Star Control Reboot Emerges From the Wreckage of Atari

[thiosk]

The rotating green carousel of death monster to the immediate left of this post approves of this message.

My biological credits are manifold.

Make whatever rituals are necessary for your species.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Depends on which X-Com Reboot they're talking about.

This is Stardock we're talking about, so it's a safe bet to say they meant Enemy Unknown and not the FPS.

Also, Atari is dead /again/? I'm actually kind of sad this time, since it means Infogrames (which was the last company to buy out Atari, changing their name in the process) is gone now. Infogrames was cool, they basically invented Survival Horror, and then Capcom popularized it with a game that used zombies instead of Lovecraft.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Star Control was already remade its called Mass Effect.

Yeah, if Mass Effect had had some cool starship combat and fleet building, it would have been the perfect Star Control remake.

I'm excited about StarDock handling it. I hope this time they manage to deliver on the 1st try though.

It's more that both Mass Effect and Star Control were remakes of Starflight, which was and older, somewhat simpler version of the same idea as Star Control II. The mako sections and the in system flight were even pulled straight out of Starflight, which used a ground vehicle that was just the Mako with better controls for resource collection.

Incidentally, Starflight was an EA game, pre-evil. They still hold the copyright to it, so I'm surprised they haven't done anything with it in light of how successful Mass Effect was.

 

[Andrew_C]

I would have preferred someone else to get it, like one of the European strategy specialists (and Toys for Bob are still going as part of ActiBlizzard). I'm not really a fan of Stardock's games and CEO, but at least they will do something with it. It could have gone worse places.

By the way if you haven't heard of it, The Ur-Quan Masters [http://sc2.sourceforge.net/] is an excellent free remake of Star Control II based on the source code that Toys For Bob released to the community in 2002. Their website looks like the 90's threw up on it, but they are legit.

EDIT forgot stuff again

 

[Andrew_C]

Depends on which X-Com Reboot they're talking about.

This is Stardock we're talking about, so it's a safe bet to say they meant Enemy Unknown and not the FPS.

Also, Atari is dead /again/? I'm actually kind of sad this time, since it means Infogrames (which was the last company to buy out Atari, changing their name in the process) is gone now. Infogrames was cool, they basically invented Survival Horror, and then Capcom popularized it with a game that used zombies instead of Lovecraft.

Yeah, its sad, but for the last 10 years Infogrames/Atari's corporate strategy seems to have been to sell of any potentially profitable IP's and subsidiaries. Not exactly a sustainable strategy. Surprising they lasted this long.

 

[Don Incognito]

The rotating green carousel of death monster to the immediate left of this post approves of this message.

My biological credits are manifold.

Make whatever rituals are necessary for your species.

You.

I like you. I would like to be your friend.

I could not possibly be more excited after reading this news.

 

[AD-Stu]

Colour me excited.

The only bit I didn't like about Star Control II was the ship to ship combat - maybe it's just because I wasn't very good at it, but I wussed out and just left it on AI controlled mode the whole time. If they could improve on that and keep all the other stuff, it'd be awesome

 

[mattaui]

This is excellent news. Star Control II was one of my all time favorites, since it was basically an update to my first gaming love, Starflight. I sure hope they can capture what made the original so great.

 

[Stormwaltz]

(leaving)

 

[Nuxxy]

Colour me excited.

The only bit I didn't like about Star Control II was the ship to ship combat - maybe it's just because I wasn't very good at it, but I wussed out and just left it on AI controlled mode the whole time. If they could improve on that and keep all the other stuff, it'd be awesome

You missed out on some of the great joys of life, such as: taking out an Ur-Quan Dreadnought with an Arilou Skiff; or having a single P'kunk Fury reincarnated 20 times.

You also missed out on some of life's great shames, like sling-shotting your Mycon into it's own plasmoids.

 

[RicoADF]

Depends on which X-Com Reboot they're talking about.

This is Stardock we're talking about, their one of if not the smartest game publisher/developers that exist in the industry and are what we all demand publishers/devs to be. Every game of theirs I have played has been perfect or next to perfect, there has rarely if ever been an issue and whenever they hear of one they fix it. Support is excellent and community feedback is listened to. This couldn't have ended better if god himself had of come down to do it (well maybe alittle better lol)

Bravo Stardock, bravo

The 3DO version, was released on PC without the incredibly good voice acting (amongst other things), thus some people say, especially 3DO enthusiasts that the 3DO version is superior, even compared to the Toys for Bob 3DO PC version. It's also free technically too, what with the 3DO having no copyright protection.

I own that 3DO version, it's indeed a fantastic game, so i hope Atari don't fuck it up with this new one.

Atari doesn't exist anymore, their IP's have been sold off and their dead, Stardock purchased the IP from the bankruptcy hearing and has announced a reboot (smart move on their part). You will get a fantastic game, this I guarantee.

"...Stardock is the right kind of studio for a game like Star Control"

I have to disagree.

Setting aside Brad Wardell's personal issues, Stardock has a long history of releasing colorless turn-based games that they spend years patching into something good. I don't see that as the best choice for a realtime game remembered for its splashy personality and sense of humor.

They almost sank Gas Powered Games with their unplayable netcode for Demigod. The recent Legendary Heroes, while a solid and enjoyable game, is really their third try at designing Elemental, and was "rescued" by hiring the best modder of Civ4 and the lead designer of Civ5.

I have to disagree with you, and you pointed out why. They didn't just go "oh well" and leave the games with what problems they had like EA etc, they went out of their way and fixed them. They also made Sins of a Solar Empire which (and everyone I know) considers to be one of the best space RTS that exist (up there with Homeworld).

