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August 5th, 2011 | 
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Wird es das Spiel auch für andere Systeme geben? Wie Android und Windows.
Sorry that was in German
Will there be the game them for different systems? Such as Android and Windows.
Thanks for the translation!
Starbase Orion will be iPad/iPhone/iPod only at release. Assuming a good reception from the gaming community, porting to other platforms is definite possibility.
Can I donate to the project if I can not buy the app, because I’m not an Apple customer?
Not at this time. Once SO is released and an Android/PC port looks possible, we will start a campaign on http://www.kickstarter.com/ to accept donations for it.
So, I see the development of the game is going steadily forward. Do you already know what will be a release date (+- week on +- month)?
Starbase Orion is making exclusive use of some new technologies coming in iOS 5. We are planning to release SO as close as possible to the release of iOS 5.
So it is official now. iOS 5 is coming on October 12th! As a result of that, I would suspect that Starbase Orion is to follow soon, and maybe we could expect it the same week?
Should have an official announcement ready in a few days. I can confirm that the game is feature complete, and that we are currently testing against iOS5 GM to find squash any final bugs introduced in the new version.
It’s even more exciting to hear Starbase Orion is built for iOS 5.
Are any of the major new features of iOS going to be used such as AirPlay mirroring?
At release Starbase Orion will make use of two new features of iOS 5.
The most important feature (and the one you probably already know about) is GameCenter’s asynchronous turn-based gaming. This system cannot be understated; in our testing this methodology for playing a 4X TBS game is already proving to be truly game-changing.
The second feature is iCloud support. You will be able to utilize your cloud so that your single games are available on any of your devices. Start a game on the couch with your iPad, then continue it the next day on your iPhone while out and about.
We contemplated adding support for AirPlay, but it does not lend itself well to the genre. AirPlay works well for games where the device is the controller and you keep your eyes on the TV. For 4X games, your eyes need to be where the interface is. After release if someone presents a great idea for SO and AirPlay then perhaps we’ll do it.
I was crossing my fingers that those features would be used for Starbase Orion, that’s awesome!
You are right, I can’t see AirPlay mirroring being useful for gameplay on 4X either. However the ability to display a galaxy wide star map via AirPlay mirroring would be really handy for strategic planning and make a player feel like they’re planning in a war room IMO. Maybe even viewing the battle sequences via AirPlay would be cool if they are similar to GSB, which I remember being mentioned.
With the iPhone 5 coming with the same A5 as the iPad 2 it should also support AirPlay mirroring. But of course features like that wouldn’t be a high priority for initial release and I lack the SDK familiarity to know if that would be easy to implement.
Hey so with the recent news of the iPhone 5/ios5 being postponed even longer will you be delaying the launch of this game?
Will the game have a single-plyer mode as well as multiplayer, and, if so, how is the AI coming along?
That’s a definitive yes; Starbase Orion has a single player mode with up to 3 AI opponents.
Our AI is pretty good; the core fleet management mechanic was battle tested in the Google 2010 AI contest, where it ranked in the top 15% of AIs. It has been scaled back some for Starbase Orion; not only to make it more manageable, but also to make it fast enough for mobile devices. It is not perfect, but we will be monitoring and tweaking it post release to ensure it provides a good challenge for all skill levels.
Of course, we also designed a killer multiplayer experience which has all of the advantages of the single player experience, namely asynchronous turns without artificial limits or time restraints. Need to think over your turn for a few hours? No problem, take your time and submit when done. All players are on a tear and submitting turns quickly? Again, no problem.