Co-op Sandbox FTL? - PULSAR Is The Most Exciting Game

Why is everyone not talking about PULSAR: Lost Colony? Craig posted about it semi-recently, and yet the entire surface of planet Earth isn't ablaze in the slightest. What is wrong with you people? Why aren't you setting everything on fire? I mean, this game. This goddamn game. It already looks decently polished, and it promises randomized galaxy exploration, class-based co-op ship management (ala FTL, except on ground level), open planet surfaces, multiple factions and ships, permadeath, and heaps more. It's now, inevitably, on Kickstarter, and my only concern is that it's aiming its wallet-snatching ray a bit too low, considering its utterly massive ambitions.

Here's a quick snapshot of the basics, though there's obviously a whole lot more to the full game:

"PULSAR: Lost Colony is a cooperative starship simulator that takes you and your crew to the farthest corners of the universe on a mission to find the mysterious Lost Colony. It features a procedural galaxy generator so every journey will be unique and contain new challenges for you and your crew."

"The game has been designed from the ground up to provide an amazing cooperative multiplayer experience (up to five players), although it is entirely possible to play offline with AI bots as your crew."

There are five classes - captain, pilot, scientist, engineer, and and weapons specialist - and each is responsible for multiple key tasks, from combat and ship defense to computer security, navigation, repairs, and warp-jump alignment. Also, there are specialized upgrade paths, so - for instance - your scientist might become a hacker, doctor, or researcher. Things like that.

Developer Leafy Games is even doing Kickstarter quite nicely, with a full estimated budget breakdown that details how money will be allocated to various aspects of the game's development. Of course, game development very rarely goes entirely according to plan, but I can respect the intent.

At this point, the plan is to hold a closed alpha test in February 2014 with a full release following that summer. Again, however, this is an insanely ambitious idea, so I have no idea if Leafy will be able to stick to its roadmap without a few detours. We'll see. For now, though, let us cross our fingers and yodel a mighty ode to Kickstartheoculeon, the deity that presides over all crowdfunding and the results thereof. Join me: "Pleeeeeeeaaaaase beeee gooooood, pleeeeeeeeeeeeease beeeeeee goooooood."