Interstellar Marines

[HMart]

Guys i'm posting to get to your notice a indie game on kickstarter called Interstellar Marines that i really believe deserves your guys attention, please see the kickstarter video and the one bellow before writing this off and if you like what you see consider giving a small pledge, the minimum is 1 dollar, if money is a problem you can also help by spreading the news.

 

See this video also to see what they are trying to do.

 

 

 

update 27/10/2012

 

ZPS has confirmed the support for the Oculus Rift if the kickstarter campaign is successful, good news to the early supporters of the tech.

Edited October 27, 2012 by HMart

[HMart]

Update from ZPS

 

Tomorrow is Total Biscuit day

 

Tomorrow, we will be interviewed by The Cynical Brit and frag him on the Deadlock servers, so we've decided to make an update to Deadlock in order to get the Operations map back online.

 

You are of course ALL invited to join the servers and we can't wait to get some intense action going!

 

Although we're not entirely clear on when it's going down, it's probably going to be around 18:00-21:00 CET (12:00-15:00 PM EST). We'll announce the exact time when we know on our Facebook page.

 

That's all for now – thanks to all of you who have supported us thus far and let's keep the ball rolling!

 

FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME,

Kim (ZPSHicks) & Mikael (heks)

 

Here is how you can help this guys even if you don't want to give any money, more or less at the hours said on the quote come and join the multiplayer demo is free for everyone, your presence there will be a very important help.

 

 

For the love of the game.

[HMart]

ZPS have reached 100K on kickstarter but are still 500K away from their goal so guys if supporting promising ideas is your mote in life then "don't let this indie die".

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O69Ye2t35os&feature=youtu.be

 

 

COMMUNITY VIDEO NOT OFFICIAL.

[7upMan]

So is this a multiplayer shooter or single-player with optional co-op?

[HMart]

Please don't take this wrong but all the info you want is on kickstarter, is better for you to see it there then to me to try to samurize it here and get wrong, i hope you comprehend.

[HMart]

Another fan made trailer. The quotes on the video are just a joke don't take them to seriously.

 

This is not a official ZPS trailer.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T_rZYRNIjY&feature=youtu.be

[Diego]

"Don't ket this indie die"

 

ok

 

I think it's great so many people supporting an indie project. Not my kind of game though.

[HMart]

Didn't saw that error before .

Edited November 18, 2012 by HMart

[7upMan]

I think the project needed the reboot from the beginning, since reading the description didn't give me enough info to really get a clue about what this game really is. I get now that this is a co-op shooter, which means the bastard child of multiplayer and single-player. You can't play it with massive numbers of other players, and you can't play it on your own. This makes it not my kind of game either, since I'm currently playing Metro 2033 and Bioshock 1, and they both are very powerful single-player experiences.

[Obsttorte]

what I didn't get is what makes this game so special

 

to me it seems like a normal space shooter, and although the shark monsters are a pretty creative touch, I think I've seen such games a hundred times before (don't wanna sound too negative, just a question )

[Diego]

I know, right? It's definitely AAA quality production, everything looks fantastic! but unlike AAA games, they could have let loose their imagination and make whatever they wanted, and they made a first person shooter. With space marines. And horror elements.

 

I don't mean to sound negative too but, unless they're holding back on some key parts of the game, I don't know what's special about it.

[HMart]

I think the project needed the reboot from the beginning, since reading the description didn't give me enough info to really get a clue about what this game really is. I get now that this is a co-op shooter, which means the bastard child of multiplayer and single-player. You can't play it with massive numbers of other players, and you can't play it on your own. This makes it not my kind of game either, since I'm currently playing Metro 2033 and Bioshock 1, and they both are very powerful single-player experiences.

 

IM prologue will be if made, a single player and a co-op game, and sorry but saying that co-op is a bastard child of multiplayer and single player just shows you lack the knowledge of what a good co-op game really means. Co-op if made right makes for a fantastic gameplay experience, on IM prologue you will be able to play single player with a team of AI companions, think of the Rainbow Six or Swat games but on the co-op that same companions will be controlled by your friends, you will be able to make real tactics by talking with them instead of pushing orders buttons to your AI team mates, and if the especial ingame voip that ZPS showed on the 2008 UE3 demo gets to be on Prologue then your friends will be really inside the game with you, your voice and theirs being occluded and changed dynamically by the level geometry, and even having a impact on the game AI, for example making a enemy ear you and attack on your direction, that will make for a much more realistic and imersive gameplay experience then what any single player game can provide. Also many people seams to think that ZPS is promising a game with things that you never saw before, i don't know where that comes from, that is not what they are saying, please read with attention the game features, what they are promising is a game with a syfy cinematic military history to the likes of Aliens and Starship Troopers where the human race makes the first contact with a alien Race, they are also taking inspiration from Raybow Six, HL2 and System Shook 2, if you played this games before you know that ZPS is talking about, what they are also promising is a realistic weapon handling and weapon and marine upgrading system, just like a RPG you will be able to upgrade your marine and your weapons to be better and stronger, is nothing new of course but neither Mass Effect was new on this expect and that didn't made it less good, they said also that will not have any laser based weapons (on the human side at lest) not because they can't do them but because they think projectile based weapons make for a more realistic and imersive shooting experience, and i totally concur with them. I could go on and on and on about the game features and ZPS intentions for the games, but that will only continue making you not try to find the info for your self's, that is VERY important, because only doing so will you guys see what IM is really all about.

