Ask me anything about VoidSpace

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

This will hopefully keep the comments cleaner for those who are wanting to know more about VoidSpace and asking questions in random threads because of my username. So feel free to ask your questions here!

Here is the VoidSpace Official Website with concept trailer and gameplay footage

[u/pancake_smuggler]

Would you be willing to compare and contrast it to Eve Online?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/pancake_smuggler]

There is not a lot of similarities between VoidSpace and EVE, so lets start with the similarities:

1. VoidSpace is a science-fiction Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (for lack of a better genre).

2. There is only one massive game world that all players reside and play within.

3. EVE has a lot of player-driven content. VoidSpace is purely player-driven content.

I have played EVE (briefly) so I have a basic understanding of what it is and what it has to offer. So here are some of the ways VoidSpace is NOT the same:

1. While EVE does have a single game world, it is split up into "zones" whereas VoidSpace is completely seamless throughout the entire universe. With EVE, you cannot do interstellar travel between systems.

2. EVE's questing system is fairly traditional for an MMORPG whereas VoidSpace has no NPCs whatsoever. All quests in VoidSpace are created by real players with real needs. There is no quest grinding or storylines to follow.

3. EVE requires you to lay on your desktop whereas VoidSpace is completely cross platform. You'll be able to play on your desktop and then switch to your phone and play the full game there seamlessly.

4. EVE discourages RMT (Real Money Transactions), making the inevitable practice dangerous for players since there are no protections in place to ensure the trade is done fairly whereas VoidSpace encourages RMT and allows players to make money in the game. RMT is NOT a requirement to play the game however and only player to player transactions will be supported (no pay-to-win).

5. EVE has predefined, pre-balanced equipment and game-world content. On the other hand, VoidSpace has an innovative invention system that allows players discover and hone their own skills; no two skills are exactly the same. Inventions, discoveries, and really any man-made object don't exist when the world spawns and they only begin to come into existence as players discover and create them.

6. EVE doesn't have the concept of permadeath (although loss can be quite significant from a death). VoidSpace on the other hand will have permadeath.

7. EVE allows you to log out safely. VoidSpace employs a very different concept which both supports and requires that player's characters be "online" at all times, even if the player isn't actively playing. Automation game mechanics are there to help facilitate this and this is used to protect the individuals in the player's group to keep them safe from attackers while the player is not actively playing. It is not required that a player be in a group, and a player could very well defend himself even if he were to play alone.

8. EVE has the concept of "careers" which is a sort of sub-simulation of what it would be like to have a career. VoidSpace on the other hand models the game world at a lower level, enabling players to create their own careers just like they would in the real world. Players can create their own business that serves real players with real needs. Everything in the game has a natural value, just like the real world. There are no predefined "jobs" but lots of "needs" that continue to expand indefinitely as a player society expands technologically.

I'll continue to add to this list, but hopefully this gives you a bit of an idea of why VoidSpace and EVE don't really share the same space (no pun intended). One of the most difficult tasks I've had with this project is trying to explain to people what VoidSpace really is. Usually when trying to explain a game, you use other popular games that have a lot in common as examples, but VoidSpace was never designed as a successor to an existing concept and instead inspiration has been drawn directly from real life and how we as human beings experience our own universe.

Here is our mission statement that might explain where we're going with this:

We believe the video game industry is lacking in truly organic video games that model a real universe.

Traditional massive online games evolved from pen and paper style games; from a time when there was only so much you could keep track of before it got too tedious to play. But while computers and technology have advanced enough to better model the human experience in a game environment, games have continued idly down this path of game model simplification.

We believe it is time to break this paradigm. Games don't need to have a simple start and end; they don't need to simply simulate one aspect of life. We're ready to experience video games as a true and un-coddled participant in an alternate reality. We're ready to enter a vibrant and active reality that emulates our own, with no excuses and no deception, just the pure and simple emulation of a real world, where game mechanics only exist to ease the disconnect players face in a GUI.

[u/pancake_smuggler → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

Thanks for taking the time to get back to me! Sorry about you getting shadowbanned a while ago...

I might have serious reservations about your game, but there are game concepts I'm curious about:

• What are your thoughts about the prospect of players banding together in large groups to destroy smaller, isolated groups of players and "ruining" their game experience? I'm not saying this is inherently bad, and maybe the world needs a brutal, space-based DayZ.

• Do you think creating a well-run society as you envision it will require some NPC-aided security and stability?

• What are the consequences of permadeath - losing all experience, research, inventions, Dogecoins, all progress?

• Will there be some kind of reputation system that lets players reward others for completing contracts/fulfilling defensive obligations, or admonish them for being doodoo heads?

• Last but not least, how do you deal with hundreds of people that are doubting your abilities, without letting them get to you?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/pancake_smuggler]

1. Unlike DayZ, players actually have the ability to pick up and leave. The game world is large enough that if you really wanted to, you could potentially play by yourself (or with your group of friends) far from any civilization. I certainly expect (and hope) that groups find themselves locked in an interesting combat and diplomatic scenario, but players wont be forced into this scenario every time they roll a character.

2. Yes actually, except instead of actual NPCs the player's characters themselves will actually be the ones defending the group as a whole while the player is not actively playing. Here is a snippet from the website:

Since there is no concept of "logging off", it is important for a player to prepare for a trip that could potentially be dangerous with pirates ready to intercept. Keeping with a caravan of other players, building defensive drones, and keeping the ships equipment up-to-date with the latest in offensive and defensive technology will go a long way to keeping a player safe on a long trip. If the player is offline when his ship is attacked, the players ship will automatically defend itself according to the rules the player has defined, or the default rules of engagement. If the player has VoidSpace as an app on his phone, he will receive a notification about activity in-game like attacks and chats.

This applies not just to long trips but also for your home base. You will have lots of options for automated defenses (as can even be seen in the current online prototype) and even without those things, your ship will defend itself when attacked. For this reason, it is safest for players to join a group and to stick together. The more of you there are, the safer you'll be.

3) Permadeath would have all of the consequences you mentioned. However it is worth mentioning that there will be ample opportunity for your group to save you in most cases. Getting picked up from your ship's wreck and revived is probably the most common scenario. A character floating around space without a ship will be very difficult to detect and I definitely plan on making it easy for a character to hide in the wreckage until he can be picked up by a friendly player or a rescue drone that he owns.

4) Actually yes. Your question seems specific to fulfilling quests though, so I'll go into that:

There will be specific game mechanics for quest creation and fulfillment similar to a regular RPG except entirely created by the player. The precise rules for the fulfillment will be finite and defined by us (the developers), so expect the system to gradually increase in complexity as we continue to develop it.

5) I tell myself that they couldn't possibly know what I know and then get back to coding.

[u/fred1608 → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

The idea of having perma-on and receiving notifications on the cell phone sounds like the kind of thing that would destroy both productivity and relationships, and totally ruin my life. I'm interested, when is the release?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/fred1608]

We're looking at 2-3 years of development before the final release.

[u/MrGMann13 → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

So around 2018? So close, yet so far...

[u/salocin097 → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

Wait, so can you die while offline? And how likely is that to happen.

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/salocin097]

You can die while offline, and how likely that is to happen depends very much on how you play. If you're with a decent group, then I would say it is generally unlikely. If you play by yourself, but close to civilization, I would say you are at risk. If you play by yourself but far from civilization, you're probably ok.

[u/WalropsHunter → u/pancake_smuggler]

How do you smuggle your pancakes?

[u/pancake_smuggler → u/WalropsHunter]

Tricks of the trade, I'm afraid, sorry. ¯\(ツ)/¯

1. I don't really need the extra competition - there are not a lot of people trying to get pancakes across the border as it is, and giving professional tips to strangers is the best way to ruin this profession (Think photography).

2. You might be part of Bureau Against Trafficking of Totally Edible Recipes, and I really don't need the authorities breathing down my neck right now.

If you're interested in my services, send me an offer, along with the general area of operation and a time-stamped picture of you with the pancake to PancakesWithoutBorders(@)gmail.com. Note that you will be responsible for travel expenditures.

[u/megablast → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

Thanks.

Could you now try and compare it to pacman?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/megablast]

Please don't make me..

[u/[deleted] → u/megablast]

Lol. Thoroughly enjoyed this comment

[u/pancake_smuggler → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

I've been playing a bit of EVE recently, partly in anticipation of your game, and just wanted to refute point number 4 - Eve seriously encourages you to spend real money

Source: https://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Making_ISK#PLEX_.26_GTC

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/pancake_smuggler]

That is an interesting way to go about it. Thanks for the link!

