I've checked out the Overload website today. Kinda reminds me of Sol: Contigency and Descent Underground.
Their ask is also refreshingly modest.I love that, while I am sure they have stretch goals for larger amounts in mind, they have not bothered posting them, and likely won't until and unless they are in reach. Like one project which had a $17m stretch goal and ended up with $23k short of their $250k goal.
As much as I loved Descent as a kid, do we REALLY need two new Descent style games at the same time?
I thought that was killed off when Descent Underground was announced.
Urgh, I'm already backing Descent Underground. So one group has the IP and the other has the original developers. Why do they have to be going head-to-head like this, couldn't they have been staggered by a few years? :sigh:
This looks nice, but I don't think I like the fact that they're basing themselves off D1 and D2. Descent 3 (with expansion) was, IMO, the superior game. Granted, the earlier two were definitely addictive, but D3 had much more variety, both in level design and in objectives. Not to mention it actually had a story. Some of the missions were very atmospheric, too.
Intense single-player action in 6-degrees-of-freedom
15 level campaign filled with explosive combat and exploration
Story by the writer of Freespace 2
Breath-taking graphics and spectacular sound, with a soundtrack by Dan Wentz & Allister Brimble
Also, this is probably the most HLP-baity Kickstarter ever....
Chain quoting this for truth.Also, this is probably the most HLP-baity Kickstarter ever....
slight understatement I think lol
As much as I loved Descent as a kid, do we REALLY need two new Descent style games at the same time?
Yes.
Three, if you count Sol Contingency. :) That was the first of these that i started keeping an eye on.
This looks nice, but I don't think I like the fact that they're basing themselves off D1 and D2. Descent 3 (with expansion) was, IMO, the superior game. Granted, the earlier two were definitely addictive, but D3 had much more variety, both in level design and in objectives. Not to mention it actually had a story. Some of the missions were very atmospheric, too.
So I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that story and atmosphere are covered :PStory certainly could be, but atmosphere... I'm not so sure. Their website gives a different picture than the kickstarter page. Descent 2 also had a story, but the essence was still "fly in, blast the reactor, get out". It all depends on how exactly they're going to do it. If it's going to be D3-style, with mission gameplay directly related to the story, then it'll be fine. If, however, the story is going to be told between missions (in the end just varying the reason why you're going into the mine and blowing the reactor, if that), then it's going to be a lot less exciting.
I agree that Descent 3 was the better game. It's variation in level design and objectives set it apart from D1/D2. The main complaint about D3 from most Descenters is not necessarily the levels or aesthetics, but the feel of the game. It's twitchier and much more fast-paced.
The problem with building a D3 style game in 2016 is cost. I doubt a $300k, or even $600k kickstarter would be enough (as with Overload and DU) to build a game like that today.
I do think the original Descent doesn't get enough credit as a straight-up horror game at times. Some of those robots were goddamn terrifying...in fact I'm not sure that I ever beat a straight playthrough of it in my far younger days without having to resort to cheats. The Class 1 Driller, the Super Hulk, the Platform Robot, the *shudder* Fusion Hulk...these guys still give me nightmares.
but D3 was largely neglected and there is very little SP content for it
What about FreeSpace?
Interesting that you asked – we’ve been asking ourselves the same question. Good game, FreeSpace. It sure would be nice to see an awesome spiritual successor to FreeSpace.
We may release the Descent 3 source code. Right now we want get a bunch of changes finished and release a version 1.5. Once that's done we can figure out what has to be done to release the source code. We'll have to remove anything that's owned by Interplay, and we'll want to clean up some other part of the code. So I guess the answer is: we'd like to, but don't hold your breath. We're all busy with other things and we do what we can.
Quote from the AMA (https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/45xltb/we_are_matt_toschlog_and_mike_kulas_creators_of/) relevant to earlier discussion of D3 source code:Heh, Kevin Bentley's been promising that 1.5 patch for literally more than half a decade, but he actually posted in there about it too. It'd be great to finally get that, but the source itself would be a far bigger prize.Quote from: Matt ToschlogWe may release the Descent 3 source code. Right now we want get a bunch of changes finished and release a version 1.5. Once that's done we can figure out what has to be done to release the source code. We'll have to remove anything that's owned by Interplay, and we'll want to clean up some other part of the code. So I guess the answer is: we'd like to, but don't hold your breath. We're all busy with other things and we do what we can.
How much use, realistically, is the Descent 3 source code going to be these days? It's 16 years old; hardware and software standards have long passed it by.One could have made a similar claim about the FS2 source (though its release was admittedly much sooner after the game's original ship date), but the answer would be pretty similar: modern hardware compatibility, expansion/removal of hard-coded engine limits, and as many new features as are possible. D3's starting to get somewhat flaky on new hardware running Windows 10, and it's built on some truly ancient versions of DirectX and OpenGL, so there's definitely huge room for improvement there. (Actually, from everything I've heard, D3 always looked its best in good ol' Glide.) Hell, the same holds true for the first two Descent games, and there are multiple active projects available for each of those: D2 has two competing source ports that focus on different overall goals, and there's a fork of the main D1 project maintained by the competitive multi community that's focused on that aspect. There's no reason that D3 shouldn't receive the same attention.
Sidekick's success prediction has dropped to 30% and kicktraq's uppermost projection is $241,500. Things aren't looking good. :(
Does Kickstarter ever allow for an extension? I feel like this would be funded for sure if they just had another week. It's a shame a lot of their preview content got put up so late in the crowdfunding.
