Space Sim First Look: Void War (July 9, 2004)

[ChrisReid]

Jay Barnson and Rampant Games are currently producing a new space combat sim that draws a lot from past Wing Commander experiences and should include some exciting action. Void War has a single player game with a compelling storyline, but a lot of attention has been paid to large multiplayer battles. Although the game engine has been loosely based on Wing Commander, intertial concerns and physics mechanics have an influence on the craft and alter flying to a certain degree. The multiplayer areas are rich with asteroids, planets, space stations and other debris to spice up the environment. Teams or individual players can fight for dominance in these arenas. They hope to support up to 32 players. Mr. Barnson is a huge Wing Commander fan and cares about the space sim genre quite a bit. Void War will attempt to add features to the space landscape so that it is not always as lifeless as the real thing can be. The Rampart team is frantically working to get into beta at the moment, but we hope to arrange a drawing for a few copies of the game when things solidify a bit. Here are a few sample screenshots.

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Some of the ships remind me somewhat of Subspace designs. Hopefully the team's enthusiasm translates into some fun multiplayer adventures for us together. You can find out more at the Void War site here.

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Original update published on July 9, 2004

 

[Rampant Coyote]

Thanks Chris!

This is Jay Barnson --- I've been lurking around here for YEARS but I've never registered and posted before. We started working on Void War to fill a void (*cough*) in the space combat genre since all the big publishers have left it. Looks like a lot of independent game developers are stepping up to the plate now --- including us.

Too bad Origin is well and truly gone now... I always thought it would be cool to have another game set during the Kilrathi war, but from the vantage point of some other ship / squadron. I want to fly Raptors and Hornets again in full 3D

 

[ChrisReid]

Someday we'll get another one.. but in the mean time, I'm really glad there are games like Void War keeping the genre going strong. Welcome to Crius!