SGreth
Shared on Mon, 01/29/2007 - 12:17It was a mere 14 years ago, eons in the gaming industry, that I found myself engulfed in intergalactic war, tightly clasping my multi-button joystick, and twitching each time I saw a green laser go flashing by my monitor. Being able to play the Death Star trench run was a treat I don't think many gamers of the time would pass up the chance to experience.
As time passed on other franchises emerged such as Wing Commander and the Descent series. These franchises sought to create their own story lines and offer new space opera tales for players to become engaged in. Somewhere along the line players must have become bored because publishers stopped putting out titles from this genre. The only reason this would be is if they weren't big enough money makers. Sure, a target demographic exists, but it obviously isn't large enough to warrant the multi-million dollar development budgets that todays games have grown into.
The Freespace series is a fantastic example of a storyline that was coming into its own. Three factions battling it out in a galaxy severed from its connection with Earth. There were personal stories that were developed throughout the course of the game. Hell, the game even had star-power with some of the voice acting that was done. Unfortunately other PC titles were taking the spotlight and thus, this title was one of the last to hit the scene.
Tachyon: The Fringe was a good example of forcing the player to 'take on' the role of a character within a storyline. Bruce Campbell provided the voice acting for a great character in this game. The graphics were a bit beefed up from Freespace but the storyline wasn't quite as "epic". Unfortunately in 2000 Q3 Arena had all but stolen the show.
Some of you know I've been a huge fan of this genre. I took it so far as to start my own game development company which subsequently didn't make it very far. I believe that there is still a core group of players that warrant a small scale production to be successful. Hopefully some team out there will be able to break through to publishers and get their title out to market.
Sometimes playing a game just to enjoy the story is as fun as playing a game to level up.
~ S'Greth
As time passed on other franchises emerged such as Wing Commander and the Descent series. These franchises sought to create their own story lines and offer new space opera tales for players to become engaged in. Somewhere along the line players must have become bored because publishers stopped putting out titles from this genre. The only reason this would be is if they weren't big enough money makers. Sure, a target demographic exists, but it obviously isn't large enough to warrant the multi-million dollar development budgets that todays games have grown into.
The Freespace series is a fantastic example of a storyline that was coming into its own. Three factions battling it out in a galaxy severed from its connection with Earth. There were personal stories that were developed throughout the course of the game. Hell, the game even had star-power with some of the voice acting that was done. Unfortunately other PC titles were taking the spotlight and thus, this title was one of the last to hit the scene.
Tachyon: The Fringe was a good example of forcing the player to 'take on' the role of a character within a storyline. Bruce Campbell provided the voice acting for a great character in this game. The graphics were a bit beefed up from Freespace but the storyline wasn't quite as "epic". Unfortunately in 2000 Q3 Arena had all but stolen the show.
Some of you know I've been a huge fan of this genre. I took it so far as to start my own game development company which subsequently didn't make it very far. I believe that there is still a core group of players that warrant a small scale production to be successful. Hopefully some team out there will be able to break through to publishers and get their title out to market.
Sometimes playing a game just to enjoy the story is as fun as playing a game to level up.
~ S'Greth
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Comments
Submitted by Falelorn on Mon, 01/29/2007 - 12:19
Submitted by SirPoonga on Mon, 01/29/2007 - 13:51