Link to announcement and Q&A (http://arcengames.com/announcing-stars-beyond-reach-a-new-4x-coming-in-aprilmay-2015/)
QuoteWhat Is This Game?
The short: 4x, hexes, hex-shaped map, 14 races planned (8 playable), 3 leader options per race, no units (think SimCity), sci-fi but planet based, and (probably) with co-op multiplayer.
The even-shorter: Think Civilization meets SimCity meets AI War meets New Stuff.
Arcen Games finally take on 4X! As usual, it sounds like they're trying something a bit different which will ultimately polarise people. Personally I can't wait. I'm willing to bet it will be their best game yet and it will be pretty much an instabuy for me.
My experience with Arcen games is that they look great on paper, and are fun for a few hours, but don't hold up or have any longevity. Fortunately they are budget-priced. I hope this next one is different (other than the pricing).
I have an identical yet opposite experience with Arcen. The games look great on paper, a fun for a few hours, and then I see the yawning chasm of depth opening up in front of me and.... run away. Except Bionic Dues, which is pretty easy to grok.
I'm firmly in their target audience, but I did struggle initially with The Last Federation. It almost seemed like they were trying to be obtuse with that title. However I've been playing it again recently and I had that "so that's it" moment and haven't looked back. I absolutely adore Arcen Games, I think they're an amazing developer, and Stars Beyond Reach looks like the most promising game yet. I can't wait!
I pretty much share Huw's view. For me they take a subject and put an interesting twist on it in a way no one else does. They are very original in their thinking. O0
Don't get me wrong - I have a deep respect for Arcen and I keep buying their games. They just get a lot less playtime than they should because I shy away from the time commitment to really understand them. My fault, not theirs.
James, I would urge you to try The Last Federation. It's a lot to learn but the game does its best to ease you in gently, and once you have the lightbulb moment, you realise the potential the game has. I think TotalBiscuit was right in his video review when he said that it's one of those games that produces really interesting stories every time you play. I'm enjoying it immensely at the moment and will definitely get the upcoming expansion which will introduce two new interesting game modes. :)
I have it. I bounced after a few hours, lost trying to figure out how to influence various parties and what actions influenced what. Lazy? Yup. Doesn't stop it being a very clever piece of work.
Snuggle up to the Skylaxians and you'll be ok. :)
I'm always stoked when Arcen announce a new game. I know I'll be there when it comes to purchase day. I just dig what they're trying to do, and they always give me something entertaining even if its not got the longevity or complexity of AI War.
Quote from: Huw the Poo on October 31, 2014, 04:13:39 PM
Arcen Games finally take on 4X! As usual, it sounds like they're trying something a bit different which will ultimately polarise people.
Lord knows Space 4X is a genre that could use some serious outside-the-box thinking to shake it up. I enjoy a number of 4X titles, but man, the conventions have gotten really, really stale...
PC strategy gaming still awaits the genius dev who can escape the shadow of Sid Meier...
Quote from: spelk on November 05, 2014, 10:05:22 AM
Snuggle up to the Skylaxians and you'll be ok. :)
I'm always stoked when Arcen announce a new game. I know I'll be there when it comes to purchase day. I just dig what they're trying to do, and they always give me something entertaining even if its not got the longevity or complexity of AI War.
I couldn't have put it better myself. Their sheer ingenuity, coupled with astonishing agility around bug-fixing and willingness to implement community feedback, make them a model developer punching way above their weight. AI War is usually my go-to game too, when I get enough of their newest game, but I think The Last Federation will last a lot longer. The new game sounds promising as hell too.
Sandman, good points. If anyone can do it, Arcen can. :)
Oh yes, I have very high hopes for this one! I might even see if I can beta test it.
Quote from: sandman2575 on November 05, 2014, 11:24:13 AM
Quote from: Huw the Poo on October 31, 2014, 04:13:39 PM
Arcen Games finally take on 4X! As usual, it sounds like they're trying something a bit different which will ultimately polarise people.
Lord knows Space 4X is a genre that could use some serious outside-the-box thinking to shake it up. I enjoy a number of 4X titles, but man, the conventions have gotten really, really stale...
PC strategy gaming still awaits the genius dev who can escape the shadow of Sid Meier...
