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StarControl Forums
Greetings!
Your NDA is in effect for this post as you're about to hear all our secret plans. 
THE BETA IS COMING THIS MONTH!
In a little over a week, all of you will start getting Steam keys for the Super Melee BETA.
NO MORE FOUNDERS
While the Founders program will continue, we will be closing the program to newcomers.
CLASSIC SERIES ON STEAM
On October 16, we will be releasing Star Control: The Ur-Quan Masters onto Steam (the original, unaltered Star Control 1 and 2) for $3.99. We will also be releasing Star Control: Kessari Quadrant (Star Control 3) onto Steam for $3.99 as well.
The reason we're titling it this way is to reduce the confusion regarding Star Control 3. Long time fans already know the...issues with Star Control 3.
For newcomers, we wanted to pave the way for The Ur-Quan Masters exists in its own universe and not be related to the events to Star Control 3. This paves the way for Paul Reiche and Fred Ford, the creators of the Ur-Quan universe and the makers of Star Control 1 and 2 to be able to continue their story in the future either with us or on their own or as a future Toys for Bob game.
PRE-ORDERS
We will also be making Star Control: Origins available on Steam for pre-order. However, the pre-order customers won't get the Super Melee BETA until November and will not get lifetime access to all future DLC like lifetime founders nor will they get a season's pass to DLC like regular founders nor will they have access to the vault or this forum.
We plan to price the initial pre-order at $24.99 and slowly have it increase as the final release nears.
THE SPATHI AND THE UR-QUAN
We will definitely need an effective way to explain why Origins won't have the Star Control 2 aliens.
I want to be very clear on this: When Stardock acquired the Star Control rights from Atari/Accolade that includes a perpetual, unlimited license to the Star Control story, lore, aliens, characters, ships, etc. So yes, if we had wanted to, we could have had the aliens in the new Star Control game provided that we did so under the terms and conditions of the publishing agreement (which involves a royalty to Paul of course).
I've seen people suggest that we only own the name Star Control and nothing else. This is incorrect. We have been in frequent contact with Paul and Fred for the past 3 years and we have intentionally not touched the aliens in the hope that one day Paul and Fred would be able to continue the Ur-Quan story line either with us or on their own.
The point being, we have chosen not to use the original aliens and story out of respect to Paul and Fred, not because we didn't have the right to use them. The previous publisher, Atari/Accolade chose to make a Star Control game (SC3) without Paul and Fred with their own version of the post-SC2 story and you know how that turned out. We aren't willing to do that.
That said, we are evaluating having the Star Control 2 ships in Origins Super-Melee as a future DLC (we may also have GalCiv and Sins ships as well as optional DLC ships).
We may also eventually have an HD remake of Star Control 2 done with the Origins engine. However, that really depends on what Paul and Fred decide to do. It may make more sense to simply point people to The Ur-Quan Masters HD.
While we have a license to use that IP as we see fit, we really prefer that the Ur-Quan story line be presented in the way that Paul and Fred prefer. After all, the only reason we're here at all is because of them.
Understanding what Star Control means to us
There will continue to be people that feel that a game called Star Control that doesn't have the Spathi or Orz or Ur-Quan in it isn't really Star Control. By contrast, our view is that for most people, the name Star Control conjures a game style that harkens back to Starflight, Apple Trek, etc. Games where you are exploring the universe, meeting aliens, having battles, and building up your ship -- your ship is your character really.
These opposing viewpoints are irreconcilable. If and When Paul and Fred return to the Ur-Quan universe, there will be those that will consider only that "real" and everything else is not.
By contrast, our goal with Star Control: Origins is to create a game that supports not just the Scryve universe but others as well. That's why we didn't use the Drengin or the Sins of a Solar Empire races. We want Origins to stand on its own and be a launching point to infinite living universes for people to play in. We don't want people to finish Origins and then wait 2, 10 or ahem, 25 years for the next chapter ever again.
We will need your help
We will need folks who believe in what we're doing here to speak up when they see people post either misinformation or try to make the "Star Control = Spathi" argument.
We want to make a game that is a gateway for not just us to tell our stories but for everyone who has a passion for science fiction and wants to share their adventure with others.
It can certainly be argued that the easier path would have simply done a reboot with the original aliens with a new or modified story and that I made a terrible mistake not letting Stardock do just that. But that would have been, imo, a "dick move". Paul and Fred made it clear they didn't want that and that they hoped to return to that timeline someday.
Paul and Fred are why I make games in the first place. So it was not a difficult choice to respect their wishes. It may have not been a smart business move but it was the right move.
If you have any questions, please ask below.
I hadn't considered the naming issue, but I have to admit that it exists.