Where Next For Starship Simulator's Very AMBITIOUS Space Game

Starship Simulator has now completed its funding on Kickstarter, and has achieved a number of impressive stretch goals. These extra features will fundamentally and to the depth and ambitions of the new game.
Starship Simulator
www.kickstarter.com/projects/...
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[@vandomrids]

This look really promising. The lead dev was also big Elite Dangerous explorer who took part in the Distant Worlds 2 expedition and is on record as saying he wants his game to host DW3 !! That tells me he knows exactly what kind of gameplay and community events explorers want. I'm so in 🤞❤

[@harrasika]

Hopefully the planetary exploration will be of more substance than in Elite Dangerous. Although I have been doing some exobiology these past few days and it's probably some of the most fun I've had in this game in a while. Didn't know it was so profitable.

[@vandomrids]

​@@harrasika Check out some of the planetary tech videos that Unreal Engine 5 can generate, They're amazing. Starship Simulator's planets will be built in that engine, so straight off the bat the planets in this game will blow Elite's away with the sheer variety they can generate and the geological features they'll have. I'm also positive there'll be much more content to discover on the planets than what exobiology offers in Elite. I'm trying not to downplay elite as its a great game, but I think its had ts time now and unless Frontier get around to fleshing out the games' galaxy with a ton of new content and discovery mechanics, I think its going to be left behind by the new generation of space games that are coming.

[@NomenLuni1975]

Oh wow! I really hope that comes to pass. I loved DW2. It was easily my favourite in game event in Elite Dangerous, and I would love to do something like it again.

[@angelolima4811]

Where is the damn console return

[@junebwoi]

Played the demo recently, the functions and engineering of the ship are much more fleshed out than any other game already. Even star citizen.

[@Nemoticon]

...that statement is a bit of a stretch. It wldn't be fair to compare this to anything yet, it's a remarkable achievement for such a small group of developers, but it's still EARLY days. They got a very long way to go yet.

[@RuLeZ1988]

@@Nemoticon Definitely they got a very long way to go. I have tried the demo as well, and I am not as impressed yet.

[@ooRay]

I agree. The demo delivered depth, where SC is watering it down. I´m happy the devs had such a huge success.

[@danilooliveira6580]

I mean, it's just numbers on a screen on an empty ship where the UE5 is doing most of the work. the engineering is well designed I'll give them that, but it's not that impressive.

[@clovernacknime6984]

​@@danilooliveira6580 It's an interactive product pitch to demonstrate the idea to potential backers. It's concept art, basically.

[@hectorrodriguez9382]

ObsidianAnt: Very clearly and succinctly explains the various milestones of Starship Simulator. Me: "Was that a chicken...?"

[@awonderingoneil206]

This is looking excellent in the early stages.

[@MrAhnassi]

The devs has said that the system and race creation tools will be available to all players once the base game releases. The backer's creations are going to be part of the official game.

[@Chef_PC]

Yes, it's not access to the tools, but access to create a single species or star system as inclusion into the main release as official systems.

[@bobL761]

So glad to hear that. I considered backing at the 50 pound tier so I could re-create the system I discovered my first earthlike world in in Elite Dangerous, but ultimately decided to wait and see how development of this project goes. I'll happily spend money on the project once they have a full game available!

[@lungelongubane4071]

Walking on the planets ❤❤❤❤

[@SnaxMang]

I'm excited to see the races people make.

[@daviddesrosiers1946]

I am very, very excited about the prospects for this title.

[@NomenLuni1975]

I'm really looking forward to this and I can't wait to live out my Star Trek fantasies, and explore strange new worlds etc. It's going to be brilliant.

[@R0d_1984]

The Dev (Dan) and a few other ppl made this before Paramount and CBS shut it down... kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5mrXqOwhaynjas

[@peterd9698]

I had a go at that free Star Trek MMO a while ago. It almost immediately made me a captain of a starship, but I never got to actually wander my starship. I do think at the time that it was a big missed opportunity that the first or second map your character could explore was not a familar star-trek ship interior. I think this would have been a very small ask from a development perspective because all that code was already in there for surface missions. this starship would become a central hub, also a straight forward feature in MMOs I decided it wasnt for me. I wish they had started you as an ensign or a red-shirt (I dont know the designations) where you actually get to be part of a starship crew, order food from the replicator, get sent on some lowly tasks like following a scientist around on a planet and making sure nothing eats them.. Gaining rank and different sorts of missions would only come several levels later, if you took that track.

[@NomenLuni1975]

@@peterd9698 STO is good, but it doesn't feel like you're progressing in rank, even though you do just that by completing missions (I'm currently either rear or fleet admiral - I can't remember exactly as it's been ages since I last logged in). It's a limitation of the game that the only missions you get to do are combat based, and there are none that involve exploration or finding peaceful solutions to problems, like they do in the shows. I'm sure a lot of Trek fans would appreciate that. Starting of in the lower decks as you said would be fun too. I do hope Starship Simulator implement something like that.

