Starscape Released

[Shadowstar]

Starscape, the remake of the original PBEM mod for Stars! has finally been completed and is now ready for download.

The website is at: www.starscapecentral.com

Those who would like to play in the next official game should download the mod and create a race. NO EXPERIENCE IS NECCESSARY! Though some general SEIV experience is recommended, very few people (if any) will have any experience with Starscape itself. This is intended. Starscape is adaptive. In the official moderated game, the game will accomodate players, and we use human-controlled balancing to insure even newbies have a fair shot. Starscape is all about roleplaying and having fun, as well as being involved in a dynamic, mostly player-driven storyline.

NOTE: Starscape is not like other mods for SEIV. It is played and run very differently. The mod itself is designed as a cross between an RPG and 4x. It is a bit tough to explain, but it worked in Stars! and works in SEIV.

Also, the majority of Starscape's development has been spent with very little contact with the existing SEIV community. This is mainly because there was limited time to interact, and I focused most of the development energies on working on the mod itself. An early Version of the imagemod was used as a base, and then original content was implanted into this over the years it has spent in closed development. Some features were inspired by older Versions of other mods, but most of it is original, new content.

Limited beta testing was completed around the end of Last year and finalization was completed Last week, along with pre-release testing.

What we have now should work well for the official moderated game, which is scheduled to begin sometime this month (depending on how many/quickly signups come in). AI's are not specifically supported, and neither is single player gameplay. There will be oddities in single player games, but they should still work marginally well enough to run testbeds and practice games. AI support is planned for the future, but it is not critically neccessary for the official games (which do not use AI controlled empires).

Keep in mind this mod was designed from the ground up to be run in a somewhat non-standard way. It is an experiment, sure, but I think it can work.

If you're interested in playing, check out our website. It has lots of information, and the download as well. If you download the mod, please consider signing up for the official game. All you need to do is use the mod to create a race, and send it in. Be sure to read the Online manual regarding race creation as there are some differences in making a Starscape race as opposed to a standard SEIV race.

If you like roleplaying, this may just be the mod for you. In Starscape, roleplaying isn't just for fun, it's part of the game.

NOTE: This mod was designed in and for SEIV Gold. I don't think it will work in original SEIV.

[ March 08, 2004, 10:39: Message edited by: Shadowstar ]