Stardock owns Star Control and is planning an "XCOM-like" reboot

Thanks for all the news Armando. Now I’m looking forward to a game to be released in 2017.

Ditto Armando, thanks for the public service.

Thanks, Armando. You’re the best.

Wow, amazing summary! Thanks for doing the legwork, Armando. I would have just assumed they were toiling away quietly and would be for years.

Honestly that’s kinda what got me started over on their forums today. I had assumed there wasn’t anything major out there yet, so I was bugging Brad for details in the GalCiv3 thread on here, and someone pointed me over to Stardock.com. I figured if I was so in the dark–and I consider myself SUPER pumped for this project–then other folks who hang out more here than there might be in the same boat… So then those giant posts just kinda happened, lol.

Odd, why is there an application process for the Founder’s program. Am I misunderstanding what these Stardock Founder’s programs are about? I thought it was a combination of 1) a way to express support for Stardock and the game and in return get access to information early and 2) doing a pre-order. I don’t understand why there would be an application process for this.

I’m a member of the Sorcerer King Founder’s Program and I don’t remember an application and also have whatever the maximum level of GalCiv3 pre-order was. Is Founder’s Program being turned into some kind of beta testing program? Or is Stardock just worried someone’s going to join and then be super-disappointed when their computer doesn’t meet spec and can’t run it?

I think there’s a bit of unfortunate name overlap between two concepts here. Recently, their Founders programs have been a costly Early Access-sorta thing–buy into a game in Alpha or Beta at high cost, get immediate access to early builds, influence the shape of the game, and (IIRC), get DLC/expansions free for life after release.

However, for StarCon, it sounds like they want to start even earlier, bouncing some pretty base-level game concepts off of super-fans to see how they hit there before releasing the concepts more widely. The chosen few will (seemingly) be relied upon to shape the game in a more significant fashion than previously, and will be seeing stuff that’s not meant for public consumption yet (these “Founders” will sign pretty heavy-sounding NDAs). And, based on some parts of the questionnaire, they may also be actively recruiting “influencers” with major Youtube, Twitch, or social media followings who can be relied upon to build hype for the product as it moves into a more traditional buy-in beta period and full release.

That’s at least 50% theoretical, mostly the result of me reading between some lines in their posts and questionnaire. I do suspect that eventually, as the game moves into more complete/locked phases, they’ll probably do a more standard Early Access-style preorder program to stress-test the game during late Alpha/early Beta.

Ah interesting. I never played the original, so presumably I’m not in their target “Founders” audience anymore. I’m also definitely not an “influencer” :-)

It made me chuckle a little that it asked me if I had a YouTube channel to which I responded no and then forced me to enter in my YouTube channel’s name.

In short, this is going to be a closed Founders program to start as a way to get really dedicated fans to help contribute and get a look at the development process.

We told you we’ve been working on it, and now we’re ready to share a bit about our hard work! Interested in participating in one of the most exciting reboots in gaming history? If Star Control is as near and dear to you as it is to us, fill out the survey linked below for a chance to join our Closed Founder’s program! If your application is approved, you will gain access to The Vault and the private forums where you can get an insider’s look at our development process as we move toward release. You will also have the chance to play each iteration of the game when we enter Alpha and Beta phases.

Adam/Island, if I start impinging on your job territory, you know, you can just block my IP at your forums ;)


From Star Control: November Update! » Forum Post by Frogboy (and variously abridged by me)

Posted by Frogboy, 11/19//15:

#1 The Team
. . . Stardock has a single office complex to house Stardock Towson, Mohawk Games, and Oxide Games. This has had some really positive results that we didn’t consider at first. For example, Soren’s team (Soren designed Civilization IV) working on Offworld Trading Company has had readily available early testers while we’ve ramped up while Andrew’s team (Star Control) has had readily available access to art and game design input from Soren’s team. And of course, Oxide Games, the team making Ashes of the Singularity, is there to help with the engine.

#2 The Engine
So it’s using the Nitrous engine which is being developed for Ashes of the Singularity. Star Control will be 64-bit and require at least DirectX 11. This won’t be a big deal when it ships but it’s something to be aware of.

We’ve made some core design choices (Super Meelee will support up to 6 players in MP mode). While we’ve left other decisions (how many ships should be present in a Super Meelee battle) for the Founders to have input on. . . .

#3 The Art Style

#4 Planet exploration
. . . That’s because when you land on a planet, there’s no transition. You are literally landing on THAT planet and exploring (obviously super zoomed in). While it’ll be similar to what was in Star Control 2, it’s heavily expanded upon (first, because it’s 3D and you’re driving around on a sphere-ish thingy, secondly because you’ll find special items in addition to resources).