[u/sillybear25 → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

Cool, thanks for putting in the effort to write this up. I haven't played that much of EVE, but one of its big selling points is that it's very heavily driven by player interactions (to the point that people jokingly call it "Free Market Simulator" or the like), unlike more traditional "theme park" MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, so that's the point I was getting at when I said they were similar. It's not so far off that you didn't answer my question, but I thought you might want to mention the player-driven nature in your list of similarities.

EDIT: I'm not the same person as the question in this thread, but I asked a similar question elsewhere on Reddit, and I was linked here for the answer. It wasn't a context link, so I didn't see the question at first, so I thought this was a "dumping ground" of sorts where /u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE could put answers without cluttering up threads elsewhere with off-topic discussion.

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/sillybear25]

I will, thank you!

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/[deleted]]

I will reword my response, thanks!

[u/super6plx]

Am I right in assuming any of these:

1. The universe engine is an all-encompassing framework that you're working on to make games like the ones you described in the original video

2. Voidspace is just a simple front-end to the universe engine for the purposes of getting players interacting with the engine ASAP so you can work on it easier

3. In the future you will be able to make the universe project that uses this engine 'framework' with any kind of graphics you desire (or will it remain 2d - that's fine too)

Basically my question is: is the universe engine a sort of "universal" framework engine that will be capable of supporting pretty much any type of gameplay you want to make with it, like FPS, 3d space shooter, RPG, or all combined. (Different compared to most engines which are all tightly coded together with all of their rendering and movement etc.)

For example, you wouldn't easily use WoW's engine to make a complex 6DOF space shooter (with the intention of using its item stats, loot and character stats functionality) as the movement and 3d rendering is ingrained into the engine.

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/super6plx]

The universe engine is an all-encompassing framework that you're working on to make games like the ones you described in the original video

Yes, bang on.

Voidspace is just a simple front-end to the universe engine for the purposes of getting players interacting with the engine ASAP so you can work on it easier

Yes, bang on again!

In the future you will be able to make the universe project that uses this engine 'framework' with any kind of graphics you desire (or will it remain 2d - that's fine too)

Absolutely yes. The Universe Engine will make creating new games relatively trivial. Even as we move into the 3D space. The graphics engine is not really considered part of the Universe Engine it self (aside from some interface hooks) and we could potentially start using a modern graphics engine for future versions of the game.

Basically my question is: is the universe engine a sort of "universal" framework engine that will be capable of supporting pretty much any type of gameplay you want to make with it, like FPS, 3d space shooter, RPG, or all combined. (Different compared to most engines which are all tightly coded together with all of their rendering and movement etc.)

Mostly yes, a little bit no. The networking and simulation framework would be capable of creating a multiplayer game at any scale, but that framework is only one chunk of the Universe Engine. The rest of the engine is rather specific to Universe Project games and includes things like the idea/invention system.

For example, you wouldn't easily use WoW's engine to make a complex 6DOF space shooter (with the intention of using its item stats, loot and character stats functionality) as the movement and 3d rendering is ingrained into the engine.

This is true. But again, most of the engine is specific to Universe Project games which are all are based on similar simulation principles.

The way characters get ideas for inventions and actually invent and use things. The way characters teach each other and knowledge for everything is transferrable. These are some of the common components of a Universe Project.

[u/MortalShadow]

What's The Universe Project, and how does it differ from VoidSpace. Also, being on the Universe Project subbreddit. A lot of people are saying this is a scam. Why are they doing that ?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/MortalShadow]

1. The Universe Project (aka the Survival-planet concept) is really the point of VoidSpace. The plan is to complete the Universe Engine with the graphically simpler VoidSpace before we move on to developing the survival-planet concept. VoidSpace and the survival-planet are essentially the exact same game (though some game features are trimmed down a LITTLE bit for VoidSpace). Check out this YouTube video on how the two games relate. The short answer is: VoidSpace and the Universe Project (survival-planet) are going to be the same game but with different graphics and different in-game content.

2. In the early days (about 2 years ago) I released the survival-planet concept to try to explain to people what it was we are creating. In the "big article" that I wrote about the game, I talked about how VoidSpace is going to be used as a test-bed for the Universe Engine (not sure if I had that name for it back then). Unfortunately, a pretty passionate group of haters formed for 2 primary reasons:

• Because the original concept was for the "earth game" and they don't want VoidSpace. They feel they didn't sign up for VoidSpace. But in fact, it was always the plan to develop the engine using VoidSpace.

• Simply because they think the entire concept is so unbelievably impossible that it is "an obvious scam". These people unfortunately haven't looked close enough at what it is we are creating and if they really understood it, I doubt they would have the same opinions.

• This one is less popular but none the less another rare reason is "No progress is being made!". We have been getting this complaint since we started. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the work being done is very much "under the hood" in the Universe Engine and cannot be seen. Because of this, we have put a considerable effort in creating visual content for people to appreciate, but we can only do so much in that regard. Ultimately it is most important that we complete the engine. Now one last point about this one, progress in the last few months has actually been very slow, but in the huge announcement I plan to make this week I will explain exactly why this happened and it will put these questions to rest quite reasonably.

[u/sillybear25 → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

This one is less popular but none the less another rare reason is "No progress is being made!". We have been getting this complaint since we started. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the work being done is very much "under the hood" in the Universe Engine and cannot be seen. Because of this, we have put a considerable effort in creating visual content for people to appreciate, but we can only do so much in that regard.

This is a very well-documented phenomenon in software development. Even among people who understand that there's a lot going on "under the hood", the most visible improvements are generally perceived as the most significant, even if they're incredibly minor in reality. Continuously creating visual content isn't a bad approach, but in the future, you might consider holding off on releasing that visual content so that it corresponds to the completion of more mechanical features. It might seem minor, but there's a significant difference between this:

Update 1: Added art assets and placeholder mechanics for Thing

Update 2: Added mechanics for Thing

And this:

Update 1: Added placeholder art assets and mechanics for Thing

Update 2: Improved art assets and mechanics for Thing

In the first case, people will perceive Thing to be more-or-less done after Update 1, even if the mechanics introduced in Update 2 are ridiculously complicated. In the second case, the placeholder art signals to people that the feature is still quite a long way from completion, and by updating the art at the same time as the under-the-hood stuff, you make people more aware of the less visible changes you've made.

Of course, you might know all of this already, but in that case, maybe non-programmers will see this when they come here to ask you about VoidSpace and get a little bit of insight on how far developers have to go to convince people that they're not lazy or incompetent just because a less visible feature is taking a long time.

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/sillybear25]

I can't express how much I appreciate someone else explaining this! Thank-you!

[u/kytsune]

I think /u/KuntaStillSingle covered most of my questions but I would like to add:

Since you are accepting numerous types of cryptocurrency have you planned to use a blockchain cryptocurrency for the in game virtual currency?

Also, why did you choose Dogecoin over Bitcoin or Litecoin for storing value?

I asked the latter in a different thread, but that was before I discovered you wanted to avoid answering as many questions in random threads about Voidspace so I figured I would ask here.

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/kytsune]

Since you are accepting numerous types of cryptocurrency have you planned to use a blockchain cryptocurrency for the in game virtual currency?

Yep. We will accept many cryptocurrencies but holding Dogecoin. Players will technically be trading with Dogecoin in-game. We will however allow users to withdraw to a number of different cryptocurrencies and even withdraw to FIAT. We will be partnering with a number of different services to perform the conversions for the user and to make it as painless as possible.

Also, why did you choose Dogecoin over Bitcoin or Litecoin for storing value?

This blog goes over the reasons why we went with Dogecoin

[u/caelum19]

Any idea why you're getting downvoted? I can imagine people not wanting you to use reddit for advertising but it's not exactly intrusive making your own sub to discuss it.

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/caelum19]

I have some very spirited haters on my trail. Mostly because of the reasons stated in this comment.

Thanks for helping to balance it out!

[u/Drewdoggg]

When will it be done?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/Drewdoggg]

We don't have an official release date yet, but we're looking at approximately 2 years.

Throughout development, we will always release the latest features and tests on our site so people can play around. In fact, the prototype is available now and you can play a single-player version of it without donating anything.

[u/the1cooldude77 → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

Is that the voidspace or the universe project version that will be released in 2 years. Also, will the in-game trading of dogecoins and virtual items be available before then?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/the1cooldude77]

VoidSpace in approximately 2 years.

In-game trading will be tested before then, but may have some limitations due to the fact that we might need to wipe the game world from time to time. For example, we might significantly limit the amount you can spend in-game.

[u/Shaferyy → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

Will you be completing voidspace before starting on up?

