Darkstar (warning, lots of pictures!)

[Robyn]

EEEEEE ANOTHER UPDATE FINALLY

Satellite News made a post with this to say:

After nine years of patiently waiting, could it be true? Darkstar finally being released?

MSTies everywhere have eagerly awaited seeing the original cast of their favorite cow-town puppet show in their own, genuine space opera, only to be disappointed by missed release dates for some time now. Some have doubted that the project would ever be completed, but nobody stopped hoping.

While we’re not advocating holding your breath or anything, the newest information is that the project is now content-complete and is in final beta testing in Canada. Once that’s complete in January, it will be in the hands of the suit guys who will figure out when “Darkstar” will be released.

That’s where you come in. The studio would like to gather some information to help them package the product and refine their demographics prior to release. If you need to refresh your memory about the project, check out this brand new trailer. Our pal Director/Producer guy J. Allen Williams also answered a few basic questions on what the lowdown is at this point. You can read them after the jump.

Oh, and this counts as the weekend discussion thread.

Q: Why has it taken so long to get “Darkstar” out to the public?

A: There have been several issues that have caused us to miss self-imposed deadlines. The primary issue is that we just kept coming up with ideas to make it bigger and better, and each tacked on months, sometimes years of production time. We’ve also had technological setbacks with CGI and authoring programs we use that put us behind the eight ball, but in the end these were a blessing in disguise, as ultimately it improved the final product. We’ve been pretty much content complete since the end of ‘08, and that’s when we moved into the realm of publishing and legal issues. The crash in the economy has slowed us down a bit, because many of the publishers have no money right now, and others are being very careful about how much they put into third-party productions, and rightfully so.

Q: So it’s definitely coming out.

A: It is definitely coming out.

Q: What is the purpose of the survey you’ve offered up here?

A: Solely to get a good handle on who our demographic audience is. Age, gender, what consoles they prefer, stuff like that. We have decided to release DS first on PC/MAC only, then do consoles later in the year or the next year. There are only five questions, and they will help us quite a bit to put this together the way our demo would want us to.

Q: Where is this survey available besides this website?

A: Darkstar has three basic niche markets that we are very interested in catering to specifically. Obviously this one, because of the presence of Trace, Mary Jo, Joel, Josh, Frank and Beez. Also, the fact Peter Graves is our narrator seems to be of great interest to the Misties. But also there is the RUSH factor, with 24 songs from the band, so we’re working with the RUSH Power Windows site on that end. Clive Robertson, the lead actor in Darkstar has a decent following, so we’re working with his fansite out of Belgium. And there are a few sites out there that cater to this specific type of game project that the survey will appear on. Of course it will be on the Darkstar website for folks that have been following it there as well. This survey is aimed at the core fanbase of a product like Darkstar.

Q: What’s next for the project?

A: The hard part, the business side of things. But that’s well under way, and data from this survey will sure help us out. The easy part was working with an amazingly talented and funny bunch of folks like the ones from Best Brains. It was a true privilege getting to know MJ, Josh, Joel, Beez and Frank. My friend Trace hooked me up with the group, and it’s been so nice working with them. I truly hope MSTies enjoy Darkstar.

Click to launch Darkstar Survey - MST3K

Okay so, the new trailer was pretty awesome. We get to see a teensy bit more of Joel, Trace and Frank that we haven't see before (though the bit with Joel looked like some backstage shenanigans, come onnnnn I wanna see what he acts like in the game!)

There's also a mini-trailer preceding the survey that tries very very hard.

Discover the adventure...of an interactive movie...that plays like a game...and looks like a feature film!

Sure, a feature film, if it were made by the SciFi Channel. 8P (Excuse me, "Siffy.")

As usual, the commenters of Satellite News never fail to make my blood boil. "I have no idea what Darkstar is, and I don’t play video games." Well the post is obviously not for you, dickweed! Why are you even commenting!? SHEESH.

[Katana]

Oh teh squee. And I'll be the first to admit that I flailed about upon seeing Trace doing that silhouetted slow-walk towards the camera.

