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Featuring 4 factions, hero units, customizable subfactions, galaxy scale conquest, coop, branching narrative, global abilities, pre-rendered cutscenes and who knows what else, this kickstarter project can surely only succeed.
The studio is mostly composed of various SC2 community profiles (former pros, youtubers, modders), but they also seem to have a playable prototype so maybe it's not quite as doomed as it seems.
ZeroSpace is a cinematic RTS with an epic sci-fi story where your decisions determine the fate of the galaxy. No two matches play the same thanks to nearly limitless combinations of factions, mercenary units and heroes, introducing unparalleled strategic depth and player expression to the genre.
ZeroSpace is driven by our profound love for Real-Time Strategy. This passion is our everyday fuel and propels us in our mission to reignite and redefine the genre, and key members of our team have roots in pro play and RTS game design.
We're excited to welcome you to a meticulously crafted universe of exploration and immersion; boasting one of the most diverse sets of factions seen in the genre amidst a galaxy-wide crisis in the Milky Way.
We're making an RTS that any gamer can approach and enjoy thanks to clever and intuitive interface design, while still giving hardcore RTS competitors a limitless ladder of skill expression to master in PvP, a campaign mode, and a massively multiplayer co-op mode.
We are crafting expansive lore that harbors deeply engaging stories - You’ll discover these in a campaign where your choices matter, featuring branching narratives and RPG elements similar to games like Mass Effect or Baldur’s Gate.
ZeroSpace is already well under development, and has been funded solely by our team up to this stage. We’re now opening things up to the community to help us refine and polish the experience. We need your help to make ZeroSpace your favorite RTS!
Keep reading to learn more about ZeroSpace, our team, and our goals.
ZeroSpace launches on Steam, and will deliver, including stretch goals:
As RTS players, we know that every voice and contribution is important, just like every unit on the battlefield. If you're as excited as we are about this project, please help us show strength in numbers by pledging any amount and spreading the word.
We truly value your support. Each stretch goal we achieve isn't just a bonus—it's a step closer to fully realizing the expansive experience we've envisioned. While our primary aim ensures the game's launch, it's with the stretch goals that its true depth and richness come alive. If you believe in the vision we're crafting, please consider contributing.
In the following video, our lead campaign designer, GiantGrantGames takes a deep dive into our 3 main gameplay modes: Campaign, Co-op and Versus.
Build a base, gather resources, train units, research upgrades.
Meet 14 heroes that have their own skills and play styles that stand out from the normal faction and mercenary units.
Gain experience and level up your faction by capturing Control Towers. Then unlock and unleash powerful support skills including:
Protectorate's Airstrike
The Grell's Tree of Life ultimate ability
Choose mercenary groups to support your army. Their units can be purchased at the Mercenary Compound. The chosen mercenary group also unlocks additional heroes and talents to choose from.
Dread Raider mercenaries
Dive into a world teeming with mystery and danger. Traverse diverse planets aboard your upgradable mothership, guided by a choice-driven RPG system. Face moral quandaries: do you save a once-hostile planet or leave it to perish against formidable forces? As you journey, enhance your vessel, recruit heroes, and navigate complex relationships. Will your allies admire or despise you? Are you ready to lead mankind?
Build deep relationships with your crew and the heroes you enlist during the campaign.
Navigate an expansive galaxy map, brimming with dialogue opportunities and regions to explore or dominate.
Cooperative missions is a mode where 3 players fight against AI in campaign-like missions. This open-ended mode is inspired by the success and replayability found in StarCraft II Co-op.
Cooperative missions
Galactic Warfare takes your role beyond a traditional commander. Join guilds, form alliances, and partake in a galactic sized tug of war that is set on a persistent galaxy map that hosts thousands of players. Conquer space stations, planets, and more in either co-op or competitive style battles!
Galactic Warfare is a stretch goal. While our team has experience creating large, connected multiplayer worlds, achieving this ambitious goal requires the additional support from passionate backers like you.
Our core multiplayer philosophies revolve around player expression, match up variation, multiple avenues of engagement, streamlined gameplay, and well-paced game volatility. We’re building a game with lots of strategic depth - like mixing primary factions with a second faction and special hero to craft something unique to your play style - to make sure no match ever feels the same or meta-gamed.
We've been testing our versus mode for over 2 years with leaders in the RTS community like PiG, GiantGrantGames, CatZ and more recently, Scarlett. We're excited to bring you a truly deep and thrilling competitive experience. Here is a video of our lead multiplayer game designer, CatZ, going over our current game systems and gameplay design that helps achieve these goals.