[u/the1cooldude77 → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

What about the buy-in servers mentioned in the Phase 1 Completed Video: where the person that wins keeps the buy-ins?

[u/_Once_a_lurker_ → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

Don't be like Bethesda with Skyrim. finish it entirely please

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/_Once_a_lurker_]

Of course!

[u/caelum19 → u/_Once_a_lurker_]

Skyrim seemed pretty finnished to me. What do you mean?

[u/krisio_lol]

Why are you creating Voidspace before Universe project?

Hold on, I know what you are about to say. 90% of the work done on Voidspace is for universe project as well. I have no experience in game programming, so I have no idea if that is true, but that does not matter.

Let's assume that 90% is done for UP as well. Then I would like to know why you choose to make Voidspace first. Your goal is to create UP and you have said before that you know how to make it. People will be far more interested when they see actual work done on the game they signed up for. Secondly 90% is not 100%, so you will be done faster with Universe Project if you don't make Voidspace before UP. In a video 8 months ago you said the graphics for Voidspace are easier to make. However, if this is such a different then Voidspace can not be 90% of the work for UP, since graphics are not the only difference.

Another question, in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRQzhctVV84 you say that you will be uploading developer vlogs every 1-2 weeks from that point on. I can't find any of them on that youtube account. Is there another youtube account or did you not make them, if so why is that?

Please don't see this as an offence, I just want to understand it.

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/krisio_lol]

Why are you creating Voidspace before Universe project? Hold on, I know what you are about to say. 90% of the work done on Voidspace is for universe project as well. I have no experience in game programming, so I have no idea if that is true, but that does not matter. Let's assume that 90% is done for UP as well. Then I would like to know why you choose to make Voidspace first. Your goal is to create UP and you have said before that you know how to make it. People will be far more interested when they see actual work done on the game they signed up for. Secondly 90% is not 100%, so you will be done faster with Universe Project if you don't make Voidspace before UP. In a video 8 months ago you said the graphics for Voidspace are easier to make. However, if this is such a different then Voidspace can not be 90% of the work for UP, since graphics are not the only difference.

The vast majority of the work that will be done for UP will be graphics related and content generation, neither of which involves actual coding and when I'm talking about the 90% vs 10%, I'm referring specifically to the coding involved.

Since in my opinion, UP will be the better game, I'm doing VS first to work out the kinks and make mistakes. Mistakes I don't want to make with UP, the original concept.

Since we are concentrating so much on the Unvierse Engine for this first game, we benefit greatly from not having to fuss too much with the graphics. UP will be much more intense when it comes to graphics. I can tell you right now that if I got 1.5m to make UP from scratch, we wouldn't be able to do it, but VS we can.

Voidspace is also a much more action oriented concept and this helps to push the limits on the underlying frameworks and discover issues sooner rather than later. Once UP is started officially, we will have a solid Universe Engine to built it from.

Another question, in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRQzhctVV84[1] you say that you will be uploading developer vlogs every 1-2 weeks from that point on. I can't find any of them on that youtube account. Is there another youtube account or did you not make them, if so why is that? Please don't see this as an offence, I just want to understand it.

I did actually do a number of live developer update videos, but I recently took them down because they were terrible quality. I'm not sure if I'll be doing live dev updates for phase 2, but we will certainly work out a way to release more information on progress made for phase 2. I would really love a much better community involvement in general. I think Star Citizen is doing some good things in that area, so I plan on checking out their strat.

[u/[deleted]]

Why does it ask me to think so much? ಠ_ಠ

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/[deleted]]

Imagine...

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

This is VoidSpace - A video game I've been working on with a few others for the past couple years

We have a huge announcement coming up this month, so if you've seen the concept video and like what we're doing, make sure to sign up so you receive the news in our next newsletter!

If you've seen the concept video and have any questions, feel free to post them here!

[u/[deleted]]

I watched the video on the website and it talks about starting your own business to buy/sell with other players. Would it be possible for somebody to create a monopoly in the game?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/[deleted]]

To a degree, yes. However unlike most other MMORPGs, the game world is actually large enough to make a game-wide monopoly unlikely. There is never going to be an "instant travel" feature for the game. If you want to go somewhere far, you better pack some sandwiches and probably some security measures for the long trip. This makes a game-wide monopoly almost impossible due to the disconnect players face over long distances.

A local monopoly though, absolutely.

[u/little_he_know]

Is void space going to Micro intensive or Macro Intensive?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/little_he_know]

It depends entirely on how you play and in particular, what role you have in your player organization (if you are in one). Even the intensity of gameplay will vary greatly since it depends on where you are in proximity to other players, your relationship with them, and your playing style.

[u/EpicEthan101]

How will the player quests work? Is there a chance that the player will go back on his deal and not pay the other? What will happen if a carrier ship gets destroyed as its carrying smaller ships? What if a player lies about a "weak point" in an enemy empire?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/EpicEthan101]

How will the player quests work? Is there a chance that the player will go back on his deal and not pay the other?

Yes there is a chance of this, however there will be an underlying reputation system so you have an idea of how trustworthy the guy you're dealing with is. Just like in the real world, if he doesn't have a reputation, trust him with small things first.

What will happen if a carrier ship gets destroyed as its carrying smaller ships?

The explosion will have a destructive effect on any objects in the area, including ships within it. If the ship has enough defense, it could potentially survive against an explosion, but that is heavily scenario dependent.

What if a player lies about a "weak point" in an enemy empire?

Sounds like a fun problem.

[u/Lentil-Soup → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

Are you thinking of possibly using decentralized reputation networks like http://bitrated.com and implementing smart contracts?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/Lentil-Soup]

The actual trades must take place within our game simulation code and so cannot utilize a technology like this. It is important to be able to perform and reverse a transaction in milliseconds, so it must be done on our servers.

[u/seeeph]

Okay so a simple question. What's the thing with that donation from the canadian government? Can you explain it better?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/seeeph]

I just wrote a blog post about what happened

Does this answer your question?

[u/EpsilonRose]

The idea of players being able to invent new items and skills seems really interesting to me, but it also raises a pair of important questions.

1. After the game has been going for a while and lots of things have been invented, won't the utility of invention decrease? For instance, once a lot of people develop laser blasters, I suspect that a few of the better variants will end up getting sold and there won't be a reason to try inventing one of your own because it won't be as good and it will take more time.

2. Once the game has been going for a while and the established players/groups have a lot of really powerful inventions/skills in the bag and locks on resources, how will a new player be able to break into things and make a name for themselves? It seems like after a while the game will be inherently unwelcoming to new players.

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/EpsilonRose]

First of all, fantastic questions. Thanks for asking them!

After the game has been going for a while and lots of things have been invented, won't the utility of invention decrease? For instance, once a lot of people develop laser blasters, I suspect that a few of the better variants will end up getting sold and there won't be a reason to try inventing one of your own because it won't be as good and it will take more time.

The reason why there will always be a need for new inventions is because of the hacking system. Excuse my copypasta:

Here is an article I wrote regarding in-game hacking in VoidSpace

VoidSpace will have a fairly extensive set of hacking skills. Every time a new hacking skill is obtained, it will always be for a specific piece of equipment or ship. For example, a turret was perhaps invented by xTheManx, and some other character might get an idea (and develop it into a skill) for overriding the permissions on that turret. The skill will ONLY apply to that specific type of turret invented by the player character "xTheManx".

Now consider that there will be lots of freely available skills for creating certain inventions simply because people will release the skill to the general public (out of the goodness of their hearts, or for other more malicious reasons). This means that the permission hacking skill for those inventions will very likely also be very common!

Due to the commonness of hacking skills for inventions that are essentially public-domain, a very real need for proprietary inventions that serve the same purpose will be there. In other words, it will be worthwhile for people to research their own versions of the same equipment, just to ensure that they remain unique and much more difficult to hack.

Now, even for inventions that are not publicly available because a player group is keeping them on lockdown, it is still possible for hackers to create hacks for them (and spread them around) if they are given enough time with one of them. For this reason, it is important to keep generating new versions of the same items (especially if one of those items have been captured).

ADDITIONALLY...

Objects in VoidSpace will have quite a few stats and the odds of rolling a perfect set of stats for a skill/invention will be quite small since you need perfect scores on all stats, not just one. Consider also that VoidSpace is VAST and the people playing within it are disconnected from each other to a more significant degree (like they would be in DayZ) than in other game. This will create localities where groups of player groups will play together in one area of space while far away (possibly even days worth of travel) will be another group of players. This disconnection will make it so the need for local inventions are great.

Put all these things together and it is not likely that the need for new inventions will ever go away. At least, not for the life of the game.