 

[Andrew_C]

This is Stardock we're talking about, their one of if not the smartest game publisher/developers that exist in the industry and are what we all demand publishers/devs to be. Every game of theirs I have played has been perfect or next to perfect, there has rarely if ever been an issue and whenever they hear of one they fix it. Support is excellent and community feedback is listened to. This couldn't have ended better if god himself had of come down to do it (well maybe alittle better lol)

Bravo Stardock, bravo

Hi Brad, how you doing? Shouldn't you be worrying about that lawsuit, not wasting time on websites?

 

[RicoADF]

Hi Brad, how you doing? Shouldn't you be worrying about that lawsuit, not wasting time on websites?

Excuse me?

Oh what don't you like Stardock and anyone that says they do must be some sort of impersonator? I guess you prefer EA's way of "don't like it, tough" verses Stardock's way of fixing any issues? Which I'll point out I have never had in any of their games, I heard of the elementor problems but I personally never played that game, regardless they did completly redo the game for the community. You'll never see EA or Activision doing that for their fans.

 

[Andrew_C]

Hi Brad, how you doing? Shouldn't you be worrying about that lawsuit, not wasting time on websites?

Excuse me?

Oh what don't you like Stardock and anyone that says they do must be some sort of impersonator? I guess you prefer EA's way of "don't like it, tough" verses Stardock's way of fixing any issues? Which I'll point out I have never had in any of their games, I heard of the elementor problems but I personally never played that game, regardless they did completly redo the game for the community. You'll never see EA or Activision doing that for their fans.

I believe was I was doing is referred to as "Humour" in many places (see also irony and sarcasm).

I made the joke because your love for Stardock seemed a bit over the top and Wardell is known for coming onto websites to defend or extol the virtues of his products company and himself (Although he doesn't use pseudonyms).

As I said, I don't like Stardock's games (they promise much but consistently disappoint IMHO) or Wardell, but at least they will do something with the IP, unlike Atari/Infogrames.

EDIT: clarified

 

[RicoADF]

I believe was I was doing is referred to as "Humour" in many places (see also irony and sarcasm).

I made the joke because your love for Stardock seemed a bit over the top and Wardell is known for coming onto websites to defend or extol the virtues of his products company and himself (Although he doesn't use pseudonyms).

As I said, I don't like Stardock's games (they promise much but consistently disappoint IMHO) or Wardell, but at least they will do something with the IP, unlike Atari/Infogrames.

EDIT: clarified

Ah my apologies, it can be hard to tell when it's sarcasm or a serious comment. As you said Wardell is known for commenting on websites to defend the company and thought you had made the real assumption I was him.

Yeah it probably did seem over the top, but I'm sick of the EA's and Activision's. So far I've enjoyed every stardock game I've played (I haven't played all their games) and they do seem to listen to fans, so compared to the mentioned EA and Activision they feel like saints at times.

 

[Antari]

I am sorry Andy, but I can't take this at face value. Stardock is improving, but I have serious doubts about them being able to faithfully remake Star Control 2. It will be interesting to see what they come up with. But its by no means a garenteed sale.

 

[mooncalf]

I don't care who's making it or what they're styling it as. Star Control coming back in any way shape manner or form is GOLDEN news! I wasn't expecting it so soon, but my hopes started simmering ever since I heard those rights had passed in the Atari auction.

Also, yes the first Mass Effect had every appearance of sharing significant parallels with Star Control 2. This is not a bad thing, it does not detract from Mass Effect or the creative efforts of the people who made it. No need to be precious about that, they're both wonderful games. <3

*Edit* Screw "faithful", Star Control 3 tried being faithful (for the most part). Look where that took us! The difference between SC1 and 2 in gameplay is striking, so why can't this game be different again? If you want nostalgia, the Ur-Quan Masters is on sourceforge, for a new game expect new ideas.

 

[Stormwaltz]

(leaving)

 

[RicoADF]

They also made Sins of a Solar Empire which (and everyone I know) considers to be one of the best space RTS that exist (up there with Homeworld).

Ironclad Games designed and coded Sins. Stardock merely published it.

It's possible I'm being pedantic, but I think it's significant that Stardock's in-house experience with RTS is limited to the aforementioned disastrous netcode they made for GPG's Demigod.

I should have said published, I am aware that Ironclad Games were the devs. I'm actually hoping that Stardock does a similar thing where they publish a game made by some of the origional SC devs, similar to the Ironclad Games making SoSE.

 

[evilneko]

Star Control was already remade its called Mass Effect.

Yeah, if Mass Effect had had some cool starship combat and fleet building, it would have been the perfect Star Control remake.

I'm excited about StarDock handling it. I hope this time they manage to deliver on the 1st try though.

It's more that both Mass Effect and Star Control were remakes of Starflight, which was and older, somewhat simpler version of the same idea as Star Control II. The mako sections and the in system flight were even pulled straight out of Starflight, which used a ground vehicle that was just the Mako with better controls for resource collection.

Incidentally, Starflight was an EA game, pre-evil. They still hold the copyright to it, so I'm surprised they haven't done anything with it in light of how successful Mass Effect was.

I must nitpick.

Star Control 2 could be called a remake of Starflight. It certainly has more similarities with that game than with Mass Effect after all.

However, Star Control is not, in any sense of the word, a remake of Starflight.

[small]And we shall not speak of that... third game...[/small]

A spiritual successor to Starflight 1 and 2 was released in the early 90s. It was called Protostar. IIRC, it is available on GOG. Failing that, it can be picked up on Abandonia and runs fairly easily in DosBox.