Elite classic video games remake seeking backers - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 06, 2012, 09:51:42 am
content: "Classic video game Elite is getting a 21st Century makeover.David Braben, one of the creators of the original, is seeking £1.25m ($2m) via Kickstarter to fund the updated version.Called Elite: Dangerous it will involve the same mix of interstellar travel, trading, piracy and spaceships as the original 8-bit game.Those who pledge cash to the project will also get a chance to shape the development of the updated version."http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20165344

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 06, 2012, 10:12:00 am
content: There seems to be a huge trend here, with original game designers getting close to a million or more for a game that may or may not eventuate.I can see lots of brown stuff eventually hitting the fan...Dave.

author: andete
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2012, 10:39:14 am
content: Hm, I thought kickstarter was US only. This is a UK project with pledges in pound. That being said, I spent countless hours in the original E-L-I-T-E universe on my 8-bit MSX1. Took 35 minutes to load from tape... If Ian can actually make this happen this could be great!

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 06, 2012, 10:48:08 am
content: Quote from: andete on November 06, 2012, 10:39:14 amKickstarter just opened in the UK.Dave.

author: Sionyn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2012, 11:35:18 am
content: dave has a point seems very easy to set up a scam on kickstarter

author: 0xdeadbeef
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2012, 11:46:32 am
content: Talking of Elite, there is already a pretty neat remake:http://www.oolite.org/Then again, while I loved the Amiga version (the C64 version was a little basic to say the least), the game is just a little outdated in its simplicity. I sure hope that Braben finds the right mixture of realism and playability this time as for my point of view, Frontier was too much focused on realism to be fun.Privateer from Chris and Erin Roberts (best known for the Wing Commander series) was much closer and hey, there's remake for this as well:http://privateer.sourceforge.netAnd by coincidence or not, Chris Roberts just started a Kickstarter crowd funding for a Privateer like game called Star Citizenhttp://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cig/star-citizen

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 06, 2012, 11:48:45 am
content: Quote from: Sionyn on November 06, 2012, 11:35:18 amI doubt they are actual scams.The people doing it seem to be well known former developers now working at large game companies, and I think they have honourable intentions.But they are asking for a butt load of money and then promising the world without having anything to show or deliver up-front.But I think the odds are not low that they will shoot too high and the money will run out before anything gets delivered. Or it will be delivered in panic because the money is running out and it will not be as intended.And in this case, "pay us now and we'll deliver in March 2014". Plus they are trying to include large backers in the design process - yeah right, nothing can go wrong thereThese big game developers have suddenly discovered that they can use Kickstarter to get the money up front for all their game development, they have found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!Dave.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 06, 2012, 11:53:04 am
content: Quote from: EEVblog on November 06, 2012, 10:12:00 amI think poor David Braben has been trying to make the "true" Elite II, since the 90'shttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontier:_Elite_II; so like the Dragon's often say in the TV Programme Dragons Den "For that reason, I'm out!" ;-)

author: Sionyn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2012, 12:12:09 pm
content: i meant on a whole not this developer

author: 0xdeadbeef
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2012, 12:24:47 pm
content: Of course Kickstarter is a bit about trust. But if you can't trust David Braben to make a valid Elite successor, then it's hard to trust anyone. He's not only as experienced game developer as can be, but also has a full software development company behind him. So chances are low that he won't deliver.Then again, starting a $2M Kickstarter project with no media at all would be pretty optimistic for any other project. In this special case, I would assume Braben's reputation and the nostalgia of middle aged men who played Elite in their younger years is probably really enoughIt still sounds like a lot of money for this kind of game with mostly procedural content. But they should have enough experience to do a realistic estimation.As a side note, there are indeed positive examples for game projects founded via Kickstarter, e.g. Giana Sistershttp://www.kickstarter.com/projects/project-giana/project-giana

author: Markybhoy
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2012, 12:38:23 pm
content: The laziest kickstarter I have seen for a game, no art or videos and they cant even be arsed to make a pitch video.

author: andete
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2012, 04:32:40 pm
content: Quote from: 0xdeadbeef on November 06, 2012, 11:46:32 amYup, played both oolite and the privateer remakes. Great stuff for free. If you're into this kind of games definitely check them out.

author: andete
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 08, 2012, 03:50:51 pm
content: There is also a pioneer (elite II) remake at:http://pioneerspacesim.net/

author: 0xdeadbeef
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 08, 2012, 11:16:10 pm
content: There is indeed another Frontier remake which seems closer to the original and a fully playable game anyway:http://www.frontierastro.co.uk/Hires/hiresffe.htmlBTW: while Star Citizen cracked the three million stretch mark, Elite:Dangerous seems to have lots its initial momentum. I still think they will reach the goal. Also they promised to finally add some media on Friday.And talking of remakes of classic SciFi games, there is a pretty impressive Decent inspired game called Miner Wars 2081 close to release (about one month from now):http://www.minerwars.com/The cool thing is that you can blast your way through asteroids (destructible environment like in Red Faction) and seamlessly fly from Descent-like space stations to outer space and vice versa.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 31, 2014, 03:14:29 pm
content: Quote from: Mr Eastwood on November 06, 2012, 11:53:04 amWell, it looks like he did manage to pull it off! nice one!http://www.elitedangerous.com

author: Artlav
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2014, 03:46:39 pm
content: Interesting topic from the past...As someone who made a remake of a 90s game, i can say that even without Kickstarter it's a fail-grade task.For every project you hear about, there are 10 that have a dozen players in a small community, despite being finished and surpassing the original.The second time you try to do that, you just quit out of desperation.Quote from: 0xdeadbeef on November 06, 2012, 12:24:47 pmAs someone who failed at making a procedural game, i can say that the "procedural" part is the easy part.The hard part is the "game" part, and that needs a lot of work in a completely mysterious direction.Maybe even the "game" part is also an easy part, and the truly hard part is determining the right mysterious direction....

author: HP-ILnerd
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2014, 11:14:33 pm
content: Not only did Elite: Dangerous ship, but in other Update News, Star Citizen is at$68.5 Millionwith707,241backers as of this post. Holy crap! Nowthat'scrowdfunding!The single-player Squadron 42 module is supposed to ship in a few months, and what I've seen of evertything looks amazing. I forsee a lot of my free time being consumed with this. WANT!