Awkbird

New High Resolution Milky Way Galaxy Survey Image in Star Control StarControl Forums

I can't look at this new image and help but think about how great it would be if our view of the galaxy in the new Star Control was something like this newly released 360-degree circular view of the Milky Way. I don't know if I'm getting carried away, but imagine being able to rotate around, choose a distant star and then punch it into Hyperspace as the galaxy flies past you at impossible speeds as you travel to it in the span of just a few minutes (or hours/days in game t

Reply to Star Control "Karma" in Star Control Ideas/Wishes StarControl Forums

In fairness, that shortcoming was mostly due to budgetary, technological, and production time limitations when the game was produced, but it's a fair point to make for the new title. SC2 did attempt to have outcomes for your decisions but they were of course basic ones. With the evolution of gameplay in the years since, it would be nice to have a more developed form of karma affecting your actions to a greater extent in the new game. I'm not sure they'll allow such a degre

Reply to How would you like your new Star Control story to begin? in Founders Starbase StarControl Forums

I brought up Star Trek as an example of a sympathetic character with something to prove being thrown into extraordinary circumstances, not an example of what age a character needs to be to make a story work. It wasn't a perfect film but it did at least have strongly defined character arcs, which is something I can't say for a LOT of movies and games. Nobody suggested making the hero a certain age, although since someone continues to want to argue against a 20-something protago

Reply to Expanding the Crew Mechanic in Star Control StarControl Forums

I used to feel this way as well. I thought having crew represent the health of a ship was an unusual choice in the first place, and if it is in fact the "health indicator" then the idea of it affecting different ship functions would make perfect sense. I can't think of examples off the top of my head, but there are certainly other games that have applied a similar "crippling damage" gameplay mechanic. The idea of a ship being less effective as it takes serious damage definitely has merit

Reply to How would you like your new Star Control story to begin? in Founders Starbase StarControl Forums

I can't really expect that Stardock will do it in the way that I'm imagining, but I think it would be cool to see the game start off with the idea that humans are still very new to space travel; we are just getting our feet wet discovering other planets when we are suddenly swept up into the landscape of a much vaster story, and much more quickly than we had ever planned on. So many other science fiction games see the people of Earth having already journeyed to the stars, f

Reply to The Big Thread of What's Off Limits vs. Fair Game in Founders Starbase StarControl Forums

Okay, the bit regarding star names really caught me off guard. The star names from SC2 are all actual stars. Yes, the starmap layout and distances in Hyperspace were not accurate reflections of where they are in our galaxy, but they were all real star names based on the actual constellations that have been known to astronomers for centuries. By that logic, SC2 "reused" hundreds of star names. So have a number of other games taking place in our galaxy. Why should this be any di

Reply to Mod tools question. in Star Control StarControl Forums

The developers will be going into more detail on this at a later date. Founders will have earliest insight into these tools but we won't be able to share that on the regular forums until Stardock opens up about it, but it will probably not be public information until later this year or early next. However, they have publicly confirmed that ship design and customization will be a big part of the game. It's my unofficial educated guess that it may bear a resemblance to the ship

Reply to What do I play while I wait? Good to scratch an itch and help me come up with ideas? in Founders Starbase StarControl Forums

Several times, many years ago. I enjoyed it specifically because of how similar it was in spirit to SC2.

January 2016 Update - Holy Mukay! in Founders Starbase StarControl Forums

Mr. ORLY finally has a name! And we get our first early idea of the conversation animation style. Plus three concept art paintings (albeit small thumbnails) give us an idea of the planet landing experience and I am not disappointed with the visual style being shown. Pretty much exactly what I had imagined. It looks like the horizon of the planets is very curved as opposed to flat, so planetary size is in line with what we've already been shown, meaning the planets remain&n

Reply to December 2015 Vault Update in Founders Starbase StarControl Forums

Yeah, not trying to be obstinate but I don't see how anything about this guy's biology is clear based on this art besides the fact that he has arms and hands with three fingers. He is completely obscured by the costume, which is fun, but I think most would still classify this as humanoid based on what's visible. That being said, it would be a fun surprise to have at least one alien encountered to have a deceitful appearance that we later find out to be false; e.g. the K&#3

Reply to December 2015 Vault Update in Founders Starbase StarControl Forums

[quote who="IBNobody" reply="7" id="3610445"]While I agree with your assessment and general disdain of TV aliens, I would also like to point out that non-humanoid aliens can go horribly horribly wrong ... I personally don't care if the alien is humanoid or not. I want them to look cool.[/quote]Noted. Ascendancy tried to go too far in the opposite extreme. Several of them are very Lovecraftian, which is cool, but only a few should be that bizarre. Filling an entire game with completel

Reply to December 2015 Vault Update in Founders Starbase StarControl Forums

Thanks, I'm humbled. Tell that to Stardock! I am getting the impression we'll probably be encouraged to add any content we come up with to our own clusters. All I wanted to do was make a modern, polished version without any alterations to the composition itself, if for no other reason than to mod the game myself and put it in there just like you're suggesting. I don't really consider it a mix, more of an update or makeover to bring the original into modernity w

Reply to December 2015 Vault Update in Founders Starbase StarControl Forums

Yeah, I thought about mentioning the obvious "humanoidness" of this guy as well. Several humanoids in the other concept art too, although they claim most were rejects...

