We are Black Lab Games, developers of the upcoming videogame Battlestar Galactica Deadlock. Ask Us Anything!

Whoa - this is the first I'm hearing about this game. Awesome!

In a sentence, what's the game all about?

Hooray, glad you now know about it!

In a sentence: 3D tactical combat in the Battlestar Galactica universe; take control of Colonial Fleet during the first Cylon War and resist the rising Cylon rebellion.

Sold!

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On a scale of "your cousin twice removed's facebook updates" to "VP of sales for solarwinds products", how spammy is your newsletter?

Uhm I wouldn't say it's too spammy.

You'd mostly receive notifications when a new trailer is out, or when we'd run an event like this or the gameplay reveal stream. Or of course when the game is out or we'd announce DLCs or promotions.

Does it involve soft currency, hard currency, and micro transactions?

Not planned.

Battlestar Galactica Deadlock is a premium game, there is not in-game transaction plan other than DLCs

So at best the game ends in a tie (ceasefire)?

Without getting into many details, let's just say that there are 14 story missions that bring the campaign to a climactic close!

Is it in the frakkin' ship? It sounds like it's in the frakkin' ship!!!

Yes, it's in the frakkin' ship

Glad to see my favorite show getting a PC game, will the players' HUD resemble the DRADIS layout we became familiar with in the show?

The HUD/interfaces from the show are most certainly a heavy influence and most aspects of the game UI should look pretty familiar

Been looking forward to this game since May, can't wait.

Half serious question: Why couldn't I be a beta tester?

Serious question: Will retreat or reinforces by FTL be possible? And if so, can FTL be knocked out?

Half serious answer : bad luck :) (though the beta isn't over yet)

Serious answer, we don't have that at present, but it's been raised during the beta, so we are looking into it.

That idea would be really cool. think its over, and cylons jump in more ships..really good idea.

think its over, and cylons jump in more ships

Oh, that we do have, in some of the more "cinematic" missions.

Are you guys planning modding support for the game? I'm sure there'd be a very avid fanbase eager to tackle it!

No doubt about the avid fanbase, but unfortuneatly we don't have support for mods. We do have 21 officially approved ship types in the game, and with the possibility of more in future DLC.

DLC....

Will there be free ships added to the game?

We don't have plans right now, as we are still focused on finishing the game. A lot will depend on how the game is received and how the community supports it over time. We would definitely like to expand the universe further and make sure the game is well supported after launch.

As a BSG fan and having scene the gameplay I was wondering how cannon you are attempting to make this game? Outside of Blood and Chrome we dont see a lot of ships from that time but we still have the Osiris and Loki class, will those be included? Also why doesnt galactica have a full load of batteries topside?

We definitely want to make a game that is as authentic as possible to the series and the universe.

There are a number of new ships in the game, which have all been validated by the showrunners. This doesn’t mean they are “canon” per se, but B&C was a heavy influence on the design aesthetics. They have also been designed with interesting and varied gameplay in mind. There is always a tension between exactly replicating a show/movie and making the interesting and fun, so we've done our best to find the right balance.

The Galactica loadout is the same situation. That said, it's also worth noting that the game is set a number of years before B&C, and that armaments could change during a period of rapid military escalation.

I already asked a question, but would like to ask another.

Will this game be a buy once / own forever type game, free-to-play with options to buy stuff, or some other sales model?

Buy once. We are a bit old-fashioned like that :)

Hello! And thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to do an AMA. What type of game will this end up being? And what pushed you to pursue development of this one instead of something else.

Hi. It's a strategy game where you take command of Colonial fleet during the early years of the first Cylon War, just after the Cylon rebellion. As well as the high level strategy aspects, there is a big focus on ship to ship battles.

We developed it because we love BSG. We had a few options before this project started, and it was a no-brainer when the opportunity came up.

How long will a typical battle last? Because when you showed it in real time (no turns replay), the replay of the fight was over in seconds. This kind of defeats the feeling of these all powerful capital ships slugging it out dont you think? We saw a jupiter class hold off 3 (advanced) basestars for 10 minutes in the series.

