Congrats to the teams making Sea Power, Task Force Admiral and Second Front! This is exciting news and I hope the arrangement will be mutually beneficial to all. I can't think of better titles to lead the resurgence of this classic gaming powerhouse.
https://www.microprose.com/news/microprose-is-back (https://www.microprose.com/news/microprose-is-back)
With that being said, with the big reveal announcement, I was really hoping for news about some of the classic titles in development...really looking forward to seeing those details.
In any event, I'm really excited about all the future titles that will be coming our way.
F-ing yeah!!! :bd: \m/
If Microprose is gonna come back with a new stable, these are the types of games and devs to arrive with.
That is one classic cover-library for their page-header, too. I had forgotten they were involved with some Star Trek titles once upon a time; though I played through "A Final Unity" at least twice. (It was even meant to be regarded as a canonical episode once upon a time.)
"Stay with us, MicroProse is back, and we mean business. " \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/
I almost even signed up for their newsletter before I came to my senses! :coolsmiley: I'm not even being sarcastic about that! -- I hate being put on unknown extra mailing lists, and I almost signed up for it anyway!
Agreed. Good luck Sea Power team AND the task force admiral team:)
Looking forward to seeing some of the more classic announcements as well though.
I still play Task Force 1942 from time to time...this is good news. Task Force Admiral is on my wishlist!
Now, if they could get Master of Orion back on the market along with Steve Barcia, that would be the best!
Thank you Jarhead :notworthy:
Yes of course, I can also understand the disappointment for those who wanted a B-17 or a M1 to suddenly crash through their monitor tonight :coolsmiley:
But worry not, for these are on the way, they didn't make these models to let them lie idle around for long - unfortunately, can't say much more without crapping on our NDAs C:-)
Point is, we're a first effort, and a very good opportunity to stress test the young (yet experimented) team that is organizing the announcement. We wholeheartedly agreed to be the Guinea Pigs in this operation that is more of a resilience test than anything - and so far so good. It's wasn't uncommon even for legacy MPS to publish third party games (and some of these are rightly in the official Pantheon like Grand Prix, UFO or Transport Tycoon among others) so I am fine with the practice. Trust us with the legacy, I was instrumental in making it happen in the first place with the chaps at Microprose, and you can expect us to carry that flag high and proud.
Cheers everybody, and thank you for your support - all the way :)
Awesome. I did sign up for the newsletter!
All 3 of these look great to me. Looks like I better get ready to kill the old Piggy Bank. :coolsmiley:
Congrats to the Sea Power, Task Force Admiral and Second Front teams!
Whoa... my three most anticipated games signed by my all-time favorite publisher. Awesome.
And I just realized David Lagettie is the CEO of Microprose. I never interacted with him personally, but we both came up in the Operation Flashpoint community and both worked on VBS1 (http://www.mimos.it/serigamex/Morrison_slide.pdf) professionally (though I was on the American team). Small world, and he's done very well for himself.
WOW! Such great news! My wallet is really going to suffer, but damn the torpedoes-full speed ahead! And that teaser mentioned, the holy grail: Maybe even B-17 in the near future! It's like Back to the Future!!
Considering their first games were released around 1985, that comparison is especially apt! :coolsmiley:
Run for it Marty!
Quote from: Gusington on May 05, 2020, 05:22:55 PM
Run for it Marty!
Plutonium might be something you can pick up in the corner drugstore but this is the 1950's and it's a little hard to come by!
(https://media.giphy.com/media/mGU4Oi0sbFbJ6/giphy.gif)
Wow, this is just fantastic news.
'Heavy, man.'
'You keep saying that. Is there a problem with gravity in the future?'
If my experience is any sign there will be problems with gravity in your future. Trust me.
"Butt-heads".
One of the few good things from 2020 so far (at least to me). Congrats to all!
^Eek I hope not.
O0
This is great news.
My wallet is ready!!!
I ran across this interesting bit of Microprose history, according to Sandy Petersen:
I had no idea these events, if true, were going on behind the scenes at my favorite game developer and publisher from the 1980s and 1990s. I hope the new Microprose produces some fine games and steers clear such shenanigans!
Edited to add his follow-up about transitioning from Microprose to Id Software:
https://microprose.com/games/the-mighty-eighth (https://microprose.com/games/the-mighty-eighth)
Give me Master of Orion and Fields of Glory....
