Dark Space Corp ha lanzado ya el Kickstarter de Beyond the Gates of Antares hemos grabado un breve Hangout hablando sobre las primeras impresiones del mismo en la cabecera tenéis el video. Además en la entrada tenéis todos los datos del Kickstarter.

Beyond the Gates of Antares:

Kickstarter
Facebook
Facebook Dark Space Corp

Ever wanted to help design and create a new science fiction wargame universe with Rick Priestley? Well now you can.

Quick Note: Kickstarter doesn't take your pledge until the end of the campaign (Feb 28th in our case), so if you're thinking of pledging, why not do it now? it'll really help us out! you can always come back later and change your pledge through the pledge manager - Thank you!

Beyond the Gates of Antares is a brand new science fiction wargame universe from Rick Priestley: the creator of the Warhammer 40,000 game universe and YOU!

We’re creating an entirely original setting for a new and original game – a new idea for new times. GoA is a game that takes science fiction wargaming forward, with a fresh and unsettling vision of a future where mankind has spread amongst the stars… and changed. Changed into a species so much more than human… and so much less!

Unlike other Kickstarter miniature projects that have done most of the work before hand, we’re here so that we can see if you are interested in not only backing us to fund the project but also if you’re interested in helping us develop the game rules, artwork, miniature range, tactical abilities, scenery, vehicles and everything else. We already know much of the initial design (well, it’s mostly in Rick’s head at the moment..) and we want to work with a unique set of enthusiasts with the vision to fund it and help us make it the best wargame experience that exists.

Simply put: we NEED you!

GoA is the world’s first real-time dynamic gaming universe. That's a mighty statement and a bit of a mouthful, so for now let's just say we are talking about our online 'metagame'. Let us explain. We are inviting players to register to take part in our extensive series of online campaigns and adventures - we call them 'episodes'. We'll be creating lots of episodes and they will vary from huge star-spanning military campaigns that last for many months and potentially years, to raids and surgical strikes that start and finish in a day. It's all real-time remember! Feed us the results of your battles (through our website or smartphone App) and we'll use your data to determine which of the game's factions wins control of each of the different fighting zones, and ultimately which faction is victorious in that particular episode.

As the different episodes are real events happening in the Antarean universeYOU really do get a chance to affect the history of Antarean space! Furthermore, there are numerous rewards to be gained from each episode, and these will be made available as new technologies, in-game bonuses, and secret information that will give your faction an advantage in future episodes.

In some cases we'll be introducing new types of weapons, new alien species, or newly discovered artefacts which can be captured by one of the factions during the episode. We'll use this information to organise our modelling schedules, so it will actually affect how we prioritise our model making too, giving successful factions a head-start in acquiring the latest weapons for example. And finally... when the deeds are truly glorious, we'll offer the ultimate accolade and select one of the participating player's own characters to make as a model... incorporating you and your fighting forces into the history of Antarean Space for all time!

Help us create the world’s first real-time completely interactive tabletop gaming universe – with a constantly evolving back-story driven by real player participation and featuring the most successful players as actual world characters – want to know more? Join us today and become one of the Honoured Founders of the Antarean gaming universe.

Kickstarter Exclusive Miniature

Every backer that selects the ‘Inflationary Epoch(£25)’ tier and above receives a free Hansa Nairoba model.

Hansa Nairoba is one of the characters from the Antarean story – a Rever Freebooter who skirts the boundaries of space between the Concord, Free World Determinate and Isorian Shard. His old-fashioned human appearance leads many to underestimate him, but those more familiar with his exploits know better. The Concord have long suspected him of gun-running for ExCon Freebooter gangs – but thanks to his complete bio-immunity to all forms of IMTel no-one has ever been able to find out for sure. Despite their suspicions CoCom agents are not reluctant to make use of his skills, and he is rumoured to be one of the only humans to have penetrated the Vorl homeworld and returned. Perhaps even the Vorl find him too useful to kill

This is an EXCLUSIVE model based on one of the new characters in GoA, he is only available to Kickstarter backers and we will NEVER release this model again - not only are they fantastic models that will grace your forces for years to come – but they will mark you out as one of the founding members of the Antarean gaming universe.

He will have unique game attributes and those purchasing a reward tier that includes the ‘Feeder Hansa’ tier will receive a Hansa Nairoba model expertly custom painted with your own preferred choice of uniform colour and either your chosen faction ID patch or your own personal ID patch design if you wish.