Versus is set to be our primary competitive mode. Our goal is to release two major game-transforming updates annually, with periodic balance tweaks as needed. Right from the outset, players can expect comprehensive ranking systems and leaderboards. For the hardest of the hardcore RTS veterans, we've ensured fully customizable hotkeys and adaptable in-game menus tailored to meet your preferences.
Set in the Orion arm of the Milky Way in 4050, ZeroSpace thrusts you into a universe where diverse alien and human factions vie for dominance. The fragile peace, upheld by the inter-species Keeper Council, is on the brink, threatened by enigmatic events. As the human Prefect of the Protectorate, you're summoned to join the Council and unravel a cosmic mystery, encountering unknown aliens and journeying through uncharted space.
Command a diverse crew, each hailing from unique cultures. Engage them as mission companions, converse to uncover their histories, and embark on loyalty quests tailored to their personalities. Every hero crew member brings a distinct play style aligned with their character, enriching your tactical options.
Choose from 4 base building factions and 6 non-base building mercenary factions. Each one having their own unique gameplay style.
Protectorate: A military branch that is in charge of protecting human worlds. They are experts in all manner of combat environments.
Grell: A symbiotic alien bug species that aids in the growth of Koru plants by suppressing competing alien flora. In return, they draw nourishment from the Koru. Noted for their world-terraforming abilities, they exhibit aggression towards other species.
Plus two soon-to-be-announced factions! [Revealed upon reaching stretch goals]
Marran: A military faction that protects their worlds and hardly ventures beyond. They focus on community and security, but can easily be compared to the Protectorate in values.
Valkaru: A pro-war species that splits its people into two sides and battles to see which side is stronger. They are known for starting wars with other species as well.
Dread Raiders: A scavenger faction dwelling on the galaxy's outskirts. While broadly perceived as villains, they operate with a 'Robin Hood' ethos, redistributing wealth to ensure the prosperity of fringe human colonies.
Plus three soon-to-be-announced factions. [Revealed upon reaching stretch goals]
In addition to our standard backer awards, we also have special rewards that apply to every backer, regardless of pledge amount, as we grow our community. You can chip in by following us on Twitter, Facebook, joining our Discord, and so on. Each milestone we reach counts as a "point," which goes toward unlocking these community rewards!
https://linktr.ee/playzerospace
For every social reward unlock there is 1 point given, for example when we hit tier 1 of all rewards on social media this would unlock the first hidden reward for all backers.
We've teamed up with another accomplished studio to bring you the best game possible. With top-tier expertise leading versus, campaign, and coop modes, our combined team comprises over 35 seasoned developers deeply passionate about both the RPG and RTS genres.
Our teams come with a proven track record in the gaming industry. Members from Starlance Studios contributed to the creation of 'Guardian Kingdoms', a head-to-head mobile RTS, notably featuring 20 vs 20 real-time guild battles. Ironward successfully developed the renowned 'Red Solstice' franchise, which has been well-received on Steam.
Marv - Team Starlance
Head and heart of our project, Marv has a vision for this game that deeply resonates with all of us at ZeroSpace and works hard at bringing it to life every day. Marv, with 21 years in the industry, has contributed to a diverse range of games, PC, console, and mobile. He feels most at home when developing their underlying technology. It’s easy to follow and get behind leaders who lead by example, the hard part is to find them.. and yet.. We did.
Hrvoje - Team Ironward
Hrvoje is the head of Ironward, our partner studio and developers of the Red Solstice franchise. Hrvoje is a very driven individual who helps to push his team and ours forward. The Ironward team loves to experiment on the implementation of new systems and is always looking for new challenges.
ZeroSpace Design Team
We are fortunate to have an incredible team of Designers that actively gather to deliberate on all aspects of the game. Our flat operational structure encourages collaborative engagement in all areas of the game. With a successful kickstarter, we're going to define the roles in such a way that we're putting the experts we think will bring you the best game.
CatZ - Lead Versus Designer
A former SC2 Pro turned commentator for the SC2 Pro Circuit, CatZ was renowned for his eagerness to share his distinctive strategies and solutions with his peers. With 25 years of StarCraft experience, CatZ’s outspoken views and novel ideas led him to secure an on-site consulting position at Blizzard. Over the course of those 4 years, it became evident to him that game design was a path he needed to further pursue.
