We are ROCKFISH Games, the original team behind Galaxy on Fire and now EVERSPACE on PC. Ask us anything!

KS backer here.
When can we expect the first beta to be lanched?

Of course software development can be quite unpredictable, but we aim at July 2016

/Andreas

Any idea on the Alpha?

We hope to have it ready for March 2016

/Andreas

Something I love is when arcade-style space simulators give me huge space stations and capital ships to fly around, crash into if I'm not careful, and use as cover from enemy fire. This works doubly well when these large structures have complex, concave geometry. The example that comes to mind is Star Wars Battlefront 2, where some of the ships had all sorts of weird spaces you could duck into to hide from enemy fighters or, better yet, coax them into trying to follow you and crashing into the ship themselves.

Will large objects in Everspace have nooks and crannies for me to dive into or around, things like trenches, hangars, control towers, and other elements that provide the player with more complex level geometry that they can use to their tactical advantage?

We definitely plan on having larger structures in the final game that will allow for cover and special tactics, such as destroying weak points, turrets and shield generators on their surface. You can see a preview of those kinds of structures and capital ships in our DevBlog #3 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9Ku2_1qOXc

/Marco

Hi guys. Really looking forward to the game, its the first kickstarter I've ever backed!

My question is, what has been the biggest challenge you've had with the game so far?

Keep up the fantastic work!

To convince Michael that a rogue-like is what we need! ;-)

/Andreas

Ha, did he take much convincing? Rogue-like was definitely a good decision.

In fact it took a while to convince me but after I died a lot in Shadow of Mordor and could invest the XP from some orc kills into better and new skills I got the idea that dying can be rewarding! I know SoM is not a rogue-like though ;-)

/Michael

What inspired these jaw dropping graphics? You guys have grown up with the evolution of games... Which ones made an impact for you to go "now I can do something more awesome!"

I was very hard finding inspiration for EVERSPACE as most modern space games tend to look very realistic and dark which is quite the opposite of what we were aiming for. Some inspiration came from Freelancer and I felt very inspired by The Guardians of the Galaxy. That movie had a beautiful art direction and definitely stuck with me as one of the most vibrant depictions of space.

/Marco

You've stated Freelancer as an inspiration for Everspace, which is amazing news for all Freelancer fans still waiting for a game in the same vein. (To me, personally, Everspace appears to be the one and only real Freelancer spiritual successor so far, and that's counting Star Citizen.)

Freelancer had a lot of positive traits, but the one thing that really tied it together into an awesome EXPERIENCE was the music.

Since Freelancer, space game creators have failed far and wide in implementing the kind of music that would really bring their games to life. They use generic, slow, passive music without a beat just because it's the stereotypical solution.

However, Freelancer's music stands out as having intense, engaging themes with great beats, which really immerse the player into the game, much like how JRPG developers manage to create engaging combat in their games despite the nature of the combat being so repetitive: they use music with an engaging beat to keep the player focused and excited.

My question: Do you plan on taking a page out of Freelancer's book in terms of music? Or are you going to go the "safe" route with the usual, slow, bland space game background music fare?

We absolutely plan to use engaging beats during combat and intense moments. Beats may blend into ambient sounds and take over, distinct sceneries will get their own themes. So yes, there will be more than just background ambient music. We already used some of the current music we are working on in all of our trailers.

/Hans-Christian

Do you like eggs?

Yes, I think it's the superior way of reproduction over vivipary.

/Marco

Only free-range eggs!

/Hans-Christian

Yes! Scrambled! Boiled! Omelette! But from free-range chickens only

/Andreas

Having Egg Benedict every morning when I am in the US - love it!

/Michael

Hi Rockfish! Very excited to play everspace, game looks beautiful. Also, first kickstarter game I've ever supported.

Question: Will Everspace have a multiplayer option after game release? Not necessarily in the original release, but multiplayer in a patch or expansion?

Thanks!

