John Bartholomew: There's plenty of room for variation within the genre, and compared with more mainstream genres (for example, first person shooters) the design space hasn't even been scratched. I always felt there was something wonderful about the old games simulating an entire galaxy. As few arbitrary restrictions as possible. Not hundreds of systems or dozens of sectors, but billions and billions of stars and millions and millions of sectors, and trillions of worlds to explore. Except Frontier.ĭan Bennett: An entire galaxy modelled rather accurately. And even when compared to commercial efforts, you'd be hard pressed to find a single player experience with this mix of simplicity and gigantic scope. Kimmo Kotajärvi: The free-ness is indeed remarkable. Pioneer will never become abandonware as long as there is any interest, because there will always be the freedom to pick it up and continue its development. Its license allows it to be improved, shared, ported to other systems. ?īrian Ronald: I used to work on the X games! Pioneer is free. RPS: So what relevance does Frontier/Pioneer still have in a world with games like X, Eve, Freelancer. I worked with Egosoft on the X series because there was nothing forthcoming from Frontier Developments to satisfy my addiction. And as a kid I played FFE a lot round at a friend's house: he made the mistake of lending me his copy and I still have it.īrian Ronald: I joined this project late. JJFFE, the wonderful version by John Jordan, kept me sane when I used to live in Spain with no internet connection. Anything else is either a true simulator (not a game) or not really about space at all, since space is about vast open spaces, limitless possibilities and incredible speeds. I found Pioneer when some random person linked it in a RPS comment thread back in 2010, so thanks, random person!ĭan Bennett: (Warning: Rose-tinted glasses are being worn at this point) FFE and Frontier are the only true space games as far as I am concerned. Frontier and FFE had a really nice balance of realism and fun. Kimmo Kotajärvi: I've traditionally thought of myself as a big space sim fan, but recently I have felt that the games focus too much on economics, multiplayer or just don't have that "spacey" feeling to them. I knew Tom Morton on Usenet back then when I found Pioneer, it was with a jolt of recognition at his name. After that there didn't seem to be much point trying to coerce the original to do my bidding when I could have something better!īrian Ronald: Frontier helped my university studies go down the toilet. I was investigating porting JJFFE to the Nintendo DS so I could take Frontier on the road and stumbled upon Pioneer. ![]() Rob Norris: I lost months of my teenage years to Frontier, and nothing has ever come close. I think most of us have some history with the Frontier games, even if it is just having spent months or years playing them. Our other project lead, John Jordan, is the JJ in JJFFE. Our project founder is Tom Morton of GLFrontier fame, an OpenGL port of the original Frontier. I chatted to some of them, a group of passionate fans spread all over the globe, about how you build a universe. Every time I load it up it *feels* like the game I lost months to, but the development team aren't stopping at a perfect recreation: this is Frontier being reborn. Pioneer is free sort-of remake of the classic space sim. As spectacular as the view was, my mind briefly turned to Elite II: Frontier, when I was up there in those stars, hunting and hauling. The moon's light dimmed and winked out, the sky filled with stars and I could see the edge of the Milky Way. Each one with a set of combat, survival and engineering skills to give you the fighting edge.I was sat on a beach on Zanzibar this summer, watching a lunar eclipse. Use the latest hi-tech weapons to crush your enemies and earn loot to unlock awesome new gear including gun turrets, rifles, blasters and mines - all with upgrades! Select one of three available classes: The Light, The Heavy and The Standard. This fast action-packed top-down shooter will test your combat skills and tactics to the max! From cybernetic arachnids to venomous hornets, stand against massive bosses, each with unique offensive and defensive capabilities. To make it through hordes of aliens, you need to be a skilled, versatile hunter. Every time you play missions have new objectives, enemies and additional challenges. Recover stolen disks, defend probes, repair crashed craft and complete missions to earn loot and unlock awesome gear and skills. Combined with the dynamic objectives system, the gameplay is truly infinite in Space Pioneer. The endless universe has countless hostile galaxies to conquer. Make your way across fantastical planets from the icy tundra to the lush jungles brimming with flora and fauna. ![]() Explore strange new worlds with your trusty robot sidekick. Discover new planets, chart incredible worlds and reveal ancient secrets.
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