DarkSpace
Encyclopedia
DarkSpace is a massively multiplayer
real-time strategy
computer game
developed by PaleStar. Released in December 2001, DarkSpace involves multiplayer spaceship combat between three player-controlled factions.
DarkSpace takes place in a persistent universe, referred to in-game as "The MetaVerse", where players choose from several types of ships and fight for control of planets. It also uses instanced "Scenario" servers, where factions battle for control of a single solar system.
DarkSpace has a long and varied development history. The game began as a small personal project, survived several deals with multiple publishers
, and is run today by a mostly volunteer staff on an open sourced game engine.
. Two factions are human: the United Galactic Trade Organization (UGTO) with sleek and well-rounded ships, and the Interstellar Cultural Confederation (ICC) with good long-range capabilities. Players can also choose the alien
K'Luth, who pilot fast organic ships and are masters of hit and run tactics. DarkSpace also contains several non-player
factions to interact with, such as the Machine Intelligence (MI) race, opportunistic space Pirates, and several other rare and bizarre alien entities.
Players then choose a starship
. DarkSpace has several types of ships, such as battleships, troop transports, supply vessels, and engineering ships. Each ship type has different capabilities and plays a unique role in the game. Scout ships, for example, can reveal enemy positions, while heavy cruisers are built for attacking other ships. Players are not limited to a single ship that they "own"; they can return to a shipyard or home gate at any time and select a new ship. Players can also store modified ship layouts in a personal storage "garage".
New players start with the rank
of 'midshipman', and are restricted to the smallest ship types. To control larger ships the player must earn higher rankings by accumulating "Prestige Points", which are awarded for various tasks such as damaging enemy ships, bombing and capturing planets, building planetary structures, and repairing the ships of teammates. Most ships not only require a minimum rank but also one or more specific "badges" before they can be piloted. To fly a larger combat ship, for example, a player has to achieve the "Bronze Combat" badge by inflicting 50 points of damage to enemy ships.
DarkSpace emphasizes tactical combat
: players are able to finely control details of their ship's attack and defense maneuvers. It also emphasizes teamwork and organization: since most ships play very specialized roles, battles can often be won more easily and prestige earned more quickly if players work together as a team. In the larger scheme, faction control of areas in the MetaVerse requires coordination and communication between large groups of players.
Although the game takes place in space and uses a 3D graphics engine, gameplay is restricted to a 2D dimensional plane.
to offer different modes of play. The main game is played out in "MetaVerse" servers, where planets remain in control of a faction until captured. The play area is spread over several star systems and game servers, but all players can travel to the same locations and battle over the same planets.
DarkSpace also offers "Scenario" servers, which contain special plot events or time-limited battles. In scenarios players choose a faction and fight for control of a much smaller area - usually a single solar system. Different game setups and victory conditions may be used for each scenario - for example, factions normally at war may temporarily ally. When the victory conditions are met or when time has expired a winner is declared, prestige is awarded, and the scenario restarts.
. In the near future colonies are established on Luna
and Mars
, which then rebel and claim sovereignty. The United Galactics Trade Organization (UGTO) is formed and does a "complete survey, exploration, and colonization of the Sol system". In 2049 the UGTO sends three ships to explore the Centauri system, where a small outpost is established. Many years of space exploration follow, with humans visiting 11 solar systems and colonizing 10.
Human colonies are now so far from the Sol system that they fall outside of UGTO control. These systems became known as the Farstars. During the First Stellar Conflict the Farstar colonies fight for control of planets and resources but are eventually stopped by a UGTO police force. The UGTO attempt to shut down all independent shipyards, causing planets to rebel and begin the Second Stellar Conflict.
After twenty years of war "the Sol loyal systems once again prevail over the Farstars due to their superior firepower". This is followed by three decades of uneasy peace. Finally, "in 2125 the Free Trade League formally declare[s] the Farstar systems an independent sovereign government henceforth to be known as the Interstellar Cultural Confederation (ICC) and revolution was begun. A series of highly organized surprise attacks drove the UGTO forces from ICC space".
The UGTO and ICC continue to war for many years. In 2266 a UGTO explorer ship disappears in the Sirius system. After investigation by both UGTO and ICC intelligence a joint force arrives to investigate. The taskforce is attacked by an unknown assailant and takes heavy casualties, but the UGTO manages to capture one of the enemy ships. The ship is piloted by an alien species
named the K'luth, who reveal themselves to human colonies soon thereafter.
