Here is the current EVERSPACE Kickstarter update written by our CEO Michael...
cheers Malte
EGX Rezzed | Alpha Deployment | End of Crowdfunding | New Game Content | First VR Support
Greetings Pilots,
Thanks to our friends from ID@Xbox we have the chance to demo the latest version of EVERSPACE on PC and X1 in public at a major games event for the first time ever. We will be at the ID@Xbox area on the Xbox booth at EGX Rezzed in London from Thursday, April 7 until Saturday, April 9. We are looking forward to meet some of you guys face-to-face and will handover the gamepad or mouse and keyboard so you enter the cockpit yourself!
Alpha Version Distribution Through Steam
As the deployment of the Alpha version is getting closer, we would like to share some more info with you. At the end of this month we will send out emails to all Alpha backers with a personalized key to download the Alpha version via Steam. While we understand that some of you guys may prefer to get the Alpha via GOG, we decided to go with Steam as it is the best solution for us from a technical point of view. Also, as all eligible Alpha backers have paid a premium price we want to make sure the Alpha version does not get shared like crazy. We know it’s gonna happen sooner or later, but still. Nothing has changed about the release of the final version of EVERSPACE through Steam and GOG, though.
Last Chance to get Alpha or Beta Access
After careful consideration we decided to cease the crowdfunding when the Alpha version will ship at the end of April. Steam doesn’t allow us to sell any copies whatsoever once we use their system to distribute game copies (which makes perfect sense from a platform owner point of view). On the other hand, we refrain from selling Alpha versions through Steam as this would mean going through Early Access officially whereas the game is far from ready for that. Furthermore, it would dilute the value of every Alpha and Beta access you guys got through Kickstarter or our website and of course we continue to appreciate your early commitment very much.
New Environment FX In The Alpha
Now, with the extra month that we decided to give ourselves we will not only improve the balancing and the gamepad controls. We will also have some new content and features in the Alpha. For instance, there will be dense fog in some areas which can dramatically decrease your visibility, having a huge impact on the gameplay. This makes your upgradeable onboard sensors even more precious. #
Speaking of sensors, in EVERSPACE there are a number of ship components that can take damage all the way to complete malfunction. You can see the state of each system in your HUD but we added some pretty visual FX, too as you can see in the screenshots below.
More Boom, Beams and Bullets
We stocked up your weapon arsenal for the Alpha and now have 16 primary weapons based on 8 different classes, so two weapons per class. These classes are: Pulse laser, beam laser, Gatling gun, fusion blaster, flak cannon, shock laser, and thermo gun. You will find these weapons in loot crates, enemy remains or in the form of blueprints.
Talking about blueprints: You can use special ones to mod your weapons, thus altering energy consumption, damage, range or other stats. We will add more and even fancier mods in the future.
Clever And Busy Minions
In terms of further gameplay content we are currently working on implementing two new types of drones. Outlaw facilities will be protected by clever combat drones. They feature two states: In scan mode they are hard to spot as they are small in size with little radar signature but they will have their evil long-range eyes on you. Once having discovered you, they will go into attack mode and cover you in a fierce bullet storm with their six-barrel Gatling gun. Best advice: don’t get spotted and take them out as fast as possible!
Unlike the Outlaw model, the Terran mining drones don’t have any aggressive behavior. They are the hardworking backbone of the lucrative mining business in EVERSPACE. Due to scattered and vast asteroid fields it needs millions of those bustling minions to bring precious resources to the mining facilities where ore and other mineral deposits are being processed. The mining drones may seem to be easy prey, but be careful. They communicate amongst each other. It is just a short-ranged signal but things can turn nasty quickly. If the signal of being attacked trickles down to the defense system of the mining facility you might find yourself dealing with turrets launching homing missiles at you.
Advanced Collision Physics
Often in space games there is lots of space, literally. While this is true in reality, for EVERSPACE we decided to put things closer together to create more tension and generally reduce the time to get from one point of interest to another. We take this even further as you can fly through large mining facilities or even inside of hollow asteroids where precious loot can be found.
To give this a meaningful reward/risk mechanic the collision physics in EVERSPACE will give you proper feedback if and how much damage your ship takes when colliding with obstacles of different sizes like space junk, asteroids, other ships all the way to facilities and larger celestial objects.
Basic VR Support For Oculus Rift
Lastly, we managed to get some basic VR support for the Oculus Rift into the Alpha version. We don’t have any HUD implemented in VR, yet and things are still a bit rough around the edges. For a first VR trip in EVERSPACE we think it’s pretty cool, though. Find out for yourself if you’ve got a Rift (we will provide more details about the required software specs soon)!
Well, that’s it for now. Take care and if you spread the word one more time to get anybody on board who is interested to get Alpha or Beta access before the crowdfundig is over that will be much appreciated by all of us.
Cheers,
Michael