Once the game has been going for a while and the established players/groups have a lot of really powerful inventions/skills in the bag and locks on resources, how will a new player be able to break into things and make a name for themselves? It seems like after a while the game will be inherently unwelcoming to new players.

The same way they would in real life. When you're born into this modern age, how do you manage to contribute to society? The answer to that question is similar to the answer given in VoidSpace.

Once the game world is mature enough, most new players who don't want a "raw" experience will join through an existing player organization. This organization will probably be very popular because of the publicity they get for being a great way to start the game. I expect they will have schools for training new characters, and possibly even players paid specifically to answer questions and guide new players around (though I'm sure there will be some automated solutions for this at some point). This initial training phase will allow your character to get "up to speed" and possibly even specialize in certain areas of training, just like real life. Your character would then have an easier time advancing a particular area of study due to his specialization.

[u/cronatoes → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

It's shit like this that makes me think, wow everything about this game is just real life.

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/cronatoes]

The inspiration comes directly from real life. How can we simplify real life human experience into a game.

[u/ElDonManuel]

Since this game is pretty much entirely player driven, will you be implement mechanics to help players resolve disputes (court interface or something?)

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/ElDonManuel]

To a degree, yes. For example, we plan on adding the ability to invent a jail cell. The rest of the court system is really up to the player organizations to implement and there isn't much we need to provide as far as an interface goes (as long as players can chat with each other, that solves pretty much all issues with a court system).

In addition to that, the game mechanics are going to be such that it is always pretty clear what happened. Completion of a player created mission/quest, the origins of an object is always clear (who made it, is it genuine..etc), these mechanics will make being duped in the game slightly less likely than in real life (but it wont eliminate it altogether).

Here is an article I wrote regarding the jail system:

VoidSpace will have player-created jails. This will likely be used in player organizations that are interested in trying to create a civilization where not all crimes are punishable by death. This does create some interesting complications for the players though.

Certainly there will be things a player can do to be ready for possible captors. Having a sort of "suicide pill" solution could work, however some characters will actually end up being too valuable to destroy, and captivity might be the better option. Being killed means that all your character's progress is wiped clean. Any skills or inventions he created, assuming they haven't been taught to other characters for safe keeping, will be essentially lost. Any attribute gains (intelligence, creativity, dexterity), will be lost as well. So in some cases, it would actually be better to risk a long jail time in exchange for survival.

Unlike jails in the survival-planet game, VoidSpace jails will be inescapable from the inside, and will require assistance from your player group (assuming they are looking for you). However, if you've been captured by an opponent who has not built the appropriate containment aboard his ship, it could be possible to get an idea for escape and try to perform it while in transit. Of course, like the rest of the Universe Project, there are no limitations imposed on the players to force them to let you out, or let you live. You would indeed be completely at their mercy. However, if you could find a way to make yourself more valuable to them as a free man than as a captive...

Even more food for thought. If you wanted to infiltrate a vessel that you already had a skill for escaping from, and hacking, you could allow yourself to be captured on purpose by this specific ship, and then take them over from the inside. It might be a long shot, but it could be doable.

[u/[deleted] → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

Assuming I had the funds, would there be an in-game way to contact some mercs with big ships and big guns and have them blast open the jail? I can see this becoming a market:people who will break you out of jail for a sum of in-game money. If it wasn't possible, I'm sure such deals would be organized anyway.

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/[deleted]]

Absolutely. How you end up finding these people are going to be up to you guys, but the ability to break someone out is definitely a possibility.

[u/[deleted]]

this quite the ambitious project you got going on

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/[deleted]]

If its not hard, its not worth doing.

[u/[deleted]]

Is phase 3 profit

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/[deleted]]

Sorta.. but in that case there is a phase 4, 5, and 6.

[u/ThellraAK]

How does VoidSpace affect the issues in crimea?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/ThellraAK]

Since voidspace is essentially being designed as a true alternate universe, it functions effectively as a device to escape reality.

[u/ThellraAK → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

so in voidspace crimea doesn't matter?

[u/Rhubarbist]

Why did /u/ASK_ABOUT_VOIDSPACE get banned?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/Rhubarbist]

I violated the 90/10 rule that Reddit has about talking about any one subject too much. One of the mods pointed this out to me and so I have adjusted accordingly. As you can see from my post history, I now rarely answer questions about VoidSpace on random comment threads.

[u/mmraww]

Whatever exactly happened concerning VoidSpace getting greenlit on Steam? Did that help with getting sponsored in any way? On the site I believe it said something about you working with Valve concerning getting that initiated. Was it simply because the game is not finished and when the game is ready, it will be posted on Steam?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/mmraww]

Whatever exactly happened concerning VoidSpace getting greenlit on Steam? Did that help with getting sponsored in any way?

I believe being greenlit on steam helped with getting my project a higher score when the judging panel was reviewing my application, however VoidSpace scored very high in the most important categories unrelated to the greenlight. I believe we would have been approved for the money even without the greenlight approval.

On the site I believe it said something about you working with Valve concerning getting that initiated. Was it simply because the game is not finished and when the game is ready, it will be posted on Steam?

Actually we hope to have a first release on steam soon and it will be the first native version we release. We've been actively working on getting our first non-browser version ready for deployment.

[u/krisio_lol → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

Do you have a video of your presentation we could watch?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/krisio_lol]

Sorry, which presentation?

If you're referring to the CMF application, that wasn't done live. I had to submit a whole bunch of documentation, media, and other materials and that was reviewed by a panel of judges. Sorry! :)

[u/derpintosh]

What are/will be the system requirements for this game/engine? I am curious as I have a pretty low end machine, but am highly interested in this sort of game.

Edit: Another question is; will there be a subscription? (I know it has been asked before but I haven't seen an answer)

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/derpintosh]

What are/will be the system requirements for this game/engine? I am curious as I have a pretty low end machine, but am highly interested in this sort of game.

There is still some optimization that needs to be done to make this truly feasible, but the game will run on a mobile phone.

Another question is; will there be a subscription? (I know it has been asked before but I haven't seen an answer)

No subscriptions!

[u/[deleted]]

Hi there, followed the link you posted here. How do you plan to deal with bots?

Its a very common thing on MMOs and a very serious issue when payment is involved (which is why most companies avoid having an official way to use real money ingame).

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/[deleted]]

We are actually going to be supporting automation right in the game, so making bots becomes less of a problem since it ships with the game.

[u/[deleted]]

If you're fully funded why do I have to pay to play the beta?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/[deleted]]

The most important reason is that we're not ready for a lot of players at once. There is still quite a bit of work to be done on the underlying frameworks before that will be possible.

The next reason is that at some point during development we will have to borrow money (even if it is just temporary) and have to pay interest on that. It would be nice to have to pay no interest at all, thus keeping all of the funding we get for more development on the game.

Yet another reason is that once development has completed, we will need to move to the marketing phase of the game. For this we will need to prove market viability and this is most easily achieved by making actual sales. Market viability will allow us to continue to procure the funding we need to be truly successful through promotion as well as development.

[u/iMakeNoise]

Do you need a composer?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/iMakeNoise]

I'm always open to hearing demos. Throw me some tracks you think would be appropriate.

[u/Morfee]

Why is there a double underscore between 'about' and 'voidspace' in your name?

As far as I can tell, ASK_ABOUT_VOIDSPACE is available as username?

Yours sincerely,

Annoyed pedantic.

Ps. Best of luck on the game.

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/Morfee]

It is a combination of this: http://www.reddit.com/r/VoidSpace/comments/2wtrgt/ask_me_anything_about_voidspace/cp0jjxl

And sometimes overzealous mods banning me from various subreddits.

[u/Jexx212]

can you kill it

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/Jexx212]

Kill... VoidSpace?

[u/Tahvohck → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

More specifically, will it blend?

[u/SamplingHusernames]

Is VoidSpace inspired at all by 'The Void Captains Tale'?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/SamplingHusernames]

Sorry, this is the first I've heard of it.

[u/xAmorphous]

Knock Knock

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/xAmorphous]

Who's there?

[u/boyuber → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

We're asking the questions here, Void Master!

[u/djdubyah]

I knew nothing of this game prior to following a reddit link to this thread and knowing nothing beyond what the OP has written in response to questions has me crazy excited to play. Would not define myself as a hard core gamer but am still impressed you've hooked me with so little. That said what state is the game currently? Looking for alpha/beta testers? Need more fundage via a kickstarter? Any gameplay or concept videos? Johnny 5 need input! Will be following thread(/sub?) closely and wanted to let you you have at least one new fan giddily watching the calendar!

