DarkStar One – Broken Alliance Interview
Written by Charles Husemann on 4/26/2010 for
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DarkStar One – Broken Alliance
Space combat games used to be a fairly popular game genre with the Wing Commander, Privateer, and Freespace franchises constantly in the top of the charts. The last decade hasn't be kind to the genre though as you can count the number of good space combat games on one hand.
A few years ago we got DarkStar One and while it wasn't great it did open up some hope that we might get a better console point in the future. Well that future is now as DarkStar One - Broken Alliance will soon be making it's way to the Xbox 360. We were able to get an interview with the team and here is the result.
Can you introduce yourself and talk about your role into the project? How did you get into the game industry?
My name’s Daniel Dumont and I am the creator and lead designer of DarkStar One. I studied Physics, playing computer games was a hobby for me since I was 13 years old. After my studies I looked around for possible jobs. At random, I found the employment ad of UbiSoft in Paris. They wanted to open a new office in Germany and were looking for someone to organize the games part and the localization. One thing led to another and much later, I got the offer to work as a project manager at Ascaron. There, I started writing game concepts and planning game development.
What's the plot behind Dark Star Broken: Alliance? How much heritage does this game share with the PC game? What parts of the game are new?
The Plot of PC and console version are the same. In the story, you play as Kayron Jarvis, a young hotshot pilot who is investigating the mysterious death of his father. Early in the game, you are assigned command of the DarkStar One, a new ship that features a new technology that lets you completely customize it.
There's also a sub-plot regarding an alien invasion, but we'll leave that for players to discover.
As far as "what's new" on the Xbox 360 version - we upgraded the graphics to full HD (1080p-supported) and of course, we've fine-tuned the controls for use on the control pad.
What were the inspirations behind the game? Outside of the obvious things like the Wing Commander games can you talk about why you've created a space combat game?
When I was 14, I played „Elite“ on a Commodore 64. This game was the game that didn’t felt like a game, it was much more. Compared to other games at that time, „Elite“ was much more authentic and serious. That’s why I wanted to create a space game by myself.
I was influenced by the freedom in Privateer 2, the story and its presentation in Wing Commander and the large tactical battles in X-Wing and Tie-Fighter. Additionally, we’ve put a real trading system in the background, with simulated transports between the systems that influence the economies of star systems (which effects you, if you want to play as a trader).Customization seems like a large part of the game, what are the different ways you can customize your ship? Do you have any favorite loadouts or recommendations?
First, the ship itself can be developed in 3 different areas: wings, hull and engine. Wings lead to more agility and more hardpoints for bow weapons. Hull leads to more hitpoints and turret mounts. Turrets are useful as you don't have to manually aim them, which is obviously helpful in a frantic firefight.Engine upgrades lead to better recharge times for shields and weapons, better afterburner and even limited invulnerabilty.
There are hundreds of different items, weapons and boosts to equip your ship.
How you develop your ship depends on the way you like to play. For ex. - turrets fire automatically, while bow weapons are stronger but you need to keep the enemies in front of you. You can use rockets, however, they cost a lot of money.
And there is the Plasma Gun, which plays the same role as casting spells in an RPG. There is a spell tree you can develop and using the right spell (plasma gun) at the right time will significantly increase your success in battles.
My favourite layout is 70% bow weapons, 30% turrets and a rocket launcher for my heavy torpedos. As the rocket launcher can be equipped when it’s needed, I always have one with me – just in case I have to attack heavy ships like military cruisers.
Can you talk about the controls a bit? How hard was it to get the controls to work on the Xbox 360?
The main ship controls (steering, sliding, afterburner & brake rockets) were absolutely no problem and are handled by the sticks. We’ve decided to go for a small auto-aim circle in the center of the cockpit. This way, battling can be very fast and very smooth at the same time. However, DSO is more then just a thumb-controlled 3D-Shooter. We went through several controller layouts, before we found the final one for accessing the advanced ship and battle functions, which are very important for the tactical parts of the battles.
What lessons did you learn from the PC game that you applied to the Xbox 360 game?
