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jpinks

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Jun 25, 2010
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Ok Paradox, I cant believe after SOTS 2 I am even attempting to consider another one of your games. Sorry if that offends anyone. I know Paradox didn't make (SOTS 2) the game just published it, but to be brutally honest they publish a lot of stuff that's not the greatest. How long is the campaign? How long has this been in development? The movie shown is that in engine?? How would you compare it to Master of Orion2 or Sins of a Solar Empire or Gal Civ?? The idea of having a actual story to play makes it desirable to me, as I don't have tons of time now to spend on a Sandbox game. Is this game just a StarCraft type but with ships ?? Does it play as Fleet combat or individual ships in a fleet formation?? What size of fleets can we have?? Lots more questions I would like to see answered....
 
I don't know why people are jumping to the conclusion about the game coming out in the state of sots 2 or having concerns because Sots 2 came out so badly. Paradox has done a lot of quality control on there releases since sots2 and all the games they have released from then, EU4 and CK2 (for example), did not have any game breaking bugs on par with sots 2. I would share the concern if this game were being made by the same company that made Sots2 but it isn't.

I do find it strange that the game release is so close to its announcement but again I have a lot of faith in Paradox's new quality control and ensuring that all games come out with nearly 0 game breaking bugs so I am not that concerned.
 
EU and CK are well established brands (and proven good games) and have known long term development teams. I think in light of some of Paradoxes lackluster releases not just SOTS 2 (it was the biggest example I could think of off hand) that we should be able to ask and get more information on what the gameplay structure is and what other games it is in the style of. Really am interested in it, but I want to know more before I buy anything Paradox related again.
 
Yes there past releases have definitely been lackluster. I was trying to make a point that Paradox has actually tried to turn that around of late with better quality control than what has been put in place in the past. Ck2 and EU4 are two of the newer games to come out after this change around in quality control, hence why I am not too worried.

Of course you want to know more, so do I, I am just gonna wait for release before making a decision on investing in a game with a company that I don't know about myself (the developers).

From what I have seen so far I am on the fence with this game to be honest though. The first announcement trailer I was very interested but the recent trailer kinda pulled back my enthusiasm.

Also I am not sure about that DLC, is it day 1 skins or is it actual unique weapons? I just hope the game will be full moddable supported and allow for mods to make there own models for weapons ETC. in which case I have no worries for such dlcs.
 
Hi guys,

As the producer of Ancient Space, let's see if i can clear up a couple things.

How long is the campaign? How long has this been in development? The movie shown is that in engine?? How would you compare it to... What size of fleets can we have??

  • The campaign has 15 missions, each one built "from the ground up", with very little (if any) content reused between the story missions, making each one unique and special. We guesstimate that most missions will take 40-60 minutes of play on average, but it will depend on play style and difficulty. If you never use the strategic pause function, always play in real-time, skip all the side content, it may go faster. If you take your time and strive for 100% completion, it can take longer. There are also three skirmish maps, each with a different game mode, in case you just want to blast away or practice tactics before tackling the story.
  • The game has been in development for around a couple years by the small but dedicated team at CFG. I myself have been working on the game for just over a year.
  • The announcement trailer was captured in-engine, using actual game assets and mission graphics while missions were playing. The game actually looks a little better now than when the footage was captured because some things have gotten more polish.
  • We don't like to compare with other games because Ancient Space has elements found in many different ones and such comparisons risk bringing about confusion. There have been a lot of great space games over the years and to pigeonhole any of them is to do them (and A.S.) a disservice. If you have specific questions about the gameplay or features in Ancient Space we're happy to answer as many of them as time allows.


I just hope the game will be full moddable supported and allow for mods to make there own models for weapons ETC.

The game is being built in Unity. To do "proper" modding you would most likely need a full license and the single-player nature and "hand crafted" construction of the levels also doesn't lend itself towards modding. For those reasons we chose to not focus on open mod support.

One thing I noticed trying to watch there Dev Play was in the RSS Feed it was mentioning weapons DLC??? Really we have to buy Weapons for the ships as DLC???

