Satellite Reign: Syndicate/Syndicate Wars reborn

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Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

EDIT: Satellite Reign has been funded as of 1:11am Brisbane time on July 24th 2013!

EDIT 2: They now support PayPal pledges. http://satellitereign.com/pledge/

I have been interested in several Kickstarter projects, but never enough to actually pledge anything... until now.

Satellite Reign had me at "spiritual successor to Syndicate." I have fond memories of playing Syndicate and Syndicate Wars on my old IBM Aptiva.

This new game will be a real-time strategy game in which, like Syndicate, you control four agents in your pursuit to take control from your enemies in a dynamic open city, using whatever means are at your disposal.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/5livesstudios/satellite-reign

In-Engine Gameplay video

In-Engine Test of a custom per-pixel reflection shader (creates a nice rainy Blade Runner vibe)

In-Engine Agent Augmentation Example

The Kickstarter pitch video

Reddit AMA session:
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1i18ea/we_are_5_lives_studios_the_team_kickstarting/

Developer Talk Video 1:
http://youtu.be/nDJGjXoXpOA

Developer Talk Video 2:
http://youtu.be/bxNCiiIVKNw

The Support Agent

The Hacker Agent

The Soldier Agent

The Assassin Agent

Vote for it on Steam Greenlight here:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=157080530

Really nice interview with Mike Diskett at Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

A blog post from Mike Diskett on Gamasutra, about the ups and downs of his first Kickstarter experience.

Here's the pitch from the Kickstarter site.

quote:

Satellite Reign is a real-time, class-based strategy game. You control a team of four agents, each with distinct and unique abilities, collectively battling for control of a fully simulated, living cyberpunk city.

The game world is designed to facilitate emergent gameplay, giving you the tools and freedom to play how you want to play, so you can create strategies and scenarios that not even we had anticipated!

Customise your team with the strength to destroy your enemies head-on, or hack into their facilities to manipulate their infrastructure without them ever knowing you were even there.

Will you take down your enemies with brute-force? Covert espionage and infiltration? Or will you use propaganda to influence the citizens of the city and overthrow the controlling powers?

Satellite Reign will be released on Windows, Mac OS and Linux.

-Game World-
The world's governments are controlled by mega-corporations, democracy to the highest bidder. Society is structured for the benefit of those in power. The poor exist in the dark squalid underbelly of the city, while the wealthy swim in opulence and luxury on the upper tiers, and the vast middle-class are too comfortable with their lives of convenience to see the world for what it really is. Corporate police patrol the streets, brutally maintaining the status quo, all under the guise of keeping the people safe.

The time for change is now, as a mysterious organisation rises from the slums of the city. They'll have to bribe, steal, hack and augment their way through the barriers between them and their ultimate goal...but what are they trying to achieve? To free the masses from the corporate stranglehold, or to take control for themselves? That, is up to you.

-City Simulation-
This is one big, open, living metropolis. The city isn't just a cool location (although it is pretty cool), it actually functions like a city; the streets are bustling with people by day, and controlled by criminal organisations by night. Power grids actually power the city, information and finances flow from one district to another, and you can use all of these things to your advantage.

The entire game-world is designed around emergent gameplay. Civilians, police and corporate soldiers will all react uniquely to your actions. Power conduits, communication networks and security systems are there for you to hijack, modify or destroy. Learn how the city and its inhabitants operate, then exploit them all to advance your agenda.

-Player Choice-
The city is huge and you can move around and tackle objectives however you want to. You won't be spoon-fed one mission after another, you'll be able to use whatever means you can to get to your final goal. Bribe scientists to advance your technologies, and kidnap doctors to augment your agents. Steal money from the banks to fund your war against the corporations, and exploit neural implants to bend the will of others. Or, try to take your objectives through good old-fashioned brute-force.

-Tactical Combat-
Distinct character classes give you total control over how you approach a situation. Different classes with different combinations of augmentations, gear and weapons gives you the ability to customise your team and your experience.

-Corporate Espionage-
Not every problem is easily solved by shoving a gun in its face. Sometimes the situation requires a bit more subtlety, a bit more finesse. Try siphoning cash out of the corporate account, bribing a bank manager to �misplace� his security pass, or steal the identity of a corporate soldier to pass through security checkpoints unseen.

-Team-
Dean Ferguson, Chris Conte, Mitchell Clifford, Brent Waller and Mike Diskett (Director on Syndicate Wars).
5 Lives Studios is an independent developer. Our core team consists of five dedicated industry professionals with many years of experience. Not only are we all industry veterans, but we also have a long history of working together, allowing us to make games like a well-oiled machine. Some of us have worked together for nearly a decade! Collectively, we have worked on a wide range of genres and notable titles including the Syndicate series, GTA IV, Darksiders II, Star Wars, L.A. Noire, and many more.