Quote from: Anguille on May 26, 2020, 07:11:08 AM
Give me Master of Orion and Fields of Glory....
You might be the only person on the planet asking for something else. Christ... :idiot2: There is like, what, at least 40 different clones of master of Orion?
This announcement is like Christmas, New Years and the 4th of July for most of the free game playing world.
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on May 26, 2020, 07:16:32 AM
Quote from: Anguille on May 26, 2020, 07:11:08 AM
Give me Master of Orion and Fields of Glory....
You might be the only person on the planet asking for something else. Christ... :idiot2: There is like, what, at least 40 different clones of master of Orion?
This announcement is like Christmas, New Years and the 4th of July for most of the free game playing world.
You're right, it's a great announcement and i am really looking forward to this (the screenshots look amazing).
I know, i know....many clones of Master of Orion but none done right. And Fields of Glory is still unmatched in terms of scope and scenarios (Scourge of War is close but FoG is really the top view). And, i know it's from Sierra, but give me Civil War 3: Generals...
This new MicroProse is very promising.
Quote from: Anguille on May 26, 2020, 07:46:01 AM
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on May 26, 2020, 07:16:32 AM
Quote from: Anguille on May 26, 2020, 07:11:08 AM
Give me Master of Orion and Fields of Glory....
You might be the only person on the planet asking for something else. Christ... :idiot2: There is like, what, at least 40 different clones of master of Orion?
This announcement is like Christmas, New Years and the 4th of July for most of the free game playing world.
You're right, it's a great announcement and i am really looking forward to this (the screenshots look amazing).
I know, i know....many clones of Master of Orion but none done right. And Fields of Glory is still unmatched in terms of scope and scenarios (Scourge of War is close but FoG is really the top view). And, i know it's from Sierra, but give me Civil War 3: Generals...
This new MicroProse is very promising.
Have you tried Fields of Glory on GoG yet? How does it hold up?
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on May 26, 2020, 08:02:50 AM
Quote from: Anguille on May 26, 2020, 07:46:01 AM
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on May 26, 2020, 07:16:32 AM
Quote from: Anguille on May 26, 2020, 07:11:08 AM
Give me Master of Orion and Fields of Glory....
You might be the only person on the planet asking for something else. Christ... :idiot2: There is like, what, at least 40 different clones of master of Orion?
This announcement is like Christmas, New Years and the 4th of July for most of the free game playing world.
You're right, it's a great announcement and i am really looking forward to this (the screenshots look amazing).
I know, i know....many clones of Master of Orion but none done right. And Fields of Glory is still unmatched in terms of scope and scenarios (Scourge of War is close but FoG is really the top view). And, i know it's from Sierra, but give me Civil War 3: Generals...
This new MicroProse is very promising.
Have you tried Fields of Glory on GoG yet? How does it hold up?
Yes i did. It's fun. But the AI has never been good. I like the artwort, the music and research put into the game (there's a description for every unit). Commands are easy to give, so the game has a fairly good UI, still today. But the game is too easy (on paar with Empire TW), maybe it's more challenging if i don't play the french?...Waterloo: Napoleon's last battle is much more challenging and similar in scope (but has only one battle). It's ok for a small break in between.
All the games announced as published by Microprose (4 so far) are instant must haves.
B-24 Liberators......wow!!
Segueing from your other thread about creativity....I sure hope these guys don't forget that what made the other Mighty Eighth so damn good was the game.
I'm all for great graphics, attention to detail and VR, but I swear, if the campaign is a set of scripted missions... :knuppel2: :'(
I just hope they have more modern warfare titles planned. Sea Power is my most anticipated game at the moment. I'm looking forward to Task Force Admiral only because the level of detail and the capabilities are so vast. Otherwise though, I am completely and thoroughly (possibly even irreparably at this point) burned out on "yet another" WWII game.
Quote from: IICptMillerII on May 27, 2020, 12:36:56 AM
Otherwise though, I am completely and thoroughly (possibly even irreparably at this point) burned out on "yet another" WWII game.
Says the man with a WWII image as an avatar!😉
Quote from: bobarossa on May 27, 2020, 11:33:59 AM
Quote from: IICptMillerII on May 27, 2020, 12:36:56 AM
Otherwise though, I am completely and thoroughly (possibly even irreparably at this point) burned out on "yet another" WWII game.
Says the man with a WWII image as an avatar!😉
Guilty as charged! :2funny:
WWII is still very much my favorite theme.
