The Mandate – Perihelion Interactive announces Character Prologue Creator for its sandbox sci-fi RPG

By Stephany Nunneley

Perihelion Interactive has revealed its Character Prologue Creator for The Mandate, its Tsarist space opera-RPG.

The proof-of-concept tool joins the Ship Designer and Destruction Tech demos already available for the six-player, cooperative, sandbox sci-fi RPG. It can also be played solo, or with five other friends.

Here’s official word on the game:

“The Mandate is set in a dystopian future controlled by a Russian Empire inspired by the Tsars of history. You take on the role of a captain at the helm of an evolving, dynamic ship that a crew of hundreds call home. As captain, you’ll command a crew of officers selected and honed by you, taking them into epic space battles, boarding operations and galaxy exploration. Whilst epic in scale, The Mandate takes the concept of sci-fi RPGs to the next level by rooting the drama in your relationship with the crew – they and the galaxy map will adapt and react to the strategic choices you make, the battles you win… and those that you lose.”

The Character Prologue Creator allows players to pick the events leading up to their court martial and sentencing, and the game itself starts a few years later when the player has been released from prison.

“Depending on what they choose to have done, their faction standing will change dramatically,” said executive producer Ole Herbjørnsen in the official release notes.

“They can pick the planets that they explored, the tasks they undertook, and the crimes they committed. Once the game is released, players can continue to be a thorn in the side of The Mandate, work with the rebels, act within the law or however they choose to explore.”

Drawing inspiration from the likes of X-Com, Fallout, Mount & Blade, Sid Meier’s Pirates! and Star Trek Online, The Mandate has already raised $95,000 in its Kickstarter campaign from 2,422 backers and ends on December 1.

Features list:

• When a hull breach occurs, your men will be visibly ejected into space from whatever part of the ship has been damaged, as you can already see from our tech demo.
• From an isometric view, watch your crew react dynamically to your leadership. Perhaps they salute you, or maybe you get the cold shoulder.
• Each system and sub-system are manned by a concurrent, named crew. You’ll notice when one disappears, or is killed.
• There are similarities regarding system management to FTL (Faster Than Light), another popular indie title – however, we’re taking it much further and placing more emphasis on strategy and statistics than risk.
• Everything that happens in space should affect what happens on board. Seamlessly switch between the isometric inner-ship view, and the external space ship view. All in real-time.
• RTS boarding operations take place isometrically, at the same time as attacks externally (outside the spaceship). When fighting from the inside, you will lead marines in a real time strategy environment inspired by Men of War and Jagged Alliance.
• Seamless cooperative dynamic fights. With up to five friends, attack from space whilst your friends board enemy ships, or board as your friends defend you. Everyone can attack from space, or everyone can board multiple ships – all in real time. It’s entirely up to you.

Character Prologue Creator guide:

• Since the assets are streamed, the intro form acts as a loading screen. Click ‘Skip’ to start the process.
• The first page introduces the road-map notes, so have a browse, then click close.
• Presented with four factions, the player must choose which Colony Ship he hails from. The chosen Colony Ship determines the player’s culture. At the moment four factions are apparent, but there will be additional factions added incrementally.
• Each faction has three family backgrounds that further affect reputation and statistics, which you can see at the bottom of each family text block.
• Now select your Homeworld, deeply written into the lore of the game. This adds an extra layer of individual player depth, enough for six cooperative players to be completely unique. You’ll get two attribute points +/- in various areas per choice.
• The classical attribute point screen. Please note that images are placeholders, and 3D models with cosmetic changes will be added later in the campaign and development phase.
• Chronicle your adventure; choose the planets and path you took, and the choices you made in your travels, all the while accumulating skills and reputation. You can click the dossier button or imperial databank at the bottom of the screen to call up additional information about your character and the lore for the game.
• Service Record: a summary of your actions, and the affects of them.
• The Fall: Select the final straw; the final catalyst before your court martial.
• Your court martial summary – what the charges are, how the Admirals of the court martial interpret the Articles of War and their final sentence against you.
• The final screen will take you to the Ship Designer and Destruction Tech Demo, let you play The Mandate’s lore and concept trailer, or publish your captain backstory to Facebook.

Perihelion Interactive is made up of developers from Assassin’s Creed, Assassin’s Creed II, Mafia 2, Far Cry 2, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, Call of Duty 3 and The Secret World.

The game is planned for a Q1 2015 release Windows, Mac and Linux.