Wirehead Studios

http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/

You like the PC as a gaming platform?
You like to fly things?
You remember the old Wing Commander games?
Maybe you kind of liked FreeLancer but wish there was more to it?

You need to go here.  Now.

Already done and waiting on a few spare bucks available after bills are paid :b

So many legends returning!  :wtf:

They passed the $1 million mark on crowd funding yesterday, and they've opened up a Kickstarter at the request of fans who prefer funding through Kickstarter.  They'll be posting more info over the next few weeks about the ships and stuff that's going to be in the game.  Eight days of crowd funding and they're already over halfway to the goal.  It looks like this will become a reality.

I'm pretty excited about this.  I don't have the hardware to run this thing (yet) but by 2014, if I'm not a pile of ashes by then, I might.  It's certainly something the PC game market needs is an example to the other devs that yes, you can make PC games and there are people who will support them.  Consoles are find and dandy, but the PC is far from dead.  If you code it, we will play it!

Now if only people would spend money so games like this could become a reality instead of donating to lying, sleazeball politicians, imagine how the world could be a better place.  :D

My PC is pretty ancient, yet it can still run games being made today.. ..and honestly, that surprises me more than it really should. I really doubt it'd be able to run this..

Plus, I've never played Free Lancer or Wing Commander.. but I don't really care either. What was there to show looked good, sounded like it was actually willing to take a risk in some areas, while also actually making use of a PC. So yea, I tossed in my support.. however small it is in the overall scheme.

Any support is better than non, Mink.  I put some support in myself already, and I wouldn't be posting all this here if I didn't think this was a great idea.  Hopefully by the time this is released we'll both have some up-to-spec hardware.  I'm running (relatively) old hardware myself, and I was able to run Duke Forever and Rage just fine using an Opteron 175 dual core, 2GB DDR, and a GTX 260.  I'll need some major upgrades before I can even think about running this.  :surprise:

Now as for what this actually looks like in present form, and to prove this thing isn't just empty hype for those who haven't checked it out, here's two videos:

Initial announcement trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtDB6KYA31E

Extended trailer with more detail in 1024HD:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOx9rrv8MAc

All of that is real-time in-game rendering on off-the-shelf hardware.  I believe Chris Roberts said that was done with a GTX 670.  That's only a brief bit of combat.  The multiplayer universe is supposed to be very open in the style of Privateer or Freelancer, with the single player revolving around Squadron 42 in a Wing Commander-ish military campaign.  I'm not entirely sure how the multiplayer will work as it's not supposed to be an MMO, but rather a distributed server system.  They have said the open universe will be constantly changing and evolving, and private servers with the ability to run mods (woot!) will be a definite.

And no, I will not be abandoning work on Generations Arena to go making a bunch of mods for this.  I might make my own ship though.  :doom_thumb:

The project has broken the $4 million mark, and is well on the way to crossing $5 million in crowd funding.  It's gotten so much attention that the forum system they were using, which was already a bit flaky, overloaded and shut down.  They're working on installing new forum software.  Glad to see Wirehead isn't the only site that's had forum difficulties.  :smirk:

This does prove a few things.  First, it proves that crowdfunding can work.  Second, it proves that there's a market and demand for a good Space Combat game.  Third, it proves what we already knew - that direct from developer to customer is the way of the future.  Just as the record labels will be irrelevant eventually, publishing companies will also become a thing of the past once everything goes digital-only.  Chris Roberts set out not just to make a game but to prove these points.  Now, if he can deliver on the actual game, then he will have succeeded in bucking the industry.  Now we get to see what he can put together.  2014 is a ways off.  I might be a pile of ashes by then, who knows.  We'll just have to wait and see.  :doomed:

That's just amazing. The people are there, you just have to convince them! I thought they did a proficient job on the teaser trailer, which totally won me over. Hopefully I might chip my two galleons if I can scrap it.


Why thank you, it needed some rather serious addressing!  :P

I'd like to update this, the project has earned almost 7 million dollars! Truly amazing indeed, and here is all the goodies included.
http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/comprehensive-stretch-goals/

Also, if you'd like to check a lengthy interview of Chris Roberts for some extra info:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UUy1Ms_5qBTawC-k7PVjHXKQ&v=QJGOQXzDbgc&feature=player_detailpage

They've released a brochure about the Aurora, the "starter" ship most players will begin with.  Here's the main thread and a link to the .pdf brochure.  The .pdf is a must see for those interested in the game.  All of it is actual game render, including the guy in the bunk.

http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/the-aurora-revealed/

https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/cdn-rsi/brochures/aurora_brochure.pdf

As if the Aurora wasn't something to see, take a look at the 300i.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrQ0qMRZ_1Q&feature=player_embedded