Hi, thanks for your support! Cool that we're the first kickstarter you backed! I just answered a similiar question above with the following answer: "It's hard to add multiplayer to an existing code base, but never say never. I guess it's more likely that if the game becomes a success we might be doing a sequel or another game with multiplayer"

/Andreas

What can you say about your plans for VR? Right now the best game in VR is arguably Elite Dangerous, and it's still tied to extended mode on the Rift.

Also, I'm a huge fan of what you're doing with the atmosphere in Everspace and I want to draw things for you.

We will do it. Without extended mode. Hardest thing to do will be keeping the frame rate high enough.

Nice drawings! I'm not in the position to make contracts but you can of course write us a mail and ask about it.

/Hans-Christian

Hey guys,

Did you guys ever think you would raise this much money from the kickstarter?

Thanks for the AMA, hyped for your game !!

Although we have seen that less campaigns have been successful on Kickstarter this year we had high hopes after the super positive feedback on Greenlight but we were certainly blown away after our GIFs went viral on imgur and reddit and Chris Roberts did his awesome shout out!

/Michael

Hey guys. Will you continue to allow funding towards your stretch goals even if they aren't reached by the end of your Kickstarter campaign? /u/Sessine was wondering

By the way, your game looks fucking awesome.

We will still offer subsequent support via PayPal and other payment methods on our website to unlock further stretch goals after the Kickstarter campaign has ended. However, we won’t have any of the limited reward tiers anymore and we will work on a new set of stretch goals with careful consideration of the community feedback.

/Michael

Thanks for doing this AMA. I'm really intrigued about the story element being added to roguelike gameplay. Can you share a little more about the story? Are players solving a mystery??? Is this Interstellar meets Galaxy on Fire or Freelancer?

Yes, there will be a mystery to solve. The game will not have the kind of storytelling you would expect from a Freelancer 2 or a Galaxy on Fire 3. The story is rather broken up into several events that you will eventually encounter. You can't really predict when you meet the people and who you meet first so everyone will put the pieces of the puzzle together in a slightly different way. That's the plan. Also, expect some mindfucks ;-)

/Hans-Christian

I’ve read Everspace will support gamepad control in combat, but the player will have to switch to keyboard and mouse in menus. When using a VR headset, it’s very difficult to switch between input methods. Now that VR support is planned, and HOTAS support may not be implemented, do you foresee an effort to develop full gamepad support?

I ask because the two ways I play games, either in VR or on a treadmill, restrict my ability to switch between input methods.

If we notice that switching between gamepad and keyboard/mouse is too difficult we will of course also add menu navigation for gamepad. We will have to see how much work it really is and how much the Unreal Engine evolves over the next months.

/Hans-Christian

What games do you play in your free time? Besides, y'know, tests of your games.

I like the Fallout, Bioshock and Elder Scrolls series, old-school point-and-click adventures, space-related games, rogue-"lites", some strategy games like Civ and XCOM, special games like Braid, Transistor and Talos Principle.

/Hans-Christian

Big fan of Fallout 3, Skyrim, FTL, Dark Souls 2, Super Meat Boy

/Andreas

Both Civ5 and X-Com:EW are two of the games I keep coming back to. There's something about turn-based strategy I love...

/Marco

Used to play BF2 a lot, LOTRO for 5 years, recently Shadow of Mordor and Witcher III (still un-wrapped) to balance my love for all the space games! I am also eager to check-out Divinity II when it is out...

/Michael

I noticed the least expensive tier that grants you a copy of the game is ~$20, is this going to be the final release cost of the game as well?

(Poor grad student with very limited liquid assets, but very interested in the game anyway.)

The $20 price tag is our very special price only for Kickstarter supporters. Depending on the final scope of the game we are targeting for a mid-price between $30 and $40.

/Michael

Any chance we will see any of your games on xbox one?