I love Arcen, but mostly for their superlative AI War. I've tried other games of theirs but none of them have ever grabbed me like AI War, albeit, I haven't tried The Last Federation yet - where is that demo?!? >:(
But when it comes to innovative 4X space games, I think AI War and Code Force's Distant Worlds are the only two that have truly attempted to do something different. And in my opinion, both have succeeded wonderfully. People are constantly looking for the next MoO when they should be looking for the next AI War or Distant Worlds! :)
I really enjoyed the gameplay of Bionic Dues, although the weird Exo (Mech) switching and associated artwork wasn't that impressive. If it had better artwork for the Exos, or maybe even just the map, I wouldn't have anything to complain about. I'm not talking about the type of artwork they use, just the style for this specific game. I suppose it's more theme related.. I expected big gun-toting Mechs and instead got some floating pixie-like robots. Want smash bang pew pew! I think they adjusted the Shield weakness in the last updates along with some other niggles, so I should jump back into it.
I've not played enough The Last Federation yet to get that moment of realization. I can see there's an excellent strategy game in there. The one thing that turned me off a bit was the faction manipulation gameplay. That was pretty much Soldak's Drox Operative all over again, and I didn't enjoy it much in Drox. It's an interesting concept, but just not that amusing in practice. I've not played TLF enough to say that holds true there, too, so I could be wrong.
I normally don't like faction mechanics in games - not because of the concept, just that they're always so poorly implemented - but I think TLF nails it. I suppose it was easy for Arcen because there were fewer than 10 of them so it could all just be hard-coded in, but each faction is very different and they way you interact with each is very different too. It really works in TLF in my opinion; instead of feeling like you're playing against a bunch of generic races with slight differences, each race in TLF feels different and they have their own personalities.
Nefaro, I definitely see where you're coming from with Bionic Dues. It wasn't what I was expecting either, considering your units are supposed to be mechs. I haven't given it a fair enough crack of the whip yet. Maybe I will soon.
When I'm rich and famous I'm going to pay for a whole team of professional artists to work for Arcen. ;)
New Alpha footage of the game...
and I guess this is a bit of advert/viral comedy? to promote the game? or something?
I like the look of the game's combat, although it is all a bit garish and overly curly fontified (if that is a word)...
more info here:
http://arcengames.com/stars-beyond-reach-first-video-and-tales-of-woe-part-1-of-3
Looks interesting, per usual.
I still shake my head every time I hear Arcen's in-game theme music. Pop music .. urk. :buck2: The one at the end of the vid sounds like some Easy Listening stuff from a Disney cartoon movie.
Lead dev Chris Park, is interviewed on the eXplorminate 4X podcast about Stars Beyond Reach
http://explorminate4x.com/2015/04/30/strax-17-interview-with-arcen-games/
Cool thanks Spelk. I usually listen to their podcast but this one's going to the front of the queue!
Cheers Spelk! I had Chris sort out a support issue on AI War for me at the start of the year. He is very helpful, and nice with it. O0
He's a good lad is Chris. he's willing to discuss the ins and outs of everything about his games and the development process if your interested. And, more importantly he takes his playing community very seriously (and has even employed some of them). Arcengames is all about its community developed games. I had early contact with Chris, and have been in touch on and off over the years, and he's just a thoroughly decent chap.
He's also a machine. I've never seen someone with such agility as his when it comes to fixing bugs and implementing feedback. I seriously wonder when the hell he ever sleeps. Back in the AI War development days it was a popular theory on the Arcen forum that he was an AI himself. :)
Huw, I've never done more than played Arcen's games, but I suspect that's a sign of what is called "a clean code base". You can write code and develop programs so that they're easy to fix, and it takes a minimum of learning before another developer can leap in and do the same. Or you can write code that even the original programmer has trouble keeping straight.
If Arcen weren't so prolific in the number of games they release that are technically clean, frequently modded and updated, and offer decent levels of functionality, I might just suspect that they have some crazy programmers who subsist on nothing but Dr. Pepper and Cheese Puffs while coding in their basement. But, you put those two together, and it suggests to me a really good understanding of how to have a clean, modest code base do all the stuff you want it to.
That's my impression, anyways. Folks who know more about game development than I do might have better-informed opinions.
Chris comes from a commercial software developer background, I think it was in databases or finance. I think he cut his coding teeth in the business world, and has translated that structure and discipline to his gaming exploits. Plus he's a really clever guy! :)
More necroposting from the spelky!