December 2015 Vault Update in Founders Starbase StarControl Forums

Check out the vault for a little Christmas surprise, Founders! Full Hyperspace theme and, well, curious what we're actually looking at here... [e digicons]o_O[/e]

Reply to Random events, stock items and etc. in Founders Starbase StarControl Forums

I'd be fine with this as an option . A lot of strategy games have random events but they are often optional and can be turned on or off based on preference.

Reply to Question on Solar System Map & Combat in Founders Starbase StarControl Forums

As to the nature of the topic of map sizing and combat views, I feel that given the nature of the Nitrous engine the game's being developed on and the few hints they've dropped, our sense of a traditional "fixed view" of things will probably be very outdated in the context of this game. I'm picturing something a lot more like a dynamic view that zooms in and out based on the situation and surroundings. While we are navigating around a star system, the view will dolly out t

Reply to Question on Solar System Map & Combat in Founders Starbase StarControl Forums

I'm sure there are some wouldn't mind a time-consuming voyage, but I feel it would be a minority and I think contemporary gamers would demand something more interactive and dynamic, independent of how long the journey actually takes. Unless they can make the visual experience of just sitting and staring at the screen on autopilot something really fantastic, the process is a little mundane and repetitive and could be improved upon. I don't play a huge number of contemporary

Reply to Question on Solar System Map & Combat in Founders Starbase StarControl Forums

[quote who="Volusianus" reply="3" id="3609421"]I'm gonna be honest, I was hoping hyperspace would be a sort of gauntlet arena, with those constant energy bolts firing everywhere. Like the asteroid fields in FTL.[/quote]Thank you! I also made similar comments some time ago regarding how the Hyperspace experience should be made more interesting by adding much more variety in terms of the challenges, obstacles, and visual phenomena we see while flying across the cosmos at impossible speeds.<

Reply to System Defenses in Founders Starbase StarControl Forums

These ideas all have merit and I'm inclined to agree they would be cool, but I think given what's been stated about how the game is being designed, there will be little if any focus given to setting up outposts or other fortifications in the context of the story. It may be a moot point to consider aspects of the game that have been implied to be absent from the design objective. That being said, I'd still really love to see a strategy mini-game similar to the SC1 scenarios

Reply to The planet design in Founders Starbase StarControl Forums

Yeah, I wanted to call this a straw man argument too, but I wasn't inclined to start a debate as to why. Fantasy and reality are not all-or-none aspects and are not mutually exclusive. They can peacefully coexist in this medium without compromising one another.

Reply to Thoughts on art direction... in Founders Starbase StarControl Forums

I agree with the stance in the topic and others here who have made similar statements. It's interesting that you immediately drew comparisons to modern animation studios as that was pretty much the established statement from Stardock. The Pixar film 'Inside Out' was given as an example of the kind of art direction being used as inspiration. I know that has caused several to raise an eyebrow and is provoking some strong discussions, but I am reserving judgment until more be

Reply to The planet design in Founders Starbase StarControl Forums

The example images are excellent, and I would love for the lander experience to emulate environments like that. I don't think it's a justification for geographic features being so easily visible from space though. GnarlyFurtado is right, and I concur. Unless a planet is only a hundred miles in diameter, it makes little sense for these beautiful geographic features to be visible from tens or hundreds of thousands of miles away. It's just a simple matter of scale. And gravit

Reply to The Music!!! in Founders Starbase StarControl Forums

Thanks Hunam. I appreciate the feedback. In response: Mycon - Completely agree about swapping out the piano for something more synthetic to make it sound more foreign. I originally composed it on the piano and thought it just sounded more dramatic that way and haven't settled on a substitute yet. Melee 2 - I wanted to be a little more goofy and less serious with a combat theme, hence the goofy vocals towards the end. I believe there should be multiple melee themes

Reply to The Music!!! in Founders Starbase StarControl Forums

[quote who="prodigalmaster" reply="25" id="3607478"]That's yours? I've had it in my favorites for a while now, and listened to it a bunch of times, it's really good! </sp

Reply to "Little things" that we expect in Founders Starbase StarControl Forums

[quote who="GnarlyFurtardo" reply="21" id="3607386"]During communications with aliens, different members of the alien race should look/sound slightly different, with slightly different backgrounds as well. It shouldn't feel like you're talking to a single alien that represents the entire race. Example, talking to Fwiffo compared to the talking to the Spathi High Counsel. [/quote]I've always felt this way as well. It makes sense. Humans come in many colors, styles