Help Kickstart Drifter
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St. John’s-based indie developer Celsius Game Studios has opened a Kickstarter campaign to help move the production of its latest title towards completion. Drifter – A Space Trading Game is an open-world sandbox space trading game that takes place in a galaxy with thousands of stars and endless possibilities. Live the simple life of a merchant, become a bounty hunter, take on work for hire, become a fearsome pirate, or simply explore the galaxy around you, the choice is yours.
Studio owner Colin Walsh, creator of the critically-acclaimed iOS 99 cent titles Red Nova (available now on iTunes) and Chromodyne (also available on iTunes in SD and HD), has this to share about his new game:
“Drifter is my take on the venerable space trading genre. Inspired by games I grew up playing like Frontier (itself the sequel to the grand-daddy of all space traders, Elite), and Privateer, I’m hoping to bring something fun and exciting to an under-served corner of the video game world. The game already features a massive procedurally-generated galaxy 100,000 light years across with over 10,000 star systems. As it takes shape over the next few months I plan on adding a ton of things for you to do.”
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPZSdERPUh8]
Colin further stated that “a game like Drifter deserves more than just canned royalty free music, joining me is renowned video game composer Danny Baranowsky, who is known for his work on a number of awesome titles including Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac, Canabalt, and Cave Story 3D.”
Drifter has been in development for approximately eight months now, and Celsius Games plans to release it for iOS later this year. Colin would also love to bring the game to PC and Mac. That’s where Kickstarter comes in. With extra funding, not only will Celsius Games be able to expand the game to those platforms, it can be made even better in the process. Colin plans to bring in a 3D artist to help him create new assets, thereby allowing him to focus on adding more features to the game.
Here is an idea of some of the features you can expect in Drifter when it’s released:
- A PC and Mac release simultaneous with the iOS release: assuming the Kickstarter campaign is successful I’ll have time to devote to giving the PC port the attention it deserves while I work on the game.
- A huge galaxy to explore: The game already contains a 100,000 light year wide galaxy with 10,000 stars. In addition to this there will be dozens of hand-shaped “core worlds” where most of the action will be happening.
- A responsive soundtrack: Not only do you get a great custom soundtrack by Danny Baranowsky, but the game will pick music appropriate for the situation at hand to give you an even deeper sense of immersion.
- Many things to see and do: An expansive marketplace where you can earn a living as a trader. Massive asteroid fields with valuable ore ripe for the taking. Procedurally generated missions you can take on, like: courier missions, convoy escorts, or attacks on enemy strongholds. Hunt NPC pirates in the more dangerous systems, or become one yourself.
- An engaging story: There will be a series of hand-written missions which will help tell an interesting story set within the world of Drifter. The story will allow the player to further immerse themselves in the game and learn more about the different factions that inhabit this corner of the galaxy. While you can choose to ignore the story, you’ll be able to earn equipment and ships, and explore certain systems that wouldn’t otherwise be available.
- Lots of customization: All ship hulls will feature customizable equipment slots. You can choose your weapons, armor and shields, as well as what sort of power plant and support equipment you need for the task at hand as well as for your play style.
- Improve your character as you play: Much like in traditional RPGs your character will have a series of attributes you can improve as you play. This will give you bonuses to ship attributes as well as for different aspects of gameplay like trading, mining, and piracy.
4:53 am on May 4th, 2012
Help Kickstart @celsiusgs Project Drifter – A Space Trading Game http://t.co/aflFykvL