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General discussionRebel Galaxy: Developer Q&A(105 posts)(105 posts)
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Posted October 27, 2015
Have questions that only the devs can answer? Join the team behind Rebel Galaxy for a special Q&A session!

The team from Double Damage Games, is here here to answer all your pressing questions about the game, the life behind game development, and their pretty extensive experience in the industry.

Double Damage Games is a two-man indie studio created by the guys who came up with and created the Torchlight series:

Travis Baldree:
Hi! I'm Travis Baldree. I've been a professional game developer for nearly 20 years, and it's been my hobby since I was a kid on my C64. I'm best known for Fate and the Torchlight series. I'm the only person I know who has more CRTs than flatscreens in their office. I stay warm in the nostalgic glow of my A500, IIgs, and C64.
---Rebel Galaxy Responsibilities:
As the only engineer on Rebel Galaxy, Travis did almost everything to make the game work. He was also responsible for the art direction, the sound design, the story and more.
---Notable Previous Titles:
Fate, Mythos, Torchlight, Torchlight 2 (all as Team Lead and Lead Engineer)
--Favorite Games:
Wasteland, Darklands, Ocarina of Time, X-Com, and Just Cause 2
---Weird anecdote from development of Rebel Galaxy:
Most of the character gesture and idle animations were done on the cheap by using a Kinect for motion capture.






Erich Schaefer:
Hi, I'm Erich Schaefer. I've been in game development since about 1990, always starting my own company because I don't deal well with authority. Double Damage Games is my fourth company, and by far the smallest. It's also my favorite!
---Rebel Galaxy Responsibilities:
Erich was the designer and tester. He worked on combat balance, economy, random missions and fed millions of good ideas (and millions of bad ones) to Travis.
---Notable Previous Titles:
Diablo, Diablo II, Hellgate: London, Torchlight and Torchlight 2 (all as Team Lead and/or Designer)
---Favorite Games:
Civ 5, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft, Minecraft and X-Com
---Weird anecdote from development of Rebel Galaxy:
I've been trying to make a space game since pre-Diablo times. I've started and failed at least 3 times significantly. Finally this one took hold!






Now that we’ve gotten introduced to the Rebel Galaxy side, here are some ground rules for this Q&A to work as smoothly as possible:

Not all questions might get answered during the Q&A. This means your specific question might go unnoticed or unanswered, but feel free to read along anyway and hang out with us - it’s gonna be fun anyway!
Be nice. This means no abuse, harassment, name-calling and the like.
Don’t spam or take over the thread to go off-topic. This will help us all keep track of incoming questions and help you get the most out of this event - and keep our guests involved!
Try to look through some recent questions before asking a new one. If the Q&A has been going on for a while, it’s likely your question has already been addressed.
Try to keep it about Rampart. Just kidding, we’re sure the devs have lots of subjects that they’d love to have a chat about with you guys!



Let’s get this show on the road!
Posted October 28, 2015
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mediumheadboy: It was always our intention to do the flattened (non-6 degrees of freedom) model. Mostly because one of our chief influences was the naval battles in Assassin's Creed Black Flag. We thought it would work great in space, sped up a bit, with lots more options.

We never considered 6DoF, or cockpit style combat, because there are lots of games out there like that, and honestly I get a bit fatigued and bored of them after a half hour or so.
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krimhorn: Ha. So great to hear you say that. While I was playing Black Flag I kept wanting a game that was nothing but the ship battle component of that and, lo, here's a game that gives me exactly what I wanted. In space no less! Doesn't have the boarding but swinging over to your opponent's vessel to take out their captain isn't exactly feasible in space. ;)

To continue with the Black Flag inspiration, one of the elements that I wished had more flesh in that game, and feels like it would fit in RG, is the "Kenway's Fleet" side game. I would love to see something like that in RG (or RG2 ;)). Perhaps instead of hiring a mercenary you could buy their ship to add to your "fleet" and then assign them trading or other routes (such as protection for your traders). Something to extend your reach in the late stages of the game while giving you something to aim for (Trader Empire!) in the early stages.
Yep, we've discussed ideas like that. A bit out of the scope of this first space game for us, but we like that idea, too.
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kzanu: I finished the game, as I was pretty fond of the gameplay style. The biggest letdown for me was that I didn't have any real use out of my upgraded Blackgate. I just love to stroll to space and do some missions, but unfortunately at this level there are only LOW threat missions. I would love a few sectors with just a few stations and the enemy destroyer/dreadnought conference for every mission. Swarms of 40-50 fighters, multiple dreads, missile porn, the good stuff. Any possible update/expansion?