I would love to see a game where the Guadalcanal situation was presented in all its aspects land/air/sea which I don't think (unless someone can correct me) has been properly done yet.
Maybe Task Force Admiral will get part way there?
Well, hopefully we will Planetbrain ;)
Hear Hear!
In other news: Carrier Command 2 playtest - applications open!
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1489630/announcements/detail/3085506394196439686
Tactical team-based FPS Ground Branch is now published by Microprose too (with a little discount for a few days)
https://steamcommunity.com/games/16900/announcements/detail/3092261793638688926
I wasn't thrilled to see the news about Ground Branch. I'm still very suspect of "Microprose" who is yet to actually publish anything. It seems that every title It gobbles up disappears into a black hole. The news cycle on progress for these various titles in developments is still utterly lacking.
I heard this new company has nothing to do with the old and it simply bought the name at auction. I am not going to celebrate anything affiliated with this publisher until it actually produces something. Again, the announcement that it was alive was made with a bang and great fanfare...since then, I've seen dick.
I've been supporting ground branch for years and it was finally making real progress. Now, I'm afraid we won't hear or see anything until who knows when.
That's just how I feel.
Hello Jarhead
Sorry to hear that - although I suppose it does show probably that today a publisher can't hope to be everywhere and get heard.
In regard of games disappearing, I gotta say though that I don't quite see what you mean by that.
The only game that has *disappeared* on the media front to some extent is B-17 - but it is developed in-house, wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the new label and is still in pretty good hands with Andrew Spearin who often shows up on the Discord to reassure everybody the MPS Canada team is still alive. It didn't even have a steam page to begin with, it's not like these people are playing with your senses & your patience. On the other hand, Carrier Command 2 which is the other in-house creature had regular updates on its steam community page going in-depth with the mechanics and - well - a playtest is imminent, can't really call it a disappearance either. ^-^
My annoyingly obvious presence is for everybody to see, Jo on Second Front has kept up with his updates, the Triassic gang making Sea Power is not too big on external PR (has never been, nothing new there) but are every single day interacting on the discord. The Urban Strife team posts regular updates too, and Mikhail making regiments is very, very much active both on the Discord too, with regular new gorgeous stuff to show. Konstantin is not much of a talker, but Raptor just a couple weeks ago posted a whole playthrough of the first couple hours or so of Highfleet. Bluedrake is Bluedrake (he has his own community to begin with) and well the Ground Branch team has been very, very clear about what the deal involves in their own Steam community update, and believe me they sure had time to think about it and testify about its consequences (the agreement wasn't signed just yesterday).
Till now David has been remarkably reliable, respected every single aspect of the contract we had with him, and the Ground Branch team is totally right: the IP remains absolutely ours - which is a much better treatment than what you'd have out there. To tell you the truth from what I've heard, actually, I do believe that the disruptive action of the label on the indie strategy market did make some historical players make some interesting & productive changes to the packages they offered people like us, and this alone is very good news for the industry in general, and devs in particular. The only reason games are not out is simply because they aren't ready, not because we're vaporware. We only communicate if/when we want to. Had MPS been anything like a normal publisher, we'd have had our asses kicked long ago. Thing is, it isn't. We have a working relationship that is the result of a mutual understanding when we designed our very first agreement
together, and if I thought I was making a big mistake, I wouldn't have brought in the other devs I gladly introduced them to. :coolsmiley:
Aka I don't quite see what sort of black hole you're mentioning here - each and every game here except perhaps for B-17 had more news/screens/else posted in the last 6 months than most in-production wargames out there in the last 5 years.
QuoteI heard this new company has nothing to do with the old and it simply bought the name at auction. I am not going to celebrate anything affiliated with this publisher until it actually produces something.
Again, I am not quite sure if this is just information not reaching you, or if you want to mean something else, but everybody - the label and ourselves - has been very clear about what it does, who's doing what, and why we're together. David the current CEO is a former Bohemia associate that knows his stuff and has his business in serious simulations. He wanted to recreate the games he cherished, and ended up extending his hand to others who were clearly motivated by the same energy and nostalgia (us, Triassic, Jo, etc...). He went as far as getting in touch with Bill Stealey and let him have a word in all this. I mean, we all know we're not MPS - have you any idea of how old these people are today? - but MPS as a name is not going through its first iteration either (whoever knows about the story of the company knows that it got bought by Spectrum Holobyte already back in the days) and the team has never claimed they were the very same people. Not saying that everything's going to be alright and that everything we'll be touching will turn into gold, but at least I'd like to be given the opportunity to even try.