It varies a lot depending on the makeup of the fleet and the skill of the player. We are still balancing, so the video might not reflect what gets released. In terms of making a good game, the focus for the ideal length of a battle includes the time to make moves, more than just the length of the replay. That said, I've certainly had replays last a few minutes in recent times.

Will it support Linux?

Sorry, we have no plans for a Linux version at the moment!

Can you at least add it to your wishlist? Maybe something post-release?

We will consider it but I'm afraid we can't make promises at the moment, sorry!

Whoa whoa, back up, wait a minute. What upcoming game?

Hi!

We are developing a 3D strategy game called Battlestar Galactica Deadlock.

You can read more about it here: http://slitherine.com/bsgdeadlock

Do you think a non-gamer that loves BS:G would like the game? My dad has a hard-time getting into games but BS:G was his favorite show back when it was still on air and it still is to this day :)

I hope so, but I can't say a definite yes to that. We probably do assume some familiarity with games, it's not a "casual" game.

Hey Guys thank you for your time. In a nut shell, release date? Please and thank you!

Hi!

Still to be determined exactly, but late northern hemisphere summer on PC, a few months later on Xbox One and PS4 (but definitely this year). We'll make the release date known as soon as we know ourselves :)

What was the hardest part of completing this game?

Probably making a game that will match the expectation of BSG fans. As fans ourselves, we jumped at the chance to work on a BSG game, but quickly realised a lot of people would be excited by the idea of what we are doing, so making sure we can make as many people as possible are happy with what we produce turned out to be a bigger challenge than we expected. It's been well worth it though :)

Can you tell us a release date if you have one and how big of battles we can expect? Also what is the game going to be like when not in a battle? I am hyped for this!

Release date is still to be worked out exactly we are on track to release before the end of northern hemisphere summer (a few months later on consoles, but definitely this year).

Battles are between fleet groups that contain usually 4-7 ships, plus fighter compliments - each is controlled individually.

During the campaign, when not in battle, you'll be building and managing your fleets, deploying fleets around the Cyrannus system to counter the Cylon threat. You need to keep the 12 Colonies happy, and they get pretty upset when they have a cylon fleet in orbit :) There is also a system of blueprints that unlock as you progress to get new tech - ships, fighters, munition types.

And multiplayer when you are done with the campaign :)

This sounds awesome and I love the simultaneous turn based battle allowing us to plan moves and enjoy the battle!

And there is a cool replay feature too, so you can watch the action of the battle afterwards in real time. My favourite bit, personally :)

Hey so excited for this! Is there a level/player difficulty setting? Also is there a rollback or a chance to play over levels again?

Yes, there are difficulty levels in the campaign. Presently, if you start on a difficulty that it too high, you'd need to restart to play on a different difficulty.

Can we have the pc specs for the game please?. I want to know if I can play this on my laptop or if I have to wait for the xbox release

The minimum specs are as follow:

OS: Window 7, 8, 8.1 or 10 (64 bit only) Processor: 2.0GHz or higher Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: 1GB NVIDIA Geforce 460/ATI Radeon HD 5770 or better DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 6 GB available space Sound Card: DirectX Compatible Sound Card Additional Notes: Broadband Internet connection for multiplayer required for Multiplayer

These are the recommended ones:

RECOMMENDED: OS: Window 7, 8, 8.1 or 10 (32 or 64 bit) Processor: 2.5GHz or higher Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: 2GB ATI Radeon HD 7970, 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 or better DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 6 GB available space Sound Card: DirectX Compatible Sound Card Additional Notes: Broadband Internet connection for multiplayer required for Multiplayer

Hi!

Specs are listed on the Steam page. You will need dedicated graphics (i.e. not an integrated Intel graphics chipset).

what platform?

Hi!

The game will be released on late summer on PC, and a bit later (but definetely this year) on PS4 and Xbox One

PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4

Will this game be like eve, more spreadsheets and numbers, or maybe like sfc3 with actual player combat?

It's very combat focused, which you can see in this video which shows a "skirmish" battle. The strategy layer of the campaign is all about planning and building fleets, but I don't think you'll need a spreadsheet!

Any post release plans as of yet? Would love to see more ships added, especially Valkyrie or the version of the Galactica from Blood and Chrome with all the guns.

Even jumping into the future and giving some "modern" battlestars like Pegasus or Cylon Baseships.

