Time to make things happen!
If you are not familiar with the concept of DRONE, please feel free to look around on www.dronethegame.com for detailed info. In the following text, we assume that you know what DRONE is all about.
Our motivation: Community
The concept of DRONE revolves entirely around the community. A community that has the power to make this wonderful concept a reality. You are a part of the community and we want to thank you for being here!
We have been working very hard on DRONE and are confident everybody who is following us knows that. At the beginning, with a dev team of just five working only part-time, we were able to achieve not only AAA looks, but have created a rock solid, scalable concept for a game that will stay fun and challenging for a very long time. Besides directly working on the game, we have put a lot of effort into spreading the word, creating videos and building our community.
Thanks to your generous help since the crowdfunding launch we are able to work full-time!
Free Pre-alpha Early Access now!
To grow our player base we decided to make a free demo of the game. You can get started right away and give DRONE a shot! Be sure to invite your friends and join our Discord to get the best experience possible.
If you like the demo we would be delighted to see you supporting the project financially. The “Traveler” tier is a good way to start and also to get full access to all features and content. If you want to go for higher crowdfunding tiers, even better! Regardless if you pledge here or on Steam, you will always be able to upgrade your pledge on this page (as long as the crowdfunding goes).
Next Step: DRONE EDITOR
We have a nicely working Early Access build! We will expand and polish what we have and then continue the work on the drone editor. Due to the high demand in the community for the drone building aspect of the game, we will focus on it as soon as possible. A part of the team will also work on introducing features of the arena building demo into the main early access build. Our intention is to do this step by step, making sure that each feature is highly performant, architecturally clean, and that gathered feedback is considered and implemented well. We want to...
Early Access to grow step by step
We are releasing in stages. With each step we want the game to grow, be further polished based on your feedback and more optimized for medium-low end hardware. Once a step is finished, it will be released to backers of tier 5 and above. When we tested together with tier 5 and implemented the feedback/fixes will grant access to the next lower crowdfunding tier. We will repeat that process until all backers have access to the battle-tested features.
We believe this way we can manage feedback most efficiently and progress faster. What’s most important to us is to create the entire game together with our community. If you pledge, we want to give you the chance to actively shape DRONE with us, starting now all the way to the final game!
Participating in early access is an investment in the future. Don’t expect a final game right away!
Here is what you get right now:
- Action packed online multiplayer gameplay
- 19 pre-made arenas for multiplayer action
- 30 pre-made drones to choose from
- Smooth controls, easy-to-learn but hard-to-master
- FFA Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Powerball, Racing, more to come
- Flight Training & Battle Training with bots
- Drone editor preview where you can build complex drones (no flying yet)
- Arena building demo where you can be creative and perform test-flights
- Share your ideas and feedback with the developers and the community
Here is what you can expect in the future:
- Finalized drone editor where your designs define your tactical capabilities and therefore influence the gameplay
- In-game arena editor where you can upload your creations to the DRONE Community Hub
- Ruleset editor so you can create your own game-modes (imagine custom death-races and more)
- Spaceship homebase & Community Hub as a way to explore a vast universe of user generated content
- A rock solid and polished gameplay experience
- Graphics and features of the arena demo will be improved, optimized and ported to the Early Access build
- Plenty of stretch goals are waiting to become unlocked by the community
- A finished game with the lifespan of an e-sport title and no pay-to-win bullcrap
This is Crowdfunding Phase Two!
Thanks to the generous support and feedback of backers from Phase One (recognizable by their Early Supporter badges), we already came a long way! Now, in Phase 2, it's all about expanding and improving what we currently have. We hope that you will provide the same feedback and support moving forward.
The Rewards
We have a wide range of rewards, most of them are self explanatory, some of them are described here and some are going to be a surprise. Please note that the rewards will be shipped once they are ready, we cannot name an exact delivery schedule.
We will highlight what you made possible for every current, and future, drone operator. All backers get a supporter badge which is based on their selected tier.
The badges are visible on our Discord server (as roles), as well as in the official websites and the game itself.
Physical rewards will be kept to a minimum, so we don’t have the administrative overhead and extra costs, since the goal of the crowdfunding campaign is to fund the game and not to produce tons of merchandise.
We will mostly have in-game rewards (stylish cosmetics and editor extensions) and honorable mentions and backer identifications. The most important though, are the ones where you can actively help to shape the game.
Here is a table of our rewards:
What do we need?
Well, first and foremost, time. And as everybody knows, time is money. We need to pay our expenses (server costs, software fees, etc), work fulltime and still be able to make a living. All good things start small. The support from the community is the most important ingredient for growth and we want DRONE to get BIG. We have proven that we have the guts and the brains to tackle a project like DRONE so now it is time that we ask the community to maintain their support, provide feedback and bring in more people. It is time to ask you! After all, it’s a community driven game.
