Transverse

Transverse was a cancelled video game being developed by Piranha Games, Inc. that was originally intended to be Wing Commander Online. Electronic Arts withdrew the license after a milestone presentation prompting Piranha to adapt the pitch as a crowd funding campaign. The funding campaign did not succeed and the game was cancelled. This entry includes backups of developer portfolios relating to the pitch and the text and multimedia from the Transverse campaign website.

Developer Portfolios

Steve Chinhsuan Wang

aka "Swang", Concept Artist

Online Gallery

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ArtStation

Transverse Rebel One

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Transverse Serendipity

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Transverse Fighter Ship

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Transverse Space Battle

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DeviantArt

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Old Website

The following designs were done for Transverse announcement trailer by Piranha Games. As the sole concept artist, I worked closely with the creative director, art director, as well as the whole production team.

I had the opportunity to play multiple roles during the development process. While I mainly design the vehicles, props, and environments of the brand, I often provide lighting/color keys for the 3D artists. I also worked on visualizing gameplay UI as well as marketing contents.

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Links

• Online Gallery
• ArtStation
• DeviantArt
• Old Website

Viona Halim

Environment & Vehicle Artist

ArtStation

Transverse

A collection of spaceships I did for a project called Transverse. Unfortunately this project didn't receive a warm response and had to be cancelled. I modelled, UVd, and textured the 3 spaceships shown here

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Transverse: Dusty's Bar

The launch video for Transverse was done using Unreal 4 back in 2014, which was the first time that I had to work with PBR lighting. The short amount of time that we had to finish the video didn't allow for an in-depth R&D with the engine and the new lighting method. The construction of the interior was pretty straight-forward. I did the rough layout inside of max and then bring all the finished assets and build the level in Unreal. I did pretty much 95% of all the assets for the interior with the exception of lighting and FX, and with very little supervision. I just had to keep the AD informed with the daily updates to let him know that I'm still on schedule and within the visual target established by the concept artist. From initial layout to finished interior is about 1.5 months

I did the layout for this interior based on the concept artist's paintings and brought them into Unreal. I pretty much modelled/textured everything in here with the exception of the TV screens, neon lights, and arcade machine

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The majority of this room is made out of metals. so I applied different roughness values to break-up the surface

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Old Website

DATE: 2014

POSITION: Environment & Vehicle Artist + World Builder + R&D

SOFTWARE: 3ds Max, Unreal 4, PS, Crazy Bump, XNormal, Ndo/Ddo

RESPONSIBILITY HIGHLIGHTS:

The launch video for Transverse was done using Unreal 4, which is the first time that I had to work with PBR lighting. The short amount of time that we had to finish the video didn't allow for an in-depth R&D with the engine and the new lighting method. Nonetheless, we were able to work as a team to produce and ship a pretty good looking end-product, in my opinion. Not to mention the opportunity to work on something different than what I normally do as an environment artist, which in this case, making cool-looking spaceships.

Below is a quick summary of the ship-making process:

I would have a sit-down w/ the concept artist and the AD to go over the initial concept of the ship design I would then block-out the ship to establish scale and silhouette. This usually takes from 1-2 days, depending on the type of ship Screenshots are taken from the initial greyblock, discussed, and the concept artist will go back revising his concepts Revisions will then be applied to the initial greyblock until the AD and designers are happy with the scale, shape, and functionality of the ship Low-poly modelling starts, then ship back to AD for approval once finished Once approved, high-poly modelling starts with all the details and bells and whistles added. Due to the time constrain, only the big details were modeled for all the ships in this video. At this point, the animator usually can start his rigging and animation. Laying out the UV is what follows after. The smaller details and panel lines were then added through the normal map by using Ndo. All of the textures are made tileable, with the exception of the normal map for the panelling Decals and grunge are added on top as final touches before the asset is handed over to FX. The construction of the interior was pretty straight-forward. I did the layout inside of max and then bring all the finished assets and rebuild the level in Unreal. I did pretty much 95% of all the assets for the interior with the exception of lighting and FX, and with very little supervision. I just had to keep the AD informed with the daily updates to let him know that I'm still on schedule and within the visual target established by the concept artist. From initial layout to finished interior is about 1.5 months.