Sounds good, right? I certainly think so. I really hope they succeed.

In the meantime, what do you guys think? Have any great memories to share of Syndicate or Syndicate Wars? Hopes for the "remake?"

Gooble Rampling fucked around with this message at 19:00 on Aug 26, 2013

# ¿ Jun 30, 2013 14:36

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 11:21

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

AxeManiac posted:

Whoops, my bad. I didn't see this was approved already. That is good, I'm hopeful this game will turn out good!

Whew! I thought I was going to be in trouble.

Just to keep up some discussion, what do you guys think of the fact that they'll be using Unity? Personally I think that's awesome. I've been working with that engine in my day job for years now and I think it's an excellent call. It seems to be popping up more often as the engine of choice in Kickstarter projects. For instance, Shadowrun Returns was initially going to use one engine but decided to go with Unity instead. It would be interesting if it became the standard for Kickstarter devs.

# ¿ Jun 30, 2013 23:19

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Samurai Sanders posted:

Will it have nuclear hand grenades? I want nuclear hand grenades. Every game from Syndicate Wars on should have had them, but doesn't.

Not sure, but it sounds pretty likely. Here's a comment quote from Diskett himself:

quote:

Personally I won't be happy until I'm rampaging through the city with a weapon so powerful it literally sucks the light out of the surroundings, vehicle fall from the sky, the earth begins to crack as its quantum nano grid powers up into a deafening crescendo to deliver a tear in the fabric of reality that cuts a swathe of pain and suffering through all who stand against me.
But hey if minigun is your thing, you wont be disappointed.
.MikeD

# ¿ Jun 30, 2013 23:43

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

lethial posted:

Speaking of Unity, esp. in the role that it can play for this game, I don't suppose Unity is built with destructable environment in mind is it?

Hell yes it is. It has NVIDIA PhysX built right in. You can do some pretty destructive stuff with it if you plan for it.

Fwoderwick posted:

From the sounds of things I really need to play Syndicate Wars again if that's going to be a closer touchstone. It's been so long and I've yet to put the effort in to try and get my copy working on modern PCs. Robbing banks was fun, leveling the entire building for personal gain.

I just caved myself and grabbed another copy of Syndicate Wars from GOG. Right now it's only 3 bucks, so why not. Their installer is easy and the game runs great in 64-bit Windows 7 (using DOSBox of course). http://www.gog.com/gamecard/syndicate_wars

Gooble Rampling fucked around with this message at 01:15 on Jul 1, 2013

# ¿ Jul 1, 2013 00:52

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

I just played half an hour of Syndicate Wars. It actually holds up better than I expected. It's really funny that being able to rotate the view was such a gimmick back then. I guess it is beneficial in gameplay though when your agents are under an overhang or something.

# ¿ Jul 1, 2013 02:54

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Mug posted:

I emailed the guys making Satellite Reign to introduce myself (I'm making Black Annex) and they were like "Yeah, we know who you are" and my heart was all a flutter. This is going to be an amazing game, really happy to have so much Syndicate love in Australia.

You're the Black Annex guy? Too cool. I voted for that on Greenlight. How's it coming along?

# ¿ Jul 1, 2013 12:38

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Mug posted:

Haha, it's still really weird when my reputation precedes me even on SA. Black Annex is coming along really good, I just uploaded a chunk of gameplay footage if you wanna check it out. Hopefully this is kinda relevant to this thread I guess?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shD2uz-P3fs

Totally relevant I think, considering the obvious Syndicate influence. It's really looking great. Thanks for sharing.

# ¿ Jul 1, 2013 14:24

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Fwoderwick posted:

Right, get your names in for the not-Persuadotron (which there will be if they know what's good for them ). Members of the board, I present to you, the Electro-Woo.

How about the Indoctrinator? Sounds official and menacing.

# ¿ Jul 1, 2013 16:35

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Cstar posted:

Church of the New Epoch's Persuadertron was called Indoctrinator in Syndicate Wars, tho.

e: Is there anything preventing SR from using the name Persuadertron anyways? Don't think it's trademarked or anything.

Ha, of course. I love it when the old memory banks polish off a stolen idea and present it to me as something new.

Regarding the Persuadertron, 5 Lives haven't mentioned it specifically but I would assume they would be cautious about stepping on any IP toes.

# ¿ Jul 1, 2013 17:51

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Evil Canadian posted:

Still probably not a great name though as that means nothing to people who didn't play Syndicate Wars like myself, name just seems silly.

I agree that the name leaves something to be desired, but hey if it gets made then the title will be just something to click past in order to play (what looks to be) a fun game.

# ¿ Jul 1, 2013 19:25

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

I like the way you think, Cheston.

