Sounds Interesting... BUT

[neuromancer]

This game automatically made me think of the most notorius of Space Sim games, "Battlecruiser: The game that is never finished because the chief programmer is too busy fighting flame wars about why the game isn't finished".

I doubt I will be the only one to make that connection, so I wonder what steps Matrix will take to distance themselves from Battlecruiser and The Programmer That Shall Not Be Named.

The irony being that there is no connection at all, other than the two games have only have the same basic concept. Which is enough to give people pause.

Of course Matrix has a much better reputation as developers than The Programmer That Shall Not Be Named, so that may be enough.

[David Heath]

John has done a great job and I think his work will more then stand on its own. John been posting around the net for years and I think the gamers know what he is gall about.

As for Matrix I think gamers already know what to expect from us as well. We are not going to be chased by shadows from some other project.

David

[John DiCamillo]

Honestly, it's never really been an issue in the past. I don't see any way for Matrix to put any more distance between Starshatter and Battlecruiser; the two games just feel completely different from one another, they share no technology, they are made and published by different companies, and so on.

[neuromancer]

Fair enough.


Gamers and Reviewers always make comparisons: "Rise of Nations is like Civilization meets Age of Empires", "Star Wars Battlegrounds is Battlefield:1942 in the Star Wars Universe", "StarCraft is Warcraft in space", "Neverwinter Nights is Diablo with a D&D license", "Silent Storm is like UFO, except in WW2", and so on.

Some of those comparisons are fair, some aren't. But they have still been made.

So I think the compaison may still be made, but... now that I think about it, it may well be a purely positive comparison. Perhaps something like "Starshatter is similar to Battlecruiser, but better!"

Hey, its Matrix doing it, how can it not be better? Already I've also seen comparisons to X2, Elite, and Freelancer. But in all three of those cases, you are basically in charge of a single small ship. In the BC games, you are in charge of a huge ship - and with a ludicrous level of control detail - but can also get down in a fighter, or even walk around on a (basically empty) planetary surface.

It sounds like Starshatter is sort of somewhere in between those two sets. The graphics aren't as cool as X2 and Freelancer, but probably has better gameplay and more depth (I hope, both those games were criticised for a disturbing level of 'sameness' after a while), and of course you can control a fighter, or a carrier. Meanwhile it should be less buggy than Battlecruiser, not as hideously detailed, more approachable, and not involving an ego maniac for a lead developer.
[:'(]


So yeah, I guess you are right, any comparisons drawn will be very superficial, and can only be positive.


I will shut up now and go away.
[:)]