We do have plans yes :D but I'm afraid we can't say more about them - yet...

I had a question. Will the Valkyrie Type Battlestar from the series be in the game? (Playable, buildable, researchable in the story line and one on one?)

Not in the initial game, no. We've got the well known "core" ships, like the Galactica and Vipers, etc, and a number of new ships made specifically for the game. At the time the game is set, the Colonial fleet is still largely being put together from the fleets of the various colonies, and we've made designs to reflect that.

Can you elaborate on how customizable the skirmish mode is?

In Skirmish mode first you'll select the Map and the Fleet Points limit - the more points you play with, the bigger the fleets you and your opponent are allowed to command.

Then you can choose an existing Fleet, edit one, or create a new one from scratch. You get to choose what ship classes to include in your fleet, as well as their loadout. Naturally, a stronger and more powerful ship like a Jupiter Class Battlestar costs more (base cost 2400 points) than, say, a smaller Manticore (base cost 500 point). You also get to choose which fleet you face if you're facing the AI.

Then, you need to edit the deployment of your fleet: it means that you set the starting position of your ships.

Excellent. And can you play with/against multiple AIs in skirmish mode?

I'm afraid you can't

Sounds cool. Have you always been battlestar galactica fans? Ps: there should definitely be a "bears, beats, battlestar galactica" Easter egg or something

The game is full of easter eggs but we'll let you find them all :D no spoilers.

And many in our staff have been Battlestar Galactica fans since the childhood. Others were pretty much forced into it during the development of Star Hammer :D

Will there be a campaign? And if so will there be a cylon one and a colonial one?

There will be a campaign, and you will play as the Colonials.

The Cylons are only playable in Skirmish (single player and multiplayer).

What year is it?

4 years into the First Cylon War.

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I'd definitely like to think it was the latter! I think the proposal we put forward made it pretty clear that we loved the franchise, were only interested in making a "good" game (i.e. not a cash-in), and would treat it with respect, so I think that definitely helped.

What motivated you to go into this line of work?

Personally, it's all I've ever wanted to do since I was a young 'un

Games are such an interesting field to work in, a mix of art, culture and cool technology that no other profession has.

The idea of making "fun" for a living is pretty cool too :)

near and at release of the game will you be showing off more trailers or live game play footage. possibly even going as far as asking youtube channels to play the game? ex: getting achivement hunter to do a lets play or live stream.

Most definitely, though the specifics of that are with the marketing people. You'll definitely see more of the game before it gets released

If you lose a Battlestar in battle, is it gone for good, or does it end up in the shipyard?

It's gone for good! You can build news ones, however they are pretty expensive to construct, so I wouldn't recommend using them for ramming basestars :)

Is it possible to pull off the "Apollo Maneuver" then with a battlestar?

Any ramming consists of a sacrifice. You will lose your ship if you ram. You can take a decision and do a calculated sacrifice though.

Will the games soundtrack be released? i heard bagpipes and drums during one of the live streams and immediately fell in love so if not you guys should definitely consider it.

Honestly don't know yet. There are a number of things we'd need to work out with various parties for this to happen. But I agree, it's very good :) (and yes, I know, I'm biased)

Who did the sound track? Will there be a way for us to use our own music, I'm assuming you aren't licensed for the show sountrack.

The soundtrack was composed by Ash Gibson Greg, who has a background mostly in TV, film and theatre music, and is more recently doing more work in games. We felt his experience with cinematic soundtracks would be a good fit for the project, and I think it's worked out pretty well.

We don't have support for using your own music, sorry.

Thanks for taking the time out for this, really excited about the game. I'm a bsg fanatic, and it looks great! Thanks for putting so much into it and being fans of the series. Only fans could do it justice :)

So say we all!

How much will the 3rd degree play in the game? Space combat frequently plays out in 2d, and I love it when space/flight games take full advantage of height.

We've tried to strike a balance between making 3D useful and usable, without being too confusing and hard to control and use.

All ships have armour in 6 areas, left/right (port/starboard), front/back, top and bottom. So if say your port armour is near depleted, you can use "height" to expose the bottom or top of the ship if required.