Beyond the Gates of Antares (GoA) invites us to a time when mankind has evolved into new and diverse species: the strangely powerful NuHumans, masters of the Panhuman Concord; the ape-like Pansimians, the greatest warriors in the whole Galactic Spill; and feral Revers primitive Humans driven by a irrepressible lust for adventure and danger. It is a universe where technology and humanity intermix indistinguishably, where human knowledge and endeavour has long since been supplanted by integrated machine intelligence IMTel. Where humans go their technology goes also, protectors, workers, and fighting machines in the form of WarDrones armed with deadly weapons and shielded by energy fields a thousand times more resilient than steel.

GoA is a wargame designed anew for the twenty-first century – a fresh look at the raw mechanics of tabletop wargaming featuring a fluid combat status system and interleaved turn sequence that facilitates continuous play for both sides. Rival forces act and react in a series of triggered actions that quickly draw both sides into simultaneous fire fights and close quarter fighting. The mechanics are designed to enable rapid progress using forces of around fifty or so models a side, including futuristic fighting machines, vehicles and point-defence weaponry as well as human troopers – the game is infinitely scalable to facilitate battles as large as can possibly be imagined and is detailed enough to facilitate skirmish gameplay too

Game Features

Fluid Combat Status – units act and react according to their combat status.
Real-time Dynamic Gaming Universe – build and benefit from the evolution of the game background as you play.
Backer Development Program – backers can participate in the development and creation of the game rules, universe and campaigns.
Decimal Mechanics - based on D10 and D100's allowing the same stats to be used for battle games, skirmishes and role-playing games as we expand the scope of our game for years to come.

Want to know more?

Head over to our website for more detail on above features, the current known species list, faction information and technology of the universe. As we explore the universe with you we’ll release more information as we find it.

Dark Space Corp is a new company, founded by ex- Games Workshop stalwarts Rick Priestley & John Stallard, and a video games guy called Rik Alexander.

We've started a new company to solely focus on building Beyond the Gates of Antares for you and with you, and our mission is to make it the best wargame universe that has ever existed.

We have formed a partnership with Warlord Games who will help us produce and operate the game utilising their existing sales, warehousing and production infrastructure, so that we can focus on the game development, miniature design and community. Thanks to warlord we won’t have to worry too much about such things as production equipment, assembly lines and dispatch operations – we have all that covered already! The goal of Dark Space Corp is to bring the EPIC new Antarean universe to life WITH our community of backers at its heart.

We've managed to attract some of the best wargaming talent the world has to offer and we’re actively looking to recruit more passionate people right now, so get in touch!

Our team so far...

Designers

Rick Priestley - Previous games include:

Warhammer Fantasy Battles
Warhammer 40,000
Warmaster & Warmaster Ancients
Hail Caesar
Black Powder
Bolt Action
Necromunda
The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game
Space Marine (EPIC)
Warhammer Ancient Battles
Judge Dredd Role Playing Game
Warhammer Fantasy Role-Playing Game

and YOU!

Modellers

Kevin White is an acclaimed and hugely talented sculptor who we are thrilled to bits to have on board!
Bob Naismith is a multi-talented sculptor who created Game Workshop's Space Marine!
Tim Prow is a brilliant modeller who is behind many of the top designs in the world of collectable miniatures and wargames as well as work for big toy companies, TV and films.
and YOU!

Artists

OpusArtz - We're very proud to say that the staggeringly talented team at Opus are with us
Golem Painting Studios - Manchester base miniature painters extraordinaire
Karol Rudyk - Slayer Sword winner Karol freehand's like Van Gogh, he models too!
Bruno Lavallee - This master painter has an eye for exquisite miniature detail , he also won a Slayer Sword in his spare time.
and YOU!

We've got the team, we've got the know-how, now all we need is YOU!

Three reasons:

It's actually the only way this will work, a bit like a massively multiplayer game (MMO), we need a certain amount of people involved for the real-time elements to have a real effect on the game. Utilising Kickstarter gives us this community from the start, right where we need them!
We get to find out if anyone actually wants it! We get to create and grow a community around the game that will have a symbiotic relationship with the development team and the universe that the game sits within.
It's also the only way we can fund it. The other way of doing it is piecemeal (Venture Capital investors wont do it, we asked), which won't give us or you the quality we so desperately want, as we wont be able to hire the very best artists or modellers. With this project we want to create a truly breathtaking universe that inspires both you and us.

No other platform can create a community of people who not only want this to happen but are also willing to put their money on the table in order to ensure it happens. With those people we want a special relationship, a collaborative one where we can share ideas and thoughts, rule books as we write them and create the game you want to play. Between us we should be able to create the game and universe that you've been waiting for.

