The slow death of the space-sim genre has been pushed back a little farther with an update to the
venerable game StarShatter.
Why the Space-Sim genre is nearly extinct at all is another story, However with such slim pickings available its refreshing to see a developer still poking along.
To paraphrase Governor Tarkin of Star Wars fame:
Space Sims are extinct. Their fire has gone out of the gaming world. You are all that remains of their religion
Hence, I got a chance to talk to John DiCamillo about the graphical overhaul of his innovative title.
Being a big fan of the sci-fi starship genre, what new additions to SS:
TGS have made you the most excited.
Well, all of them! The main goal of this release was to add features and content that would increase the excitement and immersion factor of the game. So we concentrated on bringing the graphics up to date, and adding cutscenes and in-game voice over to help tell the story and involve the player to a greater extent than ever before.
With the design overhaul of the original ships from SS II will there be
additional gameplay efffects to take into account?
In a few places, yes. For instance, we have added 3D cockpit models to the fighters, so padlocking and situational awareness feel very different. We are also working with NaturalPoint to improve the TrackIR head tracking support. Also, there are several new enemy ships with new weapons, including some stealth pirate fighters that can really shake things up.
With changes to the computer AI and improved combat system, what changes
will new players to the franchise need to take into account?
That would be telling! No, seriously, most of the changes are more subtle than that. Stuff like improving the AI pilot's aim and target selection and collision avoidance routines, and increasing the difference between difficulty levels. A lot of people complained that the first game was just too hard, even on the easiest setting. So we've tried to address the difficulty level without dumbing down the gameplay in the process.
Has the multiplayer aspect of SS: TGS had any notable changes?
Nothing that's really visible to the player. We've made some changes to make the servers easier to manage.
The Mod community greatly extended the life of SS: II besides the
cutscenes additions what other changes can the modding community look
forward too.
The main things are some new and improved tools. We've released an updated version of the 3D modeling program that I used to create the ships in the game. This will allow modders to create much more complex and interesting texture and shader effects, and to actually see what the ships look like before loading them into the game. We've also released a new mod archive program that will allow people to open up the data files that ship with the game. This will give everyone some good examples of how to construct dynamic campaigns and cutscenes.
Also, the new engine supports skin-able ship models. Anyone can create skins for any of the models in the game, or for any original ship design, and select them during play. I'm hoping that some of the mod groups will use this feature to provide alternate "nose art" for different fighter squadrons, or even ship name-decals for something like the Star Trek universe.
What new features have been added that you can't wait to get user
feedback on?
Well, all of them! I'm really hoping that players will get sucked in to the campaigns even more because of the new content. I guess if I had to pick one area, it would be the new modding tools and features. I'm really looking forward to playing somebody else's missions and ships for a change!
SS: TGS makes a bold gameplay scenario combining 1st person flight sim,
with a 3rd person command-type RTS. How will the game adjust for each
individuals play style?
It's not so much that Starshatter adjusts itself for the player, as it is that it offers many different opportunities for the player to explore different scenarios. Within the dynamic campaign system, everything is going on all the time - there are strategic and tactical decisions being made at the fleet level, and there are intense battles between starship units, and dogfights between fighter units as well as strike and assault scenarios. The user interface is intentionally designed to allow the player to jump in at any of these levels and have some fun, provided that they have the experience and rank to merit the responsibility.
The one place where the game really is adjustable is in the flight model. I know some people who just like to set the flight model for arcade action, hop in a fighter, and have a good time blowing stuff up. I do that myself sometimes; it's a great stress-reliever. Then there are other players who like to push the realism settings to the max, carefully plan out attack packages, and really prosecute the war. There are even some mod groups that are trying to create hyper-realistic Newtonian combat scenarios, like something out of a Greg Benford novel.
Although SS: TGS is now out, if there was anything you could change, what
would it be?
Nothing really comes to mind. I'm generally pretty happy with how this one turned out. It would have been cool to add a couple more campaigns against the Zolons. Perhaps we can do that as a mod, one of these days...
For more information concerning Starshatter: The Gathering Storm
Please visit them at: Matrix Games
The slow death of the space-sim genre has been pushed back a little farther with an update to the
venerable game StarShatter.
