Space Pioneer - an ambitious Kickstarter project promising day one Linux support
By Andrew Powell, published 08/02/2014 in News
"Created by real world astronauts, scientists and architects. Build vast colonies and cities. Explore the many unknowns of our universe!" That's the tagline of the ambitious space sim/real time strategy game Kickstarter project by Space Enigma Studios, who is also promising day one Linux support.
There are no doubt quite a few Linux gamers who are jaded by the Kickstarter projects that include Linux, but often only with "stretch goals"; funding usually quite a bit higher than the initial project goal.
Not so with Space Pioneer, according to the Space Enigma Studios team, who promises that, if the project is successfully funded (the goal is $150,000), will "release first on Windows and Linux", while also guaranteeing development for Mac and the Wii U platforms. Additional platforms will be developed for via the stretch goals; PS4 and Xbox One ($300,000) and PS3 and Xbox 360 ($450,000) while also considering mobile platforms such as PS Vita and Android devices in some capacity.
Space Pioneer is described as a "space sim, with real time strategy and city building mechanics" and appears to be quite a unique idea in that it strives to be as educational as it is fun.
The game is set in the 22nd century and has a back story with fictional elements, but the team is striving to have all recorded current (and constantly evolving) data on our known universe to be as accurate and extensive as possible, in-game. The idea however is that you'll be able to venture outside of our known space and explore even more of the universe, so of course this portion of the game would be more fictional although designed to be fairly realistic from a scientific point of view.
To help realise this realism and factual data, the team boasts actual real world astronauts, scientists and architects. Of particular interest is how Space Enigma Studios are actually utilizing professional architects to design colonies and city structures that you will be able to build in the game, while still allowing for customization.
And of course, like any space sim, your spacecraft will be upgradable and customizable as you explore both our own known universe and the extended version created by Space Enigma Studios.
Of course, as the team admits themselves, Space Pioneer is an incredibly ambitious project currently in pre-production stage of development but would create something truly unique and expansive if it was pulled off successfully. On the plus side, they do genuinely already have a team of professionals from various fields in their team and they claim core game mechanics and concepts are all mostly worked out.
It's also worth mentioning that Space Enigma Studios claim they are "strongly against any form of DRM" and therefore the game would be DRM-free.
There is much, much more information on the design and concepts of the game/simulator on the Space Pioneer Kickstarter page if you wish for more information and/or to become a backer.
The Kickstarter funding deadline is Tuesday, March 11 2014 6:05 PM EST.