Perihelion Interactive confirms 2017 release for its ambitious sci-fi RPG
Star log June 27th 2016 – Space. The Final Frontier. These are the adventures of the ground-breaking sci-fi RPG The Mandate … on much less than a five-year-mission to create strange new worlds, new life and new civilizations. To boldly do what only Sid Meier has done before with his outstanding game Pirates!: create a living, open world RPG experience with different factions, demanding tactical battles and you as the captain of your hand-picked crew – your family.
During the development of The Mandate, Perihelion Interactive has faced many challenges, overcome numerous obstacles and is still up to the task. Following a stellar apperance at last week’s E3 in Los Angeles, Perhelion Interactive has released its first in-game pre-alpha gameplay teaser, and confirm that The Mandate is now charting a course for an early 2017 release.
Matus Kirchmayer, CTO, Perihelion Interactive said:
“After many internal playtests, the team at Perihelion has decided to delay The Mandate until 2017. We want to ensure that we deliver an outstanding experience for all players who love space games as much as we do, and always saw themselves in the the role of Captain Kirk, Admiral Adama or Mal Reynolds. To achieve this, Perihelion Interactive will take all the time it needs and release the game when it’s done.“
he Mandate sees you, the player, as the captain of a single vessel. This vessel is manned by a cadre of officers, chosen and customized by you who are each individually named, with their own stats and strategic capabilities. These officers are in charge of crewmen, who are each individually named, but expendable.
You are fallible, human, and you make mistakes. Often, this will end with families torn apart, and crew members literally thrown out through the hull. Your actions will invariably mean loss of life. Issuing orders to officers will dynamically affect the actions of your crew, depending on the skills and attributes of the respective officer.
For the first time in a game of this type, players will be able to board vessels taking the combat into an RTS environment whilst your friends still fight from their ships in space.
Mandate is split into three focuses: the story focus with adventure and RPG elements, the strategic focus with economic, diplomatic, and political elements, and the tactical focus, with space combat and boarding elements. Each layer of depth is fully fleshed out offering intriguing and challenging gameplay, and each element is absolutely required in order to succeed and grow.
The decisions you make in Mandate affect the world around you, and your crew. Every action has a consequence, and as you push your ship to the farthest reaches of the universe, diplomacy, and morality are pushed with it.
Affect the world with your actions, not with your words. The Mandate will not be challenged with a dialogue wheel.
One Rule. No Quarter.
Build your bases – Command your fleets – Lead your boarding parties – Conquer rebels – Explore an empire in turmoil!
The Mandate is a sandbox military Sci-fi RPG. When a rebellion breaks out across countless worlds, the newly crowned Empress turns to you – a disgraced former captain – and offers you a chance to reclaim your honour.
You will start with a single ship and must assemble a fleet to defeat the rebellion. Coordinate fleet and boarding actions simultaneously, striking the enemy on two fronts for maximum effect. In captured star systems, you may design, research and construct your own star bases and ships, recruit and equip your troops with advanced weaponry, and negotiate alliances in intense roleplaying encounters.
Will you lead your crew to victory or dishonour in this dynamic roleplaying experience? Will you obey the Empress, side with the Rebels or carve out your own Pirate Kingdom instead? You decide! Yours is the Mandate!
What makes The Mandate unique?
•Explore a world of culture, with 1500 years of lore, ruled by the Tsars. Survive a world of pirates, mercenaries & faction forces with their own agendas. Make enemies, or appease more powerful factions. The world reacts to your choices, and you must live with the consequences.
•Utilize the human chain of command to manage your crew. All hailing from various colony ships, tasked by you to fill their stations. Watch them grow, learn, and experience… watch them tire, break down, and die.
•Ships in The Mandate are the crew’s home. Blast through shields and bulkheads to knock out the various sub-systems, ejecting the crew into space – all in real time. Board the enemy, or defend against boarding! Fight from space as your friends put boots on the ground, or team-up and storm the enemy ship with RTS mechanics.
•Scavenge derelict wrecks and salvage what you can to survive. Expand your home base to rearm, upgrade and design new ships. Grow from a single frigate to a powerful battle squadron.
A complete sci-fi experience
There are a lot of sci-fi RPGs out there, but we feel there’s something lacking. Being huge fans of the sci-fi genre, we wondered why spaceships feel so empty? What’s missing? Looking back to all the TV and Movies that inspired us, like Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica or Firefly, we realised games are missing something integral: a crew. A ship without a crew feels hollow and meaningless, so we’ve taken space travel to the next level. The dangers of space should not only test your metal, but your flesh.
We wanted to make a game where you’re not a solid, singular object in a sky-box; you are a captain in an evolving, dynamic ship that hundreds of people call home. They adapt to you, and grow with you as you fight alongside them, and if you suffer losses, you’ll feel the loss that comes with that.
That’s where the drama is, that’s where the story happens, and it’s the interacting with people on the deck that makes this a complete experience.