Planetarion Forums - Planetarion

23 Aug 2004, 21:15

I would like to put forward the idea of planetarion releasing itself as a computer game. I am sure that it would be a success because players who wish to play planetarion online but can't find the time would be able to play whenever they want and not find themselves suffering because of their time away. Of course there would have to be specifications such as the clock only runs when you are on the console and you have simulated enemies. It wouldn't be too hard to get some developers in to create the game and release it on the popular consoles (Xbox, PS2, Gamecube etc). Does anybody have any thoughts on this?

Blixxard · 24 Aug 2004, 00:23

Been suggested before, a while back thou. Would be pretty much out of the question.

Paul_Atreides · 24 Aug 2004, 01:03

The whole point that makes the game fun, is the randomness of playing with thusands of other people, and no matter how much you try, you just cant simulate that.

Shaithess · 24 Aug 2004, 03:47

The text basd game would just be more boring...

As a 'proper' game with 'proper' graphics and so on, the planetarion property may prove interesting as a strategy title that could be marketted to the gaming public with decent success. Only problem is, planetarion has a few thousand players, that's not a big enough fanbase for their to be a licensed game based on it, surely?

Tippity · 24 Aug 2004, 06:30

i think one of the main things that i like about PA is the community and the whole fun of working together with people to move towards a goal... i don't know, but i reckon that's what attracts a lot of people to this game and making it single-player would (in my mind anyway) make it more boring - at the end of the day i'd rather have spent that couple of hours interacting with real people rather than my computer...

Shaithess · 24 Aug 2004, 10:05

Agreed PomeB, but a space strategy game like Master of Orion, Homeworld or Haegemonia with Terrans, Zikonians, Xandathrii and Cathaar would own IMO

Kal · 24 Aug 2004, 10:42

surly if PA were to be a "proper" computer game then it would need to be something along the lines of EVE

nline, and in which case its going to be hard to enter the market as loads and loads of people play EVE (and I really do mean loads)

Blixxard · 24 Aug 2004, 12:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kal

surly if PA were to be a "proper" computer game then it would need to be something along the lines of EVE

nline, and in which case its going to be hard to enter the market as loads and loads of people play EVE (and I really do mean loads)

Not necessarily. I have played some games which could easily be texted based. But then again you would not pay £29.99/£39.99 for it.

Ramihyn · 24 Aug 2004, 13:56

I always thought about a single-player planetarion version as a free promotion to drag people into the "real" multiplayer version. Something to be added on mag-CDs so it would reach lots of players. Beside that - it could still be used for fun stuff like controlling a bunch of planets and having 10 second ticks and ofc it could be used to try out tactics. Much harder to try out tactics with 1 hour ticks and only controlling one planet. It could increase the learning curve of new players a lot and make them realise the depths behind PA.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kal

surly if PA were to be a "proper" computer game then it would need to be something along the lines of EVE

nline, and in which case its going to be hard to enter the market as loads and loads of people play EVE (and I really do mean loads)

There are also loads of players who are utterly bored with EVE by now and looking for new games. CCP is keeping the numbers up with 14-day free access trial-campaigns which is fine - but IMHO it stagnates since march 2004.

Overall i would say that PA keeps people playing the game much longer then eve is able to.

Busted · 25 Aug 2004, 06:14

If you put it on xbox, than that would solve the communtiy problem. With Xbox Live, online is easy! And everyone has a headset so you never have to worry about typing. And with the service you can be playing any other game than get a message that says "You're getting attacked!" in-game! It'll be perfect!

Ramihyn · 25 Aug 2004, 08:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Busted

If you put it on xbox, than that would solve the communtiy problem. With Xbox Live, online is easy! And everyone has a headset so you never have to worry about typing. And with the service you can be playing any other game than get a message that says "You're getting attacked!" in-game! It'll be perfect!

