Forums » General
Hi. I'd like to try and briefly clarify the nature of our game's direction, for those who have recently joined us. GThang made some very solid assertions about whether we were choosing to make an action game or a diverse RPG, and how we might fail if we chose to be "neither" or "both". This is entirely possible, and there are plenty of risks in the direction we pursue. However, the inspiration for this game lies in neither "SpaceQuake" or "EverQuest In Space", and predates both. The seeds of this project were planted during my time playing games like the famous LucasArts titles "X-Wing" and "Tie Fighter", or the venerable "Wing Commander" series from Origin. Other people find similarities in games like "Elite" or "Escape Velocity", but I didn't happen to play any of those. In any event.. the basis here is to create an intriguing RPG backdrop and storyarc, with the realtime flight/combat model that adds some real-world Spice of excitement, and feeling of actual "control".
There is no question that the "game", in its current state, is lacking in a lot of ways. Mostly it lacks Gameplay. There isn't much to do, it's pretty boring. Combat can be fun, but if combat isn't your thing.. there's hardly anything to do at all. In any event, the addition of a lot of core gameplay is going to take place over the coming months. That is, by far, our biggest priority. Whether the nature of this gameplay will appeal to a market large enough to sustain our product.. is a question only time will answer.
For the basic direction of the game.. the concern is not about whether the "Valk" is unbalanced or how many Sunflares should be carried. A lot of these are concepts that are mostly based in the framework of the existing "Test" game, much of which was only created to give some purpose to testing the engine. Some of these things will remain, and have their ramifications, but the core of the game is based around in the interactions of the Mission System, Dynamic Economy, and Faction System. You can expect much of the gameplay to be mission-driven, with a lot of character progression resulting from the completion of missions and resulting changes in faction standing. Characters will not progress in a RPG-esque arbitrary "Level" sense, the completion of missions and other aspects of gameplay will advance the character in various ways that relate to the nature of the achievements. These achievements will then open up new mission possibilities, new ships and equipment, and the like. Missions will not be solely combative.. they can spread from anything like "Deliver this widget from A to B" to.. "Explore this region and report back" to.. "Infiltrate and spy on this rival faction".. to.. a very broad range of possibilities. I think there will be something for most people, but there is no getting around the fact that our game is based on a realtime combat model with a significant basis in Player-vs-Player combat. Sure, we forsee plenty of emphasis on group-vs-NPC missions, non-combative roles (trading, exploration), etc. But.. fundamentally, the universe will not be a safe place.
As for our direction, and the detail with which we have planned it. Yes, we do have plans for everything we have intended to do, and we've made that available to every publisher who has seriously given us consideration. Most responses were favorable, but that game design was based on a larger budget, with more time and more people than we currently have available. Thus, we will be taking what we have and boiling it down into what we believe to be the core essentials. The basic precepts necessary to make this game really a fun, persistent RPG in an evolving universe. I think we'll succeed at this, and in the next few months we will be able to produce a worthwhile gameplay experience from the Vendetta Test engine.. but again, only time will tell. The rapidity with which you see gameplay evolve over the next few months will hopefully bear out my assertions.
The biggest stumbling block for prospective publishers, in the past, has been our lack of proven experience with delivering "known" titles. None of us have game industry backgrounds, we haven't shipped anything. And despite our Vendetta tech-demo and extensively documented design intentions, our proofs did not outweigh the risks as measured by a number of publishers. This is understandable in its own way. The MMO genre itself is a serious risk, and an unknown for many publishers.
Now that we have some financial backing (not a great deal, but enough, we think), we're mostly looking at distribution options and marketing/sales models. We may end up self publishing. We may end up doing a hybrid of retail, online and OEM bundling. We're not sure.. but one way or the other, Vendetta is going to become a much more interesting game, rather soon. And it will be sold in some manner.
