Blackfoot Studios announces new title "Sky Gods"

[Pave Low]

for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, the Vol 1, Issue 7 of BlackFoot Studios Newsletter is out

http://www.blackfootstudios.com/newsletter...ter_Vol1is7.pdf

and the primarily topic is the exiting news that there is indeed a second title in the pipeline alongside Ground Branch !

“Sky Gods will focus on a complete Co-Op game experience centering on SOF

HALO and helicopter insertion operations.

You will be in full control of your player during HALO freefall as well as while under canopy

and will be required to properly steer yourself to a landing zone and land without killing yourself.

While on the ground, you and your team mates will engage various targets and be presented with missions

of ever expanding scope and complexity.

A full training system will also be included to familiarize you with both the parachuting and ground

movement/firing mechanics.”

Sky Gods is being built using the same technology, design principals and mechanics

as Ground Branch. So while still a full stand alone product in its own right, Sky Gods

will have the added bonus of giving BFS fans some insight into the elements and design

philosophy going into Ground Branch…

“Sky Gods will incorporate our NORG design philosophy and be built on the very foundation

that Ground Branch is. Everything that we have done so far for Ground Branch will be incorporated

into Sky Gods and likewise, everything that we do for Sky Gods will go back into Ground Branch.

So playing Sky Gods will feel like playing Ground Branch. Those are the mechanics that all of

our games will be built upon. ”

Tentative Features

- 8 Coop missions playable with 1-8 people (I am confident we can get 8

but might need to back that down to 6)

- At least 4 MP specific maps along with some Coop maps available to MP games

- TvT MP game mode

- Terrorist Hunt style game mode (need a new name for it)

- At least 2 more MP game types

- Customizable Kit

- Customizable player (Like MGS Online and not Vegas)

- Full training scenarios (like Rogue Spear had)

- Full mod capabilities out of the box

Read the newsletter for The Story Behind Sky Gods, News on BFS Licensing Epic’s Unreal Engine 3, The Weapons of BFS and information on the BFS Store.

you can read more over at BFS studios in the newsletter thread or in the BFS Sky Gods forum

[Guest]

So they're coming out with a whole different game and it's supposed to release before Ground Branch? Have they given a reason why they're coming out with this?

[Sup]

Seems like a smart business model, to target a niche market like this -- multiple 'small' projects off a core engine/set of gameplay mechanics? Would love to see this even structured as an addon, so gameplay elements could mesh between their own games, but i guess that would be a logistical nightmare.

Anyway, sounds cool.

[Pave Low]

Have they given a reason why they're coming out with this?

very simplistically... it's for the income

Well, we have tossed around a bunch of ideas on how to generate revenue on something we could realistically complete within our current resources and in a timely manner.

Everything from racing games, online browser games, pre-sells of GB and even selling the MP portion of GB first. Nothing really seemed to "hook up" or make much business sense.

So I started thinking, why couldn't we break Ground Branch down into some of its most fundamental game play parts and make a smaller game that focused solely on some of those elements.

The Story Behind Sky Gods, How and why it came to be

[Guest]

Have they given a reason why they're coming out with this?

very simplistically... it's for the income

Ahh, very good. They generate a little income for their main project while we get a taste of what's to come. Sounds pretty, well..."sound" to me

[Buehgler_AS]

Indeed, I see this as a nice way for them to avoid being forced to "sell out" on many of the core features that have attracted a sizable community to the potential that lies in GB. I very much hope the strategy will work and that both SG and GB will provide a good stable long term platform for good quality "tactical gameplay".