Endless Space Preview

With open betas all around us, and developers releasing early alpha builds for us to tinker with and to frown over, games development ain't what it used to be. Time was when it all happened behind closed doors and we were lucky to catch the barest glimpses of games-to-be, the faintest whiff of works in progress. Nowadays, more and more developers rely on feedback from their alpha and beta releases to test their titles and ensure players will be satisfied with the end result.

But this simply wasn't enough for Amplitude Studios. The team behind Endless Space went one step further and posted their development documents online for all to see. As well as having a beta build of this enormous, engrossing empire-builder that they could dive into, players also had access to the vision behind it, a chance to examine in detail the ambitions of its designers and how they planned to realise them. And then Amplitude asked them to join in.

Sharing their ideas this way wasn't so much an act of trust, they say, as a practical step forward, the best way for them to communicate with their fanbase and ensure that an ambitious game of galactic domination became all that it should. “We really wanted to go with total transparency with our community, at least as much as we could. We gave out all our game design documents on our forums,” says Max von Knorring, Amplitude's Director of Marketing. “Players and designers, we all started from the same basis.”

With this plan of action set before them, Amplitude have been busy inviting further suggestions from their players, determined to use their 20,000 strong beta community (some who have been playing the game for over 100 hours) as much more than just a team of testers. While still focused on their overall objectives, they're been able to poll players on tweaks, additions and improvements, as well as incorporating original contributions into the game.

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We always put the most important things from the community list into our own schedule. I think this can only work when you show you listen to [players]. It's not honest to say 'We'll talk with you,' but then nothing happens because we just do whatever we want.

“We have a priority list on the community and we always put the most important things from this community list into our own schedule, which then forces us to work on them,” explains Creative Director Romain de Waubert, who believes the positive response the game has received is due in no small part to this inclusive process. “I think this can only work when you show you listen to [players]. It's not honest to say 'We'll talk with you,' but then nothing happens because we just do whatever we want.”

Endless Space is certainly looking very glossy indeed, so polished that you can almost see your face in it, and there are great depths to be explored below its shiny surface. In the tradition of the classic 4X (explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate) strategy games that its based upon, it's enormously customisable. As well as a set roster of alien races to choose from, there's also the option to customise your own, building them from hundreds of different individual characteristics. These can have a considerable effect on your ability to wage war, to conduct research or even just stay alive, as well as subtly morphing the great sprawling web that is your tech tree.

For those who don't fancy building their own aliens, the basic collection are quite distinct and will suit all kinds of playing styles. As well as the more standard races, such as warriors and technologists, the game also includes strange and hungry beings who cannot keep their planets but only consume them and move forward, and a decadent civilisation entirely based around one person's narcissism.

No matter how big or complex your galactic empire becomes, micromanagement is not the order of the day here. The development team have gone to great pains to streamline the interface and to make things as accessible as possible, with the hope that players lose themselves in the game, not its menu system. “What we've noticed in many games we've played and worked on in the past is that sometimes you can have a simple game that is hidden beneath an overly complex interface,” says Romain. “We wanted it the other way around.”

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Sometimes you can have a simple game that is hidden beneath an overly complex interface. We wanted it the other way around.

This is also reflected in the game's battles, which are only a couple of minutes long and based much more around giving out general orders at key points, rather than precisely directing the manoeuvres of every single vessel. Although Total War players might be disappointed that they don't get to individually shepherd their units around, it does make for nippy and decisive combats which won't slow the game's simultaneous multiplayer. Similarly, though you can go to great pains to intricately sculpt the starships that you construct, using all the technology and resources you'll discovered, a helpful “recommended” blueprint is always at hand.

In an uncommon twist in games development, the release of Endless Space has actually been put forward and is now slated for July 4th, though Romain and Max insist that the game's support and development will continue well past this date. Much of the game has been built from the ground up to support modders, and Amplitude are interested in spending even more of their time engaging with their players, starting with a few community meets, which Max says they'll be “Doing more and more, now that we've started to get our heads above the water and we see the game being finalised.” The team have already met with fans in London and are going on to do the same in both San Francisco and Paris, even inviting dedicated members of their community to visit them in their studios as a thank you for their efforts.

While the proof is, of course, in the galactic pudding, Endless Space looks very much like it will satisfy strategy gamers, not least because it the beta has already been doing so for many weeks now thanks in part to the contributions of and co-operation between many of those 20,000 players. Could Amplitude's community-focused development perhaps be the model that other studios begin to follow?

“I'm sure, definitely, though I don't think it'll work for everyone, for every game,” says Romain. “But some people wanted to get involved as soon as they could, because they arrive when other games are finished and go 'Oh man, why did you do that? You could've made it so much better!' And the developers say 'Oh yeah, well, if you'd told us...'”

So if you do have anything you want to tell Amplitude, before or after July 4th, this is one development team that's all ears.

Source : ign[dot]com