Anyway, I hope that's helpful, if a bit vague. You can expect some insight from future In Progress posts. Also.. I haven't been particularly active on the Suggestions board of late (or on the messageboard in general). I do read most of the threads, and I'm always interested in the insight people have into our direction, or opinions thereof. Some of you remember reading various long, rambling posts from me on the subjects of economics, faction standing, gameplay balance, or whatever. Unfortunately, I don't expect to be making many of those in the next few months.. obviously all of our time is going to go into making this thing happen. So, please understand that I *do* still read your suggestions, and I'm interested in your opinions, but I won't be responding much.
Thanks for all the testing, help and input, as always.
-john
There is no question that the "game", in its current state, is lacking in a lot of ways. Mostly it lacks Gameplay. There isn't much to do, it's pretty boring. Combat can be fun, but if combat isn't your thing.. there's hardly anything to do at all. In any event, the addition of a lot of core gameplay is going to take place over the coming months. That is, by far, our biggest priority. Whether the nature of this gameplay will appeal to a market large enough to sustain our product.. is a question only time will answer.
For the basic direction of the game.. the concern is not about whether the "Valk" is unbalanced or how many Sunflares should be carried. A lot of these are concepts that are mostly based in the framework of the existing "Test" game, much of which was only created to give some purpose to testing the engine. Some of these things will remain, and have their ramifications, but the core of the game is based around in the interactions of the Mission System, Dynamic Economy, and Faction System. You can expect much of the gameplay to be mission-driven, with a lot of character progression resulting from the completion of missions and resulting changes in faction standing. Characters will not progress in a RPG-esque arbitrary "Level" sense, the completion of missions and other aspects of gameplay will advance the character in various ways that relate to the nature of the achievements. These achievements will then open up new mission possibilities, new ships and equipment, and the like. Missions will not be solely combative.. they can spread from anything like "Deliver this widget from A to B" to.. "Explore this region and report back" to.. "Infiltrate and spy on this rival faction".. to.. a very broad range of possibilities. I think there will be something for most people, but there is no getting around the fact that our game is based on a realtime combat model with a significant basis in Player-vs-Player combat. Sure, we forsee plenty of emphasis on group-vs-NPC missions, non-combative roles (trading, exploration), etc. But.. fundamentally, the universe will not be a safe place.
As for our direction, and the detail with which we have planned it. Yes, we do have plans for everything we have intended to do, and we've made that available to every publisher who has seriously given us consideration. Most responses were favorable, but that game design was based on a larger budget, with more time and more people than we currently have available. Thus, we will be taking what we have and boiling it down into what we believe to be the core essentials. The basic precepts necessary to make this game really a fun, persistent RPG in an evolving universe. I think we'll succeed at this, and in the next few months we will be able to produce a worthwhile gameplay experience from the Vendetta Test engine.. but again, only time will tell. The rapidity with which you see gameplay evolve over the next few months will hopefully bear out my assertions.
The biggest stumbling block for prospective publishers, in the past, has been our lack of proven experience with delivering "known" titles. None of us have game industry backgrounds, we haven't shipped anything. And despite our Vendetta tech-demo and extensively documented design intentions, our proofs did not outweigh the risks as measured by a number of publishers. This is understandable in its own way. The MMO genre itself is a serious risk, and an unknown for many publishers.
Now that we have some financial backing (not a great deal, but enough, we think), we're mostly looking at distribution options and marketing/sales models. We may end up self publishing. We may end up doing a hybrid of retail, online and OEM bundling. We're not sure.. but one way or the other, Vendetta is going to become a much more interesting game, rather soon. And it will be sold in some manner.
Anyway, I hope that's helpful, if a bit vague. You can expect some insight from future In Progress posts. Also.. I haven't been particularly active on the Suggestions board of late (or on the messageboard in general). I do read most of the threads, and I'm always interested in the insight people have into our direction, or opinions thereof. Some of you remember reading various long, rambling posts from me on the subjects of economics, faction standing, gameplay balance, or whatever. Unfortunately, I don't expect to be making many of those in the next few months.. obviously all of our time is going to go into making this thing happen. So, please understand that I *do* still read your suggestions, and I'm interested in your opinions, but I won't be responding much.
