Going Into the Stars With Fugitive Games

Yesterday we gave you a small tease of our interview with Ben Jones, Development Director at Fugitive Games. It’s now time to tell you everything we learned about Into the Stars, which is currently progressing towards stretch goals in its already successful Kickstarter campaign. In this game, you’ll be the captain of the last human vessel trying to escape the deadly alien threat which has destroyed our planet; it’s worth nothing that the soundtrack is being composed by Jack Wall, known for his Mass Effect score.

 

• How long will it take for the average gamer to complete Into the Stars in your initial estimations?
• A perfect journey could take around an hour, but those will be extremely rare. The number of variables at the player’s disposal and the randomized content they’ll encounter will ensure that each play session is uniquely challenging. We want success to be uncommon, and even when you do find it you’ll know that you can do better and will want to set out again.

 

• Will players encounter alien races who not only want to trade, but may also actively help against the pursuing force? 
• Good question but we’re not talking about this quite yet.

 

• You mentioned Landing Parties in the Kickstarter page. Does that mean that a crew can land on planets and if so, how will that work in practice?
  Yes, you can send your crew down to the planet surface with both Landing Parties and Mining Rigs. The LPs will allow the Captain to choose between different zones to explore. Once there, you’ll be prompted with an interaction and must choose if proceeding is worth the risk. Different awards from repair parts to new modules come with successful interactions, but your crew can be injured or even killed when they don’t go well. It’s a constant struggle of risk versus reward.

 

• The story premise sounds fairly similar to popular sci-fi TV series, Battlestar Galactica. Personally I loved it, and I would like to know if we can expect to see in-ship situations caused by some NPCs who are unhappy/want to take control themselves? Those were basically the main attraction in BSG.
• You’ll see all kinds of in-ship situations from the mundane to the bizarre and sabotage could certainly be among them. We haven’t implemented mutiny just yet, but we like the way you think. I’d certainly keep an eye out for “Celestial Dysentery” though… that can get out of control fast!

 

• The pursuing force sounds like an almighty enemy. Does that mean that a successful confrontation is only possible at a fixed point of the storyline, or will some crafty players be able to dispatch them a bit earlier?
• The force pursuing you still has to seek you out, so the first of their ships you’ll encounter are scouts. Most players will be able to dispatch them, but the longer you spend in any zone the greater the enemy threat and the more powerful ships you’ll encounter.

 

• Do you have a post-launch DLC plan and if so, can you tell us anything about it?
• We’re certainly looking to support the game after launch but are purely focused on delivering the content slated for release at this time.

 

• What was your experience with Unreal Engine 4? It isn’t an obvious choice for this kind of game.
• It has honestly been great. We simply couldn’t pull off what we’re doing with another engine, especially given our lack of engineering resources. UE4 allows us to quickly stand up and prove out systems in Blueprint, which for a team of 4 on a fixed budget is essential.

 

• A PS4 version of the game is currently set as the last stretch goal. Would you need to significantly modify the game to work on PlayStation 4, or do you believe you’d be able to keep it largely intact?
• Given how much we’re pushing UE4 with our massive world and streaming distances, it’s difficult to say until we get our hands on a dev kit. We think the game is an excellent fit for both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but we can’t be certain of the work required to move it over until we receive the required hardware.

 

• Thank you for your time!