First of all let us make this pledge: ALL of the money we raise through Kickstarter will go straight into the game. We of course have to pay for offices, materials and lighting so we can keep the team warm during the cold winter nights in Nottingham but our overheads are extremely low (read: very cheap offices with no actual heaters…) because we don’t want to spend money there, we want to spend it on creating the game with you!

Let us break down where the money will go for you:

First of all your pledges will enable us to purchase the necessary equipment, materials & plastic tooling in order to achieve the quality level we need, these are unfortunately expensive!

Your money will also be used to maintain and build the team of talented individuals that will actually create the miniatures, artwork and everything else that the game will require to build, test and launch.

Having done this a number of times before we know how to make a great wargame, and like all great things, they’re best with the right amount of time applied to them. We think it will take us a year to make the best game we can, to get the gameplay right, the figures & factions all balanced and solve the various real time dynamic issues we’re going to have. Whilst we’re doing all that, we’ll be making sure that we can iterate the quality on each of the figures so that they are truly world class and be feeding you with as much information about the game as possible through our team of community developers and catalysts.

We've developed our Backer Development Program so that you can enjoy the process of building GoA with us. Its goals are to show and involve you in the complexities of creating a new science fiction wargame universe.

There are lots of ways in which you can get involved, from posting your thoughts and ideas, to creating artwork and miniatures that would fit in our universe and of course playtesting the rules.

Here’s how it's going to work:

We'll open up areas within the Development Forums that we are about to start work on or are currently working on. Supplying you with a structure to work within where you can give us your ideas, thoughts, comments and suggestions. As we go through the development of each topic we’ll post updates (like concepts or combat rules) and get you to feedback on that too, and then as we come out the other end of each subject, we’ll again post updates (alpha rulebooks, final concepts or greens) on where we are. Once an area is locked down in design or art, then we’ll also lockout that section of the forum with a final update of the rules or models. This ensures that your thoughts and feedback are focused on areas that you can influence rather than decisions we've already made.

We’ll be covering all aspects of the game play and key design features as well as details of the various factions, species and the meta gaming systems.

One big section that you’ll probably want to get your teeth into is when we put all the rules together and playtest them, and we’ll be releasing the alpha and beta rulebooks in April and Sept 2013 respectively.

Here’s a quick look at what these will be:

Alpha Rulebook: raw and bloody – but in essence the core game rules covering game play and an outline of weapons, armours, vehicles etc. This will be enough to test out the basic mechanics and make sure we have a solid base to layer on special features and variant rules. We will also be running alpha playtests at our ranch for those who pledge at the Feeder Alpha level, so you can come and play with the designers and watch the cogs grind for yourself.

Beta Rulebook: Basic text complete! The beta version of the game is essentially finished bar balance playtesting and tinkering – which Rick insists on calling ‘jiffling’ for some reason. It won’t be too pretty. The artwork won’t all be in place and there may be lots of placeholder illustration and rough versions of things like diagrams, but it will be ready for the serious business of robust playtesting.

We will be running beta playtests at our ranch for those who pledge at the Feeder Beta level.

Our backer development program is currently open to all and you can get involved here – though as soon as our Kickstarter campaign ends and we’re fully funded (fingers crossed!) we’ll be locking the doors so only backers will be able to gain access.

There’s already a number of topics open for discussion - with more opening during our Kickstarter - and just as soon as the Kickstarter is finished, we’ll be releasing much information into the program on the underlying core mechanics of the game and providing an outline guide to each of the contributor sections including the game background and meta-game. Here are just a few of the initial topics we’ll be releasing for the tabletop game section:

Turn Sequence - fully integrated activation system that keeps both sides playing throughout the turn.
Stats - the core character stats needed to control the game including Agility, Accuracy, Strength, Resist, Technology and Compute.
Combat Status - abilities and fighting strengths are determined by a fluid combat status system that does away with complex morale rules.

We understand that some of you would like to see our model range before they decide to become a backer – well the reason we are here at Kickstarter is because we need you to back us before we can create our brand new model ranges. In that way this is a more ‘normal’ Kickstarter than some of the more successful miniature Kickstarters out there.

So, rather than offer you a fixed number of models, we are going to allow you to choose a selection from our forthcoming ranges. This also allows you to build up your initial forces as you like, with all the variety you might wish for.

Obviously, some of our models will be bigger than others, some will be cast in a single piece and others will be more complex multi-piece models, and when we offer these for sale the prices will obviously vary concomitantly. Therefore, we offer you a choice of credit options (depending on the reward tier you select) for the models, with the simpler models worth 10 credits each, and the more complex and larger models worth more, up to 50 credits for a larger, more complex design with multiple and optional parts. If we hit some of our intended stretch goals we will also allocate our new models a credit value – increasing your final choice.