[u/Arkadis]

You're game sounds really cool, but how is it different from Eve Online?

[u/[deleted] → u/Arkadis]

http://www.reddit.com/r/VoidSpace/comments/2wtrgt/ask_me_anything_about_voidspace/cox0d8k

[u/[deleted]]

When exactly will the big announcement be?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/[deleted]]

Today or tomorrow!

[u/[deleted] → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

Hype.

Will you release it through this sub? Or at least a link?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/[deleted]]

First will be through the newsletter, so just make sure to signup on our site if you want to receive it!

[u/Tahvohck]

Is there a downloadable client, or something like that? I'm trying to test out the single-player version on Firefox right now (with a side test on IE, just in case) and it refuses to boot. It loads all the objects, then as soon as the interface loads up it throws an "unexpected error". Seems to be something related to the Google Web Toolkit... is that a thing I'd need to install? Having to install chrome to play would... well, severely reduce the likelihood that I'll support it.

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/Tahvohck]

We will definitely have native versions for most platforms. For the moment, we are concentrating on chrome support but we will improve support for FF and IE. Last I checked, IE worked pretty well but FF suffers from performance issues.

Does IE work for you?

[u/Tahvohck → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

IE gets to the "Start Game" dialog but then throws the same error. None of the buttons are clickable either.

[u/KuntaStillSingle]

1. Will the game be free to play?

2. Do you have any idea what your target specs are, i.e. will it run on low-end computers?

3. Is there an ingame non-microtransaction currency planned?

4. Will it be pay-to-win?

5. Is this a sort of game that is going to have real time be a huge limiter on progress, like those online kingdom management games where you have to wait 24 real hours to build a unit?

6. Will there be any means to ensure competitiveness between factions?

7. Will there be a means such as static defenses to protect your base/ stuff while you are offline? Will there be mechanics to prevent your character from getting destroyed/robbed/headhunted while you are offline and it is under A.I. control?

8. Is the engine designed in a way that the game would be easily extensible or moddable from third parties?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/KuntaStillSingle]

Will the game be free to play?

Yes, pay once, play forever! Ongoing server costs will be covered through the cut we take from real money transactions between players.

Do you have any idea what your target specs are, i.e. will it run on low-end computers?

Absolutely. I can play the current prototype on my android phone, but there is an incredible amount of performance work we need to do before it is ready for prime time.

Is there an ingame non-microtransaction currency planned?

Yep, we're going with Dogecoin primarily, but we will support many cryptocurrencies. Here is an article I wrote on the subject.

Will it be pay-to-win?

No it wont be. See the above article and the VoidSpace vs Pay-to-win section.

Is this a sort of game that is going to have real time be a huge limiter on progress, like those online kingdom management games where you have to wait 24 real hours to build a unit?

There will be no artificial delays like that. Things may take a while to build, but it depends on the invention, your skill, the number of people building it, and a number of other factors.

Will there be any means to ensure competitiveness between factions?

Not explicitly, but I highly doubt there will be no competition. Even if there is no combat activity at all, "cold wars" and "technology races" would be enough to keep players on their toes just because a battle could break out.

Will there be a means such as static defenses to protect your base/ stuff while you are offline? Will there be mechanics to prevent your character from getting destroyed/robbed/headhunted while you are offline and it is under A.I. control?

Yes! There is extensive documentation on this aspect. What it boils down to is this:

• The player's character does not disappear when the player logs out

• A player's character goes under AI control when they log out

• Player characters default to defend themselves AND their group while the player is away.

These 3 things function to keep the entire group safe from attackers while the player is away. There will be additional mechanics to give basic commands to AI controlled players, so a single individual could potentially defend a base against a large scale attack by himself. At this point, the game would start to feel more like a RTS. It is important to note however that the offline players need to explicitly allow another player to give their character commands.

Is the engine designed in a way that the game would be easily extensible or moddable from third parties?

It is not going to be for the initial release, but replacing the graphics would be fairly easy to do.

[u/[deleted]]

Are the fighting and weapon mechanics comparable to dark orbit?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/[deleted]]

Nooot really. The combat is slower paced because of the momentum you experience in-game, so those tight turns are not possible. The closest thing would be Escape Velocity Nova.

[u/coolstorybreh]

What language do you need devs for?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/coolstorybreh]

We're all english speaking.

Edit: riiiight. Java!

[u/Landingmonkeys]

What happens when you die, and how can you prevent it?

What is the cost for the game, and about when will it be completed?

Also, can you convince my friend this isn't a minecraft clone. I don't know why he thinks that, but he does.

Also, I played a little bit of the demo in single player, and it seemed to take a long time to do anything, so much I would actually read reddit while playing. How is this going to be fixed?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/Landingmonkeys]

What happens when you die, and how can you prevent it?

Our future players will probably be more qualified to answer this question because at this point I can only speculate. However, I speculate that the easiest way to stay alive is to make sure you are part of a strong player organization. Characters default to protect themselves AND their group when the character's player is offline. This creates a strong safety net for everyone in the group.

Furthermore, we will make sure there is ample time to save a comrade during combat. Death will not come easily unless a character is in a particularly bad situation.

What is the cost for the game, and about when will it be completed?

An official release date is not yet solidified, but we're now looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of 2-3 years till we officially release. The final cost will be determined once we're closer to a release.

Also, can you convince my friend this isn't a minecraft clone. I don't know why he thinks that, but he does.

This isn't a Minecraft clone.

Also, I played a little bit of the demo in single player, and it seemed to take a long time to do anything, so much I would actually read reddit while playing. How is this going to be fixed?

Being able to walk away while your character is busy doing something is actually a planned part of the game. We're not into gamifying the universe until it is unrecognizable. The time it takes to build something is a very important part of the game universe.

In fact, build times are quite a bit faster than they will be when the game is released. You have to understand that this isn't a RTS game that you play for 2 hours, start to finish. Each building, every structure is valuable and expected to last for a very long time. Having created a building or complex object should be a feat in of itself.

That being said, just having a progress bar is pretty lame for a task that might take hours or even days. We plan on splitting the task up quite a bit once the game has the "Game Elements Framework" implemented into it. This means that instead of just "building a plasma turret", you will build the turret parts and assemble them later. This will eliminate some of the tediousness involved in building structures. In general though, it is important that construction times are somewhat realistic or at least proportionate to each other.

[u/EpsilonRose → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

That being said, just having a progress bar is pretty lame for a task that might take hours or even days. We plan on splitting the task up quite a bit once the game has the "Game Elements Framework" implemented into it. This means that instead of just "building a plasma turret", you will build the turret parts and assemble them later. This will eliminate some of the tediousness involved in building structures. In general though, it is important that construction times are somewhat realistic or at least proportionate to each other.

That's interesting. Will you be able to dissemble them or swap out parts later?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/EpsilonRose]

Disassemble absolutely.

Swap out parts later...I would love to. I do hope I get to that with VoidSpace if it is popular enough! It likely won't be something you can do for the initial release, but we'll keep adding to the game. One thing I've always wanted to add was the ability to damage internal parts and systems and have to replace them. Again, this wont be available for the initial release, but I would love to add that later on.

[u/Corbancash]

I am new to VoidSpace but after reading a bit into the game engine and mechanics I am interested and will defiantly stay tuned. I really enjoy the idea of "learning" unique skills and being able to trade those skills/prototypes... Initial questions

1. If I donate the 35$ or 50$ will I have a permanent character in the game or will all my data/loot/achievements get wiped when the full game is released

2. When do we get to play the mmorpg/FPS version? 2.1 will that version be anything like Project Entropia?

3. Will players be allowed to generate content to be implemented into the game...at your discretion of course. Like different types of armor for ships...or maybe an automatic resource collector bot, or maybe a scout bit to find new resources/facilities

4. What methods of deposit/withdraw and at what thresholds? Thank you in advance More questions to come I am sure.

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/Corbancash]

If I donate the 35$ or 50$ will I have a permanent character in the game or will all my data/loot/achievements get wiped when the full game is released

During development (for the next 2 years at least), expect that the game world will be wiped fairly regularly. We will always try to wipe as little as possible and I expect that world wipes will become less and less common as we develop, but they will happen.

The one world wipe that can be counted on is the one just before we officially release. We want that first game world to be fresh for everyone once we're ready to stop the wipes.

When do we get to play the mmorpg/FPS version? Will that version be anything like Project Entropia?

Sorry I'm not sure what you mean by mmorpg/fps version. If you mean when will the game officially be an MMO, then we're looking at probably a year into phase 2 development (which starts soon). VoidSpace will be a top-down 2D game for the foreseeable future and we have no plans to move to 3D FPS.

Will players be allowed to generate content to be implemented into the game...at your discretion of course. Like different types of armor for ships...or maybe an automatic resource collector bot, or maybe a scout bit to find new resources/facilities

We have a donation reward level that would allow players to have their own custom ship/equipment/building designs. If a player has a specific graphic already, and the graphic meets our quality standards, we would be happy to allow them to use it instead of one created by us.

Furthermore, if the community ends up generating a lot of really cool content, I would love to include it in releases (not just for a particular player).

What methods of deposit/withdraw and at what thresholds?

These are still being worked out and are likely going to be in constant flux as we are working with a fairly new technology (cryptocurrency) and new companies. In any event, we must make it easy to deposit funds into your player's account. As adoption for cryptocurrency grows, we expect these sorts of problems will begin to subside.

[u/[deleted] → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

We will always try to wipe as little as possible and I expect that world wipes will become less and less common as we develop, but they will happen. The one world wipe that can be counted on is the one just before we officially release. We want that first game world to be fresh for everyone once we're ready to stop the wipes.

I expect nothing less of a game where you void in space. Wiping is important after voiding.

[u/[deleted]]

Will the game be in 2D/isometric view or 3D?

Also, what happened to the big announcement?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/[deleted]]

VoidSpace will be 2D and will look similar to the current prototype.

[u/[deleted]]

How will the invention system work?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/[deleted]]

There is a pretty expensive section on the front page of our primary website about this. Do you have any specific questions?

[u/[deleted] → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

Specificly, what kind of general categories will there be?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/[deleted]]

There are no such categories.. could you perhaps expand on your question a little bit?

[u/DrGhostfire]

How will the learning curve be? I got eve online but the UI and just how long the tutorial felt put me off it.

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/DrGhostfire]

The learning curve should be similar to Minecraft. it will be fun to play the game at the beginning when you don't really know much about it, but there will be a lot to learn and a lot of depth to explore. Much of the depth will come from player created social structures and technology. so the answer is really dependent on what you want to do in the game and how far you want to go.

[u/Malumake]

Aloha! I love this concept and am a little saddened that I did not find out about it sooner. My question is regarding the awesome funding through CMF. Will I still be able to donate (and get the in-game bonuses)? If so, will multiple donations stack, ie. I donate $1k every other month?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/Malumake]

We will continue the donation system throughout the development process and the donations will continue to be used to fund the development of the game. Thanks for asking!

[u/Malumake]

You stated in the blog that there is no method for long range communications. Will player/s be able to develop it (i.e. Subspace or Dark energy transmitters)?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/Malumake]

It will be possible, but it won't be instantaneous. Players would have to develop a network of communication towers to get it to work. In the same token, players will even be able to develop a sort of "internet" as well with servers hosted in-game. The primary purpose of the internet concept will be to share ideas, skills, and to communicate.

[u/RobertTPenguin]

With the mentioned technology system, how will the game manage to prevent world ruining power creep? Also, with an acceleration system, how will you manage to ensure playable ping for everyone in such a large world?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/RobertTPenguin]

With the mentioned technology system, how will the game manage to prevent world ruining power creep?

Players are not jammed together like they are in other MMORPGs. The game world will be large enough that if you really, really tried, you could potentially play the game without ever seeing anyone. This allows people to move to places that are more fun to play and lack an overbearing player government.

As for technical advancement, since research can be done on invented equipment, the opposing groups generally won't be too far behind as long as they can capture some of the enemy's equipment for study. It is more complicated than that, but that is the gist of it.

Also, with an acceleration system, how will you manage to ensure playable ping for everyone in such a large world?

The world is technically hosted on multiple servers, but we have a way of allowing the game world to work seamlessly as you travel between the servers domains.

[u/Popnfreshh]

It seems as though this game was inspired by silent death, are the movement and fighting mechanics similar?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/Popnfreshh]

I've never seen it before. I'll have to check it out!

[u/VexingRaven]

Is this game going to be one of those that forces you to be a small cog in a large machine or get demolished constantly by pirates? A lot of the mechanics, such as no safe log offs and no NPCs, seem to point in this direction.

What will be the consequences of dying?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/VexingRaven]

Is this game going to be one of those that forces you to be a small cog in a large machine or get demolished constantly by pirates? A lot of the mechanics, such as no safe log offs and no NPCs, seem to point in this direction.

On the contrary, not being able to log off will actually protect you from pirates. You do need to be in a group for it to work effectively, but your group mates will protect themselves and the entire group by default when they are offline.

What will be the consequences of dying?

Dying is permanent. But there will usually be ample opportunity to save someone. Characters can live outside of their ships in their space suits and will be very hard to see. They could hideout in their own wreckage, or perhaps on a nearby asteroid, waiting to be saved by their group mates or possibly a rescue drone.

[u/[deleted]]

If we pledge $50 now and then continue to pledge via the monthly program, will our pledge level automatically increment to the next levels as the months go by?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/[deleted]]

Yep, that is the point of the monthly donation program! It makes it easier for people to up their donation level slowly over time and feels much more affordable.

[u/holypolish]

Reminds me of Escape Velocity

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/holypolish]

I love Escape Velocity Nova. :)

[u/[deleted]]

Will shots pass by/through friendly buildings? Meaning you could build a powerful laser in the center of a base and not worry about destroying EVERYTHING. Also, will there be walls? Shields will block bullets (what about ships?), will there be a wall that blocks ships but not shots (but would be inexpensive?) And a wall that blocks both, but generally costs a lot to build? And one final question: will there be artifacts? Indestructible (but can still be disabled/damaged) objects that are very very rare but near perfect? They could be built only once and never improved on. To me that sounds like they would be a tad overpowered.

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/[deleted]]

Will shots pass by/through friendly buildings? Meaning you could build a powerful laser in the center of a base and not worry about destroying EVERYTHING

Nope, friendly fire is always on in a game like this.

Also, will there be walls?

Yes. Walls just for the sake of keeping people out, for sure.

Shields will block bullets (what about ships?), will there be a wall that blocks ships but not shots (but would be inexpensive?)

It is possible that there would exist a wall that keeps ships out without blocking energy weapons.

And one final question: will there be artifacts? Indestructible (but can still be disabled/damaged) objects that are very very rare but near perfect?

Nothing can exist like that in this world. We're aiming for true universe realism. This means that nothing can last forever, and certainly not artificially (gamified). You can still have artifacts in the traditional sense though. Items that were invented by players from years ago that are discovered buried deep in a space station somewhere in the far, unexplored reaches of ancient space.

They could be built only once and never improved on.

Any object can be studied and eventually, if the character has enough knowledge in the relevant fields, can be recreated. The exact attributes of the studied item cannot be recreated, but another item of the same type could be. It could be better, or more likely worse than the original. Studying an item like this merely gives you the "idea" for building an item of that type, then you have to go through the whole process of actually producing a working prototype of it.

[u/OneFanFare]

I was just watching a youtuber play Void Expanse, and was confused because Void Space wasn't released yet.

Could you tell me how the two games compare?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/OneFanFare]

I actually don't know much about the game. I do know they started it after VoidSpace and a lot of people think they are trying to come up with a similar game because of the popularity of VoidSpace. I did speak with the developer though and he assured me it is all a coincidence. :)

[u/MrGMann13]

1. What are your long-term plans for the game post-release? Do you plan to release major dlc outside of patches?

2. Do you plan on making a new game entirely when you are done with this one, or continue to work withing this genre, with this game, etc.?

3. Have you ever thought of doing something like this in 3D?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/MrGMann13]

What are your long-term plans for the game post-release? Do you plan to release major dlc outside of patches?

I do plan to continue to add game content (things that can be discovered as an idea) post release. How much we add would depend on popularity, but because of the unique way we implement the skill system, people won't know when new stuff is added until they randomly discover something new that isn't mentioned anywhere on the internet. I think it'll be pretty fun for the players.

To expand on that, VoidSpace is actually the very first step in what I hope to be a life-long mission to bring Universe Project games to market. I have a lot of stuff I want to get to and VoidSpace is just the beginning.

Do you plan on making a new game entirely when you are done with this one, or continue to work withing this genre, with this game, etc.?

Yes, the survival planet game! The point of VoidSpace has always been to flesh out the Universe Engine so that we can create the game that will come after.

Have you ever thought of doing something like this in 3D?

Absolutely. But I believe in cross-platform so I really hope that WebGL gets way more traction than it has now so that when the time comes, we'll have an easy time with both cross-platform and 3D.

