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Darkstar One Q&A Feature
Derek dela Fuente
31/01/2006
TVG heads off into space to chat to the team at Ascaron about their forthcoming action/sim title...
Although to many Ascaron may not have the pedigree of one of the bigger publishers, this small but well formed German publisher is selective in what they do; although sometimes influenced towards the German market and tending to be meticulous whilst developing a game to ensure it fits into a category and offers strategy gaming with immense depth. Darkstar One however is a very action slanted game within a huge playarea, space. Although graphically at present this game will not set gamers muttering in howls of delight it is more about gameplay than its look and anyway, space isn't the prettiest setting to give visual detail. Derek dela Fuente an Elite fan through and through spoke with a collection of the team to get an insight into Ascaron's own space opera!
Alan Wild, Senior Product Manager, Ascaron Entertainment (AW)
Daniel Dumont, Darkstar One Project Lead, Ascaron Entertainment (DD)
Kay Struve, Technical Director, Ascaron Entertainment (KS)
TVG: Please tell about the makeup of the people, team, who are working on this title and what they have been involved in before?
Alan Wild: The project is led by Daniel Dumont. He and his team have a wealth of previous development experience and have enjoyed continued success with both the Patrician and Port Royale series of games.
TVG: What is your vision for the game and what has inspired the design of it?
Daniel Dumont: Elite was one of the first games I played. Later I played the Wing Commander series, Privateer, Tie Fighter, Freelancer... I loved them all. However, I have not found a space game that combines a huge and authentic space environment with a well balanced, action-like gameplay. I wanted to create a game with a great simulation in the background supported with comprehensive, but easily understandable, action gameplay.
TVG: One of the biggest selling space games has been Elite with still a possibility that we will see a new Elite game next year. Why do you feel that there have been so few space action games and what innovations do you hope to offer?
AW: I think the perceived increase in desire for FPS and RPG titles has been a major factor in the decreasing volume of games that seem to be developed in the space action genre. Science fiction action has always been quite popular, and has a tremendously avid fan base, but has perhaps been overlooked in recent years due to the popularity and demand for other games.
Darkstar One will deliver a superbly playable game, and that is of utmost importance in any title. Alongside the extensive playability is a great story and a huge gaming environment that will appeal to casual and hardcore gamers alike. Structured rewards as well as further rewards for the more adventurous and experienced gamers ensure that the game is rich in content and has something for everyone.
DD: The mixture between story and free play is outstanding. Darkstar One offers a strong storyline guiding the player through the whole game. Within the story, new systems are unlocked, new races and technology appears, and the player ship can be upgraded with various role-playing style elements. Following the story is a means to opening up new possibilities. To enjoy and explore these possibilities to their fullest, you need what we call the 'freeplay'. For example, if you upgrade your ship and received an additional weapon slot, you still need the credits to buy a new weapon for it. These credits need to be earned in the freeplay (this is the term for the overall freedom offered by the game universe in which the main story is set). And in DSO, free really means free: piracy, bounty hunting, smuggling, mercenary, trader... everything is possible at the same time.
TVG: Please tell us about the backdrop story, how pivotal it is and that of Kayron Jarvis?
AW: The player picks up the story from the point where Kayron receives the terrible news about his father's death, whilst also being awarded a highly advanced space craft; the Darkstar One. Early on Kayron will discover more information which focuses on his father's work and how he became embroiled in a plot far greater than it first appeared. The resulting murder and clues left behind will propel Kayron through the initial parts of the story, and unveil new allies and enemies in his quest for truth. This key story line is a driving force behind the beginning stages game, and provides the basis for a story that will grow, twist and turn, offering numerous surprises along the way.
DD: A lot of games with good stories have the problem where the user only has short term goals. At the end, the user may have seen a very nice story, but lots of small stories in the beginning don't give real clues to the user of what the story is about. This reduces the dramatic possibilities. In DSO, we have an almost omniscient threat and two other stories running simultaneously. Within the story the user always has three goals at a time: a short term goal telling the user what to do next (e.g. fulfil a certain mission to get information or a special weapon), a medium term goal (e.g. find the murderer of his father) and a long term goal (the big threat). As the user discovers how the various story sections cross-over and link together in different ways, a compelling tension is created.
TVG: Is the game an out and out action experience and will trading, interaction, even strategies be part of the experience?
AW: This is where Darkstar One comes into its own, and where Daniel Dumont and his team show their pedigree. Darkstar One offers entertainment in all areas, whether out-and-out action, a thrilling story, interaction with new contacts, trading, bounty hunting, and various strategies to be employed within these areas. For example, the player can choose to employ piracy as their main source of income. As a result of this the player might become a target for the police, or even a target for bounty hunters looking for their prey. In either case, the player will need to think fast in terms of their activities and actual combat. Perhaps it would be wise to vary their course to elude the police and bounty hunters, or opt to alternate systems in order to ply their piracy trade, or maybe undertake the occasional reputation-enhancing mission to throw off unwanted attentions. In combat, the player will face a range of flight and attack-defence strategies. Different races and enemies will have diverse weaponry, an assortment of fighting styles, as well as varying aggression towards the player depending on the decisions and game path that have been taken.