We definitely would love to bring EVERSPACE to both Xbox One and PS4. If we don't get the porting funded through the community we have options to work with publishers or even Microsoft or Sony at a later stage. Right now our top priority is to create a stunning space shooter for PC w/o any compromies in quality.

/Michael

Guten Abend Michael and Co! Great to have you back on Reddit! As the creator of the Everspace Subreddit (shameless plug: https://www.reddit.com/r/EverspaceGame/) I've been following you guys from pretty much day one, and I can't even begin to describe how excited I am for Everspace to be released.

Now, without further ado, I've got a few questions for you all:

1) Many, many subscribers to the sub have drawn comparisons between Everspace and two other big name space games (Elite and Star Citizen). Whilst you have previously stated that Everspace is NOT a space-sim, what would you say Everspace has to offer that say Elite or Star Citizen don't?

2) Everspace is an undeniably beautiful game so huge kudos to the team for harnessing the power of Unreal Engine 4 and having a flipping awesome art-style to boot! What would you say were the biggest challenges creating a game in Unreal Engine 4? How difficult was it to design a space-game which looks unique?

3) It was previously confirmed that Everspace does not take place in the same 'universe' as Galaxy on Fire; however, are there any nods to the Galaxy on Fire series within the game? Anything us old mobile gamers might notice?

4) HOTAS: I know you've previously stated that HOTAS will probably become a reality (even if the stretch goal isn't met) but what prompted you to forego HOTAS support development from the beginning and focus on Keyboard and Mouse? What challenges does supporting HOTAS bring?

5) As a rogue-like, I understand that 'runs' in Everspace can take as long as 20 minutes (if not longer), with completion of the game clocking in at 20 hours. What have you done to ensure the game's longevity? What reasons are there to keep playing once the main story is complete?

6) Multiplayer: I really want to fly with wingmates! Any word on a multiplayer/online component to the game?

7) Final question from me for now: IF Everspace sees a release on PS4 and XboxONE, will the PC version receive a visual downgrade?

Thank you so much for your time and for doing this AMA. You're all doing a fantastic job!

Snoop

3) We don't own the rights to the GOF series anymore and for obvious reason we don't want to get into any legal trouble. We will find a way to have some hidden references though ;)

/Michael

4) We really love Freelancer, especially because of its great KB+Mouse controls and have always been wondering why no space game came close in regards to controls since. So it was always our big focus to have these controls, they also fit the arcady, easy-to-pickup-and-play style we envision, as we're not doing a simulation. Everyone has Mouse+KB and will be able to play the game as we envision it. But of course HOTAS is very big for space games in particular so we cannot ignore it. However we found that it does not simply work in UE4 on a plug-in-and-play basis, so it will require more work to implement it. Then of course there's the problem with the whole menu navigation... So it's just a lot of work, but of course we won't rule out having it in the game. We also seriously hope that a future Unreal Update will bring native support, which would make our life a lot easier

/Andreas

2) I think one of the biggest challenges of creating a space game in UE4 is that the engine was developed primarily with (ego) shooters in mind. Or at least games that have an atmosphere and gravity! However, UE4 is such a flexible engine that this was but a minor obstacle. About designing a space game that looks unique: We always wanted the game to be colorful and look fun. So I created a style guide for our artists that contains the basic rules for creating assets. This worked pretty good. :)

/Marco

1) The biggest thing to distinguish us will be the rogue-like elements. But of course also our distinct art-style and the focus on arcady pick-up-and-play action

/Andreas

Hey Andreas, quick follow up question: The kickstarter states that you guys don't want the game to be too unforgiving/difficult...but many of us want a hardcore mode, can you elaborate on what the 'hardcore mode' entails? Is it just enemies with bigger health bars?

The hardcore mode would include real perma-death! Meaning you'll be given a ship at the start with some (maybe random) pre-defined set of pre-installed perks/upgrades and will have to make it to the end with what you get. There will be fixed blueprints for short-term progression via crafting during your runs, but there will be no long-term progression. And of course enemies will be harder and we might include a whole new challenge at the end of your journey.