Thanks for all the testing, help and input, as always.
-john
I will just say a "Thank You" - Your post had not only the Focus but the Content I sought with my "I'm curious"-posting.
Here is to you, Guild Software...
/G
Here is to you, Guild Software...
/G
Took the words right out of my mouth GThang :)
-outrider
-outrider
Weeee, I like it :)
Yay! Incarnate, one question. Will the actions of players affect the storyline? It'd be awesome if, for example, StarFreeze's fleet's attack on a Serco outpost started a crop of revenge missions or something for Serco.
*after Kojo spends an hour or so just siting in awe of the fact that they got sponsored! (w00t!)*...
This sounds ggggrreeaat! but one question.... Can we expect to see things that were talked about intensely almost a year ago? Like player owned stations? Moving frigates? Player owned frigates? Destructable stations? Hundreds of sectors? Rebuilt chat-thingy? Will Avalons be coming back?....
Ok. so that was more than one... but I'm just so curious!
This sounds ggggrreeaat! but one question.... Can we expect to see things that were talked about intensely almost a year ago? Like player owned stations? Moving frigates? Player owned frigates? Destructable stations? Hundreds of sectors? Rebuilt chat-thingy? Will Avalons be coming back?....
Ok. so that was more than one... but I'm just so curious!
YEA YEA YEA /ME WANTS A FRIGATE AND STATION.
I think you guys are all missing the point he made.....
It's not about frigates or stations or anything.
It's not about frigates or stations or anything.
Pyro, I think there will be missions like that, a mission that triggers an event which triggers another set of missions.
No, I mean if it was done externally of a mission. If some guy decides to blow a hole in the Serco embassy, it should show up in missions, even if he did it just because he felt like it (i.e. not as a mission).
Then remove the mission part of what i said, an event that triggers missions.
Yeah, like.....starcraft if you will. Something happens, intentional or not, so then something else happens. Sounds cool.
In any regard, this is a very good sign for vendetta as a whole. I have been happy with every step (even with some of the rocky footings here and there), and it has been great. Things should only get better from here.
In any regard, this is a very good sign for vendetta as a whole. I have been happy with every step (even with some of the rocky footings here and there), and it has been great. Things should only get better from here.
great news incarnate, keep up the good work GS
/me is happy! I'll be the only one who can beat the really tough Atlas missions...
You'll all see! I was right all along ... YOU"LL ALL SEE!! Atlas destroy you!
Wait, this isn't in Role Playing ... well I'm still happy and you'll still all see...
You'll all see! I was right all along ... YOU"LL ALL SEE!! Atlas destroy you!
Wait, this isn't in Role Playing ... well I'm still happy and you'll still all see...
/me drinks a big glass of ale to celebrate
...wait.. that's wrong
/me drinks a big glass of Itani artificially made wine
...wait.. that's wrong
/me drinks a big glass of Itani artificially made wine
*Sheean passes out due to polyglycol poisoning*
/newbie's Itani Health Monitoring System[tm] calls an ambulance
*raises a glass of Coca-Cola*
Interestingly vauge enough...
<evil grin>
I like to see vendetta take a step into the more purposefull direction, a more involving and exciting universe. One thing that vendetta lacks that i'd like to see also appear is the move to stratagy too. I.e homeworld 2. Oh well. Lets see what the devs do. It's bound to be amusing.
<evil grin>
I like to see vendetta take a step into the more purposefull direction, a more involving and exciting universe. One thing that vendetta lacks that i'd like to see also appear is the move to stratagy too. I.e homeworld 2. Oh well. Lets see what the devs do. It's bound to be amusing.
/me goes on a drinking spree and flys around the galaxy shouting through his open window..."Guild is rich, Guild is Rich"
/me then proceeds to suffocate as in his druken carousing he forgot that space has infact, no air.
/me then proceeds to suffocate as in his druken carousing he forgot that space has infact, no air.