Space shooters not dead after all

G

GeeBot

Spaceman
I just ran across news about a game called Starshatter (http://www.starshatter.com). While it'll no doubt fail to measure up to the legacy of Wing Commander, or even come close, actually, at least the genre isn't completely dead. And it's an IGF 2004 finalist, so maybe it'll be good. There's a demo, so I guess you can try it out if that's your thing. BTW, anyone find it odd that space shooter games seem to be made more by small enthusiast studios (EVE Online, Jumpgate, I-War) than the big heavies?

While we're at it, feel free to discuss any other upcoming space shooter projects, commercial or otherwise.
 
I tried the demo a month ago and it kept crashing right before the ship left the hangar. If anyone gets it to run I'd be happy to hear how it is. It looks pretty cool based off what I've seen so far.
 
GeeBot said:
BTW, anyone find it odd that space shooter games seem to be made more by small enthusiast studios (EVE Online, Jumpgate, I-War) than the big heavies?
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It's not odd, it's just economics. Space simulations don't sell well enough for big studios to pursue them.

As far as "measuring up to the legacy of Wing Commander", Starshatter isn't really trying to do that. The last thing I want is to do is create a clone of another game, even a good one. While you could choose to play Starshatter as if it were just another episode of Wing Commander, you would be missing about two thirds of what makes Starshatter fun, and you would probably be disappointed at the loss of Wing Commander's "interactive movie" production values. Starshatter is much more the spiritual offspring of Freespace, and Falcon 4.0, and F22 Total Air War, and Harpoon, and Jane's Fleet Command, and I-War, and Homeworld, than it is related to the Wing Commander style of action/adventure.

Also, please bear in mind that Destroyer Studios is basically just me, and that Starshatter was made with slightly less than one tenth of one percent of the budget of the last Wing Commander game.
 
dextorboot said:
I tried the demo a month ago and it kept crashing right before the ship left the hangar. If anyone gets it to run I'd be happy to hear how it is. It looks pretty cool based off what I've seen so far.
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Well, I can get it to run (err... obviously). If you still have the game sitting on your hard drive, I'd certainly appreciate it if you could send me an error log after a crash. Send it to milo@starshatter.com.

Thanks,
 
Starshatter is the rox0rz, and it has been getting better with each version - good job, Milo. :)
 
Starshatter is quite easily the best fan made game I've ever played. Although I got to be honest, I don't like the feel of the flight model but that's a personal preference. Milo has been hard at work at this game for years now and it looks great. My hat is off to you Milo! I'd like to see some WC ships in Starshatter...any very good tutorials on importing? I still have the original release of Starshatter sitting on my HD.
 
I think a newer version has come out since I last tried it. I deleted it off my harddrive after I couldn't get it to work. I'll download the newest version tonight and give it a shot.

Also, as to your comments about WC, I never played 3 or 4 so my memories of it are based more on 1,2, privateer and prophecy. I didn't mind the interactive movie aspect, but the gameplay and actual story is what always kept me coming back, except for 3 and 4 because my PC at the time couldn't handle them.

And at least for this WC fan, a clone of great game is better than no game at all. Which is what we have right now.
 
dextorboot said:
And at least for this WC fan, a clone of great game is better than no game at all. Which is what we have right now.
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No problem, I totally understand that sentiment. All I'm saying is that it is unfair to rate every game in the genre based on how closely it matches the Wing Commander ideal, especially sight unseen. I think there ought to be a little room for innovation here and there, don't you? :)

And if you have any more trouble getting the game to run, please contact me. I'd love to help out, even if only to find and fix one more bug before we ship.
 
Maj.Striker said:
Starshatter is quite easily the best fan made game I've ever played. Although I got to be honest, I don't like the feel of the flight model but that's a personal preference.
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Just curious, but which of the three flight models were you using? Standard, relaxed, or arcade?

I'd like to see some WC ships in Starshatter...any very good tutorials on importing?
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I have a half-built WC4 Dragon model laying around here somewhere...
 
Ok, got the latest version and it works great. I must say, I am throughly impressed. I only played a couple of the training missions, but if it runs this smooth when it ships I'll be a happy man. :)

I have a couple of questions:
1. How much will it retail for when it ships?
2. When will it ship?
3. I'm not getting any audio from my wingmen or carrier, will there be any or just the text?

Other than that, great work. It's a blast so far.
 
I didn't mean to impunge on quality of your game, milo. :) After all, I haven't even played it yet (busy, busy, busy, though the concept looks interesting), so how can I try to judge it? I happen to be working on a bit of a solo project myself, and it's a big time sink (although also very rewarding at times). It's just that most recent space shooters have been fairly unambitious and not very well done, so it's easy to get pessimistic, and think that the next thing to come out is going to be half-hearted dreck, too. Anyway, best of luck with the commercial release of your game.
 
Just downloaded & played the Starshatter demo. Not bad. Not bad at all. The controls (that I've used so far) remind me more of X-wing vs. Tie Fighter than WC, though. But, then again, I'm a bit of a WC purist :)

I really enjoyed playing it, though. If I'm not at basic or dead, I'll probably buy it when it comes out.
 
Update:

Was reading stuff on IGN today and it would seem this game has been officially released on the website. $39.99 to download. I'd like to see it in stores personally, but I suppose this'll do.
 
Anyone planning to play Vendetta Online when it comes out? That didn't look half bad when I checked it out a few months ago.
 
I've been able to play several versions of Starshatter, and I would say that it should satisfy the soul of the famished space-flight sim enthusiast. One of the strengths of Starshatter is its flexibility. You can chose from several typses of physics (it can be like good old WC, or it can be almost completely realistic, and it can be somewhere in between). There is a great variety of missions (some of which are very challenging), and you can fly a wide variety of both capital ship and fighter missions.

Also, when you get to command a carrier, you can also issue orders to the rest of the fleet. Fighter missions occur both in space and also on the surface of planets. So, you mix a bit of fighter action, capital ship slugfests, fleet command, and atmospheric flight with enough flexibility to make the game feel the way you want it to feel, and you get Starshatter. To tell the truth, when you play Starshatter, it will most likely feel like a big budget game to you. It isn't trying to be WC, but I think most WC fans should enjoy it.

Sphynx
 
sycho_warrior said:
I tried the demo, but nothing worked properly, deleted it off the HD
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Could you elaborate on "nothing worked properly"? Was the game crashing on you or you just didn't like the gameplay or what? Always on the lookout for fixable issues...

Thanks,
 
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