Also Steamspy already counts over 50.000 owners of RG. Can you count the game as an economical success at this point? (covering dev costs and porting costs)
So many requests for new stuff! I'm afraid I'm going to fall back on the "we have no plans, yet" answer. I want to say yes to everything, but we really crunched hard to finish this, and are still doing so with support, so we need a break. Hope to have good news someday.

That steamspy number is lower that actual. But unless sales fall to zero from here on out, it will be a success, yes.
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mediumheadboy: I don't think the technical porting part is the problem. Speaking for Travis, but I think the issue is support. We're already doing a disproportionate amount of OS X support. Linux users are going to have weird issues on a system we are not familiar with.
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shmerl: I see. May be you might partner with someone who can help you with it? Like Knockout Games (Aaron Melcher) or Humble Bundle (Edward Rudd)? They ported even more complex games to Linux (Shadow Warrior) and helped with educating developers about related issues. Ryan Gordon (Icculus) also does that.
Yes, we haven't ruled it out. But its lower priority for us than getting the console versions through cert, and getting some translations done. We did port Torchlight 2 to Linux. It took a long time and didn't sell a ton of units, though.
Post edited October 28, 2015 by mediumheadboy
Posted October 28, 2015
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mediumheadboy: Yes, we haven't ruled it out. But its lower priority for us than getting the console versions through cert, and getting some translations done. We did port Torchlight 2 to Linux. It took a long time and didn't sell a ton of units, though.
I see, thanks. It gets sales over time depending on games, but it's understandably smaller

By the way, how exactly are those sales counted (I mean DRM-free case)? Just by which versions were downloaded on GOG by the user?
Post edited October 28, 2015 by shmerl
Posted October 28, 2015
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mediumheadboy: Yes, we haven't ruled it out. But its lower priority for us than getting the console versions through cert, and getting some translations done. We did port Torchlight 2 to Linux. It took a long time and didn't sell a ton of units, though.
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shmerl: I see, thanks. It gets sales over time depending on games, but it's understandably smaller

By the way, how exactly are those sales counted (I mean DRM-free case)? Just by which versions were downloaded on GOG by the user?
I'm not sure, but I think we judged it based on Steam and they count which platform it was ordered from (so it's not accurate if you buy it on a PC, but then play linux). I don't recall the details, only that we judged it not very lucrative.

I'll ask my brother (still at Runic) for more info
Post edited October 28, 2015 by mediumheadboy
Posted October 28, 2015
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mediumheadboy: I'm not sure, but I think we judged it based on Steam and they count which platform it was ordered from (so it's not accurate if you buy it on a PC, but then play linux). I don't recall the details, only that we judged it not very lucrative.

I'll ask my brother (still at Runic) for more info
Thanks. I've red somewhere that Steam has more complex counting - they analyze not just what version was downloaded, but what version was played initially for more than some minimal time. They can do it since they always proxy games through their client. With DRM-free distributors that's not possible. I guess one just can count downloads (since GOG sells all versions at once).
Post edited October 28, 2015 by shmerl
Posted October 28, 2015
Alright, some actual questions this time, involving gameplay.

1) How many mercs are there? And can I only have one at a time? If only one, does getting one killed remove that merc from the game, or do they respawn at the station again?

2) How many Guilds are there?(So far I'm a Merchant and a Merc) And what is the Maximum Level for them?

3) It keeps telling me I'm a Citizen Rank ?(so far 3 is my max) every time I dock lately along the bottom of the screen. Does this unlock something, and if so, how do I gain more levels? Is it just tied into how much I help people?

4) What is love?

5) How many sub components are there?

6) Does talking with pirates ever do anything for you if you're not going to surrender cargo or what not? Like in one old game, I could get the pirate to stand down if I blew away enough of their guys, but so far, nothing with this game.

7) Is there any point to attacking stations that are hostile towards you? If not, might I suggest that you add a reward for such attacks. Say a high level mission amount from the station who tells you to go away, as you can't damage the station, but they can't do squat with you sitting out there.
Posted October 29, 2015
I have two questions.

1. Where is the manual.

2. Can you explain your choice to release this game with regional pricing (I know GOGs stance, I wish to hear a perspective from devs that approach GOG).
Posted October 29, 2015
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srlapo: Speaking of mercenary sidekicks, any chance we can get an "endgame" version of each of them? I know that there is one for the cheapest merc (Garris?) but I would like the others to get the same treatment as they become useless once you get past a certain net worth.
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mediumheadboy: There are endgame Splitter and Skivas too. No end-game Sparrow just because I didn't like her.
That's a good a reason as any I guess. I am going to miss her ridiculous comments, they added to the levity of the whole thing, at least for me.
Thanks for the answer.
Posted October 29, 2015
1) at what point you may consider the game a big enough success to warrant an expansion?