We improved the balancing of the battles and the introduction to the game. We also added a better time acceleration mode for longer journeys and we made it easier to collect the artifacts which are needed to upgrade the ship.
Why is the game an Xbox 360 exclusive? Any chance we'll see the game on the PS3 in the future or not?
This was a decision of our publisher and had to do with the time schedule.
How is space exploration handled in the game? How is diplomacy handled in the game?
There are artifacts and pirate gangs hidden in the world, and some other stuff. The user is free to go where he wants as he plays. To return to the story, a player just needs to enter the related star system. There are, of course, lots of achievents for the explorers among the users.
Concerning diplomacy, the user has a reputation divided in 6 different areas, such as bounty hunter hunter or pirate. Each reputation has effects on the ships and stations around you. There’s also a criminal level which increases when you’re attacking friendly ships. If the police (or even the army) are chasing you, you can hide in neutral systems or systems with more anarchic governments.Aliens are the key component of space games, can you talk about the six species that populate Dark Star One?
There are six races in DarkStar One - Broken Alliance. Each of these races has a collection of unique characters, ships and technologies - and each of these characters will feature prominently throughout the story, in one way or another. The main threat that Kayron faces comes from a race called the Thul. They are a technologically advanced race and are descended from the Terrans. Skirmishes and raids have begun to increase in frequency and voracity of late, and as the story unfolds Kayron becomes involved in something far more important than seeking vengeance for the murder of his father.
Are you planning any kind of DLC for the game or not? Any thought of doing any kind of co-op or multiplayer action?
We’re not planning this for the first release. However, nobody knows wha could happen if the game sells well....
Is there anything we missed that you think is important?
The game offers 30-40 hours of story gameplay and the battles will be fun until the end, due to the increasing number of enemies, the increasing size of the battles and the tactics of the different races and ships. If you're not interested in the story, you can always customize the ship to your style of play, and head off into space to create your own adventures!
We'd like to thank Daniel for taking the time to answer our questions as well as Ted who helped setup this interview.
A few years ago we got DarkStar One and while it wasn't great it did open up some hope that we might get a better console point in the future. Well that future is now as DarkStar One - Broken Alliance will soon be making it's way to the Xbox 360. We were able to get an interview with the team and here is the result.
Can you introduce yourself and talk about your role into the project? How did you get into the game industry?
My name’s Daniel Dumont and I am the creator and lead designer of DarkStar One. I studied Physics, playing computer games was a hobby for me since I was 13 years old. After my studies I looked around for possible jobs. At random, I found the employment ad of UbiSoft in Paris. They wanted to open a new office in Germany and were looking for someone to organize the games part and the localization. One thing led to another and much later, I got the offer to work as a project manager at Ascaron. There, I started writing game concepts and planning game development.
What's the plot behind Dark Star Broken: Alliance? How much heritage does this game share with the PC game? What parts of the game are new?
The Plot of PC and console version are the same. In the story, you play as Kayron Jarvis, a young hotshot pilot who is investigating the mysterious death of his father. Early in the game, you are assigned command of the DarkStar One, a new ship that features a new technology that lets you completely customize it.
There's also a sub-plot regarding an alien invasion, but we'll leave that for players to discover.
As far as "what's new" on the Xbox 360 version - we upgraded the graphics to full HD (1080p-supported) and of course, we've fine-tuned the controls for use on the control pad.
What were the inspirations behind the game? Outside of the obvious things like the Wing Commander games can you talk about why you've created a space combat game?
When I was 14, I played „Elite“ on a Commodore 64. This game was the game that didn’t felt like a game, it was much more. Compared to other games at that time, „Elite“ was much more authentic and serious. That’s why I wanted to create a space game by myself.
I was influenced by the freedom in Privateer 2, the story and its presentation in Wing Commander and the large tactical battles in X-Wing and Tie-Fighter. Additionally, we’ve put a real trading system in the background, with simulated transports between the systems that influence the economies of star systems (which effects you, if you want to play as a trader).Customization seems like a large part of the game, what are the different ways you can customize your ship? Do you have any favorite loadouts or recommendations?