 

to me it seems like a normal space shooter, and although the shark monsters are a pretty creative touch, I think I've seen such games a hundred times before (don't wanna sound too negative, just a question )

 

I never saw a game like IM before, not even the star wars republic commando cames close, i say that because i have on my mind the real picture of what IM is all about, no one can take a game on the market right now and say this one has all what ZPS is promising for their game, you can of course take sections from different games and say "see someone made this before on this game and on this game and this other thing on this game, etc etc" but you can say that for any game in existence but a game where all does things are brought together on a single package is still to be made and that game is Interstellar Marines.

Edited November 18, 2012 by HMart

[Diego]

We are - well, I am - not trying to diminish the game, but it's my impression that for anyone who's not a shooter enthusiast the project looks unoriginal, because it seems to be a unique combination of features we've seen before in other games. My brother is a shooter enthusiast and he can go on and on about how bland shooter #1 is completely different than bland shooter #2, which borrows elements from bland shooter #3. See what I mean?

[Psychomorph]

I heard about IM somewhere around 2007, or 2006. It was announced as one of the first UE3 games on the Beyond Unreal forums, it was long before UT3 got shipped. Later they switched to the Unity engine.

 

I don't know why, but IM never struck me excited. I could not develop an interest for it for some odd reason. Enjoyed the browser shooting range though. They always talked about realism, but I couldn't see all that much of it there, it feels, looks and plays kind of generic, maybe a better side of generic.

 

Don't think the KS will make it, but I backed anyway.

[HMart]

Thanks for the support Psychomorph i hope your opinion changes the more you know about IM.

 

 

 

ZPS Intersteller Marines secrets from the past, videos from the first concepts that culminated on the first IM demo the UE3 2008 publisher demo.

 

To see the full info about this videos go to the kickstarter page.

 

Secret 1

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAybHoZ0-i4

 

 

Secret 2

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCsU8qc6amY

 

 

Secret 3 (about the IM story some spoilers were cut)

 

[Diego]

One thing I really liked in the webplayer demo is the dynamic environment thing. Lighting makes a big difference in a map and it kept changing from blinking red lights to fully lit and then to completely dark. Each condition demands a completely different strategy. When it was dark the other players kept running around with their flashlights on and I could hear and see them from a mile away. Killed a dozen in the dark by simply not making too much noise and not using the flashlight lol.

 

So there you go, I found something cool and original in the game

 

And with a compliment comes yet another criticism. There are only two speeds: running and running really fast! I was frustrated because I couldn't take more advantage of the dark, and it's a big miss considering they are going for a tactical realistic thing. Real operatives don't run like maniacs, they... actually, they operate much more like thief from what I gather.

[HMart]

That's why playing all the demos is very important to really feel the premise of this game, and what you found was the tip of the iceberg so to speak.

 

About the demo you played Deadlock it is still very very early alpha software, ZPS went out of funds before even including the full character controller that you can experience on the second demo Running Man, because of that the multiplayer demo should not be taken as the inability for the developers to do better and base our ones opinion only on this demo, the full comprehension of the IM potential is incorporated in all available information you have but not all on a single one.

[Diego]

Right, that's just a prototype, of course.

 

I wonder what they're gonna do if the ks fails. They got so far already.

[Psychomorph]

One thing I always was surprised about is that they started in 2002 and have been doing this for about ten years and now end up with only two people on the team and "bankrupt". That's a shame and it seems the Kickstarter won't be successful, which is like a kick in the nuts. I hope they survive this.

I always wondered what are they living from, the community support alone (donations)?

 

 

 

Thanks for the support Psychomorph i hope your opinion changes the more you know about IM.

 

I intended to support IM way back, but as said, unfortunately had not enough faith in the concept, also donated to another indie project I had much interest in.

 

 

One thing I really liked in the webplayer demo is the dynamic environment thing. Lighting makes a big difference in a map and it kept changing from blinking red lights to fully lit and then to completely dark. Each condition demands a completely different strategy. When it was dark the other players kept running around with their flashlights on and I could hear and see them from a mile away. Killed a dozen in the dark by simply not making too much noise and not using the flashlight lol.

 

So there you go, I found something cool and original in the game

 

And with a compliment comes yet another criticism. There are only two speeds: running and running really fast! I was frustrated because I couldn't take more advantage of the dark, and it's a big miss considering they are going for a tactical realistic thing. Real operatives don't run like maniacs, they... actually, they operate much more like thief from what I gather.