Transverse is an unreleased game that due to unfortunate circumstances has been put on the back burner.

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EPEE FIGHTER

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SERENDIPITY

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DUSTY'S BAR INTERIOR

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Links

• ArtStation
• Old Website

Kevin Meek

Artist

Online Gallery

TRANSVERSE DATE: 2014

POSITION: Lead Artist & Generalist Artist

TECHNOLOGY: Unreal 4, 3ds Max, Photoshop

RESPONSIBILITIES: I worked on pre-production for an unreleased game called Transverse. In the early stages I was responsible for technology R&D, investigating, documenting, and teaching new software and art workflows such as Unreal 4's layered materials, material instancing, and Physically Based Lighting to the other artists, as well as setting up the art pipeline & folder structure.

Throughout the creation of the initial marketing video, I managed the outsourced environment artists, lit the worlds, and completed art polish on most assets. I modeled the cockpit of the epee fighter, helped to implement advanced cinematic camera features in our most important shots, and generally assisted the art director and other artists.

LIGHTING & WORLD BUILDING EXAMPLES:

I lit the on-planet takeoff sequence which featured these floating platforms, two suns, and multiple planets in the sky. I also did some world building and supplemental modeling for this scene.

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I lit the space station and all of the space scenes throughout the trailer. I was also the art outsourcing manager, where I provided feedback, set up the pipeline, and oversaw the modeling and texturing of the station and its parts. Additionally I created the initial skybox shader system.

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Dusty's Bar Lighting

I lit the interior bar scene which featured many neon lights, TVs, emergency ship lighting, and holes/windows to the outside desert.

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MODELING EXAMPLES:

Epee Cockpit

I modeled the cockpit for the Epee (human) fighters. The cockpit is seen from a pilots point of view, as well as from the outside of the canopy looking inward, so the majority of the detail went to the console and behind the pilot's seat.

Most small details were to be added through nDo during the texturing process, however due to time constraints that was never completed.

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ArtStation

Transverse

In 2014 I worked on pre-production for an unreleased space-sim game called Transverse. In the early stages I was responsible for technology R&D, investigating, documenting, and teaching new software and art workflows such as Unreal 4's layered materials, material instancing, and Physically Based Lighting to the other artists, as well as setting up the art pipeline & folder structure.

Throughout the creation of the initial marketing video, I managed the outsourced environment artists, lit the worlds, and completed art polish on most assets. I modeled the cockpit of the "epee fighter", helped to implement advanced cinematic camera features in our most important shots, and generally assisted the art director and other artists.

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  Bar

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  Bar

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  Epee Cockpit

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  Epee Cockpit

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  Space Station

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  Takeoff Sequence

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  Epee Trench Run

Links

• Online Gallery
• ArtStation

Jonas Schietinger

Hard Surface Modeler

ArtStation

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Vimeo

Jonas Schietinger Modeling Reel 2021

• Download: Jonas_Schietinger_Modeling_Reel_2021.mp4

Jonas Schietinger Modeling Reel 2023

• Download: Jonas_Schietinger_Modeling_Reel_2023.mp4

Jonas Schietinger Turntable 01

• Download: Jonas_Schietinger_Turntable_01.mp4

Links

• ArtStation
• Vimeo

Andy Leung

Intern

ArtStation

Transverse

This was a project I worked on during my internship at Piranha Games. I was responsible for mostly UV'ing and texturing blank models, but also did some modeling and concepting.

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Old Website

Transverse

Temporary position at Piranha Games. Worked on an unannounced project. The project is now revealed, the trailer was made in Unreal Engine 4, so everything here is PBR.

