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I did not see this anywhere on here yet. And I thought everyone should know - Pretty excited about this one!

http://www.darkspacecorp.com/

Beyond the Gates of Anatres -Kickstarter

We’re launching our Kickstarter on 1st Jan 2013

We’re doing this so that we can see if you are interested in not only backing us to fund the project but also if you’re interested in helping us define the game rules, artwork, miniature range, tactical abilities, scenery, vehicles and everything else. We already know much of the initial design (well, it’s mostly in Rick’s head at the moment..) and we want to work with a unique set of people with the vision to fund it and help us make it the best wargame experience that exists.

Simply put: we NEED you!

More info: Once it launches will be releasing much more information on the game so stay tuned.

GET INVOLVED! You can already get involved by jumping into our forums and chatting to us and our new growing community

And about Dark Space Corp -


Dark Space Corp?

Dark Space Corp is a new company, founded by ex- Games Workshop stalwarts Rick Priestley & John Stallard, and a video games guy called Rik Alexander.

We’ve started a new company to solely focus on building Beyond the Gates of Antares for you and with you, and our mission is to make it the best wargame universe that has ever existed.

We have formed a partnership with Warlord Games who will help us produce and operate the game utilising their existing sales, warehousing and production infrastructure, so that we can focus on the game development, miniature design and community. Thanks to warlord we won’t have to worry too much about such things as production equipment, assembly lines and dispatch operations – we have all that covered already! The goal of Dark Space Corp is to bring the EPIC new Antarean universe to life WITH our community of backers at its heart.

We’ve managed to attract some of the best wargaming talent the world has to offer and we’re actively looking to recruit more passionate people right now, so get in touch!

Our game team so far:
Game Designers

Rick Priestley – This guy you probably know already, but just in case click here
YOU!

Modellers

Kev White is an acclaimed and hugely talented sculptor who we’re thrilled to bits to have on-board! You can see some of his work here
Bob Naismith is a multi-talented sculptor who created Game Workshop’s Space Marines! He has his own site here
YOU!

Artists

Opus Artz - We’re very proud to say that the staggeringly talented team at Opus are with us
Golum Painting Studios - Manchester based painters extraordinaire
Karol Rudyk – Slayer Sword winner Karol is with us, we’ll be showcasing some of his work very soon
Bruno Lavallée – Slayer Sword winner Bruno is also with us and we can’t wait to show you some of his work either!
YOU!

We’ve got the team, we’ve got the know-how, now all we need is YOU!

This is looking like it could be my first kickstarter of 2013.

Well after a quick scan through their site you can colour me very interested indeed.

The big question for me is: plastic or metal?

Well, that and the overall aesthetic.

Subscribed. I'm mostly interested in miniatures, and that alien guy looks awesome.

 Jeff Cope wrote:
The big question for me is: plastic or metal?

Well, that and the overall aesthetic.

The aesthetic is on their site (link in the OP), pretty nice looking, at a glance, will need to check it out tomorrow.

Not surprised by their partnership with WL, Rick is pretty connected to them. At least that will give a good head start

I'm a bit curious to know just how much sway the community will have on the design of this game

Hrm. Probably going to have to look closely at this...

I'm usually a big fan of far future settings. I must say I am quite underwhelmed by this; few factions, no distinct aesthetic style for the factions, and they are kickstarting this before they even know what the aliens look like. I would definitely not kickstart this game as is. Maybe in 6 months when they can show us some actual miniatues, artwork, rules, anything. Right now this is just a generic sci-fi universe with low diversity and almost zero information.

Actually I have to agree there. I thought the alien sculpt was one of theirs but it turns out it was just an idea and honestly I am not a huge fan of the sculpts of either Bob Naismith or Kev White, not to say that they have not done some amazing stuff, it is just that there are quite a lot that I don't like!

Will look closely at this as well... Darn you Kickstarter ;-)

We really need to have that intervention Mike...

I'm not seeing a scale for the models listed anywhere? Can some one point me in that direction? Or is it missing?

 ph34r wrote:
I'm usually a big fan of far future settings. I must say I am quite underwhelmed by this; few factions, no distinct aesthetic style for the factions, and they are kickstarting this before they even know what the aliens look like. I would definitely not kickstart this game as is. Maybe in 6 months when they can show us some actual miniatues, artwork, rules, anything. Right now this is just a generic sci-fi universe with low diversity and almost zero information.

Agreed with this... unfortunately for them the bar for Kickstarting has been set quite high as far as having a developed idea / universe / etc.

I think they should've waited until they had more to go off of...

The "real-time dynamic gaming universe" has the potential to be a very bad thing. It's pretty much the same thing that I hate so much about Warhammer 40,000: the idea that working well should be rewarded with more support, at the expense of things that actually need the help. It's an okay way to write your fiction, but sucks for rules development and model support.

 lucasbuffalo wrote:
I'm not seeing a scale for the models listed anywhere? Can some one point me in that direction? Or is it missing?

Probably assumed to be 28-32mm since it is by ex gw folks/WL, but again as others mentioned there is very little info

Its 28mm. Though that may be covered in the Forums, where they are trying to get people to log in and get involved.

The player feedback sounds interesting as it mentions using phone apps to report games. Or online. so games that you report might effect the background.....kinda like an ongoing campaign for the background story. If they can keep it from overwhelming any side that loses a whole bunch of games (still keep things balanced) but use it to drive the story (unlike GW worldwide campaigns) this could be interesting.

