Topic: Descent reboot confirmed! (Descent Underground)

[tueidj]

If none of them are being paid what do they need $600,000 for? Artists and infrastructure don't cost nearly that much...

[Pumo]

Maybe I'm lost, but where does it says they are not being paid? 

[-<WillyP>-]

I would rather donate to SolC than back DU, I think their vision is good, DU is building a MMO or MOBA.

[tueidj]

Maybe I'm lost, but where does it says they are not being paid? 

In the post you linked?

we are also a passion project, none of us are being paid, we are doing this for free because we, like you want to see this IP come back

[tueidj]

So in-game currency and microtransactions have been confirmed in the kickstarter comments.
Game Over.

[Pumo]

Oh yeah, my bad lol! 
I was thinking on the KS page.

[Scyphi]

I would rather donate to SolC than back DU, I think their vision is good, DU is building a MMO or MOBA.

Actually, I got an answer back to one of my "inquires" today, and was told, with emphasis, that DU is NOT an MMO, and more like a "regular multiplayer game with unlocks" which is still vague, but it tells me they are at least shooting for something akin to Descent-style multiplayer.

I've also been told that the game is to WELL predate D1 by at least tens of years, if not more. For example, the PTMC does not exist yet, and seeing that the PTMC is very well established by D1's time, that alone gives you an idea just how far back Descendant's thinking of taking this. Which I'm not against, but I do worry they've left themselves a bit too open for...messing up.

Some things that worry me still though is that I inquired if we'd see "retro" versions of things from other Descent games (like something akin to an energy center) and more importantly, whether or not there would be items like shield orbs and energy blobs to pick up on the fly like in every other Descent game. The answer is, and I quote, "no idea."

...

...guys, the answer to that should be "yes, obviously!" Because what Descent game wouldn't have those things?

So in-game currency and microtransactions have been confirmed in the kickstarter comments.
Game Over.

I inquired about that too, and how they plan to make that work. Their answer was almost frustratingly vague, but they did state "Gather stuff during the match and after winning/loosing it, upgrade ship between the matches" and as long as they keep that "upgrade time" down to a quick and easy minimum, I could roll with that.

Actually, one of my bigger concerns at this point is not so much the multiplayer but the singleplayer, which I worry will end up as more of an afterthought and most of the emphasis getting put into the multiplayer. And I just can't see a multiplayer-driven game such as this being that successful or long lasting.

Anyway, still very on the fence about DU overall, as it can still go either way, and the fact of the matter is that it's still way too early in development to have any clear idea on which one it'll take as of yet.

[tueidj]

Actually, one of my bigger concerns at this point is not so much the multiplayer but the singleplayer, which I worry will end up as more of an afterthought and most of the emphasis getting put into the multiplayer. And I just can't see a multiplayer-driven game such as this being that successful or long lasting.

It seems like they haven't really thought about singleplayer at all, it's just being hand-waved away as being too expensive and will be looked at once they start making money from the multiplayer version. Which for me raises two concerns:
- They already said this was a labour of love and they weren't getting paid. So why is singleplayer more expensive than multi when it has no server infrastructure requirements?
- They expect to make a lot of money from this - more than the $600K they're already asking for on KS, since that's apparently not enough to include singleplayer. I can't see that happening based on game sales alone and even if it did, I doubt they would hand over the newly produced singleplayer campaign to all existing game owners for free after spending so much of "their" profit on it.

[Hunter]

Ofcourse it's not going to be handed over for free. These people are self-employed, or as good as! You can't expect a single player campaign for nothing. No one is giving these people paychecks every month which is why the KS exists in the first place. Interplay aren't going to fund a Descent title themselves.  And I doubt Interplay will EVER sell the rights to Descent, because no one is going to buy at the price requested. This is probably the last best hope for a big-budget Descent title. SC might be end up being the better game with regards to mechanics, but SC isn't going to raise any interest in the series like this one can and doesn't have the potential to expand beyond it's niche.

The way I see it, this is a win-win situation for Descent fans. It's been clearly stated this game is not a MOBA nor an MMO, and any ingame currency will be purely for cosmetic alterations (all of which can be obtained ingame). I think people are being unfair and too harsh on these guys who are not only Descent fans, but understand the current market and are willing to make a Descent title - something that nearly ALL triple-A developers have ignored for years. Yeah I can't imagine these 'Press A to climb up' developers have even played Descent. This is what Descenters having been waiting for for nearly two decades and this team are probably the closest we'll ever get to the RIGHT kind of team. They aren't perfect, but do you really want a 'Press A to open door' type Descent title in 5 years time? Because that's what you might end up getting. Reject this project at great risk, guys. Just chill and give it a chance.

[Kaiaatzl]

Are you talking about quick-time events or tutorial prompts?
Cuz I'm ok with button prompts in tutorial levels -- you can press A to climb if that's what A does all the time.  Quick-time events on the other fork of the tail...

[Pumo]

Kewl, the D:U campaign finally reached $200,000! 

Let's support this project as it may be the last oportunity we have to get a game with the Descent brand!

As already specified by the developers (on their forums, on the KS comments and even corrected on their main KS page):

Yeah, it will include Single-Player and Co-op.
Yeah, it will feature D1/2 flight mechanics.
Yeah, it will have a Descent-style ship (the Torch KS, precursor of the Pyro)
Yeah, it will narrate how the PTMC and Robots came to be.
Yeah, every ship can be earned in-game without paying a cent (even if there may be an option to accelerate the acquiring by buying the ship earlier).

Nope, it won't be needed any subscription to play.
Nope, it won't be a MOBA.
Nope, it won't be pay-to-win.
Nope, micro-transactions won't be needed for crucial ship upgrades, just for small cosmetic stuff that won't alter gameplay.

Also, there will be mod support and maybe even an internal market-place for us to sell community mods (although this is just a preliminar idea).

And I would also recommend to check out their new and better video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_okozNpxTOE

-

Yeah, Sol Contingency may be better and we may like it more, but whether we like it or not, it won't have the Descent brand nor assets on it, so it won't be an official Descent title, period.

So there's no better oportunity to get an official Descent game than this one, don't let their KS campaign fail, I would really LOVE to see a new Descent game on the Steam store!! 

[VANGUARD]

Hunter may be right.

I know most are looking for that "Descent" feel, but maybe a change is good. If it fails at giving us a "Descent" feel, maybe it's still going to be a fun game. Unless it's for Linux, I have no chance of playing it.

[Pumo]

It will feature a Linux version (as the game will be based on Unreal engine 4 which supports Windows, Linux & Mac).
That's also specified on their KS page.

[tueidj]

The way I see it, this is a win-win situation for Descent fans. It's been clearly stated this game is not a MOBA nor an MMO, and any ingame currency will be purely for cosmetic alterations (all of which can be obtained ingame). I think people are being unfair and too harsh on these guys who are not only Descent fans, but understand the current market and are willing to make a Descent title - something that nearly ALL triple-A developers have ignored for years. Yeah I can't imagine these 'Press A to climb up' developers have even played Descent. This is what Descenters having been waiting for for nearly two decades and this team are probably the closest we'll ever get to the RIGHT kind of team. They aren't perfect, but do you really want a 'Press A to open door' type Descent title in 5 years time? Because that's what you might end up getting. Reject this project at great risk, guys. Just chill and give it a chance.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=251821609
Playable test builds available right now (for Windows and Linux).

[VANGUARD]

It will feature a Linux version (as the game will be based on Unreal engine 4 which supports Windows, Linux & Mac).
That's also specified on their KS page.

Nice to see support for Linux