By the way, it's up for vote on Steam Greenlight now. Vote for it!
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=157080530

# ¿ Jul 2, 2013 13:16

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Fwoderwick posted:

Apparently there'll be the first update video up soon, talking about morality and interaction with the cities population and in the meantime there's a piece of concept art wallpaper featuring the four agents. Not sure what's going on with that guy on the left, apart from apparently missing a right elbow he seems to be puppeteering something that's hovering behind him?

Good to see Daft Punk branching out a bit too.

Ha! It looks like they fixed "weird elbow guy" almost immediately.

# ¿ Jul 2, 2013 15:39

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

All right! First developer chat video update. It has morality (or lack thereof), gameplay elements and beard talk.
http://youtu.be/nDJGjXoXpOA

# ¿ Jul 2, 2013 15:50

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Cloud Potato posted:

Really nice interview with Mike Diskett at Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

Thanks! Added to the OP.

# ¿ Jul 2, 2013 23:34

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

The one thing I hope they clarify in the next video is whether the player will have a choice over their four-man team composition. Do we always have to have one of each class or can we mix and match, like in the recent XCOM for instance? Sounds like that may not be the case, but it's all fluid right now anyway.

# ¿ Jul 4, 2013 00:10

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Angryboot posted:

Between Syndicate Wars and Crusader: No Remorse I was setting people on fire left and right in the late 90's.

That reminds me, I should go over to GOG and see about picking up a copy of Crusader. I got a copy as a present back when it came out but could never get it to play properly on my old PC.

# ¿ Jul 4, 2013 14:35

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Apparently there was a big demand for boxed copies of the game, so they just updated the Kickstarter with a tier for that. I personally don't care either way but I guess it makes sense for a classic game remake to come in a box. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/5livesstudios/satellite-reign/posts/529402

# ¿ Jul 4, 2013 16:01

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Darkhold posted:

How does everyone feel about the funding so far? It's been slowish compared to the 'big' kickstarters but pretty fair for one of the lesser known ones. I'm hoping for at least 600k.

I'm slightly worried, but this is the first one I've backed and really followed closely. The few Kickstarters that I have vaguely been aware of in the past have either fallen on their faces or soared to ridiculous funding heights almost immediately. This slow burn is killing me.

Gooble Rampling fucked around with this message at 17:00 on Jul 5, 2013

# ¿ Jul 5, 2013 16:20

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Darkhold posted:

Another update. I'm starting to think these guys need to do some consolidation here...

Thanks for posting these updates. I'll try to add some more to the OP.

# ¿ Jul 10, 2013 15:22

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Darkhold posted:

Update about the AI coding. Here if you want to read the whole thing.
Followed by some Sim like stuff about each person's wants and needs influencing how they react with needs decaying over time. Sounds like it could be good or Oblivion Radiant AI bad. I guess we'll see if their programming chops are up to it.

Exciting! Personally it's this kind of stuff that interests me the most about the potential game. Given that AI is Mike's bread and butter as a programmer I have confidence that they'll set up some cool emergent behavior. Now whether they will also have the time to tweak it to perfection, I don't know.

# ¿ Jul 13, 2013 15:09

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Here's another update post in which they show a bit about the Support class.

After hearing their recent clarification about being able to customize the classes I am much more excited to see more about them.

# ¿ Jul 14, 2013 17:35

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Fwoderwick posted:

Also, that dude has a seriously painful looking skull implant. Administer 2 paracetamol to that man.

Yeah, it looks achingly fresh, doesn't it?

I prodded them on the AI update to possibly share a white box level, but no real response so far.

# ¿ Jul 15, 2013 01:56

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Fwoderwick posted:

Echo echo _echo

Does that mean your agents to some extent have voices so that they can complete some objectives by social interaction? Are we going to have quest givers that you talk to?

I got the impression that things like charisma had more of an impact on whether civilians flee screaming when they see you or not. I really hope there aren't any fetch quests or anything.

# ¿ Jul 15, 2013 23:13

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Darkhold posted:

Any case there's been a decent upswing in the pledges today.

Yeah, it is looking better. Man, the tension is killing me. I have to wonder if they are keeping a nice gameplay mockup in their back pocket to release at a strategic time. I hope so.

# ¿ Jul 17, 2013 00:56

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Now there's a Hacker Agent update. Not much we hadn't learned already, but it sounds like a fun class to work with.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/5livesstudios/satellite-reign/posts/541402

# ¿ Jul 17, 2013 13:57

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Ugh, I really want to see some test gameplay footage but it doesn't look like it's going to happen. Here's a recent developer quote from the comments. I swear it's like they're teasing me!

quote:

Right now I have a white box world with 4 agents, a few civilians, a couple of enemy AI and a basic traffic system, its the sort of thing that might appeal to the backers we all ready have but isn't going to to get a ton of new media coverage which is what we really need.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2013 14:32

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Darkhold posted:

I said it before but Stonehearth got a really big boost off of sending their prototype off to youtube let's play people. All you could do was build a house but that was enough.