#5 The Modding
We toyed with this a bit with Stellar Frontier a long time ago with fantastic results. The idea being that OUR story will take place in our dimension (Earth-1, 2085). But the community will be able to create their own stories, aliens, ships, etc. with the tools we’re making. This sort of thing has helped games like Skyrim and now Fallout 4 a great deal. But what if a game was designed from the start with this in mind? Imagine loading up the game and being able to choose to go to “Earth-76” or “Spazik Universe” or whatever dimension someone comes up with? . . .

. . . Obviously, for the Super Melee enthusiasts, this won’t mean much. They’ll just be playing in their 1 on 1 up to 3 on 3 (or any combination in between) and competing in a quasi-MOBA style game. Our Super Melee will be action oriented (so we might as well get that out of the way, it’s not going to be a strategy experience).

Final bolding added by me to ensure proper heart attacks are had all around ;)


Regardless, really thrilled with a lot of what I’ve read over the last week or so, and I’m really loving the artstyle for the aliens and planets that they’re showing so far (seriously, go check out the actual thread for the planets. They’re so cute/cool! And in a couple of cases, dare I say. . . rainbow???). While it sounds like my odds of making the cut for the first thrust of the Founder’s Program are low given the sheer number of applicants (wait, why do I keep bumping this thread and risking Qt3ers filling in more slots?), if they keep up with cool teaser posts like this throughout, I think I’ll make it to release date.

Heh, posted about this on FB awhile ago and started to reminisce with an old friend from grade school (the guy who introduced me to computer gaming via SimCity 2000, as a matter of fact!) about playing Star Control 1 against each other back on my Sega Genesis. That shit was cash.

Haha, I’m actually out of the communications side of the company. I do contract work on Ashes on the dev side these days with Stardock. I just post here for funsies :)

So, basically a $100 Kickstarter. Hrm.

Nah, they’ve done this before with previous products, it’s basically a way for die-hard fans to get in super duper early. I’m gonna bite on it my own self because…I have to, it’s Star Control.

It’s not really a Kickstarter, since it’s getting made regardless. More like a $100 lifetime pass. They’ve run similar offers for their other games, like GalCiv3.

Maybe I missed the details, but I got an email to “apply” for the founders program, figured what the heck, went and filled out the questionnairre, and then got back an “invitation” to spend $100? Not what I was expecting. Sorry, Stardock, not impressed and certainly not paying.

Was definitely sad to see I wasn’t in the initial batch of invites. It’s a big-big-big cost–no doubt–but this definitely strikes me as a very cool and in-depth experience over and above what a similar level of buy in would get you with most Kickstarters, for instance.

Ah well. Guess there’s always hoping for the next wave, or just release date!

It sounds like that was their intent. They mentioned that they’re not interested in the “what the heck” folks at this stage (a group I’d be part of as well, BTW), but rather wanted to limit it to people who were very motivated and engaged to help shape the game. The standard price editions will be out later.

EDIT: I see Island Dogsaid it himself a little upthread, so no need for me to clumsily put words into other people’s mouths. :)

I will never understand the vitriol some people (not in this thread) seem to be filled with over stuff like this. “Hey, Stardock, we don’t want to pay to be alpha testers! That’s bullshit!” Uh, yeah, okay, then don’t? I mean, you realize that this is going to be a regularly priced game when it’s done, right? And you can buy/play it then? And it’ll be, y’know, done and (hopefully) fun?

Lots of folks like to point to Minecraft as an example of how you should do an Early Access type of program (i.e. it’s cheaper the earlier you buy it), but I’m not convinced that’s true in all or even most cases. For one, Minecraft is the outlier of all outliers. For another, there is a heavy, heavy, HEAVY bias in consumers toward “whatever costs me less is the best thing for everyone!” On the personal scale, sure, it’s best for you – it costs less! But businesses have to run a slightly more complex calculus than that. And no, that doesn’t mean “maximum revenue extraction in the short term from our most loyal consumers” in gaming, really. At least not in sub-AAA; I can’t pretend to speak to what kind of dark MBA-fueled sorcery is practiced in those hellish pits.

Speaking only for myself here, of course. If there’s any speaking on Stardock’s behalf to be done, Brad will be the one doing it.

The $100 lifetime pass for GalCiv3 seems like a good value now. I’m sure for hardcore SC fans it will be. I’m just not sure if I’d be one of them.