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PAX East 2014: The Repopulation's Josh Hall on the future of the game
If you're looking for Kickstarter success stories, The Repopulation definitely qualifies. While the game hasn't yet been released, it's managed to run not one but two successful campaigns looking to fans for funding, and it's managed its development carefully to keep itself on track for release. The game feels like a well-managed professional affair. And it's been a bit more quiet, but that comes down largely to the focus on getting the game out of its current alpha state and into its first beta. At this year's PAX East, I sat down to talk with Josh Hall, one of the core team members on the project, about where the game is in development and what it's heading for in the next few months. While the final alpha stage has taken slightly longer than originally planned, the team is on track for launching the first beta phase at some point over the summer, and it's eyeing further release plans.
Jukebox Heroes: Talking with The Repopulation's Steven Coltart
Massively: Even in the far distant future on alien worlds, we'll still need music. This is why it's great that Composer Steven Coltart is providing The Repopulation with an original soundtrack, because otherwise the silence would be too much to bear. So Steven, can you tell us a little about yourself? Steven Coltart: I'm a full-time professional composer based in the UK and was commissioned to be lead composer on The Repopulation in 2013. Previous projects include Outer Empires, the first MMO of its kind created for iOS, which went on to sell over 200,000 copies and boasted the largest ever network of players online at that time. 2014 has seen me complete the soundtrack for a soon to be announced iOS game, and I'm currently putting the finishing touches to US-based sci-fi film Downward. I've worked incredibly hard to get to this point, but I'm lucky to have what I consider the best job in the world. Writing music for a living and getting to work with talented developers and producers, it doesn't get much better for me!
The Repopulation adds adversarial camps, preps for Alpha 3
Above & Beyond has released its latest monthly status report on The Repopulation. In February, the design team added the adversarial camps stretch goal to its sci-fi sandbox, which will allow devs to "generate much of the game's content on the fly and help ensure that players do not have a static experience." Additional work was done on the title's customizable XML-based UI, the harvesting mechanics, and a fitting system for robotic pets. February's "largest changes" came in the form of additional world content, as the dev team is looking forward to adding more testers for Alpha 3 "in a few weeks."
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding January 26 - February 8, 2014
The crowdfunding train just keeps rolling right along, with passengers always coming and going. New passengers hop aboard while others hop off at their desired destination. Sadly, some have to disembark early -- such is the case with Universe Rush and Antilia. Although the Kickstarter campaign fell far short of its goal, Antilia does plan to continue development on its own. On the brighter side of things, some passengers reached their stop; Tales From The Strange Universe reached its goal, and both it and Novus AEterno (which brought in over 3.5 times its initial goal) will now take their places in the funded category. The Repopulation, earning over 175K during this latest Kickstarter run, disembarks at Betawatch station thanks to its ongoing alpha testing. Catch up on all the news for all these titles as they journey through crowdfunding here in Make My MMO.
The Repopulation closes its second Kickstarter with triple funding
The development team at Above and Beyond Technologies went back to Kickstarter to ask for a little extra funding to develop The Repopulation. The project's goal was set at a very reasonable $50,000. Now the campaign is over, and it turns out that the company's philosophy of starting low and using stretch goals worked out quite well. Funding for this campaign closed out at around $176,000, more than triple what was initially requested. Despite that high number, not every stretch goal was hit, but that's what happens when the developers build a high ceiling. Still, it means that the game squeaked past the mark needed to unlock gladiatorial arenas in player-run cities. It's good news for the game's developers, backers, and even fans who elected not to back the second campaign.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding January 12 - 25, 2014
After a sleepy holiday season, the crowdfunding crowd has woken up and gotten down to business. And amidst that new bustle of activity, Make My MMO's ranks are altering a bit. Two games leave our listing, but each for different reasons; the cross-platform space sim Space Unfolding folded after missing its goal, and Face of Mankind moved along to Betawatch to join the ranks of the games in testing. And now that War of Omens' campaign has wrapped up, it moves into the fully funded category. Some campaigns have really kicked into high gear. Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen joined the crowdfunding race and has delivered a slew of nearly daily news. Novus AEterno has nearly tripled its goal and is closing in on yet another stretch goal these final days of its campaign, while The Repopulation has also blown away its initial goal and is aiming for its eigth stretch goal (not to mention revealed plenty of juicy new bits). A smaller title, Tales From The Strange Universe, is more than halfway to its modest goal with a week left. And newcomer Star Rider also jumps on the Kickstarter bandwagon. Unfortunately, others aren't faring as well. Things aren't looking promising for Antilia or Universe Rush, whose campaigns end soon and are still over $85K and $98K short of their respective goals. Want more details on these stories or an update on all the already-funded projects? We've got the round-up right here.