Arcen have just announced they've stopped development on Stars Beyond Reach (for now) until March 2016, to craft a SHMUP roguelike due for release January 2016.. so not so good news for 4X players, but perhaps an uplift for roguelikers?
https://arcengames.com/stars-beyond-reach-release-date-now-2016-and-tales-of-woe-part-3-of-3
a bit more on official forums:
https://www.arcengames.com/forums/index.php/topic,18040.0.html
The impression I got this morning was it was pushed back to January. Was it pushed back again even farther?
QuoteIt was originally more of a SHMUP with survival elements, but I've been playing more roguelikes lately and found that they better scratched the particular itch I was trying to get at.
Meh.
Not a real roguelike. It's some real-time thing.
I suppose it has permadeath of some kind, so the term "roguelike" gets tossed around, even though it's not. Most of these are more like top-down shooters or platformers of an arcade-style bent, recently nicknamed "rogue
lites" to differentiate them. Not a fan, myself, and since I enjoy some of the classic turn-based RPG style roguelikes I end up having to sort through the heaps of this Arcade BS all the time to find what I'm actually looking for. :knuppel2:
I'd much rather have the 4X. But if their creative brain juices hit a wall, and stopped flowing, then I can understand if they want a break. Too many indie games out there, which could've been so much better with a bit more development time but got pushed out the door due to the dev getting bored of doing it for so long.
Yeah, their reasons for putting the game on hold are sound enough, so fair play to them. I can't help but be disappointed though. The wait continues...
Quote from: tgb on October 08, 2015, 05:37:25 PM
The impression I got this morning was it was pushed back to January. Was it pushed back again even farther?
As I read it, they were gearing up for release of this new title in January. After that, they would resume development on SBR and release in March 2016.
Quote from: Nefaro on October 09, 2015, 12:08:26 AM
I suppose it has permadeath of some kind, so the term "roguelike" gets tossed around, even though it's not. Most of these are more like top-down shooters or platformers of an arcade-style bent, recently nicknamed "roguelites" to differentiate them. Not a fan, myself, and since I enjoy some of the classic turn-based RPG style roguelikes I end up having to sort through the heaps of this Arcade BS all the time to find what I'm actually looking for. :knuppel2:
I'm with you on this one Nef! I spend half my time sifting through Binding of Issac clones, or Spelunky wanna-be's or anything that has adopted one or two of the mechanics of most true rogue-likes, and now like to badge themselves as rogue-likes or rogue-lites or rogue-like-likes.. I think the term roguelike has now become a bit "trendy" for games to have in their categorisation arsenal because it might sway a few more purchases.
Space Grunts is cool and turn based, and shooty.
http://www.orangepixel.net/spacegrunts/
Quote from: spelk on October 09, 2015, 02:25:59 AM
Quote from: Nefaro on October 09, 2015, 12:08:26 AM
I suppose it has permadeath of some kind, so the term "roguelike" gets tossed around, even though it's not. Most of these are more like top-down shooters or platformers of an arcade-style bent, recently nicknamed "roguelites" to differentiate them. Not a fan, myself, and since I enjoy some of the classic turn-based RPG style roguelikes I end up having to sort through the heaps of this Arcade BS all the time to find what I'm actually looking for. :knuppel2:
I'm with you on this one Nef! I spend half my time sifting through Binding of Issac clones, or Spelunky wanna-be's or anything that has adopted one or two of the mechanics of most true rogue-likes, and now like to badge themselves as rogue-likes or rogue-lites or rogue-like-likes.. I think the term roguelike has now become a bit "trendy" for games to have in their categorisation arsenal because it might sway a few more purchases.
Unfortunately, this new Arcen game sounds like yet another Binding Of Isaac clone.
I actually liked Arcen's appropriately tagged roguelike,
Bionic Dues. Despite the background setting not so good with it's screwy bot drones (plus their weird hot-switching), and the poor look of it in general. The actual gameplay was fun. I plan to revisit it soon.
Quote from: Nefaro on October 09, 2015, 12:46:14 PM
Unfortunately, this new Arcen game sounds like yet another Binding Of Isaac clone.
Let's wait and see. Arcen are not known for making clones. ;)
Quote from: Huw the Poo on October 09, 2015, 12:50:39 PM
Quote from: Nefaro on October 09, 2015, 12:46:14 PM
Unfortunately, this new Arcen game sounds like yet another Binding Of Isaac clone.
Let's wait and see. Arcen are not known for making clones. ;)
Top-down "shooter" rogue-lites all look the same to me.