My role on the project included a range of modeling, texturing, and polish. When I entered the project the scenes the schedule was tight and there were multiple scenes to be done. Along with a team of artists at Piranha we had to collaborate and nail the look and feel of the trailer. This was a collaborative effort and by no means can I claim I did everything in the scene. That being said, my tasks included:

• Model, UV, and texturing some assets from scratch, followed concept as well as put in my own creative touch
• UV and texturing some assets that were pre-modeled but had no textures
• Improved and polished some assets which were textured but not yet up to quality. The work I did included defining material characteristics, normal map details, and making roughness level seperation.

Links

• ArtStation
• Old Website

Christopher M. Hunt

Art Director

Online Gallery

Description Electronic Arts contracted Piranha Games to create demo re-envision the Wing Commander franchise as an MMO. The first stage was create a trailer in the Unreal engine to give the fans some insight into the universe, story, and elements of game-play to drive crowd funding. I directed the entire trailer from the script written by the Creative Director. For six months, I worked with a small internal team to design, build all the environments assets, and animations from scratch in Unreal. When EA backed out of the deal, Piranha rebranded the pitch as an original IP called Transverse. Despite the fact that this was a short-lived project it really fun to develop. Here are a few screenshot from the scenes in Unreal.

Role Art Director

For Piranha Games, Electronic Arts

Date Jan 2014 – Sept 2014

Type Free to Play MMO

URL www.transversegame.com/

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This is the full CG trailer our team created for the Wing Commander revival teaser in Unreal 3. Everything in this video was created by the internal team and by artists from Xpec Art Centers.

• Download: Wing_Commander_Transverse.mp4

Screenshots of Dusty's bar.

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This concepts were created for the rebranding Wing Commander to the Transverse for Piranha Games. Chris Hunt as AD and Stephen Wang as concept artists.

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Links

• Online Gallery

Official Website

ABOUT

THE GAME

THE TRANSVERSE

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SETTING

Synthetic physical forms allow humans to pursue an existence in space and have opened the door to immortality.

This future is not without danger and the very substance of humanity will be tested in the distant regions of space known as the fringe. Out in the Fringe, factions of humanity race to explore space, claim resources, and create new technologies to tip the balance of power; with this race for new power, all of humanity is plagued by conflict with the remnants.

Out in the lawlessness of the Fringe humanity faces its greatest enemy: itself.

FACTIONS

Across the fringes of space, augmentation and enhancements have created humans who are almost unrecognizable to those on Earth. The Puresect, Neostate Alliance, Exceedant States and the Eriscent each represent a different interpretation of transhuman values. They vie to conquer space in the hopes of shaping humanity in their own image.

COMMAND YOUR DESTINY

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COMBAT

In ship to ship battles, your precision maneuvering and sharpshooting skills are the difference between victory and defeat. The physically-inspired close range combat will require strategic management of your ship's systems. With each burst of weapons fire, high speed turn, and shield deflection, your ship will expend power and build heat. Find holes in your enemy’s defenses and go in for the kill. Every battle you engage in will play out differently.

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FLIGHT

Bristling with tech that makes it practical to live, travel, and fight in space, 24th century spaceships are able to maneuver and perform unlike any craft in this century.

At sub-light speeds your spaceship can rotate around its center of mass while maintaining momentum in its original vector. This freedom allows your craft to attack enemies in any direction and provides true multi-axis combat. The darkspace drive allows a pilot to rapidly decelerate their craft, drift, slide, or dodge a short distance away to avoid enemy fire.

Customize your flight mechanics to use only keys and move with the mouse, or utilize more advanced mappings and peripherals like flightsticks. Experience a flight simulator devoted to giving users the most empowering vision of future vehicular control.

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CONSTRUCTION

Discover the right balance between combat, science, and industry to suit your own particular play style or that of your team. You can select from a variety of loadouts, ship types and a warehouse of choices for weapons, drives, shielding, armour, sensors, reactors, and a whole lot more.

