So, Coelocanth reminded me of this game again, so - especially since I'd have more urgent stuff to do :D - I dived in again and read through the last update(s).
As pretty much confirmed earlier in this thread,
the devs would like to see the game on GOG and the game can still be backed till March 2015 (
over here).
People who're more interested in the lore and general information, they've been compiled into three PDF files (
Text Compendium,
Image Compendium,
) by [url=http://www.mandategame.com/forum/fan-compendium-0]by the fans.
There will be mod support and
planetary missions and starbase assault.
In the last update, they also said they partnered up with Eurovideo Medien GmbH of Germany:
What is also important is that the guys understand both the type of game experience we are aiming for and also what we are NOT aiming for, e.g. on-the-rails free-2-play shooter with micro-transactions. Eurovideo sees the potential in The Mandate and wants to help us realize the game’s full potential. So what are the implications of this deal?
Eurovideo will invest to ensure the development of The Mandate
Perihelion Interactive will have full creative control. Full stop. We will execute the original game concept as we presented to you in the Kickstarter and will follow our vision without any intervention from Eurovideo
Eurovideo will handle all marketing, PR and distribution activities
Perihelion Interactive will interact with existing & new backers and release regular updates. There will be no changes here
Perihelion Interactive will retain full control over backer pledges
Eurovideo will handle all localization in cooperation with Perihelion Interactive
We can now guarantee that The Mandate will be localized into German, French, Italian, Spanish and Russian (other languages to be discussed)
Both the English and German versions will be voiced (other languages to be discussed)
The development team will grow due to this investment and as a result we can pack more content and more hours of fun into the game
The soundtrack will be 120 minutes instead of 60 minutes and the size of the orchestra will double
So far so good.
This is what the dev plan:
Feature Alpha: Q3 2015 (early)
Feature Beta: Q3 2015 (late)
Content Beta: Q4 2015
Launch: Q1 2016
The more (of the lore) I read, the more I'd like to back the game, but...the devs themselves said they'd give us a rich past so we can forge our own future. And it does look good, with the factions and all and the game has been compared to Mount & Blade - but I'm not really the Sandbox type I fear, I like it more when there's a good plotline. Though there should be some storylines and missions and stuff like that too.
What also kept me from going for it was that for $30 you back the game and the first post-launch DLCs and for $40 you back the game, the DLCs and the first expansion (and you get beta access)
I'm not really interested in the beta access and although I always like to get the full game, I don't know if I should take the risk. Still have till March to think about it, maybe I'll just get the base game and upgrade it later if I like it =)
P.S.:
And look here, spaaaace combat :D