Also, a turrets firing arc depends on the position of the weapon on the ships. So a port weapon has about a 90 degree arc, whereas a dorsal (top) weapon has 360 degrees arc, but can't fire at a target "below" the ship.

Please tell me we'll be able to pilot a Viper?

As in sit in the cockpit? Sorry, it's not a Viper simulator :(

You will be able to command squadrons of Vipers though, and give them orders of which targets to attach or defend. They can even shoot down incoming missiles.

Please tell me the game feels authentic?

The game feels authentic.

Seriously, that's one of our core goals for the game, which we established right at the start of the project.

What's the highest MK of Viper we're going to see? III, IV?

It's still early in the war, so only up to the Mk II in this game.

When approaching Universal studios for usage of their IP, how engaged was they? Also how much passion do they have for the franchise, did they give you guys the Green light to do whatever you could do/ use or did they have a team to fact check and scrutinise?

The role of the BSG showrunners has been pivotal in getting our vision of the game fit into the universe. There is a strong fit of purposes here: we, as a dev team, are passionate about the show and we wanted to put our passion into the game, while NBCU wanted to be able to offer new content to fans of the series and gamers. We are really going in the same direction and we think that shows very clearly within the game.

They have been a fundamental part of the process and its evident how NBC Universal wanted to be involved and active: they are protective over this incredible world they have created and it’s only flattering they have allowed us to build upon it with their help.

Will you bring back Muffit?

Er, no. Sorry. Our game is based on '03 series, so Muffit isn't a thing. Poor Muffit.

What will be the price of this game when it is first released? Also is the game play for this game similar to Star Hammer: The Vanguard Prophecy?

Hi!

In regards of your first question, per publisher's policy I'm afraid we are not allowed to reveal the price yet!

When compared to Star Hammer, Battlestar Galactica Deadlock uses a similar gameplay system of two phases: planning and execution. It’s also similar in how ships are moved on screen in the planning phase, with a full 3D environment where units can be moved in all directions. Other than that, the actual gameplay is dramatically different, the story and skirmish modes are structured in a different way. We also have multiplayer, a fully integrated replay system, a contextual UI, fully rendered 3d menus, a vastly different set of units, characters and the list goes on. In short, there are huge changes and it's a vastly different experience!

Will this game make sense or be enticing to someone who has never watched any battle star Galactica?

We hope it will be!

It is a very deep strategy game, and we think strategy fans in general will find it very intriguing. Who knows, the game might even make you interested in the series :)

I love BSG, I hope it isn't just one giant escort mission though. Maybe have the survivors listed as a stat?

Hi!

The game is set in the First Cylon War, it won't be one giant escort mission :) you'll have to defend the Twelve Colonies.

Why?

We are huge fans of Battlestar Galactica and this is a dream come true for us!

Awesome! That is wicked! Congrats and I wish you guys every success!

Thank you for your kind words!

Will there be bears or beets?

Bears, beets, Battlestar Galactica!

Will this game be similar to the free to play/pay to win browser based game that was out several years ago?

No, it will be completely different. We are a different studio working for a different publisher!

Curious, do you guys have access to every single piece of audio from that series? Like all the music and the voices of actors and stuff?

If so you have to find a way to incorporate a line that Cpt. Lee Adama says. I'm sorry I'm a bad fan and don't know the exact episode but it's from season 2 or 3 ? when they find the second battlestar and the admiral of that ship is crazy and they think they need to destroy the galactica or something and he says

"Nothing can destroy the battlestar galactica, NOTHIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnn"

It's so funny it's honestly the best part of the entire series for me.

We are set in the First Cylon War and we're using different characters. Our audio and voice-over are completely original and have been recorded exclusively for this game.

Will bears or beets be involved?

Definetely.

Let me quickly start by saying good job so far!

Are there any plans currently to polish some of the visuals of the game and are there plans to tease/show a little of the single player campaign?

After watching the livestream you guys did I liked the general game play you have produced. However the ships themselves and some of the explosions look a bit cheap, plastic and low poly in places. Coming from Battlefleet Gothic which nailed its targeted aesthetic and had a wide range of graphics settings, it's hard not to expect decent visuals in a game of this style.

Now that's not to say visuals are the be all and end all. Gameplay is most important and I think you have that sorted so I'll almost certainly buy (The WeGo system is cool but I'd like to see a bit of the single player campaign first).