And also 'cause I got to say "FRANK IS GLOWY!"

What I did notice in the trailer as opposed to the clips and pictures we've seen before is how much better the integration is between the live action and the 3D environment. There used to be this really obvious green/pixely edge around the actors which I didn't see in the trailer. Maybe they figured out a better integration method?

Still, I'm excited.

[Robyn]

Happy New Year, guys! Look, another update!

12.18.09  Gameplay Sample Trailer and UPDATE.
Though we've tried to describe what an interactive movie looks like while you are "playing" it, words have always fallen short. In this 7:30 demonstration you'll get a better idea. Shown here are menus, puzzles, exploration and movie footage that integrates seamlessly into the gameplay. We have left out most cinematic footage in favor of gameplay, and we've edited together a small sample of what kind of action you will experience while inside the world of Darkstar. CLICK HERE TO VIEW.

The game begins with cinema that shows you as the lead character waking up on a broken starship, footage you may skip. You are then released to your own devices on a huge spaceship with dozens of areas that you must unlock and explore. There are clues, tools, maps, devices, puzzles, and a myriad of problems to solve in order to save the world, the girl and your ship. And the adventure is not confined inside this huge spacecraft. You go outside in a repair pod (EVM), a spacesuit, and eventually take a shuttle down to the planet where you discover an alien temple. From there you find an abandoned enemy flying machine that you pilot to it's mother ship, which you enter and explore and face death. Indeed you can die a couple of dozen ways in Darkstar, your only defense...SAVE or SAVE AS.

To jam hours and hours of play into a short video like this was difficult, but we hope this answers a lot of questions from you gamers. There's been a lot of comparison to mid 90's adventure games such as the Myst series, and although some of the fundamental point-and-click sensibilities are similar, the "Interactive Movie" aspect of this is what sets it apart. Just like any adventure game, this isn't for everybody. If you like exploration, adventure, sci-fi, rock music, and first person escapism, this might be for you. If you are a hard-core first person shooter or driving simulation type of player who just isn't into storytelling tools like this, you might pass. This experience is perfect for non-gamers, casual gamers, and hard-core gamers that like adventure/exploration titles that have a great story & stunning graphics, and just like to have fun. The puzzles in Darkstar are really not all that difficult, some are childishly easy, but the big picture of opening everything you must unlock in order to complete the mission and see all there is to see is more daunting than it seems on the surface, and lots of fun if you're into this kind of thing. We think you'll be very pleased with the vast world we've built, providing hours and hours of adventure.

STATUS: The game is finished, and is currently in testing and final programming in Ontario Canada. We are also finalizing rights management issues, in particular, the RUSH music. Though the band is 100% behind the project, this is still an arduous task. Atlantic Records (who owns a few of the masters) has recently issued a press release they will not license any music to video games, so we're dealing with the possibility those tracks will have to come out and be replaced by five Universal tracks. And negotiations are not yet complete with Universal either, so anything can happen.

RELEASE: We can tell you that the plan is to release on PC (XP/Vista/7) and also MAC OS systems initially. It will come in a boxed set with eight double density disks, Darkstar is a big game. We are doing research with surveys (click here to take the survey) to find out what platforms you own, and how many are interested in purchasing Darkstar on consoles such as X-Box, PS2, PS3, Wii, and others. If our survey does not address something you are interested in, please email us. We've gotten a lot of inquiries about the possibility of iPhone apps. We'll consider anything you bring to our attention. After the PC/MAC release we'll have a better idea of how much people like DS, and armed with the data you folks send in via the surveys and emails we'll know where to go from there.

RELEASE DATE: We're sorry, but no release date can be scheduled until testing is complete and we have our music rights ironed out, hopefully this will be very soon. Stay tuned and thank you for your ongoing patience with this.

SURVEY LOCATIONS: If you'd like to take the survey as a fan of one of our niché partners, the survey is in different locations. Click here, here or here if you are a RUSH fan. Click here if you are an MST3K fan. And click here if you are a Clive Robertson fan. We want to thank all of the other sites that have hosted our survey, and helped to keep you informed on the status of this product.

