Star Control: Origins - First Look

[Silver]

@Arstechnica Stardock has announced Star Control: Origins as an action adventure with rpg elements. Expect the game sometime in the second half of 2017.

"We Earthlings are the newcomers to the galactic scene," said Brad Wardell, Executive Producer. "The dozen plus space-faring species have been hatching their schemes since before we got out of trees. Now, suddenly, they have to deal with those meddling apes from Sol 3 who threaten to upset the plot."

The game starts in the year 2086 with the unaware humans receiving a distress call from an alien ship that has crashed on the moon of Triton, leading to the formation of Star Control, an international space agency dedicated to protecting the Earth. The player takes on the role of The Captain of Earth's first interstellar ship whose first mission is to investigate the distress signal.

Star Control: Origins represents a new start for the beloved franchise. Stardock acquired the rights to Star Control 1/2/3 from Atari and since then has launched a new game studio in Towson Maryland specifically to create the new Star Control title. The classic series is available for sale on Stardock's newly launched StarControl.com website with players also able to pre-order Star Control: Origins and join the Founder's Program.

"Star Control is ultimately about us Earthlings exploring the galaxy, finding and talking to strange alien civilizations, and hopefully living to tell the tale," said Wardell. "We are hopeful those who remember the original trilogy will like the direction we're taking here while at the same time introducing a whole new generation to the awesomeness of a game that combined action, adventure, and roleplaying in a sci-fi game simultaneously."

Star Control: Origins is scheduled for release on PC and consoles with the PC release scheduled for 2017.

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Release dates and early access

As mentioned above, Wardell is targeting the second half of 2017 for the PC release of the game, with a console release to follow. A final price hasn't been announced, but for $35 (£30), interested gamers can join phase two of Stardock's Founder's program, which gets early access to the game's beta, along with "mod tools, private journals and more."

The first thing members of the Founder's program will have access to is the multiplayer version of Super Melee, the head-to-head space combat portion of the game. Wardell indicated that Super Melee is planned for the fall of 2016, and more early access pieces will follow after that.

"This will be, by far, the biggest game we've ever done," said Wardell. "It has been a challenge to make sure this feels like a Star Control game. If it weren't for Paul and Fred, I probably wouldn't have become a game developer in the first place," he continued. "So it means a great deal to me personally that we make something that lives up to their standards. A lot of people forget that Paul and Fred didn't just do Star Control 1/2. They also made Archon, Mail Order Monsters, and of course Skylanders. They may be the greatest game designers in history."

More information.

 

[Zloth]

I'm rooting for this one, but not pre-ordering. I trust StarDock to do it right but I also trust them to make quite a lot of DLC for the game. I've been waiting 25 years, I can wait a few more for the complete version.

 

[Jaguar]

I'm excited too. I like the shoutout for Mail Order Monsters and Archon as well. When I first got my C64 as a kid, those were a couple of my early games. When I would go on family trips, I would bring the manuals to those games and stare at them in adoration...

It's a shame we have to lose that sense of wonder as we get older.

 

[mercy]

No trailer link? MUST SEE! My jaw hit the floor watching this. Bombastically Amazing!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6ntg47q_cM

 

[you]

So $35 to preorder 9 months early. The video is ok; hard to tell if it will be fun from that short snip.

 

[joxer]

It'll be fun for sure.
But I won't preorder it.

 

[Deleted User]

I can't believe they're making this game. It looks cool so far and like a lot of people the original is one of my favorite games, if not my favorite space game I've played. I hope they bring back the races and the universe is still ridiculously huge. The alien in the video sounds like an Ur-Quan but doesn't really look it.