First, the ship itself can be developed in 3 different areas: wings, hull and engine. Wings lead to more agility and more hardpoints for bow weapons. Hull leads to more hitpoints and turret mounts. Turrets are useful as you don't have to manually aim them, which is obviously helpful in a frantic firefight.Engine upgrades lead to better recharge times for shields and weapons, better afterburner and even limited invulnerabilty.
There are hundreds of different items, weapons and boosts to equip your ship.
How you develop your ship depends on the way you like to play. For ex. - turrets fire automatically, while bow weapons are stronger but you need to keep the enemies in front of you. You can use rockets, however, they cost a lot of money.
And there is the Plasma Gun, which plays the same role as casting spells in an RPG. There is a spell tree you can develop and using the right spell (plasma gun) at the right time will significantly increase your success in battles.
My favourite layout is 70% bow weapons, 30% turrets and a rocket launcher for my heavy torpedos. As the rocket launcher can be equipped when it’s needed, I always have one with me – just in case I have to attack heavy ships like military cruisers.
Can you talk about the controls a bit? How hard was it to get the controls to work on the Xbox 360?
The main ship controls (steering, sliding, afterburner & brake rockets) were absolutely no problem and are handled by the sticks. We’ve decided to go for a small auto-aim circle in the center of the cockpit. This way, battling can be very fast and very smooth at the same time. However, DSO is more then just a thumb-controlled 3D-Shooter. We went through several controller layouts, before we found the final one for accessing the advanced ship and battle functions, which are very important for the tactical parts of the battles.
What lessons did you learn from the PC game that you applied to the Xbox 360 game?
We improved the balancing of the battles and the introduction to the game. We also added a better time acceleration mode for longer journeys and we made it easier to collect the artifacts which are needed to upgrade the ship.
Why is the game an Xbox 360 exclusive? Any chance we'll see the game on the PS3 in the future or not?
This was a decision of our publisher and had to do with the time schedule.
How is space exploration handled in the game? How is diplomacy handled in the game?
There are artifacts and pirate gangs hidden in the world, and some other stuff. The user is free to go where he wants as he plays. To return to the story, a player just needs to enter the related star system. There are, of course, lots of achievents for the explorers among the users.
Concerning diplomacy, the user has a reputation divided in 6 different areas, such as bounty hunter hunter or pirate. Each reputation has effects on the ships and stations around you. There’s also a criminal level which increases when you’re attacking friendly ships. If the police (or even the army) are chasing you, you can hide in neutral systems or systems with more anarchic governments.Aliens are the key component of space games, can you talk about the six species that populate Dark Star One?
There are six races in DarkStar One - Broken Alliance. Each of these races has a collection of unique characters, ships and technologies - and each of these characters will feature prominently throughout the story, in one way or another. The main threat that Kayron faces comes from a race called the Thul. They are a technologically advanced race and are descended from the Terrans. Skirmishes and raids have begun to increase in frequency and voracity of late, and as the story unfolds Kayron becomes involved in something far more important than seeking vengeance for the murder of his father.
Are you planning any kind of DLC for the game or not? Any thought of doing any kind of co-op or multiplayer action?
We’re not planning this for the first release. However, nobody knows wha could happen if the game sells well....
Is there anything we missed that you think is important?
The game offers 30-40 hours of story gameplay and the battles will be fun until the end, due to the increasing number of enemies, the increasing size of the battles and the tactics of the different races and ships. If you're not interested in the story, you can always customize the ship to your style of play, and head off into space to create your own adventures!
We'd like to thank Daniel for taking the time to answer our questions as well as Ted who helped setup this interview.
* The product in this article was sent to us by the developer/company.
About Author
Hi, my name is Charles Husemann and I've been gaming for longer than I care to admit. For me it's always been about competing and a burning off stress. It started off simply enough with Choplifter and Lode Runner on the Apple //e, then it was the curse of Tank and Yars Revenge on the 2600. The addiction subsided somewhat until I went to college where dramatic decreases in my GPA could be traced to the release of X:Com and Doom. I was a Microsoft Xbox MVP from 2009 to 2014. I currently own stock in Microsoft, AMD, and nVidia.