TVG: Who are you facing; tell us about some of the enemies, races?
AW: There are six races in Darkstar One. Each of these races has a collection of unique characters, and each of these characters will feature prominently throughout the story, in one way or another. The main threat that Kayron faces comes from a race called the Thul. They are a technologically advanced race and are descended from the Terrans. Skirmishes and raids have begun to increase in frequency and voracity of late, and as the story unfolds Kayron becomes involved in something far larger than his vengeance for the murder of his father.
TVG: From the screenshots seen, can you run us through some of the icons and controls you have to understand and use and what kind of navigation will you have to undertaken?
AW: There's a whole host of navigational and combat controls, all of which are easily applied by the player. Controls range from targeting enemy ships for tracking, to get a lock-on for that all important missile salvo, and from managing your ship's shield regeneration, to ensuring you have the firepower to stage an offensive assault, and from carefully (or not!) selecting your next destination from the system map, to initiating a hyperjump to arrive safely, and from navigating your way around a space station's mission terminal, to locating and undertaking more lucrative missions from special characters, and so on.
TVG: What kind of focus on technology will the team be making? Perhaps you can tell us about the engine being used?
KS: The engine used in Darkstar One has been developed by Ascaron over the past few years. The focus for Darkstar One was on creating a colourful and interesting universe with stunning special effects, a wide variety of materials giving each alien race a unique look and feel, and realistic and attractive lighting/shadowing for the space setting. We also created some special shaders for planets with atmospheres and meteoroid fields (which consist of a practically infinite number of meteoroids that can be destroyed) Additionally, the use of post-effects gives us the possibility to change the look of the game to suit the current mood.
DD: Our engine supports all modern Shader technology and HDR light settings. We also have technology in place to allow for the lower end graphics cards, like the GeForce4200-series, to run the software.
TVG: Have you bought in any outside experience to ensure a kind of realism, authenticity and will the game be driven by fmv sequences?
AW: The story itself will be driven by cut scenes which will relay the atmosphere and key objectives, as well as presenting the player with choices to consider as to the best course of action.
In terms of realism, the entire game environment is realistically simulated. There are over 300 populated systems in total, and each of these systems is linked directly to the simulated environment. This not only means realistic trading and smuggling markets, but also means enhanced realism in terms of your reputation with races, police, bounty-hunters, government types and so on. Furthermore, the relationships do not centre entirely on the player, but relationships between the races themselves can alter depending upon events and actions throughout the game, which in turn can have an effect upon the player's experience. Such authentic relationship variance can of course be directly and indirectly affected by the player's actions, but the nature of the simulated game environment means it is not wholly the player's actions which have these extended effects.
TVG: Tell us about 2 actions and events in the game that will excite and is all the action in your craft and how upgradeable with they be?
AW: The ship is highly upgradeable. The key here is that it will be perfectly possible to put together so many different configurations of ship that it is basically like having multiple different ships to fly. Equally, this allows the player to identify with their ship, and upgrade it to suit your own preferences - load it up with missiles, or light lasers, or heavier cannons; pump up the armour and shields, or concentrate more on speed and manoeuvrability; build up a huge hull, or expand the wings and engines, creating different weapon mounting points to allow for the weapons you want or need to fulfil your mission and personal goals.
DD: An example might be that you see one of the simulated freighters moving to a station. You can ask him to assist against pirates, or you can attack him on your own and try to force him to drop his cargo containers. If you have cargo drones you can launch them to pick up the abandoned cargo and take it to the next friendly station.
TVG: Any anything thoughts you'd like to convey to our readers?
AW: If you're looking for a superbly playable game that mixes a healthy amount of action and strategy with both a clear, well-told story and the freedom to explore and participate in a colossal simulated universe (over 300 inhabited and active systems in all!) then Darkstar One will definitely bring you a lot of gaming pleasure.
DD: There is pure action with the numerous AI battle styles and special boss enemies (with special manoeuvres). There is also a subtle RPG feeling, with "experience points" that can be invested in upgrading your ship and a special plasma cannon that unleashes incredible "magic-esque" effects. Free gaming is there if you want it, a guided story if you need it. And, of course, the possibility to upgrade your ship according to your own preferences... maybe develop it into a cruiser, or a strong fighter, or a swift attack craft... you can even install automatic turrets (with controllable turret views!) which can be used to reduce the amount of fast action while increasing the tactical elements. These are just some of the components which make Darkstar One a highly playable and truly rewarding experience.
TVG would like to thank the team at Ascaron Entertainment for taking the time to answer our questions. Darkstar One is set for release during the first quarter of 2006 on PC; we'll have more on the game shortly...
