Announcing SOLAR STARFIRE

[Cralis]

Copied from our main news:

The release date for the next version of STARFIRE has been decided! This weekend the final document version is being frozen, and we will release the digital version of SOLAR STARFIRE on the 1st of February! That's right, it has a new title and everything.

Over the next couple of days we will be adding document downloading to our ordering system, putting up new information on the next version of STARFIRE, and announcing pricing and other information.

After the release of the digital version we will follow up with additional material for download, additional media formats to purchase, and more. We've created a new Solar Starfire SubForum where we will be posting more news and additional information over the next few days!

Emperors and despots, alien allies and enemies alike, you have very little time to left before the next version of STARFIRE. Keep checking back, we will be putting up more information, announcing other changes to the website, images, and other goodies in preparation for the launch.

[Tregonsee]

Any clue how this compares to 3rd, Ultra, or Cosmic Starfire?

[krenshala]

Any clue how this compares to 3rd, Ultra, or Cosmic Starfire?

If you are already familiar with the GSF/Ultra rules then Solar will not be much different.

Ultra 2 was our working title up until a week or so ago. Our goal was to fix existing problems in Ultra and make some changes to try and improve the overall game play in areas that were, we felt, a bit weak previously.

[Sunwolf]

Have the strategic rules been simplified, made more complex, or about the same level of complexity?
A little simpler would be nice so I don't need to do turns on Excel

[Cralis]

Any clue how this compares to 3rd, Ultra, or Cosmic Starfire?

If you are already familiar with the GSF/Ultra rules then Solar will not be much different.

Ultra 2 was our working title up until a week or so ago. Our goal was to fix existing problems in Ultra and make some changes to try and improve the overall game play in areas that were, we felt, a bit weak previously.

ONE of our goals. The other significant goal was to design the rules to be more aligned with the new history we are building - the History of the Terran Solar Union. We wrote a little bit about the history while starting to assemble the ideas, but we put that on hold so we could build the rules first. The idea was that we wanted rules that the player could use without modification to replicate the gameplay in the stories and scenarios.

While the rules are based on the Ultra rule set, the Ultra rules are designed purely for competition play. While we aren't done modifying the Solar Starfire ruleset, the changes being made are designed to provide a unique experience modeled after the history and tweaks are made in the technologies, combat rules, system generation, and more. While the core rules are very similar, the changes make the resulting game(s) play differently - we are focusing on gameplay for stories, not for competition.

Bottom line: How technologies, star system generation, and certain rules produce results and details in the game are very different from what you will have read in stories prior to Solar Starfire. More will be explained in the FAQ we'll put out at release.

[Club]

OK, patience exhausted. Start spilling spoilers, guys.

[krenshala]

OK, patience exhausted. Start spilling spoilers, guys.

Well, Matt shot down my idea of delaying the release to April 2 ... just so we could say on April 1 that we were cancelling the Ultra 2 project. Something about the players not wanting to wait an extra two months just for that joke to work.

[Cralis]

Today turned out to not as productive as I had hoped, family stuff interfered a bit. But I'm working on a "What Changed? FAQ", the new Quick Start Rules that Procyon helped me do a rough draft... and oh yeah, probably tomorrow we are going to implement live our new e-commerce addition: when you purchase a digital product, you'll be able to download your copy.

How cool is that? More to come tomorrow.

[Xveers]

[quote="Cralis"]Today turned out to not as productive as I had hoped, family stuff interfered a bit. But I'm working on a "What Changed? FAQ", the new Quick Start Rules that Procyon helped me do a rough draft... and oh yeah, probably tomorrow we are going to implement live our new e-commerce addition: when you purchase a digital product, you'll be able to download your copy.

How cool is that? More to come tomorrow.[/quote]

Woo! Real e-commerce site!

[procyon]

Have a question, and not sure which thread to put it in, so I will put it here.

I remember that some of the stuff from the contests was going to be included in supplements that followed the release of (then) Ultra 2. I assume there will be follow on products. Ok, I really hope there will be LOTS of follow on products.

Are there going to be different subscriptions for rule updates for both Solar and Ultra, or will a single subscription cover both? Options for subscriptions to one or the other?

Just curious how that will work. We will likely keep our current New Empires as Ultra (for the forseeable future), but will likely be starting a Solar game as soon as we can manage (assuming the hospital lets me spend a few days at home...).