Final Game — Minimum Scope
We promise to deliver the Minimum Scope game, regardless of the funds we receive during the crowdfunding campaign. The Minimum Scope is a game having at least the following features:
-
Arena Editor:
- One set of arena editor blocks [DONE]
- 3 Earth-like environments: Green [DONE], Desert [DONE] and Ice [IN PROGRESS]
- Weather system with dynamic day/night cycles [DONE]
- 3 tournament types with a basic rule-set editor [IN PROGRESS]
-
Drone Editor:
- 1 set of basic block types [IN TESTING]
- 3 weapon types (projectile, energy and rockets) + variations of each [IN TESTING]
- 6 types of drone components (thrusters, shield, armor, cloaking, energy generators, and radars) [IN TESTING]
-
Spaceship Homebase:
- The spaceship acts as a main menu and homebase for the player. It is also the basis for extension to some features and stretch goals of future development [IN PROGRESS]
-
Multiplayer:
- Competitive matches [IN TESTING]
- Basic Community Hub [IN PROGRESS]
- Solid networking [IN TESTING]
-
Gameplay Physics:
- Easy-to-learn and difficult-to-master controls [DONE]
- Controller support (e.g. Gamepads, Joysticks, HOTAS) [IN TESTING]
- Initial weapon and component balancing [IN PROGRESS]
Of course you can rest assured that we give our very best when we develop DRONE to make it bigger, better and closer to our full scope vision. As we have already achieved a lot in advance, we know that we can deliver at least the minimum scope as described above. Though, we want to create the complete vision and make DRONE live up to its full potential, for this we have laid out stretch goals with their roughly estimated required funds.
Final Game — Extended Scope (Stretch Goals)
While we cannot guarantee delivery of anything beyond the Minimum Scope, we intend to use your pledges to try to complete the following stretch goal features of DRONE, if we reach the target amount for that goal. Below you can see our target features for each stretch goal.
- 150K
Create arenas in deep space, planetary orbit, inside the atmosphere and above the clouds. Meteor showers, asteroid fields and solar burst events are examples of environmental threats that can make gameplay more challenging and interesting.
- 170K
Of course you can never have enough firepower, but we can certainly try to satisfy your destructive inner child. This also includes addition of melee weapons.
- 190K
Wings act similar to hover pads, but they can be faster and more effective in forward movement. The downside of them is that they are less effective in stationary turns and problematic in narrow spaced arenas.
- 210K
We already solved the technical details and the only missing thing is implementation in the project. For this reason, this is among our very first stretch goals.
- 230K
Beyond just heightmap modification we want to give you the possibility to paint paths, sandy areas, lava and more. With this goal being funded, it will be possible for us to add it to the creative toolset of DRONE.
- 250K
Drone builds will be categorized in tiers depending on the summed quality of the used parts. Drone operators need to advance on the leaderboards and fulfill certain conditions to get access to more powerful parts and increase the overall quality of their drone builds.
- 270k
Customize your own drone huds by moving and scaling elements on the screen.
- 290k
Advanced/specific leaderboards (e.g. per drone tier, per game mode, etc).
- 310k
Team-up with your friends to dominate the galaxy. Compete against other clans to be on the top of the clan leaderboards and win exclusive prizes.
- 330k
Create arenas and drones together with your friends or clan members without getting into each other’s way.
- 350K
We stated that you can build arenas in: Deep space, planetary orbit, inside the atmosphere and on the planet’s surface. Why do we need to stop there? With additional funding, we will be able to extend the arena editor to go beyond that boundary and get some of the Descent feeling from 1994 back. Let’s explore some Caves!
- 370K
Gigantic mushrooms, fluorescent vegetation, drone chewing venus traps, supersized trees and basically all creative flora designs which are clearly different to plants known from our beloved Earth.
- 390K
We really hope you help us get here, the arena editor has so much potential. The question is just how much time and resources can we spend on creating another set that has a few thousand pieces? If we reach this goal, we will hire some 3d modelers and teach them our secret tricks to make more parts, just as good as we have already done. We already have crazy possibilities with the human made IFDT (Interstellar Federation for Drone Tournaments) approved set. However, we would love to add some exotic alienesque designs.
- TBA
This brings bounced indirect light to the arenas. Already tested to some extent, this is certainly doable for us and will not affect performance. We were able to perform 198,400,000 raycasts to bake a test arena in 0.3 seconds. Implementation still has some technical challenges, but as our tests have shown, we can do it, given enough time.
- TBA
Just as above, but there is more than just one additional race in the galaxy that is part of the IFDT.
- TBA
Partially or completely underwater arenas can add a new dimension to gameplay. Dealing with temperature, pressure, darkness and visibility, drag, electricity issues and such will make drone design and the gameplay itself more challenging and tactical.
