If you note the edit date, 11/13/03 then he's talking about the multiplayer version of battlecruiser, Universal Combat.
D. Smart is not known for his tact, but from what ive seen in the gaming industry lately, only this guy and HTC are the only companies that seem to care about the QUALITY of the product and not the release date/money to be made. Probably because they both OWN their creations while the rest have potatod their intellectual property to big corporations.
Here's a press release:
DreamCatcher Games Announces Universal Combat
Engage in Infinite Warfare on Your PC
September 11th , 2003. DreamCatcher Games today announced the first details of the newly titled Universal Combat, for the PC-CD, with the unveiling of the new website at
http://www.universal-combat.com. A full-featured demo is expected to follow the first week of October.
Universal Combat brings together the greatest components of any war together in a single game. Conceived in late 2001 as Battlecruiser Generations, the fifth title in the long-running Battlecruiser series, it morphed into much more than a massive space simulation. As Universal Combat, the new action-based focus, direction and premise of the new incarnation caters to a wider audience of action and space sim fans alike.
The game is one of incomprehensible scale and gamers really can choose any aspect of combat they wish. Choices of combat styles and gameplay include:
- Engage in compelling multi-player games against up to 63 other gamers.
- Take part in carefully designed campaign and instant action scenarios.
- Pilot more than 54 different air and space crafts, from basic multi-role combat fighters and low altitude multi-role gunships to massive carriers, cruisers and transporters.
- Control 22 land vehicles and 10 naval vessels including jeeps, tanks, SAMs, carriers, LCACs and even nuclear submarines.
- Go ballistic with 20 first person weapons and 28 characters with over 1500 animations.
- Explore over 250 planets with enormous planetary detail spanning more than 21,000 planet side mission zones containing various bases.
- Choose any of 9 careers as a heroic pilot, ship’s captain or lethal recon marine infiltrating a hostile base in a low altitude gunship or LCAC craft.
“Universal Combat has evolved from a classic, and in the midst of developing the initial BCG game, we realized that we were onto something much bigger, that a larger gaming audience would thrive upon”, commented Richard Wah Kan, DreamCatcher’s President and CEO.
Lead Developer and Executive Producer, Derek Smart is excited by the game’s new form, “As a producer, you’re always delighted when your games reach a wider audience, and in Universal Combat, I’m sure we’ll do just that. There are elements that existing fans will love, but tons of new stuff that everyone can get their teeth into! Spawning what I hope will be a new long running franchise which caters to action and die hard Battlecruiser fans alike, has been a tremendous and risky undertaking to say the least. The inclusion of FPS-based action elements in the 2001 Battlecruiser Millennium title, took the series in a new direction and this new action based franchise allows us to build upon those [action based] elements to a greater extent.”
As with all Derek Smart games, details are important. Several new design elements will add to the experience:
- New action based focus, complete with a new interface and heavily revised control scheme for ease of use, regardless of craft or vehicle.
- New shader-based graphics and animation engine, complete with the third generation of the industry's most advanced and seamlessly integrated planetary terrain engine ever developed for a game. The new terrain engine is capable of handling regions the size of real world planets instead of boxed in regions (e.g. 5km sq) in zoned area as in other games. This allows massive planet side combat engagements which can span small concentrated areas, large continents or even entire worlds alike.
- All components of SINGE, our proprietary Seamlessly Integrated Game Environment, have been further advanced to expand and streamline our massive game worlds. This allows gamers to play in space or on planets (including land and now underwater environments) and be able to transition from one to the other seamlessly. With the inclusion of naval assets control, new advanced dynamics and AI kernels, the integrated battlefield is not just relegated to driving around in vehicles or low altitude crafts – in a box. This new incarnation of SINGE blends space flight, planetary flight, vehicular dynamics, naval asset dynamics and first person action to provide adrenaline pumping land, sea, air and space engagements.
- New 3D object database with excess of 500 unique high detail 3D models and assets.
About DreamCatcher Games:
DreamCatcher Games is a fast-growing publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment for both core gamers and the mass market. Established in 1996, DreamCatcher is committed to publishing great games on the PC, PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Xbox®, GameCube™ and Game Boy® Advance. Visit
http://www.DreamCatchergames.com for further details.
About 3000AD, Inc:
3000AD is an indie game development company founded in 1992 by fourteen year industry veteran Derek Smart. Made famous by the long running industry recognized Battlecruiser series, 3000AD develops games for a niche hardcore audience. Universal Combat marks its first foray into the mass market action forum. Visit
http://www.3000ad.com for more info on the company’s products, owner/founder and its gaming audience.
Of course, you can check out the pics and demo movies:
http://www.3000ad.com/downloads/uc.shtml
