Drox Operative Catch-All

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Soldak (creator of Depths of Peril and Din's Curse) have started hinting at their next game on their forums. The hints are pretty vague so far, and they're just beginning development, but it's interesting speculating on what they might do next.

Link.

EDIT: The game is called Drox Operative. Soldak has a page up for it.

Here's a list of the hints (as of May 2):

1) you will probably be human, although there are other races
2) the setting is pretty dark
3) I'm pretty sure it will have a very dynamic environment (quests, ai, events, etc)
4) probably more effects than last game (from weapons, skills, explosions, etc.)
5) will probably play as a mercenary
6) lots of open spaces
7) will include a mode of transport other than on foot

Sounds like a space game to me -- Freelancer style.

That's what I've been thinking too. Here's the latest hint:

I'm running out of hints for our next game, how about some potential unit names: Behemoth, Enforcer, Guardian, Talon, and Valkyrie

That sounds MOO-ish.

Sweet

New blog post.

Really quick summary
--------------------
MOO from a mercenary captain's point of view.

Hmm, interesting.

Can I give them money to get it done faster? No? Damn.

Edit: We have a name!

Gimmie!

This and Starfarer can't arrive soon enough. The Space genre is really rolling now thanks to the indie guys.

I'll throw money at this game as soon as I'm allowed.

I'm super excited about this. Soldak seems to have a perfect line to my gamer brain.

Soldak posted a new blog entry about dynamic quests in Drox Operative. Here's a snippet on how various elements affect what quests a player will receive:

Races: The different alien races are scouting, colonizing, and warring with each other to conquer the current sector of the galaxy. They might ask for something simply like scouting a planet for them or they might ask for something pretty drastic like attacking another race that they at war with.

Economy: With a real economy in place you might be asked to bring some food to a starving planet, deliver some minerals from a rich to a poor planet, or even break a planetary blockade.

Monsters: We have a few "monster" races in the game that pretty much don't like anyone and cause problems for everyone. They can cause wars, attack planets or entire systems, fling asteroids at planets, and can even wield doomsday devices to do really nasty things like cause a star to go super nova. You will frequently be asked to destroy the instigators or if it gets too far clean up the mess before it gets even worse.

Environment: Even the environment seems like it is out to destroy everything. There are asteroids, killer plants, plagues, mutants, volcanoes, and even civil wars.

Bill Abner interview over at Gameshark: http://www.gameshark.com/features/89...

Also, the Soldak blog has been updated numerous times since this thread was last bumped.

This is my most anticipated game of 2012, bar none. I want it so, so bad.

Every time the dev posts a Drox related tweet, my hand instinctively reaches for my wallet. Can't wait to play this.

I wish I could give them my moneys alreadys to show them how excited I am.

garion333 wrote:

I wish I could give them my moneys alreadys to show them how excited I am.

RIGHT?! This is easily my most anticipated game of 2012.

This one is high on my anticipation list as well.

From the screenshots it seems like going to space may be helping them skirt the biggest issue with their earlier games, i.e. their ugliness. Not that this stopped me from playing a lot of Depths of Peril and more so Din's Curse, but the games are undeniably lacking in graphical refinement (especially compared to similar games from a mechanical stand point like Torchlight or Titan's Quest). Not having to simulate objects we actually have knowledge of (people, grass, trees, bushes, etc.) perhaps makes things look better? Perhaps this is just an uncanny valley issue? It is of course also possible that in motion this one will look ugly too...

I hope this one hits it out of the park commercially. Keeps looking better and better with every update.

Drox Operative available for preorder. 25% off ($15). Beta access.

ebarstad wrote:

Drox Operative available for preorder. 25% off ($15). Beta access.

YES! They can finally take my money!

Edit: Bfffft! You forgot to say that beta access starts as soon as you pay. Awesome.

Guuuuuuuuuuuuh!

garion333 wrote:
ebarstad wrote:

Drox Operative available for preorder. 25% off ($15). Beta access.

YES! They can finally take my money!

Edit: Bfffft! You forgot to say that beta access starts as soon as you pay. Awesome.

D'oh - I was just about to leave for work when I posted. But yes - instant beta access! GO GO GO!

Edit: Purchased and started it up. It's very much Din's Curse in space at first glance (i.e., 10 minutes in). I'm going to lose a lot of hours to this.

Yup, Din's Curse in space. Fantastic, though with blemishes. Not a fan of some of the sounds. Make me want to make sounds ... I might just do that.

But the biggest thing is that MY SHIP TURNS SO SLOW!! Need to upgrade that.

I'm definitely interested in this one. I'm eager to hear more impressions!

The combat confuses me a little; there's no auto-attack option like in the Din's Curse and Depths of Peril games? I have to clickety-clickety-click, not click-and-hold?

Okay I caved and grabbed this one; anything even close to the Space Rangers 2 formula gets my immediate attention. I'll try and post some impressions later. I've only played a bit of Din's Curse, so I'm fairly new to Soldak's style.

*EDIT*

Okay, download finished and installed. The intro is mildly amusing; the guy doing the voice-over reminded me a bit of the guy from the Bad Mojo intro.

The music in the main menu made my head spin a bit, because the opening chords sound so much like Jacksonville from Sufjan Stevens!

Dryad commander Puce Moose taking command of the Moosewing!

Hadn't seen this thread but I'll jump in now. Hopefully I'll give this a better go today. I fired it up yesterday but didn't get a chance to really figure anything out.

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