[@peterd9698]

@@NomenLuni1975 non-combat missions would definitely be a plus. Science missions. Rescue missions (and medbay tasks attached to those) For sure I will keep an eye on this one. I have a huge steam backlog though. :)

[@CarnisChampion]

Sadly I missed the ship but I am glad it is founded so thank you all who did. I will buy it when it comes out.

[@SwiftWind]

From what I recall the developer has said that the base game (the exploration sandbox with I believe 10 included ships) will be released for free! Only the future additional ships and story-driven campaign will be released as paid DLC, and this was the intention from the beginning as a new developer to build a community.

[@CarnisChampion]

@@SwiftWind nice I will get the DLC then when they are released :)

[@willm.9687]

@@SwiftWind Paid ships that are for smaller crew would be great not only for single player, but also for modding since people could have a smaller and less complicated footprint in terms of systems and you won't be missing way too much in terms of functionality compared to the 200-room Magellan if you want to make your own alien ships like the Bird of Prey or a Carrack for instance.

[@SwiftWind]

@@willm.9687 Based on what I read from the dev, this is already the case - the Magellan is supposed to be one of if not the largest ship planned for the game

[@tonepilot]

The ship looks like an old portable CD player.

[@netshaman9918]

It have VR embedded in , that's great !

[@TheWingedblade]

I'm sensing Twilek and Orion variation races will be submitted alot lolz

[@anony88]

The dev told me that as the ship "moves", it actually stays still and the everything else moves around it.. I was mind blown. He said that's why a smaller ship would be used for planetary landings.

[@harrasika]

That's how most games with very big playspaces do it.

[@SwiftWind]

Kinda blew my mind when I heard that too! Of course you have the "illusion" of a ship moving through space, but behind the scenes it's running on Futurama logic! :XD

[@willm.9687]

I think even X4 has to do it like that and maybe even the POB's from Star Wars Galaxies because so much else has to be calculated in the background. It would tank performance like crazy (unless it's KSP where it would make sense knowing the modular destruction and orbital mechanics).

[@bobross2577]

​@@willm.9687i honestly fail to see how doing it like this saves any performance

[@danilooliveira6580]

@@willm.9687 I'm fairly sure X4 uses isolated physics spaces (forgot how it's called). basically every ship has it's own coordinates system for everything moving inside it's sphere of influence, but the ship itself is then moving on an outside coordintes system. moving everything around you is useful when you have too many things you need to move together, but when you have A LOT of things that are not bound to you that each needs to be moved, it's easier to just move you instead. for this game it makes sense because everything outside of the ship is mostly static.

[@Zurpanik]

"Ambitious" perhaps from the perspective that a single individual is largely behind the foundational development of the project, but with the tools available and a great deal of experience and planning coupled with the fact that everything mentioned is more than doable/achievable, it becomes much less a word of concern and much more a word of amazement! A great deal of that foundational work has been done and planned already and the dev streams show these great bits of iteration -- it's all very exciting! The biggest parts of the project that are left before a satisfying early-access release is implementing the specialized gametypes, creating the awesome backer content, creating the assets for the procedural generation implementation throughout the galaxy, and testing. Because so much comes from real galactic data and so much of the game will rely upon plausible/real-world science, a great deal of the "content" as well comes from nature and with a project that is based from the ground up on Exploration, ultimately the experience is driven by the player and the game just has to provide the means. I have truly never felt so confident and excited about an experience being promised like this one: no overarching corrupting influence, no reliance on unsure funding, no creative limitation, and created by humans that are making it to experience and share their own dream... Let's just say it was impossible for me to pass it up! Beyond looking forward to this! Love seeing your vids on it Obsidian! After hearing what you said in the beginning of the vid, I'm not sure now if the stretch goals are going to be included in Early Access since those goals were met, or if they'll more be developed after EA is released. I'll have to check that out. In any case, it's wild that I came back to enjoying your work from Elite Dangerous and now to Starsim =]

[@museste]

The key for me will be the variety and depth of the missions to keep the game exciting and fun. Star Trek bridge crew was great fun for a few hours, but that wore off once you realised it was one big exercise in repetition. The demo has raised my hopes though, can't wait!

[@hustlinmagic]

I've backed the project and the idea is great. But I have to admit, the more I have watched the dev streams the more I think he has bitten off way more than they can chew. He seems to be promising a lot , but with very little funding. Ambitious is a very good word to use. But I wouldn't be surprised if those ambitions were trimmed down significantly over time. But we shall see.

[@jbreefer148]

Finally, the ability to Boldly go where nobody has gone before.

[@danilooliveira6580]

the game has a lot of cool features and ideas, all of them very much possible. the important question however is, how is the gameplay loop even going to look like ? how are they planning to make dozens of players working on the same ship actually work and not being absolute chaos ?

[@continuallyblessed44]

I plan on having a mostly npc crew and will only have other players that I know most likely.

[@christophernoneya4635]

I think this would be aiming for more of a social hub style thing, similar to barotrauma

[@continuallyblessed44]

I’m a backer and I can’t wait! the Star Trek game I’ve always wanted lol.