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CLASSES

The universe is a big place and is filled with lots of opportunities, each of them needing the right tools for the job. Transverse will feature many ship classes and configurations, ranging from small single seat fighters, all the way up to large multi-crew vessels. Each of these ships plays a distinct role with further customizations allowing players to create specializations within those roles.

Science

Specially equipped to explore the deepest recesses of dark space and conduct research, science vessels are the premier ship for those looking to uncover the many secrets of the Transverse. Equipped with specialized engines, large fuel reserves, and long range sensors, exploration ships can access areas of darkspace unreachable to most other classes. Using data gathered across their travels, science vessels equipped with on-board laboratories can research new technology and create valuable schematics.

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Industry

Industrial ships are used for mining, manufacturing, and transportation of valuable goods; they are the backbone of the Transverse economy. Mining equipment, like drilling lasers and collection drones, gather resources that can be deposited into onboard manufacturing units to create vital components and equipment. Manufactured goods and raw resources require storage and no class of ship has more of it than these vessels.

Combat

Fast, nimble, well-armed and protected, combat ships are built to outmaneuver, outgun, and outlast their opponents. Not all combat vehicles balance these priorities the same and each will have their own strengths and weaknesses. Generally combat ships sacrifice cargo space and specialized tools in favor of additional weapons, ammunition and defensive equipment.

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DEFINE YOUR FUTURE

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TRANSHUMAN

To be immortal, you must first be human.

No longer bound to our limited flesh bodies, our consciousness can be transferred from a mortal body to a synthetic host, which can take on multiple forms. Our first passing is a special one - a new coming of age - as we transcend from mortal to immortal and we take on our new transhuman lives. Age, disease, and genetics no longer play a role in limiting our futures.

I AM A

Combat, science and industry. Lawful or unlawful. The role you choose is defined by your actions. With each working in harmony, you will need to rely on one another to be successful. You can choose to destroy your enemies, protect your friends, explore the intricate folds of darkspace, salvage derelicts, create specialized weapons, smuggle contraband goods, or steal them from others.

PMC COMING SOON

Privateer COMING SOON

Miner I am the master of prospecting. My skills at finding rare materials are unparalleled. I fuel the manufacturing world and help power the universal economy.

Salvager COMING SOON

Manufacturer COMING SOON

Merchant I buy low and sell high. I seek out surplus and deliver on demand. My skills at moving goods throughout the universe fill my wallet with credits.

Bounty Hunter COMING SOON

Scientist COMING SOON

Explorer I spend my time navigating and mapping the mysteries of darkspace. My discoveries are highly valued by those seeking adventure and riches.

Mercenary COMING SOON

Pirate My prey sustain me with riches. I stalk you from system to system, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. My bravado instills fear and envy throughout the universe.

Dredger COMING SOON

Scavenger COMING SOON

Illicit Producer COMING SOON

Smuggler COMING SOON

Assassin COMING SOON

Renegade Scientist COMING SOON

Spy COMING SOON

PROFICIENCIES

Mastery builds gradually, and despite being a long, difficult journey, in the end the reward is always worth it.

In the Transverse, the way to victory follows the same path. Advancement comes from performing the activities you enjoy most, and as you play you gain experience points to spend on proficiencies.

Proficiencies, along with experience, are divided into General, Combat, Industry and Science categories, which regulate the equipment you may use. Demonstrate your cunning by selecting the optimal character proficiencies to become the best at what you do.

A UNIVERSE TO EXPLORE

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YOU CREATE THE STORY

In the Transverse your actions define the universe. Your decisions, combat, missions, trading, and discoveries are the driving force for the creation and expansion of the Transverse. You and thousands of other players will shape the universe and craft a unique, shared story.

CONTRACTS

The key elements to success are reputation, money and good contacts. In the Transverse, performing services in the form of contracts to help other players is the quickest way to reach your goals.