/Andreas

7) No worries, Marco, our lead technical artist would jump right out of the window if we sacrifice just one single shader, reduce the size of textures or kick any other piece that conritbutes to awesomeness on PC just to have an easier life on console even if that's way down the road. So that's not gonna happen ;)

/Michael

6) Very unlikely at this point, I'd say first things first. There's a ton of work up ahead to give you a great single-player-experience and programming-wise multiplayer will easily require twice as much time & budget. The clear single-player-focus is also something that sets us apart from the other space games out there.

/Andreas

Fair point Andreas, although I suppose multiplayer might be something you guys revisit in the future? Post-release perhaps?

It's hard to add multiplayer to an existing code base, but never say never. I guess it's more likely that if the game becomes a success we might be doing a sequel or another game with multiplayer

/Andreas

Fair enough, will there be online leaderboards so we can see who the best pilots are?

Hmm, we have not really given this much thought. I'd say we will give this some thought! ;-)

/Andreas

5) There will be story characters to find which have their unique quest series and rewards, logbooks, blueprints, secrets, ship upgrades and rare enemies. So we hope you will have enough left to do when you finish the game the first time.

/Hans-Christian

Can you elaborate more on how interaction with NPC's works? Is the dialogue revealed through cutscenes? I assume that your character cannot leave the ship, so is most interaction radio-comm chatter? Very curious about this.

Yes, the plan is to have most conversations directly in space via radio-comm. Special events like intro or endings may receive special treatment. There will be cutscenes but we can't say how much and how complex they will be.

/Hans-Christian

This makes me wonder if your protagonist will have a voice, and if so will there be assorted choices? My main problem with GoF was not having any particular connection to the protagonist because I had no control over who they were.

Yes, we plan to give the protagonist a voice. But don't expect character customization or a set of voices to choose from.

/Hans-Christian

What's the easiest platfrom, and hardest platform to develop games?

We had the easiest life when we were starting to develop for iOs and there were only the first generations out there (up to 3GS) - they all had the same resolution and it was just bliss compared to the many many many java phones we used to develop for back in the days. But reputedly developing for PS3 is very hard (can't speak from own experience here)

/Andreas

Looks awesome. All I want to know is 2 things. Will I be able to play it in VR with a HOTAS set up and if the answer is yes, how do I give you my money?

A similar question has been answered earlier in this AmA. You still can pledge on https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rockfishgames/everspace/ to help unlock HOTAS controls :)

/Michael

Given its roguelike nature, will the game have an end and a game-over once you finish the story/encounter, or will you basically be allowed to fly for as long as you can survive? If the latter's the case, how much "endgame" content is there expected to be?

Yes, there will be an end to the game but you will be able to play on after that. The end encounter will be different then but you may want to find all secrets and collectables so we let you keep playing.

/Hans-Christian

I really like the idea of a strong focus on story while incorporating roguelike gameplay elements.

How do you plan to tackle the ending from a narrative perspective? Will there be multiple outcomes (other than death)? Does it happen at a single point or will the story branch out to end at various possible points?

Is Rockfish moving to exclusively PC/console development from now on if Everspace is a success?

Great KS campaign guys, everything was done right. Long live the great space game revival.

We plan to have multiple endings at the end of the journey that you will all eventually experience. So it's not really branching in the meaning of "make decicisions and live with them or reload". The plan is to have multiple endings if you finish the game multiple times.

Concerning PC/concole development: One of the reasons we switched to PC is that the mobile market is mostly Free 2 Play nowadays and we were struggling to adapt to that business model. It’s not really in our DNA so we’re happy to be developing for PC and possible for console now, where micro-transactions don’t play such a major part.

/Hans-Christian

One of the backer rewards is having a chance to play in the alpha. Can you say when that alpha will happen?