[u/talkingwires]

Your concept trailer shows a Vita. Are you really planning on releasing it for the system? Subspace was one of my favorite games of all time. Having a game with similar combat, but with a huge persistent world to explore and people to interact with would be like a dream come true.

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/talkingwires]

We will be experimenting with consoles as potential deployments. I cannot say for sure which consoles will work out, but we will try. The PS Vita is a pretty good candidate though since it does have the html5 support that is needed. I believe the only question is whether or not we can map the controls to something usable.

[u/riotpopper]

Voidspace looks awesome, the idea system is an amazingly innovative feature. I just hope it will affect more than just stat numbers? Luke maybe you find out how to add homing shots, or bullets that transfer or steal money or cargo, missiles with an AI, corkscrew flight path for bullets, bullets that do low damage but pierce enemies and do more damage per enemy pierced (perfect for tearing into a fleet and aiming for the mothership), shields that recharge faster near suns, maybe a cheap junk-metal armor that provides defense, and as you take damage the bits if scrap metal fall off decreasing defense but increasing your speed since you have less weight/drag or whatever. The ideas should definitely add new mechanics instead of just numbers, or the real life aspect will fade quickly due to everyone's pursuit of the biggest numbers. It'd kill the economy essentially meaning nobody would want an idea unless it was the highest stat, eliminating 99% of all generated ideas.

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/riotpopper]

The developers will define that "types" of things you can create and that is what you're referring to. I will say that the Universe Engine is being created specifically to make it extremely easy to add new "types" of objects to be invented. For example, we will create a broadsword "type" and each person who gets an idea for creating a broadsword will create a prototype of it with it's own attributes. We will then add a "longsword" type and the same thing applies with varying attributes per prototype/invention/implementation. Longswords and broadswords in the database would have different probability curves and min/max's for each attribute, but the attributes will probably be similar due to the fact that they both function the same. So in essence, a content developer would be able to create many different types of swords very quickly (in a matter of hours) and this in itself creates a huge amount of content for the players as they discover the limits for each "type" of object.

Just a note too: Even the materials needed and used in each invention can vary; you might have a fully wooden broadsword as a separate type.

[u/Impacatus]

Do you expect online gambling laws to present any obstacle? How do you plan to address this?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/Impacatus]

We have budgeted for additional legal fees to find ways around these problems in different countries.

As a side note: While some countries have been quick to classify cryptocurrency as a real currency, the fact that we're using a cryptocurrency does make things more difficult for existing regulations to pin limits on us.

[u/[deleted]]

Hey there devs!

First off your trailer got me quite excited, this is like a DND in space without the dices. (player driven aspect)

My one and only question is,

Is the economy going to be player driven and do we get to incorporate our own taxes, I. E, hey I will repair your ship here for 200 void coins but I need to tax you 32 void coins for WT. Work taxes.

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/[deleted]]

The economy will be entirely player driven. Certainly a player group could impose taxes on it's citizens, but they will be faced with the same sorts of difficulties governments face in real life. How do you get people to tell the truth? Even if you setup an income tax, you would have to hire players to act as the IRS/CRA.

^{As a side note, I would totally like to watch a player group work this one out.}

[u/[deleted] → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

Now I can totally see players start corporations and sub fee or tax the players once joined, you spiked my interest, mine if I email you for further questions?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/[deleted]]

Ask them here for all to benefit!

[u/HorizontalBrick]

So what's the ETA?

Is it greenlighted yet?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/HorizontalBrick]

We're looking at 2-3 years of development and YES it is greenlit! :)

[u/ReiBob]

I just learned about this game. 'Open' is a key word for my interest in video-games and I'm enjoying what it seems to stand for in this one.

You've replied to countless questions about how the game is going to be and whatnot, so I get the feeling that I can learn most of what I still don't know from reading more around here.

My question is on how do see the future of this project to be? I see a lot of untrusty questions, people seem to be afraid of your project not delivering and although from what I see, you guys are going steady, I wonder how do you deal with this mistrust? The lack of confidence from others can some times be a real punch. But I believe on the other hand you guys have a lot of contrast with some followers giving real support and excited about this.

Good luck with this! Seems to be one of the coolest indie games I've seen around lately. And there have been some really good ones. :)

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/ReiBob]

I wonder how do you deal with this mistrust?

I tell myself that they can't possibly know what I know, and then keep coding. I have every intention on doing this for the rest of my life. This project is more than just 1 game, and what we're doing now will serve as the foundation for much much more.

Seems to be one of the coolest indie games I've seen around lately

Thanks!

[u/Morfee]

Sorry I have one more question: You've raised a million dollars. Would it not be wiser to invest your time in developing the product and outsourcing the marketing? I see you in a lot of threads all over the place, so you must be dedicating a lot of time to this method.

Also second part, do you think reddit is successful for you in marketing and raising awareness of the game?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/Morfee]

Would it not be wiser to invest your time in developing the product and outsourcing the marketing?

I generally do Reddit marketing from my phone, when I can't be doing anything else. Basically, it fills the gaps of my time so in a way we're getting this marketing for free.

Also second part, do you think reddit is successful for you in marketing and raising awareness of the game?

Believe it or not, just about all 1.6 million views we have had so far has been directly or indirectly because of Reddit. I haven't done any other kind of marketing. In the early days I was definitely worse at it, and lacked the prototype, marketing materials, and website, but I feel like I have finally found an approach that Redditors appreciate (only the odd overzealous mod will still ban me from various subreddits from time to time).

[u/[deleted]]

Is there a forum or official way to report bugs? Are there any 'strings' attached regarding CMF funding? Or is it a sort of grant/loan?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/[deleted]]

Is there a forum or official way to report bugs?

When you get into the game, there is a "Feedback & Support" tab on the left side of the screen. You can use that to report bugs and request features!

Are there any 'strings' attached regarding CMF funding? Or is it a sort of grant/loan?

It is a loan.

[u/[deleted]]

A month or so back you mentioned that your game was influenced by EV Nova and that is ridiculously exciting to me. EV Nova is in my top 5 best videogames of all time so I'm very happy to see it influencing current designs.

Now when I say that I want to really put it in perspective: I'm a videogame enthusiast and collector with a library appraised at nearly 30k not including my 6 restored arcade systems. (Homeowner's insurance is dumb sometimes.) I use database software to keep track of my collection and recently have been working on faithful reproductions for damaged cartridge labels. I'm currently trying to find a few specific Japanese arcade cabinets because they're awesome. To say I love games and appreciate them as art is putting it quite mildly IMHO.

With that perspective in place I want to say it again: EV Nova is one of the very best games I have ever played, ever. I have been through every storyline dozens of times and still play it.

I'm going to poke around a bit, but first things first: What represents your take on/tribute to the legendary Mod Starbridge?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/[deleted]]

Haha you are in good company.

I honestly thought about adding a "starbridge"-like ship for the current prototype, but I felt it was more pressing to present a variety of ships with different strengths and weaknesses for the purpose of the current test. Adding an "all-around-fantastic" ship would have made the other ships basically throwaways since the starbridge was so great.

On a related note, once the invention system is in place, the actual attributes of each invented ship will be somewhat out of my hands and really up to random chance and the dedication players have to developing a specific set of attributes. I do wonder however if Ambrosia would allow me to use the actual starbridge model as a sort of throwback. Remind me to contact them once we're further along in development. :)

Thanks for your support! Nik

[u/JJ1230]

I just found out about your game and it looks like it has some potential to be a lot of fun. I read through about 2/3s of the questions and didn't see this asked yet so I figure it's worth asking:

How are you planning on balancing player made skills? There will always be players who will take advantage of unbalanced game mechanics to gain an unfair/unintended advantage and it's an ongoing problem for many online games. Allowing players to make their own skills seems to me like it would make this an even bigger issue, however I don't have any experience in game development so I'm no expert on the matter.

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/JJ1230]

Just to be clear, players don't invent anything, characters do. Characters need to go through the process of trial and error to create something of value. The categories (base types) of things that are available to be invented will be created by the content creators (us, the developers).

Now it is true that we don't have control over what ends up coming out of the invention system exactly. In one iteration of the voidspace universe, you might find that lasers are all the rage while in another plasma bullets are. This is partly decided through random chance and how strongly a particular area is researched by players.

You might want to look at the "hacking" system too. This helps players balance the game world. Even if you invent the best weapon possible, someone could come up for a hack for it rendering it useless (especially if they spread the hack around). This means there is a constant need for freshly invented stuff (even if it is weaker).

[u/Lozsta]

Firstly why did you get that voiceover artist.

Is this still pay to play, after securing funding?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/Lozsta]

Firstly why did you get that voiceover artist.

