Simon Roth is now on Kickstarter for Maia, a space colony management simulation, or God game, that he’s been working on full-time after having worked on a ‘AAA’ development studio. Other God games include titles such as Dungeon Keeper, Populous, Black & White, or Spore, to get you in context.
Simon defines Maia as “Dungeon Keeper meets Dwarf Fortress on a primordial alien world.”. So, expect real-time strategy and city-building elements, as for a procedurally-generated universe. The game’s setting is dark and it’s inspired by 1970’s sci-fi films like 2001 or Alien. Simon also said to have been inspired by authors such as Arthur C. Clark, Philip K. Dick, Isaac Asimov and Douglas Adams (great choices if you ask me!).
It all begins in 2113 when humans began its extra solar colonization program. One of the targets of was Maia, a planet in the Tau Ceti system.
Regarding gameplay, you must excavate underground colonies and extract minerals for construction. And this is where the simulation aspects kick in. You need to build accommodations for your colonists and keep them fed and happy. And, you need to build defenses to protect them from the dangers lurking on the surface. You also need to research new technologies and eventually you will need to explore the surface.
Maia has reached its funding goal of £100,042. Yes, that’s right, to the last penny :) But, you can still jump on board, as the kickstarter is still open for the next 18 hours or so. Maia is currently in early Alpha. Simon expects to have a playable release in mid January 2013 and a final release in the summer of 2013.The game will run on Windows, Mac and Linux and will be DRM-free.
Simon’s Maia proposal in a nutshell:
- Space colony simulation / RTS / God game
- Procedural: objects and textures generated by the computer
- Dark sci-fi setting and humour (inspired by 1970s hard sci-fi)
- Single-player campaign
- Others: first-person mode, third-person mode, open data for modders, Win, Mac, Linux, DRM-free
You can’t help not to feel disturbed and curious by watching Maia’s trailers. If Simon was after a dark and disconcerting science fiction setting, then I’ll say he’s on the right track.
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Oh hey. I was wondering when this’d get on here :P
Here’s a link to his home page http://www.maiagame.com/index.php that’s how I’ve been tracking the game.
Thanks for sharing the link.
I was only made aware of Maia today and I found it very intriguing and interesting. I love sci-fi with a dark setting, that’s probably why I love Blade Runner so much. And I enjoyed Dungeon Keeper on the day, so, I guess I could enjoy playing this game.
Let’s see what Simon can do with $200K.
I got some eerie alien vibes from this, mixed with a taste of SS13 and two eggs. I mean, Dungeon Keeper and Evil Genius.
I can hear the vents shuffling already :P
Pfft – I put a link to this on your forums on the 23rd! Bad Adam! :P
You’re right, my bad. Totally missed it :|
Hehe, you’re allowed to miss things… I put it down to you being busy maintaining your awesome site. :D
Hm, i wanted to back the project but for some reasons ikickstarter offers me only Credit Card payment, not the usual Amazon checkout payment.
Maybe it’s because the project is based in the UK? I only get a credit card payment option too. Looks like if you want to contribute via paypal you should go to http://www.indiegogo.com/maiagame.
It’s amazing how flexible these tools are and how project creators are using them. Some start in Kickstarter, then move to IndieGoGo, repeat, or the other way around. And now even have the project open in the two platforms at the same time.
Looks like its my kind of game. I really missed the good old days when there was a lot of city builder/management/god games. Bluebyte’s Anno 1404 and 2070 (despite the draconian DRM) and Tropico 4 is satisfying my needs as of the moment and hopefully it will until Sim City comes out (hoping EA wont ruin it with uber streamlining and going the Ubi way with DRM!)
Looks like I have to add this one to the list of games that I look forward to. This article rekindled my interest to reinstall dungeonkeeper and give it a chance (hoping it would get an HD update like stronghold so it will be more tolerable).
Just found out about this yesterday and backed! Looks fantastic.. If you’d like to back it, you can still do it on the link to the IndieGogo site. I was just wondering why there was no coverage for it here!
Better late than never? :)
I can’t know about all that’s happening on the sci-fi and space gaming world. Our team is very small still. That’s why I need all of you to keep me informed with tips about all these interesting games. I wrote about Maia after receiving a tip. I thought it was an interesting game project to present to our community, and that was it.
So, anytime you spot an interesting sci-fi or space game let me know. And, if it’s a strategy game so much the better ;)