We interview David Murent, lead developer at Coronado Games, the studio behind the recently launched Starship Corporation from publisher Iceberg Interactive. Starship Corporation is a sci-fi simulation game in which players must design, assemble, and test spaceships, all in a bid to build a supreme Galactic Mega-Corporation. Now available on Steam with both Sandbox and Campaign modes, Starship Corporation launched on May 3rd and can be found on Woovit for qualifying content creators!
What’s the origin story of your company? How did you get started in game development?
I used to work as a 3D-animator for a game company, and after that operated an outdoor laser tag field in Austria. I think I just combined what was most exciting and fulfilling for me about life, and that led me to game design.
Tell us about your latest game, Starship Corporation?
Starship Corporation started out as curiosity about how ship design and building in the future would look like. Especially in the scene in the movie “Aliens” where everybody is leaning over a “blueprint table” to figure out which doors needed to be weld shut and where the autocannons should be placed – that’s what I wanted to do too.
Share some of your favorite player player designed ships using the in-game editor. What makes them so unique?
I would not be able to choose a single favourite. I love to be surprised by how creative and smart people are in going about their designs. Some of the room arrangements I could have never come up with, and it looks great. Especially when there is lots of space on the fuselage and people use corridors a lot – I love that.
Tell us about the journey through Early Access. How different is the game now versus when you first released?
A lot has changed. The biggest change is probably moving away from the original market and galaxy map to the turned based game as it is now. Even though I love turn-based strategy games I wanted to explore what else is possible. The players feedback and my own experience actually playing it told me it wasn’t fun enough.
The big feature for release is the campaign mode, can you share some details about what players and creators can expect?
The goal of the campaign is to let you experience what it is like to be in the position of a tycoon. You get lots of offers from all sides, and your choices determine where the company is heading. In addition to the design challenges you will also often need to ask yourself what your values are.
Why is this game perfect for content creators to play for their audience?
There is a lot of gameplay to show. Ship Design is a lot like art – you can bring a lot of personality into the placement of each room or hatch. Crew Management can be very exciting, but also frustrating – how will you handle all the different challenges for your ship?
Do you have a piece of advice or knowledge bomb you‘d like to drop for content creators looking to work with game developers/publishers like yourself?
I loved how some youtubers were contacting me early on and helping me a lot understanding player experience by sharing their videos with me. Everybody plays the game in a different way, and it is exciting and insightful to see that during development.
Any last thoughts or a story you’d like to share?
I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the internet and every person that helped develop and expand this amazing technology. I feel so grateful. 🙂
From all of us at Woovit, congratulations to the teams at Coronado and Iceberg on the launch!