It’s been years of work, and we are far from done, but I am super happy to finally reveal what I have been working on at Playable Worlds: Stars Reach.
This is the game I have wanted to make for nearly thirty years. It is the spiritual sequel to Ultima Online and to Star Wars Galaxies. It has in it all the lessons of all these decades of online game development — and it looks forward, not back, to reinvent what an online world can be. I believe it does things that other games just can’t do.
Stars Reach uses simulation to a degree never seen in an MMO before. We know the temperature, the humidity, the materials, for every cubic meter of every planet. Our water actually flows downhill and puddles. It freezes overnight or during the winter. It evaporates and turns to steam when heated up. And not just our water — everything does this. Catch a tree on fire with a stray blaster bolt. Melt your way through a glacier to find a hidden alien laboratory embedded in the ice. Stomp too hard on a rock bridge, and watch out, it might collapse under your feet. Dam up a river to irrigate your farm. Or float in space above an asteroid, and mine crystals from its depths.
The whole game environment is modelled this way. It gives us not just those examples of gameplay, but many more. And it makes the whole experience that much more immersive, because everything acts like you expect. Melt the sand on the beach, and it becomes glass.
This is a sandbox online world featuring all the things that players of those games love.
A classless skill tree advancement system, where peaceful play matters just as much as combat
An intricate player-driven economy where players can craft their way to fame and fortune
An accessible yet deep combat system, where you can choose whether to play using action aiming or more forgiving homing shots or lock-on targeting
In-world player housing that lets you build and customize your home and form towns… and enough room for everyone to have a house
A single shardless galaxy, with both space and ground gameplay… in fact, you can build that house on an asteroid, if you want
The ability for a group to govern a planet, and define its laws, whether you want a peaceful home or a PvP free for all
But we’re also doing a lot of new stuff. Like, we are aiming for sessions as short as five minutes. A fresh take on horizontal progression. Making an MMO with hardly any HUD!
"What? What?What?" -- The 14th Doctor
It's not enough to be a good player... you also have to play well. -- Siegbert Tarrasch
I remember the UO landscape filled with player homes making travel impossible.
"A lie can run round the world before the truth has got its boots on." -Terry Pratchett, The Truth "The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to those who think they've found it." -Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment
I don't love the art style, but he seems to be revisiting a lot of the things I liked about SWG. I'll be keeping an eye on it and will likely at least give it a try if it''s ever actually released.
"What? What?What?" -- The 14th Doctor
It's not enough to be a good player... you also have to play well. -- Siegbert Tarrasch
An accessible yet deep combat system, where you can choose whether to play using action aiming or more forgiving homing shots or lock-on targeting
Not sure if this means bringing in the worst of the awful SWG combat or not.
" Hey OP, listen to my advice alright." -Tha General "“I like taking the guns early...to go to court would have taken a long time. So you could do exactly what you’re saying, but take the guns first, go through due process second.” -President Donald Trump. "...To guard, protect, and maintain his liberty, the freedman should have the ballot; that the liberties of the American people were dependent upon the Ballot-box, the Jury-box, and the Cartridge-box, that without these no class of people could live and flourish in this country." - Frederick Douglass MYT
Spiritual sequel to both SW:G and UO. Now that is a weird spirit.
I swore off MMOs years ago, unless a solid WH40K MMO comes along, and even then, given my current interests, it might not be enough.
I like the idea of MMOs, but am incapable of managing my time. Every single psychological trick used in an MMO to keep you playing works very well on me.
An accessible yet deep combat system, where you can choose whether to play using action aiming or more forgiving homing shots or lock-on targeting
Not sure if this means bringing in the worst of the awful SWG combat or not.
Yeah, the combat mechanics (especially the weirdly abstract pre-CU stuff where you could incapacitate yourself by firing a weapon) were definitely not my favorite part of SWG.
"What? What?What?" -- The 14th Doctor
It's not enough to be a good player... you also have to play well. -- Siegbert Tarrasch
I am expecting a planet of dildos due to the deformable terrain. And planets of furries.
And griefing when visitors start flooding your town.
"A lie can run round the world before the truth has got its boots on." -Terry Pratchett, The Truth "The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to those who think they've found it." -Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment
Apparently there's going to be a Kickstarter. It has a page up, but the campaign hasn't started so there is no goal, contribution/reward levels or stretch goals yet.
If they pull this off, we could be looking at a whole new way to experience online worlds. Honestly, I’m excited about that classless skill tree too. It’s like they’ve learned from everything that worked and didn’t work in the genre. Let’s see if this one sticks!
Last edited by Nel99 on Fri Jan 17, 2025 3:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
