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Star Command boldly sets launch date for this Thursday
Star Command is finally ready to explore the stars this Thursday, May 2, on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Developer Warballoon notes the Android version is set to leave space dock next, followed by PC.The ambitious mobile project first appeared on federation sensors in 2011 when it created a Kickstarter to up its budget and test the waters for an Android port.Justin Coombs, designer and art director at the Boulder-based developer, told us at the time, "We don't want Star Command to be a good mobile game, we want it to be just a great game, in the conversation with PC and console releases."The game's Kickstarter also occurred in the pre-Double Fine era, with some harsh lessons learned about crowdsource financing.A 13-minute preview of Star Command was posted late last year, but it's now only a few short days until the game is finally ready to beam to iOS devices.
Star Command transmits 13-minute playthrough, 'hopefully' launching this year
"Captain, Star Command developer Warballoon is hailing with a 13-minute playthrough of the game's first couple missions.""On screen, ensign. ... Looking good! Any word on when we'll have it for PC, Mac, iOS and Android?""'When it's kickass, sir.""RED ALERT! Ensign, better check your tone before I have you scraping space barnacles from the hull.""I'm sorry, sir, but that's the official communication. They note it'll "hopefully be before the end of the year.'"%Gallery-141696%
Star Command devs transparent about where Kickstarter funding went (Spoiler: prize shipments)
Star Command developer Warballoon, which funded its Kickstarter project in the BDF (before Double Fine) era, decided to share details on where its cash went. The company stressed this isn't it saying "oooops," but simply helping out future kickstarters to think more about their prizes and where their money will go.The company's Kickstarter drive earned $36,967, with $2,000 taken right off the top for pledged funds that were never transferred. From that $35,000, Kickstarter and Amazon Payments' cuts brought the total down to $32,000. Another ten grand went to "prize fulfillment," which included creation and shipping (the real killer!) of bonuses.With $22,000 left, the company spent $6K on music, $4K on lawyers, $2K on poster art and $4K on showing at PAX East, including iPads to demo the game on. This left Warballoon with $6,000 of taxable income... leaving it with $4,000, which "goes rather quickly as you can imagine."The company notes that if it had to do things differently, it would have gone easy on the lawyers and the rewards, especially the shipping, which it said "is a) expensive b) a pain in the ass when you have tubes and c) time consuming. None of those things are productive."
Star Command teaser trailer intercepted
Star Command received its first public showing this past weekend at PAX East, and we're now looking forward to when the game beams out to mobile devices this summer. This teaser trailer, shown at the PAX East booth, conveys the game's art style, music and internal/external starship combat.
Star Command beams in this summer
Star Command is estimated to launch this July or August, according to the co-founders of developer Warballoon. The game, which had its first public showing this past weekend at PAX East, will launch with the "Rise of Antorians" story, followed by the "Cortexian Campaign" in October.Warballoon co-founders Justin and Jordan Coombs told us updates will be free for the game, as they plan to expand the Star Command universe and want to bring everyone along for the ride.The PAX East demo for the starship simulation showed off how combat in the game works, as Antorians (a humanoid ant race) invaded the ship and started a blaster fight with the crew. The Antorian ship also got into the action and attacked, while members of the engineering crew had to handle fires and loss of cabin pressure. The Warballoon team already told us they are switching to a far more context-sensitive interface system after observing players at PAX East.The game is also officially heading to iPad, since the team ported it to the platform after realizing they didn't want to pass around their personal phones to demo the game at the show.%Gallery-141696%
Star Command playable at PAX East
Star Command, the ambitious mobile sci-fi RPG assisted by the Kickstarter phenomenon, will be playable at PAX East."The PAX demo is gonna be a playable version of combat," Jordan Coombs, designer and art director at developer Warballoon told us. "We want everyone to get a chance to mess around with it and starting a new game from scratch can take a bit."The Warballoon team will also give a talk at the Kickstarter booth about mobile development and how it's changed their designs, along with what they've learned since starting the project.%Gallery-141696%
Star Command warps to 2012, shows off 'interface update'
Ambitious mobile sci-fi RPG Star Command won't be making its wishful 2011 launch. Following a successful Kickstarter, the team tells Joystiq that the game is expected next year, wrapping up its alpha phase at the end of the month. "Kickstarter has been great. The rewards were a little more expensive to fulfill that we thought -- a lot of international shipping -- but more than anything, the attention it got us has been awesome," said Jordan Coombs, designer and art director at developer Warballoon. "We have our musicians, and it has given us the time we needed to get the tipping point we are at right now." Coombs also showed us the new interface update, "We have the crew details menu, where you can manage each crew member and choose their skill trees. We have NAV, where you can set coordinates and explore the universe. We also have Research, where you can set your path of discovery. Finally we have Room Details, which show how you produce tokens (the "money" in the game), assign crew members and upgrade rooms." Check it out in the gallery below.%Gallery-141696%
Star Command sends out Kickstarter call for epic sci-fi SFX, Android port
Star Command, an ambitious indie iOS title we've been keeping an eye on, is holding a Kickstarter to make the game all it can be. Star Command puts players in charge of a starship, flying through the galaxy to explore or destroy all the little lifeforms they meet along the way. "We have already absorbed quite a bit of debt getting the game going, and we want to get AAA music and SFX, another developer for Android conversion, as well as just promoting the game," Justin Coombs, designer and art director for the four man team at Boulder-based developer Warballoon told us. "The music and SFX probably get downgraded pretty significantly without the support, and we just have to figure out Android without it as well." "We had considered doing some warm up projects, but we just couldn't really get this grand adventure out of our mind, so we just went all in," Coombs said about taking on such a big project for their first game. "iPhone and Android get parlor games and physics demonstrations -- with games like Sword and Sworcery being the exception. We don't want Star Command to be a good mobile game, we want it to be just a great game, in the conversation with PC and console releases." Warballoon is currently "deep in alpha" testing with the game and hope to have a beta ready by the end of the month. The team is still planning to launch Star Command this year. Head on over to Kickstarter if you want to see Star Command come to fruition on iOS and Android.