Hopefully we'll have the Alpha some time around March 2016

/Andreas

The game looks awesome, I backed it almost from the beginning when the first GIF of the asteroid being lasered to bits came out on /r/gaming

I read that multiplayer wasn't really an option because you'd have to hire in help, but is there a long term plan for it? Specifically anything for co-op play?

Unfortunately co-op is not very likely at this point. Also, adding multiplayer as an update after release is a whole lot of work, too, maybe even harder than designing the code with that in mind from scratch. You never know what will happen, but currently I'd say chances are higher that we'll have it in a sequel if EVERSPACE becomes a success (fingers crossed!)

/Andreas

Will I be able to dodge enemy fire with barrel rolls and vertical/lateral thrusts?

We will have manual strafing, hovering and rolling. We will think of additional self-running maneuvers if we think there is a need for it and if it makes sense to use it as an upgrade or device.

/Hans-Christian

Heyo guys. What was the hardest/most challenging part you ever had to program/develop?

Thanks for the AMA!

Tough one! I'm thinking hard!

/Andreas

Hey love the game,especially mining that rock from your gameplay video. Are you motivated by No Man's Sky in any way? And incidentally what are your views on No Man's Sky

Thanks! Motivated by No Man's Sky? Well, I want to play it because it already looks great and I like the general idea. I hope it will be a lot of fun, too. But we did not use the footage as an inspiration for our game. It has its similarities (gathering resources and the space setting) but I think we aim for something really different here.

/Hans-Christian

Is our ship going to mostly consist of fight class type ships or will we ever be able to move up to a larger ship, say a frigate?

We are focusing on space combat with small to mid-size fighters with a lots of weapons, different gear and upgrade possibilities to keep this interesting and long-lasting. EVERSPACE is going to be very action-focused and designed for fast-paced dogfighting combat. Flying and operating capital ships would be a completely different game. We would recommend Dreadnought https://www.greybox.com/dreadnought/en/splash/

/Michael

1. How big will each system/zone be?

2. Can I fly from planet to planet or will I have to teleport from planet to planet in similar fashion to GoF2?

3. Will there be friendly NPCs that help you in combat?

1. The "playing field" will be the locations within a system. Currently, locations have a diameter of 10-20km. There will be several locations in a system and several systems per sector.
2. Similar to GOF2.
3. This can happen but not very often. You are mostly on your own.

/Hans-Christian

How well will this project have to be in order for you to make another game in the series that has a co-op campaign?

Anywhere between one or two years funding for the whole team.

/Michael

First of allow me to congratulate you on your kickstarter success!

Now on to my question: What is the planned gameplay size of each world? or What are you guys defining as "Orbits"? Space can be pretty big!

Edit: As the rules say, we can ask for more proof... perhaps a new gif from the game? :D

Thank you! The orbits will be the locations within a system which do not always have to be orbits of planets. Currently, locations have a diameter of 10-20km. We expect you to spend 3 to 10 minutes in each location. I don't have a new gif at hand right now, sorry. But there will be a new video soon.

/Hans-Christian

Hey guys, great to see you here. I haven't formally backed your project but I have been watching from the sidelines. It looks promising from the get go, but all things will be judged properly in time. And I wish you guys all the best going down said road.

My question for you all: I'm currently washed in space games. I have 2 active subs to EVE Online, Elite Dangerous, and Star Citizen, as well as following the recent Descent game Kickstarter. We currently live in a gaming age where Space is largely becoming everyone's go to, like Zombies was for the better part of the last 5 years. What are your ultimate goals to make a player turn around and go ' Well X Y and Z are great, but man, Everspace! You don't even know!'. What do you think will be your one thing that sets you completely apart, and makes your game an unforgettable experience?