Perhaps it was the stream quality or the darker setting that the BSG universe has (with lots of grey, silver and black for colours) compared to BFG that gave the impression I have.

I want this game to be a good success and it seems like you guys are on the right track so far. Keep up the good work! salutes

Hi!

To answer your first question, we'll keep improving the game's visuals where we can. We know there is room for improvement and we'll do our best to deliver a great game under every aspect - visuals included. Visuals wise, the latest areas we improved since the reveal stream are character portraits and a very cool looking (in our opinion!) cinematic replay feature.

To answer your second answer, we will show some of the single player campaign. It's definetely in the plans, it's something we want to do. We think we have a cool system for it, we're looking forward to show it.

Thank you for your feedback!

Thanks for the fast response!

I know my comment sounded a little critical but don't take it too hard. You have got the vast majority of things right. The gamplay looks great, atmosphere, UI, music. Just a bit of touching up here and there and I'm sure it will be fantastic.

Don't worry - honest criticism is always helpful. We value it a lot, so thank you!

Will Starbuck be a guy or a girl?

I'm afraid Starbuck hasn't been born yet. The game is set before his / her birth, during the First Cylon War.

Are you only using the look of the Galactica from the 2003 series or can you select the 1978 version as an alternative?

Our biggest source of inspiration is definetely the 2003 series, but we always had the classic series on the back of the mind.

There is only one graphical style though, there's no optional / alternative style.

Are you guys planing to release a Linux version? If no, why not? What are the barriers of porting or releasing a game for Linux today?

We are not planning a Linux version at the moment, sorry. It takes time and resources to port a game to Linux, and right now we are focusing on other platforms.

What sort of size battles are we looking at? A few capital ships + loads of smaller craft that get micro-managed or handfuls of capitals and squadron-like units of fighters?

A handful of ships per side, ranging from around 2-3 to 7. They can range in size, from smaller support vessels to capital ships.

Squadrons are treated differently, and they can be carried by specific ships.

Interesting. As a BSG fan (both the old and the new series) I will follow you guys for sure.

Thank you! You can subscribe to the newsletter at www.slitherine.com/bsgdeadlock

How do you deal with the pressure when creating a game based on such a popular show and are there any similar (old or recent) games that have lent you inspiration to create this game?

Stress? What stress? UNHEARD OF!

Anyway, seriously speaking, it has been a great ride so far, and we're really greateful to have had this opportunity.

Sorry I'm late to the thread.

This game looks effing amazing. Will you be able to jump into any of the attack ships, or is this all top-down (i.e., fleet tactics)?

Thank you for your comment!

You command all of the fleet and you can't pilot any ship directly if that's what you would like to know! You can follow / lock the camera on specific ships during replays though.

Can I pirate this?

Well we certainly hope you won't!

The last AMA from game developers I read was No Mans Sky, will the game be that overhyped and shitty? If not, how do you plan on doing that?

Hi!

We certainly hope that it won't disappoint anyone! People who took part in the Beta so far had very positive comments and opinions, and we are going to give all available information as well as let streamers and reviewers try the game before it releases so players can have an impression of what the game is, what it contains, and they can form their own opinion. We want to be completely transparent.

Will planets and asteroids come into play as obstacles or for any other purpose? If so, will they be destructible?

Planets, no. Asteroids can be cover. They aren't destructable, but other things like space stations most certainly are!

can we have a release date please?

We don't have an exact date ourselves yet, but currently on track to release in late northern hemisphere summer on PC, a bit later on consoles, but definitely this year.

Will there be time to preorder or will the game be released immediately?

We are definetely planning pre-orders for consoles, but probably not on PC

Will you guys do a console beta?

That's tough to set up logistically, so probably not, sorry

Hi longtime listener first time caller:

Can you give an example of something you are most proud of when working with an established franchise?

Is your game considered part of the mainstream canon? Thanks!

Just working on such a revered franchise is pretty humbling by itself, but I think I'm most proud to be able to add something new to a franchise that I love.

RE: Canon. The new ships have all been validated by the showrunners. This doesn’t mean they are “canon” per se, but they can definitely be seen or used in other iteration of the franchise in the future.