(Yeah I left out like half the links made in the original post cause odds are you've done the survey by now.)

My thoughts: so the game plays basically how I imagined - you click on stuff, you get little cinematic scenes of your dude reacting, and anything that isn't nailed down you stuff into your inventory. I'm actually really impressed by the graphics, even if the people look less like they're actually in the environments and more like they're holograms beamed in from a galaxy far away. 8P

At any rate, the environments look cool and the puzzles seem interesting (though people, seriously, admitting your puzzles are "childishly easy" is NOT good marketing). But yeah, I could get behind exploring this dark and groovy spaceship. xP

Also I'M JUST SO HAPPY IT'S COMING OUT FOR THE MAC. I really do love my Mac but it sometimes sucks being at the ass-end of computer gaming. We've got World of Warcraft and uhhh...that's it. Well, until Darkstar comes along (which better be pretty friggin' soon). >8l

[Robyn]

Yesterday Trace mentioned Darkstar on his Facebook and suggested people check it out. He had a little trouble figuring out how to LINK to the thing, though.

Facebook-savy Fan: You can either paste the link in the comment box, or you can add it using a Wall Post. If you see where it says "Attach:" next to a whole bunch of icons, click the little arrow at the end of the line and the option to post a link will come up.
Trace: Do what with the what now?

LOL, noob. ;D Eventually a link to the Darkstar homepage is provided, as well as a link to the DARKSTAR - The Interactive Movie Facebook Page! Look, it's a damn video game, quit calling it an "interactive movie."

There's a few interesting tidbits here, like this note from Darkstar creator Jeffrey Williams:

My name is Jeff Williams, and I am the creator of Darkstar. I want to welcome you to our new place on the worldwide web here at Facebook. I want to introduce and thank our new Internet Promotions Manager Brad Ross who will be assisting Parallax Studio in keeping you informed of news relating to the release of a project that has taken nearly a decade to bring to you. Cheers, and thanks for stopping by.

Pffthahaha "worldwide web." Well it's nice to see they've hired someone who's somewhat internet-savy, that should help them out.

There's also a few pictures:


We've seen this photo before, of course, but now it has SIMON and MAGS as well.


Darkstar creator Jeffrey Williams IN SPAAAAAAACE


Purdy.

I've become a fan of the page and will let y'all know if anything interesting comes up.

[Robyn]

The Facebook page has been updating like gangbusters, and honestly it's a pointless for me to repost the stuff here, but I'll do it for the three of you who STILL haven't given into the Social Networking Borg. Also there are a few things I really really really must comment on. Like:



PFFFFFTHAHAHAHAHA xDDD hoohoohoohahahaweeeeeehaahhahaha

Yup, Joel still looks silly. And an interesting note along with the photo:

We had a lot of fun that day, you can sure see it in the blooper reel that will be included in Darkstar. The studio soundstage we used is the same one that CINEMATIC TITANIC shoots their DVD episodes at, the folks who own it are very nice. Joel recommended the place to me. The scenes we shot there were quite some time before CT began production, so it was a rare thing to see Frank, Josh, Joel and Beez in one place at the same time.

That's pretty cool! Now a few more neat pictures we haven't seen yet:


Traaaaaaaace You know it's THE FUTURE cause he's wearing a shiny jumpsuit.


This was the original design of the Sea Beast. You remember the Sea Beast, don't you? Yeah, some things were lost in the translation, I think. xD

Oh, and remember how a bunch of the videos showing cinematics from the game were taken down from the website a while back? Well Darkstar has a YouTube channel now, and they've uploaded one of the videos! Not the one with my favorite Beez line, unfortunately. 8(


Okay, that should do it for now. *collapses*

[Kate :)]

Guess what?!

I just saw on Facebook that Darkstar is available NOW! How awesome is that?

[Senorita Gamera]

really? I should see if my parents could get it for christmas, time to delete the sims, and make way for darkstar If joel's playing the villain, I wonder if we have to kill him? I'll just hope its a silly and cartoonish death, nothing serious.