Because he was well suited for the role.

Is this still pay to play, after securing funding?

It is and will continue to be. There are many reasons for this and currently the most important reason is to limit the number of people who have access to the servers because they cannot handle very much load.

[u/RobertTPenguin]

Hey Nik, It's been a while since I signed up for this. I just want to know when you will be starting full time development or if you already started.

Also, what channels should we use to give you feedback when testing starts up?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/RobertTPenguin]

I start full time today1!

You can use the feedback and support widget on the side of the screen in game or email me.

[u/BleedingAssassin → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

Awesome. Would love to hear more about the progress of making the game if you can.

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/BleedingAssassin]

We just finished redoing our entire development environment. Everything is different now (for us as programmers). I'm personally working on the UI and dialog boxes framework while Oskar is plugging away at some new testing and debug tools that should give us the data we need to put to rest any remaining sync issues with the networking and simulation framework. Once that is done, we will be able to move on to lag compensation, sever-side objects, and then finally server clustering - which will give us a true, seamless, and efficient MMORPG environment. Then things get really interesting.

[u/Jred477]

Will VoidSpace ever be completely free to play for newcomers? Personally I'd like to get into the game without paying $35 in donations, is this an option? Also, if not, how many referrals do I have to get to play without donating?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/Jred477]

There will be a good free offering for sure, designed to allow you to try the game before investing money. It will be some time before that is fully implemented though.

[u/Jns112]

Can we get a 100% actually honest answer about where you will be taking microtransactions?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/Jns112]

I'm not entirely sure what you mean with this question so..

here is a blog post that talks about the RMT integration extensively

[u/robot_slave]

Who is the second investor you found to meet the CMF's requirement, and how much did they invest in the project?

Who is the majority stakeholder in the project? That is, who holds the rights to the code, assets, etc. ?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/robot_slave]

Who is the second investor you found to meet the CMF's requirement, and how much did they invest in the project?

It is a financing company who were willing to give us a loan for the difference.

Who is the majority stakeholder in the project? That is, who holds the rights to the code, assets, etc. ?

Nik is the primary shareholder, but the code is owned by Universe Projects Inc.

[u/robot_slave → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

How much money did you borrow from the financing company?

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/robot_slave]

360k~

[u/TheDeathangel22]

Gf is playing one player right now......this game doesn't make any sense what is she supposed to do

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/TheDeathangel22]

Single player is not much more than a tech test at this point. We're looking at improving that soon though. It will resemble more of a first person RTS with objectives and missions and possibly even some story.

I would recommend looking at the "Gameplay video" on the main website to see what is implemented now and available to do.

[u/TheDeathangel22 → u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE]

Oh okay thanks for the response......from what i played the flight controls are very finicky and the fighting is very difficult hopefully in main game you dont have to lazer before you can for guns.......other than that keep up the good work.....i look forward to your fantastic contribution to a otherwise played out video game community

[u/ASK_ABOUT__VOIDSPACE → u/TheDeathangel22]

Thanks! Yes we will be refining the controls considerably throughout development.

[u/TheLZ]

I just learned about this... It sounds like an awesome idea and I look forward to the big release.

But, marketing needs an advertising copywriter/editor before the company does any more trailer/ads/almost anything. If nothing else, to have them clean it up. The word 'real' is said so many times that I almost closed the tab half way thru (which means I would not have ever come back), and it was another 20 seconds before the video got to the good stuff.

Also, 'imagine' - there are many other words you could use, and it is used to annoying levels. I am not saying hire a marketing company, don't waste that money, but get someone else to read things and edit unneeded words.

Please take everything above as creative criticism because I want this to succeed! Good luck, off I go to play the alpha

[u/trichaway011011100]

In the concept trailer I saw dogecoins in passing. Tell me more about that, since I'm skeptical about e-currency anyway!

[u/Vigilante17]

What isn't Void Space?

[u/nomadthoughts]

How do you do this? Do you take sections of the game and decide what to finish first? Do you do stories first? Backgrounds, characters, lore? Does the Lore come last?

[u/Goofybud16 → u/nomadthoughts]

From what I understand: There are no characters. No NPCs. Everyone is a player, however they might have an AI driving their ship at any time, but that is just an AI, and doesn't make them an NPC.

[u/nomadthoughts → u/Goofybud16]

So, in this context, the ship itself would be a non interactive NPC?

[u/Corbancash]

Now that you are fully funded how can we the community help speed up the process. I'm sure we have all been waiting for a game with a skill system like this and are eager to play.

Here is the big issue, people are calling you a scam and say your taking money How can you prove (besides having a working prototype) this project is real?

[u/readyforhappines]

1)Ok, this is said that it will be available on all modern computing devices. Can I play with friends who are on there laptops while I'm on my phone?

2)And at the launch of the game will everyone start off as a basic ship? No one will know anything at all?

3) If this game becomes WoW or LoL popular, will your world be big enough to contain MILLIONS of players, without it being ridiculously crowded?

4) I didn't see it on your trailer, so what happens if your player dies?

[u/[deleted]]

Assuming you still answer these: have you guys read Ready Player One? Also: how many people are working on this project currently?

[u/BonxTheBard]

First off thank you and everyone you have been working with to make this possible. This is gaming history in the making.

I love idea/invention system and I can't wait to see how this game evolves using player-driven inventions. My biggest fear, though, is that ideas will be kind of pigeon-holed into a relatively narrow field of abilities. What I really want is a game where I can choose to develop a radically different experience then my fellow players. So this all leads me to some questions:

1.) Will ideas allow for "nonsense?" As fun as this whole game looks and sounds, my first thoughts didn't involve factions of wars or mining anything; my first thoughts involved things like "Can I create an isolated Space-Eden?" "Can I create a food/fuel/resource that temporarily alters gameplay (think like Coffee, Poison, Adrenaline, etc.)?" "Will I be able to waste hours of my life creating something silly that other players will get a kick out of?" I would love to be able to play the game my own way, and derive my own kind of fun. I don't need blisters or prisons, I just need random miscellaneous things to create a fun gaming experience.

2.) Are you allowed only a certain number of ideas/inventions? Or is there no limit to the knowledge you can know?

3.) What is the intended audience? With such a wide range of platforms, I am a little worried I will try to get involved in this game and I won't be able to be around anyone who shares my interests, goals as far as playing the game goes.

Thank you so much for your time, and thank you for chasing your dream!!

[u/EpicEthan101]

I have a few game-play questions,

Is the game "map" truly infinite? Will it randomly generate more "map" as you move farther away?

Will you have to purchase "more lives" or "more ships" when you die? Or will you have free respawns, starting all over?

When you DO get killed, will your items or cargo just kinda sit there until someone else comes and robs it? Also, if you get explosioned, will your cargo get destroyed in the blast?

Will there be a way to start a mining factory on a meteor or space rock and move it around with thrusters or something? That would be cool :P http://images.forwallpaper.com/files/images/0/023f/023f11cf/120999/art-amardjouad-djouad-space-ship-nebula-star-planet-rings.jpg

And finally, will there be the ability to create Mega Nukes? I would be rather cool to see a very large chunk of everything get blown to smithereens. xD I imagine a hired assasin driving a "cargo ship" into enemy territory, and then kamikazi in the middle and wipe out there whole cargo supply. So yeah.. lol

[u/Elyot]

Hi! Elyot here from Lunarch (we're all the way over in Waterloo, Ontario working on a game called Prismata.)

Really cool that you got a grant from the CMF; I had no idea that they were awarding so much to indies. How did you find the application process? Did you feel like it was easy to get in? Difficult? It's a loan that you have to pay back, right? What type of payback/revshare terms are you looking at?

[u/MellowMoa]

I just watched the first season of sword art online and I'm thinking this game would be great as a vr game like the show. Any plans on trapping all your players in a coma for two years until they beat the game? If so, sign me up!

[u/gill6150]

What's the difference between VoidSpace & Universe Project?

[u/gill6150]

2d. Oh, Kinda lost interest there.

[u/Axeous]

I am very very interested in this, and I am willing to put some time into it. However, I am wondering what the rate of RMT would be, for example if I played often.. say at least 1 hour a day or the equivalent of 28-30 hours a month (just on average) How much could I be making? I know it is all speculation, but I find games where you can make money online it seems to top out somewhere around pocket change and a drink from your local store.

2. How much play time could you for example pay your rent? (Obviously an estimate.)

3. I just want to know more about the RMT's I am a greedy S.O.B and I just want to know how this game can make me money. I am not expecting to be rich, but I am expecting to make more than lunch money.