I saw the thing on the moon. Is there somewhere to get some early on?

    If history has taught us anything and Star Control 2 is anything to go by: Mercury.

    Erlkönig on
    | Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
  • BigityBigity Lubbock, TXRegistered User regular
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Bigity wrote: »
    Ugh, I sold uranium or whatever is needed before I saw the thing on the moon. Is there somewhere to get some early on?

    If history has taught us anything and Star Control 2 is anything to go by: Mercury.

    I may or may not have lost alot of landers there trying :D

  • QuiotuQuiotu Registered User regular
    I am SO behind on games, but I will have to buy this game soon. It sounds like it hits all the buttons for Star Control, for good and for bad.

    wbee62u815wj.png
  • HandkorHandkor Registered User regular
    So this feels like SC2 but with even more stuff. Learning about the other aliens is fun.

    Also make sure to visit Europa, it's quite lovely.

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