Grant - Lead Campaign Designer
If you’re into strategy games, there’s a giant chance that you already know Grant. He started playing WarCraft 2 when he was 7, and then went on to play.. Just about every other RTS. As a result, he has unparalleled insights into what succeeded, what fell short, and the reasons behind these outcomes. Grant runs the largest RTS custom campaign community and is a prominent YouTuber, best known perhaps for beating SC2 and WC3 without losing a single unit.
Scarlett - Lead Balance Designer
You may know Scarlett as a StarCraft 2 Pro today, but she has actually been playing RTS games for the last 25 years. At age 12 she was already experimenting on ‘balance’ through WC3 mods that she made herself. Today, she is an important part of the balance council for SC2. Working with Scarlett, it’s easy to understand how her uncanny attention to detail has earned her nearly half a million dollars in competition.
Maguro - Lead Co-op Designer
Maguro is the developer of a popular StarCraft 2 Co-op in-game overlay, which provides players the post-game information needed to experiment, analyze, adapt and improve. He is also loved in the community for work on his arcade maps, designing new mutators, re-imagining commanders, and more.
PiG - Design Consultant and Tester
The renowned SC2 commentator and former Oceanic Champion was our first design consultant and tester. His deep understanding of strategy games significantly influenced our early game design. He remains actively engaged, consistently offering valuable insights and feedback on our game's development.
We set out to build ZeroSpace based upon our love for the RTS genre with a vision of reigniting the real-time strategy genre. Our goal is to create a game that is not just about action and strategy, but also exploration and immersion in a richly detailed world filled with one of the most diverse sets of factions ever seen in an RTS game.
To elevate this immersive experience, we plan on weaving a deeply engaging narrative that is delivered with a Mass Effect-like RPG campaign. We believe that by crafting a game that blends with RTS action, immersive world-building, and a gripping narrative, we can provide a game that truly resonates with players.
With the support of Kickstarter, not only can we fund our dream project, but also involve the community of RTS enthusiasts! ZeroSpace is an ambitious project that has the potential of shaking up the RTS genre, which is why we would like for you to be a part of this project.
The studio is mostly composed of various SC2 community profiles (former pros, youtubers, modders), but they also seem to have a playable prototype so maybe it's not quite as doomed as it seems.
Story
Note: All available reward tiers will receive a full copy of the game
ZeroSpace is a cinematic RTS with an epic sci-fi story where your decisions determine the fate of the galaxy. No two matches play the same thanks to nearly limitless combinations of factions, mercenary units and heroes, introducing unparalleled strategic depth and player expression to the genre.
ZeroSpace is driven by our profound love for Real-Time Strategy. This passion is our everyday fuel and propels us in our mission to reignite and redefine the genre, and key members of our team have roots in pro play and RTS game design.
We're excited to welcome you to a meticulously crafted universe of exploration and immersion; boasting one of the most diverse sets of factions seen in the genre amidst a galaxy-wide crisis in the Milky Way.
We're making an RTS that any gamer can approach and enjoy thanks to clever and intuitive interface design, while still giving hardcore RTS competitors a limitless ladder of skill expression to master in PvP, a campaign mode, and a massively multiplayer co-op mode.
We are crafting expansive lore that harbors deeply engaging stories - You’ll discover these in a campaign where your choices matter, featuring branching narratives and RPG elements similar to games like Mass Effect or Baldur’s Gate.
ZeroSpace is already well under development, and has been funded solely by our team up to this stage. We’re now opening things up to the community to help us refine and polish the experience. We need your help to make ZeroSpace your favorite RTS!
Keep reading to learn more about ZeroSpace, our team, and our goals.
ZeroSpace launches on Steam, and will deliver, including stretch goals:
- An open world campaign with 13 main story missions, 14 hero loyalty missions, and 40 side story arcs.
- 3 hours of cinematic cutscenes and interactive dialogs where your choices dictate the game’s outcome.
- 4 main factions, with 10 units and 9 buildings each.
- 6 mercenary factions, with 4-5 units each.
- 14 heroes from various factions in campaign mode, or select one to lead your multiplayer games.
- 1v1 and 3v3 ranked versus matches, or play against AI.
- A truly unique cooperative multiplayer mode that includes a shared, persistent galaxy for an entirely new massively multiplayer experience.
As RTS players, we know that every voice and contribution is important, just like every unit on the battlefield. If you're as excited as we are about this project, please help us show strength in numbers by pledging any amount and spreading the word.
