One of the neat things about playing Star Control 2 and 3 back in the pre-internet days was that when I was playing them, I had no idea how much of this “universe” we could explore was actually just potential resource stops, and how much of it was actual places that added to the story in some way. Figuring that out was part of the joy.
I had so much fun even with Star Control 3, because as I was telling @Desslock upthread, I had no idea that their systems were unfinished. Can you imagine playing that game now? People would tell you in this thread a day after release that the systems were broken. That’s probably a bad example though. It was also wonderous to explore a new part of the Star Control 2 map, not knowing if you were travelling in a cluster of worlds where you’ll encounter a new race, or if it’s just another cluster where you need to be careful to avoid those annoying satellites.
I’m surprised to read that. By “unlimited” do you just mean the rights to republish Star Control 1/2, or could you actually use the aliens/ships from those games in a new Stardock game?
My understanding that at least the initial license acquisition was only for the name and the former Accolade assets, which did not include the aliens and other trademarks except for the Star Control name. If you do have those rights, did you do a subsequent transaction with Ford/Reiche, or was my previous understanding incorrect?
In any case, I think you’re doing a great job with the franchise for the fans. Facilitating a true sequel to Star Control 2 by Ford/Reiche and creating your own spin on the franchise emphasizing Stardock’s strengths = best possible result for fans.
This seems to answer my previous question. I suspect that license is a trainwreck of ambiguity too, at least when it comes to new content creation and derivatives. Maybe not though, as Accolade did whatever the hell it wanted with Star Control 3, but I didn’t think those sort of creation rights endured. Devil is in the license term details, of course, but by making a deal with Ford/Reiche it’s all hopefully moot anyway. Very cool development.
Meh. For all of its great gameplay,the FreeSpace mythos ain’t that grand. Humans, the aliens we used to fight but our now our allies, and the Shivan bugs. Plus a couple of dissident groups.
Nothing compared to the Ur-Quan, the Thraddish, the Shofixti, the Yehat, the Pkunk, the Spathi, the…
It’s a legit candidate for one of the best written, and smartest, games ever, so obviously I disagree. I do agree that it doesn’t particularly fit within the Star Control universe though - was mainly a plea for Stardock to acquire that license too and treat it with the same respect they have the Star Control franchise.
Not just space sims, but flight sims and aircraft in general too. The silhouette of an F-16 will forever be etched into my brain.
I’m skeptical the new game will replicate the bizarre Jim Henson-esque wackiness of SC2 however. It simply is not the '80s any more. Current cartoons and games are too self-aware.
The new game may not end up bad, but it won’t be the same.
I was wondering if I should buy the founder’s edition or the Steam pre-order which came with Star Control 3. I went with the Steam Pre-order, but I assume you guys bought the founder’s edition, which is why you can already play super-melee?
Must be; I have two separate entries in my listing, one for “just” Star Control: Origins, and one for Star Control: Origins Super Melee Beta or something like that.
Interesting, I don’t think I have that entry. But the store product description does say that I will have access to the Super Melee Beta in November. So hopefully I won’t have to wait long.
Yeah, so yesterday, I got an email from SD directly giving me my new Steam key. My guess is that Founders have a slightly different SKU (and perhaps even just Lifetime Mega Ultra Founders, or whatever-the-hell I am) that grants earlier access to the beta.
I’m hopeful that the classic ships will be ported into Super Melee soon, but some of the new ones are cool, while I have no idea what some of them do :-D
Sort of. I bought Servo, which Brad was kind enough to convert into the founder’s edition of Star Control. Which was seriously incredibly awesome of him.