The Repopulation delivers third alpha trailer, conquers another stretch goal
One great thing about The Repopulation's latest Kickstarter campaign (besides the chance to support an upcoming sandbox) is that it delivering regular doses of data to the public. And the latest tidbit to come through the pipeline is a third alpha trailer showing off a bit of the game. Experience a minute and a half of the in-game environments, mounts, and various battles with wildlife and other players in the clip below. Then, if you want to get in on supporting the game and helping it reach another stretch goal (it just secured the unique naming of items), you've got until Monday to do so. [Source: Above & Beyond Technologies press release]
The Repopulation will feature both standard and PvP servers
The Repopulation's going to have two distinct server rulesets when it eventually launches. Option one will be a standard PvE-focused environment with optional PvP and associated flagging mechanics. "The standard ruleset should be suitable for most types of players. You have a full compliment of resources and PvE tiers available in protected areas," explains the latest Repopulation dev diary. If that doesn't sound like your cup of tea, Above & Beyond Technologies is also hosting an open PvP ruleset with corpse looting, friendly fire, and EVE-like security sector mechanics. Some of the details are still being ironed out, but you should definitely read the lengthy new dev diary that lays out the particulars for each rule set.
The Repopulation details transportation options
How do you like to move it, move it? The Repopulation is offering a variety of transportation methods for traversing its vast world to fit most any style and circumstance. Players can always hoof it to their destination, either by walking or running indefinitely, or sprinting until their endurance is depleted. If that seems too slow, there will also be pets for mounts and customizable vehicles. An even quicker method will involve underground stations that will let players take a subway train to specific locations; even large enough player cities can develop a connection to this system. If all that is still just too slow for your liking, there's the instant travel option that lets players teleport back to their faction's capital city once every 30 minutes. Some players might even opt for the death express: Players can bind themselves to different cloning facilities and respawn at one after a death.
Here's a list of The Repopulation's weapon abilities
Guess what, Repopulation fans? It's time for another update, that's what. Above & Beyond has posted a list of alpha weapon abilities on the game's website. The post notes that "some weapon lines are still under construction and missing abilities," but it's nonetheless an extensive info dump that gives those of us outside of alpha testing a quick look at the sci-fi sandbox's combat particulars. The Repopulation's dev team has also released the sixth chapter of its Evening Star short story. You'll find both updates behind the links listed below.
The Repopulation discusses design goals after its second Kickstarter
Six days remain until the second Kickstarter for The Repopulation closes out, and it's already doubled its funding goal. That prompted an interview with Kickstarter Conversations regarding the game's design principles and its second successful funding run. The development team attributed the success to reasonable financial goals and to setting the bar low and expecting to exceed it rather than setting the bar high and struggling. The interview also goes into more detail regarding the game's design goals and how progression will work. As stated before, the game is entirely skill-based, with older characters having a wider variety of skills rather than being inherently better. Grouping is meant to be painless and advantageous rather than mandatory so that there's no disincentive to grouping up with other people while taking on content. Take a look at the full interview for more details, and if it sounds like the sort of development you'd like to support, you still have six days to jump in and help fund the game.
The Repopulation passes $100K, eyes traveling vendors
Another day, another stretch goal accomplished by The Repopulation. This time, the sci-fi sandbox passed the $100,000 mark and ensured that cooperative structure placement will make it into the game. Next up is the traveling vendors goal at $115,000. What's a traveling vendor? Well, it basically "allows players to mark themselves as a vendor at any time," Above & Beyond explains on its website. "While this flag is enabled, other players will be able to interact with them to browse and purchase goods which they have marked for sale without any player interaction necessary." There's a lot more to traveling vendors, but you'll need to click through the links below for full details.
Another stretch goal hit for The Repopulation, another short story chapter posted
The second Kickstarter for The Repopulation is humming along at a decent clip at this point. It's already met its target goal, and now it's just a matter of smashing down stretch goals. The latest mark has funded the addition of calprate mounts to the game; they're the vaguely deer-goat-thing displayed in the header image, for the record. Except that one doesn't have a player-shaped bit of cargo on its back. Baby steps. In addition to looking forward future stretch goals, the team is also posting chapters of a short story to the official website. Chapter 4 of "Evening Star" is available to read now, detailing more of the world and feel of The Repopulation for existing backers and potential future backers. Or just people in need of a science fiction story to read on a Friday afternoon -- they're welcome as well.