But what it's true is that we're all in together to do right by the name and by our consciences. None of our games would have existed without the influence of the MPS legacy that's for certain - but believe me, had we all been in for a scam I'd have advised the chap to go for something else than a brand that hardly means anything to somebody younger than an (old) Millennial. ;)
Now, knowing that people who support our games don't support our decisions to associate ourselves, all together, under the same label united by a common philosophy & gaming culture because they might think we're being scammed or held hostage, that hurts, but still. Your right to believe so, but I just wanted to make sure you had as clear a picture as it gets. ^-^
I am a major consumer of games and industry news. If I don't know about it, or if I have to look in the "right places" to get a scoop or an update, then something is not right. You and Jo are the only one's who I see posting regular updates and I am not sure what role either of you has with MP PR, if any at all. As far as I know, you are both just indie developers whose projects have been swallowed by this publisher and which have been in development for a long time. By "disappearing", I mean stuck in a long, seemingly endless, development cycle with no indication of when anything will be released. I am simply suggesting that press releases and news updates coming directly from MP are not meeting expectations and this is my honest feeling. Until MP produces something, I'm going to reserve judgment.
I'm not sure why you get so defensive when I criticize MP for a lack of transparency and information and the use of emoticons does not conceal this.
Maybe your time would be better spent if you suggested to David that there are some people in the press who feel that MP is not doing a good job of releasing updates, or at least making them easily accessible. For what its worth, I'm not the only one who feels this way. I've discussed it with several people in the press, as well as other developers.
I obviously appreciate your efforts with respect to your project, particularly here in our forum, but I do not associate that with MP and that is not what I am talking about here.
Getting defensive? No I am not getting defensive, but I want things to be fair & square. Any lack of communication is our doing only, and not that of our publisher, just wanna be clear about that. :o
I mean, just take a look at how it looks when the publisher is alone in charge of the communication. It gives CC2:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1489630/allnews/
Us? We're doing what we want, at the pace we want. Nobody's rushing us, nobody's forcing us to update. Games by our fellow devs get featured in the MPS newsletter, we all get exposure we wouldn't have dreamed of when we got announced. Heck, they ended up hiring the PR I introduced them to. So yeah, but no - I do believe they're doing their job, and when time comes (that is when we'll be nearing something playable) I do trust them for the last mile. :)
I mean, darn, I had a 5-mn GamersGlobal video segment not 10 days ago, and that alone, I can tell you, has nothing to do with whatever I'd be posting left and right. And yes I post left & right but I don't post where it counts today - that is on the Steam update page - and I get burnt for it by Steam users. So perhaps it is invisible to a certain category of people (myself as a user I don't spend much time over there) but it does matter to the greater number. Again, nobody ever came to me to tell me I am wrong, they just let me do what I feel I should be doing, and that privilege among others is a thing I certainly treasure. :smitten:
They only post the news we might give them. If you knew what kind of games which were signed in aeons ago are still hanging in there because the devs just don't feel ready to show the stuff, think the contents are not yet worthy of the attention of big outlets, etc... MPS has been respecting their wishes all that time, stood by its engagements, and isn't putting pressure on anybody. If I feel bad about somebody in there, I feel bad for them, not for us, that I can assure you ;D
Now if you have something to tell MPS, there are much better ways than posting a comment under a Facebook news or in a forum about that. If you want to get in touch with the PR gang I'll be happy to help. Reaching them on the discord is easy enough too, it's not like anybody's hiding ;)
QuoteI obviously appreciate your efforts with respect to your project, particularly here in our forum, but I do not associate that with MP and that is not what I am talking about here.
This I do not understand Jarhead. We decided to join them and work together towards a common goal. We decided to associate ourselves with their vision and team. I did bring in quite a few numbers of the devs currently in their ranks. And I made sure they'd be reassured from day 1 in regard of the seriousness of this association (which, afaik, did involve extra financial security for all of us).
QuoteBy "disappearing", I mean stuck in a long, seemingly endless, development cycle with no indication of when anything will be released. I am simply suggesting that press releases and news updates coming directly from MP are not meeting expectations and this is my honest feeling. Until MP produces something, I'm going to reserve judgment.
