In one overly simplified sentence: Scrumbleship is basically Minecraft in space, at the moment. The goals of the developer are to take those concepts much farther. With all the CO2 scrubbers, Engine Parts, and jump gates you might expect. Standard scifi tropes are present: Lasers, missiles and biological carapace hulls. With promises of asteroid mining, enemy ship raiding, and clones aplenty. The sci fi elements are nicely balanced with a hefty dose of real world physics. Scrumbleship has a great balance between fun and verisimilitude.
If successful this game could give Mojang and 0x10c a run for their money. But success is far from certain. The goals in the kickstarter are ambitious and it will be interesting to see if the games creator can pull them all off.
- Persistent open world multi-player
- Asteroid mining
- Simulated collisions, hull strain, and deformation.
- An AI crew that mines, builds and fights for you
- Organic ships that need food and can heal damage
- Many fun Ship weapons
Right now in the demo the blocks are pretty static, while these goals necessitate mobility and the blocks being able to work together coherently. Based my very limited knowledge of most voxel based game engines it's hard to understand how all that is going to come together... But then perhaps Minecraft's static nature simply makes it seem difficult to bring cohesion to a bunch of disparate blocks. [Update: Dirkson alters the existing paradigm in my brain, and blows my mind!]
Currently the demo is free to download and play with. You get more of a building toy then a game in it's current form. It is, however, a nice incentive and a great proof of concept. The demo proves the kickstarter is worth supporting. They already have something to show for contributions, and are quite a ways toward making their ideas work. Other kickstarters take note, this is how to run a campaign well.
The business model also closely follows Minecraft with a twist. Alpha version is currently on sale and has been for a couple months. As revealed in an interview with the games creator, the Kickstarter is really for getting the word out. They are requesting $8000, and are half way there with 18 more days to go. That is not a lot of cash to ask for and smart considering the game is on sale as well. Particularly for something that has potential. All in all this is a well run campaign, with clear goals, realistic dollar amounts, proof that the project is underway, and rewards which should not be insurmountable for them to produce.
As of writing this I have not backed this game although I would really like to. When one is unemployed supporting kickstarters is not a wise idea. But maybe some kind folks out there can supply some more funds to support the dream, because it's an exciting dream. There is a lot to learn here about creating a game, publishing it, and honestly interacting with the community. Good job Dirkson!
[Update 1]: 16 days, $2418 till goal.
[Update 2]: as of 10/6/2012 pledges are at $6,792 with 11 days to go.