Potentially this can include some large models worth more than 50 credits – vehicles, heavy weapons teams, and so on. We hope you approve of our offer. It is intended to represent great value over the actual sale price of the finished items and the final choice of models is –of course – up to you.

YOUR FISTFUL OF CREDITS!

10 Credit Models

10 credits typically gets you a single-piece model of a Pan, Sim or Drone. Think of these as useful extras to have along or as the basic troopers making up larger, lightly equipped forces

Examples

Sim Ngora
Hunter Drones
Targetter Drones
Pan Boramites

20 Credit Models

Typically 20 credits gets you either a larger single-piece model of one of the larger species of Pan or Sim, or a multipart model which may have separate weapons, head, packs and so forth. Think of this as your standard Pan or Sim trooper fully-equipped for battle.

Examples

Rever Hiredgun armed with Plug Gun
Pan Gwar trooper armed with plasma carbine
K’bir shock trooper

30 Credit Models

Think of these as your ‘heavies’ or as supporting troops and weapons.

typically gets you one of the largest species of Panhumans including NuHu – which we aim to make about 40mm tall – or a more standard sized Pan or Sim trooper or WarDrone equipped with a substantial heavy weapon or items of heavy equipment.

Examples

SuspensorDrone with Plasma Cannon
Rever Hiredgun with Fractal Cannon
Shard Trooper in Isorian Phase-Armour

40 Credit Models

40 credits typically gets you a character model representing an individual leader, company captain, or a customisable personality figure – these will be multi-part models with head, weapon and other options where appropriate.

Examples

Rever Gun Runner Captain toting a Customised Compression gun with AG Armour
A larger humanoid creature, in the 50mm range
Alien – in the 50mm range – such as a Vorl Th’kal.

50 Credit Models

This level will typically give you one of our finest character models – a named individual from our game universe with all the separate pieces required to create a dynamic or superbly equipped character – a sturdy gaming model and a show piece for painters and collectors.

Examples:

a larger ‘monstrous’ creature
Pan or Sim mounted on a Grav-Bike or similar vehicle.

Example Custom Army (default Dark Energy Reward Tier)

1 x Rever Captain with Grippler LCG Compo gun 40 credits
1 x NuHu Mission Ambassador 30 credits
2 x Pans with Mag guns 40 credits
2 x Pans with Plasma carbines 40 credits
2 x Rever with Mag guns 40 credits
1 x Rever with Plasma carbine 20 credits
1 x Rever with Fractal Cannon and Mag pistol 30 credits

Total 240 Credits

We'll be sending out a survey once the Kickstarter has finished so that you can tell us your army selection and if we hit our various stretch goals we’ll be adding more models to our initial range, including more plastic kits, and all of these will also be available to select.

Ok, you’re in. now how much should you spend? Check out our fancy reward tiers: you can find full details on each of the tiers on our website here (in the pledge reward details menu at the top) and don’t forget, if you have any questions about anything, just get in touch!

All images are for illustration purposes only - with our backer development program you get to help us refine these aspects of the game before we release them!

Check out more about Hansa the Exclusive Kickstarter Figure here

Custom Army Credits – Please see Custom Army Section above for more details

* This will be the ultimate backers’ collectors edition of the rulebook and we’ll involve those people that buy it in its creation. It will have a “Those that helped us create Beyond the Gates of Antares” section where we print every single one of the backers' names, and a ‘Roll of Honour’ section for those that pledge at the Feeder Hansa level or above.

At a minimum it’ll be a full colour rulebook, printed on the finest parchment, individually numbered and signed by Rick, containing the universe map, incorporating the art of GoA book and bound by virgins (ok, maybe not that). We’re thinking a beast of a book with solid metal corners, thick debossed star worn leather covers and metal DSC & GoA logos. Let your imaginations run wild with suggestions. (image for illustration purposes only)

Custom Army Credits – Please see the Custom Army section above for more details.

Custom Painted Hansa - This is where we give you a unique model expertly custom painted with your own preferred choice of uniform colour and either your chosen faction ID patch or your own personal ID patch design if you wish.

Roll of Honour - You will be immortalised within the pages of every GoA rulebook for ever more. Fact.