I'd say what differentiates us the most is the rogue-like nature of the game. Combining bits of FTL with bits of Freelancer. We think that this combination with an arcady touch (rather than a sim) has not been done before. Also we have a really unique art-style and hope that every time you play you will experience something new and will just be awed by all the environments and graphic effects

/Andreas

I like to add that we are also very fond of the non-linear storytelling in EVERSPACE. We believe that in combination with the rogue-like elements, the arcady feeling, the art style and the high-quality visuals really sets us apart from the other space games...

/Michael

Can you tell us anything about the story / lore without spoilers?

Also, what will player customization be like in this game, or what are you thinking about making it?

1) That is difficult as we will throw you right into the cation w/o giving you any clue who you are and what your mission is. You only get some coordinates and you have to find out everything by yourself. The cool thing is, since this a rogue-like and we roll the dice for your next run everytime after you died, you don't know where and when you might encounter other characters telling you bits of the story. Also, each time you die and after you have made a certain amount of progress, a piece of the story will be told. This means even the story will be unfold differently for every player.

2) that would be a question for Andreas or Hans-Christian to answer but they went to bed already ;)

/Michael

Have you guys played starlancer? (No, not freelancer, I'm talking of the criminally underrated predecessor)

Heard of it. Never played it.

/Hans-Christian

Haven't played it either, but I know that Sven has, so at least one of the coders has!

/Andreas

Can't wait for this game.. as a streamer I have pledged for alpha access :) Will the game be streamable at that stage you think?

Awesome, thanks! We are happy if you spread the word by streaming the Alpha ;-)

/Michael

On a scale 1 to 10, how Asimov will the lore be?

Hmm tough one... We have not created much of the lore, yet, but some of Asimovs themes will surely find their way in there. So I take an educated guess and say 5.87432004 ;-)

/Andreas

Thanks for doing this AMA! I've got a few questions about the VR aspect of your game:

1.) For the VR version, are you planning on locking it to any headset?

2.) What will the recommended controls be? Is there any plan for support of motion controllers (e.g. Oculus Touch, Vive controllers)?

3.) Will the VR mode be supported only in the first-person mode?

3a.) If not, how do you plan on implementing it in third-person?

4.) If the game does eventually release for PS4, do you plan to support Morpheus?

1.) No. We will see how many we can get and test before the release.

2.) Recommended controls will be mouse and keyboard. If we will get our hands on motion controllers we will test them and see if some features make sense for our game.

3.) Currently, yes. 3rd person view will most likely make you motion-sick.

3a.) If we feel it makes no sense, 3rd person view will not be an option for VR.

4.) Yes.

/Hans-Christian

Freelancer had something of a problem in that it's plot ended early into the game. Even if you explored all of the systems in all of the houses you were allowed free access to, about half of the map would still be unexplored, and there were still a lot of powerful ships that had to be unlocked.

Do you think Everspace could run into a similar problem, since the order of the plot is procedurally generated? Like, if a "normal" playthrough take 40 hrs. to find all of the cool stuff, do you have a way to make the plot that about that long to solve, or could we end up stumbling upon all the puzzle pieces in the first hour, and everything else is just a very extended playable epilogue?

Bonus Question: Is there a danger of running into plot points dangerously out of order? As in, dangerous encounters designed to challenge people with late-game equipment that you couldn't possibly have at that point? Like, is it possible we'll run into a late-game boss right out of the starting gate and either get wiped out every single time, have to run away from a dreadnought screaming while desperately trying to collect enough fuel to jump to the next system, or actually manage to kill him with starting gear and then have to spend the the next dozen "plot encounters" telling people, "Actually, I blew him up three systems ago." Because the first one would just suck and force you to have the world regen'ed, the third would be a little surreal (but possibly funny), and the second might be hilariously entertaining or it could just be the sucky first one with an extra serving of false hope.

I know what you mean. No, we won't allow that freedom. For example, you won't run into a late-game boss right in the beginning since he will only appear in higher sectors. Even then he might have a very little encounter chance that will increase with the level of upgrades you already unlocked. We don't want to use auto-leveling but we will not spawn random enemies right under your nose. We will have to strike a balance. From time to time you will run into very hard enemies, though. But you can flee though it's up to you.