They need to stop worrying about showing things in a rough state and reaching out to some of these niche people with audiences.

I can kind of see where they're coming from. Having worked in game dev I have found a startling percentage of people just can't use their imagination when looking at a prototype white-box level. You'll show them some cool system or feature but they totally ignore it because all the lighting and normal/spec maps aren't in place.

That being said, this is Kickstarter, they shouldn't have to try and sell early visuals to a mass audience. It just needs to appeal to slightly more people.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2013 14:59

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Here's an update about the Soldier Agent...
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/5livesstudios/satellite-reign/posts/546002

# ¿ Jul 22, 2013 13:25

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

We're almost there!

Check out this funny and insightful blog post Diskett just posted on Gamasutra. I think it answers a lot of the second guessing critiques people have made about this kickstarter by going over their own mistakes. Basically they went in without really knowing the "tips and tricks" of a successful kickstarter campaign.

quote:

Just because InXile and Double Fine can run a kickstarter without gameplay footage and a few sentences about the game and a smile, doesn't mean you can.

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MikeDiskett/20130722/196705/A_Letter_from_the_trenches_of_a_Kickstarter.php

# ¿ Jul 22, 2013 23:14

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Darkhold posted:

Enviromental destruction is well within reach.

I think environmental destruction would be cool. I just know from experience that something like that can be a real time sink to get right, especially if you throw it in after you've already established a bunch of working systems. I would almost be happier without it just to get a solid game sooner. Of course if they start with it in mind then that's a different case.

# ¿ Jul 23, 2013 20:57

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

They just had a fun little TwitchTV feed. Mike gets his agents killed as he plays Syndicate Wars and they even show a quick peak behind the curtain at a white box level for Satellite Reign. https://www.twitch.tv/5livesstudios/b/434914769

# ¿ Jul 24, 2013 02:09

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

hambeet posted:

gently caress, more people need to pledge to this. I just found this game kickstarter thanks to this thread and have changed my pants after wetting them.

Excellent. Spread the word. Let's kick them well over the line!

# ¿ Jul 24, 2013 12:17

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

All right! The Kickstarter has been a success! As of 1:11am Brisbane time on July 24th 2013 Satellite Reign has been funded!

# ¿ Jul 24, 2013 16:16

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Darkhold posted:

Where's all these super awesome updates that were supposed to hit? Or were those pretty average updates supposed to be it?

Personally, I was just happy for the quick glimpse at the white box test level that Mike shared in the TwitchTV stream. I just wanted to see something that indicated tangible progress and that did it for me.

# ¿ Jul 25, 2013 13:03

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Excelsiortothemax posted:

Just tired of seeing the katana all over the place is all. Dude's already wearing a trench coat. All he needs is sunglasses and a long pony tail and he'd be THAT GUY from every single crappy RPG I've been in set in a modern setting.

While I am also tired of "that guy" I have to disagree that the concept art really looks that close to what you are describing. It looks to me more like a parkour Tricky with electronics and blades. Overall pretty cool.

http://www.brentwaller.com/satellitereign/MeetTheAssassin.jpg

Also since you can use whatever bodies you find and it sounds like you can customize each agent somewhat, it really would be up to the player to make it look like "that guy."

# ¿ Jul 25, 2013 17:45

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

This just in: The first stretch goal has been achieved. Composer Russell Shaw will now be on board!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Shaw_(composer)

Next goal: Localization

Gooble Rampling fucked around with this message at 18:12 on Jul 25, 2013

# ¿ Jul 25, 2013 17:58

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Leb posted:

It does, indeed, look ambitious but isn't there going to be a lot less focus on story/RPG elements in Reign?

Yes, they are focused mostly on getting the systems right. The story will be minimal much like the old Syndicate games. If they get to that stretch goal for the writer guy to come on board then it might be a fuller story but even then this type of game is essentially playing in a fun little sandbox with your trench coat clad toy soldiers.

# ¿ Jul 26, 2013 13:25

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Oh, pretty...

Check out this screen shot of a test they are doing with a per-pixel reflection shader that they are looking at using.

Gooble Rampling fucked around with this message at 16:33 on Jul 26, 2013

# ¿ Jul 26, 2013 15:05

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Well, they made the Localization stretch goal of 400k. The next one that everyone is clamoring for is Environmental Destruction (building leveling, etc.) at 440k. I am doubtful that they'll make that by Sunday but I could be wrong. I almost hope they don't make it so they aren't spread too thin on feature creep.

# ¿ Jul 27, 2013 00:30

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 11:21

Gooble Rampling: Jan 30, 2004

Thanks for sharing that, Darkhold. I was up until 2am EST last night and still missed the video. Funny side effect of following a team in Australia.

# ¿ Jul 27, 2013 14:19

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