How is this compared to Battlecruiser 3000 A.D.?

[GreenDazed]

Is this game as good as Battlecruiser 3000 A.D.? Such a marvelous gem of a game. So glad to find out the great Derek Smart was back to blow our minds once again.

[Xxx69BandwagonExtreme]

No, this is a Space Combat Simulator. Similar to FreeSpace, while it has open ended content it is mostly a mission based game. If you're looking for the successor to Battlecruiser 3000AD you need to look at Universal Combat[www.3000ad.com] which sadly isn't on Steam.

[thedereksmart]

You can buy Universal Combat CE v1 or v2 from either GamersGate, GameFly or other places and you can add it to your Steam library. Buy links. http://www.3000ad.com

I just can't be bothered to put it up on Steam because those are a lot more advanced games and are just going to attract the wrong crowd who aren't going to make it past the first five minutes, then come here - as they've done in the past and presently - to insult me.

[Nuee]

Not going to insult your dream. I think 3000 AD was a good dream . I just wish it had been more fully realized in the past.

[thedereksmart]

Yeah, we all grew up and moved on. And it's been over fifteen games since.

[Drake]

This is why there are very few good games on Steam.

I own 3000AD, Battlecruiser Millennium and Universal Combat.

[PhoenixFury]

Originally posted by dsmart:

I just can't be bothered to put it up on Steam because those are a lot more advanced games and are just going to attract the wrong crowd who aren't going to make it past the first five minutes, then come here - as they've done in the past and presently - to insult me.

At least it'd be a game that isn't "Beta" or "Early access".

[AC_Black]

~S~

Hi DS Well to say I have enjoyed your games for a long time is an understatement. A Very long tme ago, I got your first game and hated it lol Made me go out and work more to upgrade my PC :) I am happy to see you are still working hard at making these game compatable to the new systems and I for one am happy you did.

See you on the web site.

[thedereksmart]

Thanks :)

[washu73]

Originally posted by dsmart:

Yeah, we all grew up and moved on. And it's been over fifteen games since.

It is a game that needs to be revisited with a AAA budget & a full team of hundreds of programmers & artists, and reworked to have the game engine take advantage of all the advances in modern hardware, if that happened BC could be an epic game by modern standards.

I loved the concept of that game and I played it for several hundred hours, but I was left with the feeling that if it had a less troubled development cycle it could of offered so much more. But as it stood it was a decent enough game.

[athelasloraiel]

I own old BC 3000 or something and have played that game ages ago for a looong time. Loved it.
I think a good budget and studio would help it out as well as Derek to become a new benchmark of true SF simulations...

I live hoping...

[thedereksmart]

The reason that I stopped making those sort of complex games when I last did Universal Combat CE in 2009, is because there is simply no market for them anymore. These days gamers are geared toward more simpler games and nobody wants to read a game manual if it spans more than 2-3 pages.

Also, my install base all grew up as well. Times change, life moves on. So I changed with the times as evidenced by the fact that not only did I just recently do a multi-platform mobile game, I am also about to release a more accessible all-aspect PC game, Line Of Defense[lodmmo.com], the hybrid-MMO due out later this year.

At some point in 2010, I was in fact tempted to build a new Battlecruiser (focused on a single carrier and crew - like in the old days) title, but I decided against it and just went with LOD instead due to its more wider appeal in terms of genre.

In fact, the Starguard carrier[lodmmo.com] you see shots of in LOD was built for that proposed game and I just ended up putting it in LOD. It is a full blown Engstrom class carrier, with three complete decks - fully built. The idea was that you could pilot it right from the bridge - same as you used to do in Battlecruiser 3000AD - but in 3D this time. And as before, you'd get the full crew with their awesome AI - complete with Resnig's shenanigans, dealing with boarding intruders etc.

Also, I'm not inclined to spend a couple million on a game, only so that people can attack me or the game for it being complex and all that because there is no way to do that game without it being complex.

If I ever come back to doing that game, I'll probably try to crowd fund it. So if it funds, it means there's a demand for it. In which case, I'll build it. If it doesn't fund, then I was right not to do it with my own money in the first place.

[Zer0D1vide]

Hi Derek,

I won't even bother with giving you my name but we talked A LONG time ago, back in the Battle Cruiser days. I loved that game though honestly I never got it working fully on my machines. If you decide to give it a go now, with tools like Unity or Unreal engine so many issues will have been eliminated. I, for one would fund it. I think a large market would embrace a game as big as BCM, but with first person action when the ship gets boarded, a ship you can tour, crew you can see, etc.

Anyway, my two cents.

Glad to see you're still an active developer, you were one of my early heros. Keep up the good fight, no more getting hosed by "certain game distributors" anymore.

[Evil Shredder]

I think you should throw that up on kickstarter, I imagine it would get funded, people love space games!

[thedereksmart]

Yeah, I have toyed with the idea of throwing it up on Indiegogo or Kickstarter but it is still a LOT of work to get a campaign right.

And aside from that, how long before idiots fake-fund it so they can go attack me in the comments section?

To be perfectly honest, I already have everything that I need to make that game if I wanted to. I estimate that it would take around 12-18 months and about $4m.

Though after LOD I was going to do GALCOM Online[gcommo.com], which is pretty much a Battlecruiser/Universal Combat type game - but larger, if I do a Battlecruiser 3000AD remake, I may put GCO on the backburner.

Anyway, I am seriously thinking about it and I will get together with my folks and see if it's worth putting a campaign together and see how that goes.

[Evil Shredder]

If your worried about fake funding indiegogo offers flexi fund (not sure if thats the right name) Its where when we pledge we go ahead and pay and you get to keep all the money even if you dont reach your goal. Personaly I prefer kickstarter, but I have used indiegogo a few times.