Rockfish Games, creators of Everspace 2, AMA

[RFG_Erik]

Hello there PC Gamers! My name is Erik, the Community Ambassador for Rockfish Games. And we’re hosting an all-you-can-ask AMA! We've got a sizable crew here to answer questions as well, including our Project Manager Caspar, our Senior Game Designer & Programmer Hans-Christian, Creative Director Uwe, and big bad CEO himself Michael.

To start things off, here’s a little bit about myself. While the team is based out of Hamburg, Germany, I'm situated in a home in the middle of the American midwest.

You may be wondering how some US guy from Kansas joined a 100% German company. So, here's a brief history of how I joined the team, while also showing how important the community is to Rockfish Games.

1. I'm passionate about the things I love.
2. I evaluate games just as much as I play games, and I've played a LOT of games.
3. I'm an original Kickstarter backer of Everspace.

When the Rockfish forums opened up in 2016, I questioned EVERYTHING, and threw suggestions every chance I could. Over 1,000 posts. And it was from this feedback/suggestion pool that I was reached out to by Rockfish, as they apparently loved my engagement on the forums, and seemed to appreciate the unique (and sometimes questionable) perspectives being brought to the table.

This feedback process proved powerful for us to realize our vision. Not just from me, but from multiple members of the community participating in alpha, beta, and early access builds. I was blown away when I was asked to further assist Rockfish through the Everspace - Encounters Expansion, with exclusive feedback opportunities through QA. It kept building from there, and now we're championing Everspace 2! BAM!

So, the fact that I'm from Kansas doesn't really mean too much. It's the quality of the product that matters, and we recognize we get there through our community. So when I say we're really passionate about our community, it's not just a simple line thrown by a general community manager. Everspace was made better because of you guys, and we are moving in that same direction with Everspace 2 to ensure we maximize our potential once again.

As such, I strongly encourage you all to fire away at our Rockfish Games team any and all questions about ourselves! Some of us have crazy stories to share, and a lot of insight in gamedev. So ask away! Let’s share some insight, some laughs, and have a good time.


Sincerely,

Erik and the Rockfish Games team

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HOTTEST QUESTIONS (and Answers)

Q. What GPU do I need for moderate/best performance? What specs are needed for EVERSPACE 2?
A. In the current alpha (still lacking optimization): 4K, 60fps can currently be achieved with an i7 and an RTX 2070 Super.
6-yo gaming notebook with 16 GB of RAM, i7 @2.6 GHz and GTX 970M still pulls of 1080p at 30fps.
Recommended specs (PENDING) are likely going to be around 16 GB of RAM, i7 @2.9 GHz, GTX 1080. This will likely achieve epic settings at 1080p with stable 30 fps.
The goal is to hit 4K at super-stable 60 fps on an RTX 2070 Super or equivalent on high+ graphics settings.

 

[SWard]

Welcome to the forums! It's amazing to have you!

 

[NaCly]

Will there be many screen and control adjustments like deadzones, mouse acceleration, depth of field etc? I thought since this game's theme has been "customizable", I'd like the game to feel more like how I play it. Thx for the ama.

 

[Zindae]

Nice to have you Erik!

What is the process at Rockfish Games from the birth of an idea to realization? How many ideas have been shot down due to budgetary, technical or ridiculous reasons? What are some of the craziest ideas you (or the crew) have had that didn't make it into ES1 / ES2?

 

[Darkxfin]

will there be everspace 3 if everything goes well with es2 ?

 

[MagenZion]

Hey there, Rockfish team! Huge fan of the first game and really excited for numero dos. Just kinda curious since I recall hearing that the vision for Everspace 2 was really your dream for the first one. Was Everspace 1 just a trial run to see what you guys could put together in a "short" time or did you go as far as you could with the budget the project had? I don't want this to sound accusatory so just gonna end with I'm purely curious about why things went the way they did. <3

 

[kingmiked824]

are there any new projects in the work

 

[ShadowCGC]

What has been the most difficult thing to implement that you were sure you wanted in but didn't anticipate it would be so complicated?

 

[sfingolipido]

What graphics card will I need to play decently?

 

[Braindead]

What was the funniest thing that happened in the process?

 

[The_Bright_King]

So whats the plan for players who finish the story but still want to play, whats the endgame going to look like?

 

[gambler]

Will there be any replay value aka. only bond with pirates? and do they have their own story side missions? or is the reputation with all factions only going up? since everspace 1 has a lot of replay value i ask me how it is.
I know you came from GoF and so i ask myself what will the endgame look like? some nice achievements bonus ships and a hangar to save ships? becoming a space mongul?
How do DLCs affect the game? are they like the ES1 with affecting the surroundings and different characters. or is it an extended endgame?

 

[dragonchick83]

How did you come up with the idea of Everspace? What inspired it?

 

[RFG_Erik]

Will there be many screen and control adjustments like deadzones, mouse acceleration, depth of field etc? I thought since this game's theme has been "customizable", I'd like the game to feel more like how I play it. Thx for the ama.