Alpha Game - We invite you to Nottingham (travel and accommodation at your cost) for a day to play the alpha version of the game with our team and other Feeder Alpha backers. Directly influencing our rule development as we play and watch you play. Food and drinks provided. (Exact Days in May TBD, we'll run it over 3-4 days to make sure you can make at least one of them)

Beta Game - We invite you to Nottingham (travel and accommodation at your cost) for a day to play the beta version of the game with our team and other Feeder Beta backers. Directly influencing our rule development as we play and watch you play. Food and drinks provided. (Exact Days in Sept TBD, we'll run it over 3-4 days to make sure you can make at least one of them)

Custom Painted Hansa - This is where we give you a unique model expertly custom painted with your own preferred choice of uniform colour and either your chosen faction ID patch or your own personal ID patch design if you wish.

50 x Painted Figures - Pick 50 miniatures from your feeder box (remember if we hit stretch goals we’ll be adding more figures into this box) to be painted by Golem Painting Studios.

50 x Superior Painted Figures - Pick 50 miniatures from your feeder box (remember if we hit stretch goals we’ll be adding more figures into this box) and Golem Painting Studios will go to town on your figures making them fit for the display case in your hallway.

Personal Game with DSC Team - You and a friend will be invited to join, Rick, John & Rik (and other members of the team) to play a GoA game in John's War Room. Where you get to talk to us about the game, suggest anything you like and generally have a great time. We'll then take you out, wine and dine you before finally walking you back to the Lace Market Hotel and a night cap. (travel costs to be born by backer, everything else is on us!)

Personal Game with DSC Team - See John's War Room above.

Be a Game Character - We'll spend a day with you creating a character based on you, that will forever feature in our rules and lore. Named after you (within reason) and featuring some of your exploits (within reason). This will be a Commander(or Alien if you fancy) that features heavily within the history and lore of the game. (note: not a miniature)

50 x Superior Painted Figures - See Ultimate Dark Feeder above

We're going to add LOTS more add ons as we go through the campaign, so keep checking back (every 2-3 mins should be fine...)

1) Feeder Box = £125 - For those that just can't get enough dark boxes (Please add £2 to ship outside the UK or USA, if you're not adding to a pledge tier of Feeder Hansa or higher)

2) DSC / GoA T-Shirts = £15 - Sport these smart casual t-shirts to all your highbrow events and you'll get noticed for sure! (Please add £2 to ship outside the UK or USA, if you're not adding to a pledge tier of Feeder Hansa or higher)

3) WarDrones x 10 = £15. These plastic beauties will keep you alive when you're on the battlefield and may even cook your dinner for you if you ask nicely! (Please add £2 to ship outside the UK or USA, if you're not adding to a pledge tier of Feeder or higher)

4) WarDrones x 20 = £24. Even more WarDrones to help you dominate the universe and these come with special Hyper Compressed Matter 20% Discount Forcefield (Please add £2 to ship outside the UK or USA, if you're not adding to a pledge tier of Feeder or higher)

5) Hardback Rulebook = £25 - Full colour 270pg (ish) GoA Rulebook for your gaming needs. (Please add £2 to ship outside the UK or USA, if you're not adding to a pledge tier of Feeder or higher)

6) Starter Box = £65 - The starter box set, maybe you want to gift it to someone on their special day? (Please add £2 to ship outside the UK or USA, if you're not adding to a pledge tier of Feeder or higher)

More Add-ons COMING SOON!

We'll be adding more stretch goals as we go, for now though some simple to understand ones:

Stretch Goal 1 – We have lift off! - £325,000

Add 10 Credits to Dark Energy
Add 20 Credits to Feeder

Stretch Goal 2 – G-Force Face - £350,000

Add 10 Credits to Dark Energy
Add 20 Credits to Feeder

RISKS AND CHALLENGESLearn about accountability on Kickstarter

How will we cope with risks and challenges after a successful funding?

Well, with many decades of collective experience in the tabletop gaming industry behind us, including that of two former main board directors of Games Workshop plc, we are well aware that things do not always go exactly to plan.

So, firstly, we're sufficiently long-in-tooth to plan in the full expectation that we might have to find alternative ways of making sure things happen; that might involve alternative suppliers, taking on extra staff, and in some cases different materials and processes.

Obviously we can't allow for every contingency - we've had tsunami's delay shipments in Chinese ports, solid-steel machine tools crack on the first run, and the price of raw materials always keeps us on our toes!

What you can control are your own processes, management and progress.

Good milestoning will make sure we recognise any problems well ahead of time, enabling us to prepare alternatives.
Good costing analysis as part of a proper business plan is essential, so we can track costs against expectations - for one risk is simply running out of money of course!

Lastly, we know that delays - whilst not something we wish for - do happen for one reason or another, and this is one reason why we want to take our community with us during the development of our game and model ranges; we don't want surprises - well not nasty ones anyway - and we know from years of experience - and I would add simple politeness and common sense! - that good communication is the best way of overcoming those kind of challenges.