BUILD YOUR EMPIRE

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THE FRINGE

Human civilization's journey into the fringes of space has only just begun. The Sol system has retreated into a closed society that does not tolerate disruptive influences. On the Fringe, players rule themselves, creating player run factions with their own laws and governance.

Players can choose to stay near the bounds of newly settled space, or take the risk to push into new space, and profit from undiscovered rewards and resources.

PLAYER DRIVEN ECONOMY

You, along with other players, are the driving force in the economy. All goods fuel the delicate balance of supply and demand in the Fringe. Every action you take has consequences.

There are no NPC stores, no pre-established mines, and no manufacturers. With the humble colonist goods granted upon entry into the Transverse, it's up to you and other players to establish the economy for the star systems beyond Sol.

ORGANIZATIONS

Band together with other players to create private entities in search of wealth and fame. Recruit investors, distributors, and customers while you design and sell advanced technology as a powerful interplanetary mega corporation.

Control space by forming your own solar alliances and setting your own laws to police that territory. Alliances can be formed by companies and individuals and range from small mercenary teams to massive sprawling interstellar republics. Your alliance can be a force for good, protecting colonies and industry, or one of malevolence, carving out a repressive empire and exterminating the undesirable sects of humanity. Out in fringe space your alliances can unite with humanity or revel in its destruction.

CROWDFUNDING

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SUCCESS TOGETHER

Our goal is to be as transparent as possible. We aim to provide regular updates on the status of various team’s work and on the cool new features and content that are in production. To keep you informed about the big picture, we’ll update on the status of our current and future plans, what’s in the current test pipeline, and on our overall development progression.

The team looks forward to sharing their hard work with you! By working together throughout the development of Transverse, players can help shape the future of the unfolding Transverse universe.

Check out the news section to get our production updates.

STATE OF THE ART

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UNREAL ENGINE 4

The open-ended architecture of Unreal Engine 4 gives us the freedom to make our game exactly how we want. UE4 is built for multiplayer – this combined with our in-house backend starts us out of the gates running.

Fast prototyping is critical to solid delivery. UE4’s blueprints system allows us to get to work quick. Designers can experiment with gameplay features and get fast feedback, ensuring movement, combat, and all aspects of play feel balanced.

UE4’s advanced, node-based material system gives us the power to create intricate, high resolution materials with dynamic effects. With cutting edge particle technology right out of the box, visual effects are taken to the next level of realism; players will really get the sense that they are in a huge, zero gravity environment. To top it all off, customizable post-processing effects dynamically set the mood wherever players explore.

The gold standard in game engines, UE4 allows us to make a big, multiplayer universe with incredibly rich and highly detailed environments.

IMMERSION PERIPHERALS

Immersing players into the universe doesn't end with amazing graphics and rich gameplay. Modern technology and innovative peripherals allow us unprecedented realism and interactivity, and we plan to test and incorporate these technologies to bring you a deeper, richer experience.

In the upcoming months, we'll provide more information on how this will unfold.

FUNDING

$500,000 / LIFTOFF

Type: Milestone

Hitting this $500,000 goal lets us know that you, the community, want to see this game made just as much as we do. The $500,000 goal gets us to an alpha state on ship construction, flight, combat, and harvesting. While release of the final, fully developed feature for each module is dependent on future funding, this is our first major step towards making this trans-human spacesim a reality. Backers who are a part of hitting this goal will get full access to the alpha builds.

If this goal is not met within the time remaining below (days to reach goal), all backers will be refunded 100%!

COMING UP...

NEXT

$1,000,000

SPACESHIPS - FLIGHT

Type: Feature

Backers have unlocked the basic flight mechanics of spaceflight! Take to the stars in your backer ship. To celebrate this first goal we are giving every backer who pledges until this point a unique founder's synthetic avatar and alternate founder's geometry for their backer ship!