 

Agree on both. I thought it looked and felt great, but the movement and the gameplay resulting from it felt too generic in contrast to the premise of a realistic game. I always hoped for a more Rainbow Six-ish movement, with the walk as default movement, shuffle for sneaky action and run for dynamic engagement. Potential was there, but the gameplay felt way too arcade and was not my thing at the end.

[HMart]

Right, that's just a prototype, of course.

 

I wonder what they're gonna do if the ks fails. They got so far already.

 

Kim will continue trying to make his dream come alive if it will be alone that is to be seen, and if the kickstarter fails not all is lost even if they lose the kickstarter money they won the support of a bunch new people, that potentially can transit the available monetary support to the official site.

 

One thing I always was surprised about is that they started in 2002 and have been doing this for about ten years and now end up with only two people on the team and "bankrupt". That's a shame and it seems the Kickstarter won't be successful, which is like a kick in the nuts. I hope they survive this.

I always wondered what are they living from, the community support alone (donations)?

 

Sorry for the wall of text, i hope you like to read. Ok the idea for IM is older then that but they only started full steam on IM only on 2008 with a team of 20 developers that was how the UE3 demo came about, they went bankrupt some time after that because of failed publishers talks, and so add to disband the team, file bankruptcy and stopped development, Kim revived the game some time later and the core team (5 guys) but lost the ability to publish the UE3 demo and use the UE3 engine, so they decided to turn to Unity after the coder pitched to the team, Unity also announced the free version on this time, UDK was still some months away, ZPS started working with Unity and needed some months to climate to it and find a good work flow, for that they decided to make the Vault demo, it toke some months but after it was made they add a better understand of this new engine, the holly days came and they made some small Christmas based IM levels with funny music and snow falling and some basic puzzles for the community to find especial presents, , remember this was all being made by only a artist a coder a concept artist and a musician, with this bare bones team progress was painfully slow, but they where able to release the Bullseye demo after some months, the demo was well received and brought a much need monetary support for the team (spearheads like my self), a new artist was also included in the team by this time, with this artist they were able to release some months later a much more ambitious demo the running Man demo but by this time people were supporting less and less the game and so money was dangerously low, Kim announced to the community that they add to stop development some time to find some alternating means of funding, after some time searching for funds they were unsuccessful and not able to gain some significant support, so they decided to sell some of the, rich uncle ZPS shares, to the existing community members in essence make them shareholders, with that money they announced a even more ambitious demo and that was the Multiplayer demo Deadlock, they also said to the community they would fully open the doors to the development and let paying supporters play the demos from a very very early alpha stage, this decision was a blessing but also a very bad blow to ZPS, when the first 0.1 alpha version of the multiplayer demo came, it was really badly received by some people of the community, some didn't realized what alpha 0.1 and very early really mean, the demo was a very simple but nice looking small outdoor level and you could navigate on it but you couldn't do anything less more complex then that, not even shoot or turn the flash light on etc etc, so some started saying ZPS ripped them of and that this demo add no quality at all and this made a very bad splash in the community, but on the other side some realized what the demo was and loved the idea of seeing the baby steeps of a game being made (like me), this add the benefit of making the number of support medals going up, alpha 0.2, alpha 0.3 come fast enough all with totally different levels to play with but this time ZPS decided to upgrade their site and servers and so the only coder on the team add to stop working on the demo, that add the problem that art was evolving on the Deadlock demo but gameplay was seriously going behind this also made some people on the community question their priorities, but the site and servers add to be prepared for the multiplayer demo and to a more appealing look to try to gain more peaple, so there was no way around it, this made them lose some supporters (they were on their right of course) alpha 0.4 came and some basic gameplay finally came to light but this was not enough to up the support for the game and so they run out of money, this was how the idea for the kickstarter came about from the community and also ZPS that was open to suggestions, and the rest you already know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Agree on both. I thought it looked and felt great, but the movement and the gameplay resulting from it felt too generic in contrast to the premise of a realistic game. I always hoped for a more Rainbow Six-ish movement, with the walk as default movement, shuffle for sneaky action and run for dynamic engagement. Potential was there, but the gameplay felt way too arcade and was not my thing at the end.

 

Has i said to Diego the Multiplayer demo is a unfinished and very early alpha 0.4 version, the character control is still to be fully implemented.

[Kvorning]

Just wanted to "bump" this thread and hear if anyone has looked at this game recently.

 

The guys at Zero Point Software has recently done some cool additions to the game, and though it's still an early development project, I can highly recommend taking a look.

 

http://www.interstellarmarines.com/

 

You can sign up for free on their site, and play a few browser based versions. Bullseye is by far the most polished version and a lot of fun for a free game, while it's difficult as well.

 

Oh and they have an official group on Steam, where the devs stream and play with other players about once a week, where you can join their teamspeak and hang out and ask questions about the game.

[jtr7]

...............

Edited February 19, 2014 by jtr7

[Kvorning]

You should check out some of the other things in the game.

[jtr7]

..............

Edited February 19, 2014 by jtr7

[skacky]

I don't even remember how many years (is it 5 or 6?) this game spent in development, and I can see it still hasn't progressed much.