Matrix Games teams with ApeZone to bring you Starships Unlimited II

David Heath · Post by **David Heath** » Tue Sep 04, 2001 10:40 am

Matrix Games teams with ApeZone to bring you Starships Unlimited II.

Matrix Games (http://www.matrixgames.com) is proud to announce the signing of a deal with ApeZone (http://www.apezone.com) to publish their latest game Starships Unlimited II. Details on Starships Unlimited II can be found at Matrix Games at http://www.matrixgames.com/games/starshipsunlimited2

ApeZone's Starships Unlimited has been receiving rave reviews and we expect it to move up to even higher levels with Starships Unlimited II. Better graphics, sound, AI and interface are just a few of the many enhancements gamers can expect.

David Heath Director of Operations at Matrix Games stated "We are thrilled to have ApeZone onboard. Andrew's game design offers a fresh take on the space empire genre and the gaming community is loving it."

Andrew Ewanchyna of ApeZone said, "Matrix Games has shown it can go that extra mile for its fan base. It's something we both share. Together, I think we can make a lot of gamers happy."

bradmbrown · Post by **bradmbrown** » Tue Sep 04, 2001 12:11 pm

Leadership is more then a Birthright

These guys must be poverty-stricken to resort to hiring a blurb-writer whose mother tongue is "fresh off the boat."
Poor buggers.

Would they have need for a skilled yet amatuer writer, irreverent, snappy, subject to chance assaults by strangers encountered on the street? I will promise to avoid colloquialisms,
I hear tell they anger The Crazy Finn.
Hint hint.
Wink.
Nudge.

The game looks like fun. I am soon to be enriched with seasonal bucks gleaned crawling around in the boonies. I have a wishlist. There are already more than one Matrix products I will spend booze money on.

Intel inside. Idiot outside.

[ September 04, 2001: Message edited by: General Amnesty ]</p>

skukko · Post by **skukko** » Tue Sep 04, 2001 1:25 pm

Now they did get sci-fi here. I ain't going anywhere.

mosh

Tommi · Post by **Tommi** » Tue Sep 04, 2001 4:44 pm

Way to go Matrix! Now it seems I'll be playing only games by Matrix in the future.

I've played the old version of Starships Unlimited (can't recall the version number) but was a little put off by its archaic graphics and sound and the clunky interface (was a reminder of those bad old DOS games). However, the game held a lot of promise regardless of those issues. I remember thinking, that if only it could polished a bit I would really like this game.

Well, Matrix has come to the rescue (again!). Thanks guys (again)!

PS. Is the release closer to late autumn than winter (asked he impatiently)?

Charles2222 · Post by **Charles2222** » Tue Sep 04, 2001 8:52 pm

Wow! Just saturday I found their website and was thinking of downloading their demo, but so far have yet to do it because I'm deep into SEIV. If it's anything like MOO or SEIV, it's going to be interesting.

MacCready · Post by **MacCready** » Tue Sep 04, 2001 11:15 pm

Hi,

This sounds like it will be fun,but I think it comes at a peticularly bad time when matrix resourses are at a low.
I'm afraid it might detract from the two matrix children combat leader and close assualt.

David Heath · Post by **David Heath** » Wed Sep 05, 2001 12:00 am

Hi

Matrix would take on a project it can not complete. This will have no effect on our other projects and in fact will help them.

dox44 · Post by **dox44** » Wed Sep 05, 2001 2:40 am

Good luck Matrix!

This is a great game...been playing it now for
a couple of months...Firefight and now STUN...

casebier

Pak40 · Post by **Pak40** » Wed Sep 05, 2001 8:46 am

Mr. Heath,

I love Matrix games and have bought the 1st Mega Campaign and eagerly await #2 and the great looking games from Gary Grigsy etc... But, I just bought Starships Unlimited a couple of weeks ago from Apezone with "unlimited upgrades". Now I hear that v2.3a is the last of these and from now on the same game will be called Starships Unlimited "2" so people like me are uh... what's the polite way to say it? Out of luck.

Do you plan to have at least some sort of discount for the people who have paid 25 dollars American for this (excellent) product? Or does the "2" after the name mean that this is a totally new "Sequel" even though the features are those that are still listed at Apezone.com as the ones that will be in the next update? The update which we have already paid for.

I want to continue to support wargaming from quality folks like Matrix. I don't want to pay twice for the same thing with a different name and a new version patch. This is a 2.3 megabyte game we're talking about here so any 'Cost of Goods' arguements aren't going to fly. This isn't something you are going to ship CD's for and that kind of bandwidth compared to the SPWaW 400+meg download you have been giving away.

Best regards,
James Gerbino

[ September 05, 2001: Message edited by: Pak40 ]</p>

David Heath · Post by **David Heath** » Wed Sep 05, 2001 11:21 am

Hi James

Let me first say that this game is going to be more then 2.3 megs and will be on a CD. It will be way to big for a download. Now on the features you stated they are the same. The web page will be updated as we go along listing the new features. Yes a lot of the features are the same but what did you expect, the second game is based off of the first game. We are expanding this as we go along.

At this time there is no planned discount. We consider this a new game and not an upgrade from the first.

Lets be fair here, if you purchased Masters of Orion I did you get a discount on Masters of Orion II, no of course not. The same will be for Starships Unlimited I and Starships Unlimited II.

If ApeZone does make a new version of Starships Unlimited I they will be free I am sure.

We understand you do not want to pay twice for the same game and we do not want you to feel that way. If you liked what Matrix has done to Steel Panthers then you should feel safe in our hands.

Anonymous Sender · Post by **Anonymous Sender** » Wed Sep 05, 2001 10:05 pm

Any clue on a projected price tag for this? It does sound awfully good...

Paul Vebber · Post by **Paul Vebber** » Thu Sep 06, 2001 6:29 pm

We don't have that set, but you can expect it to be in the "standard" range of $35-55.

I think that setting the price of a game on par with a decent pair of pants or a good seat at a ballgame is not outrageous.

A "date night" with my wife sans kids for 4 or 5 hours runs me more than that.

A noted wargame designer recently said words to the effect that wargamers will never truely happy until they get a perfect, bug free game, with lifetime tech support and opponants, for free.

Well we have a few freebies, not perfect, but better than a lot of what you pay for. We have to make some money if we are going to keep bringing you more games, so we have to charge for that. Nobody is going to knock themselves out (and that what game designers do, spending nearly every available moment working on their games) if they can't make a buck or two from it.

The economic realities are that we have to charge about 45 bucks +/- 10 in order to pay the bills, give the artists and composers and developers a few bucks and allow the designers and programmers a living wage in royalties.

Sith4dmin · Post by **Sith4dmin** » Thu Sep 06, 2001 11:22 pm

Good to see version 2 is coming along. I notice you're using Vaaish's art in the screenshots (logo and box). Will you be bringing him on to do more art for the game? (I know he's already done a number of ship classes that, in my opinion, look very good indeed.)

David Heath · Post by **David Heath** » Fri Sep 07, 2001 2:15 am

Hi

Vaaish is already on the team and we are very happy to have him.

Sith4dmin · Post by **Sith4dmin** » Fri Sep 07, 2001 5:06 am

Good to hear. He would also make a good moderator. I was very impressed with the way he handled his duties on the Apezone.com stun forums.

Meatboy Dogfood · Post by **Meatboy Dogfood** » Thu Sep 13, 2001 2:28 am

Glad to hear that Vassihs art is in the deal I am sure he will not disappiont you.