$1,500,000

SPACESHIPS - CONSTRUCTION

Type: Feature

Ship construction unlocked! Backers will now be to configure backer ship weapons and equipment. As a reward for reaching this new goal, backers will receive custom set of founder's decorations for their starting ship hangar located on one of the Fringe Outposts!

$2,000,000

SPACESHIPS - COMBAT

Type: Feature

Let the battle begin! Backers will now be able to fight each other online in local space instances. As a reward for continuing to support Transverse's production, all backers to this point will receive a set of founder's weapons featuring custom geometry and special FX.

PLEDGE STORE

EXPLORER PACKAGE

$30.00 USD

19,956 QTY

With the solid, well-rounded Nomad NMD-1000, which has great maneuverability, good cargo storage, and effective weapons, you’re ready to experience all that the Transverse has to offer.

• Nomad NMD-1000
• A digital download of the game
• Your ship and a hangar located in home outpost
• A forum title and badge
• Beta Access
• Digital Copy of the Game Manual

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TRADER PACKAGE

$60.00 USD

19,968 QTY

The Hammer H225 offers maximum cargo capacity, a heavy-duty hull, and a range of offensive and defensive weapons. Get haulin’!

• Hammer H225
• A digital download of the game
• Your ship and a hangar located in home outpost
• Two forum titles and badges
• Beta Access
• Digital Copy of the Game Manual
• A Digital Copy of the Known Universe

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PIRATE PACKAGE

$120.00 USD

19,996 QTY

Ready to help you pick up goods that other players have amassed, the Nomad-NMD 1010 sacrifices a bit of cargo for more firepower.

• Nomad NMD-1010
• A digital download of the game
• Your ship and a hangar located in home outpost
• Three forum titles and badges
• Beta Access
• Limited Edition ship Pattern
• Digital Copy of the Game Manual
• A Digital Copy of the Known Universe

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MERCENARY PACKAGE

$150.00 USD

19,996 QTY

Introducing the Rebel One X, where big guns, combined with first-class maneuverability and shielding, provide you with the firepower and protection needed to push your limits in the Fringe.

• Rebel One X
• A digital download of the game
• Your ship and a hangar located in home outpost
• Four forum titles and badges
• Beta Access
• Limited Edition ship Pattern
• Digital/Physical Copy of the Game Manual
• A Digital Copy of the Known Universe
• One Ship Blueprint
• One Transverse Pin

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COMMANDER PACKAGE

$250.00 USD

19,988 QTY

The refined engineering of the Rebel One XS gives you the firepower, and staying power, to lead the charge in the Fringe.

• Rebel One XS
• A digital download of the game
• Your ship and a hangar located in home outpost
• Five forum titles and badges
• Beta Access
• Limited Edition ship Pattern
• Digital/Physical Copy of the Game Manual
• A Digital/Physical Copy of Known Universe
• Two Ship Blueprints
• Hardcover Making-Of Book
• One Transverse Pin
• One Transverse T-Shirt
• One Transverse Patch
• CD version of game soundtrack

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NEWS

THANK YOU!

General 2014-09-30 18:24:00

POSTED BY PGI_BRYANEKMAN

To all of our backers,

It’s a bitter sweet day. Thank you for taking a chance and showing us that you are interested in seeing our vision come to life. As you can see, the velocity of our crowdfunding campaign never gained the momentum needed to bring Transverse to life as a community funded concept. We are going to shut down our funding today, ahead of the 30 day deadline and begin the process of refunding as promised. We plan to take Transverse behind the curtain for now. One day, I hope to see you on the Fringe!

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to drop us a line at:

support@transversegame.com

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THE FRINGE - EPISODE 2

General 2014-09-23 23:26:00

Hello everyone and welcome to the Fringe, your weekly update on Transverse, Piranha Game’s science fiction MMO. Your host Chris Pauwels talks with Senior Game Designer David...