- TBA
The tremendous heat will bring your drone systems to their limit and a simple collision with the ground could be fatal.
- TBA
High density fog, atmospheric anomalies, and severe thunderstorms in an almost liquid atmosphere, will make drone design more challenging and provide unique gameplay. Implementing a good radar system in your drone build is recommended.
- TBA
Floating islands, crystal deserts, metallic landscapes and more...
- TBA
We want to have nice wheel physics and custom wheel placement on drone builds. Well simulated suspended wheels just adds so much to ground-drones, as do tank tracks for example. We definitely want to implement this.
- TBA
Legs with automatic inverse kinematics and proper weight balancing will extend the possibilities of the drone editor a lot. We hope we can reach this goal and add walkers and hybrid drones to the game.
- TBA
Many people loved the dragonfly drone shown in the end of our announcement trailer (the drone at the bottom of this page). The most important aspect of it’s design is that certain drone parts that can act like hinges. This will make drone builds more interesting and feel more alive. It’s a technical challenge which we are very excited to tackle.
- TBA
Well, sure you can have a radar to detect enemies with a pronounced radar footprint, but can you detect a cloaked enemy by the amount of noise he is producing? Don’t worry, there is more than just this. We have tons of ideas for parts and we will certainly add as many as we can. With your help we will get there for sure!
- TBA
More options than just usual ones: player count, frag count, time limits and such obvious things. We can spice things up with custom winning conditions, specialized part limitations, death races, etc. Want to make a walker drone crash derby? With this, you can do it and more.
- TBA
To avoid inflation of lackluster arenas we make a system that encourages players to only publish their best arenas, those are then rated by the players in different categories and will be ranked on the Community Hub.
- TBA
Travel the galaxy and discover arenas built by other players. Exploring and rating arenas will give you rewards and will increase the chance of quality UGC to be discovered on the Community Hub. Explorers can also earn a reputation, so if they discover and rate arenas accurately, their rating will be weighted more. This stretch goal will extend the spaceship’s purpose from being just the home base, to take a vital part in the gameplay.
- TBA
Instead of offering only a small set of weapons of each type, we want to have plenty, made by different manufacturers, just like in the real world. Manufacturers are offering a vast range of weapons and parts and they compete with each other in order to dominate the drone part market. Game Balancing will be solved like in the real world through popularity of certain products. If we see that some weapons are overpowered we can let the manufacturers upgrade or release new products to counteract biased gameplay. This makes post launch balancing plausible and feel integrated in a thriving universe.
- TBA
Following up on the above stretch goal, manufacturers can act as sponsors for drone operators, giving them access to special weapons, and paying out prizes for winning tournaments. This adds a management level to the gameplay, similar to sponsorings known from racing games.
- TBA
This stretch goal expands the arena editor in many ways: More wall types, more pedestals, more floor types, more handrails, more door and window types, voxel style concrete foundations and many extensions to the special block library and more.
- TBA
Weather-events, doors, elevators, moving platforms, traps, and more, will bring more variety and add new challenges to the arenas.
- TBA
You’ve got a VR-headset and a good stomach, we know we do and we know how much immersion VR can add to a game. DRONE is very suitable for VR and we want to increase immersion as much as possible. This is a no-brainer for us, we want it and we hope you do too.
- TBA
You want to have a representation in the online world that is more than just an avatar pic? We would love to add a character designer. We would also like to see that not every player has the same backstory. There is more potential in user generated content than what we have seen so far in any game. You like to have a colorful personality that other players want to know more about. We are definitely with you on this one!
- TBA
So far alien races are only mentioned sparingly and don’t play a big role in DRONE This can change, if you help us to reach this goal, we can add more life to the galaxy.
- TBA
“Dajum, I really need to leave this quadrant, can you help me out?” He nervously strokes the towel around his shoulders. ”I have some pretty sleek Vinyls to trade in return,... if you are interested”. Hitchhikers are characters that are user generated. Some creative users can use them and write a bunch of stories they can tell when you talk to them. Some even have surprises for you. You can pick up a hitchhiker in your spaceship on some random occasions and if he bugs you, you can get rid of him, just like in real life. Hitchhikers have a special badge that identifies them and they will ask you to rate your experience with them. After all, they might want to be picked up by somebody else later too.
- TBA
We collected all royalty free music we could find and carefully selected the pieces that we found most fitting. You know that music is a collectible in the game, right? It’s about time to hire some really good artists and let them compose cool music just for DRONE Do you know Cullah? Do you know Ott? We can get them to join us!