We truly value your support. Each stretch goal we achieve isn't just a bonus—it's a step closer to fully realizing the expansive experience we've envisioned. While our primary aim ensures the game's launch, it's with the stretch goals that its true depth and richness come alive. If you believe in the vision we're crafting, please consider contributing.
In the following video, our lead campaign designer, GiantGrantGames takes a deep dive into our 3 main gameplay modes: Campaign, Co-op and Versus.
Build a base, gather resources, train units, research upgrades.
Meet 14 heroes that have their own skills and play styles that stand out from the normal faction and mercenary units.
Gain experience and level up your faction by capturing Control Towers. Then unlock and unleash powerful support skills including:
Choose mercenary groups to support your army. Their units can be purchased at the Mercenary Compound. The chosen mercenary group also unlocks additional heroes and talents to choose from.
Dive into a world teeming with mystery and danger. Traverse diverse planets aboard your upgradable mothership, guided by a choice-driven RPG system. Face moral quandaries: do you save a once-hostile planet or leave it to perish against formidable forces? As you journey, enhance your vessel, recruit heroes, and navigate complex relationships. Will your allies admire or despise you? Are you ready to lead mankind?
Build deep relationships with your crew and the heroes you enlist during the campaign.
Navigate an expansive galaxy map, brimming with dialogue opportunities and regions to explore or dominate.
Cooperative missions is a mode where 3 players fight against AI in campaign-like missions. This open-ended mode is inspired by the success and replayability found in StarCraft II Co-op.
Galactic Warfare takes your role beyond a traditional commander. Join guilds, form alliances, and partake in a galactic sized tug of war that is set on a persistent galaxy map that hosts thousands of players. Conquer space stations, planets, and more in either co-op or competitive style battles!
Galactic Warfare is a stretch goal. While our team has experience creating large, connected multiplayer worlds, achieving this ambitious goal requires the additional support from passionate backers like you.
Our core multiplayer philosophies revolve around player expression, match up variation, multiple avenues of engagement, streamlined gameplay, and well-paced game volatility. We’re building a game with lots of strategic depth - like mixing primary factions with a second faction and special hero to craft something unique to your play style - to make sure no match ever feels the same or meta-gamed.
We've been testing our versus mode for over 2 years with leaders in the RTS community like PiG, GiantGrantGames, CatZ and more recently, Scarlett. We're excited to bring you a truly deep and thrilling competitive experience. Here is a video of our lead multiplayer game designer, CatZ, going over our current game systems and gameplay design that helps achieve these goals.
Versus is set to be our primary competitive mode. Our goal is to release two major game-transforming updates annually, with periodic balance tweaks as needed. Right from the outset, players can expect comprehensive ranking systems and leaderboards. For the hardest of the hardcore RTS veterans, we've ensured fully customizable hotkeys and adaptable in-game menus tailored to meet your preferences.
Set in the Orion arm of the Milky Way in 4050, ZeroSpace thrusts you into a universe where diverse alien and human factions vie for dominance. The fragile peace, upheld by the inter-species Keeper Council, is on the brink, threatened by enigmatic events. As the human Prefect of the Protectorate, you're summoned to join the Council and unravel a cosmic mystery, encountering unknown aliens and journeying through uncharted space.
Command a diverse crew, each hailing from unique cultures. Engage them as mission companions, converse to uncover their histories, and embark on loyalty quests tailored to their personalities. Every hero crew member brings a distinct play style aligned with their character, enriching your tactical options.
Choose from 4 base building factions and 6 non-base building mercenary factions. Each one having their own unique gameplay style.
Protectorate: A military branch that is in charge of protecting human worlds. They are experts in all manner of combat environments.
Grell: A symbiotic alien bug species that aids in the growth of Koru plants by suppressing competing alien flora. In return, they draw nourishment from the Koru. Noted for their world-terraforming abilities, they exhibit aggression towards other species.
Plus two soon-to-be-announced factions! [Revealed upon reaching stretch goals]
Marran: A military faction that protects their worlds and hardly ventures beyond. They focus on community and security, but can easily be compared to the Protectorate in values.
Valkaru: A pro-war species that splits its people into two sides and battles to see which side is stronger. They are known for starting wars with other species as well.
Dread Raiders: A scavenger faction dwelling on the galaxy's outskirts. While broadly perceived as villains, they operate with a 'Robin Hood' ethos, redistributing wealth to ensure the prosperity of fringe human colonies.