<sarcasm>
Yup, it will be great. Now just shell out the 250.000 to 500.000$ license cost to be able to produce and release a Xbox title.
</sarcasm>

Shaithess · 25 Aug 2004, 08:44

My main idea was a strategy title, perhaps slightly similar to the Dawn of War method. Whereas in DoW you grab strategic points for 'requisition' income (So the guys up there decide you're worth reinforcing), in the PA game you would grab roids, send special ships over to initiate them etc...

I think it would be really fun, though never gonna happen

OrionIII · 19 Oct 2004, 03:48

why not take a page out of Master of Orion

Make it so that you can force the tick, with a simple button. for any who have played Master of Orion II i think it would be great, and if you included a function to change ship classes, and strength and armor, it would be the most @$$ kicking game on teh planet, id pay 49.99 to buy that on almost any console....!!!

Volo · 19 Oct 2004, 09:54

Why not keep it as it is? I mean, sure a decent 'PC' game, or even a MMORPG could be fun, but the only thing they would have in common with our PA is the names of races, perhaps alliances.

If you haven't noticed PA was always crap as a game (well it does have an interesting and simple enough concept, but ever tried/imagined playing it offline and alone?), it's the community that makes it what it is. A kind of community I doubt any fully 3d rendered game can have. If for no other reason, then there's the price of it, and hardware/connection requirements.

wakey · 19 Oct 2004, 13:22

As Valo said PA as a game is one of the worst examples out there, theres simply very little basis for a game once the thousands of RL players are removed. Anyone whos played PA offline will testfiy to the fact that after about 10 mins you lose all intrest in the game.

For it to be successful as an off the shelf product it would simply need to be reqorked from the ground up until we had a game that bore no relevence to PA outside the name. And the cost of doing this would be immense, almost certainly outside the realms possible by Jolt.

Its not even as if the brand is strong enough to licence to another company to make a game using the name, certainly no-one with the resources to do it properly anyway

Mek · 19 Oct 2004, 13:48

hmm i had offline pa ages ago, any idea wherei can re-download it from??

The Real Arfy · 19 Oct 2004, 15:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramihyn

I always thought about a single-player planetarion version as a free promotion to drag people into the "real" multiplayer version. Something to be added on mag-CDs so it would reach lots of players.

Perhaps free credits could be given away in a magazine - however, there would have to be a measure to ensure that most people who already pay continue to pay, rather than nabbing a free credit and ending up with no money being injected into the game.

Even if it is only done in areas where PA is not as popular, e.g. Japan, it would probably do rather well, a typical beta demo thing on CD with ~2k bots playing, bundled with a PA IRC client and one free credit.

wakey · 19 Oct 2004, 16:05

I think the cost could be a major problem there, just supplying something to redeem for a free credit would probally require a substantial payment to the magazine to do soand obviously you then have 3 months before any payment comes from it. Jolt may be big when it comes to european gaming services but its still pretty small in the grand scale of things which no doubt limits the advertsing budget

Cochese · 19 Oct 2004, 16:42

You could make a pretty simple StarCraft/WarCraft/CFW style game with all the usual PA features, and plenty more. PA was never about flying ships around, so looking to EVE as a comparison is apples vs oranges. Look to other RTS games for inspiration.

The largest issue to deal with (aside from the licensing/development) would be addressing the 'persistent universe' aspect. Frankly, it ought to be tossed out the window for a number of reasons (it sure does take alot of skill to hit offline planets, doesn't it!!) the least of which would be integration.

People (those outside the niche community here) want to play games on their own time...PA is definetly not a widely marketable game for that simple reason. Getting bashed while you sleep sucks...waking up to click a few buttons in the middle of the night sucks...missing out on research for not waking up sucks.

You get the point.

It would need to be more 'user-friendly' in that regard; people want to login, play for awhile, and log out without having to worry about being nuked while offline. That is also the feature that gives PA it's distinction.

Solve the paradox, and you'll have a hugely popular computer game.