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Limit Theory
Developer(s)Procedural Reality
Director(s)Josh Parnell
Platform(s)
ReleaseCancelled
Genre(s)Real-time strategy
Mode(s)Single-player

Limit Theory is a cancelled real-time strategy video game developed by Josh Parnell under the Procedural Reality name. Parnell launched a Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund the development of the game in November 2012, with an intended release in early 2014. Although the campaign was successful, raising more than three times the required amount, the project eventually entered development hell. In September 2018, the title was officially cancelled. Since then, game's development has been used as an example of occupational burnout in indie video game development by some video game journalists.[1][2]

Gameplay

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Limit Theory was meant to be a real-time strategy game with a heavy procedural generation element. The game is played from a first or third person perspective exploring outer space. Each planet was going to be procedurally generated, and with NPCs that could be traded with. There were plans to allow the player to engage in a variety of activities, like mining planets, being a pirate, or a bounty hunter. Once enough wealth was acquired, the player could buy ships and hire pilots to expand their empire.[3] The game's focus on freedom was inspired by The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.[4]

Development

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Josh Parnell, the developer of Limit Theory, launched a Kickstarter campaign on November 20, 2012, to help crowdfund the costs of producing the game. The initial funding goal for the campaign was set at $50,000, which was reached in a week.[5][6] Goals for OS X and Linux ports were also reached.[7] The Kickstarter campaign officially ended with a total of $187,865. On April 28, 2013, a playable prototype was released to backers, which was praised by Rock Paper Shotgun's Jim Rossignol, especially because it was the work of one man.[8] Parnell posted updates on the Kickstarter page in a regular basis until February 2015. Two months later, in April, he confirmed to Rock Paper Shotgun that he was still working on the game.[9]

Four months later, in September, Parnell posted a new update detailing, among other things, his struggles with his mental health while developing the game alone in a cabin in the mountains of Tennessee.[2][10] The updates resumed their regularity, but on September 28, 2018, Josh Parnell announced the cancellation of the title, and a promise to release the source code to the public.[11][12][13][14] The promise was eventually fulfilled on July 24, 2022.[15][16] The license chosen was the Unlicense. In addition, the 2013 prototype (only as a binary) was also uploaded to GitHub.

References

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  1. ^ Sinclair, Brendan (6 October 2018). "This Week In The Business: So You Want To Be A Developer?". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on 28 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  2. ^ a b Milne, Oliver (28 March 2017). "The dangers of passion projects: Staying sane in indie development". GamesIndustry.biz. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 28 March 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  3. ^ Rossignol, Jim (30 November 2012). "Interview: Limit Theory Creator Josh Parnell". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on 2 December 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  4. ^ Cook, Dave (5 December 2012). "Limit Theory: a solo mission to the stars". VG247. Archived from the original on 14 January 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  5. ^ Grayson, Nathan (27 November 2012). "Little Big Universe: Limit Theory Hits Funding Goal". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019.
  6. ^ Cook, Dave (27 November 2012). "Limit Theory Kickstarter: space RPG gets funded, takes Elite on at its own game". VG247. Archived from the original on 14 January 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  7. ^ Stahie, Silviu (13 December 2012). "Limit Theory, an Infinite Space Exploration Game, Is Coming to Linux". Softpedia. Archived from the original on 29 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  8. ^ Rossignol, Jim (29 April 2013). "Limit Theory Prototype Shows Space RTS Awesome". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  9. ^ Smith, Adam (8 April 2015). "Parnell Confirms Continuing Limit Theory Development". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  10. ^ Sinclair, Brendan (1 April 2017). "This Week In The Business: Hearthstone's Death Wish?". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on 21 June 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  11. ^ Bolding, Jonathan (30 September 2018). "After 6 years, space sim Limit Theory ceases development". PC Gamer. Future plc. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  12. ^ O'Connor, Alice (1 October 2018). "Limit Theory cancelled, six years after Kickstarter". Rock Paper Shotgun. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020.
  13. ^ Taylor, Ivy (1 October 2018). "Kickstarted project Limit Theory cancelled after six years in development". GameIndustry.biz. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  14. ^ Booker, Logan (1 October 2018). "Limit Theory's Josh Parnell Ends Development On Ambitious Space Sim". Kotaku Australia. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  15. ^ Carter, Justin (28 July 2022). "Canceled Kickstarter game Limit Theory opens its source code". Game Developer. Informa. Archived from the original on 29 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  16. ^ Lane, Rick (28 July 2022). "Limit Theory dev releases source code of the cancelled space sim, officially ends project". PC Gamer. Future plc. Archived from the original on 29 July 2022.
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