• Download: The_Fringe_-_Episode_2.mkv

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THE FRINGE - EPISODE 1

General 2014-09-15 22:44:00

Hello everyone and welcome to the Fringe, your weekly update on Transverse, Piranha Game’s science fiction MMO. Chris Pauwels, the host, is here to help spread the message on Transverse’s progress. He’ll introduce you to new developments, get your questions answered, and give you insight into what’s going on in the studio. ...

• Download: The_Fringe_-_Episode_1.mkv

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MAKING OF THE NOMAD

Art 2014-09-12 00:46:00

We used a two Tier process when designing our ships. The first Tier is the ideation stage. While the second Tier stage is the finalizing content and game integration. The whole process took roughly 5-6 weeks in total to complete with concept, 3D artists, and game designers.

The first step in Tier 1 for building the Nomad was the initial ideation phase. Quick concepts were developed based on design briefs, reference images, and discussions to provide boundaries the initial idea. In this phase we throw away far more ideas and sketches than we keep but a few gems come out of this process that allow us to move into developing a rough design. Next is the 2D refinement stage where a rough design is fleshed out after different variations are explored to move toward a final direction. Once a rough design is agreed upon, we start developing an Initial 3D block out from the rough 2D line sketch. The purpose of this model is not to create a huge amount of detail but to determine scale, proportions, and balance of the shapes. A quick 3D block out is built based on the line sketch, then concept sketches over the 3D model to make final adjustments to the major forms. The final part of Tier 1 is 3D refinement which consists of back and forth between the 3D artists and concepts designers to refine the overall design.

The second stage is based around building the final ship. Once we have the finalized 3D refinement model we test out different Color and Textures on the 3D model. After choosing a color scheme, 2D Final concept painting with the final color, texture, and details for completed. After the final detail concept is completed, the 3D artists moves on to create the 3D Final based on the final 2D concept. Depending on the success of the first stage, the 3D artist can usually build upon the initial 3D block model. This process take around 3 weeks to finish the final model before it is ready to integrate into Unreal. Within Unreal 4, the textures and lighting are refined in the game environment. From here we a have a completed asset ready for prime time.

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ABOUT PLAYER PROGRESSION

General 2014-09-11 23:25:00

Transmission from the Fringe! We’d like to introduce you to Ryan Boulanger, one of our game designers. Check out his brief overview video where he talks about player skills, progression, and how these are impacted by life on the Fringe.

• Download: Transverse_-_Player_Progression.mkv

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WELCOME TO THE TRANSVERSE

General 2014-09-09 21:27:00

We are incredibly excited to reveal our next project – a crowdfunded science fiction MMO called the Transverse! Let me start with an introduction. My name is Bryan Ekman, and I am the Creative Director and Co-Founder of Piranha Games. I’ve worked in the game industry since 1998, and have had the privilege of working on some incredible game projects: BattleZone, Transformers, Duke Nukem,...

• Download: Transverse_-_Reveal_Trailer.webm

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Other Publications

TRANSMISSION FROM THE CREATIVE DIRECTOR

September 10

Hello from the Fringe!

I wanted to take a moment to address a few important topics floating around the Fringe.

We do indeed currently hold the license of Wing Commander. We first contacted EA about the WC brand in the spring of 2012, long before the initial announcement of products like Star Citizen. We approached EA because we had a deep love for the space combat genre and Wing Commander was right there alongside MechWarrior as our most beloved franchises we grew up with. In short at the time we thought we were going to be the ones taking that big initial risk to try and bring space shooters back.

Over the course of the next 18 months a significant amount changed – Star Citizen was announced, and by Late 2013 we found ourselves in possession of an exclusive license to Wing Commander and assembling a small team to craft a new experience. We spent six months developing, designing, and working on a marketing video with help from outsourcing partners. As we approached our reveal date, there was a moment of pause when we started to reflect on the brand, and design concepts. We reached a pivotal moment when some of our best design ideas were being pushed to the side as they just didn’t fit within the constraints of a WC game.

We looked carefully at what our WCO product was, looked at other competing products, and decided that we needed to move away from the Wing Commander universe. It was a tough choice, as we have a deep love and respect for the brand.

