Eric “Wingman” Peterson and the people of #DescendentStudios have# successfully #crowdfunded the shooter Descent. Close out with over $600,000 receiving its funding, allowing the team to get to work on the title for Linux, Mac and Windows PC.
The campaign initially launched with a solid start, pledges slowed over the last week, then backers donated more than $200,000 of the $600,000 goal in the past four days. Of that, $70,000 of donations coming in on one day, the campaign’s final day. Then, with about two hours left, the donation mark stood at just a bit over $602,000.
Descendent Studios (with former members of Cloud Imperium, that have been working on Star Citizen’s universe) set their sights on brining back the Decent series. Reaching the height of popularity back in the late 90’s, players piloted a fast, manoeuvrable ship, blasting robots in the underground mines. Unlike other FPS titles, Descent allowed full movement along all axes, moving up, down, left right, forward, backward, and rotating in any direction.
Descent: Underground is a both a prequel to the Descent series and a modernization of the original game play. Staying true to the original flight mechanics, arcade style combat, and tightly twisting map design while taking it to the next level. Although Descendent Studios have acquired the rights to use the Descent name from Descent publisher Interplay, they do not have complete access to all of the Descent IP. Making a few important changes to how the game works, like pilots flying the ships remotely as drones, for example.
Descent: Underground Features:
- Six-Degrees-Of Freedom combat
- Choose from nine Customizable Ships to suit your play style
- Destructible terrain conceals hidden resources, power ups, and tunnels
- Master New Game Modes along with your favorites from Descent
- Prove your prowess with rankings, achievements, and leaderboards
- Single-player & Multiplayer
- Top flight graphics with Unreal Engine 4
After Descendent Studios posted developer updates and videos, the team put up a video showing Oculus Rift integration, and based on that and the other videos that have been posted, the project looks like it’s captured that “Descent” tunnel vibe, using the Unreal Engine 4 to create moodily lit underground spaces punctuated by laser fire and explosions. According to Kickstarter FAQ page, currently the developers plan to target the game at all of the non-mobile platforms supported by Unreal Engine 4, which means Windows, OS X, and Linux (sorry, console gamers—no console versions are planned).
