''Firefly Online'' is a

vaporware In the computer industry, vaporware (or vapourware) is a product, typically computer Computer hardware, hardware or software, that is announced to the general public but is late, never actually manufactured, or officially canceled. Use of the w ...

strategic

role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

based on the ''

Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

'' franchise. It was being developed by Spark Plug Games and Quantum Mechanix for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

, and

Android Android most commonly refers to: *Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), a mobile operating system primarily developed by Google * Android TV, a operating system developed ...

. Although never officially cancelled, there have been no updates about the game's release since March 2016.

Gameplay

''Firefly Online''s core gameplay would revolve around the player assuming the role of a

starship A starship, starcraft, or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for interstellar travel, traveling between planetary systems. The term is mostly found in science fiction. Reference to a "star-ship" appears as early as 1 ...

captain, then taking command of a ship, engaging in missions, and trading with other ships for resources and supplies. The game would have a central narrative with various side-stories, and players might have been able to create jobs for each other to complete. Players would have been able to customize their ships while playing, and view "in-universe guides" around planets to gain information before deciding whether to land on them. Furthermore, both space and planetary environments would exist. The game would have contained more than 200 different worlds to visit. An important aspect of the game would be assembling a crew to maintain the player's ship, with potential crewmates possessing unique skills such as engineering, medical aptitude, or expertise in weapons handling, and the player needing to find, recruit, and keep them in line or risk losing their command.

Development

Prior to the announcement of an official title, a fan made game titled ''Firefly Universe Online'' was being developed by DarkCryo.

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

gave their blessing to the game, but the studio ceased development following the announcement of an official release based on the ''Firefly'' franchise. ''Firefly Online'' was announced at the 2013

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...

for

and

. It was later announced for

and

. QMx Interactive joined Spark Plug Games to produce the game.

Joss Whedon Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon ( ; born June 23, 1964) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, comic book writer, and composer. He is best known as the creator of several television series: the supernatural drama ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer' ...

, creator of the series, was not involved with the development of the game but was aware of it. The development team was planning to add future

downloadable content content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...

which might have included the ability to switch to the

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...

faction, involved the inclusion of "Reavers", and was aiming to incorporate cross-platform functionality. The PC versions would have been distributed via

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

. Gameplay of ''Firefly Online'' was shown at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con. At that Comic Con it was announced that the original TV series cast was going to voice their in-game characters, along with a number of cast from the series, with '' Star Trek: The Next Generation''s Wil Wheaton providing the male voice for the player's avatar. Originally planned for launch in Spring 2015, the developers were required to recreate large amounts of it after the original show's cast were brought on to provide voice acting. John O'Neill, CEO of Spark Plug Games, said that they were having to "change everything" and that they were deliberately not providing development updates to avoid "saying something that’s wrong again." The last post on Firefly Online's Facebook page dated March 2016 said, "We're still here. We're still flyin'. Game is still in development. Stay tuned."

References

External links

* (archived) {{Firefly Android (operating system) games Firefly (franchise) games IOS games MacOS games Cancelled Android (operating system) games Cancelled iOS games Cancelled macOS games Cancelled Windows games Video games based on television series Video games based on works by Joss Whedon Windows games