KickStarter Free Stars: Children of Infinity - upcoming Star Control 2 sequel from Fred Ford's Pistol Shrimp Games - Kickstarter Live

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https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pistolshrimp/free-stars-children-of-infinity/posts/4095088

Artist Showcase: George Barr​

We are happy to have some original pieces from George Barr, classic illustrator of fantasy and science fiction. Beyond his own career in painting and illustration for books, magazines, Dungeons & Dragons, and even briefly for Star Trek, players might know him for his paintings of many beloved aliens and scenes from The Ur-Quan Masters.

Original Syreen concept by George Barr
Before we started working on Children of Infinity, Paul met with George to select a handful of pieces he wanted to use in the creation of our game. You can see a showcase of these pieces and listen to the interview Paul and George did together in one of our previous blog posts where we cover some of George's own history as well as his work for The Ur-Quan Masters.

In Paul's own words: "George Barr was instrumental in creating the fantasy world and adventure of The Ur-Quan Masters. We very much want him involved in this new game. Unfortunately, he’s suffered vision loss and is unable to create new artwork. We decided to come up with a different plan. We went through some of his original artwork that he was able to sell and license, and by god we are going to find a way to use it because George is awesome."

"Reptile" concept by George Barr
We shared these pieces publicly in our blog post, and our own Robert Mauritson actually started creating story interpretations of some of them told as short comics. We loved the story of his "Reptile" comic so much that we used it as the background for this alien Children of Infinity. Below is the final panel of that comic.

"Reptile" concept paintover by Robert Mauritson
We are grateful to have some of George's pieces for Children of Infinity and for Paul's time and dedication to finding a way to use his wonderful work even though George can no longer create new art. If you enjoyed learning more about George's legacy and contributions, we encourage you to seek out his work across the internet and check out his UQM art and interview with Paul.

If you missed it, be sure to check out our previous updates on Arne (aka AndroidArts) and Ben Chandler, as well as our video interview with Robert Mauritson.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

George Barr's work for TSR included a number of interior illustrations in the Dragonlance Adventures hardcover setting book from 1987:

 

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Coming up on the podcast - MRY

Fred and Dan chat with Mark Yohalem of Wormwood Studios, creators of Primordia, Strangeland, and Fallen Gods. Mark describes how story and gameplay work together, and dives into some of his favorite moments from The Ur-Quan Masters.

0:00 - Theme music
0:14 - Introductions
1:23 - Starflight and the roots of UQM
9:24 - Simulation vs. arcade gameplay
16:00 - Exploring space
21:22 - Beginning a game story
33:40 - Expanding on gameplay
39:13 - Importance of controls
41:24 - Space opera
47:30 - Item systems and RPGs
1:00:35 - Sourcing ideas from fans
1:11:15 - Mark's start in games
1:26:45 - How kids experience games
1:34:00 - Writing and gameplay
1:40:53 - Games with time limits
1:58:02 - Finishing a game project

 

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https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pistolshrimp/free-stars-children-of-infinity/posts/4101125

Lorebook Showcase​

In the olden days, a game manual was either required reading for playing a game or simply the place for all the content that wouldn't fit on a disk. Whether you pored over the pages to defeat a copy protection mechanism, read a manual to figure out the control scheme or installation instructions, or simply relished in the extra text, images, and writing, manuals were an essential part of playing games in the era of The Ur-Quan Masters.

Mockup of Lorebook
Requiring a player to read a physical manual to play a game is out of place in our age of digital distribution, but we wanted to make something that played into that experience we loved. Our Official Lorebook is the perfect companion for players who want to immerse themselves in the Free Stars universe with its art, history, characters, and stories from development of Children of Infinity.

Mockup of an interior page about creating "The Nanobes".
You can expect pages full of finished art, concept art, lore, and details on our world. Maybe even a few secrets, too! One of our biggest challenges will simply be limiting the number of pages because we want there to be something in there for everyone. Whether you want to see ships, aliens, planetside creatures, or stories of development, we are looking forward to crafting something players will treasure.

Mockup of an interior page on creating ship designs
Unlike game manuals of the past, you won't need this to play the game. But just like game manuals of the past, if you love being immersed in the universe and want to wonder more about what's going on in, behind, and around what you see in the game, the Lorebook is for you, available digitally or physically at different tiers. What do you want to see in there?

 

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https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pistolshrimp/free-stars-children-of-infinity/posts/4099436

Stretch Goal Unlocked: Console Ports​

We just hit our twelfth stretch goal: Console Ports!

Thanks to your support, we'll be able release Free Stars: Children of Infinity on the Switch, Playstation 5, and Xbox Series X platforms. We've heard so many requests to play on consoles, and we're happy we can fulfill them!

A quick reminder on what will happen with some FAQs:

Can I exchange my digital key for a console key?​

Yes! When we send out backer surveys, you will be able to select which platform you would like your key(s) on. For backers receiving multiple keys, you may mix and match as you wish.

Will online cross-play (e.g. Switch<->PC) be supported on consoles?​

This is possible with our technology, but we can't commit at this time. When we have more information, we will let backers know. Since first parties like Nintendo decide what is permissible on their platforms, we must abide by their rules.

Can you release The Ur-Quan Masters on consoles?​

Maybe, but we aren't planning on it at this time. One game at a time!

Up next is our penultimate stretch goal, and the one we hear many requests for: English Voice-Over! For many of us, the voices from The Ur-Quan Masters were special, memorable, hilarious, and full of love and charm. We want to make it happen again! We know many of you want it, and we're only going to do it if we can do a great job of it without risking our important story and writing. We're in the home stretch now, so launch fighters and get everyone you know to join our fleet and hit that goal!

 

[Zombra]

Oh. I haven't been getting notifications for a while. Just noticed the Kickstarter is almost over. Do I want in on this? Looks like a few of us are excited. Last thing I remember is them leaning heavily on crowdfunding for development with big $$$ patreon buy-in and stuff which seemed skeezy a couple years ago since aren't they already millionaires? What I'm seeing now looks like it could be a nice game though. Opinions?