- TBA
The spaceship offers a great deal of gameplay possibilities. Your spaceship could be hit by an asteroid and you have to build and use a special drone to fix the problem (make a mini-drone that can get through a small opening and weld a broken part). This is just one of countless ideas that we have to keep you busy with exciting tasks, sideways of the road to become the best drone operator in the galaxy. Apart from adventures that can be solved with drones, there are also puzzles to be solved in person. Are you up for a spacewalk?
- TBA
This extension to the arena editor allows you to create puzzles, obstacle courses, search and rescue missions, base defense and more single player action challenges and adventures.
- TBA
Similar to the ship’s on-board computer, this adds even more to the already interesting space travel component. We love C3PO and R2D2 and we are certain you do too. Not only can you interact with your droids, they will make you feel less lonely on your ship. The droids will also interact with each other and can bring some comic relief to the table.
- TBA
It will accompany you on your travels. You liked Cortana in Halo? Well, we did and we have some cool ideas to bring the Adventure Elements Goal to the next level. If we reach this goal, we will hire a talented voice actor and a writer to flesh out our ideas.
- TBA
A universe like in DRONE is the ideal place for some conspiracies that can be uncovered. What goals do the multi billion space-cred heavy corporate enterprises truly have? Is it really just entertainment for the masses?
- TBA
Our coolest idea yet, we can’t tell you how much we would love to see this become a reality. We have already solved the technical difficulties in theory and we did some practical tests that prove it’s doable.
You can implement a micro-drone launch bay in your drone. These microdrones are launched like a regular projectile weapon. However, if you hit your enemy with it, you can take control of the micro-drone. It has a welding armature and can get into the intestines of the enemy drone and we are sorry for that poor enemy if he hasn’t taken any precautions for parasitic weapons. Weld yourself through, all the way to the system component, or just take out the next vital part that you can find. Be aware that the enemy could have installed some defense mechanisms, or could even oppose you with another micro-drone of his own. All that happens while the game is taking place, in real-time, effectively making the enemy drone an arena within the arena!
- TBA
Not 100% satisfied with your drone designs? Tweak them on your way to school/work. Share and discuss your blueprints with your friend and clan members, right from your mobile. If we reach this amount we will try our best to make the drone editor work on mobiles.
- TBA
Post launch of the PC version, with sufficient funds we will try to port the game to the major consoles which are established at the time of release.
- TBA
If we exceed the above maximum, we extend everything based on the budget. Apart from scaling up the project, it would allow more community ideas to be implemented. Also, the reached amount can strongly affect the needed development time, more funds can speed things up a lot.
While we cannot guarantee delivery of anything beyond the Minimum Scope, we intend to use your pledges to try to complete the following stretch goal features of DRONE, if we reach the target amount for that goal. Click on “Strech Goals” on the bottom of your screen to see the target features for each stretch goal.
Why not crowdfund on Kickstarter or another established platform?
Kickstarter might be perceived as more trusted and more powerful marketing wise but it also has downsides, which are pretty severe in our case:
- Limited campaign runtime;
- All or nothing concept.
As we want to make DRONE no matter the scope, we need flexibility in the campaign runtime as well as in the minimal funding goal. Also, even though, we have a very strong community, we don’t yet have as many followers as we need for a successful all or nothing Kickstarter of the magnitude we envision. Doing the crowdfunding on our own website allows us to let the campaign run indefinitely while the community grows. Otherwise, we would need to put all our efforts into marketing (no time left for active development) until we reach the necessary amount of followers.
We have been carefully setting up our crowdfunding campaign with our business accountants and specialized game lawyers to make sure everything is legit.
The Team
The members of Five Studios Interactive, in order:
- Tomasz Stobierski (Graphics Programmer)
- Jakob Rößl (3D Artist)
- Peter Rößl (Game Designer & Technical Artist)
- Ferran Galvañ (3D Artist)
- Nathaniel Doldersum (Main Programmer)
- Sergiu-Florin Popa (Web Developer)
Risks and Challenges
What you see in our trailers is what we were able to do with zero funding in just part time work. Imagine what we can achieve with some backup from your side. Sure, it’s still possible that we miscalculate the effort certain features take. In such a case, we would have to set priorities and limit features that are of lesser priority. To compensate for this risk as much as possible, we clearly divided the project up into core features and stretch goals. Apart from that, we have a good understanding of the technical difficulties that may arise and solved many of them already. We do share the progress with you and you are able to follow the production from a very early point. We have a good plan, but in case a tough decision has to be made regarding game design, we will go the democratic way and involve the community.
Regardless of the exact amount of features, by funding this game you can help to make it bigger and better, together “We Can!”.
€333,225
have been pledged by
40,107
backers across 700+ payment methods
See yourself and other backers on our “Thank You” page
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This Steam Early Access game is currently not a finished game and may or may not change significantly over the course of development. To learn more about Steam Early Access, please visit store.steampowered.com/earlyaccessfaq.
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