Beyond the Red Line

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Beyond the Red Line
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Beyond the Red Line - Demo
Developer: Beyond the Red Line team
Engine: FreeSpace Open
Genre: Space simulation
Mode(s): Single player and Multiplayer
Platform(s): Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS X
Media: Direct downloads or torrents (~360 MB)

Beyond the Red Line is an unofficial and free stand-alone total conversion for the award-winning game FreeSpace 2, based on the reimagined TV show Battlestar Galactica. It allows players to fly into combat as either a Colonial Viper pilot, or a Cylon raider.

Contents

[edit] Gameplay

BtRL features an original soundtrack with pieces inspired by or remixed from Bear McCreary and Richard Gibbs' soundtrack. It also includes character-based gameplay and voice acting. The three-mission demo campaign follows a storyline that precedes the episode, "Scar", adding some background to the events of that episode. Online play, including "Deathmatch" and "Team vs. Team", is supported and a large multiplayer community has sprung up. The Mk II and VII Vipers are featured with authentic weaponry, flight controls, and semi-Newtonian physics (the development team state that, "if you've seen it on the show, you can do it in BtRL").

[edit] Development

On March 31, 2007, a demo was released that allowed players to play a tutorial, two single player missions and multiplayer. This demo has since been noted or reviewed in various gaming related websites and magazines such as The Escapist [1], Macworld [2], PC Gamer UK [3] and Pelit [4]. The development team has been interviewed on several occasions [5] including a "making of" special in pelit [6]. The BtRL demo has also been featured on the covers of two Ukrainian magazines as well as in cover DVD of Finnish computer magazine Mikrobitti [7].

No release date for the full campaign has yet been specified. And in October 2008, a part of the fluctuating team announced that they had left the Beyond the Red Line development to work on a different project, one that is in no way affiliated with the Beyond the Red Line vision (except in that it is also a Battlestar Galactica game built on the Freespace 2 engine.) Work on Beyond the Red Line continues.

[edit] Reception

In February 2008 Beyond the Red Line received Mod DB's "Mod of the Year Award" for "Best Independent Game".[8] That same year the game was also recommended over the official Battlestar video game (released: 2007 for XBox Live Arcade and Windows PC), citing the latter game's low production values and publisher's mishandling of the license.[9] In 2008 the game was featured in Popular Science magazine.[10] In December 2007 the game was featured in Computer and Video Games' "The Best PC Mods. Ever!" review.[11]

Player feedback was initially very positive, and a number of dedicated Beyond the Red Line gaming clans sprung up. However, the limited number of ships in the demo, as well as netcode-related lag, hampered the multiplayer experience, and most of these clans have since become defunct or broadened their activities to Battlestar Galactica fandom in general.

[edit] References

  1. ↑ Howard, Wen (2008-02-26). So Game We All. The Escapist (magazine). Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
  2. ↑ Hodge, Karl (2007-09-03). Battlestar Galactica: Beyond The Red Line Review. Macworld. Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
  3. ↑ "Beyond the Red Line", PC Gamer UK, James Binns, 7/2007, pp. 98. Retrieved on 2008-03-19. 
  4. ↑ Mäkinen, Marko. "Paahdinjahtia", Pelit, SanomaWSOY, 5/2007, pp. 34. Retrieved on 2008-03-18. (Finnish) 
  5. ↑ Mod is Dead: Beyond the Red Line. Shacknews (2007-07-31). Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
  6. ↑ Kankola, Tuomas. "Pitkä tie punaiselle viivalle", Pelit, SanomaWSOY, 5/2007, pp. 35 - 36. Retrieved on 2008-03-18. (Finnish) 
  7. ↑ Huvi & Hyöty DVD 2008 (Finnish). Mikrobitti. SanomaWSOY (3/2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
  8. ↑ 2007 Mod of the Year Awards. ModDB (2008-01-29). Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
  9. ↑ Buckland, Jeff (2007-11-04). Battlestar Galactica PC Review. AtomicGamer. Retrieved on 2008-03-19.
  10. ↑ Chuck, Cage. "Have a blast", Popular Science (magazine), Bonnier Corporation, 4/2008, pp. 81 - 82. Retrieved on 2008-03-19. 
  11. ↑ The Best PC Mods. Ever!. Computer and Video Games (December 28, 2007). Retrieved on 2008-06-21.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://encoresoup.net/Beyond_the_Red_Line"
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