The DarkSpace game begins in the midst of a human civil war, which has been intensified by reports of an alien species aggressively spreading its domain throughout the known universe.
game with real-time elements based in the Master of Orion
universe"; Lyle said that "Netrek
, Starfleet Command
, and Masters of Orion [were] the principle influences on DarkSpace". After getting the game to a playable alpha state in 2000, Palestar teamed up with Blue Byte Software
to publish
the game. Blue Byte, attempting to leverage the brand power their Battle Isle series, rechristened the game Battle Isle V: DarkSpace.
Prior to the publishing agreement Palestar had offered closed beta test signups on their website. After Blue Byte became involved they handled the testing arrangements instead. In early 2001, Blue Byte announced a closed beta test of Battle Isle: DarkSpace - testing was to begin in February, and those who had previously signed up through the Palestar website would get first consideration. Remaining beta testers would be selected randomly. The initial group of testers was small, but worked closely with each other and the DarkSpace developers. According to Lyle, beta testing "really help[ed] to work out the bugs and correct gameplay issues".
announced that they were buying Blue Byte and making it a wholly owned subsidiary
. They evaluated the projects Blue Byte was funding and decided that DarkSpace did not fit into the Battle Isle series. Consequently, UbiSoft canceled their publishing contract with Palestar, forcing the small outfit back into independence. Palestar launched a new DarkSpace website in May 2001. After a new back-end infrastructure for the game was written and released (GameCQ), a new public beta test began.
model, charging $9.99 per calendar month for unlimited access. Players could still access a tutorial and demo mode for free.
to distribute DarkSpace in retail stores. DarkSpace hit store shelves in December that year.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/medusaengine/.
Despite these problems DarkSpace continues to develop. Due to historic limitations on Lyle, volunteer assistance has generally been welcomed in many forms. All moderators of the game, forums, and chat rooms are unpaid volunteers, as are the administrators and game developers (though admins and developers are usually granted free play as compensation).
Recently Darkspace became Free-to-play with no restrictions, any subscriptions are counted towards as donations. Darkspace has a pay for extra system to get funds in.
One of the main goals of DarkSpace was to encourage players to work as a team: in an interview with RespawnUK, Lead developer Richard Lyle stated "we've been very careful about what abilities we give ships, so as to make sure players work together to achieve their goals.". Several reviewers commented on this. Todd noted that "players are intended to work together in their respective factions and complement one another with the specific tasks of their vessels.". Misund felt that "teamplay is absolutely essential", and McConnaughy commented that "players must work together to field a rounded force capable of dealing with threats ... this requires that players work together every step of the way. Darkspace rewards team strategy."
Despite issues with player count and learning curve, several reviews seemed to see potential in DarkSpace. Brett Todd thought that "the groundwork is being laid for DarkSpace to evolve into something special", and Lafferty said "[g]iven some time to grow, DarkSpace will likely be a sleeper hit". Game Chronicles saw a strength where others found weakness, saying "while small in numbers, I think you would be hard pressed to find a cooler group of folks".
In March 2007 DarkSpace announced its 140,000th registered player.
According to Lyle "a process/server handles one star system, then those star systems are linked by jumpgates to form the metaverse. The metaverse can be grown as our player base expands simply by adding additional hardware and servers. However, everyone is connected to our central server, which is used for player to player communications and other functions".
Massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
real-time strategy
Real-time strategy
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
computer game
Personal computer game
A PC game, also known as a computer game, is a video game played on a personal computer, rather than on a video game console or arcade machine...
developed by PaleStar. Released in December 2001, DarkSpace involves multiplayer spaceship combat between three player-controlled factions.
DarkSpace takes place in a persistent universe, referred to in-game as "The MetaVerse", where players choose from several types of ships and fight for control of planets. It also uses instanced "Scenario" servers, where factions battle for control of a single solar system.
DarkSpace has a long and varied development history. The game began as a small personal project, survived several deals with multiple publishers
Video game publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....
, and is run today by a mostly volunteer staff on an open sourced game engine.
Gameplay
Players begin by selecting one of three factionsPolitical faction
A political faction is a grouping of individuals, such as a political party, a trade union, or other group with a political purpose. A faction or political party may include fragmented sub-factions, “parties within a party," which may be referred to as power blocs, or voting blocs. The individuals...
. Two factions are human: the United Galactic Trade Organization (UGTO) with sleek and well-rounded ships, and the Interstellar Cultural Confederation (ICC) with good long-range capabilities. Players can also choose the alien
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
K'Luth, who pilot fast organic ships and are masters of hit and run tactics. DarkSpace also contains several non-player
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
factions to interact with, such as the Machine Intelligence (MI) race, opportunistic space Pirates, and several other rare and bizarre alien entities.
Players then choose a starship
Starship
A starship or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....
. DarkSpace has several types of ships, such as battleships, troop transports, supply vessels, and engineering ships. Each ship type has different capabilities and plays a unique role in the game. Scout ships, for example, can reveal enemy positions, while heavy cruisers are built for attacking other ships. Players are not limited to a single ship that they "own"; they can return to a shipyard or home gate at any time and select a new ship. Players can also store modified ship layouts in a personal storage "garage".
New players start with the rank
Military rank
Military rank is a system of hierarchical relationships in armed forces or civil institutions organized along military lines. Usually, uniforms denote the bearer's rank by particular insignia affixed to the uniforms...
of 'midshipman', and are restricted to the smallest ship types. To control larger ships the player must earn higher rankings by accumulating "Prestige Points", which are awarded for various tasks such as damaging enemy ships, bombing and capturing planets, building planetary structures, and repairing the ships of teammates. Most ships not only require a minimum rank but also one or more specific "badges" before they can be piloted. To fly a larger combat ship, for example, a player has to achieve the "Bronze Combat" badge by inflicting 50 points of damage to enemy ships.
DarkSpace emphasizes tactical combat
Military tactics
Military tactics, the science and art of organizing an army or an air force, are the techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating an enemy in battle. Changes in philosophy and technology over time have been reflected in changes to military tactics. In...
: players are able to finely control details of their ship's attack and defense maneuvers. It also emphasizes teamwork and organization: since most ships play very specialized roles, battles can often be won more easily and prestige earned more quickly if players work together as a team. In the larger scheme, faction control of areas in the MetaVerse requires coordination and communication between large groups of players.
Although the game takes place in space and uses a 3D graphics engine, gameplay is restricted to a 2D dimensional plane.
Server types
DarkSpace uses several different types of serversGame server
A game server is a remotely or locally run server used by game clients to play multiplayer video games. Most video games played over the Internet operate via a connection to a game server...
to offer different modes of play. The main game is played out in "MetaVerse" servers, where planets remain in control of a faction until captured. The play area is spread over several star systems and game servers, but all players can travel to the same locations and battle over the same planets.
DarkSpace also offers "Scenario" servers, which contain special plot events or time-limited battles. In scenarios players choose a faction and fight for control of a much smaller area - usually a single solar system. Different game setups and victory conditions may be used for each scenario - for example, factions normally at war may temporarily ally. When the victory conditions are met or when time has expired a winner is declared, prestige is awarded, and the scenario restarts.
Plot
DarkSpace establishes a fictional series of events detailing humanity's future progress into spaceOuter space
Outer space is the void that exists between celestial bodies, including the Earth. It is not completely empty, but consists of a hard vacuum containing a low density of particles: predominantly a plasma of hydrogen and helium, as well as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, and neutrinos....
. In the near future colonies are established on Luna
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
and Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
, which then rebel and claim sovereignty. The United Galactics Trade Organization (UGTO) is formed and does a "complete survey, exploration, and colonization of the Sol system". In 2049 the UGTO sends three ships to explore the Centauri system, where a small outpost is established. Many years of space exploration follow, with humans visiting 11 solar systems and colonizing 10.
Human colonies are now so far from the Sol system that they fall outside of UGTO control. These systems became known as the Farstars. During the First Stellar Conflict the Farstar colonies fight for control of planets and resources but are eventually stopped by a UGTO police force. The UGTO attempt to shut down all independent shipyards, causing planets to rebel and begin the Second Stellar Conflict.
After twenty years of war "the Sol loyal systems once again prevail over the Farstars due to their superior firepower". This is followed by three decades of uneasy peace. Finally, "in 2125 the Free Trade League formally declare[s] the Farstar systems an independent sovereign government henceforth to be known as the Interstellar Cultural Confederation (ICC) and revolution was begun. A series of highly organized surprise attacks drove the UGTO forces from ICC space".
The UGTO and ICC continue to war for many years. In 2266 a UGTO explorer ship disappears in the Sirius system. After investigation by both UGTO and ICC intelligence a joint force arrives to investigate. The taskforce is attacked by an unknown assailant and takes heavy casualties, but the UGTO manages to capture one of the enemy ships. The ship is piloted by an alien species
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
named the K'luth, who reveal themselves to human colonies soon thereafter.
The DarkSpace game begins in the midst of a human civil war, which has been intensified by reports of an alien species aggressively spreading its domain throughout the known universe.
Inception
DarkSpace was created by Palestar, an independent development company founded by Richard "Faustus" Lyle. Lyle had the idea for DarkSpace in 1995, when he wanted to make a "massively multiplayerMassively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
game with real-time elements based in the Master of Orion
Master of Orion
Master of Orion is a turn-based, 4X science fiction computer strategy game released in 1993 by MicroProse on the MS-DOS and Mac OS operating systems. The purpose of the game is to lead one of ten races to dominate the galaxy through a combination of diplomacy and conquest while developing...
universe"; Lyle said that "Netrek
Netrek
Netrek is an Internet game for up to 16 players, written almost entirely in cross-platform open source software. It combines features of multi-directional shooters and team-based real-time strategy games...
, Starfleet Command
Star Trek: Starfleet Command
Star Trek: Starfleet Command is a computer game based on the table-top wargame Star Fleet Battles. It simulates starship operations, and ship-to-ship combat and fleet warfare in the Star Trek universe....
, and Masters of Orion [were] the principle influences on DarkSpace". After getting the game to a playable alpha state in 2000, Palestar teamed up with Blue Byte Software
Blue Byte Software
Ubisoft Blue Byte is a video game developer based in Düsseldorf, Germany, founded in 1988. The company has produced popular titles like Battle Isle and The Settlers. In 2001, the company was purchased by Ubisoft.-History:...
to publish
Video game publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....
the game. Blue Byte, attempting to leverage the brand power their Battle Isle series, rechristened the game Battle Isle V: DarkSpace.
Prior to the publishing agreement Palestar had offered closed beta test signups on their website. After Blue Byte became involved they handled the testing arrangements instead. In early 2001, Blue Byte announced a closed beta test of Battle Isle: DarkSpace - testing was to begin in February, and those who had previously signed up through the Palestar website would get first consideration. Remaining beta testers would be selected randomly. The initial group of testers was small, but worked closely with each other and the DarkSpace developers. According to Lyle, beta testing "really help[ed] to work out the bugs and correct gameplay issues".
Drop by Ubi Soft
Soon after testing began UbisoftUbisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....
announced that they were buying Blue Byte and making it a wholly owned subsidiary
Subsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
. They evaluated the projects Blue Byte was funding and decided that DarkSpace did not fit into the Battle Isle series. Consequently, UbiSoft canceled their publishing contract with Palestar, forcing the small outfit back into independence. Palestar launched a new DarkSpace website in May 2001. After a new back-end infrastructure for the game was written and released (GameCQ), a new public beta test began.
Partnership with Playnet
The DarkSpace public beta test ran during the summer and fall of 2001. According to Palestar, DarkSpace reached 10,000 registered players in September and 20,000 registered players in November. Since the game was free and reasonably fun, a large number of people drifted through, many of them sticking around throughout the test. Development proceeded at a decent pace, as features were added, bugs fixed, and changes made. Eventually, however, the money provided when Ubisoft canceled the publishing contract would run out, so the game needed to develop a revenue model. In December 2001 Palestar teamed up with Playnet.com to host the game, and DarkSpace moved to a pay to playPay to Play
Pay to play, sometimes pay for play, is a phrase used for a variety of situations in which money is exchanged for services or the privilege to engage in certain activities...
model, charging $9.99 per calendar month for unlimited access. Players could still access a tutorial and demo mode for free.
Retail Publication
In July 2002 Palestar signed an agreement with Got Game EntertainmentGot Game Entertainment
Got Game Entertainment, LLC is an American publisher of videogames, based in Weston, Connecticut.- Games published :*Alida*The Lost Crown: A Ghost-Hunting Adventure*A Quiet Weekend in Capri*Anacapri: The Dream*ARMA 2...
to distribute DarkSpace in retail stores. DarkSpace hit store shelves in December that year.
Source code release
In June 2009 Palestar released the source code for the DarkSpace game engine, named Medusa. The engine is available under three different licenses. Several days after release the DarkSpace game servers were overwhelmed by downloads and the engine source code had to be temporarily taken down. The source code is currently hosted on SourceForgeSourceForge
SourceForge Enterprise Edition is a collaborative revision control and software development management system. It provides a front-end to a range of software development lifecycle services and integrates with a number of free software / open source software applications .While originally itself...
http://sourceforge.net/projects/medusaengine/.
Present day
Since release and the transition to pay-for-play, DarkSpace has had several patches and changes, some of which have caused (and still cause) controversy. While the game has always been "under development", the pace of updates has varied. At times changes will be fairly frequent; at others long delays have been known. Palestar's small size (a single part-time programmer, since 2002) means that speedy changes are not always possible, and since the head developer cannot survive on the income provided by DarkSpace he must hold a second job. This necessarily slows down progress.Despite these problems DarkSpace continues to develop. Due to historic limitations on Lyle, volunteer assistance has generally been welcomed in many forms. All moderators of the game, forums, and chat rooms are unpaid volunteers, as are the administrators and game developers (though admins and developers are usually granted free play as compensation).
Recently Darkspace became Free-to-play with no restrictions, any subscriptions are counted towards as donations. Darkspace has a pay for extra system to get funds in.
Reception
After its release DarkSpace received several positive reviews. Michael Lafferty of GameZone called DarkSpace "a game that looks good, sounds great and plays well", while Brett Todd of GameSpot thought "[n]early every scene could have been clipped from a big-budget movie" and Gamers Hell's Andreas Berntsen said it was "the closest to a perfect online space-strategy game I’ve seen so far". The gaming website Respawn UK named DarkSpace 'Best Space Game of 2002'. However, several reviewers felt that the learning curve was too steep: Lafferty said "when first launched, the tutorial in DarkSpace was somewhat daunting", while Berntsen said "actually mastering the gameplay takes practice, and the initial learning curve can be somewhat steep" and Aaron Daigle from Game Chronicles claimed that "reading the manual and completing the tutorial mode are critical if you want to excel [at] or even just play the game". A common complaint was that DarkSpace suffered from a lack of players. Tim McConnaughy wrote in his GameSpy review that "there are too few players for such a massive strategy element". Berntsen agreed that "there simply aren’t as many players to show what it really can do", and Todd brought attention to lack of players as well.One of the main goals of DarkSpace was to encourage players to work as a team: in an interview with RespawnUK, Lead developer Richard Lyle stated "we've been very careful about what abilities we give ships, so as to make sure players work together to achieve their goals.". Several reviewers commented on this. Todd noted that "players are intended to work together in their respective factions and complement one another with the specific tasks of their vessels.". Misund felt that "teamplay is absolutely essential", and McConnaughy commented that "players must work together to field a rounded force capable of dealing with threats ... this requires that players work together every step of the way. Darkspace rewards team strategy."
Despite issues with player count and learning curve, several reviews seemed to see potential in DarkSpace. Brett Todd thought that "the groundwork is being laid for DarkSpace to evolve into something special", and Lafferty said "[g]iven some time to grow, DarkSpace will likely be a sleeper hit". Game Chronicles saw a strength where others found weakness, saying "while small in numbers, I think you would be hard pressed to find a cooler group of folks".
In March 2007 DarkSpace announced its 140,000th registered player.
Technology
DarkSpace uses a back-end called GameCQ. GameCQ is similar to Blue Byte's portal software, the Blue Byte Game Channel, due to Richard Lyle having written much of the latter.According to Lyle "a process/server handles one star system, then those star systems are linked by jumpgates to form the metaverse. The metaverse can be grown as our player base expands simply by adding additional hardware and servers. However, everyone is connected to our central server, which is used for player to player communications and other functions".