Yo i was wondering what wingman was up to and found this: 1st stream of the new company http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/55014878 http://descendentstudios.com/forum/index.php Him and several ex CIG employees founded this and it sounds quit fun. Im definetly keeping and eye on this
Apparently his job role was going to move to Santa Monica and he wanted to stay in Austin with his family. That was around 6 months ago, IIRC.
Well, or maybe four months: http://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/197558/dateline-wingman-update/p1
Now that I have a family, I can fully sympathise with his decision - besides, he seems to be working on something that may or may not be something like the original Descent... which was fucking epic. The project name is STFU - Ships that Fight Underground. Once they start their funding drive, I may just throw a few bucks their way.
If this doesn't scream Descent, I don't know what will: http://descendentstudios.com/forum/index.php?/topic/643-sneak-peak/
Honestly, an updated Descent clone does not really interest me. There have been a bunch of them over the past few year, and none have been good. Descent was pretty amazing at the time because it was doing stuff no one else had done. I am not sure how well it is going to hold up today.
I will always give Descent it's due credit, because even though I absolutely hated it even at the time (too disorienting), Freespace was a direct offshoot of Descent, and is one of the best games ever made. I don't much care for a twitchy 3d maze runny mess against perfect accuracy AI's (like Descent), but this actually sounds a little bit like Miner Wars, which had some potential marred by an absolutely shit interface and overall production quality. I don't get disoriented easily anymore, so maybe that won't be a problem. I think if it is presented well, has more context context than the original Descent, and has tight controls and interface elements, it could be fun. Of course, he also mentioned crafting and resource gathering: two things which, while I do not object to them completely, seem to be thrusting their bulbous masses into pretty much everything now days, so we'll see. Right now they're sticking to a Unreal Tournament style multiplayer messy shooty thing, with the option to add a single player element later. http://descendentstudios.com/forum/index.php?/topic/100-official-ask-a-dev-about-the-game-thread/ I probably will not get this until I see a full review, but the potential for some fun times is there.
I doubt it's going to be a direct Descent homage - though the atmosphere certainly pull it that way. Then again, just reading the forums you get the idea it's more like a hybrid of Descent and Miner Wars, with a unique twist in that there's a type of ship that can fly through solid rock, essentially carving out the tunnels for your team (and the enemy team) to fly through, while another type of ship and place hidden mines in the walls of said tunnels as booby traps. Honestly I'm not expecting Descent: Redux - but I'd like if the atmosphere paid homage to that epic legacy. Also, I'm under no illusion that this isn't going to be anything near as expansive and as detailed as SC. In stead it's going to be a TDM Online game with classes not unlike WoT - obviously more nausea-inducing and heart pounding. It'll be worth keeping an eye on at least - see where the Wingman takes this.
after watching some of the footage and the forum i must say it looks a lot like lets try to ride the crowdfunding train and see where it goes. Which is fine .. i guess With his followers he might actually pull that off
What I would like to see is Descent + RTS elements added in a certain specific way. Let me paint you a picture: You are a miner/mechanic for a far flung asteroid/dwarf planet mining colony. Unfortunately for you (and everyone on the colony with you), the miners dug too deep and woke up something... nightmarish [so far your typical Doom trope; this is where the title "Descendant" could be tied in]. Everyone else dies [with maybe a few random survivors holed up in places]. Fortunately, your job just happens to place you at a mining drone command console when all the shit goes down. Realizing things are not well, you lock yourself inside the control room and proceed to use your drones [you only start with three identical and basic drones] to investigate what went wrong. This is where things take a dramatic turn. All drones you have access to exist in the game world at the same time; say for example you want to search two different areas, you can send drone A to search Zonee A and when done, immediately switch to Drone B to search Zone B [this opens up to all sorts of puzzle mechanics]. Drones you are not actively controlling could be given very basic AI instructions (mine, defend, etc.) while they wait. As you investigate the facility [which potentially could be randomly generated] you will discover secrets, upgrades, even new drones you can command. Be careful about leaving them alone in dangerous areas though. When a drone dies, it stays dead, but eventually you gain access to drone manufacturing. And this is where things get really interesting. As your drone horde expands, the creepy-crawly-whatever thing down in the depths of the asteroid senses your presence. After gaining drone manufacturing capabilities, the "thing(s)" will begin to actively hunt YOU where you sit and control your drones. The only thing protecting you from a certain gruesome death is your loyal drone army. Mine, build, defend, upgrade, and seek the source of the evil the hunts you. Descent + RTS... could be awesome.
i' d buy that for a dollar! seriously though, pitch that on their forums. i already love that SC is combining most of my favorite genres from childhood (space sims, racing, FPS), would be epic if wingman and the other guys could mop up the rest (descent-style disorienting corridor crawler w/RTS)
Rather good concept - locked-in-a-room survival horror element there as well - you've been found by a "thing", and you have one shot (and a single drone slaved to your PDA) to get out to another terminal... as you position your little guys to defend themselves in absence of your direct control, you hear the things break down the blast doors behind you...
Sort of - with some Dead Space in there to keep your heart rate up. You know we should really be Game Concept designers. EA could have so many better things to spend their money on than this year's Madden/FIFA/Call of Halofield 29 #YOLODLC