/Hans-Christian

How long will the battles last? I'm looking forward to cruising around in the beautiful space you've made.

We intend to keep the runs rather short (20-40 mins maybe), so that players are motivated to try again and again after they've died, so I don't think that you'll be spending more than a couple of minutes in one location. We have given a little thought to a potential "cruise mode" though, where you can just jump into a randomly generated orbit and enjoy the ride, but currently this is just a thought, we don't know if we'll have it in the final game.

/Andreas

what programming language and tools did you use to create galaxy on fire?

C++ / Java, proprietary rendering engine, Photoshop, 3ds max, Excel.

/Hans-Christian

So what is the objective in everspace? And when can we expect a gameplay trailer?

Without spoiling too much, it's the classic rogue-like set-up in the vein of "Start at A and make it alive to Z then survive whatever is going on there and then be prepared for another surprise".

If you haven't already, you can see a lot of pre-alpha-gameplay here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0UqyGE2His or here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zT9yL0cI1E or here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9Ku2_1qOXc

/Andreas

Did you work on other games by Fishlabs? I loved Blades & Magic, would give anything for a smartphone version. Also DEEP was a pretty great project. Aaaah elementary school. We would sit around with our Sony Ericsson phones and play Java games all day.

Good old Java days - we have been working Blades & Magic, DEEP, Gladiator, Robot Alliance (the world's first FPS on a feature phone), Snowboard Hero and many more. Uwe, our creative director, worked on over 35 titles!

Blades & Magic was my personal favourite next to GoF2.

/Michael

hi guys awsome game, i really look forward to trying it. so my question is: what happen to fishlabs and how did all of you get togheter again?

That is a loooong story! If you have some time to kill check out the 2 hrs podcast we did with SpaceGameJunkie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoZPlvU_Rwk for more details.

/Michael

Kind of an off-topic one but - my only experience of GoF was a mobile game. Not Android or iOS, I mean a dumbphone - a Nokia. How cut down did you have to make that? Did you basically have to make a new game? How did developing for dumbphones work, anyway? I remember buying the same game for two different models of Nokia, and getting a much more simplified experience on one. Were there different versions for different phones with greater or lesser spec?

And, of course, sorry if you don't know anything about this. ;p

We began developing GoF for Sony Ericsson feature phones (K700, K750, K800, etc.) in Java. These phones came with a proprietary software engine that was pretty fast (Mascot Capsule 3D). To get the games running on Nokia phones we had to port it to the JSR-184 (Mobile 3D Graphics API) which was pretty slow so we had to reduce all textures and meshes down to a minimum, on some phones we even had to stay below 300kb of total file size. There were a lot of different versions for the various phones, more than a dozen.

/Hans-Christian

Okay I LOVED Galaxy on Fire 2 HD. But there was just one thing. None of the DLC was ported to PC. I heard this was because you guys went out of buisness. So what happened?

Yep, we know and we are not happy about that either. Back in the days at Fishlabs we had financial investors breathing down our neck to make F2P mobile games and as the PC version of GOF2 didn't make a lot of money the DLCs were canned :( If you are up for a 2 hrs podcast (0_o) head over to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoZPlvU_Rwk for more details!

/Michael

Any idea as to what the minimum/recommend system specs will be for Everspace?

I have to say, this is one of my most anticipated games! I can hardly wait for the BETA access next year :)

• OS: 64-Bit Windows 7 Service Pack 1
• Processor: 2 GHz Dual-Core 64-bit CPU
• Memory: 4GB RAM
• Graphics: DirectX10 Compatible GPU with 1 GB Video RAM
• DirectX: Version 10
• Mouse and Keyboard

/Michael

We made a rough estimate for the Kickstarter FAQ:

• OS: 64-Bit Windows 7 Service Pack 1
• Processor: 2 GHz Dual-Core 64-bit CPU
• Memory: 4GB RAM
• Graphics: DirectX10 Compatible GPU with 1 GB Video RAM
• DirectX: Version 10

However, with the game being developed with VR in mind (and thus requiring a very high framerate), there's a good chance it will run well even on a lower-end gaming system.