We don't have any current DLC plans for Ancient Space. The game you buy is one cohesive experience and nothing has been held back. There are no "special editions" or anything planned either. Everyone will be getting a digital art book and soundtrack with the game as well.
 
I am encouraged by the lack of dlc and the fact that what ships is a "complete" finished product with no hold backs.

I almost ordered but it does not seem the Paradox website mentions any form of currency or tax so I aborted the order. Perhaps you could update that understanding you are dealing with a global audience.
 
One thing I noticed trying to watch there Dev Play was in the RSS Feed it was mentioning weapons DLC??? Really we have to buy Weapons for the ships as DLC???

Jagged Alliance Back In Action did this with a few custom weapons and armors as cheap (99 cents) DLC shortly after initial release, so it wouldn't surprise me if other games followed suit. (Saints Row 3 and Aliens Colonial Marines had a bunch of weapon DLC's as well.) Given the lack of multiplayer I don't really see optional weapon DLC's as being that big a deal unless they somehow offer serious strategic changes to traditional combat (I.E a singularity cannon that creates a short lived black hole in the point of impact annihilating a localized group of ships.)

With only an approximately 15 hour long campaign, (assuming single player vs. AI skirmish isn't available) I would expect more extra mission type of DLC's at a future date to add to play length over new ships and weaponry.

I'm a bit hesitant on the potential quality as well after seeing the train wreck SOTS II turned out to be, and the half finished shovel ware other companies have released in the same genre. (Legends of Pegasus anyone?)

However at a $20 price tag and the level of quality they've put into voice acting and the videos of game play I'm expecting an epic well executed single player campaign, but not much else beyond that. But at the $20 price tag that's about what I'd expect, and if it sells well DLC is sure to follow. That said I still plan to wait until a week or so after release and see how the reviews turn out to be and play the demo before deciding. (if they offer one)
 
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I'm a bit hesitant on the potential quality as well after seeing the train wreck SOTS II turned out to be, and the half finished shovel ware other companies have released in the same genre. (Legends of Pegasus anyone?)

However at a $20 price tag and the level of quality they've put into voice acting and the videos of game play I'm expecting an epic well executed single player campaign, but not much else beyond that. But at the $20 price tag that's about what I'd expect, and if it sells well DLC is sure to follow. That said I still plan to wait until a week or so after release and see how the reviews turn out to be and play the demo before deciding. (if they offer one)

Without going into comparisons about with other games, let me just say that Ancient Space is in very good shape.

Also... to repeat again: there are currently NO plans to have DLC for this game. The RSS feed seen in the vid contains temporary gibberish text until the game is released, so nothing in there is "for real". If you all love the game and want more, we'll certainly take any requests for it seriously. The Ancient Space universe has tons of potential for future adventure, but it's not something that's even on our radar right now.
 
why is it 20 dollars?

I would guess because it's only a single player 15 mission campaign without any multiplayer or much focus on skirmish mode/game play outside the main story. For a high quality game that tells a solid story with a professional cast of voice actors $20 sounds about right, since a higher price would lead many people to question the lack of multiplayer /replay value for a $49 price tag, and any cheaper would likely be selling themselves short if the quality is on part with what the video imply. (and I'm assuming it likely is.)

It's about the price of a theater ticket these days, and probably will deliver the same/more entertainment value than a sci-fi block buster. but in 6-8 months I'd expect it to be on sale via Steam or Humble Bundle if you don't mind the wait.
 
Actually the game don't remind me of Sots2. After all i have seen so far it reminds me of Homeworld 1 + 2 and Ground Control 1 + 2. I know Ground Control is set on planetary battles, but the campaign as the main focus is the same. Actually the Ground Control 2 Campaign in case of story telling and battle intensity was one of the best i ever played. It was a shame that it had an open end and no one continued the series.
 
Actually the Ground Control 2 Campaign in case of story telling and battle intensity was one of the best i ever played. It was a shame that it had an open end and no one continued the series.