[@R0d_1984]

Have you not heard of Stage 9? TNG Enterprise 1701-D Sim that was getting close to being finished when it was terminated... kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5mrXqOwhaynjas

[@Ajgor_Wygoda]

Space chicken's : )

[@petezzzz]

🎉

[@jarigustafsson7620]

It's life, but not how we know it.

[@haloboy456]

Infinite diversity in infinite combinations

[@bsslac2239]

This dev literally took the hard work and ideas of S9 and TOIFE and twisted it for his benefit and couldn't be bothered to mention he got all the ideas from funding to development from other projects that he had a hand in sinking.

[@davedanter]

I know there's a Demo, yet, Is the development going to be Early Access, in the vein of say, ''Star Citizen''', or will we have to wait for the official release in 2025?

[@bumblebeebat-te5xv]

Not sure that taking so much from Star Trek without actually getting an official license to reference franchise was the right move. If the game ventures too close to emulating a Star Trek-type experience it'll infringe copyright so it'll always have to dance around the edges of that whilst never really carving out its own unique lore.

[@MikhailFedotov]

I want to play this game. But I have no friends to play with. So I guess I have to pass it.

[@RudalPL]

While a bare bones I really liked the demo of this game but I didn't back it on Kickstarter. I've learnt my lesson with Star Citizen And I hope Starship Simulator won't take the SC route and just go into infinite development loop just to milk supporters.

[@igorkuznetsov5254]

just implement optimization. its looks like a`m playing benchmark with millions of polygons but map is empty

[@mmontagee]

the loading screens still gonna be better than Starfield

[@MistaH1N1]

Im still not sure what this game is. Is it a visual game? You just explore and look and take pics of everything? Is that all there is? There is no mining, resource collection or anything of that sort? Combat is planned but thats only ship to ship? Once you disable and enter the ship, is there gun play? You mentioned you have to hold the control area for a min, Im assuming there has to be some sort of fighting if you have to remain. Visually, looking at this video, it just looks okay. Im not impressed by how amazing the planets look or the star clouds.

[@CitizenGold]

I backed at the Captain level and intend to build The 'Verse from Firefly. Here's hoping the system's restrictions allow that. :)

[@IsraelSocial]

Maybe it going to take my attention in 5 years, star citizen is everythung that i want and tech that doesnt exist and if this devd wants to do something really good they need a lot of resources and money so dont have bog hopw but lets see in the future...

[@tjnaples]

After Starfield I don’t take loading screens for granted. “Short as possible” can mean anything. I’ll stick to Star Citizen for now.

[@efxnews4776]

I do like Sarship Simulator in concept, but i really don't like in design... it does appels for trekkers, but what i really want was something like the USG Ishimura of Dead Space, in other words, add a horror twist in this Starship Sim and i am all in for it. Also add orbital mechanics and flight mechanics, such as Flight of Nova has., no bs falling coffin of Star Trek, please...

[@willm.9687]

The Magellan might have been designed with the real-life equivalent of what we have for a theoretical warp drive, because one real-life concept for a ship with the Alcubierre Drive has a massive ring around it. The Magellan does for its FTL drive. With damageable sections of said ring (I think?). The more industrialized ships would make sense for trader variations since trade organizations around the solar system would make for perfect users of ships that were created in the style of the Ishimura. UNSF ships get the fancy toys while civvies get the essentials. I think traders are being considered, so I could see an industrial ship as a sort of alternate start to the Magellan that isn't UNSF but I think the dev stream noted that they'd focus on the solar system. So, we'll have to see if there would ever be a FTL version that is a backer ship and a non-FTL version that people can use for free?

[@rwentfordable]

But he's priority is exploration. Why does it need horror? You need to find another game.

[@efxnews4776]

@@rwentfordable did you understand that this is my opinion? I didn't trash the game and anything, i just said i don't like the design... is a matter of taste here...

[@efxnews4776]

@@rwentfordable also, i don't see why can have both... In a game called Space Haven you have a similar premise, and you could sometimes ended uo with an alien infection in your ship... Since the focus of the game is the ship, why not add some horror in the mix, just do an Alien / Dead Space twist in some of the exploration, and you could have some really great moments while dealing with the infestation, damaging the ship for instance....

[@willm.9687]

@@rwentfordable I feel like easter eggs from probe samples might be the way to go unless there's missions with derelict ships that make sense. For instance, Star Trek TNG had stuff go wrong when the crew of an Oberth class went delirious and caused the entire interior to freeze/decompress? That might be decent inspiration for a paid campaign DLC.

[@angelolima4811]

I felt this demo was boring

[@lioraja9951]

what is that game??? jump and take screen shot???? If nothing to do, then not sense to play that new empty dust box

[@R0d_1984]

Did you not listen to anything that was said; You must be a stupidcitizen...

[@Kiwi_Dave]

Where to next? The trash bin. Way too ambitious for a single dev. Far higher chance the dev will abandon this than any ever reaching Early Access. Start reading their answers to and real questions on Discord and it starting to unravel fast.

[@druidhugger6311]

Why does this sound like a party political broadcast? Intend, plan to , should have , in the fullness of time , another few more intend to's 🤣

[@cmdrls212]

Those graphics are terrible. Sorry