/Marco

Are those the minimums or recommended specs?

Those are the minimum specs. But as I said, take that with a grain of salt. It's actually way too early to be specific about that.

/Marco

Hi Rockfish Games,

I have an eye on this game since a while and will back you up when my family finally releases me from family trip tomorrow.

I looked into the Kickstarter and information (DevBlogs/etc.) and really like what you are building. My question would be how your game differences from similar games in development or already finished games in the past, the basic concepts are the same, but what flair do you think makes your game the game you are developing?

Second question if you have time (I've seen similar questions but still asking ;P), will there be any fortress like space stations or ships? I really like Eve Online for the huge ships you can build/crew up with and treat it like your base(defense, attack, back up moves, man I dont have words for that feeling) and develop your own fleets and travel through the universe, always under development and duty as commander.

Thanks

Hi! First question: We think the concept is different while the setting (space shooter) may be familiar. We try to make an single-player action space shooter with modern rogue-like elements and a new way of storytelling. So it's not a space-trading game, not a complex space-sim nor a space MMO.

Second question: There will be huge structures and ships but you won't be able to command any fleets. This is no commander-game, it's a rather personal game where you are on your own most of the time.

/Hans-Christian

What did you enjoy the most while making EVERSPACE? What was the most difficult part while making EVERSPACE?

In my opinion, the most enjoyable thing is to create our vision of the game, the way we would want to play it, without a big publisher breathing down our neck. The Kickstarter campaign allows us to do just that. Apart from that, using Unreal Engine 4 is a blast, especially as an artist.

The most difficult thing for me personally is managing the art team, i.e. setting up naming conventions, folder structures, a style guide etc. and enforcing all of those! :) Still fun, nonetheless.

/Marco

It looks like planets are just part of the background.. am I guessing correctly?

Yes, it's a space game, not a planet game ;)

/Michael

What is your ranked MMR?

I think no-one in our teams plays MOBAs, so... I guess 0.

/Hans-Christian

Hey, I was wondering how much development has gone into the game so far and how much longer do you plan to spend on the game itself. Also, will there be a public beta release?

We have started working on EVERSPACE at the beginning of this year. Last year we have been working on something very similar in UE4. The project didn't make it into full production but we got the grips in UE4 and could start with a new code base which is why everything is much more stable and running faster as well. Hence we are making good progress so far :)

/Michael

On a more personal level, what are your favorite films?

Blade Runner!

/Marco

Matrix I, Gladiator, Snatch, From Dusk Till Dawn, Pulp Fiction...

/Michael

Bill F****** Murray!

/Hans-Christian

Big fan of the Coen Brothers, Jim Jarmusch, Stanley Kubrick. So I'd say pretty much anything by them (excluding Intolerable Cruelty and Ladykillers)

/Andreas

Hey Michael,

As an aspiring entrepreneur who wants to start their own game company in a year or two, what advice do you have?

Well, pick you first title wisely and chose long-term relationships (your team, business partners and even investors) over short-term gain. Then you need to find something that is popular but not over-crowded and find a USP. Technical constrains of mobile phones ten years ago let us into making a 3D space shooter called Galaxy on Fire. Everyone thought we are nuts trying to bring 3D games onto mobile phones w/o GPU, poor CPU, very little memory, tiny screens and numpad controls. 30 million installs of GOF later and now making it into PC/console with EVERSPACE we couldn't be any happier!

This subject could make an AmA of its own ;)

/Michael

Hi, can I have a job?

Thanks but right now we have just the perfect team :)

/Michael