[Shadowstar]

There will be MOO3...

I heard about Stars SNG 2 years ago and have been waiting for it ever since. Actually, that's not true. I gave up waiting for it a few months ago. I think it would be an excellent game, but it can't be any kind of game if it never gets released. My Starscape universe was born in Stars! and still lives and thrives in what I like to call "The Stars! Engine", but in my mind, Starscape deserves something that won't limit its possibilities. Stars! does, and it looks like, from what I've read, Stars SNG will to.

I know, of course, that it will always be limited until the day that I can develop it into its own game, but because I am a wealth-less mail-order-office-grunt with no programming talent whatsoever, I know that my dreams of creating the ultimate 4x game will have to wait for now.

Until then, I seek out new 4x games to transfer Starscape to, always grasping for that extra little bit of control that is so essential to my ability to run Starscape games. As the game tends to resemble an RPG in some ways, as the host or gamemaster, I need lots of power over the universe, the players, the characters, and what happens in the universe. Stars! limited me a great deal until I figured out how to alter the host files. Even then, the changes I can do are chancy and don't always work. But I try.

I swear, I've spent more directed energies on running Starscape consistently for the past 3 years than I have on anything else in my life, expecting nothing in return because I simply enjoy running the game and listening to what the players have to say about it. It's gotten to the point where I am paying $10 a month to keep Starscape running, expecting nothing in return, and charging nothing for the players to play it.

That's how I know that developing this universe from its current mod form to a full-fledged game is my calling. My final plan for Starscape is to develop it into a massively multiplayer game that combines RTS, 4X, Space combat/trading, FPS, and RPG all into one. I've already got ideas about how this will work but the first game I will ever release (assuming I get that far) will be a basic 4x. It will have new features of course, but it will be simple and easy to produce (as it will be my first title). Later on, provided it does well, I can think about working on the massively multiplayer ubergame sequel.

So, after all that, you can see how I'm not so worried about one 4x development effort going under. I'd hate to see S:SNG die, but I'm keeping my eye on the big fish, like MOO3, SEIV, and SEV (and yes, I consider the Space Empires series to be big fish, because I look at games in terms of how fun they are, and nothing else.)

I refuse to base my opinions on hype.