2) will the expansion be a way to include some of the ideas you had to give up or will it expand and refine the existing mechanics? i.e better interactions with the factions? more Mercs for hire and missions?

3) if the success of the game and the demand for it will increase will you eventually expand and become triple damage or maybe even QUAD?! :)
Posted October 29, 2015
Are there any plans to expand the soundtrack in the future? Maybe as part of an expansion?
Posted October 29, 2015
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mediumheadboy: We used to allow you to select individual turret types, but as ships get bigger it became a mess. Why do you want to select them separately? As long as you have one mining laser, all your lasers get their targeting capability.
It was a bit unclear as to whether or not it worked that way. What happens if the mining laser isn't making contact but another laser is? Is the heat bar affected?

Sometimes I don't get an increased yield despite aiming at the hot spots and I wasn't sure if that was as a result of the mining laser itself not making contact.
Posted October 31, 2015
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mediumheadboy: Yes, we haven't ruled it out. But its lower priority for us than getting the console versions through cert, and getting some translations done. We did port Torchlight 2 to Linux. It took a long time and didn't sell a ton of units, though.
since you mentioned it will Torchlight 1 and 2 ever be available for Linux on GOG.com?
Post edited October 31, 2015 by sixsixfive
Posted November 05, 2015
I just wanted to pop in and say a big thank you to Travis and Erich for making this amazing game. It's a breath of fresh air for the space exploration game and I am having a blast playing through it at my own pace.

My question for you guys is as follows (I know you guys probably have a million ideas on the drawing board and you just cracked the wine bottles open to a job well done.)

Question: Have you ever considered a crew + ship interior system for an added level of immersion/was this ever on the table but was cut for getting the game out?

I have always liked the RPG element of tailoring ones crews and also having a bit of insight on the living space within the ships themselves.

Games like Infinite Space for the DS or JTL always added simple bits of immersion with having a crew member for your helm, gunnery chief, maintenance deck, etc.

Just a quick question that I figured i'd ask since It's more on the RPG side of the game.

Cheers to a job well done guys! I look forward to seeing your future projects and developments with this game and others!
Posted December 09, 2015
Hey. I recently bought and started playing Rebel galaxy, and so far I'm enjoying it a lot. But I've noticed it feels very clunky, specifically ship combat. Being able to zoom out on your ship more would make the game much easier to pick up, and give you a better view in ship fights. Also it would be nice to add a 'y' axis to space, a lot of the areas I've seen have objects in the 'y' axis, and if you could expand the maps to encompass even a small area above and below the current x axis, I think it would be a great improvement. Hence I want to know is any work being done on these suggestions, as I've seen many people suggest the same thing.
Just my two cents, other than that great game :)
Thanks.
Posted December 09, 2015
I beat Rebel Galaxy a little while ago so i'll ask a couple questions...

1) Why when talking with gangs, why do they think they have half a chance against me even while their ship is about to explode and i 'can't talk my way out of this fight'? (as they put it)

2) When talking with gangs and renegades, why can't i tell them to dump their cargo and run away?

3) Why does bribing fail (smuggling)? I've had the Milita on neutral or favorable and they always refuse? (Often declaring you're running away costs the least amount in negative relations, while bribing or running away without responding are the worst)

4) Why can i only hire 1 fighter? Why can't i have 5 or 10? (For delivery/smuggling missions it is a pain to get ambushed by 40 fighters)

Hmmm yeah that's probably my biggest questions...
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Hutchydog413: Also it would be nice to add a 'y' axis to space, a lot of the areas I've seen have objects in the 'y' axis, and if you could expand the maps to encompass even a small area above and below the current x axis, I think it would be a great improvement.
Personally at first i thought I'd like to go up and down a bit too, however other than targeting debris or mining, there's no real reason to move up or down, not to mention if it changes the angle of the ship or causes tilting or other visual results which are more complex than they need to be. Once i realized i couldn't go up or down, i stopped trying and i had more fun because of it. But that's my opinion.
Post edited December 10, 2015 by rtcvb32
Posted December 11, 2015
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Hutchydog413: Also it would be nice to add a 'y' axis to space, a lot of the areas I've seen have objects in the 'y' axis, and if you could expand the maps to encompass even a small area above and below the current x axis, I think it would be a great improvement.
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rtcvb32: Personally at first i thought I'd like to go up and down a bit too, however other than targeting debris or mining, there's no real reason to move up or down, not to mention if it changes the angle of the ship or causes tilting or other visual results which are more complex than they need to be. Once i realized i couldn't go up or down, i stopped trying and i had more fun because of it. But that's my opinion.
Ok sweet that answers my question then I guess I'll just keep playing :)
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionRebel Galaxy: Developer Q&A(105 posts)(105 posts)
(105 posts)