Yes, yes and yes! We very much want to make your experience yours, and we know that means having more options to do so. You can expect a number of new features to tweak your display to your liking, including deadzones, depth of field, toggles for your inertia dampeners (for a more realistic Newtonian drift), toggle for damage numbers, toggle for HUD elements in 1st person (I personally love, as it adds a ton to the immersion factor), and a lot more still coming!

 

[ServusDKM]

Do you ever think of making a new Galaxy on Fire?
Just loved the second one. But im glad that it feels like Efverspace 2 is the bigger and better Brother of GoF2!!

 

[RFG_Erik]

Nice to have you Erik!

What is the process at Rockfish Games from the birth of an idea to realization? How many ideas have been shot down due to budgetary, technical or ridiculous reasons? What are some of the craziest ideas you (or the crew) have had that didn't make it into ES1 / ES2?

I'm going to let @RFG_Michael get the answer to how our ideas are realized. But we have had some crazy ideas, some that we don't want to mention here because we want to see if they'll make it into ES2. A lot of what we're doing with ES2 we originally wanted to do to ES1, but lacked the means to do so.

 

[RFG_Erik]

will there be everspace 3 if everything goes well with es2 ?

I suppose that's a very real possibility! Though, we're quite focused on the aspects of ES2 and it's release early 2022 right now. When individuals ask us about DLC, we even tend to respond with, "well let's worry about the full release first," ha! So, let's see where it goes. Here's hoping!

 

[Maniac]

Where else do you want to see the Everspace universe expand to? Books? Comics? Animated show? FIlm? Or is this something your team wants to keep close to the chest, it is your baby afterall, might be weird handing off creative to someone else

 

[RFG_HCK]

So whats the plan for players who finish the story but still want to play, whats the endgame going to look like?

Will there be any replay value aka. only bond with pirates? and do they have their own story side missions? or is the reputation with all factions only going up? since everspace 1 has a lot of replay value i ask me how it is.
I know you came from GoF and so i ask myself what will the endgame look like? some nice achievements bonus ships and a hangar to save ships? becoming a space mongul?
How do DLCs affect the game? are they like the ES1 with affecting the surroundings and different characters. or is it an extended endgame?

I think we will be rather going for more endgame content instead of replayability. It's not a branched storyline where you can miss something by following a certain path. We're planning Everspace 1 style "rifts", where you have to survive a certain number of locations or even an endless highscore rift may be possible.

Also, achievements, challenges, side missions, collectibles, hunt for better gear, own the best ships, have the biggest hangar, unlock every perk, etc.

 

[RFG_Erik]

Hey there, Rockfish team! Huge fan of the first game and really excited for numero dos. Just kinda curious since I recall hearing that the vision for Everspace 2 was really your dream for the first one. Was Everspace 1 just a trial run to see what you guys could put together in a "short" time or did you go as far as you could with the budget the project had? I don't want this to sound accusatory so just gonna end with I'm purely curious about why things went the way they did. <3

There are a lot of factors that go into this, truth be told. One of the most outstanding factors was simply having a budget to work with, and even still the creation story of ES1 is woven from strong fibers that refused to snap. I suppose one way to look at it is a trial run, since it's our first dive into the PC/Console market. We also knew we had a ton of support through our community, as the Kickstarter provided the financial relief we needed (as well as the feedback for healthy transformative development).

Now that the budget has grown and we've expanded our team further and aren't as restricted by financials (to which I owe all of those continued backers for ES2; THANK YOU), we're able to expand our scope and realize our vision in the ways we initially dreamed. We are PUMPED.

 

[RFG_Erik]

are there any new projects in the work

EVERSPACE 2 is our big bad focused-down flagship right now. And while we do have plans to expand it further through DLCs and maybe other realms down-the-line, we have a one-step-at-a-time mindset at Rockfish to ensure completion to our high standards.

 

[RFG_HCK]

What has been the most difficult thing to implement that you were sure you wanted in but didn't anticipate it would be so complicated?

For me, it was the item and buff system where you can change equipment on the fly which then changes your stats. It sounds fairly simple and almost every game has something like that implemented but it gets really complicated if items buff other items which then generate a stat value like Utility, which splits into multiple values like device cooldown reduction which will again affect your equipped items. Phew...

 

[HazzyDevil]

Just like how us the player will have an amazing amount of customisation options to make our ship look unique, are there plans for this customisation to carry through to other npc’s (friend or foe)? For example instead of having all outlaw scouts look the same, there could be different colours applied to them.

 

[RFG_Erik]

What graphics card will I need to play decently?

We get this question a lot, and rightfully so. Truth be told, since the game is scheduled for early 2022, it could actually change a bit between now and then. But even with EVERSPACE 1, we made adjustable settings for even an 8-year old machine to play it at a consistent 60 fps. I know this is true, because that was my computer. HA.

Otherwise, for decently being able to play, I'd say something equivalent to a GTX 1070 maybe. ES2 is also coming to the XB1 and PS4.

 

[RFG_Michael]

Do you ever think of making a new Galaxy on Fire?
Just loved the second one. But im glad that it feels like Efverspace 2 is the bigger and better Brother of GoF2!!

We don't own any rights of the GoF IP anymore, so that's a definite no. However, it seems you have already sensed that some of the good old vibes are still present in ES2, maybe as a metaverse?