It became clear that our very best and original game idea was contained within all of the concepts that were pushed aside for our WC product. The concept for Transverse was born from a single thought, and inspired by all those unused ideas. In the end we realized we should be making our best idea and in doing so we found a corner of the spacesim genre that would make us stand out. In doing so we would also be providing Star Citizen with the respect it deserves and what it represents to their customers.

Now onto crowdfunding and a question about what happens if we don’t get a liftoff.

There is a sentiment out there that perhaps customers should not support Transverse because of unfulfilled feature promises to supporters of MechWarrior Online. I wanted to clarify this with some official information for you the potential customers to consider. At this point in MechWarrior Online we have one major missing feature from the original 4 design pillars expressed to players: Community Warfare, the planetary conquest between the factions. However, this feature is in development now and will be completed and delivered to our customers before the end of the year. Now consider this, we first took money from customers into MechWarrior Online in the summer of 2012 which means the delivery of all of those original features will have been delivered within 2.5 years of first receiving money from those customers.

This is longer than we’d planned or hoped for. However, we examined the breadth of MechWarrior Online’s feature set and functionality, both now and at the 2.5 year mark. Then compared that with other similar products that have received crowd funding for nearly 2 years and the content from those games that players can partake in. This comparison offers an important change in perspective. We hope you consider this objectively when judging whether Piranha can deliver content and products at an acceptable rate.

Going into a crowdfunding campaign you build for success, and plan for all scenarios. I am going to give the campaign 30 days from reveal to reach $500,000. If we hit that milestone, we have a solid velocity and interest in the Transverse concept. If we do not reach that goal, we will refund 100% of the money collected from our backers to date, and decide on a new course for Transverse through more traditional models.

Bryan Ekman Creative Director

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PRESS RELEASE

The Future of Humanity is Unknown:

Transverse, the New Science Fiction MMORPG from the Creators of MechWarrior Online

Coming 2015

- In the fringes of the cosmos, all traditions will be broken and your actions determine humanity's path among the stars -

VANCOUVER - September 9, 2014 - Humanity has begun its first tentative steps beyond its home solar system. However, the journey has not been entirely peaceful...

From the creators of MechWarrior Online comes Transverse, a galactic flight-based MMORPG set in a persistent, distant sector of the galaxy where industry, science and combat shape humanity's interstellar progression.

When the division between humans on Earth and the trans-humans of the outer colonies threatened to develop into a system-wide war, the development of an interstellar jump drive offered an alternative and the trans-humans in the outer colonies were given the drive and a choice: integrate or emigrate.

They chose isolation.

Now immortal through the ability to transfer their consciousness into different host bodies, the trans-humans have multiple hosts that can be modified and improved to advance a pilot's skill. The future path humanity takes among the stars is in your hands.

With incredibly detailed ship and station construction, massive solar-system-wide player events and real-time, physics-based combat, Transverse puts the power in the pilot's hands. A fluctuating, real-time economy fueled by industry drives trade in a dynamic resource ecosystem, and player-generated contracts and missions can shift the balance of power at any given moment. Your reputation as a pilot throughout the galaxy will be judged by how well you fly, and the decisions you make.

Transverse is now available for pre-order via a variety of tiers starting at $30 USD.

For more information, please cruise over to www.transversegame.com.

About Piranha Games

Founded in April 2000 by Russ Bullock and Bryan Ekman, Piranha Games (www.piranhagames.com) is an independent veteran game development studio and the creator of hit multiplayer game MechWarrior Online. Russ and Bryan's collective vision and dedication to core gaming, have fostered an environment of excellence and creativity that has allowed Piranha to deliver deep, rich, engaging game experiences. Piranha continues this excellence with its latest project, the Transverse (www.transversegame.com).

EXTENDED REVEAL TRAILER

• Download: Transverse_-_Extended_Reveal_Trailer.mp4