Pricing? Three parts? When do we get the full game?

[nats]

Bit confused about the 3 part plan and the pricing. It says this is an early access game and you can pay £12 for the first part is that right? But then you have the early access pricing which is different. Does this pricing include all three parts then or is it still just for the first part?

How will the main campaign game work if it is released in parts? I understand the first part is the race to the moon. But I thought that was just a mini self contained campaign in addition to the main campaign ? Isnt the main campaign about exploration and cooperation and getting finally to Mars? So is it this part of the game that will be expanded on in the later parts? So if you buy the first part you wont be able to complete this main campaign all the way to Mars until the 2nd and 3rd part are released in 2020 or whatever !?

Why on earth dont you just completely scrap the main campaign and the remaining two parts and just concentrate on the Race into Space which is what everyone seems to want to play anyway?

[Nacho84]

Hello nats,

Welcome to the SPM forums!

Bit confused about the 3 part plan and the pricing. It says this is an early access game and you can pay £12 for the first part is that right? But then you have the early access pricing which is different. Does this pricing include all three parts then or is it still just for the first part?

The Early Access Program only includes part 1.

How will the main campaign game work if it is released in parts? I understand the first part is the race to the moon. But I thought that was just a mini self contained campaign in addition to the main campaign ? Isnt the main campaign about exploration and cooperation and getting finally to Mars? So is it this part of the game that will be expanded on in the later parts?

Before last Monday there was a single campaign that, as you rightly said, is focused on exploration and cooperation. Since the announcement we made last week, we are expanding the game by adding two historical campaigns with a competition aspect. We still haven't defined how the two new historical campaigns will be continued in parts 2 and 3.

So if you buy the first part you wont be able to complete this main campaign all the way to Mars until the 2nd and 3rd part are released in 2020 or whatever !?

We don't think it's going to take that long to develop parts 2 and 3.

Why on earth dont you just completely scrap the main campaign and the remaining two parts and just concentrate on the Race into Space which is what everyone seems to want to play anyway?

Some people (myself included) are mostly interested in the GSA campaign. Besides, we originally promised we were going to deliver the GSA campaign, so scrapping that would be a disservice to those players who bought the Early Access Program and were interested in it.

Cheers,

[nats]

I will continue to watch the progress with interest.

Do you have a rough release date for Stage 1 yet?

It would probably be useful to potential buyers like myself if you outlined what you expect Stages 2 and 3 to contain and their approximate release dates so we know whether to get on board or not, and at which stage in development to purchase the game.

Would it not make sense to at least concentrate on getting the Race to the Moon completed fully as the Stage 1 release and then have Stages 2 and 3 as the GSA extensions of that where historically space exploration started to become more of a global effort than a competition? OR is this what you are doing? I am a bit confused as to what the various stages are as you can tell.

Edit: sorry I see you have answered these questions already in the stickied Early Access thread so please ignore them here.

[N_Molson]

Hello ! Don't worry, everything will come in time. Ignacio is currently working 7 days on 7 on Race to the Moon, and there is a lot of things to do. But check the logs, and you'll see the game is steadily closing from a "final" state. Personnally I prefer that Ignacio takes the required time to polish things and make BASPM a great game, rather than being forced to rush to meet deadlines and letting uncomplete features behind. So be patient, and you will be rewarded.

Having an unique GSA campaign for parts 2 & 3 is an interesting option, and we'll debate of this when time will come.

[Sabratha]

As far as I know each "part" will be a standalone game, but if you own more than one then you will be able to link them into a single long campaign.
The competitive USA and Soviet game modes are confirmed for part 1 (1956-1973).

I do hope that there will be the separate soviet and american mode in part 2, which will allow the player to pursue his agency in strict competition to the opposing side, or choose a historical, conciliatory course culminating in big joint ventures like the international space station.

[nats]

As far as I know each "part" will be a standalone game, but if you own more than one then you will be able to link them into a single long campaign.
The competitive USA and Soviet game modes are confirmed for part 1 (1956-1973).

I do hope that there will be the separate soviet and american mode in part 2, which will allow the player to pursue his agency in strict competition to the opposing side, or choose a historical, conciliatory course culminating in big joint ventures like the international space station.

Yes the next stage is rather tricky because the USA and Russians started collaborating but it wasnt till the end of it ie once the Shuttle had pretty much been decommissioned and the ISS completed. So I would imagine that the separate US and Russian parts of the game will need to continue through Skylab, Soyuz, the various Shuttles and the ISS. I suppose it could end with the Russians and US deciding to get together via an event. But this could also be a decision for the player to make - does the player want to form a collaboration? Or go it alone?

... And should perhaps the third and final part be a 'Race to Mars' with the US against Europe/Russia/China perhaps? That would make it interesting!