The Repopulation aiming to fill the MMO non-combat void
The Repopulation dev team took to Reddit yesterday to field a bunch of questions relating to the upcoming sci-fi title. While many of the queries came from people who are newly aware of the game, it still made for an interesting discussion if you like MMO sandboxes. Above & Beyond was pretty open about the fact that it's modeling parts of The Repopulation after Star Wars: Galaxies, particularly the latter game's friendliness toward crafters and other non-combat types. "If you aren't a combat person, you can make your living in trade skills. Advancing in trade skills is independent of combat and does not force you into a combat role. We have a complex trade skill system which allows for a high degree of customization by mixing and matching components. It also has a high degree of interdependency on others, which we feel is going to drive the economy," the team explained. Also worth noting is the fact that The Repopulation won't "have caps to the number or mastery of skills, so you can invest in each skill line how you see fit."
The Repopulation begins lengthy lore series
Lore junkies are getting nearly a week-long fix beginning today as The Repopulation starts its new lore series. Chapter one of the short story Evening Star, centered around the landing on Rhyldan, was posted today, and a new chapter will be added each day this week. If you are wondering why the story is broken up, it's because this is no snippet of story; Chapter 1: Green Lights alone comes in at over 4K words. So grab a chair, settle in, and meet Ralf Hound as he starts the adventures off. As an added bonus for The Repopulation fans, Lead Developer J.C. Smith elaborated on a variety of topics in a recent interview, including siege system alerts, crafting mini-games, AI, and the ability to build underground. For more details, check out World Factory. [Source: Above & Beyond Technologies press release]
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding December 29, 2013 - January 11, 2014
Was 2013 the year of Kickstarter? Whatever you think personally about the funding model, you can't argue with the fact that over $480 million was pledged through the crowdfunding platform in the last calendar year. That's definitely one hunk of change! But whether or not that figure translates into a tidal wave of awesome games has yet to be seen; the jury will remain out until even more funded games actually release and players get to experience what they backed. As for specific MMO news this past fortnight, the bulk of it involves new titles vying for a slice of 2014's crowdfunding pie. The CCG War of Omens has already grabbed a piece; it met its goal and has moved on to stretch goals for the last couple of days. Other hopefuls include more two space strategy games. Learn more about all of these, as well as the news from the funded front, right here in Make My MMO.
The Repopulation knocks out another stretch goal
The Repopulation has met another Kickstarter stretch goal. Adversarial camps will now make it into the finished sci-fi sandbox title, and more importantly the way is clear for the next stretch goal: Points of Intrigue. These points are an extension of the game's engagement system. The PvE versions of PoI will pop up randomly throughout the game world and they'll require anywhere from a few players to multiple groups. The PvP versions of PoI will involve capture points and Nation-based rewards. The ultimate goal of the entire system is "to provide an ever-changing list of opportunities which encourage players to work together under a common goal."
The Repopulation Greenlighted, meets first stretch goal
It's a pretty good week to be a fan of sci-fi indie sandbox The Repopulation. First off, the game is currently holding down the top stop in Massively's rotating game header. As if that weren't enough, Above & Beyond Technologies has also announced that it's reached the first stretch goal of its new Kickstarter campaign. This means that the Rocharus will be available at launch and will become the game's "first tamed mount." The title also made quick work of its Greenlight campaign, though how and when The Repopulation will become available on Steam is still up in the air. Click through the links below for more details as well as a preview of the next stretch goal reward.
The Repopulation surpasses 2nd KickStarter goal, moves on to stretch
While some were skeptical about a second Kickstarter campaign for The Repopulation, fans showed their support by helping the upcoming sandbox reach its goal over the weekend. Now, with 20 days still to go the focus shifts to the stretch goals, which include various mounts (the Rocharus at $60K is seen above), PvP arenas, a moddable UI, traveling shops, and more. On top of the successful campaign, The Repopulation is also receiving overwhelmingly positive support on its Steam Greenlight campagn; it's currently in fifth place. Want to learn even more about the game? If the recent three-hour Q&A livestream wasn't enough to satisfy you, Above & Beyond Technologies' creator J.C. Smith chatted with The Noobist about ongoing world story, the horticulture system, animal breeding, trade, and much more.
The Repopulation's lead dev featured in three-hour livestream
Can't get enough info about sci-fi indie sandbox The Repopulation? Here's a three-hour livestream featuring lead developer Joshua Halls that should quench your thirst, at least for a little while. The stream boasts a lengthy Q&A session as well as some never-before-seen footage in the form of world fly-throughs. The Repopulation is currently in closed alpha. The devs have also announced a second Kickstarter drive designed to fund additional gameplay features as well as a Greenlight campaign to increase exposure via Steam.
