"About" Page Updated

We are pleased to announce that the About the Project page has been updated.  It now has a clearer, more concise summary of the project design goals.


Comments about the new update can be left below this post.

Where does Project Orbit Fit In?

Company of Heroes
features a company skill
tree.  Players can choose
between three company types
that offer various in-game skills.

It's hard to be concrete in pre-alpha stages of development, but we believe Project Orbit has a niche. Many games implement one particular aspect of the "ideal" RTS, but none manage to avoid becoming repetitive over time.
We think we have a basic formula that should make this the idea RTS game in terms of immersion and strategic interest:

• Large scale with appropriate zooming tools and powerful UI at all scales
• A relatively low unit cap, which should make micromanagement easier
• In order to encourage detailed interaction, units perform precise roles and multi-role units suffer serious drawbacks
• Diverse economy
• Multiple win conditions
• Dynamic and real-time unit-unit and group interactions

We also have a few ideas we’re toying with:

• Micro-level cover system where units can take cover behind terrain features
• Non-static sight radius of units: units line-of-sight is decreased by certain features (dense trees, ambient fog, day/night, smoke and particulate debris,...)
• A skill tree whereby in-game achievements and combat is converted into points which can be used to purchase specialized skills and bonuses for that match.  This should encourage synergistic cooperative play in large multiplayer games.

What do you think? Any games that deserve honorable mention? Any problems with our analysis? Any suggestions?

Let us know in the comments!

A Humble Hello from the Humble Writer

I thought I would take this moment to introduce myself and what I'll be bringing to this developer's blog. While Louis will be the one primarily updating you on the mechanics and balance and fun part of the game, I'll be updating you on that part of every game that always feels just the tiniest bit like homework: narrative and back story.

As the development goes on I'll be posting a variety of story-based information ranging from "Hey guys, what should I name this dude?" to "Here's 43 pages of backstory on Geraldo Finnian, that one guy who died in the medical hut during the third paragraph of the one journal entry from the prologue!"

Currently, I'm working on nailing down the bigger picture of who, what, when, where of all of it, and once I get something concrete to show you all, you can be certain to find it here.

Introducing Project Orbit!

Hello, World ... and welcome to the Project Orbit developer's blog!  If you have no idea who we are or why you came here, that's okay.  Please stick around!

Project Orbit is the code name for our first game, which is quickly ripening in the design and pre-alpha stages.  To be clear, Project Orbit will not be the name under which our game will be released.  We will have a title in time for the first beta release.

"Right," you say, "but what the hell is Project Orbit?”

If you want the most concise possible answer, here it is:  Project Orbit is a real-time strategy (RTS) video game that will be released under Windows/Linux.  Its gameplay design is centered around the idea that a good strategy game goes beyond collecting resources and destroying an enemy base; a good strategy game is about relationships, complex interactions between units and players, and mutual support.

To borrow a phrase from Gestalt psychology, the whole should be greater than the sum of its parts.

Consider Blizzard's Starcraft and its expansion, Brood War.  This game came out in 1998 and is still one of the most popular RTS games in circulation.  It should be noted that this game and its brethren (Starcraft II, the entire Warcraft series...) didn't do much in terms of innovation, but still managed to sell millions of copies with a very basic RTS formula.  As such, these criticisms apply to the vast majority of games in the real-time strategy genre.

There are two problems with Starcraft.  The first is that macromanagement of the game is centered around build orders.  The second is that micromanagement is not fundamentally different from macromanagement, and that it often becomes a frustrating physical exercise rather than a cognitive puzzle.


Details to follow in (hopefully) regular updates. At the very least, I'll be clarifying my criticism of traditional RTS games.


Over the next couple of weeks, we'll introduce the team, talk game design, and start sharing our progress with the whole wide internet!