Yeah, it's gonna come right down to the wire, but if we wind up not squeaking by, I think it's almost solely due to how late in the campaign all the goodies came out. If they'd had the teaser ready right from the get-go and announced the VR support earlier, I think we could have been pushing $100k in that first day easy.Indeed.
So, Revival is here with Overload at PAX Prime and they are giving out Steam Keys for Overload.Ooooh, ooooh, me, me, me!
Anybody interested? If so, I can swing by for a pickup on Monday (I already have a few that were already asked for ahead of time), but I don't want to just pick up a stack and have them be unused.
So, Revival is here with Overload at PAX Prime and they are giving out Steam Keys for Overload.I'd love one.
Anybody interested? If so, I can swing by for a pickup on Monday (I already have a few that were already asked for ahead of time), but I don't want to just pick up a stack and have them be unused.
So, Revival is here with Overload at PAX Prime and they are giving out Steam Keys for Overload.
Anybody interested? If so, I can swing by for a pickup on Monday (I already have a few that were already asked for ahead of time), but I don't want to just pick up a stack and have them be unused.
So, Revival is here with Overload at PAX Prime and they are giving out Steam Keys for Overload.Ooooh, ooooh, me, me, me!
Anybody interested? If so, I can swing by for a pickup on Monday (I already have a few that were already asked for ahead of time), but I don't want to just pick up a stack and have them be unused.
I'll have to think of some fair way to give the key away. I was thinking about some sort of Descent-themed artwork contest, but I don't know if that would be possible for all the potential participants.
If this seems like it would be a good deal though, sound off and I'll draft up some actual "Rules" for it.
I'm sorry to drag up an old topic like this, but has anyone gotten Descent 3 to successfully run on a modern machine?Never had a problem with the GOG version.
My machine runs it but the colors are all ****ed up. Shadows and dark places all appear as a sickening shade of dark green.I think you can find some improved rendering plugins for D3 out there, somewhere... it's been a while since I've installed it, though.
For a second there i thought we'd see something like FS :'(
Imma go cry in a corner now
I'm sorry to drag up an old topic like this, but has anyone gotten Descent 3 to successfully run on a modern machine? My machine runs it but the colors are all ****ed up. Shadows and dark places all appear as a sickening shade of dark green.
For a second there i thought we'd see something like FS :'(
Imma go cry in a corner now
Maybe this (http://playoverload.com/forums/topic/a-new-freesapce/) will restore some of your hope.
Revival is already saying that they won't make their March release date. Clearly they've bitten off more than they can chew. Who is going to take them to task for this never-ending feature creep and misuse of backer funds?Players. Be transparent and hold themselves accountable. That's all.
...if this isn't sarcasm, then you're being ridiculously misleading. The demo is just that: a snapshot of content produced up to this point, and presumably won't be touched other than bugfixing. Early Access is where actual new content will be pushed and iterated on, i.e. exactly how Early Access is meant to work, and obviously you then own the full game when it's complete. The store page is pretty clear about what's coming in the future, and both Luke and Mike (http://playoverload.com/forums/topic/difference-between-teaser-2-0-and-early-release/) have commented on the distinction between the two in the forums.If some awesome new update is coming, why didn't they wait for that to start selling the game? Right now they're selling a rehash of the demo.
Literally every gaming project in Kickstarter history has missed its initial projected release date. It'd be far more of a shock if they'd managed to hit it. If you can't accept that, then don't back games.
Release has been pushed yet again, to Q1 2018.
No mention of this delay either on the Steam store, where they continue to SELL a DEMO version of the game.
As somebody who hasn't played Descent but has an obvious affection for Freespace, is it worth getting this or should i invest in Descent instead?
As somebody who hasn't played Descent but has an obvious affection for Freespace, is it worth getting this or should i invest in Descent instead?
Have you given the Overload playable teaser a try? That should tell you whether or not the game is for you
Hello Overload backers!
For some time, we've wanted to provide an update on Revival and Overload. Some of us got busy and we kept waiting for the Xbox version to be done (which it finally is). Here's the status.
We founded Revival and built a team to make Overload, not really planning to create a lasting company that would build more games. We wanted to have fun creating a spiritual successor to Descent, and we're very happy with the results.
We would have liked to do more with Overload -- more DLC drops (we will do another community DLC pack), new features, maybe a sequel. Those things look very unlikely now. We're gratified by Overload's strong user reviews and we love the community that has formed around the game. Nonetheless, sales have been disappointing and can't justify much additional work on the project. (We know that people have questions about the long-term plan for multiplayer. We're still figuring that out, but be assured we won't abandon our MP fans. Whatever we do, there will be a way to play Overload multiplayer.)
We're still spending time on Overload, but most of us have moved on. Roughly half the full-time team members are now working at Volition. (Props to Chelsea and Ed who leveraged their Overload experience into Associate Producer positions!) Luke is back to working full-steam at Radian Games. (Check out Scorcher, coming any day now!) Matt is working on ideas for a new (game-related) project. Mike had planned on loafing for several months and then deciding what to do, but suddenly and unexpectedly found himself rejoining Volition as General Manager.
We are proud of Overload and have many fond memories. The Kickstarter, which was as all-consuming as many had warned, was very satisfying in the end. We both enjoyed being (slightly rusty) programmers for the first time in years, and it meant a lot to be part of such a talented team. We were gratified by the community of both newcomers and Descent fans still committed a game we created over 20 years ago. And it's particularly meaningful to see team members who got a career boost out of their work on Overload.
Maybe we'll do it again in another 20 years.
Thanks for everything,
- Mike & Matt
May I have it?