Funny that you mention GC2. The producer of Ancient Space (yours truly), as the first "big" game he ever worked on, actually wrote the story, directed the cinematics and designed about half the missions for it. It wasn't really that open ended but I feel that you always need to leave some things unexplained and not wrap everything up perfectly as long as you give the current "chapter" (and the goals of the hero) some closure. You know that there's a happy ending in there "somewhere" but you're not shown the entire journey there. (That said... I did have the next chapter planned, and I personally hope that maybe some day that tale will be told.) GC2's story was a tad cartoony and "over the top" with crazy characters and accents, however. Such a long time ago. Ah, memories... but I digress.

You may find hints of those storytelling philosophies in Ancient Space, but story is much more seriously told... like a NASA mission, but with a plot and intrigue and was written by a fantastic guy called Jesse Griffith. It just isn't "force-fed" to the player as is common with many games. We wanted the characters to always stay "professional" with no melodrama, over-acting, over-emphasis or "personality outbursts". If you listen to a NASA mission control broadcast, everyone always keeps a neutral tone, sounding almost bored, under even the most dire circumstances. To keep everything functional and moving forward, they're basically just relaying information. It's fascinating, actually. We didn't go to an extreme with the neutral tone, but we did have it as a guideline in the studio and had the actors listen to NASA recordings. In a sense, the story works both as background chatter (ambiance) and something you can get involved in if you want to pay attention.

(Can you tell I love talking about this stuff?)
 
Thanks HorseDemon. That's really interesting. Actually in my opinion it wasn't that cartoony, because the gameplay was very intense (like World in Conflict the Studio developed afterwards) and combined with the story it was just great. I think it was the last mission were you have to defend the city until all the people are evacuated from the planet. Such a scenario you have in many games, but in Starcraft etc. it is just boring because they have some cinematic's but the rest of the game doesn't feel intense because you can see that it was made for a balanced arcade like multiplayer and not for an interesting campaign. In GC2 i was really sad in the last battle, because i identified myself with the Northstar Alliance. Not only with the Characters but the army itself. They fought so hard to defend their system, tried everything, in the end saved many citizens but in the end i saw had to stay back on the planet while their people were saved. Other games use voice-over and storytelling 30 % of the entire mission. GC2 was definitely less but the few storytelling moments were straight to the point and that is something i liked.

I will definitely try Ancient Space tomorrow and present my personal opinion after i played through it ;)
 
What is this game about? Is it like Homeworld?

Are you asking about the premise of the game or the story? The story is best told by playing it.
 
Ok Paradox, I cant believe after SOTS 2 I am even attempting to consider another one of your games. Sorry if that offends anyone. I know Paradox didn't make (SOTS 2) the game just published it, but to be brutally honest they publish a lot of stuff that's not the greatest. How long is the campaign? How long has this been in development? The movie shown is that in engine?? How would you compare it to Master of Orion2 or Sins of a Solar Empire or Gal Civ?? The idea of having a actual story to play makes it desirable to me, as I don't have tons of time now to spend on a Sandbox game. Is this game just a StarCraft type but with ships ?? Does it play as Fleet combat or individual ships in a fleet formation?? What size of fleets can we have?? Lots more questions I would like to see answered....

IMO it in no way compares to SotS2. Check out the stickied threads as almost all of your questions can be answered with cool videos found there.
 
I don´t doubt that, but I´d rather have someone tell me their general impressions about gameplay and history. If it´s more similar to Sins of a Solar Empire for example I´d never buy this because it´s just a RTS, and a pretty lame one. If it´s more similar to Homeworld I´d be more interested.
 
I don´t doubt that, but I´d rather have someone tell me their general impressions about gameplay and history. If it´s more similar to Sins of a Solar Empire for example I´d never buy this because it´s just a RTS, and a pretty lame one. If it´s more similar to Homeworld I´d be more interested.

I'm on mission 3 so far (plan to play a lot more this weekend) and so far it definitely captures the Homeworld feel of gameplay, In both the way units "feel/are presented" and with large mission areas, crisp controls, a compelling story arc, and challenging (but not frustratingly so) missions with a a welcome amount of variety so far. If you're a fan of the Homeworld series I'm pretty sure you'll feel right at home in Ancient Space. :D