Plus three soon-to-be-announced factions. [Revealed upon reaching stretch goals]
In addition to our standard backer awards, we also have special rewards that apply to every backer, regardless of pledge amount, as we grow our community. You can chip in by following us on Twitter, Facebook, joining our Discord, and so on. Each milestone we reach counts as a "point," which goes toward unlocking these community rewards!
https://linktr.ee/playzerospace
For every social reward unlock there is 1 point given, for example when we hit tier 1 of all rewards on social media this would unlock the first hidden reward for all backers.
We've teamed up with another accomplished studio to bring you the best game possible. With top-tier expertise leading versus, campaign, and coop modes, our combined team comprises over 35 seasoned developers deeply passionate about both the RPG and RTS genres.
Our teams come with a proven track record in the gaming industry. Members from Starlance Studios contributed to the creation of 'Guardian Kingdoms', a head-to-head mobile RTS, notably featuring 20 vs 20 real-time guild battles. Ironward successfully developed the renowned 'Red Solstice' franchise, which has been well-received on Steam.
Marv - Team Starlance
Head and heart of our project, Marv has a vision for this game that deeply resonates with all of us at ZeroSpace and works hard at bringing it to life every day. Marv, with 21 years in the industry, has contributed to a diverse range of games, PC, console, and mobile. He feels most at home when developing their underlying technology. It’s easy to follow and get behind leaders who lead by example, the hard part is to find them.. and yet.. We did.
Hrvoje - Team Ironward
Hrvoje is the head of Ironward, our partner studio and developers of the Red Solstice franchise. Hrvoje is a very driven individual who helps to push his team and ours forward. The Ironward team loves to experiment on the implementation of new systems and is always looking for new challenges.
ZeroSpace Design Team
We are fortunate to have an incredible team of Designers that actively gather to deliberate on all aspects of the game. Our flat operational structure encourages collaborative engagement in all areas of the game. With a successful kickstarter, we're going to define the roles in such a way that we're putting the experts we think will bring you the best game.
CatZ - Lead Versus Designer
A former SC2 Pro turned commentator for the SC2 Pro Circuit, CatZ was renowned for his eagerness to share his distinctive strategies and solutions with his peers. With 25 years of StarCraft experience, CatZ’s outspoken views and novel ideas led him to secure an on-site consulting position at Blizzard. Over the course of those 4 years, it became evident to him that game design was a path he needed to further pursue.
Grant - Lead Campaign Designer
If you’re into strategy games, there’s a giant chance that you already know Grant. He started playing WarCraft 2 when he was 7, and then went on to play.. Just about every other RTS. As a result, he has unparalleled insights into what succeeded, what fell short, and the reasons behind these outcomes. Grant runs the largest RTS custom campaign community and is a prominent YouTuber, best known perhaps for beating SC2 and WC3 without losing a single unit.
Scarlett - Lead Balance Designer
You may know Scarlett as a StarCraft 2 Pro today, but she has actually been playing RTS games for the last 25 years. At age 12 she was already experimenting on ‘balance’ through WC3 mods that she made herself. Today, she is an important part of the balance council for SC2. Working with Scarlett, it’s easy to understand how her uncanny attention to detail has earned her nearly half a million dollars in competition.
Maguro - Lead Co-op Designer
Maguro is the developer of a popular StarCraft 2 Co-op in-game overlay, which provides players the post-game information needed to experiment, analyze, adapt and improve. He is also loved in the community for work on his arcade maps, designing new mutators, re-imagining commanders, and more.
PiG - Design Consultant and Tester
The renowned SC2 commentator and former Oceanic Champion was our first design consultant and tester. His deep understanding of strategy games significantly influenced our early game design. He remains actively engaged, consistently offering valuable insights and feedback on our game's development.
We set out to build ZeroSpace based upon our love for the RTS genre with a vision of reigniting the real-time strategy genre. Our goal is to create a game that is not just about action and strategy, but also exploration and immersion in a richly detailed world filled with one of the most diverse sets of factions ever seen in an RTS game.
To elevate this immersive experience, we plan on weaving a deeply engaging narrative that is delivered with a Mass Effect-like RPG campaign. We believe that by crafting a game that blends with RTS action, immersive world-building, and a gripping narrative, we can provide a game that truly resonates with players.
With the support of Kickstarter, not only can we fund our dream project, but also involve the community of RTS enthusiasts! ZeroSpace is an ambitious project that has the potential of shaking up the RTS genre, which is why we would like for you to be a part of this project.
