Waltorious Writes About Games

Game-related ramblings.

Tag: Skyjacker

Skyjacker Returns To Kickstarter

By

On November 3, 2013

In Uncategorized

Over a year ago, I wrote several posts about Skyjacker, a new space sim game which was seeking funding through Kickstarter. It didn’t make it, but developers Digitilus didn’t give up. Instead, they kept crowdfunding open on their own website, and returned to Kickstarter with the Starship Constructor, a tool used to build ships for the game. Backers of the successful campaign got to play with the constructor and funds went towards continuing development on the main game. Now, Digitilus is back to Kickstarter with a final campaign to finish Skyjacker.

Unfortunately, the timing isn’t so great, with high-profile space sim games like Star Citizen and Elite: Dangerous hogging the crowdfunding headlines. But I’m more excited about Skyjacker than I am about those games, and it’s not just because of my predilection for Russian things. Read on for some reasons why you might want to fund Skyjacker too.

Read More

Demo Time: Updated Skyjacker Demo

By

On July 12, 2012

In Uncategorized

Skyjacker is one of many game projects seeking funding through Kickstarter. Unlike most, it actually has a playable demo, which I tried out a while back. Well, since then the project has raised nearly $93,000 out of their target of $200,000, but the bad news is that there’s only 10 days left in the campaign.

I’d really like to see Skyjacker succeed. It’s a space combat sim in the vein of classics like Freespace 2, but with a cool demolition system that lets player blow off bits of enemy ships and then salvage them to use themselves. Plus, with the demo the team has proven that they have the technical chops to deliver on their promises. And now, the team has updated the demo, mostly to include smarter enemy AI that will actually challenge the player. I took it for another spin, and it’s still quite fun, although I miss the “lead reticle” from Freespace that makes it easier to aim at enemy fighters at longer distances (EDIT: apparently this is already planned to be added to the final game). But it’s still pre-alpha gameplay; fixing these things is exactly what the Kickstarter campaign is for. If it sounds like something you’d be interested in, I urge you to check it out and consider donating to the campaign. Also take a look at their awesome fleet videos… they’ve got some really excellent ship designs in there.

Other Kickstarter projects have managed to pull through in the final days, but it requires getting the word out to people who might not know about the project. So take a look, and if you know others who might be interested, tell them about it.

Some quick technical notes about the demo and some more screenshots are below.

Read More

New Skyjacker Kickstarter Is Up

By

On May 28, 2012

In Uncategorized

First I wrote about the Skyjacker demo, which reveals a rather slick space sim that’s already quite a ways along in development. Then I noted that the Kickstarter for the project was being rebooted. Well, now the new Kickstarter campaign is online, and the reward tiers make a lot more sense. If you are interested in flying some spaceships around and blowing things up, you should take a look. The demo is also still available so you can try it out before you decide about making a pledge. The developers warn that the demo is a work in progress, and that they will be adding better voiceovers, improved HUD and menus, additional flight models, and a lot of bugfixes for the final version.

Skyjacker Kickstarter To Be Rebooted

By

On May 23, 2012

In Uncategorized

With regards to my last post about Skyjacker, it looks like the developers have decided to scrap their current Kickstarter project so they can start a new, better one. The news comes in the project’s latest update, although the current Kickstarter project still appears to be active. No word yet on when the new Kickstarter project will start, but I’ll keep an eye out for it. In the meantime, anyone’s who’s interested in some space sim action can still check out the playable demo.

Demo Time: Skyjacker

By

On May 20, 2012

In Uncategorized

Ah, demos. They were these things we used to have that let you try out part of a game before you decided to buy it. Now, there are so many inexpensive games available digitally that most developers don’t bother making demos. But there’s a good reason that the Russian developers of Skyjacker made a demo: they’re not quite done with the game yet, and they’re looking to crowdsource some funding through Kickstarter. That’s been quite successful for some other game ventures, as you may have heard.

Of course, after Tim Schafer’s success there’s been an explosion of Kickstarter proposals for new games. So what makes Skyjacker stand out? Well, for one, it’s a space sim, which is a classic genre that essentially hasn’t seen any new games since 1999’s Freespace 2, considered by many to be one of the best games ever made. Skyjacker’s developers are also talking up some cool features like fully destructible spaceships that can be blown apart one piece at a time, freeform gameplay that lets the player pick and choose missions and develop their own relations with various factions, and a bunch more. And, unlike most Kickstarter projects, there’s already a fully playable demo. I downloaded it, dusted off my flight stick (literally; it was dusty) and took it for a test flight.

Read More

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén