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.
As for the development history of DarkSpace, 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.
Gameplay Players begin by selecting one of three factions. Two factions are human: the United Galactic Trade Organization (UGTO) with rounded ships, and the Interstellar Cultural Confederation (ICC) with long-range capabilities. Players can also choose the alien K'Luth, who pilot 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, space Pirates, and several other alien entities.
Players then choose a starship. DarkSpace has several types of ships, such as battleships, troop transports, supply vessels, and space stations. 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.DarkSpace Manual. "5.4 Choosing Your Ship" , Retrieved Feb 1 2010. 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 control details of their ship's attack and defense maneuvers. It also emphasizes teamwork and organization: since most ships play 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 servers 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 space. 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"."DarkSpace History" , Retrieved Jan 29 2010. 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.DarkSpace Fiction and Lore. "2266 CE" , retrieved Jan 29 1010. 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.DarkSpace Fiction and Lore. "The Sirius Incident" , retrieved Jan 29 2010. The ship is piloted by an alien species named the K'luth, who reveal themselves to human colonies soon thereafter.DarkSpace Fiction and Lore. "K'luth establishes official contact with ICC and UGTO" , retrieved Jan 29 2010.
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.
Development history
Inception DarkSpace was created by Palestar, an independent development company founded by Richard "Faustus" Lyle.Callaham, John. , HomeLAN Fed, December 4, 2001. Archived from 2001-12-21. Retrieved 2010-02-03. Lyle had the idea for DarkSpace in 1995, when he wanted to make a "massively multiplayer 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".Sullivan, Dan (TruthSword). "DarkSpace Interview Part 1 - Part 2, IGN Action Vault, November 21, 2001. Archived from the original on 2001-11-27. Retrieved 2010-02-03. After getting the game to a playable alpha state in 2000, Palestar teamed up with Blue Byte to publish the game. Blue Byte, attempting to leverage the brand power their Battle Isle series, rechristened the game Battle Isle V: DarkSpace.Blue's News. "Battle Isle: DarkSpace Announced" , July 31, 2000.
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: DarkSpaceIGN Staff. "Blue Byte News Explosion!", IGN, February 1, 2001.Blue Byte. "Sign Up for BATTLE ISLE: DarkSpace's Online Beta Test". Archived from the original on 2001-03-30. Retrieved 2010-01-24. - 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 Ubisoft Soon after testing began Ubisoft announced that they were buying Blue Byte and making it a wholly owned subsidiary.Ho, Jennifer. "Ubi Soft acquires Blue Byte Software" , GameSpot, February 8, 2001. They evaluated the projects Blue Byte was funding and decided that DarkSpace did not fit into the Battle Isle series.GameSpot. "Ubi Soft drops Battle Isle: Darkspace", May 15, 2001. Consequently, UbiSoft canceled their publishing contract with Palestar,Lyle, Richard (Faustus). "DarkSpace Beta Test", May 30, 2001. forcing the small outfit back into independence. Palestar launched a new DarkSpace website in May 2001.Lyle, Richard (Faustus). "Web site changes", May 30, 2001. After a new back-end infrastructure for the game was written and released (GameCQ), a new public beta test began.Lyle, Richard (Faustus). "Open Beta Begins for DarkSpace" , July 19, 2001.IGN PC. "DarkSpace Open Beta", IGN, July 20, 2001.
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 SeptemberLyle, Richard (Faustus). "DarkSpace hits 10,000 players" , Sep 12 2001. and 20,000 registered players in November.Lyle, Richard (Faustus). "20,000 DarkSpace Beta Testers..." , November 20, 2001. 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,Walker, Trey. "Playnet to host DarkSpace", GameSpot, Dec 7 2001.Lyle, Richard (Faustus). "Playnet.com to host DarkSpace, Dec 7 2001. and DarkSpace moved to a pay to play model, charging $9.99 per calendar month for unlimited access.Walker, Trey. "DarkSpace launched", GameSpot, Dec 21, 2001. Players could still access a tutorial and demo mode for free.
Retail Publication In July 2002 Palestar signed an agreement with Got Game Entertainment to distribute DarkSpace in retail stores.Walker, Trey. "Got Game picks up DarkSpace" , GameSpot, July 15, 2002.Lyle, Richard (Faustus). "Got Game Entertainment to publish DarkSpace" , July 15 200. DarkSpace hit store shelves in December that year.Parker, Sam. "DarkSpace now in retail" , GameSpot, December 11, 2002.
Source code release In June 2009 Palestar released the source code for the DarkSpace game engine, named Medusa.Drafell. "Medusa Engine Source Code Released" , DarkSpace Development Blog, June 21, 2009.Lyle, Richard (Faustus). "Medusa Engine Source Code Released" , June 20, 2009. The engine is available under three different licenses.Palestar. "Medusa Engine License", retrieved January 22, 2010. (archived) Several days after release the DarkSpace game servers were overwhelmed by downloads and the engine source code had to be temporarily taken down.Lyle, Richard (Faustus). "DarkSpace Source Code Offline" , July 1, 2009 The source code is currently hosted on GitHub. on GitHub
Present day Since release and the transition from pay-for-play, DarkSpace has had several patches and changes.Walker, Trey. "DarkSpace gets a new upgrade", GameSpot, June 19, 2002.Walker, Trey. "DarkSpace upgrade, special offer" , GameSpot, Mar 22, 2002. 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.Wallace, Jack (Pantheon). "Development Log" . (Accessed Jan 30 2013) Palestar's small size (a single part-time programmer since 2002, two from 2008 onwards means that speedy changes are not always possible, or wanted.