Again, not quite sure what you mean by that - I have the feeling you're operating under the assumption that the lack of a release date is their doing. It's not. It's our collective choice (and by that I mean ours as devs, and their agreement) that we wouldn't set a release date and run the risk of disappointing fans, so we just don't do it. In regard of press releases, these games, our games are in development, and there isn't news to post about these besides the usual dev snippets. Allow me to state this again: you might not be happy about how they deal with it, but I am fine with their work. At some point, it has to mean something, or what ;D
Thank you again for your kindness by allowing the likes of me to post all over the place. This is a cozy home where I have met fantastic people, so do not take anything I say as a critic or a reproach. I truly appreciate what you do, your worries & your remarks. But also allow me to have my own opinion of what my publisher does for me, and to find it just fine ;)
And truth be told, if there's a dev currently signed with them who's not happy with the current situation, well, allow me to say that he'd use his time more wisely telling them directly instead of going around steamin' about it, just sayin' :coolsmiley:
As a sidenote, fresh from the oven if you want a good old article rather than a video (about Highfleet :coolsmiley:)
https://www.pcgamer.com/highfleet-is-an-action-strategy-game-thats-like-nothing-ive-ever-played-before/
^Nice. Waiting patiently for HighFleet.
So this thread kinda made me want to go browse the new MicroProse website and I'm glad I did. I see a few coming soonTM titles, that I wasn't aware of (e.g., Operation Harsh Doorstop, Regiments). I'm looking forward to several of these, but mostly TFA and TM8th! O0
Carrier Command 2 (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1489630/Carrier_Command_2/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=button-game-list&utm_campaign=website)
Ground Branch (https://store.steampowered.com/app/16900/GROUND_BRANCH/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=button-game-list&utm_campaign=website)
HighFleet (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1434950/HighFleet/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=button-game-list&utm_campaign=website)
Regiments (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1109680/Regiments/)
Sea Power (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1286220/Sea_Power__Naval_Combat_in_the_Missile_Age/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=button-game-list&utm_campaign=website)
Second Front (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1148490/Second_Front/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=button-game-list&utm_campaign=website)
Task Force Admiral (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1281220/Task_Force_Admiral__Vol1_American_Carrier_Battles/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=button-game-list&utm_campaign=website)
The Mighty Eighth
Urban Strife (https://store.steampowered.com/app/710230/Urban_Strife/)
Warfare 1944 (https://store.steampowered.com/app/793560/Warfare_1944/)
Operation: Harsh Doorstop (https://store.steampowered.com/app/736590/Operation_Harsh_Doorstop/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=button-game-list&utm_campaign=website) Free! O0
Quote from: steve58 on May 07, 2021, 03:47:02 PM
So this thread kinda made me want to go browse the new MicroProse website and I'm glad I did. I see a few coming soonTM titles, that I wasn't aware of (e.g., Operation Harsh Doorstop, Regiments). I'm looking forward to several of these, but mostly TFA and TM8th! O0
Carrier Command 2 (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1489630/Carrier_Command_2/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=button-game-list&utm_campaign=website)
Ground Branch (https://store.steampowered.com/app/16900/GROUND_BRANCH/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=button-game-list&utm_campaign=website)
HighFleet (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1434950/HighFleet/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=button-game-list&utm_campaign=website)
Regiments (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1109680/Regiments/)
Sea Power (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1286220/Sea_Power__Naval_Combat_in_the_Missile_Age/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=button-game-list&utm_campaign=website)
Second Front (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1148490/Second_Front/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=button-game-list&utm_campaign=website)
Task Force Admiral (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1281220/Task_Force_Admiral__Vol1_American_Carrier_Battles/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=button-game-list&utm_campaign=website)
The Mighty Eighth
Urban Strife (https://store.steampowered.com/app/710230/Urban_Strife/)
Warfare 1944 (https://store.steampowered.com/app/793560/Warfare_1944/)
Operation: Harsh Doorstop (https://store.steampowered.com/app/736590/Operation_Harsh_Doorstop/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=button-game-list&utm_campaign=website) Free! O0
Kind of help makes my point. They have a bunch of games on the label that people do not even know about.
Wow, Ground Branch looks really, really good! I don't think I've paid attention to it before, have I?
Quote from: Toonces on May 07, 2021, 06:10:15 PM
Wow, Ground Branch looks really, really good! I don't think I've paid attention to it before, have I?
I think it's been in some stage of development for at least 10 years. It may be that you've forgotten about it, like I did.