[Sabratha]

As far as I know each "part" will be a standalone game, but if you own more than one then you will be able to link them into a single long campaign.
The competitive USA and Soviet game modes are confirmed for part 1 (1956-1973).

I do hope that there will be the separate soviet and american mode in part 2, which will allow the player to pursue his agency in strict competition to the opposing side, or choose a historical, conciliatory course culminating in big joint ventures like the international space station.

Yes the next stage is rather tricky because the USA and Russians started collaborating but it wasnt till the end of it ie once the Shuttle had pretty much been decommissioned and the ISS completed. So I would imagine that the separate US and Russian parts of the game will need to continue through Skylab, Soyuz, the various Shuttles and the ISS. I suppose it could end with the Russians and US deciding to get together via an event. But this could also be a decision for the player to make - does the player want to form a collaboration? Or go it alone?

... And should perhaps the third and final part be a 'Race to Mars' with the US against Europe/Russia/China perhaps? That would make it interesting!

Well I think that the player should be able to greatly impact the political decisions of wether go the collaborative way or not.
Perhaps influencing political decisions at the cost of prestige would be a nice mechanic.

I certaily don't think the EU would be historically willing to cooperate with Russia over the heads of the US and certainly not cooperate with China on anything really big.

[nats]

As far as I know each "part" will be a standalone game, but if you own more than one then you will be able to link them into a single long campaign.
The competitive USA and Soviet game modes are confirmed for part 1 (1956-1973).

I do hope that there will be the separate soviet and american mode in part 2, which will allow the player to pursue his agency in strict competition to the opposing side, or choose a historical, conciliatory course culminating in big joint ventures like the international space station.

Yes the next stage is rather tricky because the USA and Russians started collaborating but it wasnt till the end of it ie once the Shuttle had pretty much been decommissioned and the ISS completed. So I would imagine that the separate US and Russian parts of the game will need to continue through Skylab, Soyuz, the various Shuttles and the ISS. I suppose it could end with the Russians and US deciding to get together via an event. But this could also be a decision for the player to make - does the player want to form a collaboration? Or go it alone?

... And should perhaps the third and final part be a 'Race to Mars' with the US against Europe/Russia/China perhaps? That would make it interesting!

Well I think that the player should be able to greatly impact the political decisions of wether go the collaborative way or not.
Perhaps influencing political decisions at the cost of prestige would be a nice mechanic.

I certaily don't think the EU would be historically willing to cooperate with Russia over the heads of the US and certainly not cooperate with China on anything really big.

Ok what about EU/US/India/Japan vs Russia/China to get to Mars first? That would be a close contest but with Richard Branson on our side we should have an advantage.

[nascgi]

I'm confused. The description for the game on the slitherine site included the following:

Three different campaign modes: play as NASA or the Soviet space agency in order to be the first on the Moon or play as the Global Space Agency (GSA) and deal with the short-term objectives issued by politicians.

That's what I thought i was getting. You're saying now I just get the GSA campaign?

[Sabratha]

I'm confused. The description for the game on the slitherine site included the following:

Three different campaign modes: play as NASA or the Soviet space agency in order to be the first on the Moon or play as the Global Space Agency (GSA) and deal with the short-term objectives issued by politicians.

That's what I thought i was getting. You're saying now I just get the GSA campaign?

No, let me be clear:
Part 1 is the 1955-1973 era. This is the game that is being developed now and the one that is available in early access (already playable, though not everything is implemented yet as its still a beta). This will feature a competitive Soviet vs USA moon race as one of the game modes in part 1. The other game modes in part 1 is the GSA campaign and the sandbox mode. This is basically the same era as the original BARIS game and will feature the BARIS-esque competitive campaign mode.
These game modes were already confirmed and I can tell you that the sandbox and the GSA campaign are already avilable (and fully playable) in early access. Soviet vs NASA is not yet fully implemented, but it will be there by the time part 1 betatesting ends.

Part 2 is the 1974-2015 era. This is planned, but not yet in development (I vaguely remember someone mentioning some graphics etc are already done, but don't quote me on that). If all goes well, it will feature space shuttle missions, space stations (Salyut, Mir, Skylab, international space station etc) and maybe some alternative programs that never were completed (like the moon base).
Since this one is not yet in development, no official statement on possible game modes were made. Though I think that at least the GSA and sandbox are pretty sure bets.

Part 3 is the 2015+ era, which will concentrate on a Mars mission. This one was just hinted at.


Each afaik will work as a standalone game, but if you have more than one, you will be able link them togeather to play a 1955-2015 campaign as NASA for example.

[nascgi]

Ah, ok. I'm good with that.