Just joined this forum, 'cause I want to get some clearer information about the game, which would help me decide whether to pledge or not.
I’ve watched a few videos of the prototype and they made me feel like I NEED to be in that cockpit. That rough and rugged industrial design would really put me exactly where I’d want to be in a space game.
Now, after scouting a bit into the current information about the game, I understand it aims to be mainly a PVP combat oriented environment, taking place in one true to scale solar system.
My problem is that I’m not really a combat oriented player and…well…I don’t much like people.
So, I’ve read there will also be an offline sandbox part of the game. However, I can’t seem to find much info on this, which makes sense, as it’s not the main focus.
These being said, I’d like to be pointed towards some dedicated info about this part of the game, and/or have the following questions answered (to any possible extent, of course):
Will this offline sandbox environment have a life of its own, in which a player can assume some kind of role and/or career, or will it be just a tourist/testing environment, only to allow a player to define his best approach on the online game?
If the offline part will just be a training area: are there plans for developing it into something more in the future?
Are there plans for the game’s environment to expand further, beyond the initial solar system?
In the main game this time, is everything planned to be straightforward combat related, or could a player assume other war related roles (as in…logistics, scouting, intelligence, etc.). After all, a war environment could be quite complex and I could find pleasure in such gameplay.
Ok, this post came out a tad longer than I intended, but…I really want to climb in that cockpit.
As far as I know, the off-line mode will just be an exploration-centered experience starting off. I doubt there will be combat, as that would mean developing a competent ai, which would take time, which the devs don’t really have to spend on anything other than the multiplayer right now. Further down the line, who knows? But at the moment, I believe it’s just an exploration experience. And from playing the proto right now, it’s a really good one, and that’s with just three moons. There will be more planets in the future, developing this into a fairly large solar system. I don’t doubt you’ll be able to fly any ship that you would be able to in the multiplayer, so in that case you can get valuable flight experience.
The engine at this point I could create an entire galaxy, and there are tech demos to prove so. In fact, I believe the skybox was created by an engine-created galaxy. However, in terms of the multiplayer, the focus is just on a single system, mostly because as a combat-orientated game, we can’t have people wandering off and not fighting. In the single player, down the line, who knows?
As to the last point, yes, you can. Exactly what depends on what the devs have time to implement. Right now there’s an NPC hauler that will eventually haul resources to and from bases, so escorts will be essential. Players will be able to fly carriers, which will re-supply smaller ships, so I’d imagine keeping the carrier supplied and in a strategic position will be in-game. I’m not sure what the plan is regarding sensors/stealth/spying, a dev will have to enlighten me, however all of those afaik are going to be implemented somehow.
The offline mode will likely just be a testing environment to get familiar with the controls, possibly with some basic things to shoot at
I’d say that isn’t likely at the moment. I-Novae has limited resources and needs to focus on the core of the game. If it’s a huge success, it may be fleshed out more.
Not for Battlescape. Again, if it happens to be a massive success, we may see alternative systems, but true interstellar travel is only planned for the dream of the full MMO in the future.
We’ll have more on this soon as gameplay testing continues. But we are certainly expecting a variety of roles, more than just pewpew!
Great post. One thing though: As I understood it the role of the carrier was more planned as a mobile spawn point for the battles.
The problem is the lack of funding, with that little money the devs have to release the base game, I think that will be difficult enough. I hope that once the game sells we will get more features after the initial release. Like support for VR Headsets hopefully.
Thanks a lot for your replies, guys. They do indeed answer my questions, as much as could be expected considering the game’s development stage.
I’ll throw a look over those updates also.
From what I’ve seen and read so far, it’s clear to me the game has great potential and the development team really seems to have the ability to achieve it.
However, I do find the financial stretch goals to be rather low. Perhaps a more…business oriented approach would be useful. After all, we have a very good example in Star Citizen, which I find to be a brilliant business model. One could, of course, argue the dangers of such an approach taking over the creative process, but…without adequate financial support, it’s really difficult to make a dream come true.
The dev team are committed to delivering what they promised in the kickstarter, which does have a smaller more tightly focused scope. Kind of refreshing to hear these things.
However, funds are continuing to roll slowly in edging the total up, so we might see some extra stretch goals and more added in the coming year or so. But this is much further down the road into beta and release when the extra polish is added I think.
Everyone did a pretty good job answering your questions but allow me to clarify a few things.
The sandbox mode will not include any sort of storyline. Its purpose is for players to explore the solar system and try out different ship/weapon combinations.
There are currently no plans to develop it beyond what I just described above. We’re entirely focused on the multiplayer experience. That being said we intend to provide a modding SDK after the game ships to retail and perhaps some enterprising group of individuals will create a deeper single player experience at some point. There’s a lot of creativity out there regarding things people want to do with our technology.
We may release additional solar systems as patches or DLC after the game ships to retail. We won’t be able to provide any insight into that with confidence until after the game ships and we see how well it performs.
Our goal is to provide multiple roles including scouting, logistics (primarily repair and re-arm), and of course combat. Within combat itself there will be different roles based on the capabilities of each ship. For example cruisers will be extremely powerful against stations, land bases, factories, and other capital ships however they will be very vulnerable to bombers. Destroyers will be exceptionally effective against bombers and interceptors but will be quickly dispatched by cruisers.
I can relate. I myself am not big on PvP and would prefer something that could keep none PvPers happy. So why am I here? The Engine! The Infinity Engine is truly innovative and completely unique to anything out there - how many engines can render real life size planets without a single loading screen? Every time I log on it feels like I am experiencing something new and forward thinking, even in the prototype stage. So I guess I’m here to support an engine I consider to be the future of gaming… As for not much liking people, I can also relate but everyone here is pretty cool, even the SC guys.
Indeed, as far as I’ve read, this engine seems to be quite an achievement.
Well, Battlescape is definitely not on my taste, as a game genre. However, I feel it has the potential to be a success among its targeted player base. If it gets out there, it may end up being a small step towards the developers endeavoring into the initial Infinity concept. This is not an expectation, but merely a hope.
So, because of that, I’ve decided to pledge a middle size package, as it would be a wonder if I reach even 50 hours of play.
And we all thank you for it! Lots of us have pledged for reasons beyond the game itself. I, for one, would love to see it be a success and the I-Novae engine be used for bigger projects. But even though online shooters are not usually my thing, Battlescape already has me hooked. Even the prototype is astonishing to fly around, despite there being very little content currently. I’ve never experienced spaceflight like this in a game. So don’t write it off yet, you may find something you like!
Well, I also appreciate everybody’s…involvement and enthusiasm (my English is a tad limited here, but I guess you get the point), although I ain’t exactly made anyone rich. I still believe you guys should look into making a more…proactive media campaign.
One question though: I can’t seem to notice any indication on this site in regard of the pledge I made. Does it usually take longer for it to be registered? Don’t get me wrong, I only want to make sure it ended up where it was supposed to. I used the PayPal option.
I think I:BS would probably be more pro-active if they had millions but they put all their money and time into game development. For the time being supporters are doing their best to promote and SpaceJay and I are trying to put out a video by years end. It isn’t much but it kind of makes the community that much more grounded.
As for your pledge, I don’t know how the mechanics work on that but sure someone will have an answer.
You can also find some more info how to procede there. Due to how the database is linked from indigogo to the I-Novae database it can take several hours for your pledge to register, maybe even a day.
I was thinking of doing a pledge, but give up seeing that there will be practically nothing to do in the game’s solo mode, but good luck to the developers.