Also Rick has posted in the forums about it starting with 6 factions - 1 alien and 5 human types. With more to expand into as the game progresses- so as we basically explore the universe. The site just started coming up today I believe so a lot more will be added, but Rick and Booya (Rik Anderson I think) have already replied to a lot of the posts to answer further questions.

I'll be doing it, but if you are not sold yet, they still have almost 14 days to flesh it out for kickstarter. Also, they are going to preview the kickstarter rewards between Xmas and New Year's so lots more to come!

They would really need to have some way to confirm the games. There are some people who will submit false battle reports/results just so their chosen faction is the best. It is a lofty goal, and I wish them the best at it. I, personally, need a bit more before I buy into a game.

 megatrons2nd wrote:
They would really need to have some way to confirm the games. There are some people who will submit false battle reports/results just so their chosen faction is the best. It is a lofty goal, and I wish them the best at it. I, personally, need a bit more before I buy into a game.

Not to mention this is an assumption that people will play the game and not just get the models, or even realize theres a "world wide" thing going on. Maybe even just use the rules for other miniatures!

I mean if only 100 or so people in the world are into the "upload your battle thing" then it doenst really feel to involved. Though 100 people could be plenty depending on your perspective

The sales pitch is nice, but has zero substance. And judging by the people involved, this will turn into another 90s retro-clone game, and probably not even on purpose.

Do we really need yet another small skirmish game with pewter models? They are seriously a dime a dozen these days.

As much as I like Kev White's sculpts, he is not exactly the cutting edge of miniature sculpting and production. With digital sculpting and plastic production now so easily accessible that small companies like Wyrd and Soda Pop can go all-plastic, even for skirmish games where they can only expect to sell 1 of each model to a given customer, there really is no excuse for not going that route.

Where is Zweischneid when you need him?! Think he would love this - a concept that only exists in the creator's head (and what some heads!), and now needs funding, rather than something which was going to be made anyway but is just looking for a cash injection.

So I think what we are seeing here is a much more embyronic project, and I'm guessing something that will have a long KS period - personally, I'm extremely excited by the concept. This thing has some big names behind it, which have to have earned some trust with the kind of things they have made before.

Rick arguably helped make the whole SF wargaming industry take a big step forward with 40k - to me, it looks like he is trying to do the same thing again, there are some really interesting ideas here.

Will be watching with (extremely enthusiastic!) interest!

Not sure how I feel about this one. The structure (dynamic universe based on player feedback) seems a little shakey given how GW ran the Eye of Terror and Armageddon campaigns (I think Priestly was there for both, but not sure). Still, it will be the quality of the figures that make or break this for me. Looking forward to see what they produce.

Kev White is one of the sculptors? Sweeeeeeet!

 Pacific wrote:
Where is Zweischneid when you need him?! Think he would love this - a concept that only exists in the creator's head (and what some heads!), and now needs funding, rather than something which was going to be made anyway but is just looking for a cash injection.

So I think what we are seeing here is a much more embyronic project, and I'm guessing something that will have a long KS period - personally, I'm extremely excited by the concept. This thing has some big names behind it, which have to have earned some trust with the kind of things they have made before.

Rick arguably helped make the whole SF wargaming industry take a big step forward with 40k - to me, it looks like he is trying to do the same thing again, there are some really interesting ideas here.

Will be watching with (extremely enthusiastic!) interest!

This I have to agree with. Kickstarter was supposed to be a place where people/companies with great ideas could go to get the funding to make that idea a reality. Unfortunately it has been turned into nothing more than a pre-release shop, which is a real shame. I’m quite excited about the prospect of backing a project that is still in the development stage, a real chance to get involved and influence the game from the ground up, obviously this is dependent on what the rewards are.

A dynamic universe is a great idea, but is very vunerable to deliberate or accidental manipulation.....

Would they prevent a faction being wiped out ?

I could see it happening to a weaker less popular faction, especially if the others factions see it as a possibility and gang up on it

Alternativly if the factions are all too big to wipe out what is the point of the dynamic universe

The same if the results influence rule/model releases you get a warhammer codex situation only worse...

popularity means more stuff mean more popularity etc

less popular means less stuff, means weaker play means less popular...... your faction dissapears

I'm also a little conflicted. Some serious starpower behind this one, but there is relatively little content so far. The bar on kickstart content is pretty high, and this feels scarce so far. Maybe when the kickstart goes live on the 1st they'll reveal a lot more and wow us all. /hopehopehope

Combining minature gaming with an online presence has never ended well. You can most likely count me out for this project.

The concept seems interesting, but I can't get behind the information we know...

There are some images that are very dark and grimy, almost as if they are grimdark. Though looking at other art pieces, it's very bright and vibrant, and looks like it belongs on Infinity's website. The alien on the main page looks like an evolved 2 armed genestealer, and what I've read about the the background doesn't really grab me. I'll keep an eye out once it's done, but I probably won't back this. Best of luck to them

 lord_blackfang wrote:
. With digital sculpting and plastic production now so easily accessible that small companies like Wyrd and Soda Pop can go all-plastic, even for skirmish games where they can only expect to sell 1 of each model to a given customer, there really is no excuse for not going that route.

Remember though, these guys are in the UK and are partnered with Warlord

The only plastic option these people know is the Bottleneck known as Renedra

Unless they go "restic" of course like Mantic (who also have problems finding hard plastic options)

In short, the UK gaming industry, this particular initiative certainly included, is made up of hobbyists who essentially never moved beyond the "making some minis for my gaming group in my garage" stage.